Walt Disney Treasures Wave VIII Discussion

[Barbossa]

After attending the Remembrance Day ceremony, I rushed down to Future Shop and picked up all 3 sets. I wasn't going to get Annette at first but I gave in since this is a very small run this year.

Get Dr. Syn! This seems to be the best seller this year. There were only two copies left on the shelf. There was still a number of copies of Donald, and Annette had the most copies.

[Eeyore]

Gah. Nobody had anything in stock that I could see. Not Walmart, Future Shop, Best Buy, their online sites have no clue that these even exist.

I ordered online. And I never do that for dvd's. Just have never needed to.

[carolinakid]

Just got from Suncoast:
Donald Duck Vol. 4 (#15,318)
Annette (#7,899)

They have only one copy left of each of the above and 2 copies of Dr. Syn!

Jon

[DisneyFanatic]

I picked mine up a couple of hours ago at Best Buy. I got all three so I got 2 for $40 and then the last one at $25. I'm really glad I was able to go today...there were only 2 Donalds, I think 1 Syn, but about 5 Annettes, besides what I purchased. I really hope they don't kill the line...This is the only thing besides their classic movies that I care about (in terms of Disney).

I haven't opened them but I have been looking forward to the Donald release for a long time. It has most of my favorites on it.

I wish Disney wouldn't be so stingy with the low release numbers...but if there is a next wave it will probably be even lower

[Gregbert]

Hey, I just got back from Best Buy to pick up my tins. I only got Donald and Dr. Syn (wasn't really interested in Annette) but I just want to let everyone know that the Dr. Syn tins are in the television DVD section and not the Family/Disney DVD section. It makes no sense but that's where I found mine.

They had none left in the New Release section and when I looked in the Family/Disney section I could only find 2 of the tins. After much searching and getting some help from a friendly and helpful Blue Shirt (a rarity), I looked in the TV section and there were two.

Check the TV section if you can't find it in the other sections.

I didn't see this anywhere else and hopefully it helps someone.

[chadhobbick]

I can't believe that Disney hasn't re-released some of the earlier htf waves of the WDT line. They could release them w/o the tins and pack them in the newer slim cases that hold 2 discs w/new cover art and bang they are ready to sell. I have all of my tins, but honestly i'm not a fan of gimicks like that. When I display my WDT discs, the tins are usually in a storage box somewhere.

[TM2-Megatron]

I can't believe that Disney hasn't re-released some of the earlier htf waves of the WDT line. They could release them w/o the tins and pack them in the newer slim cases that hold 2 discs w/new cover art and bang they are ready to sell. I have all of my tins, but honestly i'm not a fan of gimicks like that. When I display my WDT discs, the tins are usually in a storage box somewhere.

When previous waves are re-released, it'll likely be to Blu-Ray.

I'll only be buying Donald this wave, and probably I'll be doing that tomorrow. Fortunately, there's a pretty good speciality DVD store here in Mississauga that gets the treasures in. Last wave, no local Best Buy or Future Shop had any at all... and this wave has an even lower run.

[PeterPanfan]

That's what makes the Treasures and Platinums so...special. They're in a limited run, and unless you happened to buy it when it first came out until it ran out of print, you would have to search for them. Buying Disney DVDs is pretty much like a scavenger hunt.

[David S.]

I can't believe that Disney hasn't re-released some of the earlier htf waves of the WDT line. They could release them w/o the tins and pack them in the newer slim cases that hold 2 discs w/new cover art and bang they are ready to sell. I have all of my tins, but honestly i'm not a fan of gimicks like that. When I display my WDT discs, the tins are usually in a storage box somewhere.

When previous waves are re-released, it'll likely be to Blu-Ray.

I wouldn't mind them getting a Blue Ray release, but I hope not EXCLUSIVELY to Blue Ray.

It wouldn't make much sense in my opinion to release these hypothetical re-releases EXCLUSIVELY on Blue Ray, unless they don't want my money and the money of approximately 92% of the home video buying market.

I keep thinking of the Platinums. Just because Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and Pinocchio have already been released on standard DVD, the Blue Ray releases are still not exclusive to Blue Ray. They are also getting standard releases since that format continues to outsell Blue Ray by approximately 92% to 8%.

Disney seems pretty desperate to get people to convert, but not so much that they are willing to leave money on the table that they can still make from the standard DVD market.

[TM2-Megatron]

I wouldn't mind them getting a Blue Ray release, but I hope not EXCLUSIVELY to Blue Ray.

It wouldn't make much sense in my opinion to release these hypothetical re-releases EXCLUSIVELY on Blue Ray, unless they don't want my money and the money of approximately 92% of the home video buying market.

