Gold Collection, Platinum Ed, Special Ed, Masterpieace Ed

[Grunches]

Why do they have so many different names for their videos? Why not just keep doing the Masterpieace on Specail Ed. I can see why they did Platinum Ed and stuff but why so many editions?

[ThiagoPE]

In my opinion, this is really a marketing issue, the ppl that already bought a movie will have to buy it aganin just for have the extras features of the masterpiece edition.

[indianajdp]

Don't even try to figure it out.

I'm serious. You'll drive yourself nuts.
Just enjoy the DVDs when they are released, no matter what they're listed as.

[Loomis]

I always find it interesting that this is such a big issue in the states.

Many other countries, inlcuding here, don't seem to have the 'labels' as such. Most of the films have just been released as part of the 'Disney' or 'Disney classics' collection or the occasional SE. Disney renames something in the US and it is essentially the same thing (see Vault).

A rose by any other name really....

[PheR]

that´s true, disney dvds have that labels only in the US...and basically, i don´t know why ...

probably non of them are the ultimate editions, at least for many films...others like black cauldron or robin hood, would be very very difficult to be released under any other label

[MickeyMousePal]

I guess United States have labels because Disney wants the media to buy the DVD.

Platium Edition (Examples Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, etc.)

Made a lot of money at the box office(theater) or most popular movie.

Gold Edition (Example Fox and the Hound, The Rescuers Down Under, etc.)
Less popluar and less money at the Box Office(theater).

Special Edition (Example Peter Pan and Oliver and Company, etc)
Get Spceial treatment don't know why?

60 Anniversary Special Edition. Fantasia (60th Anniversary Special Edition) Dumbo (60th Anniversary Edition).

Movies that mark their 60 anniverary.

That's what I think.

First time Relase( Tarzan, Atlantis - The Lost Empire and The Emperor's New Groove etc.)

[2099net]

I guess United States have labels because Disney wants the media to buy the DVD.

That still doesn't make any sense. For a start the Platinum collections were supposed to be the definitive collections. So once bought (in theory) you wouldn't buy another release. They spent so long hyping this they were actually devaluing their other releases in the eyes of the public.

By releasing the Gold Collection (with single discs the same price as the 2 disc Platinum releases) Disney is virtually admiting the films aren't as good, aren't as popular and Disney hasn't released the best version they could. Great marketing! (I'm being sarcastic)

It's a classic example of Disney US shooting itself in the foot becaue of it's obsession with titles. The Gold Collection branding has been dropped because its very existance was a reason for casual purchases not to buy the disc. Changing the releases to Anniversary and Special editions makes it look like the release is special - even though the contents are pretty much the same as the Gold Collection releases.

Then look at all the confusion with the Sleeping Beauty Special Edition vs "Platinum". Some people think the set will be released as a Platinum in the future. Some people think this re-release will have different content. But nobody knows. Personally I'd be very surprised if Sleeping Beauty is re-released in a new format on standard DVD. But all the time we get posts from people asking should they buy the current release or wait until the Platinum is released; some people even specially register with the forum just to ask this question. Result - Disney has probably lost some sales on Sleeping Beauty while some people wait for the (never coming?) Platinum release.

I never understood the naming conventions. Having Collector's editions of the new releases made sense - especially when normal and collector versions were being released. Having a Platinum collection made sense at the time, but things became confused when the Fantasia and Toy Story collections were released. Was there really any difference between the Fantasia set and Snow White? And as I said, branding a set of releases as being "substandard" (aka Gold) really wasn't the best idea in the world. If nothing else, the whold Gold Collection name was tarnished by the early releases (I'll happily admit there are some excellent Gold discs available - but mud sticks I'm afraid).

I thought Disney were finally getting it's act together by dropping the Gold Collection branding, downplaying the Platinum branding to the extent of virtually ignoring it and sticking to Special Editions and Anniversary Editions. Then they go and muck things up by introducing the Masterpiece Collections - another brand which is unlikely to last long either.

By having too many brands you make people unwary of buying, because they expect something better later.

Over in the UK we just have plain releases and Collector's Editions with the odd Special Edition or Anniversary Edition to indicate an upgrade from an existing disc. After all, technically you can't have a Special Edition without a "normal" Edition first.

