4 Disney movies announced for Blu-ray release in 2008

[Mr. Toad]

per digitalbits

Spring - Narnia
Summer - National Treasure
Fall - Finding Nemo, Sleeping Beauty

WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT
ANNOUNCES THE DISNEY BLU-RAY TITLE WAVE COMING 2008

Burbank, CA, August 17, 2007 - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (WDSHE) announced today more innovations in the Blu-ray format with the Studio's first ever Platinum Blu-ray release, the Studio's first BD-Live title, and full motion picture-in-picture Blu-ray bonus features.

The Studio announced the first animated Platinum coming to Blu-ray will be the timeless treasure Sleeping Beauty. Releasing Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray marks a milestone for the format as these titles are not released until a format has been proven both technologically and in terms of consumer acceptance - and Disney's animated releases in the past have been a major catalysis for any format's growth. Pinocchio's release on VHS and Snow White's release on DVD marked major growth milestones for both of those formats. The Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray Disc release will also include a virtual castle and multi-player activities - both utilizing the BD-Live technology.

“The Platinum titles are the crown jewels of the Disney Studios and we do not take releasing them lightly on any format. The proven Blu-ray technology has allowed us to take our films to new heights, fully utilizing the larger capacity and interactive capabilities for an incredible all-new consumer experience,” commented Bob Chapek, President of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

In addition, WDSHE announced the special edition release of the action-adventure blockbuster National Treasure, which will become the Studio's first BD-Live Blu-ray Disc title. In addition, the Studio will bring two of its treasured family classics to Blu-ray Disc, Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, both of which will feature full motion picture-in-picture bonus features.

“The strides that we've made with this format are just the tip of the iceberg and we are confident that consumers will be astounded by the level of entertainment that can only be achieved by using the maximum capacity of the Blu-ray Disc format. All of these wonderful titles will appeal to the ever growing Blu-ray market and we are extremely proud to offer these in the most pristine and robust presentations ever for Disney fans around the globe,” continued Chapek.

This exciting slate of Blu-ray Disc releases will begin with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in spring 2008, followed by National Treasure in summer of 2008 and culminating with Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo and Sleeping Beauty in fall 2008."

[akhenaten]

shoot!

now i have 5 blue ray titles to get..
a)the pirates movies
b)meet the robinsons
c)sleeping beauty (which i cant wait to see how gorrrrrrgeoussssss it will look on HD!) plus updating the dvds as well...for i do not have a HD tv and player yet.disney pleaseee take ur time in releasing these moviessssssssssssssssssssssssss. i dont want to miss out from ur stupid vault rules.

[DarthPrime]

shoot!

now i have 5 blue ray titles to get..
a)the pirates movies
b)meet the robinsons
c)sleeping beauty (which i cant wait to see how gorrrrrrgeoussssss it will look on HD!) plus updating the dvds as well...for i do not have a HD tv and player yet.disney pleaseee take ur time in releasing these moviessssssssssssssssssssssssss. i dont want to miss out from ur stupid vault rules.

I'm wondering about the vault as well. Hopefully the titles will stay out of the vault for awhile.

[darth_deetoo]

I was hoping for Narnia before Christmas to be honest. And I hope Sleeping Beauty will be supported with a couple of non-platinum 2D animated titles next year too. How about something like Hercules, Alice in Wonderland, Tarzan or Hunchback? Not holding my hopes up though.

I would like to see Hidalgo and Herbie Fully Loaded appear on Blu Ray too. And maybe some older live action titles, like the other Herbie films or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Still, there's already quite a bit of stuff on the horizon for the run up to Christmas.

On Blu Ray:-

Smallville
Meet the Robinson's
Cars
Ratatouille
Pirates 3
Transformers
Planet Earth (UK)
Spider-Man Box Set
Blade Runner
Close Encounters

And hopefully Fox will start releasing again with Die Hard 4 and FF: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

And on regular DVD, there's loads of Doctor Who and a bit of Disney.

