Disney announced today via press release that the new Blu-ray of Snow White is launching their Diamond Collection line, which is going to take over its previous branding as Platinum for the Blu-ray and DVD release. This Diamond Collection isn't replacing Platinum, but supplementing it, understandably so in this case where a prior Platinum release exists. More significant in the announcement is that they included some of the supplemental features that hadn't been previously announced. Here's what they teased (emphasis mine):
Hyperion Studios - Audiences are digitally transported to 1937 to discover first-hand the Hyperion Studios, the original studio Walt Disney himself built and where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was conceived and developed. Viewers will virtually walk the halls of this historic landmark experiencing life at Hyperion Studios back in the 1930's. This amazing "Backstage Disney" feature contains newly dimensionalized archival photos, animator recordings, archival transcripts and rare footage of Walt himself revealing how Disney's gifted filmmakers crafted the very first animated feature.
This sounds very much like the tour of Sleeping Beauty's castle on that DVD/Blu-ray, but this is much more interesting to me as this is more Film History than Theme Park History.
Magic Mirror - Using the latest in Blu-ray technology, the iconic Magic Mirror guides the audience through the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Diamond Edition features with ease serving as the "host" for an incredibly immersive experience. The Mirror will recognize viewing patterns, knows where the audience has left off and will even suggest where to navigate next. This marks the first use of artificial intelligence in a Disney Blu-ray release and provides viewers the control to personally create a customized Snow White experience.
The disc will "talk" to you about data the player has collected regarding how many times you've watched, when you've left off where, and so on. Read the Terms and Conditions when you get the disc and see if any of that info is transmitted back to Skyne--er, Disney.
DisneyView - Disney's pioneering animated feature is brought to the modern era of widescreen high definition viewing by allowing the user to expand their viewing experience beyond the original aspect ratio of the film. Utilizing Disney Blu-ray technology, acclaimed Disney artist Toby Bluth was able to 'draw' beyond the borders of classic full frame cinema and fill the otherwise dark edges of the screen with beautiful custom imagery, giving audiences a new view of their animated classic favorite.
This is the one people will howl about. Snow White was a 4:3 Academy ratio movie, and now all these parents out there are buying big wide 16:9 HDTVs. Instead of stretching the picture to get rid of those "horrible black bars," they've drawn in borders. Before purists start screaming, it's an option, not a forced feature.
About Toby Bluth - Disney artist Toby Bluth tells how the movie inspired him to create the superb DisneyView art.
No one start crying about how Toby Bluth is the Devil incarnate. He's Don Bluth's brother. This is his website.
Mirror, Mirror On The Wall - Through BD-Live, this mirror can find the secret princess inside each viewer with a series of questions, then create for them a personal message from their favorite princess who will call them on the telephone.
"Honey, why the hell is Princess Aurora trying to sell me long distance??"
What Do You See? - To win this exciting interactive game, players must untangle scrambled images.
Memory: now with the power of Blu-ray Disc!
Jewel Jumble - Players put jewels from the Dwarfs' mine in the proper order to win this game.
Uhhh, Columns from the Sega Genesis?
Scene Stealer - Allows viewers to upload a personal photo and experience life as one of the Seven Dwarfs--on-screen in the actual film.
Remember the Wedding Crashers online game that allowed you to paste your face on one of the guys in the hunting sequence? It's that, but for the whole movie. You too can be as Grumpy or Dopey as you want. Hopefully there's a screening process, or we'll see a ton of screenshots of Doc with a penis for a face.
Ignore the Platinum in this image and expect lots of "cutting edge" comments.
Snow White: Diamond Edition arrives in a two-Blu, one-DVD Combo Pack set (like Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio) on October 6th, with a DVD version following seven weeks later.