Nobody queries the worldwide naming conventions. It must work out better in the long run.

I've typed a lot here so excuse me, but I really cannot work out this obsession with release types.

[MickeyMousePal]

You ROCK! 2099net
You said it better than I did.

[jasmine-rules]

In my opinion, this is really a marketing issue, the ppl that already bought a movie will have to buy it aganin just for have the extras features of the masterpiece edition.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Hey, it worked on me! I sold my Alice GC to buy the masterpiece edition

[slash]

I disagree with everyone and actually like what Disney is doing. They made mistakes in the past, but got their act together with the release of the Gold Collection. In my eyes, Disney has only made two mistakes, one was the release of the Limited Collection, and the second was that they never fully explained their release system. The reason I disliked the release of the Limited Collection was that they were released with poor transfers, had no extra's, and Disney charged around $40.00 for them. But since that time, their releases have made complete sense, and I'll give you my interpretation of it.

Limited Release - Disney's failed strategy at releasing titles for a few weeks at extremely poor quality, charging a fortune, and then removing them from the market. Ignore these releases as they have nothing to do with their new strategy.

Normal Release - Releases of movies recently in theathre's. Treatment is equal to standard DVD's released by other companies, you might get a lot of specials, you might not. Titles in this category include Treasure Planet, Lilo & Stitch, Atlantis. Brother Bear and Home on the Range will also get such a release when they get released on DVD.

Gold/Special - Very standard release. Disney didn't spend much time retouching, adding extras, remastering these releases. Includes every Disney title except for titles that will be insulted by such a normal release. Titles that will never be released under such standard conditions include Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, Jungle Book, and all the other really good A+ Disney Cartoons. If you are short on money, you should only purchase the gold release of lesser known/acclaimed Disney titles. Such examples include Black Couldron, Sword in the Stone, Melody Time, Three Caballeros, Aristocats, Robin Hood,etc. since such titles will probably never get any royal treatments.

60th Anniversary - Slightly better release than Gold or Special. Probably will be rereleased with more features and better transfer, but not guaranteed. Real value of the release is that it is an Anniversary release so it will be worth collecting.

Masterpiece / Collector's - Disney's A titles. Extremely good, but not Platinum good. Titles such as Fantasia, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, and Sleeping Beauty will be definately released under this title rather than Platinum. Other titles that I suspect will get released under this title include Lilo & Stitch, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tarzan, and Hunchback. These are must get's and will be generally available in the market for under a year.

Platinum - Disney's A++ titles. This list includes: Snow White, Bambi, Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalamations, Jungle Book, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Lion King.

Seeing how Disney has realized that they are devaluing their products by making them easily available, I would strongly suggest collecting these titles as they are released. I will be extremely surprised if Disney releases their Platinum Line again in ten years as they originally said they would or make their Masterpiece releases available again anytime soon. Instead, expect a lot of titles in the collector's/masterpiece and Platinum titles to go out of the market for 50 or more years. Buy them as these titles are released unless you want to purchase illegal copies. Furthermore, if you want to collect all Disney Classics, I would strongly suggest purchasing their poor releases, such as Melody Time, now. Since noone really bothers to purchase these, except for collector's, I have a strong suspicion that Disney will stop making them soon. You won't be missing much by not having these titles except for the distinction of having all Disney animated classics.

[goofystitch]

I personally, sometimes get hooked on the collections. I started to buy the Gold Collection movies I wanted, and then started to collect every Disney animated movie classics line( I'm refering to movies like Mulan, Robin Hood, etc...). After I owned them all, when I had a little extra money, I decided to get every Gold Collection title (Including Pocahontas 2). It just sucked me in. Even though I own "Alice In Wonderland," "Pocahontis," and "Marry Poppins," I'm still going to buy the Masterpiece editions for the special features, and then get sucked into owning them all.

[Grunches]

I personally, sometimes get hooked on the collections. I started to buy the Gold Collection movies I wanted, and then started to collect every Disney animated movie classics line( I'm refering to movies like Mulan, Robin Hood, etc...). After I owned them all, when I had a little extra money, I decided to get every Gold Collection title (Including Pocahontas 2). It just sucked me in. Even though I own "Alice In Wonderland," "Pocahontis," and "Marry Poppins," I'm still going to buy the Masterpiece editions for the special features, and then get sucked into owning them all.

