The Future of Disney Digibooks

[Alcazam]

First I was going to write a post about how I would love to see the Disney Treasures released on Blu-Ray in one of those double steelbooks (No separate tins, please!). That would still be a dream come true.

But then I ordered the Cinderella Digibook... and now I'm addicted.

Who else would want to see all the Disney Classics re-released as digibook? To be honest, I thought the whole storybook idea of Cinerella was a bit lame. Ok, nice illustration and all that. But wouldn't it be great to see Storyboard and sketches instead? I've seen the French digibooks for The Lion King and Lady and the Tramp, and to be honest they were a bit underwhelming. I don't want those clean, sharp pencil drawings. Give me the rough stuff, give me the real thing?

Imagine being able to leaf through your digibook for Beauty and the Beast while watching the documentary or a scene. Imagine seeing some of Glen Keane's drawing for the transformation sequence, followed by a section of thumbnails of the animation. Then some concept art.

I always felt it was a bit strange to have to use the DVD remote look through a digital image gallery. Yes, it's great, but what if a selection of the work was actually printed in a digibook? Think Dumbo, Fantasia, Mary Blair, Silly Symphonies, memos and news articles, reviews and so on and so forth.

We should start a petition. Really.

Another think about digibooks is that they can potentially outlive the actual discs. Even if you move on to digital copies you can still enjoy your digibook.

Please choose an alternative in the poll and tell me what you think!

[SWillie!]

(Just so you know, polls no longer work as far as I know. Some kind of issue that never got fixed. But we can certainly discuss!)

I like the way you think Alcazam I've often thought about this. In the oncoming digital age, I feel the physical releases need to be much more than the simple standard case and disc, so that they can outlast the eventual death of physical media.

Right now, I'm very heavily invested in the steelbooks. Pixar's entire library has been released as a steelbook, and I'm hoping they continue to release all the DACs as well.

That said, I was tempted to buy the Cinderella Digibook... but honestly, the fact that the artwork was the same (imo awful) artwork as the standard release made me decide against it. Also, the storybook aspect wasn't entirely intriguing to me. If they would make it more of a "making of" with artwork, posters, production photos, etc... that would sell me on it.

At the end of the day, what I would want is just SOME form of consistent release for all of Disney's films that treat them respectfully and equally, with appealing, displayable cover art and a solid presentation. What I really wish is that the Disney Animation Research Library would be given the task of undergoing such a project, because they would do such a great job judging by the books they have put out in the Archive Series.

[Alcazam]

Great idea to have the Disney Research Library do some work for a digibook collection.

I agree with the cover art on Cinderella being awful. It has always annoyed me how they use the cover art to 'dumb down' the films in order to sell them to parents.

I'm also getting a bit fed up of those glossy, sparkly surfaces. It would be great to see a collector's series with either the poster art (I got a brilliant poster of Hunchback of Notre Dame, it's just insane that this wasn't put on the DVD release in the UK), or an rough animation drawing (or a drawing reflecting all the stages of the film process).

Have you heard of the Studio Canal Collection digipacks (not digibooks) I love these releases because they are made of these thick cardboard sleeves that has a rough texture on it. The artwork looks like it's been stamped on the front. (My editions of The Deer Hunter and Last Year In Marienbad really stand out on the shelf among all those glossy surfaces.)

I agree that steelbooks can be great too. I like the Masters of Cinema series from Eureka! (UK) as they all include a nice booklet with essays and photos)

[Disney Duster]

Pardon me, but WHAT Cinderella digibook and standard release?

[SWillie!]

Target had an exclusive digibook for Cinderella, and it had the same artwork as the standard blu-ray/dvd combo pack. Inside was a storybook.

I haven't heard of the Studio Canal collection, but I'll have to check it out. The Criterion Collection is another obvious example of how to do a line of films right. Disney needs to take a page out of their book.

[Disney Duster]

Oh thank you. I actually was already familiar with that after all. I didn't buy it because I could tell from the picture that showed the inside illustrations (newly done for the Diamond Edition) that I already bought a book a month or so before that had those same new illustrations

[Alcazam]

I decided to go for the Cinderella digibook, and I have to say I really like the illustrations and the printing quality. However, I would have preferred sketches or storyboards or even some correspondence material instead of the storybook. I would never let a child, let alone my nephew, near my digibook collection, so I would actually have preferred to buy a separate storybook.

[FigmentJedi]

I love artbooks. I think the storybook editions are kinda silly as you can just as easily watch the movie within the case.

[Disney Duster]

I decided to go for the Cinderella digibook, and I have to say I really like the illustrations and the printing quality. However, I would have preferred sketches or storyboards or even some correspondence material instead of the storybook. I would never let a child, let alone my nephew, near my digibook collection, so I would actually have preferred to buy a separate storybook.

How did you find/get the digibook now? Its still in stores? Could you do me a favor and take a picture of the part where the pumpkin turns into the coach in the book?

I love artbooks. I think the storybook editions are kinda silly as you can just as easily watch the movie within the case.

You love art books? Well art is art. Those storybook illustrations are beautiful art.