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[Wolf Akela]

Honestly, it just seems to be a marketing thing. It's what Disney considers to be the "best of the best."

Here are a couple of blurbs from the news release when they announced the Diamond Editions in 2009.

IIRC, Diamond editions are just complete editions which includes Blu-Ray, DVD, digital and the usual extra discs (interviews and stuff).

If I got it right I'll just hold on for the Diamond Edition of The Lion King. I already got the VCD collection, and held out for a DVD version because I felt lazy. Once I get the DE, I'll try to hunt down VHS/Betamax/LD versions to complete my collection. LD had extra stuff that the DVD version didn't, but I hope they include it in the DE.

 

[MadmanUK]

Just noticed in the UK we get Bambi & Bambi 2 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004E10JDO/

Never saw the 2nd, i guess it's a straight to video but not a bad freebie.

 

[Drkirby]

I can't justify the money to upgrade, so I've just been buying the ones I don't already have on DVD. What sorta sucks is all the ones they have coming I already have, but there are other Disney movies I'd like to own but at this point I'll wait for Blu-ray, but who knows when they're coming. I wouldn't mind having Winnie the Pooh, Atlantis and Lilo & Stitch.

I do need to still get The Princess and the Frog.

Should of gotten it near release, usually in the first week you can get them for $10 or less.

 

[gimmmick]

Great thread, subscribed.

I just recently (well, sort of) got a blu-ray player on black friday, and my biggest grip is justifying the purchase of a blu-ray version if I already have the dvd.

 

[V_Ben]

It's gonna be a long wait until Hercules and Aladdin, isn't it

 

[ymmv]

Why is this one missing?

 

[Mockingbird]

I love amazon so much!


1 of: Alice In Wonderland (Two-Disc 60th Anniversary Blu-ray/DVD Combo), Kathryn Beaumont, et al
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC
$9.99
1 of: Bambi (Two-Disc Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging)
Condition: New
Sold by: Amazon.com, LLC
$24.99

Item(s) Subtotal: $34.98
Shipping & Handling: $3.97
Super Saver Discount: -$3.97
Your Coupon Savings: -$10.00
-----
Total Before Tax: $24.98
Estimated Tax To Be Collected: $0.00
-----
Grand Total: $24.98

I bought Bambi back in November with the $10 coupon amazon had on their site. I emailed customer service today to let me add alice to my order to get the extra $10 promo currently running. The first time they added it but didn't apply the promo. another e-mail and they adjusted the price willingly with no hassle or complaints! I love amazon!

 

[Suairyu]

I've religiously picked up each and every Disney blu ray upon release. Only ones I'm missing are Dumbo and Alice in Wonderland, but that's because I'm not particularly fussed about either. I'll probably still pick them up later this year when Disney does another one of those buy one get one free blu ray promotions on Amazon UK.

Anyone who is in the "I have the DVDs why do I need the blu rays?" camp:
Trust me. It's worth it. Sleeping Beauty alone has detail in it that isn't even visible on DVD. The colour timing is also hugely corrected - look at the DVD shot posted after the 720p earlier in this thread. That's a massive difference.

But perhaps the best reason, besides the restoration, improved clarity etc. is for the hours of documentary material each one contains. They are worth the cost by themselves. Snow White's is beyond incredible; a virtual tour of the original animation studios Disney used. Each room of the building has recordings of former employees, specific documentaries about both Snow White and the process of animation itself back in those days, and tons of Silly Symphonies included.

In my mind, it is not hyperbole to say these Disney blu rays are amongst the most important things released to the home entertainment market ever.

And, unfortunately, it means you'll look at most other blu rays released and have a really difficult time ever paying release day price for them. The value proposition is incomparable. As a result, my only non-Disney day one purchases have been Blade Runner:Final Cut and Scott Pilgrim. And even they weren't in the same league.

BUY THEM NOW

 

[mrkgoo]

Is it worth getting these on iTunes?

 

[SentientStone]

Is it worth getting these on iTunes?

