101 Dalmatians: Platinum Edition DVD Press Release

[Disneykid]

There's a simple reason for that: it was Lowry's first restoration for Disney. I suspect their methods weren't as advanced and thorough as they are now. It dates back to 2002 or so, and their next Disney animated restoration was, I think, Alice in Wonderland, and that wasn't until a year later. Heck, they're even going back and re-doing restorations they've done before (like North by Northwest). I don't think they'll redo Pinocchio, though. I don't have the R2 DVD, but I've seen enough clips to see that the restoration is still very good, better than Snow White's, in fact. I'll be shocked if Disney has Lowry redo it.

[akhenaten]

so as time progresses and technique advances..the movies will keep being restored and re-restored ???? what do u guys think? since lowry is such a perfectionist.

[Jack Skellington]

Does anyone other than me feel that the 101 Dalmations Blu-Ray will be announced later next year ?

[Billy Moon]

Does anyone other than me feel that the 101 Dalmations Blu-Ray will be announced later next year ?

No, it's just you.

[Simba3]

Does anyone other than me feel that the 101 Dalmations Blu-Ray will be announced later next year ?

I don't either, I think Disney is looking to launch Blu-Ray for their classics with a bigger classic title, like Sleeping Beauty.

[ichabod]

I don't either, I think Disney is looking to launch Blu-Ray for their classics with a bigger classic title, like Sleeping Beauty.

Hate to burst the bubble, but 101 Dalmatians is a far bigger classic than Sleeping Beauty in nearly every way. Box office gross/critical acclaim/public acclaim/home video sales. In fact Sleeping Beauty wasn't even included in the original platinum line up, as it wasn't as big a seller or as popular a title, it was a late inclusion to the platinum line up.

[Simba3]

I don't either, I think Disney is looking to launch Blu-Ray for their classics with a bigger classic title, like Sleeping Beauty.

Hate to burst the bubble, but 101 Dalmatians is a far bigger classic than Sleeping Beauty in nearly every way. Box office gross/critical acclaim/public acclaim/home video sales. In fact Sleeping Beauty wasn't even included in the original line up, as it wasn't as big a seller or as popular a title, it was a late inclusion to the platinum line up.

I guess it could be seen both ways. Personally, I agree with you, 101 Dalmatians is one of those classics that most everyone knows and loves. However, sometimes I feel that the whole Princess craze dominates the Disney market sometimes.

[PeterPanfan]

I love both films equally but I think Sleeping Beauty may be a little more populaur than 101 Dalmatians.

SB even has a CASTLE made after her!

[2099net]

I love both films equally but I think Sleeping Beauty may be a little more populaur than 101 Dalmations.

SB even has a CASTLE made after her!

But 'Bod stated a fact. Sleeping Beauty wasn't selected as one of the first top 10 Platinum editions, because it wasn't as popular as those that had been selected. The initial 10 selection was based on VHS sales.

[yamiiguy]

I love both films equally but I think Sleeping Beauty may be a little more populaur than 101 Dalmations.

SB even has a CASTLE made after her!

Adjusted for inflation, 101 Dalmatians is the second highest grossing animated film of all time I believe.

[PeterPanfan]

Sorry for the spelling error,it's corrected.

But there's so much more Sleeping Beauty merchandise than there is 101 Dalmatians.

I like 101D more than SB,but I still think it's the lesser known of the two.

[singerguy04]

I'm pretty sure this is coming in the spring. They'll need to release something and they did say it was coming this spring for Peter Pan. Besides 101 Dalmatians has been set up for release for a while now. It was supposed to come last year.

As far as the case of Sleeping Beauty vs. 101 Dalmatians here's a thought. Remember how so many people were dissapointed that they missed out of Snow White? It is possible that not as many people would be as dissapointed with missing out on Sleeping Beauty? It's a strong enough title to start out on with blu-ray, but it's also a title that's not as strong as many of the other PE's. I think it's serving as a launch pad.

Another fact regarding Sleeping Beauty... The castle in Disneyland was planned on being Sleeping Beauty's castle long before the movie came out or was even in production. Disneyland opened in 1955 and Sleeping Beauty was released in 1959. Im not meaning to point out PeterPanfan or anything, but a lot of people try to use the castle as a defense for Sleeping Beauty's popularity when really it's not a product of that at all.

[PeterPanfan]

So you're saying that the castle was just a 'castle' until Sleeping Beauty came out and they decided to name it after that?

That's new to me.

Also,I wasn't trying to be rude I just didn't know that.

[singerguy04]

So you're saying that the castle was just a 'castle' until Sleeping Beauty came out and they decided to name it after that?