That will happen to me also. Thank you everyone for your great ideas about this subject it has helped me a lot!

[Disney Guru]

It'S Just A Sales Gimic That Disney Has.

For Instant with the video of Mary Poppins.

1st printing old style with large mickey mouse who filled up half of the front case.
2nd printing same thing except with a different pic of Mary Poppins of the front.
3rd Printing: Same Type Of Clamshell With Same Pic as 2nd printing but Pic Was enlarged and their is a small Mickey Mouse At The Top Of The Front Cover.
4th Printing: Same as third except the clamshell is not embedded and you can pull out the front insert if you want to.
5th Printing: Sams as 4th except they have changed the design on the spine.
6th Printing: Black Diamond Edition
7th Printing: Masterpiece Edition
8th Printing: Anniversary Edition
9th Printing: Gold Collection Edition

[Ernest Rister]

Alot of misinformation here.

First off, it's not a sales gimmick, it is a method of trying to distinguish one release from another.

Here's the rough history --

Disney got into the DVD game a bit late, and stumbled badly with the "Limited" issue titles. Featureless for the most part, and using old transfers created for previous laserdisc and VHS issues, the DVDs were roundly criticized for being rush jobs.

Disney then decided to release ALL of their animated titles onto DVD, save for the ten highest-selling titles, which would be released for a limited time only. These ten were called the "Platinum Edition" titles, the rest were supposed to be Gold Collection titles, and were supposed to be on perpetual release -- meaning, they would never go back into the "vault" or put on moratorium. So, for the next several months, Disney animated classics were coming onto DVD sometimes at a rate of three a month in the Gold Collection line. The "Limited Issue" releases of Pinocchio, Hercules, and Mulan were re-labeled as "Gold Collection" titles, and by the end of year 2000, an enormous number of Disney animated films were put on DVD.

In October of 2000, The Fantasia Anthology was released, and was a sort of trial run for the eventual Platinum Edition line. While not a Gold Collection title, it was on a sort of perpetual issue. No plans were announced to retire the title.

Then, in early 2001, the "Gold Collection" line was scuttled as Disney re-thought it's plans on DVD. The last two Gold Collection titles, Oliver and Co. and So Dear to my Heart, were cancelled (Oliver and Co. would show up in 2002 without the Gold Collection banner, So Dear has yet to make it to DVD in Region 1). This is why titles that were supposed to be "Gold Collection" editions were delayed, and ultimately released without the Gold Collection banner. The Dumbo: 60th Anniversary Edition and Peter Pan: SE DVDs shared similar art work to the Gold Collection on their spine, but Disney had rethought the wisdom of simply dumping their entire library of animated titles onto DVD with limited bonus features. They responded to the marketplace, and decided to invest some more time and effort into their release titles.

As for the Platinum Editions, I don't think any serious Disney fan can argue that the Platinum Editions represent the "A++" of the Disney films -- if that was true, both Fantasia and Pinocchio would have been designated as Platinum titles right off the bat. Instead, Disney chose to take their ten highest-selling titles, and make those the "Platinum Editions".

But earlier this year, the Platinum Edition plans were re-thought out, and it was decided to release two Platinum Titles a year, to get all the titles out on standard NTSC DVD before 2007. Why? The rise of High-Definition televison, and the creation of the new High-Definiton home video formats (HD-DVD and VHS-D). Disney wants to get the titles out sooner on the NTSC format, so that they can start re-selling them to you as High-Definition titles at the end of this decade and the years moving forward.

And so, Sleeping Beauty, Fantasia, Pinocchio and Peter Pan were added to the Platinum Edition lineup just a few months ago to allow for the "two-a-year" strategy that starts in 2005. That's why the Fantasia Anthology is now going on moratorium. It is now going to be a Platinum title in the years ahead.

Now -- "Masterpiece Editions". Why? Well, that's simple. Disney wants to differentiate the new two-disc editions with the old Gold Collection editions, to make sure people know it is a different version than what they already own. A more interesting question is this -- why Alice in Wonderland, Pocahontas, and Lilo and Stitch?

