Hey 2099net - I wasn't knocking the idea of cross-promotion. But since you brought up the subject...wouldn't it be nice if Disney(Eisner) put some effort into promoting QUALITY products, for a change? (For instance the Frank & Ollie dvd, just to name one example)
And since you mentioned Walt...wasn't it great how Walt was able to advertise and promote his QUALITY products, without seeming overly pushy about it?
His way of advertising was fun. But now...well take a look at the Wonderful World of Disney today. It's just not fun anymore. And every time they run a promotional TV special...like the one I saw awhile back for the California Adventure park... and even their Christmas parades... it's just oozing with blatant hit-you-over-the-head commercialism.
The quality of what they're selling SUCKS. And they way they're trying to sell it...also sucks. Whereas when Walt promoted something on TV you could sense his genuine enthusiasm for the project/product... it was obviously not just about making money.
Can't help noticing the contrast today, when Disney advertising is so soulless and greedy and they're not even doing their best to provide us with a great product!
Instead it feels like they're trying to con us out of our money. Trick us into paying more for something that's just not worth it. Which brings me back to the "special offer" to get a box for Beauty & The Beast and it's cheapquels.
I believe the quality of the BATB sequels are VASTLY inferior to the original, and it bothers me that Disney is trying to put all 3 films on the same level. By designing the spines with roman numerals (as well as offering a limited edition box to hold all 3 movies) they are trying to entice us to spend more money...to buy something we otherwise might not buy.
Yeah they have a right to promote the hell out of their crappiest releases and make them out to be better than they are (meanwhile treating good releases like Treasure Planet for instance, like crap) - but I also have a right to complain about it.
Sorry if you don't like what I have to say 2099net. You can always just ignore me. I sense hostility in your posts towards me though, so maybe you're just having too much fun jumping on me and putting words in my mouth. But if you hate my opinions so much and you really want me to shut up, my advice is, ignore me. 'Cause when you respond the way you do, I just *have* to fight ba-- ...er, I mean, WRITE back.
"You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway." -- Walt Disney
This "Belle's Talles Of Friendship" has never been released here in Brazil. Is it as bad as it seems?
Worse! I bought it because I thought I was getting the box for it and there was a coupon on the "Tuck Everlasting" DVD which I was buying the same day. I have never been able to watch it all. Maybe it's just the first story, but it's so bad I have to shut it off. You are not missing out on anything. This is one of the worst DTV sequels.
I'm sorry your money was wasted I guess it's true that people were buying the BATB sequels because of the box offer....and that was probably the intent behind it in the first place. To sell more sequels to those who weren't sure whether to buy them or not.
The least they could've done was produce more of the damn boxes to reward all the sequel-buyers. But hey why should Disney(Eisner) spend any money satisfying their customers? It's all about the profit, right?
I find it very underhanded that they didn't specify this was a limited edition box (or did they, and just not give an exact number?) I think they should've made it clear that if you sent away for the box, there was no guarantee you'd get it. 'Course that would've discouraged some potential sequel-buyers, so we can't have that!
"You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway." -- Walt Disney
To ChrisRose, in general I'm getting rather annoyed with all this Eisner bashing. Especially when most of it seems to be unfounded. It's just becoming "trendy" these days to bash Eisner for any slight the Disney company makes - either real of imagined. I'm sure Eisner, personally, has nothing to do with half of the complaints made on this board (and others). Does anyone think Eisner really sits at his desk dictating promotional offers for DVDs? He's got, as the saying goes, much bigger fish to fry. No matter how much he has a reputation for micro-management, some of the accusations are just ridiculous.
I also get annoyed when I keep seeing posts making out Walt was above most of the petty concerns people level at Eisner. So Walt's cross-promotion was better (I don't dispute that) but he virtually invented the concept of cross-media promotions (at the very least he perfected it). Look at the One Hour in Disneyland special on the Alice Masterpiece Edition. It's sort of strange seeing the Magic Mirror vocalise the attractions of Coca-Cola. I know it was accepted in those days and may have been the only way to get a show to air on television (I wouldn't know), but it still seems a little tacky doesn't it? It's not that far from the kiddie toys in McDonalds meals today for example. But all the anti-Eisner supporters conveniently forget such matters.
