geniuswalt wrote:I think I speak for all Disney/Pixar fans when I say that given the fact
that we all have the previous DVD releases it's kind of lazy on the part of Disney to just port over all 4:3 SD material and just adding an HD roundtable discussion. They could have arranged a proper brand-new HD documentary or something
Especially considering the Suggested Retail Price!
Well here's answers about why the Suggested Retail Price is what it is:
DarthPrime wrote:Apparently Disney is thinking about raising prices on some Blu-ray titles... Personally I think this is a terrible ideal.
FEB. 3 | Walt Disney’s studio entertainment unit’s fiscal first-quarter earnings dropped 64% as DVD titles such as WALL-E and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian failed to keep pace with year-earlier releases such as Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Ratatouille and High School Musical 2. The company, whose sales from older DVD titles also fell, said it was looking to cut costs related to its DVD marketing, production and distribution while possibly raising prices on some of its Blu-ray titles.
Studio entertainment operating earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 27 were $187 million, down from $514 million a year earlier. The division’s sales declined 26% to $1.94 billion and accounted for 20% of the parent company’s revenue, down from 25% a year earlier, the company said in a statement today.
Disney’s DVD sales were consistent with the broader decline in home entertainment demand last year, as the U.S. economic downturn caused customers to cut discretionary spending. Last year, U.S. home entertainment spending fell 5.7% from a year earlier to $21.7 billion despite Blu-ray Disc sales tripling to about $750 million, according to data compiled by Video Business and Rentrak.
"It's clear that the economy has had an impact on DVD sales," said Disney Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger on a conference call with analysts today. "We need to be more selective on what we choose to make and what we choose to distribute."
Iger added that, with many of Disney's Blu-ray titles including features such as a standard-definition of the film and other extras, the company may be able to raise prices on such titles.
Disney last year had about 12% of the U.S. home entertainment market, trailing Warner Home Video, News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Viacom’s Paramount Home Entertainment. WALL-E was the sixth best-selling DVD last year despite a Nov. 18 release date, while the studio’s Enchanted was No. 9. Disney’s No Country for Old Men tied Lionsgate’s 3:10 to Yuma as the third most-rented DVD of last year.
Overall, Disney’s net income fell 32% to $845 million, or 45¢ a share, from $1.25 billion, or 63¢, a year earlier, as sales fell 8.2% to $9.6 billion, the company said today. Disney, whose media networks and parks and resorts units also saw earnings declines, was expected to earn 53¢ a share on $10.17 billion, the average analyst estimates in a Thomson Financial survey.
Disney shares fell more than 7% in extended trading at about 5:30 p.m. Eastern time today
I don't mind the re-using of bonus material at all. Why put on extras in HD just to have extras in HD? The stuff added in the previous editions was fine to begin with. And probably the obvious things will be in HD, like the bloopers and trailers, and the shorts as well. And it is refreshing to see a Disney Blu-Ray cover without a blue theme to it.
PixarFan2006 wrote:I think the artwork for both titles is okay at best. It appears that they reused the artwork from the Gold Collection for the A Bugs Life Blu-Ray I will be sure to pick these up when they come out.
Come to think of it, the Monsters' Inc. artwork looks like it was taken from one of the film's theatrical posters.
I like when they reuse bonus material for these editions. though I'd probably prefer the old menus, I could at treat these like disc 1 on the DVD, then.
I'm fine with recycling the bonus features from the previous releases as well. Both films received fine 2-disc treatments on DVD and while I would hate to see them downgrade a release and strip it of all bonuses, I wasn't expecting anything new for Blu-Ray beyond BD-Live features that I am unable to use. I will be getting these first for the HD picture and sound of two of my favorite movies, and second for the new bonuses.
ajmrowland wrote:
The little Ms on the border are a nice touch.
Second that, and hopefully the Blu-ray of The Incredibles (which will hopefully be sooner rather than later) will have the Incredibles shield in a similar pattern in the blue border around the main graphic.
Also, note a very small detail change in the title between the new art and the original post, in that the original had the words broken up in two lines, and the new art has it as one line. Not much, but a change that hopefully will be the only thing that'll change between the original art and what we get in May.
ajmrowland wrote:
The little Ms on the border are a nice touch.