Because most of the supplemental materials for these titles had already been assembled. Lilo and Stitich was first announced as a two-disc CE a'la Atlantis and Emperor's New Groove. It was decided to scuttle that plan, so that the title could be re-sold later as a more-elaborate release to the same fans. As for Alice and Pocahontas --

Alice in Wonderland's supplements had already been produced for the packed-to-the-gills Alice in Wonderland laserdisc boxset that was released in the mid 90's. Same thing with Pocahontas. Same thing with Sleeping Beauty -- almost all of Sleeping Beauty's DVD supplements had already been created for a huge laserdisc box set that streeted in the mid-90's. The Sleeping Beauty SE merely ports over all of the material that made up the previously-released Laserdisc box set, slaps on some animated menus and some set-top games. Voila! Instant SE.

Alice in Wonderland and Pocahontas are going to follow the same path, and so don't be surprised to see "Masterpiece" re-releases of Hunchback of Notre Dame and Saludos Amigos/Three Caballeros in 2005, since both of those titles ALSO had huge laserdisc box set releases, hence they'll be relatively inexpensive to produce as "Masterpiece" 2-disc DVDs (at least, inexpensive compared to something like The Fantasia Anthology).

Why wasn't Sleeping Beauty called a "Masterpiece Edition"? Probably because it is going on moratorium, while the "Masterpiece" titles will be on perpetual release.

[2099net]

I don't think that's quite true Ernest. There's no US disc that currently has more than 2 previous releases, so the vast range of branding Disney have used are not required, even if it is to inform customers of "upgrades".

As I said, the rest of the world doesn't have all these "started-and-not-finished" title ranges. We all got the Limited Editions first of all. In fact, the UK got more limited edition releases because we also got Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland and The Sword in the Stone included.

But we never got a Gold Collection. Also, the first few Gold Collection releases were also exact copies of the Limited Release DVDs. Some even had the limited edition chapter inserts and disc cover art. So that means right from the start people were going to be confused, especially if they were expecting the Gold Colletion release to be different.

As we know, Disney had grand ideas for the Gold Collection - you can see their ideas on the initial trailers of the early to mid-collection titles. But they never finished the range.

And what exactly is going on with Sleeping Beauty? Is this the Platinum Release or not? Why announce its just been added to the Platinum schedule and then release a Special Edition DVD? Will we get another Platinum Release? Will the disc contents be changed? Being a Special Edtion has nothing to do with it being a limited release - Oliver and Company is a Special Edition but is on no moratorium. Plus The Lion King was released a couple of months or so afterwards and will be on sale for 2 years, despite being a Platinum release (a release the public expects to be limited), while Sleeping Beauty was is only available for a few months. I know Disney have changed their availability window for Platinum releases, but why not for all titles with limited availability windows? There is just no logic to Disney's release patterns at all. Trying to work it out will simply give you a headache. I doubt Disney know the logic themselves and just do things on a whim.

And talking of Sleeping Beauty and Platinum releases, what's going on with the Platinum range? Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King hardly mentioned Platinum anywhere in their promotions. If you have the Lion King Gift Set it's worth noting that Platinum isn't mentioned at all on the outer packaging... even when describing the disc included in the package. That is only ever referenced as "[a] 2-Disc Special Edition". Why not let people know the DVD in the box is a Platinum edition... it's supposed to be Disney's "best of the best" so why not sell it as such? So is there really any real difference between Sleeping Beauty and The Lion King? Do we even need a Platinum edition? If there's no longer a Gold Collection, whats the point in keeping the Platinum branding? It was only Platinum to indicate the discs were more valuable than "Gold". Now what does Platinum actually mean and indicate in the absence of Gold?

The new "Masterpiece" discs are obviously choosen because of their content availability, but what's wrong with 2 Disc Collector's Edition? It worked for titles such as Atlantis and Emperor's New Groove? Now, instead of carrying on with the Collector's Edition range, we've just ended up with a Masterpeice range (which, given Disney's past record, is unlikely to be finished either). Disney have shown no commitment to their naming conventions since entering the DVD market.

