Blu-Rays for Gone With the Wind and Wizard of Oz

[GloomyEeyore]

I am going to get Gone With The Wind when they rerelease it on dvd, I already have The Wizard of Oz and see no need to replace the copy I have.

[PixarFan2006]

I might get The Wizard of Oz if it is not too pricey.

[KubrickFan]

I'm definitely going to get them both, even though I have them both on dvd. Especially now they're getting a re-restoration (is that even a word?) .

[2099net]

Wizard of Oz Blu details:
http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=2873

Disc 1
Sing-along Track (NEW)
Commentary by John Fricke with Barbara Freed-Saltzman (daughter of Arthur Freed), Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, John Lahr (son of Bert Lahr), Jane Lahr (daughter of Bert Lahr), Hamilton Meserve (son of Margaret Hamilton), Dona Massin (MGM choreographer), William Tuttle (make-up artist), Buddy Ebsen, Mervyn LeRoy, and Jerry Maren
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook
Prettier Than Ever: The Restoration of Oz
We Haven't Really Met Properly
Music and Effects Track
Original Mono Track
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic [1990 TV special]
Memories of Oz [2001 TCM documentary]
The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz
Because of the Wonderful Things it Does: The Legacy of Oz
Harold Arlen's Home Movies
Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
It's a Twister! It's a Twister! The Tornado Tests
Off to See the Wizard
3 Vault Shorts
Audio Jukebox Selection
Leo Is on the Air Radio Promo
Good News of 1939 Radio Show
12/25/1950 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast
Still Galleries
Six Theatrical Trailers

Disc 2
Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman (NEW)
L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain
Celebrating Hollywood's Biggest Little Stars (NEW)
The Dreamer of Oz [1990 TV special] (NEW)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910)
The Wizard of Oz [1933]
His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz
The Magic Cloak of Oz [1914] (NEW)
The Patchwork Girl of Oz [1914] (NEW)
The Wizard of Oz [1925 feature]
MGM: When The Lion Roars Documentary (BD Exclusive)

Additionally, and exclusive to the Blu-ray release, Warner has remastered the original, extended version of “If I Only Had a Brain” performed by Ray Bolger, and will be present it in high definition on the disc.

Besides the disc, the packaging will also include the following collectibles:
Collectible and numbered 70th Anniversary Wizard of Oz watch with genuine crystals
Replica of the original film budget
Behind the Curtain, A 52-page, coffee-table book
Reproduction of the original 1939 campaign book

The following is some additional information about the new special features developed specifically for this release as well as details regarding some of the collectibles:
* The Dreamer of Oz – which makes its long-awaited home video debut. Also remastered the occasion, this full-length motion picture was an NBC-TV special event in 1990 and thrilled critics and audiences as it told the back story of author L. Frank Baum, "the Royal Historian of Oz.” John Ritter shines in the title role -- the man who defied all odds to create the famous characters and stories. Annette O'Toole beautifully co-stars as his supportive wife, with Rue McClanahan as his challenging witch of a mother-in-law.
* Victor Fleming, Master Craftsman -- a new feature-length documentary produced specifically for this release about the Hollywood director who, in the same year, miraculously brought both Oz and Gone With the Wind to the screen.
* Hollywood Celebrates It's Biggest Little Stars-- a new featurette stars seven of the original "Munchkins of Oz" and tells the saga of the long journey, culminating in them receiving their own 2007 Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
* The Magic Cloak of Oz -- the first release of the complete 1914 silent film, including lost footage never before included in a home video presentation of this feature (produced by Baum himself).
* The Patchwork Girl of Oz -- another 1914 Baum-produced, feature-length silent film, new to Warner Home Video.
* The Wizard of Oz Sing-Along Track -- here making its home entertainment debut.
* Reproductions of Archival Material -- Extraordinary renderings of the original 1939 Oz campaign, exploitation, and press books. These materials constitute a Hollywood "holy grail" for Oz, Garland, and motion picture fans alike and, for decades, have been among the most sought-after and impossible-to-find collectibles.
* Behind The Curtain -- a 52-page miniature coffee-table book, assembled by pre-eminent Oz historian John Fricke. Encompassing much previously unpublished material, the deluxe volume includes behind-the-scenes Oz photographs, studio memos, and script pages for abandoned scenes and musical numbers.
* Exclusive Wizard of Oz Watch -- A collectible and numbered 70th Anniversary watch, incorporating art from the film and enhanced with genuine crystals. Available nowhere else, this beautiful timepiece was created specially for this DVD edition.

Phew.

[PatrickvD]

By the time I'm done watching those extras I'll be in my late 80s

[zackisthewalrus]

I was about to post that. Haha. I'm excited about this release. The thing I don't understand is why they're including a digital copy. It makes me wonder if they're gonna include a digital copy with Gone With the Wind. That'd be a lot of computer space to fill up. Haha.

[Disneykid]

This baby will be a day one purchase for me. I can't believe they managed to improve on the already-amazing Collector's Edition. I've been wanting to see The Dreamer of Oz for quite some time, and now I finally can. I'm also really excited to see When the Lion Roars included here. I was contemplating getting the DVD that was released earlier this year, but now I won't have to. Kudos also for restorting the extended "If I Only Had A Brain" to the same quality as the feature film. It'd be neat if the option were given to see it in the film, but I'm not expecting that.

I wish we could see the interior of the set. I'm curious to see how it's all designed, especially the watch and coffee table book.

Oh, and for anyone who doesn't want such an elaborate boxed set, the DVD and BD will be available separately on their own (but without the vintage Oz movies or semi-related documentaries).

So this will be the most definitive Wizard of Oz edition that's ever been compiled...at least until the next big thing after BD rolls around. Until then, I'm mighty impressed with this one already.

