In the Quarter 2 Financial Results report today, Disney announced plans to change the Platinum Collection schedule. Beginning next year, there will be 2 Platinum Editions released a year. They're adding 4 new titles to the Collection, and instead of 3-month sales window and 10-year-moratorium, the plans call for a 2-year sales window and 5-year-moratorium.

All the Platinums should be out now by 2007.

Great news! Especially if it means they'll be releasing Aladdin sooner.

I wonder which titles they'll be adding.

Rob

Maybe we'll finally get that 2-disc Lilo & Stitch.... in 2007

I sure hope so, it has always been one of my favorites.

That isn't one of the new titles. They're Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and Fantasia. I assume they'll mostly be repackaging the upcoming Sleeping Beauty and the Fantasia content from the currently available Fantasia Anthology.

Well... phooey. Ohwell. Fantasia??? I thought the Anthology was pretty exhaustive. IMO, I'd rather see their efforts towards a movie that needs the extra attention.

But, thanks for the news. I'm all for getting these sooner.

Sounds good. I think they're tightening the schedule b/c they actually realize that if the product's in stores, then they actually have the chance to make money by selling it! Crazy, huh?

I think they're accelerating the release schedule as they're realizing that DVD will be replaced by HD-DVD sooner than VHS was replaced. Gotta get all the titles out on DVD once before HD-DVD supplants DVD as the dominant medium...

Now if only Fox could do the same with the Simpsons...

I think the lower income stream from movies is forcing them to try and increase revenues from dvd's.

The older movies will generate money whereas new movies might flop like Treasure Planet.

Fantasia: Platinum Edition could have:

1. Original Deems Taylor voice over
2. Original Pastorale Symphony without censorship
3. Move the non screen-specific Walt Disney commentary to disc 2 as an audio interview supplement
4. add PCM 2.0 track (if possible)
5. Add roadshow program as paper booklet
6. Move making-of documentary to disc 2

Jeez...I sure hope this doesn't take anything away from the Direct to DVD line..

ANYways... for this plan. I like the idea of the classics being released faster..lord knows there aren't many NEW "classics" nowadays..

Good to hear about Pinocchio. When the original ten titles were announced, I couldn't believe they left this off.

Yippee! Bring on Aladdin and The Little Mermaid several months (or years) faster.

Jungle Book is my favorite all-time Disney animated film. I have the Limited Issue, but man would I love to have this one in Platinum with all kinds of extras. I never saw and refuse to buy part 2 that was out in theaters a few months ago for one reason. I can't stand to hear Goodman as Balou. It's just not "right." I would rather them find someone who could at least sound like the original Balou rather than pick someone who is simply popular in voice-overs at the moment.

So Peter Pan will get a third release? So long as they add some real content this time.

Anyway, for the news!

Any idea of the new release schedule - sure PPan and Fantasia,e tc. are good, but hopefully they're tacked on at the 2007 end...

Are they going to do a digital restoration for Fantasia like they did for Snow White?

this is absolutetly great news

Wonderful news! Thanks for posting!

Didn't they do a full restoration of Fantasia when they released it in the very expensive LD set a number of years ago?

I thought that they had already done a digital restoration of the original Fantasia for the Fantasia Anthology or was it simply a rehash of the laserdisc restoration?

Certainly I fully endorse the feelings of Patrick McCart in his earlier post, that there should be no censored elements in Fantasia ( or in any other Disney tiotles for that matter!)perhaps there should be two versions on the disc set so that the people who find it offesive can simply watch the censored version!! Incidentally the laserdisc version of the Three Little Pigs includes the Jewish masked Fuller Brush Man in full ( it reminded me of a terribly offensive and very sinister Jewish caricature on the front of a German childrens book cover which I saw in the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC )

The three titles that I'm really looking forward to, and thank God that the Disney Company have decided on two Platinum titles a year , are Pinocchio (in the UK there is currently a rather lacklustre version with a 5 minute making of featurette) Cinderella, and Aladdin.

Roll on September and Sleeping Beauty!

Song of The South doesn't fall into the category of Disney Platinum titles but it does deserve a release in at least a bare bones version!

Fox already does release two Simpsons sets per year.

Based on which planet's revolution around the Sun?

Season 1: 9/25/01
Season 2: 8/6/02
Season 3: 8/26/03

DJ

With regard to the Fantasia Platinum edition it would be good to think that it would include the first couple of points mentioned by Patrick in his post and would be the only way i'd consider picking this up.
I wonder whether it would suggest that maybe a new Fantasia Anthology Boxset may appear sometime in the future although i do accept the current release is a very impressive package..but hey! who thought that a 9 disc 'Alien Quadrilogy' boxset would ever appear!