School Paper on Disney

[Zombi6422]

I am writing a paper for school, and I need input, please. I want to write it on Disney's dvd policy of releasing a film for a brief period and then putting it in the vault. If you could PM your opinion on this to me, I would greatly appreciate it. If you think it helps or hurts the films, etc.. Thanks.

[Luke]

PMs are not to be used for such a purpose. Replies can either be posted in this thread or you can not ask for them at all here and stick to e-mailing webmasters. And I can save the time of anyone who's planning a reply by reproducing my earlier e-mail response to this "homework help" query here:

The current plan they have in place is to keep DVDs available for two years and then out of print for five years. The good for them is that the limited window of availability encourages people to buy them who might otherwise only consider them. It increases demand and when a title is pulled, secondhand market prices rise and people remember that Disney movies go out of print and become costly if not purchased when they are released. The bad for Disney is that their films in moratorium aren't earning anything and customers who would like to buy product directly from a retailer can't. While their plans are often subject to change, their philosophy has remained in place for a number of years.

[Karushifa]

As Luke's post indicated, Disney has had this sort of policy for years, going well back to the days of VHS/Beta. Now with the advent of DVDs, there is a little more raison d'etre for this sort of policy, as it sometimes makes sense to discontinue a bare-bones release of a film if a newer version with more special features comes out.

The problem with this is that Disney will "vault" a film (and show ads on TV with language implying "this is your last chance, no really") but still wait a year or more before releasing the newer version, so that buyers don't really have a good chance to decide for themselves which edition to buy. Other films (Lord of the Rings and Star Wars come readily to mind) are sometimes simultaneously available in more than one edition, usually a regular version and an uber-special-deluxe version, so you really only pay for what you want.

Personally, I feel a bit patronized sometimes when I see an ad that is basically telling me to buy a movie right now or else. Sometimes I just don't have the money/time/desire to buy a new DVD and I'd appreciate it being available until I can pick it up at MY convenience instead of the most profitable time for Disney.

[Robin Hood]

I'd appreciate it being available until I can pick it up at MY convenience instead of the most profitable time for Disney.

That's a good way of putting it, I feel the same way. I wasn't even collecting Disney DVDS when Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, etc. came out. Also, the whole Bambi II vault situation is kind of a hassle.

[Karushifa]

That's a good way of putting it, I feel the same way. I wasn't even collecting Disney DVDS when Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, etc. came out.

That's a good point, what if you're a late bloomer when it comes to admiration of classic Disney films? You'd think that Disney would make their films as available as possible for the folks out there who haven't yet discovered which films they might want to own on DVD, but alas. Sure the fans pay attention to when Disney plans on vaulting each film, but the casual movie-watching public does not, necessarily.

Of course, even for fans, there are other factors. I was upset that the release window for the Fantasia films was so short, since I was in college at the time and could only afford one of the movies on DVD, not both and definitely not the box set, which was what I really wanted. But something had to give, and I ended up buying just Fantasia 2000 since I already had the original on VHS.

[kbehm29]

I wasn't even collecting Disney DVDS when Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, etc. came out.

I have the same problem! I was only 23 or 24 with two young kids and didn't have the MONEY to seriously collect dvd's back then. Now that I'm more financially stable, I can't go to a normal store and buy them NEW. Luckily, I had bought Beauty and the Beast for my older sister for Christmas that year. I have since bribed her, and have it back from her now (mint condition with slipcover and everything). I still don't have Snow White. I recently invested in Sleeping Beauty through a reputable seller that I thoroughly researched on E-bay for $45.00, brand new with slipcover and shrinkwrap.

To sum this all up - their Vault policy has become a hassle for me. IMO - true Disney fans or collectors will buy the DVD's they love. A Vault policy is hurting them more than helping.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

But still, it is better now that it used to be - in the days before DVD most of the animated "classics" would be in the "vault" most of the time.

[TM2-Megatron]

Personally, I don't care how much of a "limited time offer" the movie is. If the bonus features aren't there (and with Disney, this is often the case), I won't even consider buying it. You can't release a sub-standard product and expect people to buy it simply because it's there only chance to do so for a few years.

[kbehm29]

Personally, I don't care how much of a "limited time offer" the movie is. If the bonus features aren't there (and with Disney, this is often the case), I won't even consider buying it. You can't release a sub-standard product and expect people to buy it simply because it's there only chance to do so for a few years.

Yet....with VHS there was no such thing as "bonus features". Don't people still buy DVD's because they love the actual movie, and anything that comes with it considered "bonus"? Since when have "bonus" features become a standard issue??? [I'm not trying to fight with you...just trying to discuss the issue].

[TM2-Megatron]

Personally, I don't care how much of a "limited time offer" the movie is. If the bonus features aren't there (and with Disney, this is often the case), I won't even consider buying it. You can't release a sub-standard product and expect people to buy it simply because it's there only chance to do so for a few years.

Yet....with VHS there was no such thing as "bonus features". Don't people still buy DVD's because they love the actual movie, and anything that comes with it considered "bonus"? Since when have "bonus" features become a standard issue??? [I'm not trying to fight with you...just trying to discuss the issue].

Different times, different rules. As for myself, I never actually bought any commercial VHS releases; I simply recorded movies off television, cutting out the commercials.

