Page 2 of 2
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:56 am
by Lars Vermundsberget
I really don't disagree with you, UncleEd - they could have done it differently. Nevertheless, it seems that Disney does not intend to market the Treasures as a product for the "masses" - good or bad, that seems to be a conscious decision.
As for 15 vs 30 or whatever: I won't disrespect Mr Joe's money - I realize that the difference may be seen as considerable. At least to consumers to whom a Walt Disney Treasure is just "any DVD" - and I suppose it pretty much is to most. To me, and "others like me", it's a different matter, though - if I could afford to buy no more DVD releases a year than the Treasures, those are probably the ones I'd buy. So I think it's safe to say that the primary target for the WDTs is the people who really appreciate them. I'm not the one to tell if that's the one "correct" marketing strategy for the Treasures, but I guess it is one that makes sense somehow.
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2007 12:19 pm
by disneyguy
UncleEd wrote:I wasn't knocking the content of the shorts on the Treasures. I was just saying that the higher prices keeps the average person from buying these. Everyone grew up with these on TV up through the late 90's, now the DVDs are the only place to get them. It's very poor marketing to keep these out of reach for a broader audience. Then Disney wrings its hands and complains that they are not selling enough units to justify making more when they are selling them at a price point the masses aren't willing to pay. These have had poor distribution too. I have yet to see 1 store who has all 4 titles on release day. I always have to drive around to several stores to get them all.MK Sharp, if you are not even a resident of the US then I guess you can't understand what consumers are like over here. They don't care if exchange rates are the same or if they're a great value on the Criterion level. No, they only compare it to other mainstream titles and Disney really needed to make these a more mainstream release to make then be considered a financial success. How can only 60,000 people be interested in Silly Symphonies or Donald Duck cartoons when almost triple that wanted the War cartoons and other sets when you're not doing anything wrong? I just don't think Disney really believes in their library of old films anymore because they do all they can to ensure such endevours fail. They did it with the Vault Disneys, They've done it with archival DVDs in general, they've done it with the Disney Legacys, and now they're doing it with the Treasures. The Treasures have been a mixed bag to me with fiascos like combining Swamp Fox and El Fago Bacca so we only get 1/3 of the shows for each title and now we'll never get to see the rest. Those should have been issued in box set form. There have been other lame examples too. I think we can all agree that the Treasures have been the most successful in releasing animated content. I don't mind releases like Davy Crockett or Disneyland USA but those are self contained and the Disneyland one leaves it open for a sequel set but can work just fine without it. It's not like the cartoons series or Swamp Fox where there is more to the story or a cliffhanger ending.
I've always liked the idea of them releasing full box sets of the animation content in the style of the WB animated DVDS. I don't think we could expect more than a 4 disc set but it would be nice to have everything in chronological order and maybe have the Donald's from a few waves back actually cleaned up and restored.
15.00 vs. 30.00 does make a huge difference to your average Joe consumer. I've never understood this snobbish attitude that a lot of DVD film collectors have. Film was created to entertain the MASSES and by having films out of reach from the general public only allows a few elite people to see them. I saw tear down the flood gates and let the films pour out to the public. WB. gets it right most of the time. You can even get many of their 2 disc sets of classic films for around 10.00. As many of you Disney fans know, many Americans can only afford to visit a Disney park once in their lives. Cast members are trained on this fact and used to be told to make sure they treat everyone special to make this once in a life time experience memorable.Not everyone can afford season passes or to trek to Florida or California several times a year. This country is mostly made up of middle class to working poor and it's only getting worse. Do you think Walt honestly intended for Disneyland to only be for the elite few? No, he built it for the many. It was only a dollar to go into the park in 1955. What is it today, close to 100.00? You can't blame that on inflation, that's pure greed. I'm the biggest Disney fan out there and that's why I want Disney to be shared with everybody. But the sorry fact is a lot of people will never experience the magic of Disney because they can't afford to. Is it too much to ask to give them the DVD's at prices they can pay so if they never go to a park they experience that magic?
My opinion is they are very reasonably priced..They are not going to give them away..Most of the time you can find the later edition in the $20 area
and the earlier ones were priced in the $20 area when they were first released.. Not sure where you buy yours.
DG
Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:06 pm
by UncleEd
"But they are not aimed at the average person. They are limited edition and aimed at collectors."
But this is the problem. Disney aims them at this one specefic group then makes it nearky impossible to find them in stores on release day and by making the production runs so low they wring their hands that these are a failure to make. If we (and they) want them to be a success then they HAVE to be geared at a much larger market. If Disney really thought we collectors were important then they would gear a line of animated classics DVDs at us and keep the watered down version for the masses. Disney is always using collectors as excuses to kill things off. They do not believe in their older cartoons or else they would have treated these releases much better. I also find it strange that at one point there were over 100,000 "collectors" out there buying these and not there are almost half that? How can your audience be cut in half almost overnight? Did they die off or what? Pay attention and watch Disney to see their true nature of self destructing series like this at play. Selling these for 20.00 is not "Giving them away" as has been suggested. ALL Disney animation is cleaned up and restored so using that excuse isn't going to fly. I have bought all of my Treasures at Best Buy, Target, Wal*Mart, Sam's Club, and Amazon on the release date and they always cost me in the 26.00-30.00 range. Just because SOME come down later doesn't change the fact that this is what the retail price starts at. When you compare this to a TV series or a season set or just a standard DVD it is not by any means a value as in content vs. price per run time. If you bring the price down to about 20.00 and have them all in store the day they are released then you'd have a much better chance of people buying them and continuing the flow of classic content. That is my point.