You might as well pick up the Blu-rays that come with digital copies (all Diamond releases + usually the newer non-catalogue releases do). It is not that much more than the movie on iTunes (and a lot of times even cheaper than iTunes if you use the right coupons), and you get the iTunes digital copy too.

 

[vazel]

Is it worth getting these on iTunes?

You'd be missing out on the extras. These Disney releases are some of the best produced home video releases I've ever seen. It's not just fluff there's some good stuff in there about the history and production.

Edit: Yea follow leshita's advice.

 

[FOOTE]

How is the quality on the Dumbo Blu-Ray. Can't believe its out in Mexico. I'm really considering picking it up when I get paid on Tuesday.

I'm picking all of these up right when they come out for three reasons

A) My 6 week old son will get to grow up with (at this point in time) the best versions of these classic films.

B) My 14yr step daughter might be moving in with us (long story, ex has custody and he's a major fucktard, first court case is tomorrow).

C) I love the old Disney films.

It's pretty good. The movie itself automatically plays in English, and even though the cover as Spanish on it, the disc only has English. I am quite sure I remember hearing that the disc was going to be the exact one that was to be released in the US.

Anyone looking to import. The EU versions are not compatible with US players, but the Mexican version is.

This site is the only one I know of that you can import it from. It doesn't look like there are any on ebay.

 

[mrkgoo]

You might as well pick up the Blu-rays that come with digital copies (all Diamond releases + usually the newer non-catalogue releases do). It is not that much more than the movie on iTunes (and a lot of times even cheaper than iTunes if you use the right coupons), and you get the iTunes digital copy too.

Yeah, I was just wondering if the digital copy that came with those was also in HD (720p).

I don't have a full HD TV or a blu-ray player.

 

[WordAssassin]

I have all of them except Fantasia/2000, which I'm waiting till next payday (this coming Thursday) to buy.

Only problem is, I don't have a printer, so how can I go about getting Alice for $10? Can I take my iPhone/iPad into BestBuy and have them scan the screen to get the ticket? I know you have to install that special Disney printer thing, so it's not like I can just go to Kinko's and print it out, can I? (That would likely also kill off the ability to bring in my iPhone/iPad I guess)

Am I just boned?

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

I refuse to buy anything Disney because of their stupid vault system. It's fucking ridiculous.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

Have all of them so far inc. Dumbo. Won't get Alice though but will get Bambi for my mam.

I really, really, really want Lion King, Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Those were the best of the best for me.

 

[WordAssassin]

FYI Beauty and the Beast will be RE-re-released this fall, too, as a 3D Blu-Ray / Blu-Ray / DVD / Digital combo pack. That's apparently what the Lion King set will be, too:

Wonder if the "Main image on the right, movie title down the left" will be the new style for all the future Diamond sets? (Bambi's doing it too, thought I saw a Dumbo version of it like this) Kinda fits with the way Pixar's redoing all their Blu-Ray titles to match (character art on the left, solid color with the logo on the right).

 

[Katana_Strikes]

Lion King... in 3D!? Oh my!

 

[Mockingbird]

I have all of them except Fantasia/2000, which I'm waiting till next payday (this coming Thursday) to buy.

Only problem is, I don't have a printer, so how can I go about getting Alice for $10? Can I take my iPhone/iPad into BestBuy and have them scan the screen to get the ticket? I know you have to install that special Disney printer thing, so it's not like I can just go to Kinko's and print it out, can I? (That would likely also kill off the ability to bring in my iPhone/iPad I guess)

Am I just boned?

Buy it on amazon. They'll price match the coupon. Just write a letter to CS.

 

[Mockingbird]

FYI Beauty and the Beast will be RE-re-released this fall, too, as a 3D Blu-Ray / Blu-Ray / DVD / Digital combo pack.

%&#@&! Ughh! This is the one thing I hate about Disney. I just bought what I thought would be the penultimate release of it back in October! With that said, I don't even have a 3D TV anyways =P

 

[WordAssassin]

Lion King... in 3D!? Oh my!

