Completists : TV-movies dilemma ?!

[gurgi]

Hi everyone !

As a Disney completist and DVD-collector, I'd like you to share your opinions and/or information on the following subject.

P.U.N.K.S., Mr. St. Nick, Dinotopia, Nightjohn, Under Wraps, etc. None of these TV-movies are being released on Disney DVD (or being distributed by Buena Vista what-so-ever) and some of them weren't even made by Disney. Yet, they seem to be listed as Disney Channel movies, alongside Tiger Town, Heidi and the Halloweentown movies.
If you look up "Under Wraps" at Wikipedia for instance, you get the impression that it is an actual Disney Channel movie. Yet, it has been released by Platinum Disc, and there is no Disney Channel mention on that DVD what-so-ever.

I'm not sure what to do : should I purchase these non-Disney-DVD's as well ; do they really belong in my Disney collection or is there no connection at all ?

What do you think ? What do you KNOW ? What do YOU DO ?

THANKS !!!
Bart

[I am the Doctor]

Most of the movies you're talking about were made by production companies other than Disney. The reason they're listed is because they were originally shown on the Disney Channel or ABC. Dinotopia-the miniseries, for example, was made by Hallmark but was originally broadcast on ABC as part of the Wonderful World of Disney.

More recently, Molly: An American Girl Movie was shown on the Disney Channel but was made by Warner Brothers.

The reason these are not released by Disney DVD is that the original producers (in these two cases Hallmark and Warner) keep the home video/DVD rights. Disney only paid Hallmark and Warner for the broadcast rights of Dinotopia and Molly. The same is true with most of the titles that you mentioned.

Since you mentioned that you're a completist, I suppose it depends on your definition of completist. If having every TV-Movie shown by the Disney Channel/Wonderful World of Disney is your definition, then you'll have to go for these releases. If your definition requires that Disney actually make the film, then these don't qualify.

I prefer to go with the old standard: if you like the films, go ahead and pick them up. If you don't like them, then pass them by.

[Luke]

Great post, I am the Doctor! And it's nice to see people care about these movies and really anything beyond the animated features.

[AwallaceUNC]

Ditto to what Luke said.

I'd like to be a completist if I could afford it, and I would probably want to include all of those in my collection. Those are movies I tend to at least associate with Disney. In some ways, you could view these the same way that you view something like <i>Flight of the Navigator</i>. Disney didn't produce them, but they did distribute them for their debut (whether it was in theaters or on TV). In this case, they just don't distribute them on DVD. That hasn't stopped me from including <i>The Muppets Take Manhattan</i> from the Disney section of my collection, though (and it's probably even less qualified). I think anything that debuts as part of the Wonderful World of Disney is at least connected to the Disney family. Ultimately, it comes down to how "Disney" these movies feel to you. Of course, no one can call your collection incomplete because you <i>don't</i> have them.

-Aaron

[goofystitch]

I am the Doctor wrote:

Dinotopia-the miniseries, for example, was made by Hallmark but was originally broadcast on ABC as part of the Wonderful World of Disney.

This is true, but Disney did help fund the film. Gurgi, it's up to you wether you include Dinotopia or not, but the failed series opens with the words "Disney and Hallmark Present." And Disney did try to bring Dinotopia to the Animal Kingdom. For a while, there were posters for the mini-series all over Dinoland U.S.A. and Lucky the dinosaur, the walking animatronic, was originally designed to be a walking Dinotopia attraction. However, after the series failed, they dropped all references to him being Dinotopian. Anyways, here is a picture of Lucky the dinosaur compared to a picture from Dinotopia:



So as you can see, Dinotopia seems about as Dinsey as you can get.

[gurgi]

Thanks a lot for sharing your opinions and knowledge, everyone. However I still have a few "unsolved mysteries" regarding this topic. Why is "Anne Frank" listed as a TV-movie, while "South Pacific" or "The Pennsylvania Miners' Story" are not ? They all seem to be made by Touchstone Television, all were being aired on ABC and the DVD's are all distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Luke ?

THANKS !
Bart

[Lars Vermundsberget]

Like some of the others I think it comes down to your definition of being a "completist". I guess I consider myself a completist within certain limited fields... So, you're going for a complete collection - of exactly WHAT?

Everything Disney DVD is not a particularly interesting goal to me, but it might be to others.