I keep thinking of the Platinums. Just because Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and Pinocchio have already been released on standard DVD, the Blue Ray releases are still not exclusive to Blue Ray. They are also getting standard releases since that format continues to outsell Blue Ray by approximately 92% to 8%.

Disney seems pretty desperate to get people to convert, but not so much that they are willing to leave money on the table that they can still make from the standard DVD market.

True; but the Treasures could be a special case. The whole limited release thing would go out the window if Disney started re-issuing alll the past waves... they already did that partially, anyway, with that Costco set of the first 2 waves. Buyers of the Treasures line are generally in the collector/enthusiast group, anyway; and these people are usually more likely to have adopted a new format earlier than the average consumer.

Still, they could be re-released to DVD in another form, I suppose; inferior to the originals. Maybe just the shorts themselves in a basic 2-disc case; no supplements, etc. A true limited run re-release should be reserved for Blu-Ray, though.

[David S.]

Buyers of the Treasures line are generally in the collector/enthusiast group, anyway; and these people are usually more likely to have adopted a new format earlier than the average consumer.

If that's true, I guess I'm sort of the exception to the rule, then, because I'm an enthusiast about the aesthetic quality of the material (the artistic merits of the films themselves, and nice bonus features), but don't really dwell on constantly upgrading to perfect sharpness, especially since my DVDs look perfectly awesome to my eyes as is!

The flip side of that is I know people who obsess so much over the technology that they refuse to watch movies they know they would love if the transfer is not available in a high definition format and the equipment on which they would be viewing is not up to their standards. They are collectors of equipment and their DVDs (software) are something they buy so they can watch something on their equipment.

I am the exact, extreme, opposite.

I have minimal to zero interest in hardware/technology but LOVE my favorite movies. I only buy "hardware" when something breaks down because I need it to play my "software". Otherwise I'd rather spend the money on MORE TITLES!

You bring up an interesting point though by linking early techno adapters with film buffs. In my case, at least, they are not neccesarily one in the same, and after the lightweight treatment given to Cars and Ratatoille on standard DVD, I was concerned that Disney shared this view and would dumb down their DVDs and save all the meaty film-buff stuff for the technology-crowd pleasing Blue Rays.

However, since Wall-E got a 2 disc set on standard DVD, and same for Sleeping Beauty, with the only Blue-Ray exclusive things on SB Platinum seem to be stuff that wouldn't work with standard DVD - these developments have given me hope that Disney has realized that while some film buffs might be techno buffs, there are techno buffs who are NOT film buffs and film buffs who are NOT techno buffs - and therefore still a market for film buff-appealing content on standard DVD!

Still, they could be re-released to DVD in another form, I suppose; inferior to the originals. Maybe just the shorts themselves in a basic 2-disc case; no supplements, etc. A true limited run re-release should be reserved for Blu-Ray, though.

I disagree STRONGLY that a potential standard DVD re-release of any Treasures should be inferior to the originals, with no supplements. Disney has stated that only the tins are limited and the contents of the discs could be re-released some day. If there is a re-release, then, why not just re-release the originals as is, with the same suplements, minus the tins?

Why deprive fans who have a passion for this material just because they are interested in seeing Mickey and Donald and learning about the animators and voice actors, but don't care about extra lines of resolution or 8 channels of audio when their TV only has 2 speakers?

I have no problem with giving Blu-Ray collectors a limited edition with some extra bonuses unique to the capabilities of the format, all I am asking is for Disney not to dumb down the standard DVD releases or worse, abandon them all together.

But please let us agree to disagree and I don't mean any of this as an arguement, just an intelligent and friendly discussion

[TM2-Megatron]

If that's true, I guess I'm sort of the exception to the rule, then, because I'm an enthusiast about the aesthetic quality of the material (the artistic merits of the films themselves, and nice bonus features), but don't really dwell on constantly upgrading to perfect sharpness, especially since my DVDs look perfectly awesome to my eyes as is!

The flip side of that is I know people who obsess so much over the technology that they refuse to watch movies they know they would love if the transfer is not available in a high definition format and the equipment on which they would be viewing is not up to their standards. They are collectors of equipment and their DVDs (software) are something they buy so they can watch something on their equipment.

I am the exact, extreme, opposite.

I have minimal to zero interest in hardware/technology but LOVE my favorite movies. I only buy "hardware" when something breaks down because I need it to play my "software". Otherwise I'd rather spend the money on MORE TITLES!

You bring up an interesting point though by linking early techno adapters with film buffs. In my case, at least, they are not neccesarily one in the same, and after the lightweight treatment given to Cars and Ratatoille on standard DVD, I was concerned that Disney shared this view and would dumb down their DVDs and save all the meaty film-buff stuff for the technology-crowd pleasing Blue Rays.

