From: gln@cs.arizona.edu (Gary L. Newell)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Re: Varied Subjects
Date: 28 Jul 92 08:29:35 GMT
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson

In article <Rich_Koster.0ke0@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US>, Rich_Koster@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US (Rich Koster) writes:
> Gary L. Newell flamed Disney business practices in a post dated
> 7/22/92, wondering why the company would release the film Pinocchio
> on video cassette only to re-release it back to theatres in restored
> form, probably to re-release the restored version back to video
> cassette someday, if not to bilk Disney fans out of their money.
> Well, I would have to agree with all of the replies to the effect that
> Disney can do what it wants with its products.  

  My complaint is not with free-enterprise. Of course they have the *right* to
do as they wish. My problem is what they choose to do. They choose to milk
those of us who are in fact big Disney fans and who are willing to put out the
$20 or so to purchase their tapes and cards and a variety of other products.
They deceive the public as to their policies and intentionally mislead in
an effort to maximize profits - do they have the right to do so? Of course, and
I have the right to get angry about such policies.

> You should simply
> approve/disapprove with your wallet as you see fit.  

 Which I did choose to do. I did not and will not pay to see Pinochio in the
theatres when I can and have rented the tape on numerous occasions. I would
have gladly purchased the tape from Disney for a reasonable price at many points
over the past 2-3 years but alas in an effort to milk more money from the
public they choose to artificially limit the supply of tapes and create an
artificial demand for the product. To top it off, they choose to lie about
their re-release policy, implying that they would not re-release their tapes
unless or until their was a significant change or improvement in technology.
Anyone know the supposed price of the infamous Pinochio improvements? I'm
curious if the $25 million in gate receipts will cover it. I have little doubt
that Disney will once again change its video policy when the number of Disney
stores in the US increases and a wider area of the country is covered. At that
time, I suspect that they will either only sell their tapes out of their
own stores (at a price much higher than you can find the tapes now) or they
will release even fewer copies to other sources for an even shorter time and
then have the tapes available for an unlimited time in Disney stores at a
significantly higher price. I frankly would prefer this in some ways as at least
then one could buy the tape at any time without having to deal with this absurd
pseudo policy they currently have.


> and preserve what Walt did for future generations?  People are truly
> hungry for this type of entertainment, it's expensive to produce, and
> re-releasing it periodically keeps it fresh for each new generation to
> appreciate.  

 Allowing the public to purchase their own copy is a pretty good way to ensure
that each generation appreciates the product. Making relatively small changes
to the product for the expressed purpose of milking the public doesn't make
me want to jump for joy about Disney's intent to please the masses.

> And films are meant to be seen in a theatre.  

 Of course. In fact, I have gone to see every Disney release in the past 6
years at least in the theatre - until now. I would actually feel better
about going to see a film like Pinochio if I didn't know that they are
simply attempting to manipulate me with their video release policy. Seeing
a film in the theatre is the only way to fully appreciate it - that doesn't
mean that you must manipulate your audiance in order to get this point
across.

> appropriate or correct.  But the company faces competition on many
> fronts, and has obligations to shareholders and consumers alike to
> fulfill.  

 Disney has clearly found their market and they own it without any real
competition to speak of. The animated musical is theirs now (face it you
probably won't see another non-musical Disney animation for the next decade
and a half at least). They make big-time money of very good films like
TLM and BatB. They will most likely hit the big time again with Aladin.
I find it hard to believe that the manipulation of the video market
is essential to the success of Disney.

> Gary is entitled to his opinions, but of all the issues in
> the world to feel that strongly about, how Disney handles the home
> video release arm of its business ranks 'way down on the list.

 So one should only talk about one or two issues considered to be important?
This is a disney group no? Seems to me that Disney's video policy is a
reasonable topic for such a group...


			gln