MovieChat Forums > The Rescuers (1977) Discussion > 2003 DVD apparently goes out of print...

2003 DVD apparently goes out of print...

posted 13 years ago by Taran_Wanderer_2
19 replies | jump to latest

That blasted DVD edition of the film, released on May 20th, 2003 and originally priced at a suggested retail price which some stores interpreted at $29.99, has finally (it appears) to have gone out of print. Amazon.com only has listings for third-party offers, while the official Disney DVD site lists it as 'Not Currently Available.'

Hearing that a Disney DVD is going out of print is usually bad news, because it means that if we want to ensure ourselves a copy of a certain film, we better pull out money that we may not even have and rush to get one before they're all gone. But we've had over eight blasted years to get a copy of this cheap piece of trash that was the 2003 DVD edition, and we've been looking at the same now-hideous cover since 1999 (twelve years!). This means that Disney has a future release now planned, and we should expect it within the next few years (sources pointed to March of 2013). The bad, BAD news is that the blasted 1990 sequel has gone out of print as well, and I highly doubt Disney means to do what it should and burn the original masters. If they, after a criminally foolish decision, find it clever to market the two films together, we're going to have MAJOR problems. The only reason I own that piece of crud is because it was a gift (or a sick joke) and it didn't cost me anything. I don't want to be forced to give my money to that.

Anyway, not long ago, Disney began marketing their copies of The Rescuers at certain retailers with a 'special edition' shiny slip-cover which blended two pieces of artwork together and wasn't particularly appealing. Still, Disney made an effort to sell all available copies, which considering the unbelievably bad quality of the DVD, must not have an easy task. As much as I adore the film, I don't feel like the DVD was worth-while, having more than one copy of previous VHS releases.

I hope Disney realizes that if the film didn't sell particularly well (which is not even the case, really) that it is so thanks to their poor marketing (did you ever see a TV ad, a DVD ad, any sort of announcement that this DVD was to be released? Well, there's wasn't one), and the little effort they put into this release. They had better consider the $48,000,000 box office tally (40 times its estimated budget costs), among other excellent results when choosing how much time they'll devote to a new release. I'm tired of hearing the movie being criticized as 'crummy-looking' simply because the home-video releases look worse and worse with each new edition. The 1992 has beautiful vivid colors, but lacks sharpness due to the lower quality of the format. You'd think this would not be an issue on the DVD, but unfortunately, this was put together from badly handled copies of the original masters, and looks awful.

Well... let's see what happens now.

http://www.petitiononline.com/drescuer/petition.html Sign petition, save The Rescuers!

[–] Taran_Wanderer_2 13 years ago

Well, it's official. The Rescuers has gone out of print, and what's cool is that copies are selling on Amazon like hot bread. Even 'new' copies priced as high as $45.00 have sold, so I hope Disney is taking note. New copies keep coming in and they just keep selling. They were in the 20-units range not long ago, right now there are 9 copies available, one of which is a VHS copy.

Usually, for earlier releases, when they went out of print, a new DVD was already listed and available for pre-order. This isn't the case for The Rescuers which is exciting. It doesn't seem, at least thus far, that Disney was planning to quickly re-release the film and its dreadful sequel as a 'two movie collection.' We can still hope.

http://www.petitiononline.com/drescuer/petition.html Sign petition, save The Rescuers!

[–] ExplorerDS6789 13 years ago

A Platinum DVD release is planned for 2013.

[–] Taran_Wanderer_2 13 years ago

That's just a rumor, and there have been no confirmations outside of Europe. In the United States, the Platinum line is defunct.

I'm just glad that Disney did not have a quick re-issue available immediately after the 2003 DVD was discontinued, and no lame 'two-movie collection' anywhere in site (fingers crossed), so those are very good signs.

http://www.petitiononline.com/drescuer/petition.html Sign petition, save The Rescuers!

[–] ExplorerDS6789 13 years ago

Keep the faith.

[–] Taran_Wanderer_2 13 years ago

Where have I heard that before?

http://www.petitiononline.com/drescuer/petition.html Sign petition, save The Rescuers!

[–] Jabberwocky_59 13 years ago

Your passion astounds me.

