Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition

Post by **Daniel** » April 20th, 2009, 9:34 pm

I was just about to post this, which states:

This set will feature the Blu-ray release along with a collectible plush of one of the dwarfs.

Which I know I wasn't misinterpreting and was going to be real ticked off - if a bit relieved - Disney was only going to issue one Dwarf per set, but thanks to Amazon it looks like it will include all seven and rightfully so! What a joke if you just got one, at that price especially.

More or less look like the two bean bag sets I have, nothing really different that makes them stand apart, but gosh they still look pretty cute. And a little carry case to boot!

Still, I hope they find themselves in the LE box set, but I'm doubting they will, I mean I don't see that plush case, much less the plushies themselves, fitting inside what we've seen... gah. The decisions that await... and that's ignoring store exclusives! Good grief if they have good ones...

Post by **Whippet Angel** » April 20th, 2009, 10:54 pm

No, it isn't......

I imagine there will be many non-blu owners that would like an opportunity to buy this film, as it been in the vault for a few years. This will only cause confusion.

Post by **Phil** » April 21st, 2009, 8:47 am

They'll get their opportunity to buy it. They'll just have to wait a few more weeks.

(sermon) Our sense of entitlement and the need for instant gratification are a plague in our society. (/sermon)

Post by **Once Upon A Dream** » April 21st, 2009, 8:56 am

I"m surprised (But glad) that it's all the Dwarfs and not just one like I thought,and I thought it will be Dopey,anyway the plushies are cute and tempting though I already have a Bashful doll that looks better:
http://simbatoys.de/en/brands__products ... Nr=5765788
Anyway it's a shame that the Blu-Ray will be released a month before the DVD.
Wait,this one is a 2 discs DVD with a Blu-Ray disc?:
http://www.amazon.com/Snow-White-Two-Di ... 724&sr=1-5

Post by **Once Upon A Dream** » April 21st, 2009, 8:58 am

Whippet Angel wrote:No, it isn't......

I imagine there will be many non-blu owners that would like an opportunity to buy this film, as it been in the vault for a few years. This will only cause confusion.

What I mean is that will be a DVD with one of the Blu-Ray discs,will it be released in October? or in November?.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » April 21st, 2009, 10:14 am

Get used to the Blu-ray exclusive and launch windows.

This is a test to see how well it goes. IF it works, expect the windows for BD exclusivity to continue from this point onward.

It's similar to what happens with game systems. One company buys exclusivity for a game by buying an option for 6 months to a year... If it works, it continues. Most third-party companies don't operate that way, however, and are happy to release games for 2, 3, or 4 systems (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS, PSP, PC) simultaneously to sell as many copies as possible.

Disney doesn't have to play that way if it doesn't want to because they hold all their video cards. They control their own production, marketing, and distribution like most other major companies with a home video division. Don't expect the company to be stupid, though, if they do lose business with BD exclusivity windows. They will change strategy for the next major release if this doesn't work out for them.

It makes sense from a marketing standpoint.

You really don't lose anything buying any of the BD releases because Disney still includes the DVD with movie on it -- a very smart move on their part and far more useful now than the Digital Copy business. It certainly makes more sense for the less technical savvy than a Digital Copy disc which requires logging on through iTunes or the MS equivalent, typing in codes, and waiting for downloads (from the disc included in the set!). Digital Copies can be great or bad. Disney does them better than most, but my last experience with DC (the Wonder Woman animated DC) wasn't that great. I could have made a better iPod port from DVD than that piece of garbage! It had all sorts of video break up AFTER the halfway point in the movie. Of course, I would have had to buy the WW DVD instead of the BD.

As for the deluxe Snow White BD sets, I'd go for the lower-end deluxe bookset myself if it has a short making of the movie and artwork in it. I could care less for the Dwarfs plushset ("Happy Meal on Steroids" is my characterization of it) and I can't justify $250 (or $170 on-sale) for the top-tier collector's set. It's ridiculous! They'll have tons of that set SITTING in many stores just like those unsold Nightmare Before Christmas DVD sets with the Jack Skellington busts gathering dust. There aren't enough fans willing to pay that much for Snow White. Especially not with this economy, and even then I wouldn't be so sure those triple-digit-priced sets still wouldn't sell in a better economy.

