Walt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites Wave 2 due in May

[Jon Cooke]

According to Ultimate Disney.com (http://www.ultimatedisney.com/) the second wave of Walt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites DVDs will be released in May. Two of the discs will be called Extreme Sports Fun and Extreme Music Fun. A DVD titled Extreme Sports Fun is currently available in Australia, and includes Goofy's 1987 short "Soccermania" (which has never been released on video in the United States before), plus classic shorts "Olympic Champ", "Goofy Gymnastics", and "Canine Caddy." It is possible the USA release will contain the same cartoons.

The first wave of Favorites DVDs will be released Tuesday, Jan. 11. You can pre-order copies from the GAC Store (http://store.goldenagecartoons.com/index.html#comingsoon).

[Martin Juneau]

A DVD titled Extreme Sports Fun is currently available in Australia, and includes Goofy's 1987 short "Soccermania" (which has never been released on video in the United States before), plus classic shorts "Olympic Champ", "Goofy Gymnastics", and "Canine Caddy." It is possible the USA release will contain the same cartoons.

This is probably the same DVD that available in France this march:
http://www.dvd-fr.com/dvd/dvd.php?id=16190

[Leviathan]

Also, France is getting another Donald DVD also in March (Called Dona'ds Dream Factory). That could be the Third DVD in this wave.


For Extreme Music Fun, I wonder if we'll see The Band Concert, Symphony Hour, and Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom surface on that disc.

For The Last Disc in the Wave, I would personally like to see a nother Chip 'n' Dale set with Chips Ahoy, Up A Tree, and the Lone Chipmunks (A Set of Two Chip 'n' Dale DVDs has come out in Some Countries. The ONe that's reaching our shores contains Cartoons from both those discs)

[GeorgeC]

I don't know...

I've been getting most of the Disney Treasures releases (the only one I don't have is Davy Crockett), but I think I'm going to break down and eventually get ALL the Cartoon Classics starting with Chip & Dale.

Frankly, Disney should have been releasing these single DVDs BEFORE they did the Treasures sets. The Treasures sets are really for hard-core collectors and film buffs.

These cartoon classics are for the casual fans and parents who want to reintroduce themselves and their young ones to classic animated characters. Characters drawn and animated in the US by hand, not by computer or by an overseas sweatshop.

[corey3rd]

[QUOTE=GeorgeC]I don't know...
Frankly, Disney should have been releasing these single DVDs BEFORE they did the Treasures sets. The Treasures sets are really for hard-core collectors and film buffs.
QUOTE]

I disagree. The Treasures sets aren't merely for the hardcore collectors.
If the Treasures were priced at $100 like laserdisc sets used to cost, I could understand your belief that they aren't for the masses. But you can grab the sets for $25 or less. Disney is making more money off these single DVD sets than the Treasures. They're charging $15 (SRP) for an hour's worth of cartoons. You're talking 9 Goofy shorts on this collection vs. 46 on the Disney Treasures which didn't cost 5 times as much.

If these collections were for the casual fan and your other noble beliefs, why didn't they just pack a "Best of Disney" collection with a nice 3 hour mix of shorts featuring all the characters? And charge $15?

[GeorgeC]

You're getting charged $15 for these discs only if you don't have Target, Wal-Mart, or Best Buy in year area.

I haven't seen any of these Classics discs go for above $13.99 myself, but they're so readily available at $9.99 at the three main discount places that I don't understand why anybody would pay $15 for these discs.

Now, if you want to talk about RIP-OFFS for 1 hour of animation, just take a gander at Barnes & Nobles' exclusive Oscar-winning animation DVD. They're charging $25 for that UNLESS you buy 2 Warner Bros. DVDs from B & N then maybe they'll give you that disc for free.

I personally think the character-themed Disney Classics are a steal compared to that B & N exclusive.

And no, I don't really think the Treasures are aimed at the mass market. They're limited editions (or used to be before Costco got into the picture) and they're presenting the shorts in chronological order. The fact that they are in tins, numbered, and have all that fancy schmancy labelling doesn't strike me as mass market. Yes, they've gone down in price but so has just about everything else on DVD since the format hit mass-market level in the past 3-5 years.

