"Detective" also gave a first-time co-directing break to a coupla kids named John Musker and Ron Clements--
And you can see the old-time late-70's Ron Miller "Rescuers" style (cute critters, pointless and un-integrated old-time song numbers, as with Bette Midler's in O&C) clashing with the the new cinematic M&C "story adrenaline" that would fully kick in with Mermaid...
O&C trailed along last out of the gate, and late to the party.
Oliver & Company: 20th Anniversary Edition
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Older films are going to continue to get mostly DVD-only releases until the transition to hi-def is complete -- which is looking more like around 5 years minimum for both R1 and R2. Most films still don't have hi-def transfers prepared yet for Blu-Ray. Maybe DVD won't even completely die out as some companies might stick to the cheaper DVD/MPEG-2 authoring production. Most consumers still don't see the difference between DVD and BD.
There are going to be films that were shot on standard video that are just not going to be able to be mastered for hi-def as well as older 16mm and 35mm films that are so old and scratched up that it won't be worth the cost to upgrade the master tapes to hi-def.
I'm not really too concerned about some B & W films or the Universal Monster films. I think they're probably about as good-looking as they're going to be... Basically, anything that came out before 1970 in B & W is still fair game to me on DVD. It's the stuff after 1949 that's color that I'll be waiting for the Blu-Rays for.
As to some of the lesser Disney animated titles (which include Black Cauldron AND Oliver & Company), I'm really not in a rush to get BDs for those films. They just don't represent the best Disney has done. I'm more interested in the films that I really like (Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, Lilo & Stitch, Pinocchio) in addition to the historical classic animation like Snow White, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, etc. Basically most of the films Disney made prior to the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Most of the animated films from the past 40 years can go hang on for a bit while longer as far as I'm concerned... Aside from Disney, nobody really has a consistently great record for the domestic market prior to 1995.
P.S. -- Skipped Tinkerbell. No amount of high-definition is going to turn CG Tink into a good film. She looks like a mannequin. Bad show, Disney. Bad show. Looks very outsourced. Obviously designed to ride off the Disney Princess merchandizing franchise and sell more books and toys.
I have no problem with companies/individuals wanting to make money off quality product, but this film ain't it.
It's a very disposable film for VERY young children. It's going to be as disposable as the current CG Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse shows are.
There are going to be films that were shot on standard video that are just not going to be able to be mastered for hi-def as well as older 16mm and 35mm films that are so old and scratched up that it won't be worth the cost to upgrade the master tapes to hi-def.
I'm not really too concerned about some B & W films or the Universal Monster films. I think they're probably about as good-looking as they're going to be... Basically, anything that came out before 1970 in B & W is still fair game to me on DVD. It's the stuff after 1949 that's color that I'll be waiting for the Blu-Rays for.
As to some of the lesser Disney animated titles (which include Black Cauldron AND Oliver & Company), I'm really not in a rush to get BDs for those films. They just don't represent the best Disney has done. I'm more interested in the films that I really like (Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, Lilo & Stitch, Pinocchio) in addition to the historical classic animation like Snow White, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, etc. Basically most of the films Disney made prior to the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Most of the animated films from the past 40 years can go hang on for a bit while longer as far as I'm concerned... Aside from Disney, nobody really has a consistently great record for the domestic market prior to 1995.
P.S. -- Skipped Tinkerbell. No amount of high-definition is going to turn CG Tink into a good film. She looks like a mannequin. Bad show, Disney. Bad show. Looks very outsourced. Obviously designed to ride off the Disney Princess merchandizing franchise and sell more books and toys.
I have no problem with companies/individuals wanting to make money off quality product, but this film ain't it.
It's a very disposable film for VERY young children. It's going to be as disposable as the current CG Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse shows are.
Randall wrote:No surprise. They're focusing on new films or Platinum titles for Blu-ray right now. I know, it's sad when some new junk gets a Blu-ray release (not just talking animation here), while older stuff gets shafted. Look at the hitchcocks that Uni just put out on DVD only. It's a shame.
That B & W Hitchcock collection is actually a 20th Century Fox collection.
It includes Lifeboat which was previously released as a single DVD, The Lodger which in one in a series of Jack the Ripper done from the 1920s through 1940s, and re-releases of at least one or two public domain Hitchcock features which were released years ago by Criterion (and which are for the most part out-of-print).
I'm tempted to get this set when I have the money. I'm not so against dipping into DVD for B & W. It's the color films from both Warners and Universal I'm waiting for on Blu-Ray.
