Fantasia/F2K: 2-Movie Collection Discussion: Nov. 30, 2010

[DancingCrab]

Ugh..not a fan of the 2 in 1 packaging. I like to display my Disney films by release year on my shelf, plus there is too much wording on the cover making it less classy. Also I am shocked at the lack of special features.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

Unreal...Roy dies and they treat Fantasia like crap with a one-disc only release without even a making-of documentary.

That Schultheiss notebook isn't "newly discovered", either. They show parts of it and talk about it on the old Fantasia anthology set from 10 years ago.

Sheesh, just a tad bitter about Blu-Ray like the site admins of this site are?

They've been putting more attention to Blu-Ray than DVD for quite sometime when Roy was alive.

If anything you could say he wanted this because like Walt, he was always interested in innovation and keeping up with the best of modern-day technology.

[merlinjones]

It doesn't even include "Clair deLune" "Baby Ballet" or "Peter and the Wolf"?

I'd much rather have had a generous Walt Disney's "Fantasia" extras disc on Blu than a two-movie pack.


>>Region A includes most North, Central and South American and Southeast Asian countries plus Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.<<

So does the same edition come out in all those territories or are there variants? IE: will any of these region A markets have a "Fantasia" only disc with proper extras?

[yamiiguy]

It doesn't even include "Clair deLune" "Baby Ballet" or "Peter and the Wolf"?

I'd much rather have had a generous Walt Disney's "Fantasia" extras disc on Blu than a two-movie pack.


>>Region A includes most North, Central and South American and Southeast Asian countries plus Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.<<

So does the same edition come out in all those territories or are there variants? IE: will any of these region A markets have a "Fantasia" only disc with proper extras?

Possibly, usually the significant difference is packaging and if there is a bigger difference then it will be because of a rights issue. Time will tell though. I'd say that your best bet would be Japan but I can't see any Fantasia release listed on hmv.co.jp or amazon.co.jp.

[DisneyJedi]

Are we still getting Fantasia World, or whatever it's called, as they promised? Or is it gonna be another screwover like the promise of The Black Cauldron getting more than one deleted scene?

[merlinjones]

>>Possibly, usually the significant difference is packaging and if there is a bigger difference then it will be because of a rights issue. Time will tell though. I'd say that your best bet would be Japan but I can't see any Fantasia release listed on hmv.co.jp or amazon.co.jp.<<

Thanks for the info, yamiiguy.

[zackisthewalrus]

Finally! I don't care that it's in the same package. In fact, I think it's cheaper because of that fact. I will definitely be adding this to my library!

[merlinjones]

>>I don't care that it's in the same package. In fact, I think it's cheaper because of that fact.<<

But it's $10 more if you just want the original - - and with fewer Walt-era extras than the previous DVD.

[Raphdude]

Finally! I don't care that it's in the same package. In fact, I think it's cheaper because of that fact. I will definitely be adding this to my library!

Same here! I like the blu-ray dvd combo packs. It's nice to have both without having to make two seperate purchases. Amazon had a promotion where I was able to pre-order the combo packs BotB, Xmas Carol, and Tinkerbell and I ended up getting them for $15 and change each with free shipping!

When I spoke with Don Hahn in May, he told me that the plan was to release the two films together.

As to the lack of extras,
I'd rather have a gorgeous transfer and sound like we know we're getting
based on those posted imdb clips. The more space allowed for the actual movie, the better the quality will be. I prefer that Disney puts their money toward the best quality transfers than anything else.

[merlinjones]

>>I prefer that Disney puts their money toward the best quality transfers than anything else.<<

But they have to do that anyway for hi-def. It can't cost much more to transfer pre-existing filmed material like "Claire DeLune," "Peter and the Wolf," "Baby Ballet" storyreel, original and re-release trailers, "Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom," "Adventures in Music: Melody," etc. as basic extras.

It's just film.

