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The Princess Diaries: 2-Movie Collection on Blu-ray

Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 3:44 pm
by UmbrellaFish
Celebration will take place April 22-April 28, 2012

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- World renowned actress, singer and best-selling children’s author, Julie Andrews, in collaboration with Target and The Walt Disney Company, is announcing the creation and inaugural launch of National Princess Week beginning April 22, 2012.

This unprecedented collaboration highlights Julie Andrews’ longtime dedication to nurturing every child’s unique spirit, as demonstrated throughout her career on stage, screen and through her children’s book endeavors. With the support of Target and Disney, National Princess Week will celebrate the sparkle and imagination of every princess – real, aspiring or imagined.

“So many children fall in love with the whimsical wonder of princesses and all the goodness that they represent,” said Ms. Andrews. “Joining Target and Disney to host this annual event nationally will help us to recognize and celebrate the uniqueness that lies within every child.”

The event coincides with the 10-year anniversary of “The Princess Diaries,” starring Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway, and the special two-movie collection of “The Princess Diaries” and “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” — available for the first time ever on Disney Blu-ray.

Target and Target.com will feature an array of Disney Princess merchandise highlighting beloved princess characters such as Ariel, Cinderella and Snow White — from apparel, toys and books, to CDs, movies, personal care items and stationery. The week will also highlight the newest release in the No. 1 New York Times best-selling “The Very Fairy Princess” children’s book franchise, “The Very Fairy Princess Here Comes the Flower Girl!” co-authored by Julie’s daughter and writing partner, Emma Walton Hamilton and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

“Julie Andrews is an icon for children who love the magic of fairy princesses,” said Casey Carl, Target’s senior vice president, hardlines. “Our first National Princess Week will give Target’s guests a chance to have a ‘princess experience,’ and take home their favorite princesses and accessories.”

Ms. Andrews will be honored with the Prince Rainier III Award for her outstanding contribution to motion picture, television and theater arts during the Princess Grace Awards Gala on November 1 in New York City. The award is presented to eminent artists who have not only been highly successful in their careers, but have made significant humanitarian contributions to their fields. All award recipients receive a $25,000 grant, which will be donated to select charitable organizations benefiting children.

“We are all excited about the existence of a royal tradition, and I hope that Princess Grace would have been pleased to know that there will be a week that celebrates the sparkle in each one of us - and the belief that dreams can come true,” says Ms. Andrews.

Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:24 pm
by zackisthewalrus
"The Princess Diaries", to me, seems like a very underrated film. Critics weren't very fond of it (it currently holds a 47% approval rating on RottenTomatoes.com), but I find that Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews are very charming in the film, and it is, overall, a wonderful movie. I'll definitely buy this first day. :)

Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:14 pm
by sunhuntin
i was quite amazed the first time i saw these films on tv, thought they would be rubbish but i really liked them. might get them on blu if they are cheap enough. have them recorded off the tv [along with all the adverts] so it would be nice to see them uninterrupted.

i also like that one with the girl whos mother is a hippy and her unknown father is a prince or something. cant remember the name, buts its from about the same time.

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 5:54 am
by jinkinquackers
sunhuntin wrote:i also like that one with the girl whos mother is a hippy and her unknown father is a prince or something. cant remember the name, buts its from about the same time.
I think the film you're talking about is "What a Girl Wants". For the life of me, I can't get the link to post, but here's the website:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_a_Girl_Wants_(film)

*the (film) part is supposed to be included in the link.

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 1:57 pm
by sunhuntin
thats the one! been a while since ive seen it. hehe. thanks for that. :)

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 2:10 pm
by TheSequelOfDisney
This is exciting; The Princess Diaries has been a relative favorite of mine ever since we got the VHS. I already have it (and it's sequel) on DVD, though, so the chances of me getting the Blu-ray are pretty slim. But nonetheless, I'm glad Disney is releasing them.

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 4:48 am
by UmbrellaFish
I had expected to see PD 1&2 on BD this past April in time for the Royal Wedding, especially considering the subject matter of the sequel. But when that came and went without any sort of release, I just gave up hope that it'd be here any time soon, so I'm glad to hear it's at least going to be out in time for Will and Kate's first anniversary.

Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 3:37 pm
by milojthatch
UmbrellaFish wrote:I had expected to see PD 1&2 on BD this past April in time for the Royal Wedding, especially considering the subject matter of the sequel. But when that came and went without any sort of release, I just gave up hope that it'd be here any time soon, so I'm glad to hear it's at least going to be out in time for Will and Kate's first anniversary.
When you think about the "Royal Wedding collection" that Disney came up with too, which was just fancy slip covers put over a few of the Princess films, it was clear Disney was interested in getting in on some of the Royal Wedding band wagon. I agree, "The Princess Diary" films would have been the best choice for that.

I will be interested to see what differences if any there are from the original DVD's.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 2:52 pm
by UmbrellaFish
Still no release date as of yet (likely the Tuesday of "National Princess Week"), but I noticed that on the official Disney DVD webpage, both the PD1 and PD2 DVDs are now listed as "Not Currently Available" which wasn't the case a month ago. It seems they've been quietly vaulted.

