The Official Disney Movie Club Blu-ray Exclusives Thread (1 Viewer)

[holtge]

It's about time Disney ditched its exclusivity idea and made its classic Blu ray issues available world-wide. Why shouldn't people outside of the USA not have access to classics such s 'Pollyanna' and 'The Parent Trap'? There are no copyright issues preventing world-wide release.

Good point. Maybe all of this will change once Disney+ is up and running worldwide.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Maybe all of this will change once Disney+ is up and running worldwide.

I hope I'm wrong, but I would think Disney+ would actually decrease Disney's interest in catalog Blu-rays. If they don't think something like The Parent Trap would sell enough copies now to justify a wide release, then certainly it will sell even less once it's also available on the streaming service. Plus, they don't have to deal with manufacturing costs if they just put it up on streaming.

 

[holtge]

I hope I'm wrong, but I would think Disney+ would actually decrease Disney's interest in catalog Blu-rays. If they don't think something like The Parent Trap would sell enough copies now to justify a wide release, then certainly it will sell even less once it's also available on the streaming service. Plus, they don't have to deal with manufacturing costs if they just put it up on streaming.

True, but either way, at least it would be available in streaming form throughout the world, which is a lot more than it is now.

 

[Jake Lipson]

True, but either way, at least it would be available in streaming form throughout the world, which is a lot more than it is now.

The Parent Trap has been on Netflix previously in HD. It isn't anymore, but it was, both the Haley Mills and Lindsay Lohan versions. I'm sure they will make it to Disney+.

 

[BobO'Link]

I hope I'm wrong, but I would think Disney+ would actually decrease Disney's interest in catalog Blu-rays. If they don't think something like The Parent Trap would sell enough copies now to justify a wide release, then certainly it will sell even less once it's also available on the streaming service. Plus, they don't have to deal with manufacturing costs if they just put it up on streaming.

That's my fear as well. I just don't see them releasing catalog BRs once that service is up and running. I'm actually a bit surprised they're going to have them on the service as, other than the classic animations, they seemingly would prefer to forget they even exist.

 

[darkrock17]

That's my fear as well. I just don't see them releasing catalog BRs once that service is up and running. I'm actually a bit surprised they're going to have them on the service as, other than the classic animations, they seemingly would prefer to forget they even exist.

If Disney stopped releasing all physical copies once their streaming service is up and running in November, it would end up biting them in the ass big time; streaming might be the current "in thing", but there is still life and money in physical home video releases.

 

[Jake Lipson]

If Disney stopped releasing all physical copies

I don't think Disney will stop physical copies of their big films. Captain Marvel is going to be on Disney+ at launch, but it's going to come to disc probably around June. Endgame will follow in August. I expect to be able to buy the new Aladdin remake around the end of September. Toy Story 4 will probably end up on disc in early November, as the Pixar films that open in June traditionally do. We'll all be able to buy The Rise of Skywalker in March or April 2020. Those kinds of things are not in question..

What Howie and I are talking about are the significantly older than that catalog films that haven't already come out on Blu-ray. If Disney doesn't think they're worth putting out already, they're not going to suddenly think they'll sell more copies once they're available on streaming.

 

[Paintbeanie]

If Disney stopped releasing all physical copies once their streaming service is up and running in November, it would end up biting them in the ass big time; streaming might be the current "in thing", but there is still life and money in physical home video releases.

There is and I do agree with what you are saying but personally I can see them going either way on this. They have been extreme enough that I think they could try to drop physical media and hurt themselves. On the other hand they could also go the route of keeping physical media now and phasing it out over time. Not that I really adore either option, I really hope they do option 2, but with how extreme I feel they can get sometimes I am really not sure which way they will go for now.

 

[darkrock17]

I don't think Disney will stop physical copies of their big films. Captain Marvel is going to be on Disney+ at launch, but it's going to come to disc probably around June. Endgame will follow in August. I expect to be able to buy the new Aladdin remake around the end of September. Toy Story 4 will probably end up on disc in early November, as the Pixar films that open in June traditionally do. We'll all be able to buy The Rise of Skywalker in March or April 2020. Those kinds of things are not in question..

What Howie and I are talking about are the significantly older than that catalog films that haven't already come out on Blu-ray. If Disney doesn't think they're worth putting out already, they're not going to suddenly think they'll sell more copies once they're available on streaming.

Disney will still physically release their newer films that's a given, but say after the current Walt Disney Signature Collection finishes that would be the end up of Disney Animated Classics on home video.

There is and I do agree with what you are saying but personally I can see them going either way on this. They have been extreme enough that I think they could try to drop physical media and hurt themselves. On the other hand they could also go the route of keeping physical media now and phasing it out over time. Not that I really adore either option, I really hope they do option 2, but with how extreme I feel they can get sometimes I am really not sure which way they will go for now.

If they end up dropping physical media, it will bite them in ass hard and it could then lead to their downfall.