[Raphdude]

>>I prefer that Disney puts their money toward the best quality transfers than anything else.<<

But they have to do that anyway for hi-def.

Not necessarily, as some studios will use previous masters to upconvert. Universal's transfer of Kubrick's Spartacus is a good example. It was a mess.

There are very few films that have received the 4K Lowry treatment, such as Fantasia, Pinocchio, and as Warner has done with Wizard of Oz.

[merlinjones]

>>Not necessarily, as some studios will use previous masters to upconvert. Universal's transfer of Kubrick's Spartacus is a good example. It was a mess. There are very few films that have received the 4K Lowry treatment, such as Fantasia, Pinocchio, and as Warner has done with Wizard of Oz.<<

But that is certainly a market expectation for the Walt Disney animated classics, as are historic extras, frankly.

[Mr. Yagoobian]

>>I prefer that Disney puts their money toward the best quality transfers than anything else.<<

But they have to do that anyway for hi-def.

They don't *have* to "do that anyway." There are BDs out there which have been released without the benefit of recent restoration or remastering and releases which are problematic in some important qualitative regard...thankfully, those that have come from WD Home Entertainment are few and far between.

[merlinjones]

>>thankfully, those that have come from WD Home Entertainment are few and far between.<<

Actual Walt Disney (the filmmaker) releases of any kind are few and far between... so are treated as events with restorations and extras - - at least that has always been the norm to date for Walt's animated classics.

Should our expectations have changed in this regard?

[miniroll32]

To be honest, I'm appalled at the lack of extras that have been listed so far, and there is no excuse for it. The film can have its own disc as has been the case for countless Blu-Rays beforehand, and the lossless audio alone shines through. You can look as far back as the Sleeping Beauty: Platinum Edition and see that that had 3 pages worth of extras - some of which had sub-menus! It is indeed a wonderful film and the peak of the studios technical perfection, so shouldn't we expect even more important films to live up to this standard?

A film as important as Fantasia deserves more than just a handful of 'features', which is basically all they are. How can you even list 'Audio Commentaries' as a bonus feature when almost every 'DVD' has one? Even the Roy Disney tribute, I see as something of a diversion from the film and an excuse to fill the disc rather than stretching out to a second disc. I have nothing against the guy and I'm sure its a lovely documentary, but what about extras directly linked to the films production? We've been waiting so long for what should be the ultimate package, and there isn't even anything to suggest a talk-through about the restoration/over-dubbing/newly discovered film elements.

Special Features
Fantasia Blu-ray Disc
Roy Disney Tribute (as mentioned before)
Disney View (Thats just an option to view the film in Fullscreen.... Almost every traditional Disney film has it)
Disney Family Museum (Wow, an actual feature)
Interactive Art Gallery and Screensaver (Re-word: Flashy menu system)
Audio Commentary with Brian Sibley (Just like every film)

Fantasia DVD disc
Roy Disney Tribute (thats on the Blu-Ray disc)
Audio Commentary with Brian Sibley (oh, thats on the Blu-Ray too!)

I still stand by thoughts on Beauty and The Beast too - its basically been fisted over because its considered a modern classic and a family favorite, but are kids honestly that bothered about a entire extra disc of documentaries and galleries? This is the kind of format that would have been perfect for Fantasia because it exceeds just about every other Disney film when it comes to technical innovation and artistic creativity.

Sorry to moan, I've know doubt the film will look beautiful and that is the main thing. It's just tough accepting that this marvel of a film, 70 years old, is getting overshadowed by such a standardized film as B&TB.

Rant over.

[milojthatch]

This release really ticks me off. I was starting to think after the amazing news that "Saludos Amigos" would be released in it's original version with the up coming documentaries, that the "Fantasia" releases would be equally as impressive. But, what we end up getting is something of a feeling that Disney sees the "Fantasia's" as leftovers.