That's new to me.

Also,I wasn't trying to be rude I just didn't know that.

No, it was called Sleeping Beauty's castle from the begining. I've heard/read that Sleeping Beauty was one of Walt's favorite stories, and he wanted to create a fantasy kingdom that couldn't be compared to something already created or something like that. I personally think it was promotion for the movie. Oh well, we love it anyway!

[Disneykid]

Even though I greatly prefer Sleeping Beauty to 101 Dalmatians, even I can't deny that Dalmatians is more popular. Even some of my friends who are Disney fans have either neither seen Sleeping Beauty or their last viewing of it was years ago as a child. That's why the film's the perfect title to kick off the (catalogue) animated classics with. In terms of ranking in the Disney family, it's a lower upper class title. It's popular enough to grab people's attention and make them want to switch to Blu-Ray (unlike, say, Alice or Dumbo), but at the same time Disney won't have to worry about throwing away a rare crown jewel if the format fails to catch on (such as Snow White or Cinderella).

Disney considers Dalmatians to be a top-of-the-line title, and they aren't going to risk releasing it to Blu-Ray when the format's future is up in the air. By fall 2008, there should be a clearer indication of what the public thinks of Blu-Ray, hence the perfect time to to start churning out 2-D animated classics. This is undoubtedly why we haven't gotten a 2-disc release of a non-Platinum animated classic since Pocahontas in 2005. Disney's trying to Blu-Ray more desirable for consumers by offering them content not available in SD. I wouldn't be surprised if Lilo & Stitch and Hunchback of Notre Dame are among the first animated classics to hit Blu-Ray after Sleeping Beauty.

[MagicMirror]

Sleeping Beauty was in production for many, many years; as singerguy04 said, the castle in Disneyland was intended as a promotion of the film. In all fairness, Stefan's castle is probably the prettiest of all Disney castles, so it was a good choice!

It's true that 101 Dalmatians is more popular than Sleeping Beauty, not just among audiences but critics as well; 101 Dalmatians was the most critically acclaimed Disney film since Pinocchio.

[Jules]

101 Dalmatians was the most critically acclaimed Disney film since Pinocchio.

Really? That's very surprising. I always had the impression that critics were rather cool towards Dalmatians. Roger Ebert, for example, gives the film 3 stars, but he says that nobody can possibly equate Dalmatians with Snow White and the great classics, and criticizes the passsages lacking Cruella as rather ordinary. He doesn't forget to point out, too, that full animation is no longer the norm. I'm sure I remember reading that Jasper and Horace amy remain static in the background at times, and such stuff ...

[Big Disney Fan]

101 Dalmatians was the most critically acclaimed Disney film since Pinocchio.

Really? That's very surprising. I always had the impression that critics were rather cool towards Dalmatians. Roger Ebert, for example, gives the film 3 stars, but he says that nobody can possibly equate Dalmatians with Snow White and the great classics, and criticizes the passsages lacking Cruella as rather ordinary. He doesn't forget to point out, too, that full animation is no longer the norm. I'm sure I remember reading that Jasper and Horace amy remain static in the background at times, and such stuff ...

What about any of the films between "101 Dalmatians" and "Pinocchio", though?

[MagicMirror]

According to 'Walt Disney and Europe' the film 'received better notices than any Disney film since Pinocchio'. The Sunday Times said 'it is a kind of rebirth of Disney, inventive all over again; others praised it for being the least pretentious of Disney's films ('no inclination towards chocolate box charm') while still reflecting a 'sureness of feeling' and with a style that was 'elaborate, decorative and exciting'. Leonard Maltin also says that it was a film 'many considered his best animated feature in years'.

Though I would agree that it's not as good as the films of the Golden Age (Snow White through to Bambi) I think it is the best film that isn't from the Golden Age, all elements considered. But I've blathered on about it elsewhere in the forum so much that I'm sure I'd only bore everyone to death by repeating myself here!

[Simba3]

By fall 2008, there should be a clearer indication of what the public thinks of Blu-Ray, hence the perfect time to to start churning out 2-D animated classics. This is undoubtedly why we haven't gotten a 2-disc release of a non-Platinum animated classic since Pocahontas in 2005. Disney's trying to Blu-Ray more desirable for consumers by offering them content not available in SD.

I think it is fine and dandy if Disney wants to hop on the band wagon and support Blu-Ray, but it will be very disappointing if they continue to produce less than par Disney DVD's. Not all consumers are ready to make that leap to Blu-Ray yet, and it is still pretty early to focus so hard on Blu-Ray that you forget about DVD.