Why Disney bothers with the Platinum VHS releases?

[Evil Genie Jafar]

Not just because the VHS format is for the most part dead. But because it doesn't make sense at all. The main reason for the Platinum Editions (or DVD's in general for that matter) is the restoration of the video and the quality of the audio (the new remix) and of course the extras. If the VHS can't have all these, why bother with the release of it?

[deathie mouse]

de masses Jafario, de masses.

DVD is the biggest thing, but there's still a lot of people that have Tape machines as their main course. Specially young families with little kids i would guess.

As for the special mix and video restoration, the VHS wont sound as good and separated (VHS Hi Fi can go through a Pro Logic surround decoder and its not that bad) and the video won't be as sharp, detailed, and noise free, but the source it's being made of, iinfluences the quality a lot so not all the remastering benefits are lost, so VHS owners get better looking VHS's if they buy the 21rst Century Digital Versions (which is what the Platinums are)

I bet a Bambi VHS Platinum recorded from a "digital restored looking like the pure original cels version" will even look better in so many ways (color contrast shadow detail etc) than my old CAV Laserdisc which wasn't the sparkiest of transfers even if it was in a 400 line medium.


10 years from now someone will be asking: Why Titanium Edition DVD's when they can buy Blue-Ray Titaniums?

[MickeyMousePal]

Five reasons and Five reasons only.

1. People who loves VHS still.
2. Anti-DVD people who hate DVD's for some reasons.
3. Disney wants to make more money.
4. VHS cost less so they buy them.
5. Just for a collection

But I'm not one of them I prefer DVD any day it’s updated and has extras not like VHS.

[Kram Nebuer]

I think they still release the VHS so not to exclude customers who have not upgraded to DVD. If they just released the DVD, cynics would accuse Disney as money grubbers who would make people buy DVD players and their more expensive DVDs by not releasing VHS.

I think they should just not put the Platinum Banner on the VHS since it isn't really necessary. Some VHSs now have one or two extras at the end, but not enough to be called a Platinum VHS. Besides kids and noncollectors (most likely ppl who don't have DVD player) don't care if the banner is there or not. They just want to watch the movie.

[Prince Adam]

Personally, I kinda miss VHS.

Sure, they didn't have extras, but you could stop the tape in the morning, then pick it up at night without having to search through scene selection. Plus, you didn't have to search around for stuff-if there was a special feature, you just watched it. Finally, VHS's are a lot harder to destroy than DVD's.

[AwallaceUNC]

Well there is still a sizeable market for VHS sales. Granted, it's now dwarfed by the market for DVDs, but it would still be a mistake on Disney's part to ignore that market. As a few have said here, people are still buying VHS for a number of reasons.

The VHS normally comes at a $4-5 lower SRP. Will Disney lose money from DVD sales to VHS sales? No, I don't think so. The people buying VHS either can't use DVDs or don't want them, so if only the DVD was available, they likely wouldn't buy it. Therefore, if Disney can throw in a few VHS editions on the same corrugate display as the DVD editions, and a few people pick them up at each store- they've made money that they wouldn't have otherwise made. Eventually, VHS will fall below the point of profit, but until then, I really think it makes sense.

The better question is why do other people bother with the VHS? Come on- get with the program!! I understand not liking the VHS getting the Platinum Banner too, but then it could lead to confusion among consumers, so it's really not smart marketing to not use the Platinum Edition. They want people to know that this is a new release of the VHS (first time in 10 years) as well.

-Aaron

[Disney Guru]

VHS might not be the thing but they are still used by many a longside DVD. I kept my VHS collection and they are all stilll in as good as condition as when I bought them ages ago. People keep VHS because they bring back memories. DVDs are the new thing but they have no memories, but VHS does. As I watch Videos I remember things from my childhood, I don't get that from DVDs. Even though I do buy DVDs they just arn't the same as VHS. Call me a Sentimental Old Fool, but that is the way I fell about it.