Jungle Book
Disney Princess Enchanted Tales
The Key to Time
The Time Warrior
Planet of Evil
Destiny of the Daleks
Complete Season 3

So I guess there's enough stuff out there to keep me occupied as is.

[Okie Tigger]

Sorry, missed the other post.

[Disneykid]

The Platinum titles are the crown jewels of the Disney Studios and we do not take releasing them lightly on any format.

How do you explain Peter Pan, then, Bobby?

Anywho, this is great news. I wonder if the BD Narnia will be the four-disc Extended Edition, or the two-disc Collector's Edition. If they do a picture-in-picture bonus feature, that renders the "Visualizing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" feature on disc four useless, so perhaps this will be a three-disc extended edition.

I'm also really excited for Sleeping Beauty and Finding Nemo. Both films are going to look spectacular on BD. Hopefully Nemo will have more extras added to it. The current two-disc is great, but not excellent. The "Making Nemo" documentary could easily have been half an hour longer, and we didn't get a single interview with any of the voice actors.

Sleeping Beauty is an excellent enough set as it is, and the only room for improvement I see is to give it a new documentary to replace the brief featurettes (most of which appear in the audio commentary). People have been saying that because Sleeping Beauty wasn't restored by Lowry, the restoration wasn't in high definition. Well, we haven't heard any talk of a new restoration going on, so I can only assume that the current DVD transfer WAS stored away in high definition, ready to be put on Blu-Ray.

Even though I'm not getting a Blu-Ray player till probably Christmas of 2008, I'll still be picking these up (and may pick up National Treasure, depends). Out of my DVD collection, most of my upgrades to Blu-Ray will consist of Disney titles. Only a few others (the Harry Potter series, The Wizard of Oz) will be replaced because a) I have way too many DVDs to upgrade, and b) the BD player will upconvert my current titles. Considering how good some of my DVDs look on my widescreen television, I can live without their BD counterparts.

Bring on Alice in Wonderland and Hunchback of Notre Dame, please. Oh, and Disney? Take the opportunity to port over ALL of their respective laserdisc features to the BD releases.

[Beast]

Nice. Wish there would have been some confirmation that Sleeping Beauty will also see a release in the Platinum line on DVD next year also. Considering it's the only major release I'm missing of the Disney films. I know it's expected, but confirming it would have been nice.

[potterrules93]

i think they should release tarzan on blu ray and reissue the 2-disk with it..that would be great
~Ryn~

[ValenciaJoe]

Even though I'm not getting a Blu-Ray player till probably Christmas of 2008, I'll still be picking these up (and may pick up National Treasure, depends). Out of my DVD collection, most of my upgrades to Blu-Ray will consist of Disney titles. Only a few others (the Harry Potter series, The Wizard of Oz) will be replaced because a) I have way too many DVDs to upgrade, and b) the BD player will upconvert my current titles. Considering how good some of my DVDs look on my widescreen television, I can live without their BD counterparts.

Hate to tell you this, but Harry Potter looks like a HD-DVD-only distribution, for now. Although it has yet to be released in the US, the only Harry Potter film to be released (in the UK) has been in the HD-DVD format. Though Warner has distributed some of their movies on both formats, the big movies so far for them have only been on HD-DVD. Perhaps it has something to do with the IME that still needs to be perfected on the Blu-ray format.

[Beast]

i think they should release tarzan on blu ray and reissue the 2-disk with it..that would be great
~Ryn~

Agreed. The 1-Disc release was a pretty poor showing.

[Mr. Toad]

Nice. Wish there would have been some confirmation that Sleeping Beauty will also see a release in the Platinum line on DVD next year also. Considering it's the only major release I'm missing of the Disney films. I know it's expected, but confirming it would have been nice.

