I was going to take a miss on today’s update due to some behind-the-scenes additions, but this news was too big to pass on. Disney have announced two upcoming Blu-Ray high-definition disc releases, including one of immense interest to us animation geeks.

Now, don’t get excited…this past Tuesday’s issue of Peter Pan is not among them, but the story behind the creation of that original tale, the enchanting Miramax movie Finding Neverland certainly is. The film will be presented in 1080p video, while audio should hit our ears at uncompressed 48kHz, 24-bit 5.1 surround. The Finding Neverland BRD will feature the original DVD bonus materials including The Magic of Finding Neverland, a look at the making of the film, and Creating Neverland, exploring the film’s visual effects, plus deleted scenes with optional audio commentary. Also included is a “movie showcase” giving you instant access to the filmmakers’ three most cinematic moments that really push the brilliance of high definition’s picture and sound, as well as hilarious outtakes from the cast during the filming of the movie. Finally, On The Red Carpet joins the cast and crew at the film’s various premieres from around the world.

On top of that, Disney’s really big announcement – and surely a sign of things to come with the release of Cars in the not-so-distant future, are the details supplied for Chicken Little on Blu-Ray Disc. 1080p video and uncompressed 48kHz, 16-bit 5.1 audio make up the technical specs. Most importantly – and no surprise to anyone who criticised the original DVD’s lack of meaty bonus features – the disc will include brand new extras created in high definition exclusively for this release, including The Alien Invasion Game, a one or two player interactive set-top game that lets you battle invading aliens by playing as your favorite characters from the movie. Hosted by Chicken Little, the game is programmed in Java allowing the player to control their character in real time, all within a seamless game experience that would not be possible on DVD. Another hi-def exclusive is the Filmmaker Q&A, a unique interactive in-movie experience that allows the viewer to ask filmmakers Mark Dindal and Randy Fullmer questions about the making of the movie as the flick unspools.

A mistake in the press release mentions that Chicken Little‘s BRD also features “original DVD bonus materials including audio commentary with director Mark Dindal, producer Randy Fullmer, and visual effects supervisor Steve Goldberg”, which as we all know, was actually missing from that original release despite awareness that such a track existed. Yep, as I said in my review, “Can you say ‘double dip’? The lack of really meaty bonuses here can only scream of another edition coming down the line. No DTS audio, missing commentary or extensive documentary, plain packaging, etc – all adds up to a disc that’s bound to be replaced at some point with a special edition…indeed, could these absent features be waiting in the wings to play a part in the film’s eventual Blu-Ray debut pulling power?? Are fans being played for every penny we have? You betcha, and you can believe that more than a crazy chick screaming out that the sky is falling!”

Seems I wasn’t so far off the mark, and that perfectly accessible DVD features are being withheld in a bid to get us all buying this product again – and Chicken Little was no classic – seems forceful and unneeded. Sure, pack the new discs with exclusives, but don’t shut out the folks who can’t jump on the hi-def wagon and still have an interest into how these films were developed. Yes, DVD technology can only handle so much, and of course the newer format will be able to do much more, like the “in-movie Q&A”, but that doesn’t mean that good old standard DVD should become a secondary format. At the moment, hi-def is a niche collectors market, like LaserDisc was to VHS. It’s going to be no good packing those discs with too many exclusives if the audience isn’t large enough to enjoy and talk about them.

– Ben.