Thanks for hearing me out

~Chris~

[rodis]

I was surprised at how many people still use VHS, according to some article I read recently. Can't remember the #s, but surprisingly, there's still certainly a market for this format. And as someone here mentioned, it's mostly families with little kids who don't mind if the picture is sharper or the sound seperated.

[Luke]

<i>Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs</i> was the 18th highest selling VHS of 2001.
<i>Beauty and the Beast</i> was the 13th highest selling VHS of 2002.
<i>The Lion King</i> was the 15th highest selling VHS of 2003.

Source: http://www.videobusiness.com/

Yes, VHS is a dying market. But not dead. And no one knows that better than Disney. They're consistently the #1 studio in VHS sales. Last year, they accounted for about 1/3 of the entire market. To ignore the VHS market would be like turning away millions of dollars and millions of customers just because another format is more popular. They're still bringing in major profits in VHS, and it's not as if the prices are much different from DVD.

You also have to remember that there are plenty of people who are okay with VHS, and would consider the few Platinum bonus features that make their way to the cassette a nice bonus. Sure, DVD is a superior format in every way, but people still buy VHS. Lots of people. Think about how many people on this very forum didn't have a DVD player three years ago when <i>Snow White</i> came out.

So that's the very logical answer as to why Disney bothers with Platinum VHS releases. They're a business. That's their job.

[Evil Genie Jafar]

But I don't understand why people just don't upgrade to DVD by now for a number of reasons like:

1.It's harder to find the movie that you want on VHS now.

2. Dvd player's are not that expensive. I saw at Wal Mart a home theater with Dvd player for $100.

3. Most computers have dvd roms. So people that have bought computers recently or will, they have it included already.

4. Even if you don't mind the quality of audio and video you can't skip the fact that you get extras. Sometimes hours of extras for the price of the regular movie. So what more can you ask for? A great replay value. And isn't that what people look after? More value for the money they invest?

[Sh00tingstar]

young families with little kids i would guess.

thats it exactly. some people have been collecting vhs for up to 15 years now! and they want to keep it going.

There is also great satisfaction as a child to pull off your favourite vhs from the shelf, take it out, slam it in the machine press the play button and watch it over and over again.

it doesnt matter if u have peanut butter all over your fingers or apple juice in one hand, and fingerprints? who cares!!

dvds are a waste of money if you have chiddlywinks beacuse they get stood on, cases get broken, cds get scratched, peanut butterised and apple juiced:)

[deathie mouse]

Inertia Jafar, inertia.

also people's resistance to change.

so many little examples of this. Imagine you're a video enthusiast and you have a whole shelf neatly organized with 400 Disney VHSs

now you have to start buying a new format, so your first collection wont be complete, it'll be splitted in two!

That's one of millions of reasons

So maybe this particular enthusiast will keep on buying VHS

(As Spock would say: Not Logical. But them McCoy would say You green blooded inhuman. People are not logical!)

Also people like to buy things they're familiar with.

I remember 6 years ago trying to convince some wixcked witch to stop buying VHS and start buying the superior DVD. She wouldn't hear of it. (She probably gobbles them up like candy now.)

I stopped buying Laserdiscs almost inmediatly after i saw DVD's future potential quality (at the begining, those DVD's demos i saw looked WORSE than LD, so full of MPEG2 macroblocking) (Especially with all the 16:9 coded ones being demostrated in 4:3 TV's with the people looking squished ) but there were lots and lots of LD buyers that took the stance of: They'll pry my LD buying choice from me from my dead cold fingers! I even remember one of the inventors of the LD writing a letter to a LD publication: "DVD's can never look as good as LD's specially in movies favored by the format's fans, like Star Wars!" (Which appart from some dark/blue color timing issues turns out to be the opposite) (But that's another deathie thread )

(btw, LD is still superior in a couple of parameters)

I'm telling you: by the time the last people on Earth who buy VHS switch over to DVD, there will be people asking why consumers are still buying plain regular DVD instead of the Blue-Ray ones

Or i can do the thang right now:

Why are you still buying NTSC DVDs instead of upgrading to PAL DVDs?

