Is Disney Done with DVD? (The Never Ending Blu-Ray Debate)

[Goliath]

I also agree, and apologize. Thing is, I want every Disney film in HighDef. I'm excited by the move of 20,000 Leagues to December, as it might mean a HighDef release as well. I want Disney to treat all of Walt's films in the best way possible, from Third Man on the Mountain to Alice's Wild West Show, from Ben & Me to The Light in the Forest, from Fantasia to Pigs Is Pigs. I want all of them in HighDef. DVD may be "good enough" for some of you, and in many ways, it is. But it isn't the best. And nothing but the best is good enough for these films.

So I'll stop the BluRay bitching. Here's hoping you do, too.

Yes, we should stop bickering. But now, after you have given your explanation, I can see your side of the argument better. You're obvious enthusiastic about Blu-Ray because you're a Disney enthusiast, who cares very much about the way the classical films are being presented. That's something we can agree on.

[Goliath]

There's no single common denominator that justifies consolidating all those discussions into a single thread.

That thread is about DVD versus Blu-Ray. This thread is about the DVD/Blu-Ray of Pinocchio. So this thread is designed to discuss this particular product. For discussion about which format is better, there's the other thread. I never said debates over aspect ratios etc. should be held in that thread.

[ajmrowland]

I also agree, and apologize. Thing is, I want every Disney film in HighDef. I'm excited by the move of 20,000 Leagues to December, as it might mean a HighDef release as well. I want Disney to treat all of Walt's films in the best way possible, from Third Man on the Mountain to Alice's Wild West Show, from Ben & Me to The Light in the Forest, from Fantasia to Pigs Is Pigs. I want all of them in HighDef. DVD may be "good enough" for some of you, and in many ways, it is. But it isn't the best. And nothing but the best is good enough for these films.

So I'll stop the BluRay bitching. Here's hoping you do, too.

Yes, we should stop bickering. But now, after you have given your explanation, I can see your side of the argument better. You're obvious enthusiastic about Blu-Ray because you're a Disney enthusiast, who cares very much about the way the classical films are being presented. That's something we can agree on.

Amen! I'm beginning to grow tired of this. I already have some blu sites to visit, because I'm a film/animation buff, and we don't need all this carrying over into every topic.

But, you gotta admit, without the great blu debate, we wouldn't have much to talk about until the disc came out. So I guess it kinda saved the topic from 2nd page blues.

[Goliath]

For crying out loud everybody. Does this really have to continue?

Apparently it has, otherwise you wouldn't have dedicated yet another post to it.

I also suspect that, like Sleeping Beauty, the DVD will have benefited from the Blu-ray release. See how it has a commentary? Have all Platinum DVDs had a commentary? No.

Jungle Book had a commentary, but no Blu-Ray release. "Do you think that's a coincidence?" It really makes no sense to say bonus materials on DVD are the result of putting the film on Blu-Ray, because Blu-Ray is advertised and sold with the so-called "fantastic, amazing, oh so cool, you won't believe your eyes, you can't make out anything on the screen unless it's Blu-Ray" picture quality. It's not advertised with bonus features. If people want bonus features, they buy the DVD. That's not what attracts people to Blu-Ray.

Has the film had another restoration, when most countries got a restored Pinocchio a few years back? Yes. Again, do you think that's a co-incidence?

Gee, I don't know, BluRay spokesperson, why don't you tell us instead of using a belitteling tone to talk down to us?

Of course, we can't say for sure, but given that Disney is increasingly turning out DVDs with less and less supplements and some of the previous platinum editions have been of questionable content

Well, that's a whole different debate (in another thread!), but I haven't seen these so-called "platinum editions of questionable content". I have seen good products, filled with plenty of bonus features that should satisfy anybody. But the problem is, some people *always* want more.

When Disney ONLY release Blu-ray, then's the time for people to legitimately become upset.

That's not for you to decide, my friend.

[goofystitch]

Goliath wrote:

Jungle Book had a commentary, but no Blu-Ray release. "Do you think that's a coincidence?" It really makes no sense to say bonus materials on DVD are the result of putting the film on Blu-Ray, because Blu-Ray is advertised and sold with the so-called "fantastic, amazing, oh so cool, you won't believe your eyes, you can't make out anything on the screen unless it's Blu-Ray" picture quality. It's not advertised with bonus features. If people want bonus features, they buy the DVD. That's not what attracts people to Blu-Ray.

I know I don't speak for everybody, but I bought a Blu-Ray player the day Sleeping Beauty came out because I wanted the Blu-Ray exclusive bonus features. The HD picture and sound are great, but ever since, my purchasing decisions between DVD and Blu-Ray often comes down to whether or not the Blu-Ray has any exclusive features. Take today's release of Beverly Hills Chihuahua for example. The Blu-Ray has 19 minutes of additional deleted scenes and two featurettes with a combined run time of 20 minutes.