 

[Arthur Powell]

Physical media serves a different purpose than streaming, and the presence of a new streaming service isn't necessarily going to displace entirely the demand for the other. The demand for the physical media may wane to the point that only the hard-core fanatics like us are there. However, if there's money to made, they'll exploit it for as long as they can. Look at how long Betamax survived after VHS "killed" it. I remember going into Fred Meyers in the late 1990s and still seeing blank Beta tapes for sale. For that matter, walk into your local Walmart photo department and you will still find photographic film available for purchase.

 

[David Norman]

Option 2B -- new releases still sell decently at $2B yearly in the US for HD formats and over the last 2-3 years Disney properties account for well over 50% of those sales plus a chunk of DVDs

There is a know collectors market and a Parent/Grandparent contingent who still buy discs and just aren't going to invest purchases at a digital only level

I could see them using Disney+ as an advertising platform to hype DMC "Build your Own your own Disney Library" and run it as an inhouse MOD program like WAC. Imagine if they did use Disney+ to audition a LOT of movies that have been unseen and are essentially unknown to even the parents. I bet a large % of the 50-70's movies are basically unknown by most people under 40, but if they watch Happiest Millionaire or That Darn Cat or MoonSpinners or
The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band and find that they are popular. That likely also applies to The Black Hole, Black Cauldron, and a few more bigger budget titles. If they sample/watch/like and want to own it then it would be less extreme in their mind than a complete blind buy.

Maybe not a huge number, but if you really only need 500-1000 routine buyers for the lesser titles it could be something less than disastrous and at least slightly profitable. With a little effort it could used to push Physical sales. Since Discs are likely not going to disappear internationally for a long time, then they might as well be able to use a lot of that work for a US/Can market too

 

[Jake Lipson]

but say after the current Walt Disney Signature Collection finishes that would be the end up of Disney Animated Classics on home video.

I highly doubt that. If there is another new format after 4K, the major Disney animated classic films will always be a draw.

I do think it would be unlikely that they will re-release them again on standard Blu-ray, though, but if they're in print, there wouldn't be any need to do that. As of yet, they haven't taken any of the Signature Collection titles out of print. It may be their plan to just leave them in print, especially if they are all going to go to Disney+ as well. (Eventually, they should also go back to the early Signature Collection titles and give them 4K upgrades too.) We'll see what happens.

 

[darkrock17]

I highly doubt that. If there is another new format after 4K, the major Disney animated classic films will always be a draw.

I do think it would be unlikely that they will re-release them again on standard Blu-ray, though, but if they're in print, there wouldn't be any need to do that. As of yet, they haven't taken any of the Signature Collection titles out of print. It may be their plan to just leave them in print, especially if they are all going to go to Disney+ as well. (Eventually, they should also go back to the early Signature Collection titles and give them 4K upgrades too.) We'll see what happens.

I used the on-going Signature Collection as an example because after Cinderella comes out later on this year there's only 3 more films that Disney will most likely release in this collection. When it comes to the animated classics, Disney currently only cares about 12 titles and those 12 titles ONLY, everything else is either treated as second class or ignored completely.

 

[Jake Lipson]

after Cinderella comes out later on this year there's only 3 more films that Disney will most likely release in this collection.

Where did you hear that Cinderella is coming this year? It would certainly make sense, but they haven't announced anything since The Little Mermaid came out in February.

 

[darkrock17]

Where did you hear that Cinderella is coming this year? It would certainly make sense, but they haven't announced anything since The Little Mermaid came out in February.

From here, but since it's a wiki site the information might not be 100% correct.

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Walt_Disney_Signature_Collection

 

[Mark-P]

Where did you hear that Cinderella is coming this year? It would certainly make sense, but they haven't announced anything since The Little Mermaid came out in February.

The preorder is already available at the Disney Movie Club. I suppose it’s possible it will be a club exclusive.

 

[darkrock17]

The preorder is already available at the Disney Movie Club. I suppose it’s possible it will be a club exclusive.

That will go over well with everyone else.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Hmm. Well, Bambi and Peter Pan came out the last couple of Junes. If Cinderella is going to take the June slot, it would have to be announced within the next couple of weeks. I would not be surprised if Aladdin were to come out in the fall simultaneously with the Blu-ray release of the remake.

 

[darkrock17]

Hmm. Well, Bambi and Peter Pan came out the last couple of Junes. If Cinderella is going to take the June slot, it would have to be announced within the next couple of weeks. I would not be surprised if Aladdin were to come out in the fall simultaneously with the Blu-ray release of the remake.

Could be, or Disney could do a complete 180 and release The Sword In The Stone or Fantasia. If they were to do that I would be prepared to eat my words on what I've been saying about for the last couple of years. But that is very unlikely of happening though.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The Sword In The Stone or Fantasia.

The Sword in the Stone is already widely available on Blu-ray and has never been a part of the Platinum/Diamond/Signature Collection line.

Fantasia was announced as being added to the Platinum Edition lineup when they expanded it from 10 titles to 14, but its Blu-ray 2-pack with Fantasia 2000 did not end up bearing any edition designation whatsoever. Having been taken out of print in 2011, it is overdue for a re-release, but as we have discussed previously in this thread, it's possible that the James Levine issue on Fantasia 2000 is holding that up.