Why are some Disney movies more expensive?

[Movie shy]

Hello everyone,

I have always loved Disney films but they seem so expensive for their blu ray's. So far I only have 4 Disney blu's. Have the following: Enchanted for 7.99, Sleeping Beauty the Platinum edition used for 5.99, Alice in Wonderland and The Rescuers/Rescuers Down Under both 11.99. Felt like those were good prices on blu. Why does Disney have some titles that are very expensive and other ones that are cheaper? I know that Disney often puts movies in the vault. I so want Beauty and the Beast but it's in the vault and if I tried to get a copy from a reseller on Amazon it could be 80 or 90 dollars and will not buy for that price. I would like to buy Peter Pan and the Little Mermaid but the most I want to pay would be 19.99 new and they are always more expensive. I wonder if Disney has different prices depending on a tier of a film's popularity. I have noticed also that when they re-release blu ray's they have cut way back on their special features. My Sleeping Beauty and Alice and Wonderland have great special features but not the same for my copies of Enchanted and The Rescuers.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Movie shy

Hello everyone,

I have always loved Disney films but they seem so expensive for their blu ray's. So far I only have 4 Disney blu's. Have the following: Enchanted for 7.99, Sleeping Beauty the Platinum edition used for 5.99, Alice in Wonderland and The Rescuers/Rescuers Down Under both 11.99. Felt like those were good prices on blu. Why does Disney have some titles that are very expensive and other ones that are cheaper? I know that Disney often puts movies in the vault. I so want Beauty and the Beast but it's in the vault and if I tried to get a copy from a reseller on Amazon it could be 80 or 90 dollars and will not buy for that price. I would like to buy Peter Pan and the Little Mermaid but the most I want to pay would be 19.99 new and they are always more expensive. I wonder if Disney has different prices depending on a tier of a film's popularity. I have noticed also that when they re-release blu ray's they have cut way back on their special features. My Sleeping Beauty and Alice and Wonderland have great special features but not the same for my copies of Enchanted and The Rescuers.

that's why. When you see a movie on amazon for $80 it's because it's currently OOP so stock is limited and people charge much more than it's worth because of this.

[KINGDANGER]

Beauty and the Beast is my girlfriend's favorite. I got her the Chinese edition from EBay for $20 free shipping. It's the same disc, different packaging.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by KINGDANGER

Beauty and the Beast is my girlfriend's favorite. I got her the Chinese edition from EBay for $20 free shipping. It's the same disc, different packaging.

As it just so happens, I was watching Smithsonian last night about the real Beauty and the Beast. The true story that inspired the books and movies.

It's from a rare disease called Hypertrichosis. Hair all over the body. Now we know what it is, but back in the day you were labeled a monster or a wild man and looked down upon if you had it.

[acantho]

you essentially answered your own question.

[spbarry]

You may want to check out Disney Movie Club - it's similar to the Old Columbia House Records deals - select several up front for very little cash and buy several others over a few years. It's a quick way to build your back catalog and manage the cost.

[Musicguy]

because people will pay those amounts for them

[HD Goofnut]

Because Disney.

[Hellraiserfan]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

that's why. When you see a movie on amazon for $80 it's because it's currently OOP so stock is limited and people charge much more than it's worth because of this.

Which reminds me that I still need to get Hercules to complete my collection.

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Because Di$ney.

Fixed.

Even their DVD releases were expensive... I believe it was at least four or five years after they supported DVDs for their prices to be more reasonable.\

Hercules (1997) on DVD had a $39.99 MSRP with a music video and disc art for special features.

Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs also had the same MSRP.

Then because Disney didn't produce special edtion DVDs at the start, they allowed Criterion to do them which still kept "premium" pricing.

[dyne]

Speaking of Disney, they can go pound salt when they're still asking $30 for the first Captain America.

[El Comelon]

I purchased Peter Pan for $33 through Amazon yesterday after failing to get the release two years ago and finding at a "reasonable price". Frozen's UK release is a lot cheaper than the domestic release here (still $25 at Best Buy).

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by Movie shy

Hello everyone,

I have always loved Disney films but they seem so expensive for their blu ray's. So far I only have 4 Disney blu's. Have the following: Enchanted for 7.99, Sleeping Beauty the Platinum edition used for 5.99, Alice in Wonderland and The Rescuers/Rescuers Down Under both 11.99. Felt like those were good prices on blu. Why does Disney have some titles that are very expensive and other ones that are cheaper? I know that Disney often puts movies in the vault. I so want Beauty and the Beast but it's in the vault and if I tried to get a copy from a reseller on Amazon it could be 80 or 90 dollars and will not buy for that price. I would like to buy Peter Pan and the Little Mermaid but the most I want to pay would be 19.99 new and they are always more expensive. I wonder if Disney has different prices depending on a tier of a film's popularity. I have noticed also that when they re-release blu ray's they have cut way back on their special features. My Sleeping Beauty and Alice and Wonderland have great special features but not the same for my copies of Enchanted and The Rescuers.

