From Variety
Mouse Cheers Family DVD Growth
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) -- About 60 million homes in the US will have the ability to play DVDs by the end of the year, and more purchasers than ever will be parents buying special editions of movies intended for the whole family, according to Bob Chapek, president of Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Introducing demonstrations of the studio's upcoming elaborate DVD special editions of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Monsters, Inc.," Chapek said Wednesday that 40 million homes will have traditional set-top DVD players by the end of this year and that another 20 million will have some sort of DVD-enabled device like a vidgame console. Disney research shows that nearly two-thirds of all DVD owners consider the special features very or somewhat important to the DVD, with about 28% rating outtakes and bloopers a 5 on a scale of 1-5. More notably for Disney, its research shows families are becoming avid DVD consumers, with parents purchasing an average of 6.4 DVDs in the past three months, not far off the 7.5 purchased by non-parent DVD owners. And while 36% of DVDs were purchased for the male head of the family, 37% of all DVDs are purchased for the entire family, according to Disney. The two-disc "Beauty and the Beast" DVD includes a newly produced music video version of the theme song by pop group Jump 5, which will also be shown on the Disney Channel in promotion of the Oct. 8 DVD release. In addition to the original theatrical release and the previously released work-in-progress, the Platinum Edition of "Beauty and the Beast" will include the digitally re-mastered version of the film that played in Imax theaters earlier this year with the additional song "Human Again" and clips from the Broadway musical version of the movie. The double-disc DVD special edition of "Monsters, Inc." will include a unique audio track with only the sound effects, which generated the first-ever Academy Award for sound effects editing in an animated film. Also featured is a newly produced animation sequence featuring the voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman.
Mouse Cheers Family DVD Growth
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) -- About 60 million homes in the US will have the ability to play DVDs by the end of the year, and more purchasers than ever will be parents buying special editions of movies intended for the whole family, according to Bob Chapek, president of Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Introducing demonstrations of the studio's upcoming elaborate DVD special editions of "Beauty and the Beast" and "Monsters, Inc.," Chapek said Wednesday that 40 million homes will have traditional set-top DVD players by the end of this year and that another 20 million will have some sort of DVD-enabled device like a vidgame console. Disney research shows that nearly two-thirds of all DVD owners consider the special features very or somewhat important to the DVD, with about 28% rating outtakes and bloopers a 5 on a scale of 1-5. More notably for Disney, its research shows families are becoming avid DVD consumers, with parents purchasing an average of 6.4 DVDs in the past three months, not far off the 7.5 purchased by non-parent DVD owners. And while 36% of DVDs were purchased for the male head of the family, 37% of all DVDs are purchased for the entire family, according to Disney. The two-disc "Beauty and the Beast" DVD includes a newly produced music video version of the theme song by pop group Jump 5, which will also be shown on the Disney Channel in promotion of the Oct. 8 DVD release. In addition to the original theatrical release and the previously released work-in-progress, the Platinum Edition of "Beauty and the Beast" will include the digitally re-mastered version of the film that played in Imax theaters earlier this year with the additional song "Human Again" and clips from the Broadway musical version of the movie. The double-disc DVD special edition of "Monsters, Inc." will include a unique audio track with only the sound effects, which generated the first-ever Academy Award for sound effects editing in an animated film. Also featured is a newly produced animation sequence featuring the voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman.