Walt Disney Treasures

[Ben]

There were plans to put out a Pixar Shorts DVD, but the only way they can do that is through the Mouse House right now, so they hold off on that.

There was a GREAT doc that showed here in the UK the time of Knick Knack's release (I guess about 1989-ish) and had a history of computer animation, speaking to the movers and shakers - including of course Lasseter and Pixar - and ended with Knick Knack (the original, pre-Nemo version).

Personally, I would love to have a collection like this, from Andre to I guess Tin Toy (the original pre-Toy Story shorts) and also have them include the many mutiple spin offs from Luxo Jr that they did for Sesame Street as well as the stuff I've seen floating around which continues using the clown from Red's Dream.

An extensive documentary, featuring these shorts, would be great and show the evolution of the medium.

[Special_Ed]

Do we know if this American Legends set could be the patriotic cartoons?

Ben & Me
Pecos Bill
Johnny Appleseed
Casey Jones
Casey at the bat
Casey at the Bat 2
Wind Wagon Smith
Paul Bunyan
John Henry


and all that good stuff.....

[GeorgeC]

Could be...

The only problem with the existing DVD is that
A) the video was mastered poorly and has massive digital artifacting from what I understand
B) there are no real extras to speak of
C) it's way too short and over priced at $20
D) the John Henry short was pan-and-scanned from its original widescreen.

At sixty minutes, the DVD could have easily run near maximum bit-rate for best-quality video. However, running max bit-rate for video doesn't help if the materials used to prep the DVD aren't the best standard in the first place! Exhibit in case: the re-edited John Henry short.

I hope they do these shorts justice and re-release ALL of them unedited in future Disney DVD collections.

It would be nice to the ORIGINAL smoking Pecos Bill as well as the original widescreen John Henry.

I still have the American Legends DVD -- bought it last year when Wal-Mart reduced the price to $12.86 -- but I regret the fact the DVD wasn't done better.

[Ben]

The treasures DVD will not be the American Legends, re-dressed.

It may contain some of the same short specials that that disc did (in orginal uncut order), but don't look for segments of otgher features to turn up (a la the Casey films, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill)...

Word is that this set is in fact a live-action collection of random DisneyLand shows, featuring one or two standout episodes from various series such as Zorro and such.

Again, that's early word, but there are several rumors going around.

[PatrickvD]

I hope Disney rarities will feature all the remaining animated shorts that didn't fit in any other category, from Lambert, Susie and Ferdinand to Destino, John Henry and Lorenzo. Wouldn't that be neat?

[GeorgeC]

The treasures DVD will not be the American Legends, re-dressed.
.......................
Word is that this set is in fact a live-action collection of random DisneyLand shows, featuring one or two standout episodes from various series such as Zorro and such.

Again, that's early word, but there are several rumors going around.

I hope that's NOT the case.

Zorro deserves his own collection and I think fans of the other characters would agree that hodge-podge mixing and matching is NOT what most people want.

If Disney were smart, they'd release all the experimental animation and stand-alone theatrical shorts they've commissioned over the years that many people haven't seen. Anything that's been released from about 1960 to the present that fits in this category ought to be fair game for a Treasures collection.

They oughta to be including things like Lorenzo, John Henry, the cancelled "Fantasia 3" shorts that got finished, and so forth. Heck, while we're at it, there's several stop-motion shorts and educational shorts from the 1950s that would fit in this collection nicely, too! (I'm still waiting for Donald in Mathmagic Land on DVD, Disney! It's one of my favorite Duck-centric shorts!) There ought to be enough material there for AT LEAST 1 DVD, if not 2 if the extras are handled well.

I think live-action hodge-podge is NOT what most people want. It's the rarely seen and chronological animation most people are interested in.

[Special_Ed]

Disney doesn't care what people want. They're just looking for filler to pad out more waves. When the Treasures ends without all the animation titles release it's tough noogie to us.

[GeorgeC]

The way things are sounding with the next wave of Disney Treasures, I doubt I'll get all of them. It's gonna be strictly the animated stuff.

I plunked down change and got the Mickey Mouse Club set in the last Treasures Wave for nostalgia's sake, but I doubt I'll pay money for a hodge-podge of live-action shows I'm just not interested in.

Heck, I skipped Davy Crockett from the first Treasures Wave because I'm just not into westerns...

