They wanted to check if there was a market for them. The Treasures put out probably didn't sell as good as they thought/hoped. It's unfortunate that we in R2 don't get to see them, but the people who are interested in them (the collectors) can import them anyway.
Oh, and I'm hesitating over which Treasures to buy. Eventually I want them all, but right now I don't know which ones to buy. I've got the following:
- The Complete Goofy
- The Chronological Donald, vol. 1
- Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studios
- Behind the Front Lines
Buying the other volumes of Donald makes sense, but I want to get different types of Treasures at first. I've currently got my eyes set on the Oswald set, and the Disneyland U.S.A. set. Anything else that's really worth buying?
Are you missing any WD Treasures? Any you deliberately left?
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>>They wanted to check if there was a market for them. The Treasures put out probably didn't sell as good as they thought/hoped.<<
Partly this is the company's own desire for planned obsolescence of Walt's film library. These titles are not made available to mass market retailers, nor are they advertised or marketed to the general public - - they are simply sent out cold with little support or awareness or easy availibility. No new demand is created.
How it seems to be: They don't want these "old movies" to take any sales or focus away from current franchise initiatives. It's is part of a longterm rebranding strategy with the mission to "go forward." IE: don't reinvest in the old films or legal clearances, except for the animated features. Keep product "relevant and compelling."
Constantly the Treasures have "surprised" Home Video executives at the "unexpected demand", yet each wave has a finite lower count offered, so on a spreadsheet, even when titles like "Dr. Syn" have sold out in 3 weeks, with much unrealized sales potential, it will look to the money side as if it wasn't as popular as the last wave.
The is exactly the same tack taken by the Disney Channel, where the entirety of the Walt Disney-era film library was segregated first to prime time, then to late night with a crusty label "Vault Disney" - - then to overnight and "irony" - - then off completely - - there is no other way the ratings could have worked in that instance than to create the appearance of diminished demand.
Planned obsolescence. Classic films are now treated as "historical" and "archival" and "vaulted" which has never been the case in past generations, where the library was presented as "evergreen."
(Note also the new "sepia toned" covers for "20,000 Leagues" etc - - and the handoff of this library to TCM).
Partly this is the company's own desire for planned obsolescence of Walt's film library. These titles are not made available to mass market retailers, nor are they advertised or marketed to the general public - - they are simply sent out cold with little support or awareness or easy availibility. No new demand is created.
How it seems to be: They don't want these "old movies" to take any sales or focus away from current franchise initiatives. It's is part of a longterm rebranding strategy with the mission to "go forward." IE: don't reinvest in the old films or legal clearances, except for the animated features. Keep product "relevant and compelling."
Constantly the Treasures have "surprised" Home Video executives at the "unexpected demand", yet each wave has a finite lower count offered, so on a spreadsheet, even when titles like "Dr. Syn" have sold out in 3 weeks, with much unrealized sales potential, it will look to the money side as if it wasn't as popular as the last wave.
The is exactly the same tack taken by the Disney Channel, where the entirety of the Walt Disney-era film library was segregated first to prime time, then to late night with a crusty label "Vault Disney" - - then to overnight and "irony" - - then off completely - - there is no other way the ratings could have worked in that instance than to create the appearance of diminished demand.
Planned obsolescence. Classic films are now treated as "historical" and "archival" and "vaulted" which has never been the case in past generations, where the library was presented as "evergreen."
(Note also the new "sepia toned" covers for "20,000 Leagues" etc - - and the handoff of this library to TCM).
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If your planning on buying all of them then you really can't go wrong with what you get first. Honestly I'd suggest (if you have the money) to go for the harder to find ones first, earlier waves for example. You might also want to pick up the latest wave since Dr. Syn does seem to be popular and might be as hard to get as the earlier waves.KubrickFan wrote: Oh, and I'm hesitating over which Treasures to buy. Eventually I want them all, but right now I don't know which ones to buy. I've got the following:
- The Complete Goofy
- The Chronological Donald, vol. 1
- Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studios
- Behind the Front Lines
Buying the other volumes of Donald makes sense, but I want to get different types of Treasures at first. I've currently got my eyes set on the Oswald set, and the Disneyland U.S.A. set. Anything else that's really worth buying?
Hopefully that helps

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