(i bought my $50 region free player at Circuit City 3 years ago

[MickeyMouseboy]

also because they want all the $$$$ they can get! I bought the beauty and the beast platinum VHS and it didnt look any different from my other VHS just a bit bright but the grain was still there. Ugh i hate VHS

[Christian]

If they just released the DVD, cynics would accuse Disney as money grubbers who would make people buy DVD players and their more expensive DVDs by not releasing VHS.

So true.

Also because they want all the $$$$ they can get!

Will people stop saying this stuff about how Disney just wants to make money? Of course they do! Just like everybody else! If you can seriously say you are not interested in money (and you can't seriously say that) then you can accuse Disney of just doing stuff for money. The difference between you and Disney is that Disney is providing a quality product; at least people buy things from them because they perceive them to be quality products. Obviously you are only here at this forum because you like to watch "Disney movies on DVD." Be logical, people. If Disney did everything with $$$ in mind they would've released Song of the South by now. So they are accused of wanting money if they release something and accused of who-knows-whatever-else-evil-thing if they hold something back. Just like with George Lucas: "George Lucas is evil because he's holding back the classic trilogy on DVD! Now George Lucas is evil because he's releasing the classic trilogy on DVD and just wants our money! Then he's going to release it again later when all six episodes have been made just because he wants more money! But he only released it a couple weeks ago because we all demanded it! He shouldn't have given in to our demands! Actually he should give in to our demands but he's still evil for doing it! Just like Disney!!!" Give it up, people!

[KevinTRod]

[quote="Evil Genie Jafar"]
2. Dvd player's are not that expensive. I saw at Wal Mart a home theater with Dvd player for $100.
[quote]

$100?! I found a cheap DVD player at Costco for $47, and for $100 I found a VCR/DVD combo.

[DreamerQ18]

young families with little kids i would guess.

thats it exactly. some people have been collecting vhs for up to 15 years now! and they want to keep it going.

There is also great satisfaction as a child to pull off your favourite vhs from the shelf, take it out, slam it in the machine press the play button and watch it over and over again.

it doesnt matter if u have peanut butter all over your fingers or apple juice in one hand, and fingerprints? who cares!!

dvds are a waste of money if you have chiddlywinks beacuse they get stood on, cases get broken, cds get scratched, peanut butterised and apple juiced:)

lol could not have said it better myself AMEN to that. I agree I have noticed now working at a video store that for pearetns its so much easier just to rent the VHS for the children. I mean its not like they can navigate on thier own through the menues and actually enjoy all the the extra features and they dont have to worry about thier kid running a VHS like a DVD. Very good point Kuddos to you.

[Sh00tingstar]

Haha~yeah i have some awesome home video of kids dancing to 'i just cant wait to be king' covered in chocolate ice cream and decked out in nappies, sticky fingers and smudged simba face paints:)

what was said about money:
At least when Walt was out to make money he put it back into animation. He built a resort, he created new animation techniques.

disney (the company) seems to make money only to put it back into reguritated ventures
see sequel (sausage) machine and 'oh boy! yet another Pooh plush!'

[Christian]

There is also great satisfaction as a child to pull off your favourite vhs from the shelf, take it out, slam it in the machine press the play button and watch it over and over again.

With some VCRs you don't even need to push the Play button.

[Prince Adam]

Also, as is starting to become my case, people don't always have time to sit and watch hours of bonus features. Even if they do, it's once and that's it.
It's hard to justify paying up to $10 extra for bonus features you'll only watch once.

[reyquila]

Not just because the VHS format is for the most part dead. But because it doesn't make sense at all. The main reason for the Platinum Editions (or DVD's in general for that matter) is the restoration of the video and the quality of the audio (the new remix) and of course the extras. If the VHS can't have all these, why bother with the release of it?

I agree with you man. Saludos desde San Juan, aunque pienso igual que tu !!! Puerto Rico es mucho mas que la capital. Aunque vivo en Guaynabo y trabajo en San Juan, soy original de San Sebastian del Pepino.

PS. Tienes muchos Disney DVD's? Yo los tengo todos, todos.