NO more 2-Disc SE's of newer Disney animated films (1 Viewer)

[Bolivar G]

Well Im glad I bought Lilo & Stitch while it was on sale. Was almost going to hold out for a SE.
Badnews indeed.

 

[Gordon Moore]

Maybe studios are suffering due to their own greediness. If they stopped producing so many versions of the same movie, they wouldn't be forced to consider this. Consumers don't know what to buy when the SE-Platinum-Uber Version is down the road. Take a stand...stop confusing consumers...movie only or feature rich I don't care which...the movie IS the most important part (focus on making the best picture and sound possible and see what room you have left instead of cramming a disc and giving a sub-par presentation). Personally, I don't completely agree with Disney because as we've seen with Superbit titles....they use to be movie only and now animated menus and small extras are creeping their way back in. I think consumers like a little production value to their disc. I suspect 70-80% could care less about whether the DVD has 1 hour of extras vs. 8 hours. Chances are they never get through them all anyways.
If SE are desired by a select group (i.e. HTF and others, maybe the studios would be better served to make truly *LIMITED* *COLLECTORS* editions and price them accordingly (i.e Criterion style...pricey but worth it). I'd pay extra if it has desired value and is truly collectable. Spiderman is a good example, while the limited edition is a packed box set, seeing it in high availability in stores makes me wonder how *Limited* it really is.
I like getting a deal like the next guy...but if it was truly limited and a collectable...I appreciate the value and would pay more...I'd also give my purchases more thought and would not buy hap-hazardly like most of us do on titles. I bet a large majority of us still have many movies still in the wrapper.
I'm not completely with Disney on this...but I can appreciate their point.
p.s. Please Don't kill the Platinum Schedule....:frowning:
Me? I like extras

 

[Neil Joseph]

Yes, because Lion King was due this upcoming year.

 

[Kenneth Cummings]

I don't know if this can be true. Because isn't there already two disc set set to be release next year like Who Frame Roger Rabbit or Sleeping Beauty? Even so some of the extra may be lame at time, I do like the two disc set.

 

[James Reader]

I don't know if this can be true. Because isn't there already two disc set set to be release next year like Who Frame Roger Rabbit or Sleeping Beauty? Even so some of the extra may be lame at time, I do like the two disc set.

Well, it's debatable if Disney considers Roger Rabbit to be an animated title - the fact that they are releasing it as a Vista Series title implies not to me. Nobody anywhere is suggesting all 2 disc sets will be dropped by Disney/Touchstone/Miramax/Dimension.

Secondly Sleeping Beauty - everyone (including myself) is assuming the upcoming R1 version will be 2 disc like in Europe but it possibly won't be.

I think it is likely it will be a 2 disc set but remember the contents of the disc and the authoring has already been done (the English version was authored sometime last year but held back by Beuna Vista Home Entertainment UK until mid-January 2003) and the cost of authoring seems to be Eisner's main concern.

I was hoping the R1 edition of Sleeping Beauty would have some extra supplements (and perhaps have one or two removed from the European release - I cannot see America having the rather tenuous Art Attack clip on building a "Fantasy Castle" on their releases being as Art Attack is a UK produced program and will mean nothing to 99% of Americans).

 

[Joel C]

Hadn't the supplements and commentary already been produced/recorded? I really wanted to see those deleted scenes. I hate Eisner. Just one more nail in the Disney coffin. Too bad Don Bluth studios went out of business already.

 

[Aaryn Chan]

it cant be true

 

[AaronMK]

I would think that 8% figure refers to people who opt for the "collector's edition" over the "standard edition" when both are available. In other words that 8% is most likely the people who care about extras AND are willing to pay an addition $10-$20 for more of them.

I have a hard time believing that only 8% care about extras. Extras are what are touted in the ads, not DTS, not picture quality, and unfortunatly not OAR. Even with just about %40 (generous)penetration, most people with players have them hooked up through composite video to sub 27" sets with the sound comming through the TV speakers. I have to assume it is the extra features that are appealing to these people, because I don't think they are benefiting much from the improved picture and sound capabilities of DVD over VHS.

 

[LukeB]

The issue at hand is not about getting rid of 2-disc sets altogether. For new releases, most people are only interested in the movie (so they say). And they'd be doing the cheap thing and releasing one disc only for those.

For catalogue titles, extras are very much a selling point and are a big part of getting people to buy on DVD the titles they may own on video already.

That said, while I disagree strongly with this practice, there's no need to fear that 2-disc releases are going away altogether. The Platinum line is certainly not going away...Disney's been able to sell those as well as many new theatrical titles, and these are films that millions of people already owned on VHS.

For many of us, upgrading a VHS or LD to DVD is a no-brainer, but for average customers who only buy 10-15 DVDs a year, the extras are more of a selling factor.

By not doing 2-disc CEs for newer releases, Disney is saying that people will buy them anyway. I personally think they'd be better off offering 2-disc CEs at the $29.99 SRP, as they have been doing for the Platinum releases and as they did for Monsters, Inc. After all, every other studio offers 2-disc sets for $29.99 with no one disc release. (Disney even does it with their Vista line.) That's the way to go to please all and still get sales. Yeah, there are some additional costs to printing a second disc and a different kind of case, but these aren't huge costs we're talking.

When they release dual versions, they raise the price of the 2-disc CE to $39.99. No wonder it doesn't sell as well as the one-disc movie-only version.

