Wednesday 20 March 2013

Upcoming UK Disney Blu-ray Details

©Disney

We in the UK often get a raw deal of things, Disney are a particularly nefarious culprit of giving us films late. One such area is that we get Disney Blu-rays at times completely independent to the US, sometimes this is good (we got Cinderella and Peter Pan early), but sometimes it isn't (we still haven't got the Finding Nemo Blu-ray, and the bonus features we get on our BD releases are always slim pickings). However, once in a while there's a ray of light in the dark, stormy night; for instance, we've got a succulent slew of Disney Blu-ray releases coming up in the next month.

Most noteworthy is that of Aladdin. Aladdin is a film Disney have been teasing us the HD release of for a while now, and one that we're only now getting a whiff of actually getting. It's slated for an ambiguous "Spring 2013" release in the US, but Amazon.co.uk has it listed for release over here on 15th April! Downside, the bonus features on the set are slim-to-none:
  • Filmmakers’ Audio Commentary
  • The Making Of Aladdin
  • Sing-Along With The Movie
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Music Videos
  • Deleted Songs

Alongside Aladdin, UK Disney fans will be able to enjoy a whole lot more: Mulan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Brother Bear are all set to be released on that same day. Before then though, the Who Framed Roger Rabbit: 25th Anniversary Blu-ray set is being released on 25th March (that's this Monday).

UPDATE - 22/03/2013, 19:43 (GMT): Disney UK PR reps just sent us across the cover (top) for the Blu-ray release of Aladdin, complete with logos, numbering and BBFC certifications, so it looks like this may well be the cover we get. Keep your eyes peeled for reviews in the next few weeks.

You can order or pre-order any of these Disney Blu-rays and support the blog in one fell swoop by going through our Amazon links below.

9 comments:

  1. I'm surprised the UK edition's real cover hasn't been revealed yet (complete with the BBFC certifications and all).


    That being said, it's possible that "Aladdin" is no longer a Diamond Edition here in the states. Maybe it'll come out as a stand-alone release this autumn to plug the Broadway musical which opens Spring 2014.

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  2. Munir Abedrabbo21 March 2013 at 04:27

    I really hope it gets released this year. I don't care if its Diamond or not. All I want is a stand-alone release (no cheapquels) and all the excellent bonus features from the 2-disc Platinum edition DVD. The Diamonds are not what they used to be in terms of quality bonus material and I prefer old bonus features instead of "Disney Intermission", "Virtual Vault" or "Second Screen". Please Disney, is it too much to ask??

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  3. Benjamin Boekelaar21 March 2013 at 06:37

    The Australian version says it has this special feature: 'A Diamond In The Rough: The Making Of Aladdin' along with the ones yours says.

    And our cover is just the cover you posted but with our rating system on it though there is an alternative cover that looks a lot better.

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  4. Huh, odd how you get these subtle differences! Yeah, I assume this is a temp cover - at least I hope so, it's hardly an eye-catcher.

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  5. Yeah, I assume (hope) this is just a place-holder cover, but you would've thought we'd have got the real one by now. Either way, it'll be great to have it in HD!

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  6. Well 'The Rescuers' had reused it's cover from it's old DVD release, so it wouldn't surprise me if this actually was the cover for our Aladdin release...but geez, this is the VHS cover isn't it?!
    Even our 'Hunchback' Blu cover looks like they're just reusing the art for the previous DVD release despite the US version getting a new cover art. Although looking at their cover, whilst I like the effect of Quasimodo looking down on the town, the gargoyles look like they were added in as an afterthought. Or maybe they're there as a representation of how bad the animation is in it's sequel XD

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  7. Disney just sent me a copy of the cover, complete with BBFC certifications, logos and whatnot, so it looks like this may well be the cover we get.


    Hell, almost all Disney DVD and Blu Ray covers suck!

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  8. I think i will end up trying to see if my blu ray player can be region unlocked (Note all our blu's are unlocked) and just import American ones. I've ended up doing this with DVDs for a while now too. Tired of buying shoddy UK releases.

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  9. Yeah, as if anyone would ever want to get the UK version of the Blu Ray! Well, that does sound like a better choice...

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