I haven't seen The Rescuers in years. The last time I saw it I was young and didn't really have much knowledge concerning animation, also, I think I've only ever seen the VHS version. Am I to understand that the DVD version's animation looked bad? Can you elaborate on that for me?

Also, I think I've seen you bashing Rescuers Down Under, correct me if I'm wrong. May I inquire why you don't like it?

Sometimes fear is the appropriate response.-1 from 9

[–] idonnowho 13 years ago

I'm looking forward to seeing "The Rescuers" getting a new makeover and DVD re-issue. Hopefully within the next year (March 2013 is what it's scheduled for) we'll see it. :)

[–] Taran_Wanderer_2 13 years ago

The 1992 VHS is the 'cleanest' release of the film thus far. This VHS release wasn't perfect, but it maintained, for the most part, the film's original color palette. The later releases were darker and less clean, with washed out colors and really messed up levels of contrast, tint and saturation. The DVD edition is by far the worst. For some unknown reason, Disney decided to 'remaster' the whole film by bathing it in a very yucky-looking blue tint.

Here's an image of my attempt to correct the colors on a screencap from the 2003 DVD release (the above image is my own work, restoring the levels of the original film's palette; the lower image is an untouched frame from the DVD):

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/TaranWanderer/1.jpg

And yes, I loathe the sequel for many, many reasons. I can't elaborate at the moment, but if you care to use a translator: http://www.amazon.es/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A35GHITTG3WX7E/ref=cm_pdp_r ev_all?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview

http://www.petitiononline.com/drescuer/petition.html Sign petition, save The Rescuers!

[–] Jabberwocky_59 13 years ago

The 1992 VHS is the 'cleanest' release of the film thus far. This VHS release wasn't perfect, but it maintained, for the most part, the film's original color palette. The later releases were darker and less clean, with washed out colors and really messed up levels of contrast, tint and saturation. The DVD edition is by far the worst. For some unknown reason, Disney decided to 'remaster' the whole film by bathing it in a very yucky-looking blue tint.

Here's an image of my attempt to correct the colors on a screencap from the 2003 DVD release (the above image is my own work, restoring the levels of the original film's palette; the lower image is an untouched frame from the DVD):

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii69/TaranWanderer/1.jpg

Bleh! I see what you mean. Does it have this darker tint through the whole movie or just the nighttime parts? Yeah, I must have only ever seen the old VHS version. Come to think of it, I still have it. I want to go watch it now.

And yes, I loathe the sequel for many, many reasons. I can't elaborate at the moment, but if you care to use a translator: http://www.amazon.es/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A35GHITTG3WX7E/ref=cm_pdp_r ev_all?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview

Ah! I understand where you're coming from. Again, I haven't seen RDU in years, I was very young when I last watched it. I was child, it was a cartoon, I couldn't help loving it. But I think I'm going to bust them both out and give them another go. I'm an adult now, I've done some small studying of animation, and I'll keep your review in mind when I watch it again.

Sometimes fear is the appropriate response.-1 from 9

[–] Taran_Wanderer_2 13 years ago

The blue tint was added throughout the whole movie, and because the contrast settings are completely off, the 'light' scenes look much darker than they should as well. In scenes that are meant to be moderately light, such as the scenes with Madame Medusa indoors, her hair is so over-saturated and bright against the rest of the frame that it looks like it's on fire.

No doubt a proper presentation, or even a full restoration of the film would have a great impact, because viewers familiar with the movie would be blown away by the transformation. I know I would be!

http://www.petitiononline.com/drescuer/petition.html Sign petition, save The Rescuers!

[–] Jabberwocky_59 13 years ago

Signed your petition. :)

Sometimes fear is the appropriate response.-1 from 9

[–] Taran_Wanderer_2 13 years ago

Thank you so much!

My nightmare's come true:
http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz136/Awesomenicky/201201251350.jpg

http://www.petitiononline.com/drescuer/petition.html Sign petition, save The Rescuers!

[–] idonnowho 13 years ago

Yay! For the record, I personally don't care if both movies are packaged together; at least Disney's FINALLY paying attention/acknowledging this film's existence for the first time in YEARS!!!! Hallelujah!