I'm not trying to take sides, but I really think Netty brings up a good point about the quality of bonuses for the Platinum line declining until there was a new medium to push the titles on. It really is undeniable that Disney got lazy with some of the titles (Peter Pan being the best example). The big draw to DVD in the early 2000's wasn't just for improved picture and sound, but also for bonus features. Compare the early DVD treatments (2-disc sets for Tarzan, Atlantis, and Emperor's New Groove) to recent animated films like Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons. I don't think its necessarily that consumers don't want 2-disc sets, but VHS was phased out and they didn't really need to try anymore with the bonus features. There was no alternative medium for consumers until recently. It does appear that this same marketing approach is being used to draw consumers to Blu-Ray. Yes, the main marketing push WAS the HD picture and sound, but recent adds highlight both the HD content AND the exclusive features, such as BD-Live. Why else would studios make great bonus features that are exclusive to Blu-Ray?

[CampbellzSoup]

Put me in the section that buys Blu Rays for the outstanding picture...and plus Blu Rays always port over everything the DVD has in terms of bonus features, even if said features aren't in HD.

[ajmrowland]

Put me in the section that buys Blu Rays for the outstanding picture...and plus Blu Rays always port over everything the DVD has in terms of bonus features, even if said features aren't in HD.

Except for FOX. They usually port almost none of the features.

[2099net]

I also suspect that, like Sleeping Beauty, the DVD will have benefited from the Blu-ray release. See how it has a commentary? Have all Platinum DVDs had a commentary? No.

Jungle Book had a commentary, but no Blu-Ray release. "Do you think that's a coincidence?" It really makes no sense to say bonus materials on DVD are the result of putting the film on Blu-Ray, because Blu-Ray is advertised and sold with the so-called "fantastic, amazing, oh so cool, you won't believe your eyes, you can't make out anything on the screen unless it's Blu-Ray" picture quality. It's not advertised with bonus features. If people want bonus features, they buy the DVD. That's not what attracts people to Blu-Ray.

No, its the whole package that attracts people to Blu-ray. Now you're doing what you accuse people have done to you in the past, twisting your argument. Why would people who are attracted to bonus features go for the DVD, when DVD's usually have fewer?

As for the commentary, Jungle Book may have got one, but Lady and the Tramp didn't get one. Neither did 101 Dalmatians or Cinderella. Peter Pan had the Special Edition commentary ported across. You can't know if Disney would have done a commentary for Pinocchio or a new Commentary for Sleeping Beauty. While I'll admit we can't know that they wouldn't either - the fact that both commentaries on the Platinums released on Blu-ray are obviously recorded for the CineExplore mode indicates Disney was thinking more about the Blu-ray than the DVD release.

Has the film had another restoration, when most countries got a restored Pinocchio a few years back? Yes. Again, do you think that's a co-incidence?

Gee, I don't know, BluRay spokesperson, why don't you tell us instead of using a belitteling tone to talk down to us?

Well, I'll tell you then. No, I don't think its a co-incidence. Why would Disney go to the expense of financing a restoration which they get limited use out of, and then finance another for 2009? By reusing the old LD restoration on the Special Edition of Sleeping Beauty Disney's shown that they are perfectly willing to release DVDs without specific DVD restorations. While, again we don't know for sure, it seems more than likely the new restoration was done specifically for HD. When as a company Disney's perfectly happy to discuss removing supplements AND putting up the price of its DVD releases, you don't expect them to cough up the cost of a new restoration when they have one on the shelf.

Of course, we can't say for sure, but given that Disney is increasingly turning out DVDs with less and less supplements and some of the previous platinum editions have been of questionable content

Well, that's a whole different debate (in another thread!), but I haven't seen these so-called "platinum editions of questionable content". I have seen good products, filled with plenty of bonus features that should satisfy anybody. But the problem is, some people *always* want more.

Indeed, including a thread I started back in 2007 as soon as this "trend" started.
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=21112

As for not seeing any Platinums of questionable content, have you looked. Peter Pan is the obvious example, but both 101 Dalmatians and Lady and the Tramp come in close second. In fact, remove the virtual puppy thing on 101 Dalmatians and the whole lot could almost (literally, almost, just by 300k or so) fit on a single disc.

People "always want more" or they want what they used to get as a matter of course. You cannot compare Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Aladdin or even non-Platinum releases like the 2 disc Atlantis or Lilo and Stitch to any of the three Platinums I mentioned above, and feel Disney did as much. In fact, all of the three I mentioned feel like Marketing had the biggest input into the final discs contents.

If you bought a Sunday newspaper for the same price as you always paid for it, and it was missing a couple of its pull out supplements, you wouldn't just shrug your shoulders and say "well, I have enough content", you'd want the supplements or some of your money back.

When Disney ONLY release Blu-ray, then's the time for people to legitimately become upset.

That's not for you to decide, my friend.

So when VHS was king, did you fret over Laserdiscs?

[dvdjunkie]

I am very selective on what Blu-Ray titles I will buy. I have a brand new LG LCD HDTV, that has been calibrated, and a new LG Blu-Ray player, that upconverts regular DVD's to near HD quality, and with animated films, they are so sharp and the colors are so perfect, I can't see 'wasting' the extra money just to get a Blu-Ray.