This'll mark the third major home video release I've gotten of Snow White in 20 years and it'll probably be the last for a long time.

Post by **Ben** » April 21st, 2009, 2:36 pm

Passing on the kids' plastic bag (sorry Dan)

Looks like the bookset is what we'll get for review, but I am tempted by the big set. Perhaps in a few months when the price drops...

Post by **Ben** » April 21st, 2009, 2:40 pm

Phil wrote:They'll get their opportunity to buy it. They'll just have to wait a few more weeks.

No they don't!

The combo BD and DVD pack will be out the very same day. It's only the standard DVD that will be held back for nearly two months.

And the way to look at it is that we're getting the BD release <I>early</I>, not that the DVD is "late".

Post by **Daniel** » April 21st, 2009, 3:15 pm

But... the Blu is coming out October 6th, the usual date the fall Platinums come out, while the DVD release date is November 24th...

Isn't that late for DVD buyers!?

Post by **Daniel** » April 21st, 2009, 3:45 pm

Actually, since posting I've basically changed my mind. It really is waste, considering I already own two sets of plushes, not including toys and other miscellanea. And at that price, like, no, there's a time and place to say "enough". And I can honestly say peer pressure didn't have a hand in this... if I really did want I would say so!

A better idea, I think, would have been to include in a plush set, Snow White by herself with a couple of animals. You don't see those characters very often depicted in merchandise much less plushes, only the main cast. Imagine a little blue bird one.. cute and fitting if you think about it. Or better yet, a plushie of the magic mirror! Now that would be all kinds of coolness, ah...

I honestly think the big set will sell, even if it's pricey. SW is including a lot of goodies in an attractive, beautiful red box. Nightmare was a big ugly bust, that even if it were cheap I wouldn't want. Takes up too much space and frankly it's a little creepy. In my reading of other forums, a lot of people have expressed interest in the big set. Of course, they like us, are hoping for it to cheaper once it hits shelves.

If you want my guess, the big set will sell out and fast, much in the same vein as the recent Batman Complete Series set. Somehow, even with the way the econmy is, people just seem to have loads of money for deluxe sets... Twilight being a good example. Time will tell. I'm right now conflicted between the bookset and the big one.

Post by **Ben** » April 21st, 2009, 3:50 pm

Oops...ya got me. Was confusing it with the Treasures. Yep, the DVD is later, if you don't take into account that there's a DVD in the October 6 BD combo pack...

Post by **Whippet Angel** » April 21st, 2009, 8:39 pm

(sermon) Our sense of entitlement and the need for instant gratification are a plague in our society. (/sermon)

Eh, it's nothing really to do with entitlement, I just don't see why the non-blu owners have to wait over a month longer. Yeah, the DVD is technically available at the same time, but it really isn't practical for someone who wants the film (and the extras) and has no plans to get a blu player in the near (or distant) future.

Mind you, I'm also looking at this from a retail perspective. Young children will see the ads on TV and ask for it, and clueless parents will wonder why every store they go to has the film in blu-ray only. I understand it from a marketing point of view as well. I just wonder why the time gap has to be that long.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » April 21st, 2009, 11:17 pm

Ben wrote:Passing on the kids' plastic bag (sorry Dan)

Looks like the bookset is what we'll get for review, but I am tempted by the big set. Perhaps in a few months when the price drops...

You'll be waiting a LONG time for a worthwhile price drop, Ben.

First of all, we don't even know what's going to be in the "big set." I doubt anything that will make it worth $250. It could just be a combination of all the junk packed in the other two sets. It sounds unimaginative, yeah, but that's all it could be for all we know at this point in time.

(Frankly, the only thing that would make it worth $250 for me would be a quality Snow White maquette but that's not happening. Not when Disney knows it can charge twice that much for an unpainted statue sold separately... Sad, but true. As much as I'd like more Disney statues to join my small collection, price and price/value-per-dollar has always been the barrier where I'm concerned. That's why I have a heck of a lot more character statues from other studios!)

