How did Anchor Bay get the rights for Return to Oz? (1 Viewer)

[DaveMorales]

The subject says it all... this was a big budget, high profile, major effort by disney in 84'-85' and was surprised to see that Anchor Bay has the rights to release the disc...

Anyone have insight...

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

The subject says it all... this was a big budget, high profile, major effort by disney in 84'-85' and was surprised to see that Anchor Bay has the rights to release the disc...
Anyone have insight...

Yup. The film totally stiffed at the Box Office, Disney lost a ton of money and, quite frankly, have never been that receptive towards the property. Similar to The Black Hole, they gladly shunted the rights aside and Anchor Bay was the proverbial pivot man.
It's a terrific movie; maybe Anchor Bay can do right by it. It would have been nice for Buena Vista to put some of their resources behind it, but.... alas.
Cookie?

 

[Damin J Toell]

Disney, for whatever reason, seems willing to dump off properties to Anchor Bay that they're not otherwise interested in (such as Midnight Madness and Watcher in the Woods, in addition to the above). They don't seem to give AB much support in terms of provision of elements (they weren't given the necessary elements to create a widescreen transfer of Midnight Madness, for example), but at least they're licensing the titles and making them available to consumers.
DJ

 

[Vickie_M]

It's a terrific movie; maybe Anchor Bay can do right by it.

It is a terrific movie and one of my all-time favorites (it became one the very first time I saw it in the theater upon release). The DVD has been out for a few years though. I picked it up the day it came out, but I don't remember when that was.
The DVD is light on extras; there is a short but nice interview with a grown-up Fairuza Balk, and she introduces the movie. It's presented in both Widescreen (1.85:1) and Full Frame. That's it. No trailers or anything else.
Personally I think this film deserves a lavish special edition. I'd love to see how-they-made-it and behind-the-scenes documentaries, as well as commentaries from Murch, Balk and others. However, I'm so thrilled to have it on DVD at all that it's hard to complain.
This movie got horrible reviews for all the wrong reasons. People treated it as if it were a remake or unworthy sequel, when it's neither. People said it was "too dark" for children while forgetting (or not knowing) that it's more closely based on the original Baum books (which were children's books) than the 1939 film (which certainly had its scary moments too), and those books were, in fact, pretty damn dark.
IMHO, RTO is an unappreciated classic that will hopefully someday find its place with receptive audiences who love strange but magical, intelligent "children's movies" such as Babe: Pig In The City and The Iron Giant.