However, since Wall-E got a 2 disc set on standard DVD, and same for Sleeping Beauty, with the only Blue-Ray exclusive things on SB Platinum seem to be stuff that wouldn't work with standard DVD - these developments have given me hope that Disney has realized that while some film buffs might be techno buffs, there are techno buffs who are NOT film buffs and film buffs who are NOT techno buffs - and therefore still a market for film buff-appealing content on standard DVD!

I know the kind of people you're talking about, and I'm no more fond of them than you are. A great number of people are simply interested in paying as much as they can afford for the "status symbol" of having a large TV (whether or not it has exceptional quality for its size is another matter, entirely). There is such a thing as buying into something too early, of course; all the people with inferior 1366x768 HDTVs are proof enough of that (and we should all laugh at them, lol). The time to buy is just about now, when proper 1080p 120Hz sets have finally approached affordable pricing.

Personally, I'm a bit of a mix. I do enjoy new technology, though I don't often buy into it in quite the same way as the majority. As there are very few Blu-Ray players available that support BD-Live (Profile 2.0), and only really the PS3 among them close to a reasonable price; I opted for a BD-ROM drive for my computer, instead. It cost only $125, and is fully BD-Live compliant as it depends on the software player for this aspect. And it's extremely simple to hook up a computer to an HDTV, and feed the 5.1 through an external reciever. I'll never quite understand why people are willing to pay good money for Profile 1.0 or 1.1 players that will never be able to support all the bonus features of new releases.

I also enjoy film, for its own sake. I have relatively few Blu-Ray titles compared to the number of DVDs, and that probably won't change for a while... although I have stopped buying DVDs now, in favour of Blu-Ray. I certainly won't refuse to watch a movie if it isn't available in HD... with a proper upconverting player, a normal DVD can still look quite good on an HDTV provided the transfer is fairly good.

[David S.]

TM2-Megatron, You make some very good points.

I think what kind of scares me about new technology nowadays, (and what made me think of this is when you talked about the people who bought hi-def tvs too early) is things are going so fast nowadays, becoming obsolete almost as quick as they come out.

For instance, standard DVD was a huge improvment over VHS, fastest selling format in history, and now it's already been replaced. (I don't mean in sales but in quality)

Yet, when I was starting my DVD collection in good faith, including replacing my VHS tapes, I truly believed I had the end-all ultimate format that would never be replaced and would be around forever. After all, it had digital picture and sound, would not wear with use, etc. Had I known something would be around in just a few years that would be better, maybe I would not have spent all that money on DVDs and waited. Then again, I would have missed out on some GREAT releases, with no guarantee they would ever be carried over to the new Blu-Ray format.

The industry probably knew when they were launching DVD that it would be made technically obsolete soon by a high-definition format, yet they went at it full speed ahead. If I ever seem negative towards Blu-Ray I honestly don't mean to, I guess part of me just wishes there would have never even been a standard DVD, and they would have simply made the first awesome digital leap forward from VHS the hi-def version that would last forever (or at least 30-40 years!)

While it is true that most people wouldn't have had the proper TVs in 1999-2000 to enjoy them to the fullest, they would have still looked better than VHS tapes.

And all this leads me to wonder...

If I WERE to go all out and embrace Blu Ray like I did standard DVD, and begin replacing my entire collection... who is to say that in 5 to 10 years time, the HD format itself won't be "outdated", and the standard will be 3,000 lines of resolution, 15 channels of audio, and a green laser?

Gre-Ray, perhaps ?

I just don't want to get burned again, and since standard def still looks good to me, for now I'm taking the easy way and sticking with it.

If it gets to the point where more titles are coming out on Blu-Ray than DVD, then I'll know the new format will have longevity and replace DVD, and I'll basically have no choice but to start collecting them at that time.

Nice talking to you. I'm not as anti-technology as I may have seemed, I'm just not fond of changing formats, because for one thing, everytime a format changes, "obscure" titles always seem get to neglected and forgotten. I STILL have a ton of vinyl records that have never gotten a CD release, as well as VHS tapes still lacking a DVD release...

[Mason_Ireton]

So far I was only able to find Donald Duck V4 and Scarecrow of Romey Marsh at Virgin Record Mega Store, only bought Donald Duck V4, next Monday I'll buy Annette and maybe Scarecrow ofRomey Marsh at the FL mall

[merlinjones]

Dr Syn looks fabulous. They really did right by this title! Even the aspect ratio is right - - 1:66. That's the correct aspect ratio for most of those 60's live-action movies - - not 1:33, 1:75 or 1:85 - - but 1:66, a happy medium between TV and theatres.

[TM2-Megatron]

TM2-Megatron, You make some very good points.

I think what kind of scares me about new technology nowadays, (and what made me think of this is when you talked about the people who bought hi-def tvs too early) is things are going so fast nowadays, becoming obsolete almost as quick as they come out.

