Idea for Showing OAR Support - Disney's WHITE FANG 2 (1 Viewer)

[GlennH]

The facts: Disney today released the "family" title White Fang on DVD in a fullscreen-only (MAR) DVD. Also today, Disney released the sequel White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf in an anamorphic widescreen DVD (with 5.1 sound to boot). The logic of this inconsistency escapes me, but I'm sure it makes sense to the Mouse.
I posted in another thread that Disney likely lost two sales from me with their stupid decision to make White Fang fullscreen only. I'd buy it if OAR, and probably would probably also pick up White Fang 2 just to have both. But now, since I won't buy the MARed original, I don't think I'll buy the OAR sequel either. I know others have expressed the same sentiment.
But then I got to thinking that maybe this is an opportunity to make a statement about OAR.
Though some may disagree, I think it's safe to say that the original, based on a classic Jack London story, is generally regarded as a superior movie to the sequel. For example:

Movie          IMDB     Maltin   BoxOffice
------------------------------------------
[B]Link Removed[/B]      6.6       3.0   $34.793M    
[B]Link Removed[/B]    4.8       2.0    $8.878M
------------------------------------------

The IMDB is the voters ranking out of 10. The Maltin is on a scale of highest 4.0, in 0.5 increments. I got that from IMDB before they dropped Maltin's rankings (yes, I was putting that info in a spreadsheet for upcoming titles I'm interested in - don't ask.)
Now, wouldn't it make Disney scratch their head and wonder why if somehow White Fang 2 handily outsold White Fang on DVD? We could then inform them that the reason is there are a lot of DVD buyers who won't buy P&S, but will support OAR. Disney sees the results in the lost revenue for the original. And we let them know that there are more dollars on the table for the taking if they release a proper OAR of the original.
Now, to make this work a lot of OAR enthusiasts would have to make a concerted effort to buy White Fang 2. But it isn't likely to appeal to a lot of folks in the first place, and less so since the superior original is fullscreen only.
I'm pessimistic that enough of us would bother to make this statement successful. So I don't want to commit to it unless I know that many others here will too and there is at least a chance we can influence the sales.
Any thoughts? Who would be willing to buy White Fang 2, even if they normally wouldn't, to try and send a message to Disney about OAR?

 

[David Lambert]

Probably the BEST statement you can make to Disney this week is to buy EVERY title they released in OAR, and not the 1 MAR title.

So go get White Fang 2, but also Homeward Bound 2, Iron Will, and even the non-anamorphic Angels in the Outfield.

Call 1-800-72-DISNEY and let them know what you DID buy, and what you DIDN'T buy...and why!

 

[derek]

My GUESS is that Di$ney recycled an old P&S transfer of 'White Fang' whereas a high-def transfer of WF2 may have existed being made 3 years later. The whole motivation for P&S releases from Di$ney is dollars...not what fans/DVD early adopters/film buffs want.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Firstly, the BEST way to tell Disney what you want is to call and email to the contact information provided in my signature. After you do this, THEN don't buy any non OAR DVD. But if you don't call and email, you haven't said ANYTHING that the mouse will ever hear. They're listening and those who've been calling faithfully the past 2 weeks have been making some waves over in their marketing department. So DO IT.
Secondly,
It's got to be more than just what transfers they have lying around.
They've got a 4x3 lbxed (non 16x9) Muppets Treasure Island but they're going 4x3 instead for the DVD.

 

[LukeB]

They've got a 4x3 lbxed (non 16x9) Muppets Treasure Island but they're going 4x3 instead for the DVD.

Yep, in some cases they do have LBX laserdiscs and are releasing P&S DVDs anyway. Does it make any sense? The Muppet Treasure Island and The Scarlet Letter?! Makes no sense to me.
Muppet Christmas Carol *BETTER* be widescreen!

 

[GlennH]

David, I've been there and done that, multiple times. I was trying to think of other ways to get the message to Disney. There's only so many times you can e-mail or call.
Disney only cares about the bottom line. So we need to look for opportunities to demonstrate directly the lost revenue from a no-OAR release.
As it is, this idea doesn't seem to be lighting a fire under anybody, so I guess we can forget about it. :rolleyes

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Glenn,
didn't mean to sound like I was dissin' your idea!
On the contrary, I think we should take EVERY opportunity to comminicate to Disney with our $$$ just how much we won't buy P/S and just how much we *will* by 16x9 WS OAR.
I only didn't want people to just "not buy" a P/S dvd and then not bother to let Disney know directly how they felt.
I've actually done what you suggest...I've bought *many* 16x9 WS titles from a variety of studios that I wouldn't normally have purchased...just because I wanted to show support for 16x9 WS OAR. I agree 100%
-dave

 

[Marc Carra]

I've been waiting to pick up one of my Disney favorites, White Fang, and now I find out (from DVD Empire) that it's full frame! Can anyone confirm this madness? I'm heartbroken.

Marc.

 

[Dmitry]

Search the recent Disney P&S threads and you'll find it's been mentioned there. Sorry, it appears to be true.

 

[Malcolm R]

The irony is that "White Fang 2" appears to be anamorphic widescreen. :rolleyes

 

[LukeB]

They cloned a sheep?!?!

 

[GlennH]

Which is why I started this thread, which quickly sank like a rock.

 

[Marc Carra]

Glenn, next time put "Aaaarrrrgh! " in your thread topic header
Marc.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

This reminds me of The Karate Kid release. The original movie is "presented" in P&S, while the sequels are anamorphic widescreen.
But since I couldn't purchase the original in OAR, I haven't purchased any of them.
Of course, it goes without saying that I would have gladly purchased all of them if the original had had a proper presentation.
Why can't the studios understand that a P&S release isn't a release at all for a collector??

 

[Randy B A]

I was looking at this also.
I too would have purchased both, but since I can't get the origional in WS why bother.
I would have also bought both Balto releases if they had been in OAR.

 

[Frank Anderson]

The two threads have been merged into one