You also don't hire and pay Leonard Maltin to host a regular-old DVD. Maltin has marquee value for the hard-core collectors and animation afficionados. He's far better-known in our circles than he is to Joe Six-Pack at Wal-Mart (which is ironically where I bought my last Disney Treasures set for $25! LOL).

But seriously, the Treasures sets are aimed at people that want the goodies and want to get as much Disney animation as possible. I see the Classics as Disney positioning DVDs to introduce the mass-market (regular folks who are NOT 24-hour-a-day animation freaks) back to the characters created "under Walt."

These 2 DVD lines definitely are not serving the same markets. Sure, people like me will probably buy BOTH sets, but I don't think Ma & Pa Kettle are going to get the kiddies the Treasures sets to watch as a family unit. I think Ma & Pa are going to get the Classics DVD singles...

[corey3rd]

The Treasures series is marketed so that Disney doesn't have to market them. They limit the release so they don't have the worry about moving as many units as Atlantis 2 . When was the last time you saw an ad for the Treasures on TV or in a magazine? They seem to thrive on announcements on various Disney websites and reviews in various publications. The last few times I've given them away as Christmas gifts, people didn't even know they existed. You figure maybe they'd run a "special" on one of the Disney channels to get the word out. But they don't. They don't even buy space in the Best Buy/Circuit City weekly ad when they come out. But they did when these sparse collections hit the shelves ($15 as I noted is the suggested retail price).

Disney could easily mass market the Treasures. Warners has no problem mass marketing the complete Jetsons or Top Cat. And they also put out the Looney Tunes Golden Collections for more than just 110,000 viewers. Why would the complete Goofy be an elite collector's product? And I have Leonard Maltin giving intros on my Little Rascals DVDs. And they made some very fancy packaging for those Star Trek DVD collections. And if you notice Disney has been slowly toning down the tins so they no longer have numbers and the back info is cheaply glued on.

These 9 cartoons collections remind me how BMG just keeps twisting out one more "hit" collection of Elvis songs. Instead of refining and defining their legacy (that the Treasures does), the merely seek to flood the marketplace with product with the knowledge that the fanatics will buy anything with Mickey ears on it.

The Oscar winner DVD from Warners is a bonus for getting you to buy some other titles. You're complaining about a freebie. Sure they stuck the $25 price tag on it, but that's just a hint that it's better for you to buy the 2 DVDs. And if you're smart, you just buy the 2 DVDs and make sure you get a gift receipt and a few days later, return the two DVDs (unopened) using that receipt and keep your animation DVD.

EXTRA
I did get the Chip 'n' Dale collection. Does anyone else feel that the films are colortimed too dark? On "Out of Scale" you can't tell that Chip (or is it Dale) has a red nose until they have the scene where Donald puts the heat lamp on him. "Chicken in the Rough" has scenes that go way too black. How do the Mickey Mouse or Goofy cartoons on these collections compare to the Treasures masters?

[Leviathan]

EXTRA
I did get the Chip 'n' Dale collection. Does anyone else feel that the films are colortimed too dark? On "Out of Scale" you can't tell that Chip (or is it Dale) has a red nose until they have the scene where Donald puts the heat lamp on him. "Chicken in the Rough" has scenes that go way too black. How do the Mickey Mouse or Goofy cartoons on these collections compare to the Treasures masters?
Though i haven't Seen the contents of the Discs in the Flesh, Ultimate Disney says that there the same transfers as the Treasures Mickey and Goofy Sets (The ones on the Treasures, of course, are of about Golden Collection Quality. ON the Cihp and Dale Set, Disney apparently Just took the first available masters of the Chip and Dale cartoons and stuck them on a DVD.)

And No, I don't think a Chip and Dale treasure is as Impossible as everyone says it is. There are 23 proper Chip and Dlae Cartoons (The Bare Minimum For a Treasure) and i'm sure Disney wouldn't balk at the ability to produce yet another, guaranteed-to-make-money Treasure

[Jon Cooke]

Ultimate Disney is reporting that there will be a third disc in Wave 2 of the Classic Cartoon Favorites called Extreme Adventure Fun. No word on the possible contents yet.


