>>>> Spoke to Warner Rep today concerning WONKA & CATS - here is what I was told..... (1 Viewer)

[Rob_C]

Warner,
You've also lost another customer here too. I'm not buying Wonka and I was really looking forward to buying Cats and Dogs. Now I'm passing on both of these titles. If your marketing tells you the need to make your prduct fullscreen at least provide BOTH formats on the disk. You may not get all the features on one disk but at least you'll get a sale.

 

[Eric Bass]

Yes it's really too bad that until the average household has a 16x9 tv the market will always overwhelmingly demand 4x3 movies. The TV's square, the picture should be to. Funny some of the W/S VHS tapes I bought actually came with little cards showing the benefit of widescreen. And the 20th Cen Fox VHS tapes came with a little promo at the beginning demonstrating side by side the difference between Pan/Scan and Widescreen. Attempts to educate have been made and failed so I'm not at all surprised at this development. After all we live in a country that prides itself of catering to the lowest common denominator.

 

[Kevin P]

Kids/families that prefer "full frame" aren't going to care whether they're watching a DVD, a VHS, or watching a butchered network broadcast of the movie, so why can't we have our OAR on DVD and let the pan & scanners just have their VHS? After all, if they don't care about the presentation, they're not going to care about the resolution, picture quality, or the fact that the tape has to be rewound afterward.
Those who get into DVD are far more likely to be interested in OAR presentations than the VHS crowd. Besides, that was one of the original selling points of DVD: choice of aspect ratio.
KJP

 

[CharlesD]

Attempts to educate have been made and failed ...

I disagree. Education takes time and does not happen over nigh. There is increasing acceptance even in the US of widescreen. More and more movies and TV shows are starting to be seen in widescreen. The Sci-F1 Channel, for instance, has been showing movies in widescreen for years, and that certainly influenced me (along with DVD) that watching movies in their OAR is very important.
Now is the tie to intensify the education efforts, not to give up. Unfortunately the exec at Warner don't seem very bright and they assume that they are smarter then their customers. Hopefully soon this mistake will be rectified and they will be replaced with more competent people.
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-- Will Work for Five Million Dollars

 

[Roger Bijou]

Warner Bros. will read this thread?
Congratulations to Warner Bros. marketing! You announce Pan&Scam releases, outrage ensues, lots of media coverage, now everyone knows Willy Wonka and Cats & Dogs are soon to be released on DVD. Free publicity. I am sure you will announce OAR versions soon resulting in even more publicity.
Anyway, for what it's worth:
NO OAR, NO SALE!
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Link Removed

 

[Dave H]

Maybe studios should start having a small, 30 or 60 second clip on DVDS that describes widescreen advantages.

 

[Phil Florian]

Whoops...
[Edited last by Phil Florian on August 21, 2001 at 10:06 PM]

 

[Phil Florian]

Is this more of a marketing scheme for future re-purchases of favorite discs? I mean, look at George Lucas. How many times has he released the Star Wars trilogy in the last few years? Each one had something "a little different" and whammo, sold. First he releases the originals that were digitally remastered (p&s and oar) then he releases the "special editions" with same options. Then he releases them again with some footage of Ep. 2, and so on. I know fans (not me, baby) who have bought all of them! Brilliant! So, WB makes a decision that will profit them now (since, I am sorry, J6P will buy more discs than the HTF crowd when it comes down to it) and when everyone owns a 16x9 tv, they will realized "hey, I need to buy Wonka again!" and they will. It will have been years since they first purchased it and it won't seem like such a rip. This is good business when you bill a media such as DVD as "nearly lasting forever." Why replace such a disc if it is gonna live a long time? Make a reason. Sound marketing, if a bit underhanded and cheesy. In fact, it will make perfect sense because J6P will want the same thing...their entire tv screen filled with an image! I personally would rather have the OAR now when watching a movie, but I don't buy as many discs to make up for what the masses think. Like Tommy Lee Jones said in "MIB" about the new alien microdisc..."I guess I'll have to buy the White Album again."
Phil

 

[GaryEA]

I am so mad at myself for putting off buying Wonka the first time around.
"Oh, it'll be there."
Then they announced the SE and I let it slide, thinking that an OAR presentation was a sure thing.
As it turns out, it won't be there. And neither will I because I'm not going to buy it unless it is in OAR.
Sorry Warner, but as Mr. Boulet articulated so well, I will not support WB's efforts and contributions to this relatively new format to only be a slicker version of VHS. This is a format that has so many possibilities, and that includes the choice of presentation.
The surveys and marketing choices only serve to create a false and unnecessary demand for releases that could have/should have been. Embrace the format rather than dissect it.
Regards,
-g
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"My life has a superb cast, but I can't figure out the plot..."
-- Ashleigh Brilliant

 

[GlennH]

Disney has had greater success with their family fare on DVD than any other studio, and they have only one title that is exclusively available in the wrong aspect ratio (A Goofy Movie).

What about George of the Jungle, Air Bud, and Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey?
But it's true that Disney has done well of late.
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[GlennH]

Having the old WS version is not an acceptable solution to this problem. The reviews of the new SE demonstrate just how much Warner improved the video quality on this new release (aspect ratio aside).
To me, watching the old version now would just be more irritating, as I would constantly be reminded of how much better it should be.
Of course, I must reason this way, since I did sell my original Wonka for $80. I don't regret it.
The only acceptable outcome is a WS release of the new, improved SE, ASAP! ... and a reversal of this insane new Warner policy.