Disney Animation on Blu-ray in 2013

[Atlantica]

Is Aladdin a standard release in Europe, and will be a Diamond in America? Or do we not know yet?
Personally, I like the first cover. Recycled art yes, but at least they have positioned it differently.

[disneyboy20022]

I like the 2nd cover of Aladdin better though all of them are pretty good.

[rj.disney]

Which titles will be going back to the Vault this 2013? They start 'vaulting' in April, right? I still have to get The Fox and the Hound and Lady and the Tramp[/i]

[disneyboy20022]

Which titles will be going back to the Vault this 2013? They start 'vaulting' in April, right? I still have to get The Fox and the Hound and Lady and the Tramp[/i]

The Lady & The Tramp

The Lady & The Tramp 2

Lion King

Lion King 2

Lion King 1.5

In April I think

[ProfessorRatigan]

So, I posted this on Tumblr, and figured I'd post it here, too, just to share some of my thoughts on Hunchback's upcoming Blu-ray:

"MARCH 12, 2013--SAVE THE DATE!
On March 12, 2013, Disney is releasing their animated masterpiece The Hunchback of Notre Dame on Blu-ray for the first time ever. Like many of their catalog, Disney has decided to treat this film like trash by releasing it with zero special-features, with no promotion, no advertising, no marketing, and, to top it all off, by releasing the original film alongside its embarrassing, unwanted sequel. But! This is the first time this film has been released on home video since its DVD debut in 2002. (Insanity, isn’t it?) Disney has ignored the film entirely when it comes to re-releases, toys, merchandise, plushes, dolls, anything. The reason? Either they’re ashamed of the film (which seems to be the case), and are trying as hard as they can to make people forget about it, OR, they’re convinced it isn’t popular enough to warrant any of those things. As an avid fan of Hunchback who spends a lot of time on Tumblr, Disney forums and the internet in general, I can tell you that the latter is CERTAINLY not the case. Fans of Disney’s Hunchback are legion. I think the problem is: WE AREN’T VISIBLE ENOUGH. We need to make ourselves seen by the marketing people at Disney if we want them to treat the film with the respect it deserves. The reason Disney makes it such a big deal when Cinderella or The Lion King are re-released is because they KNOW people are going to go buy the crap they roll out every time those films are due for another ‘special edition.’ We need to show the folks at Disney that Hunchback fans are just as willing to spend money, too, IF Disney would give us that chance. Could you imagine? The Disneystore stocking Quasimodo, Frollo, Esmeralda, Phoebus, Clopin dolls? Ornaments or plushes or mugs or playsets or figurines? To quote Eliza Doolittle, “Wouldn’t it be loverly?”

So, here’s what I’m proposing: even though this upcoming Blu-ray release is a slap in the face to us fans (I could stomach the sequel being with it, but, seriously NO new special features?! No advertisement? No promotion!?), we need to swallow our pride and BUY the thing EN MASSE the day it drops. And spread the word! I have a dream of Hunchback’s Blu-ray sales being so impressive that Disney HAS to acknowledge it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the film sold more than Mulan or Pocahontas or Peter Pan? Sold more than Lady and the Tramp? (I know for a fact Hunchback is more popular among Disney fans than that film.) I don’t expect it to do Lion King or Cinderella numbers, but wouldn’t it be cool if it outsold some of those “Diamond Edition” titles Disney likes to lord above the rest of their “forgotten” films?

Unfortunately, money is the only thing that counts in the eyes of a big corporation like Disney. And until the day comes when they treat all of their films equally, money and numbers are the only things that are going to matter. Hunchback is the red-headed step-child in the Disney family, it seems. Popular among hardcore Disney fans and animation fans and, hell, even people who DON’T like the film acknowledge it has one of the best villains in Disney (Hello, Judge Claude Frollo!) and one of the most dramatic and powerful scores (Hello, Alan Menken/Stephen Schwartz!). We fans need to do our best to spread the word that the film is coming out, because Disney certainly isn’t. March 12, 2013. That’s the date. Save it! Let’s make this film a huge seller, people! I’ll certainly be picking up my copy on day one.

Here’s the number for Walt Disney Home Entertainment (US):
1-800-72-DISNEY or (818) 560-5000.

Call and let them know you’d like to see more The Hunchback of Notre Dame merchandise and representation. It couldn’t hurt. Bombard them, flood them with calls. Maybe then they’ll pull their heads out of the sand long enough to give this underrated gem a little love.

