Do you still keep a collection of Disney DVDs/BDs/4Ks?

[UmbrellaFish]

I keep reading online that having a big home media collection nowadays is weird. And sitting in my room, surrounded by 1,000 movies on my shelves, that hits a little close to home.

I remember the heydays of this forum, when Disney Home Media was pumping out new releases every month and that’s what all the discussion was about, all the time. Now I wonder, how many of us even keep a collection of Disney movies on physical media? Especially with Disney+. I am also curious, how many of us made the jump from DVD to Blu-ray? And how many of us made the jump from Blu-ray to 4K? What does your collection look like? Any VHS people out there?? Laserdisc??

[Patricier21]

How many of you have Disney movie insider/Disney movie rewards codes in your physical media that have not been redeemed?

[UmbrellaFish]

I have every DAC released in its most upgraded format, be that Blu-ray or 4K. When a new DAC (or Pixar film) comes out, I always buy it on 4K (as long as that option is available, and so far it always has been, but who knows what the future holds?). I would say that my spending on new home media has slowed down in general, but I think that has as much to do with studio’s home media releases slowing down as my own spending habits. My DAC collection is basically complete, but if Disney released a wave of Walt-era films on 4K tomorrow I’d snap them up as soon as I could.

Even though I have all the updated Blu-ray or 4K versions, I’ve kept many of the DVD copies of my Disney films. Partly because 1) I can’t remember what bonus features were ported over or not and I am loathe to accidentally sell or donate something with an exclusive bonus feature, and 2) many of my DVDs hold sentimental value because they were gifts from people I love who are no longer with me (my great grandmother who died in 2005 gave me a full screen DVD of Holes I’ll never part with, even though I have the DMC BD).

I own multiple copies of some films on the same format— when TLM was released on Diamond edition, I bought the standard cover, the gold cover, and the 3D release all at the same time. Even though I already had the standard releases, I bought the DMC exclusive covers for BATB and Snow White (had to support Paige’s artwork for BATB, one of these days I’ll buy the TLM steel book with her artwork, too. And the original Snow White poster is one of my all-time favorites)

I don’t own any VHS or Laserdisc! I had them as a kid, and they’re all gone now. I always think about buying a big, cheap lot of VHS tapes if only to display the covers on my shelves.

I do watch my DVDs and BDs. I’m an old fuddy duddy and I like the ritual of scanning my collection’s spines, selecting a film, admiring the artwork of the cover or the nowadays rare disc art, popping in the disc and watching my movie. I concede streaming is a lot quicker and easier, but movies are a thing I value and I value taking a little time to savor them. I usually have a disc in my player and and a stack of discs waiting to be played next to it— currently, it’s The Children of Paradise in the player, Gone With the Wind, Moulin Rouge, and The Passion of Joan of Arc in the queue (okay, no Disney today! But sometime soon, I’m sure). I say that I usually have a disc in the player because even a relatively short movie will end up being broken up in chunks over a period of nights.

[Mooky]

I was somewhat late to the DVD game (started only in late 2004 when Aladdin PE came out), also late to the BD game (2010ish), and with 4K I'm probably going backwards as I don't own a 4K TV/player yet, but I do have a tiny collection of Disney 4K titles as another way to future-proof my favorite films.

Some of my DVDs/BDs of movies from other studios I sold in the meantime, but I have kept all my Disney tapes and discs. Aside from the sentimental value they hold for me and remind me of the collecting rush and that amazing feeling when you find a disc you've been missing, there's a lot of supplemental material on those discs that's not available on streaming sites. Also, a lot of those movies have never gotten a DVD-to-BD upgrade (some not even a VHS-to-DVD upgrade), so it's nice to keep them as sort of mementos of times past. For example, Belle's Magical World: it's an absolutely abysmal feature by all standards, but I like that I kept the special edition DVD because the version on Disney+ is the shorter original version.