Second that, and hopefully the Blu-ray of The Incredibles (which will hopefully be sooner rather than later) will have the Incredibles shield in a similar pattern in the blue border around the main graphic.
Better yet, a red border.
MrIncredible wrote:Also, note a very small detail change in the title between the new art and the original post, in that the original had the words broken up in two lines, and the new art has it as one line. Not much, but a change that hopefully will be the only thing that'll change between the original art and what we get in May.
The main page says Disney has delayed Monsters, Inc. (but A Bug's Life is still coming on the 19th.)
This makes sense to me - Monsters has greater sales potential than the oft-underpromoted Bug's Life and I am guessing they want to bow it during the forth quarter, alongside the Blu-ray release of Up, to maximize profits. While I would have liked it on Blu-ray in the spring, I am honestly pretty okay with that because I have other things to buy on 5/19 as well, so this will lighten the load a bit.
Monsters will probably be day and date with Up!, which would make a bit of sense as both are Pete Docter directed (but with that logic, that means The Incredibles should have been with Ratatouille and Finding Nemo should have been with Wall-E).
It makes me furious that 1) ABL will only be released with one disc (I don't count the digital copy) and 2) MI was completely moved back so some random Pixar film is just being released without any type of reason (like some conjunction with a film that is being released to theaters or something). ABL is SO underrated. It is a fantastic film and I find it to be superior to many of the other Pixar films (to me, it ranks #1 with Wall-E). It just upsets me that one of Pixar's films is being released so poorly by the people who created it. I'm almost thinking of not getting it because it deserves a better release.
TheSequelOfDisney wrote:It makes me furious that 1) ABL will only be released with one disc (I don't count the digital copy) and 2) MI was completely moved back so some random Pixar film is just being released without any type of reason (like some conjunction with a film that is being released to theaters or something). ABL is SO underrated. It is a fantastic film and I find it to be superior to many of the other Pixar films (to me, it ranks #1 with Wall-E). It just upsets me that one of Pixar's films is being released so poorly by the people who created it. I'm almost thinking of not getting it because it deserves a better release.
Firstly... A one disc Blu-ray doesn't equal a poor release... They can VERY easily fit everything from the 2-Disc DVD onto a 1-Disc Blu-ray (as has already been discussed several times in this thread.)
Second... What sort of "reason" do you want ? Since when does every films home video release date have to be "in conjunction with a film that is being released in theatres or something" ?
I think if anything, separating them is giving them more respect. It is giving each films it's time to be in the spotlight, rather that them seeming like a "package" of sorts.
It always makes me laugh when people say "This is one of my favourite films... But I won't buy this release because it deserves better." What is that going to prove ? Do you think Disney will really care if you don't buy a copy ? I doubt it, there are millions of other people who will.
Plus, A Bug's Life is still supporting the theatrical release of Up, so your argument of it not having a connection to a theatrically-released film doesn't work. Yes, it's not directed by Pete Doctor, but it's still a Pixar film supporting another Pixar film.
And really, who cares about the politics of its release, so long as it gets released
The DVD was so through that I don't think it needs that much more - a new roundtable, in addition to the previous suppliments, is fine. Disc count is irrelivant.
Maybe the reason for switching the release date of one was that it was too much money to expect consumers to spend in one day? A Bug's Life is my favorite Pixar film, so I'm glad its coming sooner rather than later. But the general consensus is that A Bug's Life is the least popular Pixar film. If that is the case, than it would make sense for them to put A Bug's Life out now while Blu-Ray is starting to catch on and there is still a lack of animated films on the format. People who are dying to see more Pixar films in CG will buy it, versus a year from now when there will only be 2 Pixar films not available on Blu-Ray (the 2 Toy Story films). At that point, consumers may decide that 8 out of 9 is good enough and will use that $30 elsewhere.
Yeah, like I said, A bugs' Life has been in need of a new transfer. The old DVD suffers from having two encodes of the film and is very pixelated. I guess it makes sense to get that film more publicity by being put out this side of the theatrical release of Up.
