Here's a couple of Lucky Luke VHS movies I have in my collection that were distributed by Disney in North America:
Daisy Town, originally released in 1971, Disney released it in a white clamshell sometime in the early 80s:
The Ballad of the Daltons, originally released in 1978, Disney distributed it in the 1990s:
These two are excellent movies. There's hilarious humour throughout both of them. Some of the humour is in similar style to Shrek. Just for curiosity I went onto Ebay to see if they were available and even on there they are a rare occurance. I was lucky enough to get Ballad of the Daltons brand new and Daisy Town from a rental store.
Does anybody know any more information about them?
Does anybody know if Disney is planning on distributing these again, this time on DVD?
Last edited by Barbossa on Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
I've never seen these movies, but I think I remember seeing the videos for rent somewhere, years ago, in small rental places. I've always been curious about them and what Disney had to do with them.
If this series was produced by Disney and was rereleased on DVD, the first thing Disney would do is probably erase the cigarette from Lucky Luke's mouth
Yes, Disney did not make these but was the North American distributor. Kind of like with Valiant - didn't make it, just distributed it.
I think they are available on DVD, however I don't think they are dubbed in English like the Disney releases.
Barbossa wrote:If this series was produced by Disney and was rereleased on DVD, the first thing Disney would do is probably erase the cigarette from Lucky Luke's mouth
lmao!
Just like a river rushing straight into the sea.... I'm the one thing meant for you, and you for me
What would it take to get these two released on DVD? I think they are already on DVD, but I think it's the French dub. Any interest by Disney to re-release the English dubs of these?
ajmrowland wrote:Never even heard of these, before. No doubt, a DVD release in English would be nice!
They are definitely worth watching if you haven't seen them before. Like I said in my first post in this thread, the humour is very close in style to Shrek. They are very hard to find though, especially in the white Disney clamshell case.
Barbossa wrote:If this series was produced by Disney and was rereleased on DVD, the first thing Disney would do is probably erase the cigarette from Lucky Luke's mouth
Morris himself eventually replaced the cigarette with a piece of straw.
Yes, I also used to see "Daisy Town" for rent in the video store that I used to frequent as a kid - never actually rented it though (I was more into the mainstream Disney and "Faerie Tale Theatre"). Looks fun though!
Disney's media outlets (records, VHS tapes, etc.) were a distribution source for family entertainment. Disneyland-Vista Records such as "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial", "Return of the Jedi", "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock", and "Gremlins" were all distributed by Disney. In September of 1983, just 5 months after the launch of The Disney Channel, Lucky Luke: Daisy Town premiered.
Maurice De Bevere was a Belgian comic strip artist who created Lucky Luke in 1946 as a takeoff on Hollywood westerns (long before Sergio Leone would homage the western genre with his 'Fistful of Dollars' trilogy). Three French filmmakers turned the comic strip cowboy into a film star in 1971. This Disney Channel broadcast marked the American debut of Lucky Luke. The following month, October 1983, saw the premiere of Lucky Luke: Ballad of the Dalton's.
By 1983, Disney had been distributing retail videocassettes for 3 years and had begun to acquire outside films for distribution. Like their successful record label distribution, Disney began to use their videocassette distribution label to release such non-Disney films on VHS as Bill Burrud wildlife films, Muppet specials, and Lucky Luke. By 1985, Walt Disney Home Video had distributed such non-Disney videos as The Premiere Adventures of Superted, The Further Adventures of Superted, Superted III: The Adventures Continue, The Fabulous Fleischer Folio - Volume One, The Fabulous Fleischer Folio - Volume Two, Asterix the Gaul, The Twelve Tasks of Asterix, Lucky Luke: Daisy Town, Lucky Luke: The Ballad of the Daltons, Paddington Bear - Volume 1, Pogo For President - "I Go Pogo", and 11 volumes of Stories and Fables.
In short, Lucky Luke was NOT a Disney production. Rather, sometime around 1983 Disney purchased the rights to air the films on The Disney Channel and distribute the film on VHS here in the United States. Whether or not Disney still holds the rights to these films is unknown to me. When originally released on video, the Lucky Luke videos retailed for $49.95. The video was not a staple in the Disney library of well known films nor a new release and thus did not sell quite as well as the VHS releases of TRON, Tex, or Dumbo. This resulted in Lucky Luke becoming more of a rental item than an addition to a private film library. The non-Disney tapes are becoming increasingly harder to find, and since there haven't been any DVD releases of the films, the Lucky Luke tapes are currently collector's items. I'm sure bootlegs and torrents are out there, but these tapes are the only legitimate English releases available in the U.S.
I hope this helps.
Last edited by disneyfella on Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:23 pm, edited 4 times in total.
"It's Kind Of Fun To Do The Impossible"
- Walt Disney
Aaron, you should write a book. That was very well-written and insightful! And I was wondering why I hadn't heard of this "Lucky Luke", but now I know!
blackcauldron85 wrote:Aaron, you should write a book. That was very well-written and insightful!
Thanks! Funny you should mention it...I'm actually working on a few smaller projects at the moment, and hopefully I can talk more about them in the near future...VERY near future Thanks again!!
"It's Kind Of Fun To Do The Impossible"
- Walt Disney
Thanks for that info Aaron, very informative. On a side note, I just watched a trailer for a new live action Lucky Luke that's about to come out in France. Here it is on Mania.com http://www.mania.com/clark-suits-upsort ... 17479.html
(scroll down the page a alittle bit)
I don't know why Lucky Luke can't get some more exposure here on this side of the pond.
I hate the fact that Disney owns (owned) the American rights to Lucky Luke (or at least the cartoons). Disney did not create the character. Buying up the rights to existing, succesful creations is lazy and takes the credit away from the original creator. Plus, the fact that the cartoons are so poorly animated and scripted reflects poor on Disney --it's not worth the Disney name. (But that even goes for a lot of original Disney creations nowadays.)
Goliath wrote:I hate the fact that Disney owns (owned) the American rights to Lucky Luke (or at least the cartoons). Disney did not create the character. Buying up the rights to existing, succesful creations is lazy and takes the credit away from the original creator. Plus, the fact that the cartoons are so poorly animated and scripted reflects poor on Disney --it's not worth the Disney name.
Even though I've never seen "Lucky Luke" or even had heard of it until recently, I agree. Sure, Disney makes money off of it (or, I mean, did at one point), but it's not a Disney creation. I mean, Pixar is different, to me at least; if Disney has say in the production of a film, then, yeah, Disney can call it their own, but for a creation that isn't Disney's, then why bother claiming it as your own?
Even though I own Valiant and The Wild...but didn't Disney have some say in those?
Thanks again!!