Edit: Forgot to add the specifics of my collection:
- DVD: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Frozen, Pixaf stuff up to Monsters University, plus all but one of the theatrical and DTV sequels up to 2014, including original DTVs like Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas and The Three Musketeers; Walt Disney Treasures, and selected live-action films, both vintage and modern
- BD: Snow White to Moana, Pixar stuff up to Toy Story 4, and some DTV sequels
- 4K: only the eight hand-drawn films released on 4K so far

I remember all those threads on here where people used to post pics of their carefully curated DVD/BD collections and it used to make me salivate, lol. There was one user, reyquila was their username if I remember it right, and they would buy every. single. Disney. release, be it newly released or a reissue, and then post updates on their collection. Fun times

[carolinakid]

I have every single DAC on DVD from Snow White to Wish and almost every Walt Disney live action film including a bootleg Song of the South.

[blackcauldron85]

I still have my DVDs and Blu-rays (Disney and otherwise). In college (mid -2000s) I sold my Disney VHS tapes. I was very late to the Blu-ray game, 2018 I think. I did research bonus features being ported over and sold a lot of DVDs at that time to help afford the BD. But I kept DVDs with worthwhile bonus features.

Likewise, I love bonus features, so that's a huge reason to keep buying physical media, but also after my divorce, I'm poor and don't pay for Internet or streaming, so I'm grateful for my physical media collection.

I don't have a 4K player or TV but will buy a 4K if it includes a Blu-ray disc; I'm not consistent with buying 4K vs. Blu-ray, though.

I own all the DACs and Pixar films. While I did sell some of the cheapquels, I did keep sone, too. And years ago I sold a lot of live action titles but I kept a lot as well.

[UmbrellaFish]

Aside from the sentimental value they hold for me and remind me of the collecting rush and that amazing feeling when you find a disc you've been missing

There are a few DVDs I regret selling, which I should have kept for sentimental reasons— one such DVD is the original Enchanted DVD release. It was the first thing I ever bought from Amazon! I remember waiting for the mail to run, walking down to my mailbox and the rush of opening up this package with a movie I was obsessed with at the time. God, this forum circa 2007 was something else!! The energy and anticipation around that movie… we had only been fed crumbs for years and years. Disney was of course still a huge corporation back then, but in the animation game at the time, it really felt like an underdog. I hated Dreamworks with the passion of a thousand suns!!! lolol

I remember all those threads on here where people used to post pics of their carefully curated DVD/BD collections and it used to make me salivate, lol. There was one user, reyquila was their username if I remember it right, and they would buy every. single. Disney. release, be it newly released or a reissue, and then post updates on their collection. Fun times

Me, too! I think about reyquila from time to time, I hope that whole collection is still intact. I was so young when I started posting here, most of my collection was birthday and Christmas gifts, money I got from doing odd jobs, gift cards saved up and redeemed from a website called Swagbucks. So the bulk of my collection really built up in the last 10 years when I was old enough to have a job and a little disposable income. Sometimes I read online about people who had massive DVD and/or Blu-ray collections during the heydays of those formats, and have subsequently sold all or most of their collections. What was it like for people who already had big DVD collections or Blu-ray collections when the next format came out, did that contribute to burnout?

Something I owe very much to this board is my knowledge and palette for film and television outside of Disney. You’d read users here talking about their entire collections, sometimes it was things that make a lot of sense next to Disney like Cocteau’s BATB or Singin’ in the Rain (I remember reading Escapay talk about those) but then you’d get AbFab fans (2099net). I watched Halloween and Scream for the first time a couple years ago and realized what Loomis’ username was a reference to! I was always indebted, too, to Flanger-Hanger for sharing the upcoming slate of Disney films on TCM. Starting with Disney films and then branching out to other cinema on TCM was huge for me.

don't pay for Internet or streaming, so I'm grateful for my physical media collection.

This is another benefit of a home media collection. I don’t currently have an active subscription to Disney+ because I just don’t need it. Which always surprises people who know me as a big Disney fan. My sister only subscribes to Peacock because of The Office and I’ve told her she should just buy the complete series and cancel her subscription. But to be honest, I’m not sure she even has a disc player?

