Why Isn't This On Blu-ray Yet ?

[Spottedfeather]

Being bored, I looked up Black Cauldron blu-ray, and was sad to see that it's not ON blu-ray yet. Is there any reason why ?

This got me to thinking....there are a lot of classic Disney movies, and movies in general, that it's just astounding to me that they haven't been on blu-ray yet. Black Cauldron among them. Others are Black Hole, Watcher In The Woods, and a NON DNR disaster of Sword In The Stone.

What are some of your favourite movies that for whatever reason hasn't been put on blu-ray ? On the non Disney side, I'd love blu-rays of Good Burger and Little Giants.....

[Mickeyfan1990]

The reason is that Disney wants to focus more on streaming and phase out physical home video and that there lies the problem. Not everyone wants to stream, people love streaming but it will never replace a physical copy. If they realize how much people would prefer physical over streaming, we would have what we want, we would have The Black Cauldron on Blu-ray, we could even have the Disney shorts on Blu-ray.

[unprincess]

Is Prince and the Pauper available on blu-ray yet? Id love that one.

[rodrigo_ca]

It wouldn't sell that well to justify the release and Disney may be holding out to the release of Chronicles of Prydain live-action to release this, so they can bundle and promote it.

[Ozzel]

The Black Cauldron, The Three Caballeros, and the rest of the DAC films that have yet to hit Blu-ray.

Beyond that, my top ones are A Goofy Movie, George of the Jungle, Cool Runnings, and Rocketman.

[JeanGreyForever]

It wouldn't sell that well to justify the release and Disney may be holding out to the release of Chronicles of Prydain live-action to release this, so they can bundle and promote it.

By the time that film even comes out (if it ever comes out), blu-ray and/or physical media might be extinct. Especially since Disney seems to be favoring their more popular films like Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Snow White, etc. (not to mention sequels) over Prydain and The Sword in the Stone.

[milojthatch]

I was told by a friend I had at Disney Home Entertainment about five years ago that EVERY Animated Classic would end up on Blu-ray. It was around that time they really started pumping them out. Why they stopped, I'm not sure. I probobly wouldn't like the answer is my gut feeling. I'm also shocked, SHOCKED that A Goofy Movie isn't out yet on Blu-ray. It was apparently promoted as coming a few years ago on a insert for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but that's kind of as far as it went.

I'm thinking it's a combination of two things. Disney seems to be changing as a company and slowly shedding more of their old self. As such, more and more things from the past are being forgotten or not treated with the same kind of respect they once had. The other issue that was already mentioned is that maybe more than any other studio, Disney really, REALLY wants people to do the streaming thing. Digital provides the best opportunity yet for them to control their content in a way physical media never let them. Personally I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is. My advice, don't get rid of your DVD's.

PS: While physical media might die off some day, my feeling is not as fast as the experts think it will. I remember in 2006 reading an article declaring DVD dead by 2012. And yet, here we are in 2017 and DVD is still making millions.

[Elladorine]

The reason is that Disney wants to focus more on streaming and phase out physical home video and that there lies the problem. Not everyone wants to stream, people love streaming but it will never replace a physical copy. If they realize how much people would prefer physical over streaming, we would have what we want

That's not the problem. Disney, like the rest of Hollywood, realizes that more and more people actually want to stream, and out of necessity they're catering to their consumers. And Disney being Disney, they're attempting to be innovative and lead the way.

The other issue that was already mentioned is that maybe more than any other studio, Disney really, REALLY wants people to do the streaming thing. Digital provides the best opportunity yet for them to control their content in a way physical media never let them. Personally I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is. My advice, don't get rid of your DVD's..

Less people are buying physical copies and more are renting/buying/streaming digital, and as usual, Disney sees this as a golden opportunity. They haven't really changed in the past few decades; it's just a new way of controlling The Vault™ (as endorsed via VHS, DIVX, DVD, etc.). Regardless of how typical Disney fans like us feel, the majority of consumers prefer the convenience of buying and playing/replaying movies without ever having to get up off the couch, and given that Disney primarily produces family-friendly entertainment, it's also the perfect babysitter for frazzled adults. I imagine Blu will be dead long before everything we'd like to see has a chance to get released on it, but what's the point when we get crap like the Sword in the Stone and Robin Hood DNR nightmares? We'll eventually get streaming (like it or not) that's in even higher quality than what Blu currently offers, the only real question is whether or not Disney will ever bother to release higher-quality versions of the films that have not gotten HD transfers.

I'm also shocked, SHOCKED that A Goofy Movie isn't out yet on Blu-ray. It was apparently promoted as coming a few years ago on a insert for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but that's kind of as far as it went.

