The Good: The Return and Resurgance of 2-Disc Special Editions

The collector-oriented 2-disc Disney DVD set was deemed dead for recent animated productions. Following Atlantis, whether successful (Lilo & Stitch) or not (Treasure Planet), any bonus material would be scaled to fit a single disc. This year not only shattered this policy with the mostly satisfying Brother Bear set, but it also brought many other 2-disc sets. In addition to the usual fall Platinum release (Aladdin), these include re-releases for Alice in Wonderland, Mulan, Mary Poppins, The Princess Diaries, and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, the studio's vintage animation and television programming in two new batches of the highly collectible Walt Disney Treasures, plus debuts for Miracle, Ghosts of the Abyss, and The Lion King 1½. Even when, as in the case of the direct-to-video Lion King sequels, the bonus material is more games and activities than enlightening content on the films' production, the devotion to supplements is well-noted, and most of the other sets leaned towards substance over style.

The Unimportant: FastPlay and EasyFind

While Disney made a big fuss last summer about two new ways in which they would modify DVD playback, their FastPlay and EasyFind creations did not amount to much.

FastPlay essentially serves the lazy population by treating the DVD like VHS. Put it in and watch it go! A few trailers, the main feature, and then a selection of bonus features play without having to go to the menu or press anything. This was unveiled for Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers and has since turned up only on direct-to-video titles that may be intended as having a child-oriented audience.

EasyFind, Disney's new system of categorizing bonus materials, has appeared on most of the studio's DVDs from August on. EasyFind was intended to make menus more organized and easy to navigate with uniform graphics for sections like "Deleted Scenes", "Music & More" and "Backstage Disney." To a degree, it has. But it's also stifled creativity in menu design. Bonus features are divided under labels where they might not fit. And animation has been toned down, to your dismay or delight depending on how you feel about elaborate, animated menus and assuming you've actually taken notice of the changes that Disney has made.

The Bad: No Trailers

Trailers. Hardly any Disney DVDs had trailers on the DVDs for the movies. Even major 2-disc releases like Mulan, The Lion King II, and Miracle were missing them. Aladdin had only one, and Pirates of the Caribbean's new bonus disc still left the total number of theatrical trailers at zero (one if you count an international Easter egg). The one DVD that excelled in this area was Mary Poppins: 40th Anniversary Edition, which included a number of trailers and TV spots. A surprising number of live action catalogue titles in July and August included trailers (and vintage trailers are the coolest), but they disappeared again in September. Things do not appear to be getting better anytime soon, but the upcoming Bambi will include just one of its theatrical previews and The Incredibles will have a teaser and its two theatrical trailers. Let's hope Disney (as well as other studios who have begun to leave these off) reverses this troubling trend and starts including what was long the most basic of all bonus features.

Aside from the Sneak Peeks sections of other DVDs, the best you can do is check out the highest quality QuickTime files of trailers. Here are links to trailers from Disney movies released to DVD in 2004 without trailers.

The Haunted Mansion
Brother Bear
Teacher's Pet
Miracle
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Home on the Range
Around the World in 80 Days
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
National Treasure (coming to DVD April 2005): Trailer #1, Trailer #2