You all mentioned the cheapquels— I don’t know if I own all of them on DVD and Blu-ray or not. Actually, now that I think about it, I definitely don’t. I know I never bought Patch’s London Adventure on any format. And maybe some others.

When Blu-ray started, I told myself I wouldn’t upgrade any of my sequels to BD, but that was broken quickly and not my fault— it was those two-packs with the original film and the sequel. You had to buy the sequel to own The Fox and the Hound, Pocahontas, Mulan, etc. Eventually I went back and bought some of the standalone releases of sequels (mostly my favorite sequels or franchises: Cinderella, TLM, Aladdin, etc). I think the only one I don’t have and sort of regret is not buying Bambi II on Blu-ray, only have the DVD. That was a favorite back in the day.

I’ve kept an alphabetized list of my movies since I was like 12 years old, and maybe actually even younger. It’s the same way I organize my collection, alphabetically by title.

According to the list I have:

208 DVDs
661 BDs
18 3D BDs (never owned a 3D TV or player, probably never will. I thought I was future proofing! Now they are neat curiosities and one day in the distant future I’ll buy a VR headset to enjoy 3D movies at home)
147 4Ks

Total: 1,034

I used DVDAf for years until it shut down. Now I use Blu-ray.com, but I suspect I’ve forgotten to update it from time to time.

I am curious to hear from folks who sold their collections. If there are any out there! What does that freedom of not lugging hundreds of discs with you on every move feel like??? Do you have regrets?? Did you keep any and why??? Also I get the vibe we have some young adults on the forum nowadays who grew up when streaming was already a big deal— do you guys have any physical home media?? Is it something you’re interested in at all?

[Farerb]

I have a collection of Disney Animation and Pixar and some live actions.

Ever since having Disney+ I stopped buying new films. The last Disney film I got was Frozen II and the last Pixar film was Luca. New movies don't matter to me much and I even have some I regret ever getting (it's not so easy to me to sell them). I did get all the classic animated movies that have been released on 4K so far and I intend to buy any hand drawn animated film Disney would release on 4K and Mary Poppins and Enchanted as well.

On Blu-ray I own all hand drawn animated films with the exception of the package films, The Sword in the Stone, The Black Cauldron, Oliver and Company, Brother Bear and Home on the Range. I intend to get them if Disney ever release them on 4K.

I still own the classics on DVD, mainly for the bonus features even if I don't actually watch them, it's good to have them just in case. I also kept them for the dubbings but now the dubbings are also available on Disney+.

Regarding Direct to Video sequels I only own Return of Jafar and TLM 2 on DVD. I don't intend owning any of the others on Blu-ray.

The only VHS I own are The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. I also own Beauty on laserdisc.

[UmbrellaFish]

Farerb, you are a little newer to this website than me, but I get the impression you’ve been collecting for a long time. Is that correct?

[Avaitor]

I own every WDAS (aside from The Sword in the Stone, whose butchered release I refuse to buy) and Pixar film on Blu-Ray, as well as a lot of live-action films on either DVD or Blu. I think my most recent live-action purchase (at least in terms of release date) was Cruella, which I bought out of curiosity. I saw it later with my mom on Disney+... wasn't impressed.

Aside from Cinderella, I haven't upgraded to 4K once because I just don't have the funds to upgrade to an appropriate TV or player, let alone replace my collection. Maybe in the near future, but I'm pretty happy with my Blus for the time being.

I agree that Disney+ is convenient, but I'm a collector at heart who doesn't want to let go of their collection and I'm skeptical about the longevity of streaming. Anything could be taken off the internet at any time, including Disney+ as a whole, while unless you have a (relatively rare) case of disc rot, your DVD is forever.

I've also noticed how Disney titles went from around the priciest on the second hand market to the cheapest with D+, and that's been helpful to me in some cases. Especially as this even includes a lot of the Disney Treasures sets, which I've been able to find for reasonable prices lately.

