Disneykid wrote:When Disney does something right, they're freaking amazing but when they do something half-heartedly to gain profits, we fans end up with the short straw.
But how much extra profits do they gain by releasing these half-hearted discs. Remember, the production costs of the extra supplements are minor when you consider the same supplements appear on the discs worldwide. Plus in Alice's case, most of the supplements we complain about no getting were already made and available. There really is no excuse, and money shouldn't come into it. They could afford the money for that stupid Wonderland Party.
Disney literally sell millions each DVD worldwide. Disney reportedly spent $200m on promoting all three Lion King DVDs. To put that in perspective, assuming Disney keep $5 from every DVD sold, they need to sell 40m discs before they even break even!
Think about that. Worldwide 40 million Lion King discs have to be sold before Disney break even (I'm pretty sure the $5 figure is about right when distribution, retail margin, rights, manufacturing, design etc are taken out of the picture).
Would it really trouble Disney financially to take a million or two out of that absoutely obscene marketing budget and move it to the DVD production budget? Would sales dramatically slump if Disney spent only $198m on marketing? Would the people who bought the discs be happier if an extra 2m or so was spent on making truely definitive discs?
As an aside, I think one of the best DVD releases I own is The League of Gentlemen Series 3. You most likely wouldn't have heard of it as its a cult UK comedy which doesn't really travel well. Last I heard, this 2 disc set had sold around 150,000 copies. That's all. Its the sort of figures Buena Vista would laugh at, or simply ignore totally. Compared to projected worldwide sales for the 2 disc Alice release, it's nothing. Yes this 2 disc set is crammed full of supplements - all especially shot or recorded for the DVD - commentary, video diaries, a making of documentary, an edit your own sequence, a 20 minute easter egg, an interview with the costume designer, storyboards, deleted scenes, out-takes. And it's all informative. We literally follow the series through from the cast sitting down at computers with blank screens and writring the series (and we also see several instances of writer's block) to the cast reading the reviews in the paper the day after the first episode of the series aired. It really is an amazing disc, and everything on it enhances your enjoyment of the series.
And they spent all this time and effort on a DVD which as sold around 150,000 copies. And people claim Disney can't afford to make decent discs because it eats into the profits?
I agree, the Platinums have been going downhill, not severely, but of lesser quality. 
I also see where you're coming from about willingly triple dipping if you knew that the 3rd time would be the definitive charm. I'll admit it: If Disney were to re-release Alice (again) on DVD with everything I mentioned in my epic rant, I'd triple dip for that thing in an instant and be 100% satisfied with it. It just bugs me that Disney would make people triple dip just because they're so obsessive about catering to every demographic. The first release was for kids, the second was part kid and part film fan, so they'll finally stop teasing us and go all out on the third one? Talk about being taken advantage of. 