To date, there have been nearly a dozen different types of
DVD releases from Disney,
and it's quite
confusing to figure out what's what.
Disney was one of the
latest studios to jump into the DVD format, with its first DVD
releases being
live-action films in the Fall of 1998. Live-action Disney movies
had, for the most part, only seen these
standard releases with few extras, until 2001.
It wasn't until a year later, in the Fall of 1999 when Disney
decided to open up its vaults and release some of their Animated
Classics on the DVD format.
Their inital plan called for 9 movies (8 "Classics"
and 1 direct-to-video title) to be released on a weekly basis.
Each title was to only be available for a number of weeks,
at which point it would go out of print. These Limited Issue
titles were ridiculously priced at $39.99 retail, contained
little or no extras, and widescreen releases were not enhanced
for 16:9 TVs. This plan was a disaster: even the "Limited
Issue" banners across the cases could not sell these movies.
At this point, Disney realized that
it would have to put more effort into their DVD
releases. These nine initial DVD
releases (The Little Mermaid, Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan,
Pinocchio, The Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, Mulan, Hercules,and
The Lion King II:Simba's Pride) are now all out-of-print and
extremely difficult to find. Three of these Limited Issues were
re-packaged as Gold Collection titles (Pinocchio, Hercules,
and Mulan). One (Peter Pan) was upgraded to a Special Edition DVD release.
The Lion King II was re-released as a 2-Disc
Special Edition in August 2004.
The remaining four (Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, Lady and the
Tramp, and The Little Mermaid) will receive
two-disc Platinum Edition releases sometime before 2007
After the failure of the Limited Issue line, Disney
devised the Gold Collection as a new plan for DVD
releases.
These would basically contain the same few number of extras,
but would be released permanently, as there was nolimit to the
time window in which they would printed. Generally, these Gold
Collection DVDs would be
marked by
features like interactive read-along, games, and sing alongs.
The majority of Disney's catalogue of Animated Classics have
been released as these Gold Collection
DVDs with a few extras and at a retail price of $29.99.
(A number of the DVDs have since undergone
price reductions to $22.99 and $19.99 retail prices.) Three
of the Limited Issue titles--Mulan,Hercules, and Pinocchio--were
repackaged with the Limited Issue discs in new Gold Collection
cases.
Up until late 2002, Disney's latest animated classics were released
both as Standard DVDs and
Collector's Edition DVDs.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire was the 7th and final Collector's Edition
release, and like the other Collector's Edition titles,
was available in a less expensive standard release with fewer
extras. (The six earlier Collector's Editions were A Bug's
Life, Toy Story & Toy Story 2: The Ultimate Toy Box, Fantasia
& Fantasia 2000: The Fantasia Anthology, Tarzan, Dinosaur,
and The Emperor's New Groove.) Outside of the Platinum line (which
is reserved for just the 10...er, now 14 best-selling
animated classics), the Collector's Editions were the best animated
Disney DVD releases. These multi-disc sets contained audio commentaries
from the filmmakers, plus a slew of other extras, such as deleted
animation, trailers and TV ads, and
extensive making-of footage.
Perhaps the most special type of Disney
DVD releases is the Platinum Collection titles. These are
Disney's ten best-selling video titles that are to be released
as special edition DVDs
at a rate of twice a year each March and October. Originally,
there was just one per year, as October 2001 brought the hugely-successful
Platinum Edition debut Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and 2002
saw Beauty and the Beast as the second 2-disc Platinum set.
"Special Editions" represent the loosest of Disney's
lines, if it even can be called a "line." What I wouldn't
include in this group are the number of DVD
titles which have been labeled "Special Edition" but
aren't particularly loaded with bonus features, such as Oliver
& Company and James and the Giant Peach. Then there are
also the new Vault Disney releases which now bear the Special
Edition name, but are something else.
Walt Disney Treasures are limited edition 2-disc tins (retail
price $32.99) which compile episodes of old cartoons and television
programs. The first wave of four WD Treasures sets were released
in December 2001. This was made up of The Complete Davy Crockett
Televised Series, Mickey Mouse in Living Color, Disneyland U.S.A.,
and Silly Symphonies. December 2002 brought three new Treasures
sets - Mickey Mouse in Black & White, Behind the Scenes
At the Walt Disney Studio, and The
Complete Goofy.
Vault Disney are 2-disc
sets of classic live-action Disney films. The first wave, released
May 7, 2002 featured Old Yeller,The Parent Trap, Pollyanna,
and Swiss Family Robinson. This line is still alive in design,
if not in name. May 2003's2-disc debuts of 20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea and The Love Bug are simply billed as Special Editions,
despite being identical in design to the Vault Disney releases
(even the menus read "Vault Disney"). September 2003's
Special Editions of The Apple Dumpling Gang, Escape to Witch
Mountain and Return to Witch Mountain are similar in design
to the
aforementioned 2-disc sets, but they were pared down to single
disc releases. Though some live action catalogue DVDs
have been accompanied by bonus features, we have not seen the
uniformity and depth to supplemental content that marked
"Vault Disney" releases, even in their pared-down
form. As such, the line may be dead.
