Atlantis Milo's Return...Cheap, Cheap, Cheap...

[JeffH]

Today I bought Milo's Return and when I opened it I found nothing but the DVD and the security tag. I've bought many discount DVDs, but none have been so cheaply slapped together as this one. Then to think that Disney chose to charge full price for this cheaply packaged, direct to video 'sequel'. Tasha enjoyed it. The deleted scene turned out to be an alternate (goofy) ending to the 1st story. I called the 800# and complained and they offered to send me the current promotional package that they normally include in their DVD packaging. And since I had already entered the website, I left the following message as well:

I was very surprised that Disney’s Atlantis Milo's Return did not include anything but the disk and the security device inside the box. I called your DVD technical
800-723-4763# and confirmed that it didn’t include an insert. This is the 1st DVD that I have ever bought that didn't have something inside. The insert (and the
usual promotional material inside) is always nice to look at while you are heading home to see the film and to hold and review while you are viewing the film.
You'd at least think that Disney would use this 'package' to provide the usual promotional material that usually included in every DVD.

This has to be the (most expensive) 'cheapest' DVD I've ever seen. Considering the quality of previous Disney DVDs, charging $19.99 for this direct to video,
single disk, 80 minute sequel ‘cartoon', without an insert or commentaries or most of the usual DVD features is absurd. Even the 'deleted scene' is a joke...this
movie was never released, so how is there a 'deleted scene' to add??? Seems to me that you simply took a scene out to then be able to claim you 'added' it to
the DVD as a 'deleted scene' to give the impression that there was another feature on the DVD besides the game.

In the future, if you plan on releasing a ‘cheap’ DVD like this, please price it accordingly, $9.99 would be more like it.

In this age of DVDs with more and more features, which help justify the purchase (which is why DVDs have become so popular), it is very disturbing to see
Disney going in the opposite direction. Since there is really nothing about this DVD that makes it special, I wouldn’t be surprised if many people just wait for it
to come out on TV and record it (like in the old days when video tapes contained nothing more than the movie and some ads).

 

[Tannerman]

There has been talk on a lot of DVD forums as of late about studios dropping inserts, especailly Buena Vista. One set of speculation is that it's in anticipation to move to the new "thin pack" type of DVD packaging. Of course, the other guess is that Disney is just cheap

 

[JoNo]

I watched it the other day and it really, well, sucked. I was a big fan of the first one, but this one really disgusted me... I mean, it's a 3 episode cartoon? come on!

I just hope the new stitch movie isn't that bad...

 

[Luv2Roam]

it's a 3 episode cartoon

That's what most of those are. they aren't worth watching. Kids would like them I suppose. And I guess that is who they are aimed after.

 

[All Aboard]

I believe, like "Tarzan and Jane" they are three TV episodes (not ever shown on TV) packaged together on DVD. We have just about every animated DVD released by Disney, but after "Tarzan and Jane" and the comments I have seen on this one, there's no way I am purchasing it.

 

[d-r]

cinderella 2 was also three episodes of a tv show that never made it to tv, well, until they put them together as cinderella 2.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

I'm still trying to figure out how people have been suckered into buying the sequels.

 

[freediverdude]

Well, maybe now that a lot of these sequels are out and done with, they'll start with some things that are more original, like some of these movies based on Disney channel series.

 

[*Robin*]

Just a quick hint for movies you KNOW probably aren't worth running right out and buying, or if you miss the first week "sale" price...

Go to www.overstock.com You can get almost all the Disney movies and will usually save about $5 over amazon. It is usually around the same price as the first week sales.

Unfortunately I'm finding less and less that I HAVE to have on the first week of release.

Robin

 

[wdwguide]

I watched the Lion King and Aladdin sequels, and that was enough to convince me to not waste my money on the kind any more. I liked Atlantis and was actually tempted by the new film for a while, but after reading the reviews... no longer.

Picked up the Dances with Wolves SE for $17ish at Target today - now there is a great bang for the buck: Four hours of excellent film, including two commentary tracks, on a DVD-18 and a second disc with extensive bonus features, as well as a mail-in offer for another SE DVD for $6.00 S+H.

 

[Lesley]

Ah perhaps its best if my kids don't even know this one exists....actually they don't with most of the sequels. They don't mind them...my dd kind of liked Cinderella 2 (borrowed from the library)...but I'd rather that if they are spending their time vegetating in front of a screen that its something of quality that they're watching...Disney used to be good for that. Now I even question the value of many of their theater releases...

