Practicalmadness

Disney has announced that the release schedule for their Platinum Collection series of animated films on DVD -- their ten most popular, enduring titles given the deluxe two-disc treatment -- will be accelerated starting in March 2004.

Currently, Disney Platinum DVDs are released only once a year, generally in September or October, following a major IMAX release the previous Spring. The discs are then made available for a limited time (a year or less) before going on moratorium for ten years, or until they feel like selling it again.

The new idea is that Platinum Collection discs will now come out twice a year, in March and October, and will remain in print for two years before going bye-bye. Disney has said that this is because they believe that HD-DVD (the next format we'll all be buying into after HDTV becomes the standard in 2006) will take hold in the market sooner than expected, and they want to have a chance to go through a complete Platinum Collection cycle before doing this all over again with HD versions of the disc.

We will, as such, see DVD editions of the following Disney 'classics' within the next four years: 101 Dalmatians, Aladdin, Bambi, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Lady and the Tramp and Pinocchio.

Snow White and Beauty and the Beast have been released on DVD, with The Lion King scheduled for release later this year.