DATELINE -- Thursday, 8 June 2000
Diz 'Platinum' smackdown!: Y'know, when things are going along nicely in DVD land, when great special editions are coming out each week and everybody seems pretty happy, you gotta figure somebody, somewhere, is gonna toss a monkey-wrench into our fun. And if we had to guess just who it would be, we'd lay our ducats on Michael Eisner. Discussing Internet piracy before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee yesterday, the Disney CEO actually mentioned Buena Vista's announced Snow White DVD, which is supposed to be the first of their Platinum Collection discs when it arrives in late 2001. And it's gonna come out in 2001 — right Mike? Yes? Right?:
Eisner: "...We are considering not doing that because once we've done that, if there is no (Internet) protection, (Snow White) — which is one of the backbones of our company — is gone forever."
What you talkin' 'bout, Willis?
After all of the ballyhoo last fall when The Magic Kingdom announced that they would unify their VHS and DVD release schedules, keep only ten titles on moratorium, and have the remainder of their animated library on disc over the next two years, Top Mouse Eisner now says they may not follow through on their DVD schedule? Couldn't we simply have been told last year that we'll get Snow White on DVD when Disney is goddam good and ready? At least that way we don't have to keep updating our MIA page every time somebody in the Mouse House reads another story about broadband or MP3 or Napster and gets the willies.
It's hard to say exactly what this brief comment from Eisner actually means, but until further notice from Buena Vista we are moving their ten Platinum titles off our "definite" list and downgrading them to "maybe." We don't think that Eisner's apparent misgivings will have any effect on the current Gold Classic Collection, which consists of second-tier Disney titles, but we're hoping that Eisner will expand on, or at least clarify, his remarks as soon as possible. One George Lucas in the world is enough for us.