No Wonka Widescreen? (Was: Oompa Loompa Doompity HUH?)

[manigrasso]

According to DVDfile's news page, the new anniversary edition of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is going to be pan and scan only...and P&S only on family flicks might become a trend for Warner Brothers.

I find it hard to believe that WB, of all studios, would consider P&S-only editions of one of their classic titles (I could understand some of the earlier sell-through dreck being P&S like Doc Hollywood & Overboard). Especially since it's loaded with features to appeal to adults who grew up watching this flick.

I'm sure there will be more info, and I won't get too upset until a press release comes out that's worth provoking my ire. But I sure am glad I didnt' get rid of my copy of the original DVD release.

[Pumpkinhead]

Darn! Warner Bros. isn't showing any effort to 'grow up'. They need to transfer to keepcase, need to make more widescreen DVD's and many other things. Errr...

[Taxi]

I just read todays disc news and saw this. What the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks are those idiots thinking?

Thanks for beating me to the punch, mani.

Here is the text in case you haven't been over to the news page:

Willy Wonka gets chopped

In one of the true head scratchers in recent years, we just received our final product for review of Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, and get this: it is pan & scan only. Though announced as including anamorphic widescreen and full screen versions, the widescreen version is nowhere to be found. (And, to add insult to injury, the trailer is in widescreen!) According to Warner, no separate widescreen release is planned at this time, and this move by the studio to eschew widescreen only underlines what could be an unfortunate new trend...pan & scan only on "family" titles. All the more puzzling is the inclusion of supplements on Willy Wonka obviously geared towards the children who grew up on Wonka but are now adults - a new documentary and commentary will all five grown-up Wonka children. I'm sure all those old DVD copies of Wonka many of us sold in anticipation of the new, thought-to-be-widescreen version will be worth a lot of money on eBay now. So, here's a tip for you: don't buy the new version and cancel your orders in protest, and we'll try to get some contact info to let Warner know how you feel. . We will be doing a review of Wonka real soon, and rest assured it won't be pretty...

[Rouge 2]

There stupidity as a film production company is finally seeping into their DVD production company - it was only a matter of time.

No healthy child would want this dvd because it is a sick twisted, nightmare film that would cause any Pokemon loving, Blues Clues watching brat to run for the hills.

It's for us old guys that grew up with the movie and love it, especially when they cut off the chicken's head during the boat ride.

Look, why does Warner think kids hate widescreen, they don't even know what the hell it is. My Neice and Nephew watch the muppet movies and they didn't get bothered by aspect ratios.

Warner did this not because most people like pan and scan (maybe that was true ten years ago) this is simply a cost effective move.

The first rule of DVD is that a film must look and sound good. If you sidestep that, I don't care if God does a commnentary track, I'm not buying the disc.

[Gannett]

Wait a minute.

In the transcript of the Comic-Con DVD Producers Panel over at The Digital Bits, J. M. Kenny, the producer of the Wonka disc says, in plain English, that the disc is in both anamorphic and p/s. Now it's P/S only, with no plans of a widescreen release?

If this is true, Warner should be embarassed with themselves. One of their top producers announces at a highly publicized forum that Wonka would get both formats and now they reverse course. And Mr. Kenny should hop over to another studio after getting embarassed by his own studio.

God, I hate WB.

-g




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"My life has a superb cast, but I can't figure out the
plot..."
-- Ashleigh Brilliant

[tripps]

Given the increasing sales of P&S versions of movies, I'm not surprised.

One question I have is this: does anyone know if Wonka's 1.33:1 ratio is truly P&S'd crappola, or perhaps simply the 1.85:1 print with an open matte to 1.33:1?

[begins planning to hit the stores for the OOP version if it's gonna be P&S'd]

[manigrasso]

Originally posted by Rouge 2:


Warner did this not because most people like pan and scan (maybe that was true ten years ago) this is simply a cost effective move.

This would make sense...if they hadn't already released an anamorphically-enhanced DVD of Willy Wonka a few years back. It's a bare-bones disc, so that's why they're re-releasing it, but there's already an anamorphic transfer of this flick. So it's certainly not a cost-cutting move.

[SolidSnakeASS]

WE MUST BOYCOTT! DO NOT BUY THIS RELEASE! Warner needs to be taught a lesson, and horrible sales will do the trick. Damn it, this sucks though, because I was looking forward to it too. Damn them all, damn them all to hell.

[rjgn]

I just don't understand. Surely with the quality of the extras they realise that the title will have a very large appeal to an adult audience. Otherwise why bother with the expense of a reissue in order to add extras such as a commentary with the original cast (now grown up). Don't they realise that this same audience will now be put off buying the title due to it being p&s only. Surely they don't think that children all over the country will be pestering their parents into buying such an old title.

P.S. Too many edits cause I'm too annoyed to spell properly.

[This message has been edited by rjgn (edited 08-06-2001).]

[This message has been edited by rjgn (edited 08-06-2001).]

[This message has been edited by rjgn (edited 08-06-2001).]

[SolidSnakeASS]

Exactly, this is a nostaglia title, nothing more then a great film that an older audience now wants. The market for child isn't as big as they suspect. Kids want the Harry Potter movie, not this.

[billyslits]

Do they really think that the same kids who are annoyed by letterboxing will want to watch documentaries or listen to the actors' commentaries?