I imagine the two-pack will be similar to the Fox and the Hound combo. A single BD for both movies, and a DVD for each title.

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 3:26 pm
by milojthatch
UmbrellaFish wrote:Still no release date as of yet (likely the Tuesday of "National Princess Week"), but I noticed that on the official Disney DVD webpage, both the PD1 and PD2 DVDs are now listed as "Not Currently Available" which wasn't the case a month ago. It seems they've been quietly vaulted.

I imagine the two-pack will be similar to the Fox and the Hound combo. A single BD for both movies, and a DVD for each title.
I was wondering what happened to these films being released. Interesting to hear about the DVD's.

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:46 am
by UmbrellaFish
Pre-order up on Amazon! Release date set for May 15th. List price- $29.99, Amazon price- $20.99.

http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Diaries- ... 171&sr=1-5

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:48 am
by milojthatch
UmbrellaFish wrote:Pre-order up on Amazon! Release date set for May 15th. List price- $29.99, Amazon price- $20.99.

http://www.amazon.com/Princess-Diaries- ... 171&sr=1-5
I actually ran into this myself and just shared the news elsewhere. Either way, while I personally doubt I'd buy these films on Blu-ray (my DVD's are good enough), I'm still happy to see this. Disney has been very slow and reluctant in releasing "vintage" titles on Blu-ray, and even though these are not THAT old, it is still good to see.

Thanks for your efforts by the way. It was you UmbrellaFish that first let me know something was coming a few months back, so thanks!

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 2:52 am
by UmbrellaFish
You're very welcome. :)

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 3:07 am
by slave2moonlight
I actually haven't seen either of these, so this is cool. AFTER I get Rocketeer, I'll pick these up, ha.

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:54 pm
by Barbossa
Disney needs to release more of their catalogue titles on Blu. Would love to see more of their 90s movies out. Especially Shipwrecked and White Fang which are still in fullscreen.

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 5:57 am
by jrboy
Image

This appears to be a Target exclusive coming 4/15

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:19 pm
by UmbrellaFish
Ahh! Thanks so much for the update! I'll change the topic line accordingly.

I'm not surprised this is a Target Exclusive, but I expect that in a month's time it will be released at other retailers, too. I also imagined the artwork would look like that, too. For better or worse, I guess.

But I'll be picking this up as soon as possible!

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 1:55 pm
by Jules
Good to see Disney releasing their older live-action films on Blu-ray.

Seeing Julie in HD is a good enough reason for the release to happen. Speaking of Julie ... I think this will be only her second appearance on Blu-ray. To my knowledge she doesn't have a truckload of films on her resume, and only The Sound of Music has had a Blu release.

UmbrellaFish, I recently caught Julie in "10", with Dudley Moore and Bo Derek. Have you seen the film? And if so, what are your thoughts on it ... or on Julie's performance?

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:47 pm
by slave2moonlight
To me, this is not Disney releasing their "older films". That would be stuff like Old Yeller and so on. However, I get what you mean and it's still cool we're even getting stuff like this and Rocketeer. I'm glad I had never bought Princess Diaries before (never even seen them, actually). I'll be sure to get them on Blu-Ray, though, as April 15th is my birthday, I am more likely to request The Rocketeer from anyone who wants to give me a gift, ha. Too bad something more ideal for me isn't getting that release date, like my favorite film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. What's the deal with that one not being on blu-ray yet?!

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:48 pm
by UmbrellaFish
Julian Carter wrote:Good to see Disney releasing their older live-action films on Blu-ray.

Seeing Julie in HD is a good enough reason for the release to happen. Speaking of Julie ... I think this will be only her second appearance on Blu-ray. To my knowledge she doesn't have a truckload of films on her resume, and only The Sound of Music has had a Blu release.

UmbrellaFish, I recently caught Julie in "10", with Dudley Moore and Bo Derek. Have you seen the film? And if so, what are your thoughts on it ... or on Julie's performance?
As a matter of fact, 10 is avaliable on BD. Plus, there's her voice-overs in the Shrek films and Despicable Me and the Broadway production of Victor/Victoria. Oh and I almost forgot, Tooth Fairy.

But we've yet to get some real goodies like Thoroughly Modern Millie or Star! or 1982's Victor/Victoria. And of course Mary Poppins. They'll all look stunning in HD, I'm sure.

Oh, I loved 10. I saw it for the first time a little over a year ago, and I think it's very good. I had read reviews on the film to get a handle for it, and most of them said the film was dated but I thought it was rather relevant. Dudley Moore is hilarious, and Bo Derek is salacious. That's one thing I think Blake could do expertly, photograph women. Julie's most beautiful celluloid appearances are in his films, and of course both Bo Derek and Audrey Hepburn have iconic style in their movies with Blake.

There's not much to say about Julie's performance, though, except that I like it because it was very relevant to her, and that it's one of the few movies she's done that was set in the then present. It can sometimes be a little startling, I'll admit, to see Julie in a movie set after the 1950s, but it works. She's particularly good playing a modern woman in a TV movie made at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic called Our Sons.