The Little Mermaid: Diamond Edition - Fall 2013

[Miss Manday]

That they answered like that just annoys me. Ugh.

I wonder if we got a whole bunch of people to email, if they would realize "Oh. People do care."

...but probably not. >>;

[disneyftw1]

That they answered like that just annoys me. Ugh.

I wonder if we got a whole bunch of people to email, if they would realize "Oh. People do care."
...but probably not. >>;

"What's this? A majority of fans complaining about a minor edit? Of all the things we've changed to our films. pfft.
Don't worry, it's so minor that there would be no need to make replacement discs (right away). It's minor, the majority wouldn't notice, the new generation of kids experiencing this film for the first time wouldn't know about it in the first place, so we're good! We've spend millions on this restoration to begin with, and it'll cost us more if we have to make replacement discs! We gotta keep that money for funding in marketing on children's products, and no matter what, people will still buy this release!
All you have to do is ignore the mistake on a Diamond Edition title to an important piece of Disney history with a song that initially would had been cut out had Howard Ashmen and others not fully convinced Jeffrey Katzenberg to keep it in there-"
DUMB. JUST. F***ING. DUMB. I... I think I need to step outside for a moment...

[ajmrowland]

I think if enough people did they would care.

[thelittleursula]

DUMB. JUST. F***ING. DUMB. I... I think I need to step outside for a moment...

^ What we're all thinking right now.

The whole Ipod game thing with the movie re- release
The fiddling with the original movie
The mixup with the Part Of Your World song
Disney refusing to notice their mistakes

What.... a mess.

Mess putting it polity.

$ 15 to bet a few months down the track if this Blu-ray gets low sales Disney will do a report on " 2D is dead blah, blah, blah "
And kill any chances of future 2D projects.

[Atlantica]

I wish Ron or Jon had a twitter so we could see what they would say about the 'changes' in the movie. Did they ever talk about the alterations to the Platinum Edition ?

[Marce82]

All the changes bother me... if each release of the film will make minor changes to it, and the film is re-released every 7 yrs, then the film released 70 yrs from now will be VERY different from the original....
Lets say that they change 2% of the film each time its re released. THis film will be re-released another 10 times in the next 70 yrs. Which means by then it will be 20% different...

One of the changes that bothers me the most is Grimsby's left hand suddenly being IN FRONT of Carlotta at the beginning of Tour of the Kingdom. That hand was visual information that was not present in the original print of the film. Does this mean they re-scanned every cell and re-composited the whole film for the 3-D conversion? That's a scary thought... cause it means there are probably more small changes we haven't noticed yet...

[Khonnor]

The US edition is already in circulation and in stock at online retailers (like DVDworldUSA for example).

Any chance of them correcting the mistake are non-existent, unless they'll issue replacement discs.

[DancingCrab]

I agree with those who say that any hope of a replacement disc will come down the road in 2014 after initial bulk sales, and Disney will not make any kind of announcement but let fans network the info that they are offering a replacement disc(s) for those who wish to have them. I feel the ONLY way they will address this issue in the next couple months is if a major entertainment news publication breaks the story, calling them out on it. Then they will have to do damage control asap.

[Atlantica]

Do you think it's likely they could get called out on it ?

[DancingCrab]

One of the changes that bothers me the most is Grimsby's left hand suddenly being IN FRONT of Carlotta at the beginning of Tour of the Kingdom. That hand was visual information that was not present in the original print of the film.

You are mistaken. Grimsby's hand being in front is an original mistake that was corrected for the 2006 Platinum Edition. This blu-ray version was obviously restored from a different print and this animation goof that was in the original 1989 film was left unaltered this time.

So if you are a true purist, you'd prefer this mistake to be there

Check out the VHS or the Limited Edition DVD if you don't believe me.

Do you think it's likely they could get called out on it ?

I personally think it's highly UNLIKELY, but then again, the news would rather report on trivial entertainment problems then serious world problems, so who knows.

[disneyboy20022]

I feel the ONLY way they will address this issue in the next couple months is if a major entertainment news publication breaks the story, calling them out on it. Then they will have to do damage control asap.

