August 17, 1999 18:11
INTERVIEW - Disney debuts animated classics on DVD
(adds quotes from unit chairman)
By Deena Beasley
LOS ANGELES, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co.'s home entertainment
unit said on Tuesday it plans to offer, for a limited time, classic animated film titles like 'Pinocchio' on digital video disk (DVD).
"It's a market that's ready to bust loose," Richard Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, told Reuters.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment said it will release nine popular Disney animated features on DVD over the next four months as part of a
"once-in-a-millennium celebration."
"We felt like the timing was right," Cook said. "First, we are going into the holiday season, when a lot of DVD players will be sold. Also the process is similar to 1985, when we released 'Pinocchio' on tape."
At that time, as now with DVD, consumers needed assurance that product
would be available for the new entertainment medium, the Disney executive explained.
Disney estimated that around 5 million households will have a set-top DVD player or a computer capable of playing DVDs by the end of the year.
"DVD is becoming a much, much bigger platform," Cook said.
Each of the titles will be available for a limited 60-day time period. Some of the offerings will then be placed on moratorium for up to 10 years and some will stay on release, the company said.
Going forward, Disney will release movies simultaneously on both DVD and videotape, Cook noted.
"Pinocchio," which was the studio's first animated classic to be released as a video in 1985, will debut on DVD on Oct. 26. Another three titles -- "101 Dalmatians," "Hercules" and "Mulan" -- will be released Nov. 11.
"Lady and the Tramp," "Peter Pan" and "Simba's Pride ("Lion King II") will be released on Nov. 23. "The Jungle Book" and "The Little Mermaid" will be available on DVD starting Dec. 7.
The company noted that this year, "A Bug's Life" became the
second-best-selling DVD title, behind "Armageddon." |
