Disney and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

[Rumpelstiltskin]

I don't know where the production of DVD and Blu-ray happens today, but they are as we know divided into several different regions. 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs (I'm just gonna write 4K from now on) are on the other hand region free.
One of the problems today is that movies on physical media are a market in decline. So why not produce all the 4K discs in the same location, if it's not done already? Subtitles (and often dubbing) are being done anyway when they are released in other parts of the world. So just add all the subtitles (and possibly dubbings) on the same disc? So distributors can import it from USA, or customers can order them directly.
The customer would have different options regarding subtitles, like Europe, Oceania, Asia and Africa.
There are plenty of material that so far has never been released outside USA, and still much that has need been available on 4K at all. Despite are smaller market, there are still plenty of customers who want it on physical media. Personally I prefer having all the classic Donald, Goofy, Mickey and Silly Symphonies cartoons on discs (the same for much material from other studios) instead of streaming them.
If that could happen, then all that would be needed is a cover printed in various languages, and I can't imagine it would cost that much to print some sheets of thin papers. And if they don't sell out all at once, there will be collectors who will still order the potential leftovers from their storage in the years to come.

The problem with the old system with regions is that if the demand is not big enough, it often doesn't pay off to print a disc from a spesific region. But now when there is a format available for the whole world, we have a different situation.
(Remember VHS, when each country had to add their own subtitle and dubbing?)

[DisneyBluLife]

Having different regions is a marketing move to secure that the competition is not to massive. That a small company can get into the market and grow.

And include every dub on one disc is impossible because you do not have enough disc space for over 40-to 50 dubs.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

But as I mentioned in my first post, 4K discs are already region free (possibly because of the decline of disc sales all over the world). And personally, I don't need a dub as long as there is subtitles. If people have the option between a disc with subtitles and no dub, or no disc at all, most would prefer the former.

The point here is that many movies and collections are not available for everybody. And if they are, they usually don't have subtitles (I'm one of those who need subtitles to understand Johnny Depp as Captain Sparrow). Because 4K are region free, and one can produce them all in one place, works that are not otherwise available could suddenly be within reach for those who wants to buy them.

[gamer51]

Actually, I don't think DVD manufacturers need to lock the region, as in several cases from my collection purchased from legitimate overseas retailers stocking inventory from licensed distributors. I typically buy only English stuff so I cannot speak about the language factor. However, the region coding is done mostly so that media companies can extract the best profit margin from each region and not have to compete with their own pricing from other regions. It's mainly about locking up the market and extorting money. They do not primarily do it as a favor or kindness to us.

Also, have you ever heard of Region Free Blu-rays? People buy them all the time from the US or the UK or Germany or wherever.

The physical media market is shrinking and 4K is such a tiny blip that they decided to mandate via tech and contracts that all 4K discs be region free. Again, it's not about being nice to us; it's about maximizing their bottom line.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

The reason is irrelevant in this context. There may be some region free Blu-rays (and region free DVD-players), but for 4K it's not just some titles, it's the whole format.
I'll repeat myself again; the reason why I would prefer the subtitles on the discs is because not everything is available in all countries. If a titles or collection does become available, then fine. But what about everything that isn't? That's what I'm talking about. There are cartoons and movies I don't have, either because they are no longer available or because they have never been released here, that I would like to have. And they will probably never be (re)printed either, so if a release in the country of origin could add all the subtitles to them, it would help a lot.

[DisneyBluLife]

To include local languages is important because children will not understand if the movie is in a different language than what they speak. That is why we have the "Disney Character Voices International" department.

Distribution would also be alot expensive and a climate problem for the Earth if everything (million of copies) would ship with ships and trucks from USA all the way to Russia, China, Germany and all the other countries. That is why they press covers and discs local.

[blackcauldron85]

I agree with DisneyBluLife about needing the dubs for children. This is Disney we're talking about, and not everyone can read, but everyone should be able to enjoy the films. And don't some discs (or all?) have audio for visually impaired? So that's yet another thing that would take up a lot of disc space, dubs + audio for visually impaired in every language. And advertisements would need to be in each language to be effective, too...

I would think that printing on-demand would be the best option for smaller releases, right? I think in a perfect world, maybe your idea might work, but discs have a finite storage capacity...With Disney+ in the mix, I've kind of lost hope for future physical releases...

I did a Disney survey a few months ago (either for Disney Movie Club or Disney+) and it asked about if I still buy catalog titles, or if I would buy catalog titles...so physical media is obviously something Disney is thinking about...

[Farerb]

I encourage my nephews and nieces to watch films in English, I think it's important. Anyway, I don't think kids care about 4K, they'll be fine with even DVDs, I think the 4K market is aimed at collectors or film-enthusiastic people.

You're right, blackcauldron85, we can see that with the non existent promotion for Beauty and the Beast in 4K, it's not even on their official site. I do hope however that they'd release at least the Vault titles in 4K just to get a better restoration (though that might still happen on Disney Plus but I'd still want them on disc). The late Renaissance - early Post Renaissance would be a bonus for me, but not a necessity since I think they look good enough on Blu-ray (Mulan should be released alongside the remake but who knows when that'll happen now...).