 

[Mark-W]

I think the issues here are getting muddled as we define
terms like "new releases."
I seriously doubt Buena Vista is going to do away with
2 disk CEs of their "classic" films.
Sleeping Beauty, for example is considered
of "historical significance" in the world of Walt,
and I doubt they want to say, "Well, it's just a movie."
It is easier to see how a film like Lilo & Stitch,
which I adore BTW, doesn't garner the same kind of
attention on DVD as Sleeping Beauty.
I also doubt that the platinum collection will be
reduced to one disk editions. In fact,
it may help bolster the image of platinum titles by stating,
"See, these titles are worthy of 2 disks."
Futher, I doubt any Pixar-created/BV-distributed
titles will be released only as one disk titles.
Frankly, it is more than apparent that the folks at
Pixar are more than a bit enthusiastic about their
bonus materials and won't be dictated to by the mouse;
and the mouse isn't about to piss off Pixar.
I think "new releases" is meant to be defined as films
being released NOW theatrically. Certainly one can see
that as loveable as the newer titles are, they are getting
less and less distinctive in the animation market of 2002 and beyond.
(And those behind the scenes features on how animation
goes from pencil to paint to screen are getting horribly
redudant...a bit like all the DVDs that feature how the
CGI is done...yawn.)
Now, if I am wrong in my SPECULATION, than I am truly
horrified, because I cannot fathom thinking that any of
Disney's platinum-denoted titles, most of which are so
because they are signposts in Disney's history, are not
worthy of 2 disk editions.
Mark

 

[PaulP]

I just came back from watching Treasure Planet. After reading several threads here and elsewhere about how bad it was and how Disney has already officialy declared the film a bomb, I was apprehensive, but I loved it. I guess it's a film for older kids, kinda like Atlantis (that one didn't do so well at the box-office either, didn't it?). Perhaps it wasn't advertized well? I don't know, but I know that the animation was superb. I really had a good time, some laughs, but mainly I was there for the animation, and it was just plain great. I'm hoping more people see it. This film shouldn't bomb.

Oh and to add something that's on-topic, here's hoping that Disney sees the error of their ways and starts releasing all their new animated releases like they did with Monsters, Inc. - 2-disc set only. Monsters, Inc. was very reasonably priced and seems like everybody bought a copy (I did), even those that don't care about extras. So Disney better straighen out and bring out good 2-disc editions of Lilo & Stitch and Treasure Planet.

PS: If Disney decides to use anything other than the gorgeously awesome poster for the DVD cover of Treasure Planet, I will commit suicide.

 

[P and SO]

I cried reading that first post. :frowning:

 

[Seth Paxton]

Yes, obviously Disney doesn't feel this way about Classic Disney material since the new batch of Tins hit the street at the same time as Lilo, so they could have been backed down to single disc sets just as "easily" and weren't.
I also find some of their figures dubious to be honest. Does Disney really think that they won't lose $7m in sales by dropping $7m in extras production? I mean if a film only costs $50m, what the hell is $7m of extras for the DVD beyond the normal production costs? Must be some nice extras.
But they think that pricing for the extras is hurting sales and dropping the extras won't? Not to mention the lost revenue if in fact they drop the price from a 2 disc price point. You might sell more, but each disc will bring in less profit.
Maybe someone over at Disney is having trouble running the numbers, or perhaps the actors are asking for too much to release their images for the extras. Come on Lilo, get a new agent.

 

[MatthewA]

Why don't they release ONLY 2-disc sets, as they did with Monsters, Inc.

I don't think I'll be buying many of the "recent" films (except Lilo and Stitch), but if they discontinue 2-disc sets of the Platinum, Vault Disney, and WD Treasures, it'll take a lot more than Golden Girls season sets for me to forgive them.

 

[James Reader]

GOOD NEWS
See here

Jim Hill Media, which reported on Friday that Buena Vista Home Entertainment would not be producing a 2-disc special collector's edition of the Lilo & Stitch DVD, now reveals that "several hundred e-mails (and a couple of dozen phone calls) later, BVHE appears to have had a change of heart. Disney insiders are now telling me that-- if we're all really patient--there WILL (e-v-en-t-u-a-l-l-y) be a 2-disc special collector's edition available for purchase"--though nobody seems to know when yet.

Edited to include link the the Jim Hill Media story HERE
interesting reading...

 

[PaulP]

Great, great, great news! Keep bombarding them, people.

PS: What is the email address?

 

[JasonKZ]

I hope that news is true. We don't want Disney turning into Paramount here (Star Trek releases excluded).

 

[PaulP]

And if this holds true, hopefully then Disney will realize they're only hurting themselves by releasing dual editions of their animated movies. They should stick to Monsters, Inc.-like releases and eliminate losses associated with 2-disc sets not selling well because when a parent wants to buy the latest Disney feature for their kid, they'll pick (naturally) the least expensive version (I've seen this happen numerous times). ANyway, hopefully when it's time for Treasure Planet to hit DVD, it will be a single 2-disc release.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Actually, although the deal is near completion, Pixar has apparantly decided to relase at least 3 more films after Finding Nemo, even though the deal states they only had to make one.

No!
The deal was always for five pictures.
The five pictures are:
A Bug's Life
Monster's Inc
Finding Nemo
The Incredibles
Cars
'The Incredibles' and 'Cars' are both in production, and soon it will be time to start producing another film. A film that, at this point, has not a damn thing to do with Disney.
Steve Jobs has Michael Eisner by the balls, and Jobs is pissed off to boot. You will only see another Pixar film at Disney unless the Mouse House does exactly what Pixar wants. And at this point, Pixar wants a distribution deal (like Lucas has with Fox) where Disney doesn't own the copyright or trademark of anything Pixar produces. I love it!

 

[Gregg Shiu]

wtf?!!! 2 disc versions of atlantis and emperor's new groove, but none for Lilo and Stitch? that's crazy!