Yeah, it's really... odd looking (from what I've seen of Beauty and the Beast). Basically, everything is flat, because it's hand drawn cel animation... but then there's depth that's been added, so it not only makes the characters look like flat pieces of paper moving around in a larger 3D world, but they also added depth to the characters themselves so say their arm goes in front of their chest? There's now notable depth between their arm and their chest. It's... it's really weird looking.

%&#@&! Ughh! This is the one thing I hate about Disney. I just bought what I thought would be the penultimate release of it back in October! With that said, I don't even have a 3D TV anyways =P

Then you have no reason to worry as the set will apparently be exactly the same, just with an added disc for the 3D version of the movie. (And probably some extras about how they converted it to 3D, whatever)

 

[Suairyu]

Ugh 3D for hand-drawn animation.

Wonder if the "Main image on the right, movie title down the left" will be the new style for all the future Diamond sets? (Bambi's doing it too, thought I saw a Dumbo version of it like this) Kinda fits with the way Pixar's redoing all their Blu-Ray titles to match (character art on the left, solid color with the logo on the right).

Shit pisses me off. They've started adding "classic number X" to the spins of them now. I really wish they'd just been consistent. Consistency is far more important than whatever brilliant new idea a studio can come up with at the time.

 

[BertramCooper]

Why is this one missing?

Dumbo isn't out on Blu-ray in the U.S. yet.

My apologies if this thread is too Americentric. We can talk about releases in other regions as well.

 

[linkboy]

For those who want Dumbo on Blu-Ray and are in the US, here's an Ebay option I found. Its the Latin american release, so it will work on Region A Blu-Ray players.

Dumbo Latin Release Buy it Now Option

 

[VGChampion]

I'll probably pass on the 3D collections. Don't have a TV that can do it really unless it's like Coraline and really, I just don't like the white spine.

I really hope Robin Hood comes out sooner than later though. I watched that almost as much as the AAA tier like Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and Lion King.

 

[harriet the spy]

I am confused by all this diamond, platinum, 3d diamond, non-diamond blu-ray nonsense...

If I want to start a lasting Disney collection, what should I do? get the blu rays? get only the diamond blu rays? Wait for the inevitable bluray+3d?

I should say I personally don't care for 3d.

If down the line my kids refuse to watch my blurays because they're not in 3d, i'll burn all my modern electronic equipment and force them to watch everything on old vhs found on ebay.

 

[Nemesis_]

I am confused by all this diamond, platinum, 3d diamond, non-diamond blu-ray nonsense...

If I want to start a lasting Disney collection, what should I do? get the blu rays? get only the diamond blu rays? Wait for the inevitable bluray+3d?

I should say I personally don't care for 3d.

If down the line my kids refuse to watch my blurays because they're not in 3d, i'll burn all my modern electronic equipment and force them to watch everything on old vhs found on ebay.

I am interested in this too. I've thus far grabbed the local releases (Region B) of Snow White and Beauty& The Beast.

Does anyone know if Alice will be releasing anywhere besides Region A?

 

[Slermy]

This is the anticipated release order for the Diamond Editions. You'll notice that a couple of them have already been released on Blu-ray, but this is specifically for the Diamond Editions, so they'll likely be getting a Blu-ray re-release at some point in the future.

The Lion King (October 4, 2011)
Lady and the Tramp
Cinderella
Peter Pan
The Little Mermaid
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
The Jungle Book
Pinocchio
Sleeping Beauty

So is Alice in Wonderland not considered to be one of the Diamond releases then? I don't the the "Diamond" moniker on any picture of the box I've seen.

 

[B.K.]

I'm not going to get to go to a Best Buy this week, but I have a Best Buy ad. If I go to Wal-Mart and have them match the $20 price, can I still use the $10 off coupon?

 

[Skiptastic]

Honestly, it just seems to be a marketing thing. It's what Disney considers to be the "best of the best."

Here are a couple of blurbs from the news release when they announced the Diamond Editions in 2009.