[MadasaHatter]

[MadasaHatter]

[UmbrellaFish]

MGM: When The Lion Roars Documentary (BD Exclusive)

Woah! Is that the entire documentary? More incentive for me to pick this thing up.

[KubrickFan]

MGM: When The Lion Roars Documentary (BD Exclusive)

Woah! Is that the entire documentary? More incentive for me to pick this thing up.

The doc is six hours long, I highly doubt they would include it in it's entirety.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to pre-order Wizard sometime soon. Even though I do wish that there was an option to just have the Blu-ray, I'm thinking that this release will be highly successful. There really isn't much going on this year for my purchases (most of my money is going to Rent, Chicago and Spring Awakening which are all coming to Cincinnati this, and next, year) so I'm thinking that this is a must have. I've already had to give up somethings that I want (like the Blu-rays of A Bug's Life and Lost) and I have to prioritize (my dad retired from GM and everyone knows about their problems). So hopefully I'll be able to pre-order this soon (along with the Blu-ray of Heroes: Season 3) because I think it's supposed to be a limited release (I thought I read that somewhere, I can't remember).

[jediliz]

I only have the cheap 1 disc (which you have to turn over for the 2nd half) of GWTW (one of my fav. movies) so I will definitely upgrade to the Blu Ray. I hope the whole movie fits on the whole disc rather than having to flip it over to the other side.

[AwallaceUNC]

This baby will be a day one purchase for me.

Ditto! Can't wait to get this; it could very well become the pride and joy of my Blu-ray collection. I'm impressed by the contents of the Collector's Set (a watch? I won't wear it but that's kind of awesome!) and will definitely be getting it even if storing this thing is going to be a challenge.

-Aaron

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Hate to burst anyones bubble if they haven't preordered these yet (like me) but the prices of both just jumped up to $64.99 on Amazon.

I totally should have preordered this when it was $58.99 and hopefully it will go back down again.

[Calamity 23]

1) I don't have a Blue-Ray player - are MGM: When the Lion Roars and the extended version of "If I Only Had a Brain" the only BD exclusive features? Thought I might have missed something in that long list of details. And another dumb question, it says there's two discs but the picture appears to show four discs, not to mention that that seems like an awful lot of material for two discs. Is it four discs for DVD and two for Blue-ray?

2) I taped The Dreamer of Oz when it originally aired around Christmas 1990 - I remember writing out holidays cards to people from school while watching it - and recently made a DVD copy of it but have actually only ever watched it that one time (this is why I rarely record stuff on tv or buy dvds/videos 'cause I know I probably won't get around to watching them). But John Ritter was wonderful.

ETA: Ignore the question about how many discs there are - according to a post at Amazon, Discs 1&2 and 3&4 are combined for Blue-Ray.

[Disneykid]

I don't have a Blue-Ray player - are MGM: When the Lion Roars and the extended version of "If I Only Had a Brain" the only BD exclusive features? Thought I might have missed something in that long list of details.

Actually, the BD-exclusives are even less than that. The extended "If I Only Had A Brain" number will be on the DVD, it just won't be in high-definition. That leads me to believe that every single bonus feature on the Blu-ray besides this will be in standard definition. So the only real exclusive on BD is "When the Lion Roars," and that documentary's available on its own DVD, anyway.

And for those curious, DVDActive has posted high-res images of not just the covers, but of the interior packaging of both boxed sets:

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/ ... f-oz2.html

I love the cover of the smaller box, which I'm presuming holds the discs themselves. It makes me wonder exactly what the interior of THAT is like, since it looks too thick to be holding just the discs (either by digipak or by amaray/slimline). Even if you throw the watch in there, it still looks too thick. If that box is wide enough, I may stick the Oz publicity materials from the 2005 DVD in there since it seems like those haven't made it to this new set.

[Calamity 23]

Thanks for clarifying that.

I did read elsewhere that the bonus features won't be high-defintion so it looks like you're right. One person mentioned something I hadn't considered - that the heavy makeup used in these old movies looks rather garish and the wires used for flying effects are plainly visible in high-definition. But then another person argued that film is high definition and these movies looked great in theaters when they were originally shown so that didn't make any sense. Since I don't know much about that nor do I have a fancy home theater system, it's not something I'll worry about. (But I did once read that Billy Wilder filmed Some Like It Hot in b&w because the makeup Jack Lemmon - my favorite actor - & Tony Curtis had to wear looked very harsh in color; plus it gave a period feel.) I loved the Oz books growing up and this is one of my favorite movies but I've never gotten it on DVD before so I'm going to order it. Not sure I'll be getting any WD Treasures this year so this could substitute for that. WDT and the box set of the most recent Complete Peanuts volumes are my annual treats.

Note to self: It's spelled "Blu-ray".

[ajmrowland]

Thanks for clarifying that.
One person mentioned something I hadn't considered - that the heavy makeup used in these old movies looks rather garish and the wires used for flying effects are plainly visible in high-definition.

Seems likely.

But then another person argued that film is high definition and these movies looked great in theaters when they were originally shown so that didn't make any sense.

That's partly true. However, John Lassetter said that many theaters don't support blu-ray resolution. On the other hand, Movies shot on film, as opposed to digital, aren't locked to one resolution, so all future releases of this film could warrant a rescanning of the film to be mastered at the standard resolutions of future formats.

I haven't this film in a while, so I might at least netflix it.

[2099net]

Just a heads up: Amazon.Com is reporting the whole 6 hour "When the Lion Roars" is included, and the blu-ray disc count has risen from 3 (2 BDs and the digital copy on a DVD) to 4.

Of course it could still be 2 BDs and 2 DVDs.

Gone With The Wind has gone up on Amazon.co.uk (sans Ultimate Collector's Edition "gubbins") but is still listed as a 5 disc release.