Dumbo: Special Edition Blu-ray and DVD Discussion

[goofystitch]

The Big Top Edition has been discontinued as of... January? Sometime earlier this year.

Good to know. I must have forgotten.

[PeterPanfan]

Well Bongo (Fun and Fancy Free) was suppose to be a stand alone follow up to Dumbo yet the idea of a follow up for Dumbo was dropped for unknown reasons.

Then there's the canceled Dumbo 2 which would've taken place a day or 2 after the orignal. Dumbo would've met new characters and help 'em discover their own special traits.

Something along the lines of Bongo would be most welcome, but if this is a resurrection of Dumbo 2, I'll be mad. It looked aweful, based on the preview from the 60th Anniversary Edition.

Does anybody know if the Big Top Edition was quietly discontinued? I asked Les Perkins how much planning goes into a Platinum/Diamond Edition and he said about 6 months, so when he told me in July that he was working on Dumbo, I would have expected WDSHE to have already discontinued manufacturing the current release.

I've actually been seeing it in stores recentley, so maybe some near you have copies?

[Nandor]

Well, I'm majorly disappointed by this news... I've been waiting for a Fantasia rerelease for a while now, only having gotten a one-disc copy with crappy video quality. I fully expected it to hit stores next spring, this is completely unexpected. Completely.
What does this mean for the rest of the announced titles? If Fantasia is 'just' moved to fall (which I'd support, the fall titles often get better features/promotion), what happens to B&tB? If Fantasia has been dropped from the line, will it still be rereleased sometime soon, and with proper bonus features? After all, the restoration was probably finished, as I imagine a lot of features would be too.
Weird choice. Weird, weird, weird.

Ps. I don't believe in Dumbo being pushed into the line to promote a Tinkerbell-like franchise. I like to think they learned their lesson from Peter Pan PE.

[zackisthewalrus]

Amazon now has it to where you can sign up to be notified when Dumbo is released to Blu-ray. I don't know if they had it before or not, but here it is.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... eimprovemz

[goofystitch]

Well, I'm majorly disappointed by this news... I've been waiting for a Fantasia rerelease for a while now, only having gotten a one-disc copy with crappy video quality.

Are you referring to the 60th Anniversary Edition as having "crappy video quality"?

[Mason_Ireton]

So far I've only seen Dumbo: Big Top at Best Buy but there was only 2-6 copies left over.

I would've love to see Bongo as a full length follow up to Dumbo, could sort of seen it taking place 2-4 months after Dumbo's success, maybe have Dumbo, the crows and Timothy The Mouse return as supportin characters.

[David S.]

I'm really shocked by this.

on Fantasia being delayed... (apparently)

But on Dumbo getting the deluxe tratment it deserves and coming to 2-Disc DVD, considering it's my favorite film! (and yes, I'm happy for the BD fans as well

Pink Elephants On Parade!

[blackcauldron85]

I was going to ask if I should sell my 60th Anniversary Dumbo DVD now, but part of me wants to keep it forever for the Dumbo II preview.

I've been curious as to what bonus features would be on Fantasia's PE release and about what would be restored to the film (Deem's Taylor's narration more than Sunflower).

To those of you putting off buying the Fantasia DVDs or at least the Fantasia Legacy bonus disc, you might as well buy them now, because who knows when the movies will come back out, and if they're not PEs, they might not have that many bonus features...I mean, of course we don't know yet, but I'm just saying...

Yay for Dumbo, though- all the DACs should have jam-packed releases. I'm not holding my breath, though, about this being jam-packed with bonus features. And does anyone else find it odd that they released the "Big Top Edition" not that long ago?!? I mean, I guess one could say that about Peter Pan, too...

I'll be anxious to hear about the bonus features!

Maybe Disney pushed back Fantasia because they read our bickering about Sunflower...

[Mooky]

Woot! Disney finally redeemed themselves, Dumbo should have been in the Platinum/Diamond line from the get-go. I feel sorry for the Fantasia fans though.

[Mason_Ireton]

Maybe Disney pushed back Fantasia because they read our bickering about Sunflower...

