I would expect so (it's also on the Japanese release too). Walt bought the rights to the film off Paramount himself when he first had the idea to make an animated Peter Pan film, but since then I'm sure it has passed into the Public Domain. However, the above fact means Buena Vista presumably own the original film negatives.Little Red Henski wrote:Does anybody think the platinum Peter Pan DVD will also include the Paramount silent film? The French 2 disc set has it.
I hope if it is on the US set, some attempt is made to put it into context, perhaps with a video introduction or a commentary track. Even a subtitle fact track will do. Becuase at the moment, its just on the French set, without any rhyme or reason (but the making of briefly states it was an inspiration for the animated film as it has a big effect on the young Walt Disney when he first saw it or something, but it's not really enough).
Lack of context is my biggest complaint about some of the discs Disney are putting together. The Alice In Wonderland set didn't really explain enough about One Hour In Wonderland (which could have done with a mini-documentary itself about Disney and TV) or the silent Alice short. Even the superior Sleeping Beauty could have done with more context explanations about its archive footage like Grand Canyon and Four Artists Paint One Tree. When you have an archive as vast and comprehensive as Disney's, it makes sense to pass on the joy of its contents, rather then just slapping them on a disc so they appear as nothing more than afterthoughts.