Disney films, particularly their "animated classics" are eternally popular with kids, soccer moms, Disney collectors, etc. thus they can charge those high prices and get away with it, people will still buy them. In these days of streaming, when it comes to other cataogue titles, studios can't get away with such high prices which is why most other blus of older films tend to be cheaper. Notice how at this time of year, films like White Christmas or It's A Wonderful Life seem to be priced much higher than your average blu of a film from the 40s or 50s - that's because those appeal to the same soccer mom / grandma demographic who buy their films at Wal-Mart, Target, etc.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by El Comelon

I purchased Peter Pan for $33 through Amazon yesterday after failing to get the release two years ago and finding at a "reasonable price". Frozen's UK release is a lot cheaper than the domestic release here (still $25 at Best Buy).

Frozen was $19.99 everywhere for the first couple weeks.

[clemdog]

Originally Posted by steve_dave

Fixed.


Then because Disney didn't produce special edtion DVDs at the start, they allowed Criterion to do them which still kept "premium" pricing.

Do you have any examples of Disney titles released thru Criterion?

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by clemdog

Do you have any examples of Disney titles released thru Criterion?

Armageddon

Chasing Amy

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

The Rock

The Royal Tenenbaums

Rushmore

Michael Bay wanted Pearl Harbor to be released through Criterion, but Disney wanted to create its own "premium" brand with the VISTA Series.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

The shortest and most concise answer to the OP's question... one word...

Capitalism

[Hubunkey]

Originally Posted by KINGDANGER

Beauty and the Beast is my girlfriend's favorite. I got her the Chinese edition from EBay for $20 free shipping. It's the same disc, different packaging.

Sounds like you bought a Bootleg for your Girl

[KINGDANGER]

Originally Posted by Hubunkey

Sounds like you bought a Bootleg for your Girl

It's the legit Chinese release. I took a chance and was not disappointed.

[RebelPrince1986]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Armageddon
Chasing Amy
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The Rock
The Royal Tenenbaums
Rushmore
Michael Bay wanted Pearl Harbor to be released through Criterion, but Disney wanted to create its own "premium" brand with the VISTA Series.

The OP was clearly commenting on the prices of Disney animated features... All mentioned being Walt Disney Animation Studios, except Enchanted (Walt Disney Pictures)

Armageddon has never been sold as 'Disney's Armageddon', The Royal Tenenbaums has never been sold or marketed as 'Disney's The Royal Tenenbaums.' Touchstone? Yeah. Buena Vista? Yep... But Disney is a HUGE company, they have many divisions, and none of those Criterion released titles are 'Disney' films, thus aren't particularly relevant to the OP's question.

Originally Posted by Movie shy

Hello everyone,

I have always loved Disney films but they seem so expensive for their blu ray's. So far I only have 4 Disney blu's. Have the following: Enchanted for 7.99, Sleeping Beauty the Platinum edition used for 5.99, Alice in Wonderland and The Rescuers/Rescuers Down Under both 11.99. Felt like those were good prices on blu. Why does Disney have some titles that are very expensive and other ones that are cheaper? I know that Disney often puts movies in the vault. I so want Beauty and the Beast but it's in the vault and if I tried to get a copy from a reseller on Amazon it could be 80 or 90 dollars and will not buy for that price. I would like to buy Peter Pan and the Little Mermaid but the most I want to pay would be 19.99 new and they are always more expensive. I wonder if Disney has different prices depending on a tier of a film's popularity. I have noticed also that when they re-release blu ray's they have cut way back on their special features. My Sleeping Beauty and Alice and Wonderland have great special features but not the same for my copies of Enchanted and The Rescuers.

That said...

You did kind of answer your own question here, but the vault has a lot to do with it on the respective titles and the fact that they can charge higher prices and people will still buy them is another factor.

If a film doesn't sell well at a higher price point, they can discount it, (Home On the Range, Treasure Planet... regardless of your personal opinion of either, are regarded largely as flops and you'll notice they are two of the typically less expensive Blu-rays in the catalog) but if it continues to sell well at the inflated price (Sleeping Beauty, Frozen), there is no reason for them to do any serious discounting. If they can make $25 on a significant amount of copies, they might as well keep it at that price. If they aren't selling any copies at $25, they lower the price and suddenly they're moving copies again. Eventually they find a price point that a film sells well at and it generally stays there until it's time for a re-release, it goes out of print or it stops selling, at which point they adjust the price again.

If $19.99 is your price point, I don't think there is a single Disney animated classic that hasn't hit at least that at some point in it's first couple of months of release. And as far as special features go, Disney has a history of doing this. And the vault titles (the ones they care most about) generally get better treatment, better restorations, better features, (especially those released earlier in a new format's lifespan) while the smaller hits usually get tossed together, get some films out so you can have titles on the market, put less money into them, less effort, sell them for slightly less, make consistent money for the company, but that's a different issue entirely and I'm sure there are 60 threads addressing it in this forum.

Sorry for this long 'know-it-all' rant. This is all just opinion, pain meds have kicked in and I could have no idea at all what I'm talking about, so take all of the above for what it is... and if you find an answer in it, there ya go!