Sorry for askin a stupid question but...who the heck is SunFlower???? again sorry for bein stupid bout this question.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

This is 1,000,000,000,000,000% unfair. Disney has had multiple opportunities to release Dumbo in a great "deluxe" or what-have-you edition. Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 have had one DVD release; and, yes, I am aware that the single disc alone had a great documentary and commentaries, and the Anthology set had so much more (but buying that was optional). However, the major downfall for the Concert Feature had a terrible picture quality and could definitely use a restoration. Dumbo is looking pretty good and really doesn't need another release (plus it doesn't go with it being released every five years, which seems to be the trend with that film). Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 are much more deserving of the Diamond/Platinum treatment than Dumbo ever will. Pardon my language, and I never say this at all, but this really pisses me off.

And yes, I don't say that word; nor do I ever curse, because I find it to be distastestful. But this makes me really mad.

[blackcauldron85]

Sorry for askin a stupid question but...who the heck is SunFlower???? again sorry for bein stupid bout this question.

It's not a stupid question! Sunflower is the child servant centaurette who was edited out. There's more info in the Fantasia thread(s).

I agree that it isn't fair to announce a title and then replace it with another. Especially for a film that has had so many releases already (well, 2, but you know). I mean, I love Dumbo more, I won't lie, but I still was at least interested in knowing what bonus features would be on the release and about its restoration.

[depooter]

Dumbo has long been mentioned by many of Pixar's brain trust (as well as many of their key story and animation people) as one of their favorite films of all time. I wouldn't be surprised if Lasseter had something to do with the change and would be shocked not to see some Pixar love thrown Dumbo's way when its released in the Spring.

I'm very excited to see Dumbo in Hi-Def. I just hope Fantasia follows along quickly thereafter.

[tlc38tlc38]

I'm so happy and so sad at the same time! DUMBO is my fav Disney movie of all-time but I was also excited about Fantasia/2000 on Blu. I wish we could get a complete list of the titles that are going to be in the new Diamond line and if the Platinum line is gone forever >>this would clear up a lot of confuzzion.

[Simba3]

I have mixed feeling on this announcement. I'm glad that Dumbo will be released as a Platinum or Diamond or whatever edition because this likely means that it will finally get a two disc release, which makes me happy. However, I don't understand why Fantasia had to get bumped, again. It seems like we have been waiting forever for a new release of Fantasia, and now it appears we will have to wait even longer. Why couldn't Disney have just waited and let Dumbo come next. Then again, why does does make many of the decisions it does... who knows?

[my chicken is infected]

This just makes me even more grateful I was able to find previously viewed copies of the Fantasia films a while back at Dollar General, cause it seems like who the Hell knows WHEN they'll ever be available again. Meanwhile ANOTHER freaking Dumbo DVD? Why didn't they just do it right last time?

[The_Iceflash]

2 things:

1. I just bought Dumbo Big Top Edition last year! Way to make me double-dip so quickly Disney.

2. Disney needs to cool it right now. They're marking/release plans are beyond ridiculous now. Yes I'm grateful it'll get a 2-Disc but at what expense? Fantasia and Fantasia 2000? Beauty and the Beast?

[UmbrellaFish]

I just have this amazing gut feeling of surprise. I know Disney's DVD plans aren't set in stone, but this came totally out the blue. But I'm excited! It must be better than any other edition, but it's still odd news for me.

[Uncle Remus]

I'm shocked by the news as well. I think the line-up will end up like this:
Dumbo - Spring 2010
Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 - Fall 2010
Alice in Wonderland - Spring 2011
Beauty and the Beast - Fall 2011
Aladdin - Spring 2012
The Lion King - Fall 2012

Alice in Wonderland doesn't seem like the kind of movie to promote during the Fall/Christmas shopping season. However, it could be likely for Alice in Wonderland and Fantasia to switch places. I see Fantasia being released in Fall 2010 to celebrate it's 70th Anniversary, whereas Alice in Wonderland will be released in Spring 2011 to be closer to its 60th Anniversary.

[Neal]

I'm not happy because this probably signals a delay for the "Destino" DVD. I want to see Destino now.