The rest of the world get by with re-releases with the same branding (bar the odd Special Edition, which is done to brand the film, not the disc), and only featuring the "collectors edition" branding on multi-disc sets. Yet we can clearly differentiate well enough between each release. For example the UK has seen two Peter Pan releases - the Limited Edition and the Special Edition, yet both are just marked "Peter Pan" on the packaging. So the only explanation I can come up with is Buena Vista Home Entertainment US thinks their customers are stupid - all this constant rebranding is just to appeal to the lowest common denominator and does nothing but alienate the true Disney collectors who want shelves of Disney DVDs with consistant and logical branding.

In conclusion, I think it's fair to say most people on this forum spend lots more time worrying about the various Disney DVD collections than Disney themselves do.

[Uncle Remus]

Platinum Editions are the movies that Disney considers the greatest movies that Disney made and that there are alot of material that can be put on the DVD to make it look good.

Masterpiece/Special Editions are the movies that Disney fans consider are good and that there is alot of extra material from the vaults that can be put on the DVD.

Gold Collection are the movies that didnt do good at the box office but are liked by some Disney fans. these movies have little or none extra features on the DVD.

[Disney Guru]

Quote From Carol Burnett "Forgive Me For Living"

I just put that on there because that was the info that I had recieved.

[Ernest Rister]

<<Platinum Editions are the movies that Disney considers the greatest movies that Disney made and that there are alot of material that can be put on the DVD to make it look good.>>

That's just not true. At one point, there was only going to be two lines of DVDs -- the Gold Collection, and the Platinum Editions. The Gold Collection titles were going to all be released with 24 months, while the Platinum Editions were going to come one a year. Disney was going to release their entire library of Gold Collection titles within a two-year period. When it came time to choose what titles would be the "Platinum Edition" titles, Disney took their ten highest selling library titles on home video, and called that list the "Platinum" titles. Everything else was going to be the Gold Collection.

Disney did NOT ask themselves, "Hmm -- what are the greatest movies that we've ever made?" They asked themselves, "What are our highest selling titles?"

I would like someone to look me in the eye and even *try* to make a serious argument that The Jungle Book is a "greater" film than Pinocchio. Or 101 Dalmatians a "greater" film than Dumbo. Or Aladdin a "greater" film than Fantasia.

Pinocchio is considered by Disney animators, film critics and historians to be Disney's best animated feature. Dumbo runs it a close second. Fantasia is on a whole other level entirely -- a milestone in film history.

Disney's Platinum Edition line was not a set of titles chosen as Disney's best...it was the top ten highest selling titles. Why would they be concerned about that? Because *everything else* was going to be a "Gold Collection" title, and street on DVD and VHS within a 24 month period. That's why Pinocchio -- the crown jewel of Disney animation -- was a Gold Collection title, while a fun film with a couple of toe tapping songs made the Platinum Edition list.

"Greatness" had nothing to do it.

Disney has since corrected this, moving Pinocchio, Fantasia and Sleeping Beauty to the Platinum lineup and releasing a stacked 60th Anniversary DVD of Dumbo, so animation buffs like me can relax their stiff collars and breathe a little easier. But at the outset, "greatness" had nothing to do with what was chosen for the Platinum lineup. Just money.

[Disney Guru]

Well I Am Sorry That I Made A Mistake But You Don't Have To Rub It In!

[Jake Lipson]

Disney spends way too much time trying to invent new collections, and never sees them through, especially when they've got the perfect collection just sitting there and not being used: The Animated Classics Collection.

If I were running Disney, there would be two sub-collections under this: the Platinum Editions, all 14 of them, to differenciate them as the best of the best. Then everything else would be a simple Special Edition. All of them would be fully-loaded two-disc editions with numerous quality suppliments and all would be up to or exceeding Snow White quality. They'd be packaged the same -- all with the open-like-a-book slipcovers --and be numbered on the spine 1 through 44 (Snow White to Home on the Range.) The covers would look the same, too -- the top "bar" would say PLATINUM EDITION or SPECIAL EDITION, respectively, and the bottom bar would say DISNEY'S (blank) ANIMATED CLASSIC. For example, Snow White would say DISNEY'S 1ST ANIMATED CLASSIC, all the way through Home on the Range, which would be DISNEY'S 44TH ANIMATED CLASSIC. This way we cold have a definative branding and collection ofall 44 classics with the same level of quality and little-to-no confusion.