There is no confirmation because the press push with press releases and a tour of major malls is all about Blu Ray. Dont worry VHS did not start to be phased out until 8 years into Blu Ray. And even if they did not issue it the Sleeping Beauty that is currently on DVD is probably the best non-platinum release.

[Beast]

There is no confirmation because the press push with press releases and a tour of major malls is all about Blu Ray. Dont worry VHS did not start to be phased out until 8 years into Blu Ray. And even if they did not issue it the Sleeping Beauty that is currently on DVD is probably the best non-platinum release.

Oh, I know. I'm just saying... we heard that the Platinum DVD would likely be released as well. So I'm hoping that is still the plan. I'm sure it is, becuase Blu-Ray hasn't caught on quite that well as of yet. They'd be shooting themselves in the foot otherwise.

[Paka]

Hate to tell you this, but Harry Potter looks like a HD-DVD-only distribution, for now. Although it has yet to be released in the US, the only Harry Potter film to be released (in the UK) has been in the HD-DVD format. Though Warner has distributed some of their movies on both formats, the big movies so far for them have only been on HD-DVD. Perhaps it has something to do with the IME that still needs to be perfected on the Blu-ray format.

Warner was initially HD DVD only, but right before the "war" started they switched to format neutral. Many initial Warner titles were HD DVD only because they changed their mind so late in the game. Warner has since sworn repeatedly that they will "catch up" the Blu-ray releases for the 20 or so titles that are still HD DVD only - for example, The Polar Express BD counterpart was just announced yesterday. The delay is due to the studio waiting for BD Java interactive functions to be finalized, and so forth.

Not that I'm holding my breath - Warner is a notorious "thinly veiled" HD DVD supporter, and their Blu-rays are little more than inferior HD DVD ports, not taking advantage of the added benefits of BD. Warner BDs tend to get the short end of the stick in audio options, as well.

Anyhoo, all five Harry Potter films were announced for both Blu-ray and HD DVD this November, although exact dates and specs haven't been revealed. Likely day-and-date with the Order of the Phoenix DVD, though.

[Cobain59]

Very goog news! I hope they arrived quickly in France (I'm french )

[potterrules93]

jungle book was also announced for blu ray on october 2 http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=408 i dont know if its this year ir next
~Ryn~

[darth_deetoo]

There's a 5 film set of all the Harry Potter movies supposed to be coming from Warner on both HD-DVD and Blu Ray before Christmas. Details haven't been officially confirmed yet - but this has come from Warner.

[Ariel'sprince]

my guess-Sleeping Beauty will be in a Blu-ray with the Platinum Edition.
but wait-they'll still release them on normal DVD,right? (the Platinum Edition and so,not movies like Finding Nemo or Narnia that already are on new DVD).

[ValenciaJoe]

Anyhoo, all five Harry Potter films were announced for both Blu-ray and HD DVD this November, although exact dates and specs haven't been revealed. Likely day-and-date with the Order of the Phoenix DVD, though.

Mea culpa. I should have checked before I spoke (brain in neutral, fingers in first). That announcement came out when I was out of the country. I have been out of the country for close to a month. I must have missed it on the Digitalbits site.

[Super Aurora]

my guess-Sleeping Beauty will be in a Blu-ray with the Platinum Edition.
but wait-they'll still release them on normal DVD,right? (the Platinum Edition and so,not movies like Finding Nemo or Narnia that already are on new DVD).

I also want to know this too because I plan on getting the SB platinum collection(missed the SE one) btu I don't have a blue ray player. Hopefully they have it out for regular dvd as well.

[Ariel'sprince]

my guess-Sleeping Beauty will be in a Blu-ray with the Platinum Edition.
but wait-they'll still release them on normal DVD,right? (the Platinum Edition and so,not movies like Finding Nemo or Narnia that already are on new DVD).

I also want to know this too because I plan on getting the SB platinum collection(missed the SE one) btu I don't have a blue ray player. Hopefully they have it out for regular dvd as well.

i hope it will and i think it will and i miessed the SE one,too.