For instance, standard DVD was a huge improvment over VHS, fastest selling format in history, and now it's already been replaced. (I don't mean in sales but in quality)

Yet, when I was starting my DVD collection in good faith, including replacing my VHS tapes, I truly believed I had the end-all ultimate format that would never be replaced and would be around forever. After all, it had digital picture and sound, would not wear with use, etc. Had I known something would be around in just a few years that would be better, maybe I would not have spent all that money on DVDs and waited. Then again, I would have missed out on some GREAT releases, with no guarantee they would ever be carried over to the new Blu-Ray format.

The industry probably knew when they were launching DVD that it would be made technically obsolete soon by a high-definition format, yet they went at it full speed ahead. If I ever seem negative towards Blu-Ray I honestly don't mean to, I guess part of me just wishes there would have never even been a standard DVD, and they would have simply made the first awesome digital leap forward from VHS the hi-def version that would last forever (or at least 30-40 years!)

While it is true that most people wouldn't have had the proper TVs in 1999-2000 to enjoy them to the fullest, they would have still looked better than VHS tapes.

And all this leads me to wonder...

If I WERE to go all out and embrace Blu Ray like I did standard DVD, and begin replacing my entire collection... who is to say that in 5 to 10 years time, the HD format itself won't be "outdated", and the standard will be 3,000 lines of resolution, 15 channels of audio, and a green laser?

Gre-Ray, perhaps ?

I just don't want to get burned again, and since standard def still looks good to me, for now I'm taking the easy way and sticking with it.

If it gets to the point where more titles are coming out on Blu-Ray than DVD, then I'll know the new format will have longevity and replace DVD, and I'll basically have no choice but to start collecting them at that time.

Nice talking to you. I'm not as anti-technology as I may have seemed, I'm just not fond of changing formats, because for one thing, everytime a format changes, "obscure" titles always seem get to neglected and forgotten. I STILL have a ton of vinyl records that have never gotten a CD release, as well as VHS tapes still lacking a DVD release...

It is very likely Blu-Ray will eventually be replaced. The next logical step up is to offer the format many theatres use for their digital projectors: 4K, about double the resolution of current HD. I don't imagine that will happen for a while, though; maybe 10 years, 15 at the most. The advantage to DVD was that you could see a noticeable improvement with your existing TV... for Blu-Ray, a much more expensive TV is required. People won't be willing to upgrade their TVs for a second time for another new format for a while.

And anyway, to see the real improvement a 4KTV might offer over an HDTV, you'd need something a bit bigger than 46" or 52"... which is around what I consider to be the cut-off size for HD resolution to still look acceptable on all but the most exceptional TVs and/or projectors.

[Fflewduur]

It is very likely Blu-Ray will eventually be replaced. The next logical step up is to offer the format many theatres use for their digital projectors: 4K, about double the resolution of current HD.

The vast majority of theatres using digital distribution are using 2k formats, not 4k.

We're highly unlikely to see 4k resolution offered in a consumer format anytime soon, since studios would then essentially be selling the public their HD masters.

And 4k is considerably more than double the resolution of 1080 HD (around 8 million pixels vs. around 2 million).

[TM2-Megatron]

The vast majority of theatres using digital distribution are using 2k formats, not 4k.

Yes, but there are those that do use 4k, which is all I said in my original post. I didn't mention 2k because I figured it wasn't relevant to a discussion about what comes after HD, as it's practically HD itself.

We're highly unlikely to see 4k resolution offered in a consumer format anytime soon, since studios would then essentially be selling the public their HD masters.

I wouldn't call 10 to 15 years "anytime soon". But as the electronics industry these days is built around getting people to buy new equipment/etc., eventually the HD standard will need to be replaced. 1.85:1 4k is 3996 × 2160, and I really can't see the industry choosing a resolution between that and 1920x1080 instead; it wouldn't make any sense, and it wouldn't be a significant enough improvement for everyone to go out and buy another round of TVs costing thousands of dollars.

And 4k is considerably more than double the resolution of 1080 HD (around 8 million pixels vs. around 2 million).

I was referring more to the relative dimensions, not the pixel count. Yeah, obviously there are significantly more than double the number of pixels in a 4k image.

[ohmahaaha]

While I'm really happy to be holding all 3 in my hands, I must also say that I'm a little disappointed in the packaging. I don't know why they bothered having a thick gatefold case inside the tin, when inside they stacked the DVDs. The packaging seems to have gotten a little worse with each consecutive wave ... is it too much to ask that we have some uniformity with series DVDs?? Oh well ... can't wait to watch these!

[PixarFan2006]

At least they did not put them in a cardboard sleeve packaging like they did with The Simpsons.