After Jungle Book 2 my 8yo ds said "Wow, mom....that was a really long movie!".....and this is the kid who can sit through Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings and complain that it was too short! (for those who don't recall...JB2 was barely more than an hour...)

 

[d-r]

I don't buy the cheap sequals. I think that jb2 was an abomination. But I have a bit of a different feeling, almost, about the dvds that are strung together tv episodes (atlantis, cinderella 2, tarzan and jane). Disney has a long tradition of putting tv episodes of cartoons on videotape - going back to duck tales and tale spin and rescure rangers, and continuing through the little mermaid, alladin, quack pack, and so on. I'm talking about video tapes with a couple of episodes of the the tv cartoon on them. Of course, those weren't marketed as "movies," but if I think of them that way, these direct to videos don't bother me so much, and in the case of Cinderella 2 and Atlantis 2, it is actually sort of nice that we are able to view a television series that "didn't make it" and will never be on TV, that way at least we get a peek at it. Of course, that doesn't mean that I would buy it or anything!!!!

DR

 

[EUROPA]

Originally posted by d-r
Of course, those weren't marketed as "movies," but if I think of them that way, these direct to videos don't bother me so much, and in the case of Cinderella 2 and Atlantis 2, it is actually sort of nice that we are able to view a television series that "didn't make it" and will never be on TV, that way at least we get a peek at it. Of course, that doesn't mean that I would buy it or anything!!!!

DR

Man if the quality of the work is so bad that even Disney is not willing to put the thing on TV.....


Of course I'm sure most of you average Disney fans don't know this is the case.

 

[laceemouse]

We generally see the sequals at the cheap theater or wait until we can rent them. They are fine for my 5 year old, the older kids are past the stage of enjoying them. It does seem like Disney could put together something a little better than most of these. BTW, my DD10 loved the Lion King 2 when it first came out, I think the fact that it starred a girl had a lot to do with it. We will rent Atlantis 2 soon, we always have family movie night and we are very picky about appropriateness for our kids.

 

[d-r]

Originally posted by EUROPA
Man if the quality of the work is so bad that even Disney is not willing to put the thing on TV.....


Of course I'm sure most of you average Disney fans don't know this is the case.

Oh, I get you, and I agree. When it shows up on toon disney I'll probably watch it out of curiosity, but I agree with what you are saying 100% - it is an extension of what we say about direct-to-video "if Disney isn't even confident enough to put in the theatre, why should I buy it?"

DR

 

[KMovies]

As for the pricing ... I am ok with the $20.00. Although these films are cheaper, they didn't get the theatre money to offset some of the costs.

Just like a movie theatre...the ticket price is the same whether it is the 3 hour, 100+ million dollar cost Lord of the Rings

or the 10 mil* dollar low budget horror film.

or the 20 mil* 1 hour, 15 minute Jungle Book II.

Look at them like you do those tv reunion movies - never as good as the series, but just to see the characters again, you tune in.

 

[*123JOANNA123*]

I'm still trying to figure out how people have been suckered into buying the sequels.

I'll tell you how it works for us- my kids are 4 and 2, so we weren't in Disney buying mode when Lion King, Little Mermaid et al were released on DVD. I took my kids to WDW for the first time last year and they loved the characters- what's available for me to buy for them to watch? The sequels. Granted, we do buy the originals when they're released but what do you do till then.

 

[Another Voice]

"Although these films are cheaper, they didn't get the theatre money to offset some of the costs."

Actually all of the Disney "direct-to-video but shown-in-theaters first" movies didn't cover their marketing and distribution costs from the box office, let alone begin to recover the production costs of the movie. All those TV ads for Jungle Book 2 didn't come cheap.

That extra money you're paying to by the product is to offset the loss taken on the theatrical release.

 

[Experiment626]

This is the 1st DVD that I have ever bought that didn't have something inside. The insert (and the
usual promotional material inside) is always nice to look at while you are heading home to see the film and to hold and review while you are viewing the film.

Well maybe they learned from when BuenaVista put out the dvd boxed set for the complete SportsNight tv show. It had a promotional insert for the abc tv show "Push, Nevada" which had already been cancelled and pulled from the air by the time I bought and opened my copy.