-Jon

[Jon Cooke]

And No, I don't think a Chip and Dale treasure is as Impossible as everyone says it is. There are 23 proper Chip and Dlae Cartoons (The Bare Minimum For a Treasure) and i'm sure Disney wouldn't balk at the ability to produce yet another, guaranteed-to-make-money Treasure A "Chip and Dale" Treasures set would be kind of a waste, IMO, since all of the same cartoons (except for the three C&D solo cartoons) would be appearing on future Pluto and Donald sets.


-Jon

[Leviathan]

A "Chip and Dale" Treasures set would be kind of a waste, IMO, since all of the same cartoons (except for the three C&D solo cartoons) would be appearing on future Pluto and Donald sets.


-Jon
True, But It would be a Nice Treat for Chip and Dale Fans because a Treasure would have all the C&D shorts all in one place and not scattered over 4 or 5 Treasures.

[mbaker]

I might get the 'Extreme Sports Fun' disc if it comes out in the states just for 'Soccermania' alone. I haven't seen that one since 1987. Hopefully, this will lead to a possible 'DuckTales' collection. :scrooge:

[Ray Pointer]

I just wonder if anyone else experienced the confusion and frutration of trying to manipulate the menue on the SILLY SYMPHONIES set. First, I am puzzle as to how the order was decided upon. The Mickey Mouse sets give you a choise of selecting either chologically or alphabetically. This set is arranged in a rather confused and somewhat illogical fashion. The chapters are hard to work, and many do not cue up the correct segment. Last of all, two of the titles listed on disc one, WHO KILLED COCK ROBIN and WATER BABIES are not on the disc at all.

Considering what the Disney organization has done in the past, I do not this that these are petty complaints on my part. I just wonder if anyone else has experienced these problems.:mickey:

[corey3rd]

Silly Symphonies has nearly half of its titles tucked away as Easter Eggs - including the 2 you can't find. It's rather frustrating.

[Daff Doc]

If anyone gets the EXTREME ADVENTURES FUN could you please tell me if the print of Mickeys Trailer is any better than the one they used for
Mickey Mouse in Living Color Volume 2? This is my favorite disney short and the print they used for MMILCV2 was great it was just too dark and a little fuzzy IMO.:mickey::donald::goof:

[Thad]

Ray, here's a list of all the Easter Eggs on the Silly Symphonies set (taken from DVD Toons.com):
Disc One
In the main menu, you can select the "S" in "Symphonies" to find Disney talking about how many of his shorts were based on old fables. He then goes on to introduce The Grasshopper and the Ants.

In the second menu for Fables and Fairy Tales, you can select Ambrose the Robber Kitten's sword (left of Lullaby Land). This will take you to Walt Disney talking about The Water Babies and then proceeding to the cartoon.

In the menu for Favorite Characters, you can select one of the small chicks at the top. This will take you to Disney introducing the Academy Award Nominated Who Killed Cock Robin? Disney also gives some information as to the origin of the story.

In the Leonard's Picks menu, you can select the word "Leonard" and it will take you to Walt Disney talking about the making of Wynken, Blynken and Nod as well as the story of Eugene Field.

In the Captions menu, you can select one of the water babies to the left. This will take you to Disney introducing on the Three Little Pigs sequel - Practical Pig. This is followed by the cartoon.

Disc Two
In the Nature on the Screen menu, you can select the star on the bunny's cheek (to the right of Mother Pluto). This will take you to Walt Disney talking about The Old Mill and its importance to the company's future in animation.

In the Accent on Music menu, you can select the young saxophone's hat (left of Music Land). This will take you to Disney introducing the lovely short Farmyard Symphony.