I recently saw it at El Capitan and they actually projected the DVD! That was a painful reminder that this film is just one of many that isn't commercially available in HD anywhere ... not even at the theater.

[milojthatch]

The other issue that was already mentioned is that maybe more than any other studio, Disney really, REALLY wants people to do the streaming thing. Digital provides the best opportunity yet for them to control their content in a way physical media never let them. Personally I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is. My advice, don't get rid of your DVD's..

Less people are buying physical copies and more are renting/buying/streaming digital, and as usual, Disney sees this as a golden opportunity. They haven't really changed in the past few decades; it's just a new way of controlling The Vault™ (as endorsed via VHS, DIVX, DVD, etc.). Regardless of how typical Disney fans like us feel, the majority of consumers prefer the convenience of buying and playing/replaying movies without ever having to get up off the couch, and given that Disney primarily produces family-friendly entertainment, it's also the perfect babysitter for frazzled adults. I imagine Blu will be dead long before everything we'd like to see has a chance to get released on it, but what's the point when we get crap like the Sword in the Stone and Robin Hood DNR nightmares? We'll eventually get streaming (like it or not) that's in even higher quality than what Blu currently offers, the only real question is whether or not Disney will ever bother to release higher-quality versions of the films that have not gotten HD transfers.

Thoughts:

1.) I never understood why people compare NetFlix to DVD's. Even people in the film industry do it. NetFlix is the future of TV, not home entertainment ownership, and it never will be. Streaming services are more like cable.

2.) The strongest market for digital isn't iTunes or Amazon, it's streaming services like NetFlix or Hulu. While it is true that more and more people seem happy enough with streaming services, what this tells me is that there is a rising trend in people that don't care about the specifics of what they are watching so much as the act of watching itself. Like HBO, titles on NetFlix come and go. So when I hear people complain that such and such title is leaving, all I can tell them is to buy the DVD and call it a day. Otherwise, you get what you pay for.

3.) Since Hollywood wants to compare NetFlix to DVD's, it is true that last year more money was spent on streaming services than DVD/ Bluray. However, DVD and Bluray are still a billion dollar industry. The point is, it ain't going anywhere that fast, regardless of the spin industry people may put on it. Plus, long after the major studio do move away from physical, I suspect third party players like SHOUT! Factory will still be in business. As well, with things like 4K seemingly doing good business, physical media is alive and well.

http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/ho ... 201954154/

4.) Disney has been trying to push streaming for at least the last decade. Long before it was a thing, Disney was at the forefront of pushing this service. I don't fully buy the line that they are just giving the consumer what they want. Disney is really good at telling the consumer what they want and for the last few decades, that has always been the case.

[Disney's Divinity]

For Disney (and other companies), I imagine the concept of streaming is a nice one. Almost all profit at little expense, unlike making boxes, discs, hiring someone to create cover art, shipping the finished product out to stores, etc. I don't know, on one hand I think of streaming as a good thing because it means less is being wasted/taken from the environment and they can easily dump things onto Netflix that they have no interest giving a DVD/Blu-ray release (misc. TV shows, films, etc.), but on the other hand I prefer having a product in my hand and knowing it can't be altered or taken away at any time Disney sees fit to do so. Creepy to think their “restorations” of Cinderella and The Sword in the Stone would be the only way you could ever see the film again.

I do think of Netflix/Hulu more as watching cable. To me, it's like you're just renting a product, not owning it.

[Mickeyfan1990]

Streaming isn't bad, it's when you're pushing or forcing someone to like it. Like physical home video, let it be *a* option, not *the only* option.


If not for this feud with Amazon, they could use the opportunity to release titles exclusively on that site because we know they already did it once.

And with Bob Iger stepping down in 2019, let's hope whoever fills his shoes is someone who cares about physical media and knows there' room for all forms of viewing.

[Elladorine]

Thoughts:

A few thoughts of my own, please bear with me. I must point out that I didn't specifically focus on (or even mention) Netflix:

Less people are buying physical copies and more are renting/buying/streaming digital

Maybe I wasn't being clear, but even if digital purchases are not the strongest market, what I was trying to emphasize is that more people are turning to digital in general. That people are buying and renting films through digital means to play/stream through Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, etc., or to download to their own devices, or that yes, they're turning to streaming. I've personally bought a few Disney movies digitally now, like Finding Dory, Zootopia, and Moana, and have digitally rented the live-action Beauty and the Beast. The digital movies I've bought have been insanely convenient to play through any room at home or when we're on a trip, and surprisingly, I've found that I don't miss having the discs. I have no clue what the numbers are (and frankly don't care), but I know I can't be the only one; sales of physical copies are definitely declining, regardless of whether or not discs are going the way of the VHS. And even if digital purchases aren't the biggest reason, it's definitely a factor to consider, along with the fact that producing discs is expensive and environmentally unfriendly. And when it comes to streaming services, well, they're obviously not a replacement for film ownership, but I imagine it still has a powerful influence on what the average consumer chooses to purchase (and when I mentioned "streaming" in my previous post, perhaps I wasn't be clear at all; I was trying to cover the concept of playing a movie that's already bought and paid for or rented through a service like Vudu, which is essentially a form of streaming anyway). I do wonder how many kids have asked for the latest Disney movie and get told, "Just hang tight, it'll be on Netflix soon and you can watch it whenever you want." Hell, my own husband has even told me that (not that I have to listen to him)!