With DVDs, there was finally a format actually worth collecting. I started buying them late in 2001, and have always been fairly selective where bonus features are concerned. My DVD collection isn't as large as some of the others here (only 130-40 or so), but I don't have more than 4 or 5 single-disc releases in it (and even those are fairly decent, as far as 1-disc go; eg. The Iron Giant); everything else is 2,3 or 4-disc (just the movie portion; most TV series are obviously more than that). Unfortunately, I don't have all the Disney movies I'd like; but I can't bring myself to buy many of their craptacular releases.

[Wonderlicious]

Yet....with VHS there was no such thing as "bonus features". Don't people still buy DVD's because they love the actual movie, and anything that comes with it considered "bonus"? Since when have "bonus" features become a standard issue??? [I'm not trying to fight with you...just trying to discuss the issue].

I think what Megatron is trying to say is that if we look at the history of some Disney DVDs (like Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland and the Limited Issue titles) and also other studios' DVDs, a 1 disc edition eventually got replaced by a 2 disc edition. I can understand this point of view if this is the reason for not buying some DVDs, though that may not necessarily stop me from buying some 1 disc editions, especially when one considers the fact that Disney is (from recent rereleases, this is my conclusion) crap when it comes to rereleasing. I will never plan to buy the mediocre Region 1 Tarzan, The Emperor's New Groove and from the looks of it Dumbo rereleases (plus, I've already got the superior versions), but I haven't been stopped from buying the likes of The Great Mouse Detective, The Rescuers, Ichabod and Mr Toad and Oliver and Company, which I know probably won't get rereleased in brand new special editions just in time for Christmas due to Disney's silly heirachy of animated films.

EDIT: The user in question beat me too it, but I have another question; I seem to remember reading that you didn't want to buy any of the platinum editions (or in the case of some, equivalent like masterpiece or simple special edition)? I can understand with The Lion King, and to a lesser extent, Cinderella and Lady and the Tramp, but why not Bambi and Aladdin? Most seem to think that they're very good releases, if not excellent.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

There are so many DVDs around that there is every reason to be selective. However, the lack of bonus material is not going to stop me if there's a title I'd like to buy. There's not much point in extras just for the sake of extras, IMO. Bad extras are much worse than no extras.

[TM2-Megatron]

EDIT: The user in question beat me too it, but I have another question; I seem to remember reading that you didn't want to buy any of the platinum editions (or in the case of some, equivalent like masterpiece or simple special edition)? I can understand with The Lion King, and to a lesser extent, Cinderella and Lady and the Tramp, but why not Bambi and Aladdin? Most seem to think that they're very good releases, if not excellent.

I would've probably bought Beauty & the Beast had my interest in Disney renewed early enough, but unfortunately I was too late. Though personally, I feel that release should've been a 3-disc, as they used more compression than I generally like in squeezing all those versions of the film onto disc 1, along with a commentary track and the regular language options.

I would've liked to buy The Lion King and Lady and the Tramp, but neither release was as good as it could've been. I wasn't really interested in Cinderella, Snow White or Bambi, regardless of what bonus features they had/didn't have. When Aladdin rolled around, I was so annoyed at the Platinum Line in general I just didn't buy it.

Personally, I feel that if Disney wants to release (what they consider to be) their best animated films in definitive special editions; they should either collect every. single. scrap. of promotional, documentary, advertising, etc. material that was ever produced, and stick it all onto the DVDs along with a reasonable amount of new material (including at least one, preferably two, commentaries). If they aren't prepared to do this, I don't see any reason to bother. DVDs are soon to be replaced now, anyway; and while I still intend to keep the majority of my DVDs along with the new format, I suppose I'll just wait for Disney to get its act together. They could take a lesson from the massive Ultimate Planet of the Apes boxset that was released recently.

As for the so-called "lesser" animated classics, they should all recieve the treatment of the average Platinum (say, The Lion King or Cinderella). I'd probably be satisified with that treatment for most of those movies (except for a few, which I personally feel should be given a higher status), but not the ones that Disney is currently releasing in the Platinum line.

There's not much point in extras just for the sake of extras, IMO. Bad extras are much worse than no extras.

Agreed. Of course I won't buy a movie I don't like simply because it has good bonus content. This thread mainly seemed to be about extras, so I limited myself to that. But in the grander scheme of things, the extras have to be well-made, interesting, worth re-watching and accompanied by a movie I enjoy.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

When Aladdin rolled around, I was so annoyed at the Platinum Line in general I just didn't buy it.

As UD's AwallaceUNC once said, "A name is a name".

I think you should buy Aladdin at some point and not avoid just because it's titled a "Platinum Edition". It's really an excellent disc with pretty much everything you can ask for.

[TM2-Megatron]

When Aladdin rolled around, I was so annoyed at the Platinum Line in general I just didn't buy it.

As UD's AwallaceUNC once said, "A name is a name".

I think you should buy Aladdin at some point and not avoid just because it's titled a "Platinum Edition". It's really an excellent disc with pretty much everything you can ask for.

Perhaps, eventually. It seems to be the most commonly available Platinum, anyway. Every store I"m in always has at least 5-10 copies of it, almost always still with its slipcover (as useless as slipcovers actually are).