newcomb being

Is there anyway those of us who got gipped by purchasing the R1 Peter Seller's Pink Panther Collection can get a hold of the bonus disc that was packaged with the region 2 and 4 sets?

I'm mostly interested in the 99 minutes of documentaries, but having a few more pink panther cartoons would be a nice bonus.

And uh... why did R1 lack these extras to begin with? Is it just a funny joke to restrict R1 releases from bonus features and DTS? Usually I can make some sense of it, but aren't all of these sets otherwise identical (in packaging and such) and all put out by MGM?

Editor, The JEI

I think it's obviously licensing, which can be different in each country, and how it impacts return on investment. What they think they will make back determines how much they will spend. Don't take it personally.

Region-free players are cheap, and almost any disc you want is available online through a variety of international retailers. That's always an option if you don't like what's offered in R1.

newcomb being

I have a region-free player. I purchased the pink panther set before I realized that R1 was different from the other regions. I really don't see how licensing is a problem here, since MGM put out all the regions. In fact, one would assume it would be cheaper to mass produce one type of disc than to produce various ones for different regions.

I can understand limiting the subtitles, and I can even understand having DTS in some regions and DD in others (sort of, I assume DTS just isn't as popular in America). But I don't understand leaving out 99 minutes of documentary footage only on the R1 release.

And I'm wondering where I can buy the R2 bonus disc, not the entire set... if it's even possible.

Doesn't seem to be many Peter Sellers or Pink Panther fans on this forum, though.

Peep

I'm not sure how to explain the licensing issue any clearer. MGM has to pay a licensing fee per region. The licensing for R1 may cost significantly more than it does for R2 or R4 or maybe somebody else has rights to the documentary (or some of the footage within) for R1. Either way, MGM thinks it's not worth the extra cost to include it.

As for the "cheaper to mass produce one type of disc" issue, you are aware of the differneces between PAL and NTSC, right? There is no way that a mass-produced disc could work for both regions. Maybe if we were talking about R3 (also NTSC) discs which weren't region-encoded....

Jay G.

Sony has made most (all?) of their Superbit titles in the US R1 and R3 coded, so that they can use the same NTSC disc in most of Asia.

Many UK discs are both R2 and R4 so that Australia can use the same discs.

Most times though, the major companies don't want the same disc in all regions, since that allows people to shop around. Even if a disc is distributed by the same parent company worldwide, each region is distributed by a specific division of that company, a division responsible with its own budget and for its own profits. Some divisions feel investment in DTS is worth it, some don't. Sometimes other extras get included or excluded from various regions. Sometimes it licensing, sometimes its disc space. For example, Pixar DVDs like Monsters Inc in several other countries got the DTS treatment due to the space freed up by not including the 4:3 version of the film. In the US, Disney thought the 4:3 version was a better use of disc space.

I think Peep is right in that in this instance, it's probably a licensing issue.

newcomb being

Ok, I think I see what you guys are saying now.

Kind of scary though, how the US seems to prefer 4:3 versions of films over other options. It's hard for me to imagine the demographic that prefers "modified to fit your tv" versions of movies. I can see people like my mother who would prefer it, but then again her DVD collection is dismal and quite small. I guess I can believe it though, seeing how every best buy in my area is overstocked (and only stocked) with full screen Office Space's.

I guess I'm just upset that the peter sellers' documentary is left off of the peter sellers box set. I don't mind double dipping when I find a much better dvd in another region, but I really don't want to re-purchase the pink panther collection.

I guess I could have someone burn it for me... can't be too much of a crime since I sort of own it.

John Hodson

You can at least get 'The Unknown Peter Sellers' doco in R1 - see here.

Jay G.

That practically confirms the rights issues, since that DVD is distributed by Winstar, and not MGM.

Besides the documentary, it looks like that DVD also has the TV commercials for Barklay's Bank and TWA, as well as the behind the scenes feature on the TWA commercial, that are also on the R2 bonus disc but missing from the R1. It also has a 22 minute TV interview with Sellers not on any of the Panther Box Sets.

DVD review of 'The Unknown Peter Sellers' R1 available here:
http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showreview.php3?ID=668

and here:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=1300

newcomb being

Thanks guys. I appreciate the help, this sounds great.

John Hodson

And fans who are multi-region enabled sholdn't miss out on this R2 gem.

newcomb being

thanks for that John,

I remember reading about that somewhere, and how the Sellers' estate is trying to prevent it from being sold or in print. I don't know how accurate that information is though. For some reason I thought the title was Sellers On Sellers" or something like that, and wasn't able to find it anywhere.

John Hodson

It was released, then mysteriously pulled amid the rumours you mention. The link takes you to the re-release version which now includes The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film.

Jay G.

Just noticed today that the Pink Panther Cartoon Collection contains the "Behind the Feline: The Cartoon Phenomenon" Documentary that's on the film collection as well:
http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_ite...item_id=683632

Also, found this R3 special edition of The Pink Panther that contains a good number of the extras missing from the R1, namely:
# "That's Panthertainment" - featurette
# The Unknown Peter Sellers
# Cartoon Theatre (possibly R2 selection of cartoons)
http://www3.cd-wow.us/detail_results...uct_code=21036

Just for keeping track, the extras that the R2 and other regions have that the R1 doesn't:

"That's Panthertainment" documentary (46:41)
"The Unknown Peter Sellers" documentary (51:38)
The Commercial Peter Sellers:
- 3 Barclays Bank commercials (2:58)
- 3 TWA commercials (2:48)
- TWA Commercials Behind-The-Scenes featurette (4:13)
3 alternate Pink Panther cartoons:
- Sink Pink (6:07)
- Dial "P" For Pink (6:02)
- Pickled Pink (6:09)