[Farerb]

Farerb, you are a little newer to this website than me, but I get the impression you’ve been collecting for a long time. Is that correct?

I remember having most of the classics on VHS and I guess that's the source of still wanting to have them on physical. It's not common anymore to still buy movies on physical and many people asked me why I still do that, but to me it's nicer to have the movies I like on the shelves. People buy so many merchandise when it comes to these films, but why most people don't want to own the films themselves?

My parents gave away the VHS tapes when we started upgrading to DVD. I was young then and if I had known better I would have kept them. Meanwhile I started getting the DVDs when they came out (I remember being frustrated that The Little Mermaid wasn't available for a long time). I upgraded to Blu-ray in 2017 when I got Moana on DVD and it looked terrible so I decided it was finally time to upgrade and I'm glad I did it. I pretty much got most of the classics at once and I guess that's the good thing about waiting because I didn't have to wait until a favorite movie was released, and because I came to Blu-ray so late, it was around the time when movies started to be released on 4K, so my first player was already a 4K player and I upgraded my TV to 4K TV in 2018.

[Kyle]

I havent gotten rid of anything I had , mostly becuase I'm a packrat, but most of it is in storage, not even in the place I live, due to lack of space.
While I cant seem to let them go entirely, I dont really go back to them for a few reasons.

1. I dont even like watching things that are not in 4k anymore. and I never really started a physical collection of those.
2. I dont currently have a blu ray player in my pc, and that's where the majority of my screentime is spent. I always meant to get around to getting one, but now that physcial media is mostly dead, I dont even see much incentive to do so now.
3. I've come to loath the whole process of going through menus and trailers just to get to the point where I can watch the thing I want to watch. so I prefer alternate methods of watching them. Some ways legal, other ways not so much. but convenience trumps everything when as an adult working full time I have less and less time to waste.

4. companies no longer put any effort into special features. its not even fun anymore to collect physical media because of this.

[blackcauldron85]

Something I owe very much to this board is my knowledge and palette for film and television outside of Disney. You’d read users here talking about their entire collections, sometimes it was things that make a lot of sense next to Disney like Cocteau’s BATB or Singin’ in the Rain (I remember reading Escapay talk about those) but then you’d get AbFab fans (2099net). I watched Halloween and Scream for the first time a couple years ago and realized what Loomis’ username was a reference to! I was always indebted, too, to Flanger-Hanger for sharing the upcoming slate of Disney films on TCM. Starting with Disney films and then branching out to other cinema on TCM was huge for me.

Not to get too off topic, but I was thinking the other day about the evolution of not just this forum, but the main website and Disney websites in general. All of the news and rumors that used to be so abundant online; so many of those sites with news and rumors either changed formats or just don't exist anymore. Granted, we were younger and had more free time, but remember all the hours spent reading and discussing the news and rumors about what's in production/what got cancelled?! We just don't quite have that anymore.

[Thumper_93]

I do watch my DVDs and BDs. I’m an old fuddy duddy and I like the ritual of scanning my collection’s spines, selecting a film, admiring the artwork of the cover or the nowadays rare disc art, popping in the disc and watching my movie. I concede streaming is a lot quicker and easier, but movies are a thing I value and I value taking a little time to savor them. I usually have a disc in my player and and a stack of discs waiting to be played next to it— currently, it’s The Children of Paradise in the player, Gone With the Wind, Moulin Rouge, and The Passion of Joan of Arc in the queue (okay, no Disney today! But sometime soon, I’m sure). I say that I usually have a disc in the player because even a relatively short movie will end up being broken up in chunks over a period of nights.

I still think like you! I love to see my collection, touch all the movies, watch the artworks from the covers and I also love to remember the excitement that I felt when each of these movies were released. All the good moments reading forums, waiting for the covers to be released or expecting which movie was going to be released this year.
I still buy movies on physical but only the one that I love. I also spend money on second market buying editions that I don't have. Disney+ is good because you can watch it everywhere but having the movie in physical is better. You never know when this movie is going to be deleted from Dinsey+.