That being said, I do have the Blu-Ray version of "Cars", "Ratatouille", and "Enchanted". But I will probably just keep buying the Platinum Editions of the DAC's until someone can prove to me that the upconversion is not as good as Blu-Ray on animated films.

[yukitora]

I just found a Pinocchio 2DVD+CD edition available at JB Hifi stores here in Australia. The CD comes with 7 tracks.

If only there was a 2BD+DVD+CD edition.

[goofystitch]

dvdjunkie wrote:

That being said, I do have the Blu-Ray version of "Cars", "Ratatouille", and "Enchanted". But I will probably just keep buying the Platinum Editions of the DAC's until someone can prove to me that the upconversion is not as good as Blu-Ray on animated films.

While I don't feel it is necessary to replace your current DVDs with Blu-Ray titles (unless the added bonus features are worth it to you), there are two factors that make Blu-Ray video look better than upconverted DVDs. The data transfer on a Blu-Ray is 54 mb/s, wheras a DVD is 27 mb/s. Therefore, information is getting to your TV faster and gives you improved picture. But the big factor that causes a noticeable difference between a Blu-Ray and an upconverted DVD is the maximum video bit rate. For a Blu-Ray, it is 40 mb/s, but for an upconverted DVD, it is 28 mb/s.

I found Meet the Robinsons on Blu-Ray for sale at Circuit City, so I replaced my DVD copy. The extra bonuses were a big let down, but I could notice a pretty significant difference in picture and sound between the upconverted DVD and the HD video.

[WonderlandFever]

This thread is so far off topic that it's outrageous!

[Rudy Matt]

I don't know if this is true or not. This site says Disney's not shipping review copies of Pinocchio PE in the DVD format, they're only sending Blu-Ray screeners.

http://comicsworthreading.com/2009/0...for-pinocchio/

[DarthPrime]

Site doesn't seem to load for me.

I'm wondering if they are doing this because the Blu-ray includes a copy of disc 1 from the DVD as well.

[Rudy Matt]

Here's the text...

Disney Eliminates Standard DVD Review Copies for Pinocchio

Posted by Johanna on February 27, 2009 at 6:38 pm Category: Movies/TV

Here’s another piece of evidence for studios trying to shove the Blu-Ray format down the customer’s throat: I just got notified that, when it comes to review copies of the upcoming Disney release Pinocchio 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition, the company will ONLY provide the Blu-Ray version.

Now, Disney is shipping a standard DVD copy of the movie with all of their Blu-Rays these days. As their press materials put it, this “allow[s] viewers the opportunity to enjoy Pinocchio on a standard def DVD while they are preparing to upgrade to a 1080p Hi-Def Blu-Ray experience in the near to present future” Me, I’m not assuming I’m definitely going to go Blu-Ray. After all, I never went DAT.

But now I can’t review the DVD package, which has a second disc of special features, including a making-of documentary, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, art galleries, and deleted songs. Since the Disney movies are already familiar classics to me, those extras are what I enjoy most. But the studios want people reading and talking about how cool the newest format is, so that’s all they’re going to make available. It looks to me like an attempt to bias coverage and yet another example of how studios think they know better than consumers what the customers want.

Now, perhaps when it comes to DVD reviewing, all the dedicated journalists have already gone high-tech. And I know it’s tacky to complain too much about free items. But many of you readers haven’t switched to Blu-Ray and aren’t particularly interested in doing so, and I’d like to still talk about good DVDs with you.

Adding to my concern, right now Best Buy shows the two versions at the same price. Once the price difference goes away, I may not have the choice for much longer to keep buying my preferred format.

[Beast]

Good for Disney!

Seems that everytime they send out screeners, the movie gets pirated before the day is out.

Blu-Ray is the future, and the adoption rates are growing more and more every day.

Sounds like this woman is just pissed cause she'll have to buy her DVD copy instead of getting a free one.

[David S.]

Try this link:

http://comicsworthreading.com/2009/02/2 ... pinocchio/

Personally, I think this stinks and hope it won't effect UDs ability to provide the great coverage of their DVD reviews like we are used to.

[Beast]

Personally, I think this stinks and hope it won't effect UDs ability to provide the great coverage of their DVD reviews like we are used to.

Guess UD Reviewers better get themselves a Blu-Ray player. Cause there's good stuff coming.

[David S.]

Personally, I think this stinks and hope it won't effect UDs ability to provide the great coverage of their DVD reviews like we are used to.

Guess UD Reviewers better get themselves a Blu-Ray player.

You're missing my point. I am not interested in reading a review of the Blue Ray. I am interested in a review of the DVD!

[Beast]

You're missing my point. I am not interested in reading a review of the Blue Ray. I am interested in a review of the DVD!

Well... Disc 1 of the DVD version is included in the Blu-Ray as a bonus.

So I guess you'll either have to make do with that getting reviewed..

Or wait til someone on the forums reviews it. Gotta applaud Disney here.

Edit: Oh, and it's Blu-Ray. Not Blue Ray.