Rant of the Month: Disney's Classic/Masterpiece/ Platinum/ Diamond editions

Happy April everybody.  SimbaKing94 here to give you guys my first true rant of 2014.  I haven't done one of these in a long time, but I feel I have no choice on this matter.  Here we are, five months since Frozen began shattering box office records for Disney and the signs that a second Disney Renaissance seem to be treading strong.  But herein lies a fairly pertinent question: undoubtedly, the popularity of films like Tangled and Frozen will almost certainly garner them recognition in Disney's next major line of releases.  After all, up until the Platinum Edition line began in 2001 with the DVD release of Snow White, each subsequent collection was added to by major releases coming out of theaters at the time.  For instance, The Little Mermaid first came out in the Walt Disney Classics line in 1990, less than five months after it's theatrical debut.  The Classics Collection would also add The Rescuers Down Under, The Great Mouse Detective, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.  The Masterpiece line would eventually add these post 1981 Disney films:
The Lion King, Pocahontas, Oliver and Company, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, The Black Cauldron, and Mulan. 

But, as we all know, after the turn of the millennium, the animation department hit a skid.  Therefore, in order to capitalize on the anniversaries of these up and coming releases, Disney split both the Classics collection and Masterpiece collection into two groups.  The first was the Gold Classics Collection, which released several of their films, like Alice in Wonderland, The Aristocats, and Pocahontas to DVD and would keep these films available until a more updated version was released when the film reached a specific milestone.

The second line was the Platinum Editions, the company's more elite films.  But the studio didn't really define what made a film elite.  Therefore, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty each received their own special releases and a slot in the Platinum Edition line.  In case you don't know, here is the order of releases in the Platinum Editions Line:

Fall 2001: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Fall 2002: Beauty and the Beast
Fall 2003: The Lion King
Fall 2004: Aladdin
Spring 2005: Bambi
Fall 2005: Cinderella
Spring 2006: Lady and the Tramp
Fall 2006: The Little Mermaid
Spring 2007: Peter Pan
Fall 2007: The Jungle Book
Spring 2008: 101 Dalmatians
Fall 2008: Sleeping Beauty
Spring 2009: Pinocchio

Herein lies the first problem.  Disney, who once promised a seven to ten year release pattern, went against their word and released several films (specifically Peter Pan), more than 5 times to video and DVD (1990, 1998, 2002, 2007, 2013), while a film like Aladdin has only received 2 releases since it's 1992 debut (1993, 2004).

Here is what the order should have been:

Spring 2001: Fantasia
Fall 2001: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Spring 2002: Aladdin
Fall 2002: Beauty and the Beast
Spring 2003: Peter Pan
Fall 2003: Cinderella
Spring 2004: Sleeping Beauty
Fall 2004: The Lion King
Spring 2005: Lady and the Tramp
Fall 2005: Pinocchio
Spring 2006: 101 Dalmatians
Fall 2006: The Little Mermaid
Spring 2007: Bambi
Fall 2007: The Jungle Book

Then, in 2008, you could begin the Diamond Editions, even allowing some to enjoy anniversaries:

Spring 2008: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Fall 2008: Sleeping Beauty
Spring 2009: Fantasia
Fall 2009: Beauty and the Beast
Spring 2010: Peter Pan 
Fall 2010: Cinderella
Spring 2011: Lady and the Tramp
Fall 2011: The Lion King
Spring 2012: Bambi
Fall 2012: Aladdin
Spring 2013: 101 Dalmatians
Fall 2013: Pinocchio
Spring 2014: The Jungle Book
Fall 2014: The Little Mermaid

After this can be done, the second problem comes in.  This list was created under the context that Disney wouldn't release another film worthy of these films.  Unfortunately o(r fortunately for us) Disney made two films worthy of addition to the line: Frozen and either Tangled or The Princess and the Frog.

This complicates things, especially if you want to remain loyal to all of these films.  Here are a few steps you can do to solve this:

1. Drop films from the list that are borderline classics- I think we can all agree on films that need to be on this list.  Films like Snow White, Pinocchio, Cinderella, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast just to name a few.  But that does not mean that all films need to be in this list.  For instance, considering that the company re-releases Peter Pan every five years on average, take it off this list and let be a semi-general release.  Release it every few years, but do not hold it in the same regards as the others

2. Define the Word "Classics": The "entertained audiences" excuse has worn out it's welcome.  You need to strictly define the word Classics.  Does it mean critical praise?  Does it mean box office success?  Does it mean fan praise (since when has Disney cared about that?)?  Audiences continue to grow more diverse each year.  More seem to be drawn to films like Frozen and The Lion King over films like Bambi or 101 Dalmatians.  You need to be specific as to what constitutes a film like this...

3. Split the groups up again: The Classics films all seem to take a split in one specific area: between The Jungle Book and The Little Mermaid.  No film is in the Platinum Edition line or Diamond Edition line that was released between 1968 and 1988.  Therefore, you can split them into two more collections:

The Golden Age Editions:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Pinocchio
Fantasia
Bambi
Cinderella
Sleeping Beauty
The Jungle Book
Lady and the Tramp
Peter Pan

The Renaissance Editions:

The Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
The Lion King
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Frozen
Tangled
The Princess and the Frog
Tarzan

If you split the collections up, then release one from each line each year, none of the films will sit in the moratorium for too long, and you can get away with adding several newer titles into the line.  As for 101 Dalmatians, a film missing from the older list, you could re-release it every few years or alternate that with Peter Pan or something.  To sum up, we need to get films to be available in the 6-9 year range, and keep Peter Pan out of the 3-6 year line and Aladdin out of the 10-12 year line.