The Walt Disney Signature Collection

[JeanGreyForever]

Of course it would be. I was about to grab that otherwise! I wish Disney would make more products looking like this.

[Disney Duster]

That was the best cover the film would have ever gotten, and the entire set would have been so cool I would have bought it. It even had Ursula's shell necklace!

[Vlad]

That certainly looks beautiful. I love the artwork on the cover

[unprincess]

thanks everyone for the tips on the Lion King 4k restoration, if its just the same Blu-Ray as the 2017 version than its really not a priority for me right now, since I already own that version. And thanks for the link to that site farerb.

and that Little Mermaid fan made set is amazing! Reminds me how much I miss those nice box sets they use to make back in the day, the ones they made prior to when the started releasing the films on Blu-ray. Im glad I was able to get them all: Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping beauty, Lion King, Aladdin & B&TB!

[Disney's Divinity]

I don’t remember a box set for B&tB and SB? I thought it was just for the Platinum DVDs from TLK to Aladdin to Cinderella. I still hate that they stopped before TLM Platinum. I didn’t buy the Cinderella box set because I didn’t think it was as appealing as TLK and Aladdin ones.

[JeanGreyForever]

I don't remember any deluxe box sets for BATB or Sleeping Beauty either. Nor Snow White, unless you meant the Diamond Edition one, but you said it was before Blu-Ray so I presume you mean the Platinum Edition.

[Sotiris]

A couple of clips from the bonus feature "Alan Menken & the Leading Ladies Song" have been released.

[Atlantica]

Being in the UK, there won't be any way I can get the Target cover is there ? The only place to really pick it up will be amazon.com. I'm reluctant to do so as I don't like the regular cover ( the Target exclusive is better but not great ), but I think this might be the last time of home release. I've got them all from VHS to now, so don't want to miss out pretty much

There doesn't seem to be any mention of a UK release either anywhere, or a European one for that matter.

[unprincess]

I don't remember any deluxe box sets for BATB or Sleeping Beauty either. Nor Snow White, unless you meant the Diamond Edition one, but you said it was before Blu-Ray so I presume you mean the Platinum Edition.

woops! yes I forgot the SW SB & B&TB sets were during the first Blu-Ray releases! They came in a hinged box that included an art book.

[D82]

A clip from the bonus feature "Alan Menken & the Leading Ladies Song" has been released.

Actually, there are two clips in that article. The second one is at the bottom.

[Sotiris]

Actually, there are two clips in that article. The second one is at the bottom.

Thanks. I hadn't notice that. I corrected my previous post.

Here are a couple more clips from other extras.

Um, those are extras for Ralph Breaks the Internet, not The Little Mermaid.

[D82]

Here are a couple more clips from other extras.

Um, those are extras for Ralph Breaks the Internet, not The Little Mermaid.

Oops, it's true. Sorry, I'll edit my post too.

[Sotiris]

Oh, it's no biggie. Just post them in the right thread.

[D82]

Oh, it's no biggie. Just post them in the right thread.

OK, I've edited my last post in the Ralph Breaks the Internet thread to add these links.

[JeanGreyForever]

woops! yes I forgot the SW SB & B&TB sets were during the first Blu-Ray releases! They came in a hinged box that included an art book.

Oh ok, that makes more sense. Too bad The Little Mermaid got the shaft when it came to both the Platinum and Diamond Line. It didn't even get a deluxe VHS set like most of the other major Disney films got.

[Disney Duster]

I love the last bit of acting Donna Murphy does in the seond clip!

JeanGreyForever, what was every film that got a deluxe VHS/laserdisc release? That's what you were talking about, the releases that also got laserdiscs, right? Some of them (or all of them?) called "Masterpiece"?

[JeanGreyForever]

I love the last bit of acting Donna Murphy does in the seond clip!

JeanGreyForever, what was every film that got a deluxe VHS/laserdisc release? That's what you were talking about, the releases that also got laserdiscs, right? Some of them (or all of them?) called "Masterpiece"?

Here is the list of deluxe VHS sets that Disney made. Several of them had deluxe laserdisc versions as well but not all of them.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Pinocchio
Fantasia
Cinderella
The Jungle Book (UK Only)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
The Lion King
Pocahontas
Toy Story

Also Anastasia had something similar, if not packed with even more features than what even the Disney sets usually have.

Of course, Disney had some great deluxe laserdisc sets too separate from the above line. They weren't packaged with all the extra physical content like in the above sets but they had plenty of bonus features in the discs. The widescreen editions for Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame come to mind.

[Disney Duster]

Oh, wow, thanks for all the info!

[JeanGreyForever]

Welcome.

Meanwhile, people are speculating that Aladdin might come out this year in 4K because of the live-action film. I think it was the last of the Diamond Edition line to be vaulted though so we'll see.