[UmbrellaFish]

I've also noticed how Disney titles went from around the priciest on the second hand market to the cheapest with D+, and that's been helpful to me in some cases. Especially as this even includes a lot of the Disney Treasures sets, which I've been able to find for reasonable prices lately.

I haven’t looked up any Treasures… now I think I will. I have a very paltry collection of Walt Disney Treasures, and during college I had to sell a couple of the few I owned to pay for my classes. The ones I have still didn’t sell!

But I love this trend, of secondhand Disney DVDs and Blu-rays being so cheap. It’s great for collectors although if I think about how much I spent buying new releases… I’m sick to my stomach, haha!

People buy so many merchandise when it comes to these films, but why most people don't want to own the films themselves?

I’ve noticed that, too. I get, you know, that a t-shirt with your favorite movie poster is maybe more useful than a DVD, but people spend oodles of money on plushies and Funko Pops and all kinds of stuff which are the same price or more expensive than DVDs.

I think I’ve talked about it before, but I feel like with the rise of streaming, movies and TV feel so much more disposable. To watch Mary Poppins, I had to pay to buy the DVD or Blu-ray, or catch it on a specific channel at a specific time. And of course, before that, you had to wait for a theatrical release. You had to seek it out. Now it’s just another film in your $10 (?) Disney+ subscription.

The accessibility is a good thing. I hated the practice of the vault. I just think so many films and TV shows are at a risk of being forgotten in these enormous streaming libraries.

I havent gotten rid of anything I had , mostly becuase I'm a packrat, but most of it is in storage, not even in the place I live, due to lack of space.
While I cant seem to let them go entirely, I dont really go back to them for a few reasons.

1. I dont even like watching things that are not in 4k anymore. and I never really started a physical collection of those.
2. I dont currently have a blu ray player in my pc, and that's where the majority of my screentime is spent. I always meant to get around to getting one, but now that physcial media is mostly dead, I dont even see much incentive to do so now.
3. I've come to loath the whole process of going through menus and trailers just to get to the point where I can watch the thing I want to watch. so I prefer alternate methods of watching them. Some ways legal, other ways not so much. but convenience trumps everything when as an adult working full time I have less and less time to waste.

4. companies no longer put any effort into special features. its not even fun anymore to collect physical media because of this.

This all makes sense. I guess the only thing I really don’t agree with is the trailers and menus thing. Something I’ve come to enjoy is choosing an older DVD or Blu-ray in my collection and watching the old trailers/commercials for old releases. It’s very nostalgic for me.

Not to get too off topic, but I was thinking the other day about the evolution of not just this forum, but the main website and Disney websites in general. All of the news and rumors that used to be so abundant online; so many of those sites with news and rumors either changed formats or just don't exist anymore. Granted, we were younger and had more free time, but remember all the hours spent reading and discussing the news and rumors about what's in production/what got cancelled?! We just don't quite have that anymore.

I remember there was a webpage on the main site all about cancelled projects. How did Luke get all that info? I know now we have D23, but I guess it was all info from the trades back then? I feel like Disney is generally more tight lipped about upcoming projects nowadays.

I also wonder where is the Disney fan community for movies nowadays? Like, here are a lot of people, yes, but most of us have been posting for years and years. The Disney Reddit subforum seems like very surface level discussions— nothing wrong with that, but it’s not that interesting to engage in. The Disney parks community is alive and well and healthy, very much so. But the Disney film community, I don’t know— and it’s strange because until very recently, Disney’s had enormous success in film.