I wonder what J.M. Kenney (the DVD's producer) thinks of all this.

Does anyone out there know if there's one particular complaint department at Warner that we can vent our frustration on?

Sorry, I know I'm kind of all over the map in this message but I'm actually very angry about this. I will not buy this DVD and I will actively urge others to follow my lead.

[clortho]

I went hunting around town during lunch today for the prior release, no such luck..

To announce it as anamorphic widescreen and then pull it WITHOUT telling anyone is just about as underhanded as it comes, to think of all those people who may have pre-ordered this and won't find out until it's too late. Warner's status in the DVD community just keeps dropping and dropping...

Clortho

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I am the Keymaster
clortho@hotmail.com
My Nifty DVD Collection

[UserNameUndecided]

Warner must have a whole department that thinks of ways to screw customers.

Just yesterday when I read about what they did to Blockbuster, I started thinking "Hey, this is the first good decisions I have seen Warner Brothers make in a looong time"...I guess they just have to make about 20 bad decisions for every good one.

[slade]

I don't get this either!?!

I agree with others that:

a) not really a kid's title anyway--rather it is nostalgic adults.

b) kids don't give a damn if it's full frame or not. My three year old has never complained about black bars on movies (actually he's not ever really seen a movie without them --well, okay, Star Wars. Maybe that's why he likes it so much )

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slade

"It’s amazing that brain can generate enough power to keep those legs moving."

[This message has been edited by slade (edited 08-06-2001).]

[billyslits]

Here's a link to an online petition. Please sign this. Even if you don't feel that strongly about this particular film, we should all work to protect and ensure that the widescreen option is available on all upcoming releases.

Here's the link:
http://www.petitiononline.com/wonkadvd/petition.html

[billyslits]

I wish this forum topic had a better subject line so people might have an idea of what the hell we're talking about.

[billyslits]

Thanks for the change of subject line.

[Taxi]

That's what we're here for.

[Lo Pan]

If there was a Warner executive in front of me right now, I'd shove an entire chocolate factory right up his ass.

(This has me sooo angry.)

[Prospero]

It's really amazing how quickly that online petition (see billyslits' post above) is gathering signatures. You can sit there and reload every couple of minutes and watch the list grow. God bless the Internet.

[Ronnie Barzel]

What I don't get is the fact that while AOHell/TimeVermin is pan-and-scamming 'Willy Wonka,' they're more than happy to widescreen 'The Goonies.'

Don't get me wrong -- I really like 'The Goonies,' but it seems that it is even more kiddie-oriented than 'Willy.'

[Pumpkinhead]

"But that doesn't lead to the boiling room, it leads to the fudge room!"

[Marty McFly]

I agree whole-heartedly. I've been looking forward to this release too. I didn't get a chance to get the old version, but now it's going for a fortune on eBay. I can only imagine what ridiculous prices this'll bring...

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-->Marty McFly<--

We could really bust some head...in a spiritual sense of course.

My DVD Collection

[Soggy Bagel's Revenge!]

I really don't see what Warner's deal is. What I've seen is that the younger someone is, the more they appreciate widescreen, becuase they've lived with it for more of their life. Kids really don't care about wether it's WS or RAPED P&S, so why start them off in the wrong direction. With all the widescreen DVDs out there, I'm seeing an entire generation who just won't stand for anything less, why does Warner think this is a bad thing? Can someone start a petition?

thanx,
Brook

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[SolidSnakeASS]

I agree. Kids don't complain about 'those pesky black bars.' Old people do! The only person that complains is my dad. But he is getting better.

[TheJeffy]

This completely baffles me. It had been seeming recently that Warner was beginning to drop pan & scan versions from their discs..and now this? I think they're just very confused.

I'm all for having both versions available but dammit, this just doesn't make sense. If they're going to go to the trouble of making a special edition anyway, for a beautiful new (previously promised) anamorphic widescreen transfer to be excluded is unforgiveable.

I've just about had it with Warner.

[mp3pir8]

Originally posted by SolidSnakeASS:
WE MUST BOYCOTT! DO NOT BUY THIS RELEASE! Warner needs to be taught a lesson, and horrible sales will do the trick. Damn it, this sucks though, because I was looking forward to it too. Damn them all, damn them all to hell.

Dude, I fully agree. Warner blows. This is one of my favorite films. Gene Wilder is absolutely perfect as Wonka...everything about this disc was going to be perfect. Now they had to go and blow it by pan-n-scamming the friggin film.


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Check out my collection.

[jtorrance]

I signed the petition. I cancelled my pre-orders for Wonka and The Goonies. WB needs to get with it ASAFP!

[sonic]

This is horrible!

Please don't tell me Neverending Story will face such a tragedy also!

[TheJeffy]

Originally posted by sonic:
This is horrible!

Please don't tell me Neverending Story will face such a tragedy also!

There was talk that it would be pan & scan only, but this was supposedly corrected in another press release. I've waited a long time for NES and if they do decide to release it pan & scan only, that will be the last straw. I'll sell/burn all my shitty Warner snapcased films, regardless of the films...

[Damian]

Here is the link to Warners Willy Wonka Forum. Believe me, there aren't too many nice posts in there.
http://www.warnerbros.com/pages/mess...ard=-536885654


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"They're us....we're them!"
-Damian

[billyslits]

Call the Warner Home Video complaint line at:

(818) 954-7165

Try to be as polite as possible.