[Rumpelstiltskin]

To include local languages is important because children will not understand if the movie is in a different language than what they speak. That is why we have the "Disney Character Voices International" department.

Distribution would also be alot expensive and a climate problem for the Earth if everything (million of copies) would ship with ships and trucks from USA all the way to Russia, China, Germany and all the other countries. That is why they press covers and discs local.

I disagree. I grew up watching Disney and other animation without dubbing. No problem as long as you can read. And if you're not old enough to read, you'll still watch it (speaking from my personal experience). And as others have mentioned; this is 4K, which is for older buyers, not children not old enough to read yet, who will be just fine with streaming and animation on cable-TV.

Ordering from another country would mean weary little as a whole. People are ordering products through eBay, Amazon and so on already, the ships will cross the ocean if someone have ordered a disc or not. And are we really talking about "millions"? If they were that popular, they would probably have been printed in the other regions from the start. Like I said, no problem if a movie or series is so popular that you will find it on the shelf. But what do you suggest how to solve the problem with all those that are not there? A disc with all the shorts from Silly Symphonies has for instance never been available on disc where I live.

I agree with DisneyBluLife about needing the dubs for children. This is Disney we're talking about, and not everyone can read, but everyone should be able to enjoy the films. And don't some discs (or all?) have audio for visually impaired? So that's yet another thing that would take up a lot of disc space, dubs + audio for visually impaired in every language. And advertisements would need to be in each language to be effective, too...

I would think that printing on-demand would be the best option for smaller releases, right? I think in a perfect world, maybe your idea might work, but discs have a finite storage capacity...With Disney+ in the mix, I've kind of lost hope for future physical releases...

I did a Disney survey a few months ago (either for Disney Movie Club or Disney+) and it asked about if I still buy catalog titles, or if I would buy catalog titles...so physical media is obviously something Disney is thinking about...

Children in kindergarten are not Feinschmeckers yet. If you exclude audio (most adults prefer the original language anyway), it should be possible to fit the subtitles on the disc. No reason looking for arguments that support your own lack of hope. And don't underestimate the long tail business model. Like I said; I doubt any collects would decline the chance to buy a release just because they can't hear it in their own mother language. Will the disc run out of space because of the subtitles? I find it hard to believe. It would be interesting to know how many bytes it requires to add subtitles to a movie.

Yes, printing on demand would be perfect if it ever turned into a reality. But I have never seen or heard about such releases around here, so I'm still waiting. When we still don't have print on demand for ordinary DVDs in most of the world yet, it will take some time before we see 4K on demand.

I encourage my nephews and nieces to watch films in English, I think it's important. Anyway, I don't think kids care about 4K, they'll be fine with even DVDs, I think the 4K market is aimed at collectors or film-enthusiastic people.

That's my impression as well.

[DisneyBluLife]

I am from Sweden, and have some English DVDs and Blu-rays in my collection. I know English very well, I work as a dubbing translator. Translating children shows from English into Swedish.

From a business point of view, a few collectors will not pay the bill to produce releases of shows or movies that almost no one has heard of. Release So dear to my heart or Frozen will cost just as much, but which release should we focus on so we know people will buy it and we can survive? That is how company thinks.

To release So dear to my heart would even cost more, because they have to produce dubs and subtitles for it. Because So dear to my heart is not avaliable in as many languages as Frozen.

But I do not import titles from Japan or USA like Sailor Moon, Pokémon, Mysterious cities of gold, Ducktales, Gummi bears or stuff like that just because they do not include the Swedish dubs from my childhood, and if it is not in Swedish I can not introduce it to my kids or show my relatives, because the majority of people around the world, they are not intrested to see something in a language that they do not understand. And people in countries like France, Spain or Germany do not understand English so well and not Japanese at all.

The last bit is not my opinion, just facts.

[DisneyBluLife]

To include local languages is important because children will not understand if the movie is in a different language than what they speak. That is why we have the "Disney Character Voices International" department.

Distribution would also be alot expensive and a climate problem for the Earth if everything (million of copies) would ship with ships and trucks from USA all the way to Russia, China, Germany and all the other countries. That is why they press covers and discs local.

I disagree. I grew up watching Disney and other animation without dubbing. No problem as long as you can read. And if you're not old enough to read, you'll still watch it (speaking from my personal experience). And as others have mentioned; this is 4K, which is for older buyers, not children not old enough to read yet, who will be just fine with streaming and animation on cable-TV.

Ordering from another country would mean weary little as a whole. People are ordering products through eBay, Amazon and so on already, the ships will cross the ocean if someone have ordered a disc or not. And are we really talking about "millions"? If they were that popular, they would probably have been printed in the other regions from the start. Like I said, no problem if a movie or series is so popular that you will find it on the shelf. But what do you suggest how to solve the problem with all those that are not there? A disc with all the shorts from Silly Symphonies has for instance never been available on disc where I live.

I agree with DisneyBluLife about needing the dubs for children. This is Disney we're talking about, and not everyone can read, but everyone should be able to enjoy the films. And don't some discs (or all?) have audio for visually impaired? So that's yet another thing that would take up a lot of disc space, dubs + audio for visually impaired in every language. And advertisements would need to be in each language to be effective, too...