[Escapay]

The Jungle Book actually began Disney's "Deluxe Edition" line on VHS in May 1991. It didn't include any making-of documentary, but was packaged with a collectible booklet, lithograph, and soundtrack CD. This format would see continued use on later Deluxe Editions. It should be noted that Disney didn't make a LaserDisc version of this set, so it was exclusively VHS.

Later that year, Fantasia followed in the Deluxe Edition line, this time on both LaserDisc and VHS in November 1991. It notably included different extras based on which version one purchased. Both sets included the commemorative program, Disney Channel making-of special, and collectible lithograph. However, the Deluxe Edition for LaserDisc included the film's trailers on the disc, while the Deluxe Edition for VHS included the two-disc soundtrack CD.

For 1992, Beauty and the Beast got a Deluxe Edition set only on VHS, including the Work in Progress version, Disney Channel documentary, making-of book (an 88-page Beauty and the Beast-exclusive excerpt from Bob Thomas's Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast[/i]), lithograph, and soundtrack CD. Disney didn't make a Laserdisc version of this set for the US, possibly because they didn't put the film out on Laserdisc until 1993 (to stave off bootleggers who may make VHS copies of the film and harm their VHS sales). Rather, Disney only put out a laserdisc of the Work in Progress version, itself with exclusive extras (The Four Stages of Animation, "Be Our Guest" with Maurice, Camera Move Test, "Transformation" in pencil form, and trailers) not on the VHS from the Deluxe Edition.

As the catalog "Deluxe Edition" for 1993, Pinocchio got simultaneous VHS and LaserDisc releases, both with the same content: making-of, collectible book, lithograph, and soundtrack CD. The LD contained extensive still galleries as well.

Aladdin was Disney's new-release for VHS and LD that fall, and like Beauty and the Beast the previous year, only had a Deluxe Edition on VHS, containing the Disney Channel documentary, a softcover version of John Culhane's making-of book, lithograph, and soundtrack CD.

It wasn't until September 1994 that Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin would get Deluxe Editions on LaserDisc, but only in Japan. The same year that Japan released the Deluxe Editions of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, the US saw the Deluxe Edition (again on VHS and LD) for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with a new making-of documentary, a hardcover US debut of a 1987 making-of book, and ten lithographs. The LD, understandably, had more supplements on its bonus disc.

In 1995, both The Lion King and Cinderella got Deluxe Edition sets, again on both formats. The now requisite making-of book and lithographs were included, but like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs from the previous year, no longer included a soundtrack CD. Also, Cinderella included a four-stage-of-animation type lithograph, showing the transformation in different stages between concept art and final cel. Their laserdiscs also continued the trend of more disc-based supplements.

Notable also in 1995 were the Laserdisc-only "Exclusive Archive Collection" releases for Alice in Wonderland and Saludos Amigos / The Three Caballeros. They didn't come with any making-of books or lithographs, just a lot of disc-based extras.

By 1996, only the new release, Pocahontas, received a Deluxe Edition on both VHS and LD. Gone was a making-of book, but rather a 28-page excerpt from the official "Art of" book. Similar to Cinderella was the four-stage-of-animation lithograph set. Disney's catalog classic that year, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, only got a Deluxe Edition VHS set with the new making-of, lithographs, and songbook. Its laserdisc wasn't even in CAV format, just CLV, and only included the making-of.

For 1997, Disney abandoned all Deluxe Edition sets on VHS, preferring instead to just release them on laserdisc with Sleeping Beauty and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Plenty of disc-based extras, but no more collectible booklets, lithographs, soundtrack CDs, etc. Liner notes are included for Sleeping Beauty's gatefold packaging, if that were to count. Likewise, the CAV "Fully Restored Limited Edition" laserdiscs for Bambi, The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, and Fun and Fancy Free (the latter two from 1998) were gatefold packaging with liner notes, plus shorter documentaries (ranging between 15-17 minutes), relevant short video clips (usually trailers, although Peter Pan got the 1952 "The Peter Pan Story" and Fun and Fancy Free got vintage Walt-in-the-recording-booth footage), and still galleries.

Also in 1998, Lady and the Tramp and The Little Mermaid would be Disney's last "Deluxe Edition" releases, but with a different name: Fully Restored Collector's Edition. Neither of them had gatefold packaging (as far as I know), and supplements were sparse (Lady and the Tramp just had "Disneyland" excerpts, The Little Mermaid a short documentary and still galleries). Not even their new releases, Hercules or Mulan got any Deluxe Edition treatment, just barebones laserdiscs (and Mulan's was only available in Japan).

The following year, Disney would finally jump on board to DVD for their animated films, but those were overprised barebones nonsense that aren't worth the cardstock they're printed on. It wouldn't be until 2000 that Disney would release some semblance of Special Edition sets again, starting with their Collector's Edition of Tarzan that spring. One final footnote, Tarzan was also Disney's last laserdisc release, a Japan-only disc that sold in June 2000.

Albert