I think we may see a few Hitchcock films on Blu-Ray next year now that hi-def remastering was done so recently for the last Universal Hitchcock set of which only a few (but probably the best films) on that set have been released as two-disc special editions.
You guys have a funny way of defining set, Ben.
Granted, I'm really not that cranky about it and don't want to sound like Mr. Know-It-All or correct-you-for-the-heck-of-it, but I guess I don't see the average 2-disc film release that I pick up as a set!
By my definition, the last set I picked up was the first volume of 20th Century's Fox's Mr. Moto series starring Peter Lorre. I still wanna get the Little Rascals boxset that was released recently (nostalgia) as well as Casablanca BD (favorite live-action film) AFTER I read the review on it to see if it's worth the cash in addition to some Disney titles I've missed picking up...
Getting back to Oliver & Company (not one of my Disney favorites), it depends on whether the new DVD release is worth it. I'm beginning to see diminished returns on all these Disney DVD re-releases.
Mary Poppins already got announced (for another round on DVD) for next year's 45 anniversary and frankly it doesn't sound like it's worth picking up if you already have the last DVD release. There's no schedule as of yet for a Mary Poppins or Oliver & Company Blu-Ray. You'd think Disney would at least go Blu-Ray on Mary Poppins with next year being the anniversary and all!
Disney's inexplicable cheesiness on some videos continues...
But then again, most Blu-Rays are still porting the same extras from DVD in standard-def and there are more than a few films getting released on Blu-Ray without decent extras of any kind!
Granted, I'm really not that cranky about it and don't want to sound like Mr. Know-It-All or correct-you-for-the-heck-of-it, but I guess I don't see the average 2-disc film release that I pick up as a set!
By my definition, the last set I picked up was the first volume of 20th Century's Fox's Mr. Moto series starring Peter Lorre. I still wanna get the Little Rascals boxset that was released recently (nostalgia) as well as Casablanca BD (favorite live-action film) AFTER I read the review on it to see if it's worth the cash in addition to some Disney titles I've missed picking up...
Getting back to Oliver & Company (not one of my Disney favorites), it depends on whether the new DVD release is worth it. I'm beginning to see diminished returns on all these Disney DVD re-releases.
Mary Poppins already got announced (for another round on DVD) for next year's 45 anniversary and frankly it doesn't sound like it's worth picking up if you already have the last DVD release. There's no schedule as of yet for a Mary Poppins or Oliver & Company Blu-Ray. You'd think Disney would at least go Blu-Ray on Mary Poppins with next year being the anniversary and all!
Disney's inexplicable cheesiness on some videos continues...
But then again, most Blu-Rays are still porting the same extras from DVD in standard-def and there are more than a few films getting released on Blu-Ray without decent extras of any kind!
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Sorry, you posted while I was away from the computer. I didn't realize another post had gone up.
I meant that yes, obviously, I was talking about the titles Ben mentioned. I was very clear that I was referring to the Universal titles, which were very recent releases that I'm sure you're aware of. (You are obviously well-informed, though you do tend to jump to incorrect conclusions too often.) Besides, I never used the word "sets" (look at that post again), though it's common to call a DVD a "two-disc set" anyhow. There's nothing "funny" about that definition. It's the term everyone uses. But, as I never did use that term in my post, I don't see how it could have confused you.
Now, as for Oliver and Company, I'll stick with my laserdisc. My daughter actually really likes the movie, and the antiquated video quality doesn't bother her at all.
I meant that yes, obviously, I was talking about the titles Ben mentioned. I was very clear that I was referring to the Universal titles, which were very recent releases that I'm sure you're aware of. (You are obviously well-informed, though you do tend to jump to incorrect conclusions too often.) Besides, I never used the word "sets" (look at that post again), though it's common to call a DVD a "two-disc set" anyhow. There's nothing "funny" about that definition. It's the term everyone uses. But, as I never did use that term in my post, I don't see how it could have confused you.
Now, as for Oliver and Company, I'll stick with my laserdisc.
My daughter actually really likes the movie, and the antiquated video quality doesn't bother her at all.-
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Oliver is one of the few that I updated to DVD for because the DVD image shows more in the frame than the LD, which was looking pretty neat already.
Yep, George, anything more than a "single disc" is a "set", no? Even as far back as LaserDisc a single film spread over three or four sides was a "two disc set".
Yep, George, anything more than a "single disc" is a "set", no? Even as far back as LaserDisc a single film spread over three or four sides was a "two disc set".