The Disney people, if their market research is so great, ought to be taking notes on what hard-core collectors are saying about the current sets. If they start doing hap-hazard releases as rumors suggest they're going to pay hell for it.

[Special_Ed]

I don't think Disney cares what we want. They thik we'll buy anything.

[GeorgeC]

Here are the contents of the next Wave of Disney Treasures Tins according to theDigitalBits.com as of Thursday:

"Around the Net today, film critic/historian Leonard Maltin has spoken on his website about his work on more upcoming Walt Disney Treasures releases. In his own words, the new DVDs will include: "The Chronological Donald Duck, Volume 2... Walt Disney Rarities, including all of Walt's one-shot cartoons and a handful of his silent Alice comedies... the complete first season of Spin and Marty, including the entire Mickey Mouse Club episode in which the serial was introduced... and Legendary Heroes: Elfego Baca and the Swamp Fox, taken from the Walt Disney Presents TV series." Very, very cool. By the way, Maltin also talks about Paramount's upcoming John Wayne releases, The High and the Mighty and Island in the Sky, both due on 8/2. Thanks to Bits reader Cameron M. for the heads-up."




Looks like I'll be getting Donald Duck V2 and the Rarities disc (which is EXACTLY what I wanted!) but skipping the other 2 live-action discs. They join the dustbin along with the other Disney Treasure I skipped (Davy Crockett). I DID eventually get the Disneyland Treasure set from Wave 1 on sale at Wal-Mart around a year ago...

<Sigh> When is Disney Home Video going to get around to releasing the entire Guy Williams Zorro series on DVD? You'd think they'd get to this considering ANOTHER Zorro film arrives in the fall! Doesn't Disney understand Zorro still has a LARGE fanbase in the US, Central, and South America?

[Ben]

As I wrote in to the Ultimate Disney site when I saw this news go up:

Saw the mention on the site about the "Rarities" tin. Nice to see some "official" Alice product coming out, but otherwise this is going to be what most of us imagined. Now, a list of the company's "one-shot" cartoons is pretty extensive (see below), but I'm willing to bet that the Wartime cartoons will have been accounted for in that set, and that shorts and featurettes with characters (like Donald In MathmagicLand, etc) will eventually surface as part of those series. Also, what's the betting that they stick to original, Walt-produced cartoons as opposed to ones produced after his death (or at least they'll end in the 1970s).

Here's a list of all the "one-shots" (actually referred to as Theatrical Specials and Featurettes by the company) released by Disney Studios:

Ferdinand The Bull – 1938
Der Fuehrer’s Face – 1943
Education For Death – 1943
Reason And Emotion – 1943
Chicken Little – 1943
The Pelican And The Snipe – 1944
The Brave Engineer – 1950
Morris, The Midget Moose – 1950
Lambert, The Sheepish Lion – 1952
Susie, The Little Blue Coupe – 1953
The Little House – 1952
Adventures In Music: Melody – 1953
Football Then And Now – 1953
Ben And Me – 1953
Toot, Whistle, Plunk, And Boom – 1953
Pigs Is Pigs – 1954
Casey Bats Again – 1954
Social Lion – 1954
Hooked Bear – 1956
Jack And Old Mac – 1956
In The Bag – 1956
A Cowboy Needs A Horse – 1956
The Story Of Anyburg, USA – 1957
The Truth About Mother Goose – 1957
Paul Bunyan – 1958
Donald In Mathmagic Land – 1959
Noah’s Ark – 1959
Goliath II – 1960
The Saga Of Windwagon Smith – 1961
Aquamania – 1961
A Symposium On Popular Songs – 1962
Freewayphobia No. 1 – 1965
Goofy’s Freeway Trouble (Freewayphobia No. 2) – 1965
Scrooge McDuck And Money – 1967
The Coyote’s Lament – 1968
It’s Tough To Be A Bird – 1969
Dad, Can I Borrow The Car? – 1970
Man, Monsters And Mysteries – 1974
The Small One – 1978
Mickey Mouse Disco – 1980
Once Upon A Mouse – 1981
Vincent – 1982
Fun With Mr Future – 1982
Winnie The Pooh And A Day For Eeyore – 1983
Mickey’s Christmas Carol – 1983
Frankenweenie – 1984
The Wuzzles: Bulls Of A Feather – 1986
The Gummi Bears: A New Beginning – 1986
Oilspot And Lipstick – 1987
Sport Goofy: Soccermania – 1987
Roger Rabbit: Tummy Trouble - 1989
Mickey, Donald And Goofy: The Prince And The Pauper – 1990
Roger Rabbit: RollerCoaster Rabbit – 1991
Bonkers: Petal To The Metal – 1992
Off His Rockers – 1992
Roger Rabbit: Trail Mix-Up – 1993
Mickey Mouse: Runaway Brain – 1995
Totally Twisted Fairytales: Little Redux Riding Hood – 1998
Totally Twisted Fairytales: The Three Little Pigs – 1998
Totally Twisted Fairytales: Jack And The Beanstock – 1999
John Henry – 2000 (completed) / 2002 (released)
Destino – 2003
One By One – 2003
Lorenzo – 2004