BTW, Netflix is not the future of TV; Netflix is the current (and future) Blockbuster Video. Technically, services like Hulu and Sling are part of the current (and future) TV landscape alongside cable. My household has relied on Netflix for years to rent (and eventually stream) ever since their only option was mailing physical discs, and we've used Hulu and Sling sporadically (depending on what content is available) instead of having cable. It's not at all about "the act of watching" being more important than watching something specific, it's about having the option to watch the widest variety of shows and movies that we enjoy. It's true that they rotate content, but as you said, it's not the same as owning and we're well aware of that. And in fact, the rotations give us a chance to check out new material we might not have known we'd be interested in. And besides, one can't expect a service like that to hold onto any video permanently or to have all videos available at all times and remain in business. If we really do want to own any particular movie, there are several different ways to go about it, like buying current releases off the shelf (or digitally), buying used, or (gasp!) resorting to less savory means that I won't get into here. We're living in an insanely accessible era; as a kid I couldn't have even dreamed the amount of instant entertainment we'd eventually have at the tips of our fingers. Given the personal collection I've grown over the years (and coupled with what can be scrounged up online), I can watch any Disney movie, any time I want. Literally! And here we are, discussing how frustrating it is that the best versions of all these films aren't currently, commercially available at our beck and call, and that we somehow feel the threat of them being "taken away" someday. Long gone are the true days of the Disney Vault™, when our only option was to wait 7+ years in the meager hopes of a theatrical reissue. And yes, I'm old enough to remember that.

But yeah, I do totally get it. I want A Goofy Movie in HD. I want a non-DNR-ized Robin Hood in HD. But these movies aren't going to disappear if they never make it to Blu-ray. And Blu-ray releases don't immediately cancel out previously available versions. Literally millions of previous copies exist in all kinds of formats. Even if Disney goes on with horrid "restorations," new special editions, politically correct cuts and edits, the previous versions can still be found if you know where to look. Even copies of Song of the South lurk about; as you're well aware it hasn't seen a release in the US since 1986! As I attempted to state before, the real issue is whether or not proper HD versions will ever be made commercially available, which is basically the spirit of this thread. Blu-ray is arguably the current best way to play HD movies at home, but that's bound to change sooner rather than later. And as much as I enjoy Blu-ray, it's not the be-all, end-all existence of any film; I personally lost interest in completing my Disney Blu-ray collection when "If I Never Knew You" wasn't included with the Pocahontas release, a notion that was further cemented at the likes of The Fox and the Hound, The Sword in the Stone, etc., but that's another story for another day.

I believe the mindset of the average consumer is changing. Back in the heyday of home video, the only way you could be guaranteed to watch something that you liked was by owning it; today that's no longer the case. There are infinite options out there, not just with formats, but programming in general. Disney has to not only compete with that, but try to set the bar ahead of everyone else. And I think they have to deal with the mindset that not everyone wants to physically own a movie collection anymore, perhaps similar to what happened with music collections and audio CDs. Disney can't afford to get lost in the crowd when that crowd has become immensely enormous, and like any big corporation, they're going to invest in what the average consumer wants, not the avid collector. Just sayin.'

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go treat myself to the seasonal favorite The Nightmare Before Christmas on Netflix (my Blu-ray is packed away) while I try to get some work done. And maybe I'll play the live-action Beauty and the Beast after ... which is kind of a nice option, as I never did plan on buying that one.

[milojthatch]

For Disney (and other companies), I imagine the concept of streaming is a nice one. Almost all profit at little expense, unlike making boxes, discs, hiring someone to create cover art, shipping the finished product out to stores, etc. .

I should point out that all those streaming services take up a lot of computer power to store them on. They also cost a lot to start up and keep running. The upside is it is easier for the copyright holder to control the distribution of the IP due to the methods and tech behind it. The legal/tech reason is THE biggest reason Hollywood loves streaming.

[Matt]

Speaking of this movie, I’m debating on getting it from Disney Movies Anywhere. Since it’s on sale for $12.99. Watch them release it on Blu-Ray since I want to but it now lmao!