Walt Disney Treasures Wave VIII Discussion

[feedmelinguini]

This would complete the classic Donald shorts, but also I *think* this would complete all the theatrical shorts.

...actually, there is one series of theatrical shorts that have been ignored, the "People and Places" series. I believe only one of that series has been released, "Disneyland USA" (although that title is easily the least typical of the series). In addition, there are several live-action theatrically-released shorts that haven't been released on DVD, and several early pre-Mickey shorts and few other odds and ends (Bonkers: Off His Rocker and others).

As I see it, if they wanted to release one last wave, they probably could do a set of four: People and Places, Disney Rarities Volume Two, Educational Disney, and another television compilation (maybe Zorro or the remaining episodes from Swamp Fox/Elfago Baca). I'm not saying they would perceive this lineup to be one that would sell very well, but they COULD do it if they wanted.

I can't really see the series lasting much beyond that. What would be left? More television, sure, but I am racking my brain to come up with other ideas. Disney in 3-D, maybe? Or a compilation of theme park films?

...not that they would listen to little old me.
-Lon

[MK Sharp]

Well, we're getting the last of the Donalds, so that's good. Destino could be interesting, but a lot of that will depend on the quality of the docos.

WAIT a second, except the three chip and dale shorts and figaro and cleo. Two fhte chip and dale shorts are on the chip and dale cartoon dvd, but not lone chimpmunks. I think that susie the little blue coupe is available on one of the cartoon-type dvds but not the treasures dvd's. I think there will still be a few stragglers, but this sounds to me like the END OF THE LINE, jmho.

It's more than likely that the three Chip & Dale shorts will be bonus material on ChronDon 4, just as the three Figaro shorts were bonuses on Pluto 2.

Casey Bats Again is on the Melody Time disc; and Susie is on The Adventures Of Ichabod & Mr Toad (but only on the Yankee version, not on the Brittanic release - guess which one I bought... )

Any word yet on how many they will release of each?

Oh, I should imagine at least a dozen, maybe even a little more...

does Disney have any other "Alice Comedies" or "Laugh-O-Grams" that haven't been released?

There's about 30 Alices and half a dozen Kansas City films that haven't been released in the Treasures line (although many have been released on non-Disney DVDs). I can't see Disney doing a Silent era Treasure to round up these stragglers - (a) I'll be very surprised if there's a ninth wave; and (b) there can't be much sales potential in a bunch of shorts that even most Disney fans don't like...

[a-net-fan]

[/quote]There's about 30 Alices and half a dozen Kansas City films that haven't been released in the Treasures line (although many have been released on non-Disney DVDs). I can't see Disney doing a Silent era Treasure to round up these stragglers - (a) I'll be very surprised if there's a ninth wave; and (b) there can't be much sales potential in a bunch of shorts that even most Disney fans don't like...[/quote]

WOW I hope you are wrong! Why would you be so surprised to see a Wave 9 of Disney Treasures and why dont you think that they would release more Kansas City material? Are these just your thoughts or do you have some inside info? I actually think they will continue with the Treasures series for quite some time. Even if they dont release anymore Kansas City material there is still TONS of material that is worthy of being released on DVD in this series! What about more Spin and Marty or Hardy Boys? Those were great MMC Serials and they still need to release the Annette serial from the MMC! Also they need to finish off the El Fego Baca/ Swamp Fox series. There are just too many loose ends here and if Wave 8 was the last in the series.... I think we would have seen more of the volumes I mentioned above, to tie things up, instead of DESTINO and DR. SYN.

[skippy]

Sadly, I think that this wave will end the treasures.

Didn't Dick Cook say that the legacy line would continue?
I think that is where we will see the People and Places series, if it ever sees the light of day.

After that, I think we'll just begin seeing the grand recycle of stuff we already have om DVD in the Blu-Ray format.

[a-net-fan]

Sadly, I think that this wave will end the treasures.

OH NO...another prediction of an end to the Treasures Series! Do you guys know something I dont????

[2099net]

Well, Disney's hardly pulled out the stops for this wave. A semi-obligational end to the Donald Duck sets, and two releases previously marked for other lines (and presumably at least semi-prepared for their previous incarnations). Dr Syn was to be a normal DVD release (back in the days when Disney used to, you know, release old live action films outside of the DMC) and Destino, like Oswald was originally showcased as part of the Legacy line.

I really don't think Disney's heart is in more waves after this. The Dr Syn releases especially makes me think that they're being somewhat lazy - no matter how to butter the bread, that release seems somewhat "unconventiional" by including the TV episodes and the movie. It's almost a waste of a disc (I say almost, because hopefully each disc will still contain a number of extras).