I'm not specifically pro-Eisner. I do think he's making mistakes. I take your point about no support for Frank and Ollie. I think spending $100m (or whatever it is) on supporting the Lion King DVDs is totally uncalled for. I know Treasure Planet was afflicted by lots of behind the scenes traumas both during its production and its release. I do think moving all of the Feature Animation into one building at Burbank will be a disaster based on past stories of executive interference on Burbank films. Personally I think buying ABC was a mistake, but critical opinion on that seems to be ebbing at the moment. I think some of the DTV's have been a mistake (but I'll defend Disney's right to make any sequel). But when it comes down to it, I think we're still getting as many "magical" films or experiences from Disney today, as we did when Walt was running the company. While it would be wrong to say "I don't see the problem", I don't see as much of a problem with the above as most people here seem to.
When all is said and done Eisner has done a lot to keep the company going. Nobody can deny that. And contrary to some people's belief, the world has changed since Walt's death. Business has changed. Were companies closing down factories and moving to cheaper Mexican workforces in the late 60's? Would a company be able to scam the system as much as Enron did in the 60's? Have you ever asked yourself why so many employees these days are just on short term contracts, while executive salaries and bonuses continue to climb and climb? Even the running of the stock market has changed. It's because business itself has changed. Investors expect quicker and bigger returns for their investments.
And that's just how the fundamentals of business have changed since Walt's death. Media has also changed. There's more de-regularisation of the media. There's more media, more choices. Films, TV, home video, music, radio, computer games, sport, theatre, even the internet. All are competing in a more and more crowded market. The major media players have their fingers in multiple media outlets. Media companies now have to compete not only with their immediate competitors, but also their own other divisions. Anyone who says the world hasn't changed since Walt's death really needs to wake up and see how corporations are getting more and more power, influencing governments and see just how much they are bombarded with images from the media.
You know, Eisner's way may not be the best way for the company, I don't dispute that, but Roy's isn't either. He hasn't really proposed anything on his SaveDisney site about the actual running of the company. Also, under similar conditions to what he apparently advocates, the company was almost taken-over in the early 80's.
Of course the ideal solution for running the company would be a mixture of both methods. Perhaps with a slight bias to Roy's ideology. Like so many things, too much of something only causes harm while moderation brings better results. But automatically and constantly painting one as either "black" or "evil" while painting the other as "white" or "good" achieves nothing but "dumbing-down" the argument to simple easy to categorise labels. And when the argument is simplified there's very little room for debate. And if change is to happen at Disney, it's more likely to happen as a result of proper debates and arguments rather than "Eisner sucks!" posts. I'm not particularly picking on you Chris, but some of the anti-Eisner hate I've seen is going to do nothing but harm to Roy's cause in the long term, because it will alienate any undecided or middle-of-the-road supporters. This is not aimed at you Chris, but endless, seemingly groundless obscenities aimed at Eisner will only make Roy's supporters look childish and obsessive.
I suppose it's inevitable that being the figurehead Eisner will get most of the focus. I used to bash Eisner with very little reason – if you dig far enough back in the archives of this forum you may find some such posts from me. He gets paid more than enough, so I don't feel sorry for him either. I also accept that being the head of the company, a lot of the company's practices and policies, while not being directly tied to Eisner will be based on his overall vision for the company. It's just that after more thought mixed with a dose of reality I realised that going back to Walt's style of management will not automatically solve Disney's problems. In some respects it may generate new ones.
I've typed more here than I intended to, but I hope it gets my general point across. In some cases, I do like to play "Devil's Advocate". I will always defend Disney's rights to sequels because while the results may be poor on the majority (which, in my opinion, is not so much a problem with making a sequel but simply poor scripting and ideas), I've enjoyed a few. I must admit I'm probably playing "Devils Advocate" on Eisner and Walt more than I should. But I think it's important some of these issues are pointed out to people and hopefully some of my posts will make people actually think instead of parroting other people's opinions (again, this isn't really addressing you, because you've responded with eloquent posts).
I bought Beauty and the Beast and boycotted the sequels and it just looks fine and dandy on my shelf, even with the I. I could care less about it.
It mystifies me though why they don't seem to be doing the same thing with The Lion King:
I
I.V
II
Or
1
1 1/2
2
Or
1
1.5
2
Sure it looks kind of odd, but with TLK they've got not only an amazing first film but sequels with some degree of quality and merit to them. I still hope they have a box offer in the TLK2 package in August. Or make a boxset available to stores, run off extra copies of the box and send it out to everyone who already bought them.
They do have a boxer offer for the Lion King. That is if you bought the collector's edition.