The fact that Disney doesn't consider Pinocchio or Sleeping Beauty to be the "best of the best" is actually shocking...

 

[MechDX]

I'm not going to get to go to a Best Buy this week, but I have a Best Buy ad. If I go to Wal-Mart and have them match the $20 price, can I still use the $10 off coupon?

Yes.

 

[Leatherface]

I really have to pick up Sleeping Beauty. They did such an amazing job restoring that one. Gonna pick up Alice in Wonderland this week though.

 

[Suairyu]

I am confused by all this diamond, platinum, 3d diamond, non-diamond blu-ray nonsense...

The only Platinum blu ray release was Sleeping Beauty. The rest are diamond.

Think of platinum or diamond as a series/season. Each series, new films are released from the vault and won't be seen again until another series in the future. Sleeping Beauty was the last release in the platinum series before the diamond series began. You won't be seeing a Sleeping Beauty diamond release. You probably won't see another release of Sleeping Beauty for a decade at least, by then on whatever they decide to call the current series.

Platinum/Diamond are not indicators of quality, merely when they were released.

Confusing and pointless, I know, but once you understand it you can use it to estimate what movies are next due for release and also talk about it whimsically with others in the know "that film was last seen under platinum... that was so long ago!" without having to remember exact dates.

Advice: Get every blu ray as it comes out. Every single one has been reference material quality with hours of documentary material included. If you have to option to with future releases, ignore the 3D. It's not how they were ever intended to be seen and as impressions you can read around the net will tell you, the results are awful.

I really have to pick up Sleeping Beauty. They did such an amazing job restoring that one. Gonna pick up Alice in Wonderland this week though.

No joke, the amount of artistic detail revealed by the high definition restoration elevated Sleeping Beauty from the position of 'good Disney film' to probably my favourite, next to Beauty and the Beast. You really need the extra clarity to truly appreciate what they were doing with the art direction.

 

[sonycowboy]

I know it was mentioned once, but nobody else picked up on it.

Tangled set for March 29th...

You can also get the non-3d Blu-Ray combo disc...

A great movie, decent soundtrack.. for those of us with 5 and 3 year old daughters...

 

[Jeff Albertson]

Im such a sucker for Disney and Pixar Blu rays so far I have:

Dumbo
Beauty and the Beast
Sleeping Beauty
Pinocchio
Snow White
Princess and the Frog
Bolt
The Wild (I know I know)
Enchanted
Fantasia Fantasia 2000

Cars
Monsters Inc
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 3
Ratatoiulle
Wall E
Up

I think currently the only release I don't own is A Bugs Life which I'll pick up soon.

Will pick up Bambi next month and then basically anything as and when it comes out. It annoys me that on UK releases slip covers arent a guarantee, sometimes even the first batch from Amazon dont have them yet some do.

Also why the hell is Aladdin no longer Diamond it's a classic.

I want this so bad, it's gorgeous:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0026ICMLY/?tag=neogaf0e-20

As an aside I saw Tangled today, brilliant I thought, the lantern scene is beautiful.

 

[BertramCooper]

So is Alice in Wonderland not considered to be one of the Diamond releases then? I don't the the "Diamond" moniker on any picture of the box I've seen.

The version coming out this week is not a Diamond release, no.

That said, if it does ever get a Diamond release, the additions will likely be minimal. Maybe a couple of extras, but I guarantee the transfers will be identical. There's no reason to pass on it now. None whatsoever. At $9.99, it's an absolute steal.

And while Alice is now considered one of Disney's very best - and rightfully so - Walt himself ended up being very disappointed with it. Really, it wasn't until the late 60s that Alice gained any sort of widespread popularity. I'm sure you can guess why.

 

[Anticitizen One]

I'll pick up Fantasia today since it comes with the movie Destino and i'll get Alice tomorrow.

 

[Anticitizen One]

A great movie, decent soundtrack.. for those of us with 5 and 3 year old daughters...

what about for a 26 year old MAN?

 

[Herpes Reasons]

I know it was mentioned once, but nobody else picked up on it.