Now, hopefully there WILL be some decent bonus features and a new remaster of the film, but even if not, it would seem Disney's finally "rescued" this film from being buried under a decade-long mass in the Disney Vault. Here's hoping for the best from this DVD combo... <:)

[–] Taran_Wanderer_2 13 years ago

I'm hoping for the best, but now I'm highly skeptical. This seems like an echo of the recent re-release of 'The Fox and the Hound' together with its sequel. Second-rate transfer and virtually nothing on the bonus features department. Now that this '2-movie collection' nightmare has become a reality I'm even more fearful that they'll re-use the print used for the DVD transfer for the Blu-ray... That would be just plain dismal. I'm praying they'll use a fresh new copy of the master, but I don't know if that'll happen.

http://www.petitiononline.com/drescuer/petition.html Sign petition, save The Rescuers!

[–] austinlovesjapan 13 years ago

Don't give up hope Taran Wanderer 2. Just keep praying and do all you can. I'm doing it with my Uncut DVD for Kimba the White Lion, Gigantor, Speed Racer, and Astro Boy. I will show them that corruption doesn't belong at Disney and good anime. They should get the best of my mind and it ain't good. Will you please support me for the uncut dvd release for these good anime? Please help us get Kimba the White Lion in Japanese on DVD!!!!!!!

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DisneyFan8080 13 years ago

They will be releasing The Rescuers and the Rescuers down under on blu ray this year. It'll be a combo pack coming this summer!

[–] Taran_Wanderer_2 13 years ago

Yes... we know.

http://www.petitiononline.com/drescuer/petition.html Sign petition, save The Rescuers!

[–] ObsessedMovieLover 13 years ago

Hi Taran Wanderer! I know you don't know who I am but I just wanted to let you know that I'm a big fan of this film and your cause! I signed that petition almost a year ago now! The one thing we truly differ on in opinion is The Rescuers Down Under which I find to be a highly fascinating films in its animation and its story. (I read your entire Amazon review and found it fascinating and totally understand where your coming from but, what can I say, a childhood favorite will always hold nostalgic value) I was actually really put out when I saw this in the Lady and the Tramp booklet as well. The Fox and the Hound's transfer (while not as terrible as some might make you thing) was simply ok and the lack of special features was abysmal. However I was recently put in a better mood by a friend of mine (also a huge fan of your cause, also a Disney fanatic) who pointed out to me That The Rescuers seems to be more reminiscent of the recent Fantasia release (which was outstanding) as opposed to the Fox and the Houd release.

A few tops he gave:

For one: the box art. The Fox and the Hound had terrible box art which simply showed what the two films had in common (the young versions of Todd and what's his face) on a green slate. Fantasia had a magnificent cover in which the short the two films shared stood proudly in the middle of a split cover that shows each film on either side respectively. The Rescuers shares more in common with the latter's box art.

Two: Both of the films were released in theaters and were at least mildly successful. Fox and the Hound's sequel is an abomination in film-making. It is straight to dvd garbage that doesn't deserve a single viewer. Rescuers Down Under is a little different. Many people in my generation look back at it fondly with a sense of nostalgia (kind of like Fantasia 2000) while the older people look back at the original as the TRUE masterwork of animation technology and story telling (kind of like Fantasia). While neither work is quite as publicly respected as the films I've compared them to they are still quite popular.

Three: Your petition. More people know about your petition that I think you realize! I actually found it on a forum post that had nothing to do with you where some one simply said that fans of The Rescuers should give it a look at. I think there might be something to be said just for that.

These comparisons are said because the Fantasia set was incredible. With tons of bonus features (although most had to be accessed through BD-Live but whatever) for each film and both films receiving detailed and magnificent transfers. No matter which film you wished to purchase you were given your money's worth for it. I can only hope that this will be the case for The Rescuers and that hopefully the negative reaction to the Fox and the Hound box set won't be seen again until the Pocahontas re-release (which has much more in common with the Fox and the Hound release). I just wanted to try to give you some optimism as I know that this means a lot to you and to let you know that you are not alone in your wish of seeing this childhood classic fully restored and respected by the company that made it in the first place!

With love and optimism,
Andrew Potter

A better signature.