Are you talking about the box the Collector's edition comes in or a box you send away for? I never received a slip to send away for anything in my "Lion King" DVD that came with the Collector's Edition. The "Beauty and the Beast" box that this post is refering to is something that you needed to send away for which would hold the three movies released on DVD.
They do have a boxer offer for the Lion King. That is if you bought the collector's edition.
Are you talking about the box the Collector's edition comes in or a box you send away for? I never received a slip to send away for anything in my "Lion King" DVD that came with the Collector's Edition. The "Beauty and the Beast" box that this post is refering to is something that you needed to send away for which would hold the three movies released on DVD.
I was just saying the the Collector's Edition is like a box so you could take the book and sketches out and put the other two movies in it.
I have all 3 Beauty & The Beast DVDs and I bought and would have bought them regardless if there was a box offer enclosed in it. Honestly at the time, I had no clue that the offer was included. I sent away for it on the day I bought it, and it came months later.
Honestly the box didn't make or break me on this one. I would have and did buy the movies regardless.
I did like the Collectors Gift Set that came out with the Lion King. I do hope the upcoming Platinum Editions come out with similar things. That was what I expected with 'Platinum'. Give me more extras and features that I don't know what to do with them all. Hopefully they are getting on the right track here!
It was only released for a limited time! You can still sometimes find one at Garage Sales and E-Bay! Or Pawn Shops! And maby www.moviesunlimited.com But I don't know of anything else!
"I have this tremendous energy. I just loved and love life. I love it today. I never want to die."
~Jayne Meadows Allen~
I sent away for that Beauty and the Beast DVD display box and had my cheque returned because they didn't have anymore. But they did send me a signed picture of Belle from Disneyland!
I have all 3 Beauty and the Beast movies on DVD, and I'd have to agree, "Belle's Magical World" was by far the worst!
DVDFreak wrote:I sent away for that Beauty and the Beast DVD display box and had my cheque returned because they didn't have anymore. But they did send me a signed picture of Belle from Disneyland!
I have all 3 Beauty and the Beast movies on DVD, and I'd have to agree, "Belle's Magical World" was by far the worst!
That is really cool. They just sent my check back too. I also think that "Belle's Magical World" was the worst.
Beauty and the Beast. I was wondering if anyone else sent away for the slipcase that holds all three films and only 5,000 were made? If so, do you have a photo? I trashed the certificate insert and wanted to get a photo of it to show a friend.
Last edited by Swiss on Mon Apr 26, 2004 2:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Ludwig Von Drake wrote:what three films are you talking about? I think that this might belong in international DVD's.
The 3 DVDs being referenced to are: Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas and Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World.
I did send away for that display box for the DVDs but I had my payment returned 4 months later, saying they had ran out of them. Instead, they sent me an autographed picture of Belle.
There was a voucher for the display box inside the DVD case of Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas so thats how I sent away for it.
Ludwig Von Drake wrote:what three films are you talking about? I think that this might belong in international DVD's.
The 3 DVDs being referenced to are: Beauty and the Beast, Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas and Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World.
I did send away for that display box for the DVDs but I had my payment returned 4 months later, saying they had ran out of them. Instead, they sent me an autographed picture of Belle.
There was a voucher for the display box inside the DVD case of Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas so thats how I sent away for it.
The certificate actually did say limited to 5,000 copies. I got my offer in the DisneyClub newsletter and mine arrived by January. I am no sucker or was duped, I enjoyed The Enchanted Christmas and did't mind purchasing Belle's Magical world for only $13.99 at Walmart. It's really a nice box set and a collectors item, due to it's limited numbers.
Well ..... I guess no one has a camera of any kind either !! With so many requests I cannot understand why people who "claim" to have it would not take a picture and kindly post it for the rest of UD members to see. Makes me wonder
Hmmm .... maybe a PLEASE will help. Can anyone who "claims" to have it please take a picture of it and post it ??
But if you hate my opinions so much and you really want me to shut up, my advice is, ignore me. 'Cause when you respond the way you do, I just *have* to fight ba-- ...er, I mean, WRITE back. 
I guess it's true that people were buying the BATB sequels because of the box offer....and that was probably the intent behind it in the first place. To sell more sequels to those who weren't sure whether to buy them or not.
With so many requests I cannot understand why people who "claim" to have it would not take a picture and kindly post it for the rest of UD members to see. Makes me wonder 