I also think, at least for me personally, why I’m not super invested in Disney movie news and rumors anymore is that… I just don’t like them that much! I don’t think they’re garbage, there are a few I really liked (like Encanto). But I’ve been following Disney news since I was very, very young. I know how the sausage is made. It’s very easy for me to love the Renaissance films because I was exposed to those as a child and I wasn’t aware how much those movies were trying to sell me a product. I guess what I’m saying is, I’m a lot more cynical now. It’s very hard to fall in love with a movie like I did when I was a child. It still happens— I mentioned Encanto, but I loved Coco, too. And this is true of live action cinema, too— I watch a lot of movies, but the last contemporary movie I saw that I unabashedly loved from top to bottom was Parasite.

I still think like you! I love to see my collection, touch all the movies, watch the artworks from the covers and I also love to remember the excitement that I felt when each of these movies were released. All the good moments reading forums, waiting for the covers to be released or expecting which movie was going to be released this year.

The amount of hours I’ve wasted on this board discussing cover art!! Lolololol And I’ll do it until Disney ceases producing physical media.

Does anybody fear that someday, Disney will stop producing physical media? Now they’re going through Sony, but I could see them one day just totally abandoning the format. Maybe we will get boutique (and expensive) releases like the vinyl from Disney Music Emporium. But Disney movies only being available on Disney+ puts so much power back in the company’s hands, I could really see them being drawn to that. Especially if home media sales continue to dwindle.

[blackcauldron85]

In Australia, Disney did stop releasing physical movies, so yes, I worry about that, here and internationally. YouTube luckily does have a lot of bonus features/documentaries on it so hopefully we could piece together the behind the scenes stuff + watch the films on Disney+.

I mean, what Disney+ did recently, removed films that never got a physical release (The One and Only Ivan, Artemis Fowl etc.) from Disney+ proves that they don't necessarily care about their own films, that they're disposable. I know you can download them (I haven't yet, as much as I loved Ivan, but if there was a physical release, I would have found the $ to buy it).

[UmbrellaFish]

That’s true, I forgot about Australia.

[Thumper_93]

I think that soon por later Disney+ si going yo dissapear. There are many streaming platforms these dais and these are increasing prices too much so people are getting tired about it. Disney is not giving much content so that make me think that soon or later is going to be deleted.
I think that they are smart enough to not get rid of physical media. They know that there are people that still collect movies and that they can sell the same movie again and again adding a few new bonus features. They also earn with one movie sold more than with 3 months of suscription in their platform. In Spain a new movie costs around 20€. Produce one unit of the movie costs around 10 cents. The cheapest plan on Disney+ costs 6€ per month so yes, physical media is still a buisness.

[Avaitor]

I've also noticed how Disney titles went from around the priciest on the second hand market to the cheapest with D+, and that's been helpful to me in some cases. Especially as this even includes a lot of the Disney Treasures sets, which I've been able to find for reasonable prices lately.

I haven’t looked up any Treasures… now I think I will. I have a very paltry collection of Walt Disney Treasures, and during college I had to sell a couple of the few I owned to pay for my classes. The ones I have still didn’t sell!

But I love this trend, of secondhand Disney DVDs and Blu-rays being so cheap. It’s great for collectors although if I think about how much I spent buying new releases… I’m sick to my stomach, haha!

I think it's more true for the earlier, more widely available Treasures, but I've been able to find some of those for around $15-$30. The rarer ones can still be pretty pricey- recently saw their Doctor Syn set for $150, and the Annette miniseries for $70. Too rich for my blood.

I wish you luck!

[carolinakid]

I’m so glad I purchased the Annette series when it first came out. It’s my all time favorite MMC serial and I rewatch it every couple of years.

I have every WDT set except for 6 which I had little interest in at the time but wish I had bought just to have a complete set.
They are Davy Crockett, Dr Syn, Zorro, Elfego Baca, Oswald and Tomorrowland. I blew it..... I guess I always thought they would be reissued or repackaged some day.

My absolute favorite sets are Annette, the Silly Symphonies, Disney Rareties, the ones on Disneyland, Walt Disney, the Studios and week 1 of the MMC.
I also love the 4 volume Legacy series with all the True Life Adventures features and featurettes.