On the other hand, maybe in 3 years when the surviving video stores are still swimming in overstock they'll take the "big" Snow White set down to $125. (I could see prices dropping below that for last year's Nightmare Before Christmas deluxe sets to be honest. I still see those in stores!) I don't see the Snow White "big set" selling for less than $170 unless the vendors are literally drowning in overstock. Here's the Amazon listing link from Ultimate Disney -- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0026ICMLY?tag ... k_code=as3

$175, pre-order. I pretty much can guess I won't see the prices lower than that where I live. All of about 2-3 people in my area, tops, would buy the big set. I can see lot more people buying copies of the other two sets and frankly a heck of a lot more copies of the regular "gift-less" edition selling. The economy is really hurting a lot of luxury-buying and the studios should be starting to get this message through their thick skulls even if we're not in a depression (at this point in time).

The book set http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0026ICMLO?tag ... amp=211189 is $42, pre-order.

I thought the picture linked with the "Big Set" was the Book Set. I didn't think "The Big Set" was nailed down yet for specific features. If anything, with all those lithos and the book it doesn't look any more "goodies-packed" than the LD Box set was...

Post by **Ben** » April 22nd, 2009, 9:14 am

As I said, $250 is a lot, but it's the lure of that big book that gets me. There will be some good prices somewhere, and I think I'd rather have this than not, basically.

I'm not totally sold until we know what the book is, but it looks impressive and if even $175 gets me SW on Blu, eight pins, five or so lithos, and a big book in a very nice (velvet?) box, then that'll do me. Of course, I'd prefer a soundtrack CD and other extras in there - maybe even a bonus disc with all the extras that <I>should</I> be in the set but probably won't be.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » April 22nd, 2009, 9:48 am

The Snow White remastered soundtrack (the 1990s remix) has been available on CD for over 14 years. The latest print-run has the same artwork as the first DVD release of the movie.

I doubt Disney's going to include this with the Blu-ray deluxe sets. I think the Blu-ray deluxe editions will have material that's out-of-print for the time being and possibly new lithos with one or two of the deluxe sets. I doubt we're going to see reprints of material/liithos included with the LD set. What new material could be there is beyond me... Snow White is one of the better-documented Disney films and has had at least a half-dozen authoritative art and history books published in the past 20 years. I know because I've got at least 80% of them... I passed on the last large white covered coffee table due to sheer Snow fatigue! (I've got the other two releases in that series, though. I bought both Mickey Mouse and Pinocchio when they were on remainder sale through Bud Plant. I didn't save much more than 25%-33% off each book but it was still less than I would have paid in bookstores. I bought them during the major period of animation art book publishing in the 1990s -- an era when a ton of these books just didn't sell well and it was easy to get a lot of the Hyperion "Art of" Disney movie books for $15-$20 at major booksellers on remainder sale.)

The only major video release that I'm aware that included a CD soundtrack was the Pinocchio LD boxset. That CD is now available separately, too. Basically the same thing as the CD packed in with the LD release but with updated art. I just think current Disney philosophy is to keep the discs separate. I just don't think they'll package in soundtracks with home video releases when they can make more money selling them separately.

That doesn't mean new material can't be added to the separate CD releases, though. The Aladdin CD soundtrack run in-print is NOT the same as the original (politically incorrect and therefore more valuable) CD release that I own. The newer CD probably has the rewritten lyrics in the intro theme song as well as (confirmed by my own eyes) demo tracks previously included on the 4-CD Ashman/Menken music set. I don't think the CD soundtracks for either Pinocchio or Snow White have been changed since the last major restorations done prior to their last LD releases (in box sets) on LD in the 1990s.

I have a feeling that the picture for the "big set" on the Amazon site IS actually the basic deluxe set. Disney still has to clarify exactly WHAT is on the mega-deluxe set. I know I'm not paying $250 for pins. I know I'm passing on the more expensive sets and am not interested in the middle "Happy Meal"/plush toy set. It just doesn't look that appealing to me... The bag with the beanie dolls/plush Dwarfs actually looks kind of cheap. Somebody at Disney has to do a better job on approving designs, or they seriously need to overhaul the licensing and product design departments. There have been complaints about the covers on a lot of the home video releases for years, too.