I would think that printing on-demand would be the best option for smaller releases, right? I think in a perfect world, maybe your idea might work, but discs have a finite storage capacity...With Disney+ in the mix, I've kind of lost hope for future physical releases...

I did a Disney survey a few months ago (either for Disney Movie Club or Disney+) and it asked about if I still buy catalog titles, or if I would buy catalog titles...so physical media is obviously something Disney is thinking about...

Children in kindergarten are not Feinschmeckers yet. If you exclude audio (most adults prefer the original language anyway), it should be possible to fit the subtitles on the disc. No reason looking for arguments that support your own lack of hope. And don't underestimate the long tail business model. Like I said; I doubt any collects would decline the chance to buy a release just because they can't hear it in their own mother language. Will the disc run out of space because of the subtitles? I find it hard to believe. It would be interesting to know how many bytes it requires to add subtitles to a movie.

Yes, printing on demand would be perfect if it ever turned into a reality. But I have never seen or heard about such releases around here, so I'm still waiting. When we still don't have print on demand for ordinary DVDs in most of the world yet, it will take some time before we see 4K on demand.

I encourage my nephews and nieces to watch films in English, I think it's important. Anyway, I don't think kids care about 4K, they'll be fine with even DVDs, I think the 4K market is aimed at collectors or film-enthusiastic people.

That's my impression as well.

Discs and cover artwork are printed locally already, just like for video games.

My suggestion is to have a code inside and a empty disc. The code lets you get access to choose on a website or in an app, in what language you want the content in. You fill in on the website. And then it downloades the content in that language onto the empty disc that you have put in the computer driver.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

From a business point of view, a few collectors will not pay the bill to produce releases of shows or movies that almost no one has heard of. Release So dear to my heart or Frozen will cost just as much, but which release should we focus on so we know people will buy it and we can survive? That is how company thinks.

To release So dear to my heart would even cost more, because they have to produce dubs and subtitles for it. Because So dear to my heart is not avaliable in as many languages as Frozen.

But I do not import titles from Japan or USA like Sailor Moon, Pokémon, Mysterious cities of gold, Ducktales, Gummi bears or stuff like that just because they do not include the Swedish dubs from my childhood, and if it is not in Swedish I can not introduce it to my kids or show my relatives, because the majority of people around the world, they are not intrested to see something in a language that they do not understand. And people in countries like France, Spain or Germany do not understand English so well and not Japanese at all.

The last bit is not my opinion, just facts.

My suggestion is to have a code inside and a empty disc. The code lets you get access to choose on a website or in an app, in what language you want the content in. You fill in on the website. And then it downloades the content in that language onto the empty disc that you have put in the computer driver.

I wouldn't call Donald Duck cartoons an obscure collection. And releasing a movie in several different countries when only a few thousand may be sold probably won't justify it. But if a single release was available for people all over the world, it could be justified. Remember that even Song of the South was released in the European region on VHS (without subtitles on the British version), which would represent a far more modest income for Disney. A feature doesn't have to be a gigantic blockbuster to make money. As long as the release means income, I can't see why they shouldn't make it available.

Yes, I know some countries don't understand much languages beyond their own mother language, mostly because practically everything is dubbed. That doesn't mean there isn't a market for undubbed releases. Trust me, children would love watching shows like Gummi Bears or Ducktales in English, assuming they have also been exposed to English from an early start.

Assuming you could by an empty DVD cover and case with your own language, being able to fill it up yourself using a one time only code could be a good idea. But will the disc quality be just as good as the one you can buy in stores? And remember that the discs themselves have pictures and illustrations from the movie. Having just a blank disc where you need to write the titles yourself would make it look cheap. Look inside this case for instance, and you realize it's more to it than just burn a DVD: https://www.pngguru.com/free-transparen ... part-llsrz

Perhaps if you could use a kind of store that will still be around for some time, like photo shops, who could have all the required equipment. You buy a movie on the net, and then goes to the nearest store and tell them what you have ordered. They will take care of the printing, cover and the front of the disc itself. Not sure how to handle box sets. There will be no payment before you actually receive the disc. But it all depends on the studios if they want to try an alternative way to distribute their content. If they do and it's a success, others will follow.
(Just wish you could do that with comics as well)

[Sotiris]

What a sad turn of events.

Early last week, I started to receive word from retail and industry sources that Disney had made an internal decision to suspend the 4K Ultra HD release of live action catalog titles from both their own vaults and those of their newly acquired 20th Century Fox label.

In essence, my sources said, beyond new release theatrical titles, animated fare from Disney and Pixar, or Star Wars and Marvel-related projects, there were no plans at the studio going forward to release titles on physical 4K Ultra HD—future releases would be 4K Digital only.

Source: https://thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-t ... 80720-1600

[Rumpelstiltskin]

They should promote their 4K-releases a little more. But now when they have a lot of their focus on streaming, that seems to be one of their major priorities these days.

There is a market for it, but people will not buy if they are not aware of the products.