The ugly facts of the animation DVD GLUT & sales impact.

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GeorgeC

The ugly facts of the animation DVD GLUT & sales impact.

Post by GeorgeC » July 22nd, 2005, 12:09 pm

More can be found here at http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/inv ... p?GT1=6706



My own commentary...

Yes, there are way too many DVDs out there for one person to look at, let alone BUY. I'm assuming for the average person what makes it a BIT easier is that 95% of the stuff really doesn't interest you. Considering that over 10,000 DVDs are STILL in print and that well past that number have been published over the course of 8 years of the format, that 5% you ARE interested in is still a big number!

I really don't know if the Shrek 2 and Incredibles DVD sales are cases of wishful thinkful or poorly planned schemes to bolster stock prices. My own guess is that they weren't. Shrek 2 is a sequel and people just might start getting to be sick of the whole Shrek franchise. The Incredibles I think is mainly a victim of superhero genre burnout even though I personally have always found something cold and impersonal about Brad Bird's work.

What nobody disagrees about is that there are plenty of DVDs out there and maybe home video companies and Hollywood in general ought to consider that the market has grown as much as it can. Stop loading director's cuts on us 3 months after the original DVD releases. Give us the deleted scenes and alternate cuts the FIRST time you put out a DVD. Oh, and to make things less confusing, why not just drop pan-and-scan releases and release films ONLY in their original theatrical aspect ratios? People are getting TIRED of multiple releases of the same film within a year!

If Hollywood really thinks hi-def DVD is going to reinvorgate the home market -- as if the billions they're making now with original DVD ain't enough --, I 've got news for them: this year proves that the average consumer has only so much time and money to spend on entertainment. IF the product doesn't have substance and DOESN'T demonstrate markedly new features that haven't been seen before, consumers won't buy it. That's why the box office is way down in the United States. Economy, schmconomy -- the box office did fine during the Great Depression because there were GREAT escapist and dramatic films coming out all the time during the 1930s! Hi-def DVD may have better resolution and sound, but consumers proved they were okay with VHS for over 20 years on their OLD TV sets until standard DVD came down in price and convinced more people to switch to that format. How long do you think it will take for hi-def DVD which has ONLY the resolution issue going for it to take off now that H'wood wants us all to buy new hi-def TV sets?

Switchover is gonna take a while. Keep releasing the SAME usual crap you do at PREMIUM prices, H'wood, and I can guarantee it'll be quite a while longer before you kill standard DVD...

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Post by Ben » July 22nd, 2005, 1:36 pm

I've actually given up buying Universal discs at the moment.

Seems they've put out everything of worth that they own and are now simply re-hashing older DVDs...

Blues Brothers, Field Of Dreams, Carlito's Way, The Jerk, Apollo 13, and many more are just the tip of the iceberg as to what they're putting out again.

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Post by ShyViolet » July 22nd, 2005, 3:43 pm

I just got the Sopranos Season 1 as well as The Simpsons: Season 5. They both cost a bundle, (I did put some thought in the puchase) and so do the newest DVDs that just come out. It's better to wait till the prices go down (they always do) although I don't know if that applies to TV boxed sets.

I try to get things I know I will enjoy again and again, not just the "newest" DVD even if it is loaded with extras (I don't even watch all of them anyway.) I like Family Guy and everything but they do show it every night on Cartoon Network. I can never seem to find the Simpsons anymore (syndicated, not Sunday nights.) Do they still even show it? That's one of the reasons I got the set.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Post by Randall » July 23rd, 2005, 10:20 am

It should be no surprise to the studios that DVD sales are leveling off. It had to happen some day. You've all made great points--- especially that the number of reissues is just getting dumb.

Fox put out 2-disc editions of I, Robot and The Day After Tomorrow just months after pumping millions of 1-disc versions onto the market. I bought neither single version because I knew better; I rented Day, and bought the 2-disc version of I, Robot (for less than what the single disc version would have cost me, in fact). I have double-dipped on occasion, but never without selling my old copy on eBay (a secondary market that further cuts into sales of older titles for retailers that still are stuck with copies on the shelves).

We are also seeing the flipside of getting EVERYTHING YOU WANT released onto DVD. Eventually, choices have to be made. (I also made this point in the DVDtoons article "Box Set Bonanaza"). As much as we desire complete season sets for all our favorite shows, we really can't afford them, and don't have time to watch them all.

Meanwhile, the new theatrical releases have to compete with the booming TV-on-DVD market, which typically has higher prices per unit. Something has to give. Studios and retailers must simply adjust their expectations.

I often think that, although I spend lots (too much) on DVDs, it's still only a fraction of what I would LIKE to purchase.

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the Fly

Post by ShyViolet » July 23rd, 2005, 4:18 pm

They are releasing the Fly (1986) WIDESCREEN with plenty of deleted scenes (like Jeff Goldblum beating a half-cat half-monkey creature to death with a broom after a failed experiment with the telepods) as well as more scenes of him mutating which were cut out the first time. I can't wait.

*if you look at the last few scenes of the film where he's turning into the final version of "Brundlefly" you can see the "quick cuts" where they edited out scenes. One example is after he dissolves the ex-boyfriend's hand and leg in fly vomit, there's a scene of him actually eating/sucking part of the poor guy's leg which was cut out....(I guess I can see why.)


Well, that's my little contribution to this discussion. :wink:
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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