Tangled set for March 29th...

You can also get the non-3d Blu-Ray combo disc...

A great movie, decent soundtrack.. for those of us with 5 and 3 year old daughters...

already?
i was surprised about this one.
its definitely better than princess and the frog.
character development.script. flow. cinematography. all solid.
Rapunzel definitely is the most memorable disney princess since ariel.

 

[Slermy]

The version coming out this week is not a Diamond release, no.

That said, if it does ever get a Diamond release, the additions will likely be minimal. Maybe a couple of extras, but I guarantee the transfers will be identical. There's no reason to pass on it now. None whatsoever. At $9.99, it's an absolute steal.

And while Alice is now considered one of Disney's very best - and rightfully so - Walt himself ended up being very disappointed with it. Really, it wasn't until the late 60s that Alice gained any sort of widespread popularity. I'm sure you can guess why.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[WyndhamPrice]

The fact that Disney doesn't consider Pinocchio or Sleeping Beauty to be the "best of the best" is actually shocking...

I always thought that outside of Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty is sort of under appreciated. It took so long to make and didn't make that much money when it initially came out. It's a really visually beautiful movie, the blu ray really shows this.

 

[WordAssassin]

I own the Sleeping Beauty BRD, but I haventbwatched it in aaaages. I will say this, though. I've done pencil-tests and clean-ups on the main character, and I wanted to die, she is so detailed. They designed her to look like a stained-glass window and animating that was just... I don't know how they did it. Disney animators were/are a very rare breed, that's for sure.

In fact, I think it was around that time that I decided I'd rather be a story-board artist or character designer, and just do personal animated stuff on my own time. Curse you Sleeping Beauty!

 

[WordAssassin]

what about for a 26 year old MAN?

Sorry for the double post, I'm on my iPad so I can't edit my last one with a quote.

I'm a 26 year old man and Tangled is one of my favorite Disney movies of all time. Before I was even done with my first viewing in the theater I wanted to see it again. The story is great, the music is wonderful, and the animation is breath-taking. I don't have a 3D TV, and I don't know when I'll ever get one, but for lantern scene alone and the prospect of one day finally seeing it in glorious 3D I'm buying the fuck out of the 4-Disc Blu-Ray when it hits.

Interesting anecdote: I recently spent the last two weeks trying to get a coworker to take his wife and son to see it. He finally did a few days ago, and said "You never told me you were sending me to a princess movie!" I asked him if that hindered his or his family's enjoyment at all, and he said no, in fact, his son was actually captivated through the whole movie. Apparently, even with movies he loves like Cars or Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, his son got bored and wanted to do something else before they were over. But he sat through Tangled the whole way without a word.

 

[Choppasmith]

What are these coupons people are talking about, where can I get one, and can I use it with Amazon (I saw something about talking to Customer Service)?

 

[Dr.Palutena]

I'm totally feeling just grabbing everything for the sake of a collection, but specifically i want little mermaid, lion king, aladdin

 

[Kintaro]

Really wish Disney would do Blu Ray only releases. I have no need for the DVDs. =/

 

[Seanspeed]

Do older movies really look that much better on BluRay? Since I've made the jump, I've only bought newer movies that seem to really shine with the top quality sound and video.

 

[mightynine]

Really wish Disney would do Blu Ray only releases. I have no need for the DVDs. =/

I like to think of it as "Hey, here's something you can easily rip later" or "Put this in your kids' cheapass DVD player you got from Walgreens and let them scratch it to oblivion".

 

[NoRéN]

I like to think of it as "Hey, here's something you can easily rip later" or "Put this in your kids' cheapass DVD player you got from Walgreens and let them scratch it to oblivion".

or,
"Oh, you want to borrow Sleeping Beauty? Sure, here's the DVD."

You can always sell the DVDs as well.

 

[Man]

Slightly ot but has Nintendo ever given credit to Sleeping Beauty for the art in Zelda Wind Waker?

There's something about the how they color the trees and environments, including shapes, which remind me of the environments seen in that movie.