Dropping "Fantasia World" is a mistake. An even bigger mistake is finally releasing "Destino," but making it a Blu Ray only feature. I've been mad at how Disney has done crap like this with their DVD's for a while, but this one may be the worse one yet.

But, even Blu Ray fans should be grumpy. Lumping both films onto one collection like they are is horrible. Each film should get a 2 disc treatment with tons of extras. Disney is so big on giving Blu Ray tons of extras, and then they blow it on this release. More info may come out about even more extras, maybe, but as of right now I would not be surprised if this is it and film collectors who got these classics on DVD may need to hold on to those to get a fuller experience.

I personally have decided that while I'll get some films that are new on Blu Ray, I will not double dip and more and get films I already have. Yet, for a small time, I was tempted a little. But you know what killed it for me, and helped me stick to my original decision? Disney's horrid release of the first two "Toy Story" films. Frankly the original "Ultimate Toy Box Collection" was a better release. Disney has once again done this with the Fantasia Films. Good job Disney, did you want to lure people over to Blu Ray or not?

All in all, this release really ticks me off. Thank goodness for WB's announcement about finally putting "Pirates of Darkwater" on DVD. It made up for this.

[jpanimation]

Is it just me or is that just the Fantasia artwork pasted on top of the BATB cover? I think I can see the ballroom down the left side where the border meets the image...

Yep, looks photoshopped, which is a shame since that’s the cover art and logo I like the most. Too bad.

What? No extra shorts other than Destino?

I hope I get to see LORENZO. It's the ONLY thing I was looking forward to.

You’re not the only one and I was banking on it having all four shorts in glorious HD (with Clair de Lune possibly being transferred to HD). If this thing is going to skimp on extras and retain the annoying Corey Burton dub, I think I’ll skip it. Which is a shame, since it was one of my most anticipated titles of the year (if you can’t tell by my signature). Also, from what I’ve read, DVD owners are GETTING SCREWED since they're not getting Destino (and it's accompanying documentary) and they're especially screwed if they don’t already have Fantasia Anthology. This is particularly weird as the Blu exclusive extras are usually the 'classic DVD extras', not brand new material.

I don’t want to jump to conclusions but I’m thinking Disney dropped the ball as I don’t think this is the set people envisioned when we were first told it was being delayed from the original March release.

Unreal...Roy dies and they treat Fantasia like crap with a one-disc only release without even a making-of documentary.

That Schultheiss notebook isn't "newly discovered", either. They show parts of it and talk about it on the old Fantasia anthology set from 10 years ago.

Once again, I don’t want to jump to conclusions but judging the set strictly from this press release, I would have to agree with you 100%.

I want these movies separated on my shelf, or at least the option to by them separately. Putting them together in one package is going to set a bad precedence. I can see them doing this with the Rescuers next.

Also, I want real extras dammit, and I don't want to have to download EVERYTHING off of BD-Live. I mean, what are DVD owners and international Blu-ray owners going to do, since they don't have BD-Live?

As it is, this set looks pretty pathetic (I guess this means I take down my signature to show I no longer support it?). I can only hope there is a bonus disc and/or collector's set that they're not telling us about.

[DisneyJedi]

Ugh. Here they go again, promising more than they can deliver! I swear, this is really starting to get on my nerves!

[ajmrowland]

Can't say I'm a fan of that cover. It looks too busy, and the font is a patch on the original.

I actually think "busy" works for Fantasia. After all, it IS a "busy" movie. IMO, they should've thrown Chernabog on there.

but you know how paranoid some US people are about featuring the Devil in a Disney movie.

Well, if I can find the third disc from the Anthology set for cheap, I cant really complain. I just want to own these movies, and I've already got two of the prescribed Fantasia World segments on DVD, and I've seen the Little Match Girl a few times. Destino better live up to expectations.

[miniroll32]

I'm just glad I ordered this while it was £12.39 and not the £16.99 Amazon is now charging.

Heck, even Dumbo had more features than this release!