Post-script: This film is my favorite Disney film, my favorite animated film and one of my top ten films of all time. It was the first film I ever saw in the theater (at age 4), and it left a huge impression on me growing up. As a fan of the film, I’m just tired of it getting the shaft by Disney. With films like Mulan and Pocahontas, the fans have the Princess line-up, so, those films at least get some merchandise. Hunchback never gets any. If you’re a fan of those films, or Peter Pan or Lady and the Tramp, I meant no offense when I said I want Hunchback to outsell them. I love those films, too. Just not as much as I love this one."

--I know the film is popular here among hardcore Disney fans. (Number 6 on the top 20 animated films countdown!) So, I figured I'd post it here and see if anybody agreed with me on this. I'm just tired of seeing this film get such shoddy treatment. Tired of the lack of fanfare for it in comparison to some of the other DACs. What really gets me ticked off is, like I said, the lack of special features. The film is JUST now getting a re-release after 11 years of being a barebones DVD and Disney isn't even bothering to port over the old LaserDisc special features?

[Topher]

One Australian store has an exclusive Triple Pack of Aladdin with the Platinum Edition cover art. http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/dvd/dvd- ... opy/680152



They don't list the Blu Ray Trilogy version on their website, which concerns me as other stores have a blank spot where the cover art should be, and as the sequels seem to have been delayed elsewhere in the world, I feel like it might not happen.

The special features are:

Filmmakers' Audio Commentary
Sing Along With The Movie
Deleted Scenes
Music Videos
Deleted Songs
A Diamond In The Rough: The Making Of Aladdin

So hopefully all of the smaller clips from the Making Of are on there.

[thelittleursula]

At the moment it looks really disappointing... The Aladdin DVD had so much extras.

About HOND I don't have the permission to make overseas calls, but that does stink.

Even The Black Cauldron got a few extras.

[Jules]

Some help needed.

A few weeks ago I think I read somewhere on the forum that Mooky contacted Amazon.co.uk to find out whether the UK Tarzan release has been corrected to remove the video errors. I just tried doing that myself using Amazon chat, but the person helping me couldn't confirm if this happened, let alone if Amazon had ridden themselves of the old stock and brought in corrected Tarzan Blu-rays.

The helper also didn't know when the Disney BOGOF offer will start.

Any news?

[Khonnor]

Some help needed. Any news?

The Tarzan blu-ray has been 'corrected' but I don't know whether all copies have been recalled/replaced. Chances are you'll get a corrected version by now, if not you could always contact Disney UK for a replacement.

[Jules]

Thanks for replying! I'm hoping the corrected Tarzan BD will be part of the upcoming (I hope) BOGOF offer. Can't wait.

[The_Iceflash]

Can we stop saying releasing a film with its sequel is a bad thing? We are essentially getting two movies for the price of one. Not much to complain about with that one. There is nothing wrong with Hunchback's BD being paired with its sequel. Nothing. Yes it could have more bonus features but the sequel being paired with it doesn't prevent that. Disney came to the decision that they don't want to include the amount of bonus features they used to. That happened long before we started getting 2-film packs.

[PatrickvD]

Can we stop saying releasing a film with its sequel is a bad thing? We are essentially getting two movies for the price of one. Not much to complain about with that one. There is nothing wrong with Hunchback's BD being paired with its sequel. Nothing.

Disagreed. Everything is wrong with it. This is a matter of principle. The Hunchback's cheapquel is one of the worst things ever to come out of Disney and I don't even want to acknowledge its existence. Anyone who calls himself a fan of Disney or animation in general should be offended by it.

They might as well have just recorded a Disney executive taking a dump and put that on the Blu-ray. Because that's what it is. And I will not stop trashing the cheapquels so long as Disney continues to release them on home video or any other form of media.

Ah, yes. I feel better now.

[disneyboy20022]

They might as well have just recorded a Disney executive taking a dump and put that on the Blu-ray.

I'd buy that

Also WIST

[Jules]

They might as well have just recorded a Disney executive taking a dump and put that on the Blu-ray.

OMG That's funny!

And now I have to post this:

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KbOqsp3oUQI" frameborder="0"></iframe>

[SWillie!]

To be fair, they aren't giving HoND 2 equal billing to the original, as they have with most of the two movie collections. I would definitely prefer that. It's almost as if its just a bonus feature.

[pap64]

I am totally against the idea of packaging the sequel with the DAC, unless the sequel is a DCA like the Rescuers Down Under and Fantasia 2000, or the sequel was decent to good enough (like Mulan II which I love). I think the reason Disney is doing this is because they know that by themselves the sequel would get no money whatsoever due to the reputation they have gained over the years, so they need to stick it to the consumer by pairing it with the much more desirable DAC. I think this is a lowly thing to do since it does diminish the quality of the DAC and the package, as well as leave little space on the disc for extras.

