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SnowWhite posts

Paramount flicks to see Blu-ray purchase, DVD rental availability ahead of DVD sale date

by Richard Lawler posted Jul 31st 2009 at 4:27AM


We'll leave it to rabid commenters to debate how well Blu-ray is or isn't doing, but Paramount's latest weapon to boost sales and DVD rentals is a staggered release schedule. Variety reports Dance Flick (sure reference material) will debut on September 8 in unrated Blu-ray form for purchase, plus rental DVD & blu-ray, while a version for purchase on DVD should arrive four to eight weeks later. Disney already tried something similar with its Bolt rollout, but retailers botched it and put both versions on shelves at the same time in many cases, though that hasn't stopped the studio from planning to try again with Snow White. At least in this case, we figure it's probably more about boosting rentals and testing the waters, but with VP of Paramount Ken Williams saying "that releasing a Blu-ray exclusively for sell-through will help drive adoption of the format" we figure the day a new blockbuster hits shelves on Blu only (for a limited time) isn't far off.

Snow White's Blu-ray debut is October 6

by Richard Lawler posted Apr 3rd 2009 at 12:13AM Breaking News


Announced during CES as the third title (after Sleeping Beauty and Pinnochio) to get Disney's Platinum Edition treatment, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will appear for the first time in high definition October 6 --well ahead of the standard DVD November 24 -- and Disney prez Bob Chapek is already bragging that it will be a reference point for home entertainment libraries. Expect a major push from Disney to upsell its family customers to the HDTV edition, with the staggered release scheduling and meticulous attention paid to this release, there's no question this as much a part of the company's Blu-ray driving strategy as its Magical Tour last year. USA Today also says several Blu-ray exclusive extras will be included, but your guess is as good as ours what they are, other than the now standard for Disney $40 combo pack that includes a DVD and Pinnochio's Disney View picture frame.

Disney to finally unleash a few classics on Blu-ray

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Aug 28th 2008 at 6:58PM

DisneyEver since the early days of the format war, many have questioned Disney's dedicated to the format because over the years as Disney has released a few classics out of its vault onto DVD, Blu-ray fans were left looking through the window. About a year ago we finally got word that Disney was going to stop this trend and release Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray -- complete with BD Live extras -- and now we got word that there are more classics to follow. In the next two years, Disney plans to release Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio and Beauty and the Beast on Blu. This is a great sign the Disney is finally pulling out all the stops and putting all its weight behind the new HD format, but only time will tell if these family favorites will be enough to help Blu-ray replace DVD and not be replaced by digital downloads -- anytime soon anyways.




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