Shrek Spoiler: Wal-Mart ruined a big surprise

[Winslow Leach]

Yeah! That's the thing that bothered me about DVD titles when they first got so popular. Only the major titles were put out first.

That's the problem with so-called "catalog" titles. A studio will have a film in its vaults and assume it won't be a big seller, so they don't bother releasing it on DVD. Unless there's vocal support from the fans of a certain film or TV show. Then sometimes the studios will cave, and bring out an older title because, hey, there IS a fan base after all!That's why Warner Home Video is so cool. They actually have on-line discussions once or twice a year with consumers. A rep will spend a good amount of time online, and answer as many questions as possible about titles the studio owns, and if and when they will come out on DVD.A lot of Warner releases over the last couple of years have been possible because fans wanted them.Warner also used to have those dreaded "snap" cases, but after enough complaints from fans, they finally changed their packaging to the standard keepcase.

 

[Winslow Leach]

Wow, what happened to my last post? I had spaces and paragraphs, and it came out all jumbly.

Anyway...

Does anyone remember the dreaded Divx (or Digital Video Express)? This was an early, failed attempt to compete with DVD.

The principal investor of Divx was Circuit City.

First of all, you needed a DVD player with Divx enhancement. Then, you could go to your local circuit city and browse through their collection of new and classic movies on the Divx format.

For $4.49 a pop, you could "buy" a movie, take it home, and once you put it in your player, a sensor was activated. The Divx disc could be watched for one 48-hour period. Once the 48 hours was up, the disc would be unplayable, and you would have to pay $3.25 if you wanted to watch the movie again for another 48-hour period.

Divx owners had to open an account with Circuit City (or wherever else the discs were available), and each view was automatically billed to your credit card. The Divx player itself had a built-in modem that recorded all your charges, and phoned into the billing office once or twice a month, depending on how many times you watched the film.

Most Divx titles were pan and scanned, with no widescreen options. The discs also contained no extras.

By the summer of 1999, the Divx format was dead, due to lack of support from movie studios, distributors and consumers.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

I've actually heard about Warner Bros. doing that! But that want bothering me about the new formats because hear we go again. It's just tiring and most consumers are just now getting used to DVD with it becoming more affordable in recent years, you know?

Yuck! That Dvix things sound like a really day idea. I can see why it never made it as an excepted format.

 

[lael]

That's a good point, Beau. Plus they now have to compete with mail services like Netflix. Pretty soon you'll be able to just sit at your TV and rent from a service available through the Television set, instantly. Like papperview services and things except you get to own it.

Now that would be interesting. VHS tapes becoming Antiques. Makes me feel kind of old.

~ well, look at Records. they've been around for quite a while but within 1-2 decades, children don't even know what they are. Can you still purchase a record player? I'd love to have one. I have a bunch of my Grandmothers old records.

I used to have a huuuuuuuuuuge collection of videotapes. I sold most of them. Actually, my ex-manager at the video store bought quite a few off me.

I should have held on to some of them, though. A few of my favorites aren't out on DVD yet.

~ I'm still looking for Troll on DVD. that movie scurred the bad right on outa me.

That's the problem with so-called "catalog" titles. A studio will have a film in its vaults and assume it won't be a big seller, so they don't bother releasing it on DVD. Unless there's vocal support from the fans of a certain film or TV show. Then sometimes the studios will cave, and bring out an older title because, hey, there IS a fan base after all!That's why Warner Home Video is so cool. They actually have on-line discussions once or twice a year with consumers. A rep will spend a good amount of time online, and answer as many questions as possible about titles the studio owns, and if and when they will come out on DVD.A lot of Warner releases over the last couple of years have been possible because fans wanted them.Warner also used to have those dreaded "snap" cases, but after enough complaints from fans, they finally changed their packaging to the standard keepcase.

~ Isn't that kinda what happened to the Firefly series & Serenity, the movie? There was enough buzz about the series that they released the series onto DVD & that created enough buzz to have a feature movie made from the television series. I like the show & the movie.

 

[Winslow Leach]

~ well, look at Records. they've been around for quite a while but within 1-2 decades, children don't even know what they are. Can you still purchase a record player? I'd love to have one. I have a bunch of my Grandmothers old records.

~ Isn't that kinda what happened to the Firefly series & Serenity, the movie? There was enough buzz about the series that they released the series onto DVD & that created enough buzz to have a feature movie made from the television series. I like the show & the movie.

Yep, the fans demanded Firefly, and the series came out on DVD.

Fox cancelled Family Guy a few years back. Reruns started to air on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, the ratings for the show skyrocketed and that, coupled with massive DVD sales, convinced Fox to bring back the show (I'm glad they did!)

Futurama, another hit on Adult Swim and DVD was cancelled by Fox. Now new episodes are being created, to air later this summer.

You can still buy turntables. I love vinyl, and have quite a collection of albums I bought as a kid (just before the shift to DVD), and many I found in specialty stores or online. I've seen turntables (just turntables, mind you, not full stereo equipment) for as little as $30. You can find 'em easily online.

 

[lael]

Yep, the fans demanded Firefly, and the series came out on DVD.

Fox cancelled Family Guy a few years back. Reruns started to air on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, the ratings for the show skyrocketed and that, coupled with massive DVD sales, convinced Fox to bring back the show (I'm glad they did!)

Futurama, another hit on Adult Swim and DVD was cancelled by Fox. Now new episodes are being created, to air later this summer.

You can still buy turntables. I love vinyl, and have quite a collection of albums I bought as a kid (just before the shift to DVD), and many I found in specialty stores or online. I've seen turntables (just turntables, mind you, not full stereo equipment) for as little as $30. You can find 'em easily online.

~ I thought Family Guy was cancelled because my brother was mopey about it and all. I've just been getting more into the show. funny stuff, you know.

~What ever happened to tapes. I have a few. early 80's stuff, mixed tapes of local punk bands. then there's the forgotten 8-track. I'll keep my eye out for those turn tables. I have my Grandmothers old console radio w/turntable [broken tho] so just a turntable would work out great! thanks for the heads up!

 

[Winslow Leach]

Yeah, as I said, you can get turntables really cheap these days. They have built-in speakers, and don't take up much room at all.

 

[Winslow Leach]

~ I thought Family Guy was cancelled because my brother was mopey about it and all. I've just been getting more into the show. funny stuff, you know.

It's a very funny show, IMO. My sig actually comes from an episode. Peter and Brian are watching The Count counting bats on Sesame Street, and Peter wonders if The Count is a real vampire, and does he do things a real vampire would do?

Family Guy ran from January 31, 1999 to February 14, 2002. Fox pulled it after three seasons and 49 episodes.

The 49 shows, plus one that never aired on Fox, started running on Cartoon Network. Fox put out the show on DVD, and sales soared. The network figured they made a boo-boo, and ordered more episodes of the series. This meant having to bring back the original voice actors, who were off doing other things.

The show's fourth season began May 1, 2005, and it's been going strong ever since, both on Fox, and Cartoon Network, where a recent study showed more people 35 and under watched the Adult Swim animated block starting at 11:00 pm est, rather than switching over to Leno and/or Letterman.

 

[Ilikemuppets]

That's interesting, WL! I wonder what will happen when Conan takes over The Tonight Show?

 

[Teheheman]

I think that Adult Swim will have good ratings up UNTIL Conan when he takes over the Tonight Show. I really hope that he keeps the same set and band as he does now. Conan is the MAN!

Daniel