Disney were happy to leave the movies off the Davey Crockett sets and release the movies later. That's even ignoring the fact The Dr Syn movie should have been released years ago (literally in this case).

Oh, I forgot. Now DVD has a larger audience than ever, Disney don't bother releasing vintage live-action movies anymore . So instead of saving the movie for a general release, they're palming it off on a second disc, stopping us from getting another 3 part TV series/story.

And then there's the fact print-runs have been getting smaller and smaller on each wave of Treasures for the past few years (except the illogical Oswald print-run "blip").

[MK Sharp]

WOW I hope you are wrong! Why would you be so surprised to see a Wave 9 of Disney Treasures and why dont you think that they would release more Kansas City material? Are these just your thoughts or do you have some inside info?

Well, it has been bandied about for some time that the aim was to do eight waves of Treasures; and here we are at Wave 8. The Treasures line has stuttered and stumbled to get this far with one threat of cancellation and tumbling sales figures. Now that pretty much all the theatrical shorts have been released I think it will finish here and any further releases of archive material will be part of a new or different range.

It's a sad but true fact that not many Disney fans care much about the short cartoons in general - it's very much a minority interest even on a site like this one. Shorts that are primitive, b/w and silent seem to be about as popular as a turd on a wedding cake. There was an undercurrent of contempt in most reviews of the Oswald Treasure, with suggestions that films of that vintage are hopelessly amateurish, boring with no entertainment value and only worth watching for historical interest (points I would strongly disgree with, BTW). Even the UD review, which I would have expected to cut the set a little slack, has a faint negative tone about it.

If Disney reckon they can only sell 60,000 copies of Chronological Donald 3 (a title which ought to be more popular), what hope for a bunch of tatty antiquities? I'm sure they were wildly optimistic about the number of Oswald sets they could shift (120,000 seems quite excessive), and having a bunch of them left in the warehouse would just entrench the opinion that barely anyone is interested in the silent era.

These are just my thoughts, and my conclusions based on observing past behaviour. I have no inside knowledge - I'm on the wrong side of the world for that!

[UrsushH.Bear]

FYI- Susie is on the Love Bug two-disc as well.

8, 9, the end or not. I'm glad to see Wave 8 show up, and come earlier.

P&P would be an ideal Legacy line, we'll just have to wait and see.

[slave2moonlight]

I can't really see the series lasting much beyond that. What would be left? More television, sure, but I am racking my brain to come up with other ideas. Disney in 3-D, maybe? Or a compilation of theme park films?

...not that they would listen to little old me.
-Lon

Or Soung of the South, So Dear to My Heart, unedited versions of Melody Time, Make Mine Music, and the Latin-America films... But the Treasures collection has always been heavy on TV stuff. They still have loads of TV stuff, like all the Von Drake stuff for example, and they still have enough shorts for at least one more rarities (and I don't mean just silent stuff).

[Calamity 23]

I sympathize with those who are disappointed but for me this is wonderful news! I'm so eager to see the Destino set and am especially happy that Mathmagic Land will be on the fourth Donald collection. Crossing my fingers that an Educational and/or another Rarities set will be released though, to finish off the remaining shorts (including Goofy's Freewayphobia and Freeway Trouble).

Thanks for passing on this welcome update!

[a-net-fan]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts on this wave and the possibility of future ones.

I think the series is popular enough that they could continue on with it for a while. It was made primarily for the "collectors" market and not necessarily for a broad audience ...so the lower number of copies that are sold reflect that. Its not necessarily a lack of interest or an inability to sell these DVDs. Like many are saying there is tons of material that could be added to this series and its a perfect way for the company to release and make some money off of their old material. Im afraid if this series is discontinued that we wont see anymore rare material like this released again in the future....at least until a site similar to i Tunes is made ....but for movies to be downloaded and burned on a home computer.

[Sloppy Moe]

I'm confident there will be a ninth wave. Whether there will be a tenth...not so much.

I agree that I hope that the Treasures line continues as long as it can.

[Mr. Toad]

Thank you for the early press release Disney. My thoughts:

1) Donald - slam dunk. Good to see them finish. I am glad Leonard Maltin's comments regarding no more animated Treasures was just badly communicated.

2) Destino - this seems like a waste of a Treasure. Unless, they issued the rest of the modern age animated shorts especially the Fantasia 2006 shorts.

30 Dr. Syn - would have much preferred People and Places but this is a good one too.

I imagine this is it for the Treasures and thanks to Disney for a fairly complete list.

