singerguy04 wrote:It just annoys me still to no end that they changed it at all. What was the advantage of it? Why not still have them labeled Diamond Editions? Why not just release Fantasia World as a separate disc. Would it really be more risky than producing their 10th or whatever Air-Bud spin-off?
I think its obvious that, whilst Disney had great intentions for the
initial release of this film, some kind of unforeseen marketing problem or plans for the future have come up trumps this time round. It was suggested earlier that the 'shorts' which were meant to be placed in Fantasia World could well be used in some other capacity... This is a perfectly reasonable statement.
On the other hand, we have to analyse what a Diamond Edition affectively is. From a marketing p.o.v, it is merely Disney suggesting that the chosen film is their 'La creme de la creme', hence why Fantasia was originally going to be a Diamond release. But on an aesthetic level, and as I said countless times over the past few months, its also a marker for how the product is designed. If all the films were sold in similar formats, there would be no need for the Diamond-Special tier system.
Diamond Editions, just as the Platinums before, have 3 Discs as standard; 2x Blu-Rays and 1x DVD. The additional Blu-Ray which contains the extras is obviously the major factor in why this release was changed. Combined with Fantasia 2000, Disney may have completed bottled-up at the idea of treating a film with such a narrow audience to 5-Discs, as it would not only bump up the price but, no matter how much we all praise the film, still has a select demographic, unlike B&TB which is loved by everyone.
And Disney weren't willing to sell Fantasia 2000 on its own again with another extras disc because not only would they have grossed a poor income, but we have to ask does it deserve Diamond status? And if not, how do you package a Diamond with a Special Edition? Its too complex. Whats more, the two films simply have to be sold together so that Fantasia 2000 gets recognition. Its a simple fact that those who like Fantasia 2000 will, undoubtedly, already be fans of the original.
I would assume that 'Fantasia World' was indeed the name for the extras-disc had the Diamond Edition of gone ahead, though I have my doubts over other features. Documentaries take time to make, and I'm sure that if Disney planned on more extras, they would have been produced as early as last year, ready. But the absence of even a 'Making of...' video suggest to me that they simply didn't have enough content to make up an extras disc, which is a complete shame.
Heck, I've got about 4 books written purely on Fantasia and they contain a great amount of information and accounts of the production of this film. So why couldn't they transfer this into a documentary form? Complete farce.