-Thad

[Daff Doc]

What they did that I appreciated was when they showed the Walt Disney introduction they didn't proceed with the broadcast tv print within the Disneyland show of the cartoon which would have missing titles but instead did a polite fade-out and then showed the actual film; remastered, restored and everything of course. They could of took the lazy way out and just show the excerpt from the Disneyland episode but they didn't. This is why I love the Walt Disney Treasures.:mickey::minnie::donald::goof:

[sumnernor]

In Germany, 4 Disney treasures have been released. Silly Symphonies, Mickey color 1 & 2 and Donald Duck. According to another forum, the european Silly Symphones has in the Cartoon "3 Little Pigs" the "Jewish Brush sales man" whereas in the US version it is cut! Currently the albums are for sale in many stores for circa 10 Euros - originally cost circa 16 Euros which makes me think that the Treasures ("Kostbarkeiten" in German) are no so populer. Yet the stores have a bunch of Mickey or Donald or Goofy single DVDS containing not one hour costing circa 13 Euros. The treasures generally have 300 minutes - much better deal than the single DVDs.

[Daff Doc]

In Germany, 4 Disney treasures have been released. Silly Symphonies, Mickey color 1 & 2 and Donald Duck. According to another forum, the european Silly Symphones has in the Cartoon "3 Little Pigs" the "Jewish Brush sales man" whereas in the US version it is cut! Currently the albums are for sale in many stores for circa 10 Euros - originally cost circa 16 Euros which makes me think that the Treasures ("Kostbarkeiten" in German) are no so populer. Yet the stores have a bunch of Mickey or Donald or Goofy single DVDS containing not one hour costing circa 13 Euros. The treasures generally have 300 minutes - much better deal than the single DVDs.

Wow, is political correctness really a whole 3 Euros more? I think I'll sacrifice pc and just get the (Shruggg) uncut toons. Quantity over quality unblemissed toons.

Now that I got that sarcasm out of me,

ARE THEY CRAZY!?!?!? The Walt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites are kinda a disgrace to the Treasures. You get quantity and quality with the treasures. They come in a very classy tin case for crying out loud! Does anyone have a picture of that caracature of the actor who wore a Napoleon outfit.? It's been seen in the shorts She Was an Acrobats Daughter and at the end of Scardy Cat.

"Ah ha ha hoo, Buena Vista is da cwaziest peoples"

[Yosemite682]

What I hate about Disney is the blatant advertising of "UNCUT!" "UNCENSORED" and then you get the DVD and it is CUT! and CENSORED! (i.e. Fantasia, Silly Symphonies, etc., etc., etc.)

[Larry T]

The European Silly Symphones has in the Cartoon "3 Little Pigs" the "Jewish Brush sales man" whereas in the US version it is cut!

I read testimony that the Peddler visuals are there, but the Jewish vocals are not.

"IIIIeeemmm thee Fooller Brusshh Maaaannn......
IIIeeemmm geevink ay frree sampoolll....."

[Chow Hound]

I read testimony that the Peddler visuals are there, but the Jewish vocals are not.

Does the testimony refer to the European version, or the upcoming U.S. version?

[Larry T]

Does the testimony refer to the European version, or the upcoming U.S. version?

The European version.

Upcoming U.S. version? We already got that edited cartoon version on the "Silly Symphonies" DVD tin, so I doubt it will be released again.

[Chow Hound]

The European version.

Upcoming U.S. version? We already got that edited cartoon version on the "Silly Symphonies" DVD tin, so I doubt it will be released again.

They're releasing it again on "Disney's Timeless Tales - The Prince and the Pauper/Three Little Pigs/The Tortoise and the Hare" (Vol. 1) on August 16. It will probably be the same edited version as on the "Silly Symphonies" set.

[Leviathan]

What I hate about Disney is the blatant advertising of "UNCUT!" "UNCENSORED" and then you get the DVD and it is CUT! and CENSORED! (i.e. Fantasia, Silly Symphonies, etc., etc., etc.)

True, But those Cuts happened a while back and Disney has largely cleaned up their act now, As opposed to Warner Bros. still releasing Looney Tunes and tom and Jerry in PC Best of Boxsets, with DVNR and "accidental" Censorsihp no less, with No controversial cartoons PERIOD (Disney is at least releasing cartoons that haven't been reissued in Decades such as Mickey's Mellerdrammer, Der Fuehrer's Face, Teachers are People, Education for Death, etc.)