Perhaps The Digital Bits. They've had outcries before and the companies have listened. They did an outcry over Oz the Great and Powerful release being a 3D Blu ray release with no DVD and that result ended in Disney offering a mail in rebate for it.

I might send the guy who runs that website a message about it.

[DancingCrab]

If you do, make sure to include that Disney reps' response they gave acknowledging the error but dismissing the importance of it.

[zackisthewalrus]

DVD-only preorder (being released 11/19/13):
http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-Mermai ... _sbs_mov_2

[taei]

DVD-only preorder (being released 11/19/13):
http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-Mermai ... _sbs_mov_2

Woo. They're using the "Whale of a Tail" cover!

Ok.. So if they're trying to phase out DVD,why are they releasing it on DVD?

[Marce82]

Hey DancingCrab,

If that issue with the hand IS part of the original release, then I am thrilled they restored it! I have the limited edition disc somewhere.... I;d have to dig for it to check. But I believe you! I would think its pretty insane (or impossible) for them to scan every single cel and re composite the entire film...

But I assume the hand is the reason they included that scene in the montage of blu ray changes?

[271286]

Hey DancingCrab,

If that issue with the hand IS part of the original release, then I am thrilled they restored it! I have the limited edition disc somewhere.... I;d have to dig for it to check. But I believe you! I would think its pretty insane (or impossible) for them to scan every single cel and re composite the entire film...

But I assume the hand is the reason they included that scene in the montage of blu ray changes?

They auctioned off the original cells and backgrounds at Sotheby's in 1990 so that's not possible - imagine if it was though... They could have re-done the movie as a CAPS movie... How beautiful it would look!

[Kyle]

I'm not aware of any full length feature for that matter that has every cel archived. Has that ever been done?

[DancingCrab]

My guess is this was simply a case of them using a completely different film print as their source for restoration then reusing the one they did for the Platinum Edition. In the process they must have just forgot about fixing Grimsby's hand this time around. I think the slide show is just comparing to the 2006 DVD. If they were comparing the blu-ray with the original theatrical version, the Grimsby bit, and the Daughters of Triton would not be there as they have been changed back to (or closer to) their original state.

It being a different print source also explains the half-a-second film tear in the right corner when Ariel and Eric jump off Ursula's giant head being here, but not in the 2006 DVD.

I did notice in the new version, they fixed the disappearing dark cloud (bottom left corner) right at the beginning though as the seagulls are descending, right before it cuts to the dolphins. This is the first time that technical mistake has been corrected.

[GreatGreg]

Translation: It's going to sell a lot either way so we don't feel like issuing a replacement for the loyal fans of this company and of this film because the majority of people won't be calling us demanding a refund

Isn't that what we all knew they would say anyway?

I've seen all the edits and it's not enough to take away from the enjoyment of the film. A colour change here, a missing hand there, sure they don't make sense, but who really cares? I would say, take a split-second and remove the eye crusts from your eyes when the end of POYW comes up and you won't even see the scene swap, if it bothers you that much. The majority of people, even including Disney enthusiasts, won't know or care about the changes.

However, the remastering is such a kick-ass job, you would be pretty dumb to overlook all of the improvements that they have made with this 3D BD release, to be caught up with a few minor changes.

Then again, complainers gotta complain.

[ajmrowland]

Translation: It's going to sell a lot either way so we don't feel like issuing a replacement for the loyal fans of this company and of this film because the majority of people won't be calling us demanding a refund

Isn't that what we all knew they would say anyway?

I've seen all the edits and it's not enough to take away from the enjoyment of the film. A colour change here, a missing hand there, sure they don't make sense, but who really cares? I would say, take a split-second and remove the eye crusts from your eyes when the end of POYW comes up and you won't even see the scene swap, if it bothers you that much. The majority of people, even including Disney enthusiasts, won't know or care about the changes.

However, the remastering is such a kick-ass job, you would be pretty dumb to overlook all of the improvements that they have made with this 3D BD release, to be caught up with a few minor changes.

Then again, complainers gotta complain.