Now, take out the War, character series, previously Treasure-released and way post-Walt ones (such as anything past The Small One, which as you know is coming out soon too), and you're left with:

Ferdinand The Bull – 1938
The Pelican And The Snipe – 1944
The Brave Engineer – 1950
Morris, The Midget Moose – 1950
Lambert, The Sheepish Lion – 1952
Susie, The Little Blue Coupe – 1953
The Little House – 1952
Adventures In Music: Melody – 1953
Football Then And Now – 1953
Ben And Me – 1953
Toot, Whistle, Plunk, And Boom – 1953
Pigs Is Pigs – 1954
Casey Bats Again – 1954
Social Lion – 1954
Hooked Bear – 1956
Jack And Old Mac – 1956
In The Bag – 1956
A Cowboy Needs A Horse – 1956
The Story Of Anyburg, USA – 1957
The Truth About Mother Goose – 1957
Paul Bunyan – 1958
Noah’s Ark – 1959
Goliath II – 1960
The Saga Of Windwagon Smith – 1961
A Symposium On Popular Songs – 1962
Freewayphobia No. 1 – 1965
Goofy’s Freeway Trouble (Freewayphobia No. 2) – 1965
Scrooge McDuck And Money – 1967
The Coyote’s Lament – 1968
It’s Tough To Be A Bird – 1969
Dad, Can I Borrow The Car? – 1970
Man, Monsters And Mysteries – 1974


That's still a lot to pack in to a 2-disc set, so one could assume that you could lose the musical shorts that were on the Fantasia Anthology (Adventures In Music: Melody, and Toot, Whistle, Plunk, And Boom) and maybe the Casey Bats Again and Man, Monsters And Mysteries featurette that were on previous discs, and it becomes more feasible, as these films were usually two-reelers, coming in between 12-25 minutes in length.

My hopes (apart from personal favorites Ferdinand The Bull and Ben And Me) are for The Story Of Anyburg USA, The Truth About Mother Goose, both Freewayphobias, Scrooge McDuck And Money, It’s Tough To Be A Bird and Dad, Can I Borrow The Car? to really make the cut, as these are very rare shorts that have not really been seen since their initial releases.

I know this list is mostly educated conjecture at this point, but I think the info would be interesting to share with your readers as to what kind of things to expect. Of course, they could go a two-volume route, which would be grand too, but these are certainly the titles they'll be picking from.

[Wonderlicious]

Erm...a random question concerning that list; wouldn't Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree/the Blustery Day/Tigger Too be on that list too? I understand that they're technically available on DVD with The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, so there is little use for them on a Treasure set (apart from maybe Honey Tree which has alternate vocals for Christopher Robin), but shouldn't they be on the official Disney Rarities list?

[Ben]

That's not the official "Rarities" list - that's an offcial list of what the company refers to as its "one off" Specials and Theatrical Featurettes.

The Pooh films were in there, but I took them, and a couple of other crossover series ones, out of the rundown, such as the Donald Duck "How To..." duo, and the segment Disney made for the 1934 MGM feature Hollywood Party. Isuppose I should have taken Mathmagic Land and Aquamania out of there too!

Who knows, maybe this Rarities tin will also feature uncut sections from some of the features, such as The Martins And The Coys, from the 1946 feature Make Mine Music.

[Wonderlicious]

Sorry for the minor bump, but Ultimate Disney now have the cover and disc arts for all four Treasures of Wave 5. I personally like them all, especially the Rarities and Donald one.

[Ben]

Bumping is good!

I don't have a problem with 'em, but the top of Donald's head looks WAY off on his tin.