As for the Kansas City shorts, the Lafflets(political spoofs) seem to be lost to time 100%. The Laugh O Grams have five of the seven issued by Inkwell Images and they did a masterful job on the quality. Disney does not have access to any that Ray Pointer didn't. I heartily recommend any Disney animation fan purchasing these.

Have you watched them yet Aaron?

After this release I plan on framing the lithographs.

[blackcauldron85]

Does anyone think Dali didn't like that Disney started "pleasing the audience" more in the 50s? Well, I heard that this project fell through just because it got so hard and complicated, right?

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation says this about "Destino":

"Dali and Walt got along very well, but the picture was not becoming quite what either of them had hoped when they started, so it was abandoned, by mutual agreement."
(Thomas, Frank, and Johnston, Ollie. The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. Italy: Disney Editions, 1981. 515.)

For those of you who think that "Destino" doesn't belong on a Treasures set: if not for a Treasures set, "Destino" might not see the light of day. I think that it has a limited market, so the limited number of Treasures made seems ideal for such a title. I do agree that, since the short is, well, short, everything could probably fit on one disc, but the bonus features will more than make up for the short running time of the feature presentation. In this set, the backstory is a huge part of the feature.

[Mr. Toad]

I'm confident there will be a ninth wave. Whether there will be a tenth...not so much.

I agree that I hope that the Treasures line continues as long as it can.

What do you propose be in it? Maltin already said that Disney nixed People and Places be in it although interviews with others indicated it might belong as an Evergreen titles like True Life Adventures. There is no short character left to anchor the list. Sales are struggling in the last couple of years. What is left that could be in a Treasure line aside from maybe one more Rarities set.

I am thrilled Disney responded to the outcry over the end of the Treasures. They did what we asked - complete Donald and a near complete run of animated shorts. I think that will be it.

[slave2moonlight]

What do you propose be in it? Maltin already said that Disney nixed People and Places be in it although interviews with others indicated it might belong as an Evergreen titles like True Life Adventures. There is no short character left to anchor the list. Sales are struggling in the last couple of years. What is left that could be in a Treasure line aside from maybe one more Rarities set.

Why is it so hard to see what could be in a 9th wave? You said it yourself, they could have another rarities. They've only given us ALMOST all the animted shorts. Why shouldn't they/wouldn't they finish it up? And, as we've been saying, there's plenty more material from the anthology show. More than enough to make several Treasures in the vein of the ones we've already seen. They haven't even completed something they started, Swamp Fox/Baca, and if someone was at a loss for what else to release, there's still more Hardy Boys, Spin and Marty, and so on. We've gone on and on about this stuff in the forums before, but they could do sets on Ludwig Von Drake, educational shorts, and many serials from the anthology show and from the Mickey Mouse Club. There are shows hosted by Ranger Woodlore, Moby Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Donald Duck... There is a heck of a lot of stuff out there, and if they truly wanted an anchor for another wave, they could ball-up and release Song of the South. There would be no better format for such a controversial release than the collector-aimed Treasures collection. There're also the other features I mentioned before that were released edited in the past, and the many as yet unreleased features. And I'm not even mentioning the post-Walt stuff, because everyone jumps on my head when I do, ha.

[Barbossa]

I'd still like to see a Hardy Boys Volume 2: The Mystery of the Ghost Farm and some more Disneyland episodes.

[Mouseketodd]

Before "Legendary Heroes: Elfego Baca/The Swamp Fox" had been released, I had NEVER even heard about EB, and I had only a peripheral knowledge of Disney's SF series.

After purchasing this volume when it was released, I watched it all, and THOROUGHLY ENJOYED IT ALL -- especially "Elfego Baca!"

I'd like very much to get the rest of the episodes of these two franchises. And, PLEEZE, release "Gallegher" and "Texas John Slaughter."

And, of course, I'm eager for more Mickey Mouse Club serials (Hey, I'd like Club seasons, too!).

[gardener14]

I would like to see the People and Places series, and I'd like to have the complete Zorro series.

[a-net-fan]

Im sorry Mr Toad but I agree with the others that there is PLENTY of other material that needs released before the Treasures can end. This collection wasnt meant to just release the Animated shorts.....but other rare Disney material as well. The incomplete release of El Fego Baca / Swamp Fox, Spin and Marty and Hardy Boys is a prime example of how there are still loose ends to be tied up in this collection and many others have given great ideas and examples of great titles worthy of being released! Im still not sure where you get that the sales of this series is "struggling". I guess we will all just have to see what happens in the future. All I know is I wont be with Mr Toad cheering on this collections end.