I think if Disney really wants to get money out of the sequels they need to release them digitally so people then have the option of owning the movie without the need to package them and spend money manufacturing them. In my honest opinion, forcing the sequel onto the DAC, especially after Disney had been done with them for many years, is just lowering the quality, which is why I am kind of glad that Hunchback at the very least gets top billing.

Speaking of which, I admire that notion of everyone buying the movie despite its low content, because that's how Disney will pay attention to them, people need to create waves and then spread the word about it. Oh sure 90s kids and Disney fans will eat it up, but what will really drive the movie up is sales from today's families, the kind that would give Disney the idea of what families want. If Hunchback wins them over, then Disney will pay more attention to it.

I would say that in the DAC line there are four kinds of movies: the timeless and groundbreaking, the extremely popular mainstream ones, the cult classics and the detested ones. I would say Hunchback falls on the cult classics one. It is a movie that's very different from everything else Disney has done. It may have moments of humor and silliness, but on the whole it is super heavy in themes. The music is more operatic and dramatic than the poppy Broadway and Vaudeville style of the classics, the main hero is a deformed hunchback under the tutorage of a man bent on extreme genocide against a clan known for stealing and magic.

Said man is also extremely lustful towards an exotic woman who dances for money, and would kill her if she doesn't end up with him. There is also a lot of religious imagery, about how humanity's instinct leads people to be cruel towards the deformed, lots of violence and such. It is far from the mainstream classics like Lion King and such. Yeah, Lion King had its dark moments and the music was different, but on the whole it was built upon ideas that were similar to those of the othe classics, whereas Hunchback is a completely different beast of a movie (no pun intended).

I think that's why Disney has not openly marketed it in the last few years. I do agree that they need to acknowledge the movie more and not be stuck with its image of princesses, pirates and fairies, but I doubt they are shameful of it. They just feel that the following it has gotten is one of a cult one rather than a wide audience. Besides, we all know that Song of the South is the movie Disney is ashamed of and won't release it

[Sotiris]

I am totally against the idea of packaging the sequel with the DAC, unless the sequel is a DAC like the Rescuers Down Under and Fantasia 2000, or the sequel was decent to good enough (like Mulan II which I love).

Then you're not "totally against" it.

How are they supposed to know which DTV sequels are good enough to be packaged with the original, anyway? You may like Mulan II but others may not. Under what criteria would they make the selection?

Personally, I would prefer if every film whether it is a DAC or a DTV was released separately and had its own packaging.

I think this is a lowly thing to do since it does diminish the quality of the DAC and the package, as well as leave little space on the disc for extras.

Not really. Even with the sequel included there's still plenty of room left for extras. Disney just doesn't do it.

[Jäger-Rose]

I think the reason Disney is doing this is because they know that by themselves the sequel would get no money whatsoever due to the reputation they have gained over the years, so they need to stick it to the consumer by pairing it with the much more desirable DAC. I think this is a lowly thing to do since it does diminish the quality of the DAC and the package, as well as leave little space on the disc for extras.

Think. Taken that the sequels themselves weren't profitable, why would Disney release them then together with the originial film? They could just leave them in their vault.
So there are two options: The sequels do indeed give a good return OR Disney is giving them as a bonus feature to the customers (either for their enjoyment or for a slightly better disposition which is however irrelevant).

[universALLove]

If Disney want to include the direct-to-video/DVD sequels I think they should go down the same route as the Anastasia Blu-Ray & Princess Edition DVD releases which included "Bartok The Magnificent" but had no mention of it on the packaging except for the back under the bonus features. I know The Hunchback of Notre Dame Blu-Ray doesn't include the sequel in the title or share any images of the sequel on the cover which is an improvement but it is still marketed as a two movie collection and no doubt the spine will say "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" & "The Hunchback of Notre Dame II" like all the other 2-movie collections.

[PatrickvD]

I am totally against the idea of packaging the sequel with the DAC, unless the sequel is a DAC like the Rescuers Down Under and Fantasia 2000, or the sequel was decent to good enough (like Mulan II which I love).

Then you're not "totally against" it.

How are they supposed to know which DTV sequels are good enough to be packaged with the original, anyway? You may like Mulan II but others may not.

I'd like to go on record to say that no: Mulan II is not good enough to even stand in Mulan's shadow. Let alone be packaged together with it.