Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray disc fully spec'd and ready for October 7 debut
by Richard Lawler 
posted Sep 19th 2008 at 11:25AM
As the flagship Platinum release, Disney is going all out with its Blu-ray release of Sleeping Beauty. Surely you've pored over the BD-Live preview video, but with a fast approaching October 7 release date we finally have seen the full specs, including 7.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack, full motion PiP commentary, interactive game and "living menu". Fans of the flick and Disney animation should also peep the HD special features, including a walkthrough of the original Sleeping Beauty attraction at Disneyland, deleted songs, alternate opening and "Four Artists Paint One Tree" featurette. Whether this will take BD-Live features mainstream -- especially while hardware prices remain static -- remains to be seen, but with a bonus standard DVD edition packed in with the Blu-ray, that sure-to-be-discounted $35.99 MSRP doesn't look bad at all.
Filed under: Blu-ray
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Fuzz 53 @ Sep 19th 2008 11:36AM
And that's what they need to do to really get BR to catch on, package a standard DVD with it, especially for these Disney movies, and lower the hardware priceds already.
squiggleslash @ Sep 19th 2008 11:56AM
Yep, including a DVD version is pretty much the only way I can see Disney Blu-ray releases work. The audience for Disney movies like Sleeping Beauty are children. I don't see many parents giving over their home theater every time their children want to watch it.
Which again raises the question of why the BDA hasn't adopted a combo format disk yet. It can't be hard: there were two entirely different HD DVD combo formats, and at least one of them - the "one side DVD, other side HD" type - ought to be transferable to Blu-ray without any issues.
DEEZNUTZ @ Sep 19th 2008 12:03PM
@ squiggle.
Cost, that's why. It's just cheaper to throw in a DVD than to start developing this whole combo format. Look how well that went for HD DVD... Besides, I prefer studios utilize BD's capacity for pristine transfers than having a DVD version pressed on the same disc.
squiggleslash @ Sep 19th 2008 1:12PM
DN: It really isn't going to cost any more to make a combination disk - indeed, it should save some money on materials and packing.
Regarding your second comment, I'm not sure you understand how a combo disk works. There is no reduction in quality, a combo disk is (in terms of the flip disks most HD DVD combos were shipped as) a complete HD disk and complete DVD disk glued back-to-back. A Blu-ray combo disk would have the same 50G capacity a regular Blu-ray disk would have, it's just on the other side it'd have a 8.5Gb DVD disk too.
DEEZNUTZ @ Sep 19th 2008 1:49PM
@ squiggle:
You're right, thanks for clarifying. So quality doesn't suffer, but the cost is still there. You have to have special discs and replication machines made specifically for these combo discs. I can guarantee those ain't gonna be cheap.
I can certainly see this viable should BD take off, but they have to go over some hurdles first.
squiggleslash @ Sep 19th 2008 4:37PM
I would be very surprised if it costs that much. The major issue, I suspect, is that BD duplicators are probably not set up to do this. But it's extremely common to find double-sided DVDs, and I doubt there's much difference between a BD press and a DVD press, so in the end...
The bottom line is it would make enormous sense for the BDA to endorse a combo format, and I doubt the cost of building plant that presses combo disks is significantly higher than regular BD disks, especially for any company that already has DVD presses. It would certainly help make Blu-ray a viable format if people could play BD disks in their DVD equipment as well as their Blu-ray equipment. In terms of what Disney's doing, I think their solution is the only way forward - I seriously doubt a Disney film aimed exclusively at children would ever sell well if it could only be played on Blu-ray systems.
DEEZNUTZ @ Sep 19th 2008 11:43AM
Yawn... I don't understand why they chose this title as a debut to their platinum collection on BD.
brad @ Sep 19th 2008 12:09PM
you guys are idiots.. any idea how much of a collector's item this is gonna be? It will be comparable to having a SEALED copy of it's first release on VHS.... i'm gonna buy 3 or 4... it's too bad that most of US on here are too geeky to think straight, but there is definitely potential for Disney's FIRST animated film (and no Pixar films don't count) on Blu ray to be a very big deal to collectors down the road... think about it.
DEEZNUTZ @ Sep 19th 2008 12:19PM
You're the guy buying 4 copies of Sleeping Beauty on BD as a "collector's item" and you're calling folks idiots??? Wow, good luck with your "investment strategy" there bradie boy.
DrXym @ Sep 19th 2008 1:19PM
They probably chose it because its a lesser title. They can use it to gather metrics and iron out the kinks in their BD-Live service etc.
The Fuzz 53 @ Sep 19th 2008 1:20PM
Well, that VHS copy of Sleeping Beauty sure as hell is worth a lot more than a few hundred shares of Lehman Brothers right now.
zargon @ Sep 19th 2008 2:27PM
I don't see what is so wrong with releasing Sleeping Beauty, it is a timeless flick, many people grow up with it.
Out of Disney's entire animated collection, I can't think of many more that would be better, only one that jumps out at me is Snow White.
Mr_Fizzlepop @ Sep 19th 2008 5:00PM
Disney does do a limited run on many releases so IF this BR is like that and only pressed for say a year, then the collectible aspect would be there and even I might buy more than one.
Having a DVD copy in the BR really ups even that collectible value since it will definitely be a smaller lot and still have a DVD copy as well as the BR.
This will probably outsell ever other BR release this Holiday season.
Evan @ Sep 19th 2008 10:26PM
I don't understand why they chose this because the source video and audio quality won't show the full potential of Blu-Ray. The quality may not convince consumers that they need to re-purchase all their animation DVDs in Blu-Ray. A more recent Disney movie like Lion King or Tarzan, which were digitally colored or composited, would do a better job in selling the need to upgrade to Blu-Ray.
TJ @ Sep 19th 2008 3:49PM
This is an obvious choice. It was Walt's favorite feature length animated film.
Throwing in the DVD for free is cool too, since there aren't any Portable Blu-ray players for the car ride to Disney World just yet, though personally I prefer the Digital Copies being done on Nightmare Before Christmas and Wall-E.
Personally, I hated HD DVD combo disks. They always gave my Toshiba HD-A1 problems. I prefer just getting the extra disk, like Disney is doing here. And honestly, I'll probably never even use the DVD anyway.
DEEZNUTZ @ Sep 19th 2008 4:51PM
Well assuming you're right about it being Walt's favorite, then it most certainly makes sense.
I don't hate the movie, I just wanted to see some the more recent Disneys get BD treatment sooner such as Lion King, Aladdin and Tarzan. Those IMO would showcase BD better than the earlier classics, helping the format grow too. I'm sure they'll eventually come.
aramis109 @ Sep 19th 2008 5:00PM
...and that's why you probably will never see a combo disc on BD. The combo discs for HD-DVD had a lot of problems. My buddy actually stopped buying any flick that was a combo since he always had issues with it on his Toshiba player.
I'd much rather have them package a separate DVD with it. This actually DOES reduce costs because they can use the pressing from the DVD rather than develop some costly (and potentially faulty) flip-disc combo presses.
brad @ Sep 19th 2008 7:35PM
@DEEZNUTZ... man you are an idiot... yeah, cause Disney is gonna take a stab at releasing animated films on Blu ray with Tarzan... And also, now you get the point as you're agreeing with this poster... so why don't you shut the fuck up before you open your mouth and think about your comments. Who honestly doesn't know that this is one of the biggest Disney films ever...
comineeyeaha @ Sep 19th 2008 8:03PM
So the SD version is 29.99, and the Blu-Ray version (with included DVD) is 36.99. When you break it down, it's as if you're getting the BR for $7. That makes the price of the DVD version seem a little silly.