The Last Unicorn 25th Anniv. DVD - get it from Conlan
Robotech_Master
purchase the DVD of The Last Unicorn via Conlan Press, Peter
S. Beagle's current publisher, you're helping to support Beagle
himself, who really needs the money (especially since the fight is
still ongoing to get the distributors of the movie to cough up the
money they owe Peter from all the prior home video editions). Also,
for an additional $10 over the cost of the DVD, Beagle will personally
autograph it in three places.
http://www.conlanpress.com/html/news.html
So if you've already got it pre-ordered elsewhere, cancel it. It might
be a couple bucks more from Conlan, but over half the purchase price
is going direct to Peter.
--
Chris Meadows aka | WWW: http://www.terrania.us | Somebody
Robotech_Master | ICQ: 5477383 AIM: RoboMastr | help, I'm
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Chris Sobieniak
> I'd just like to bring people's attention to this bit of news: If you
> purchase the DVD of The Last Unicorn via Conlan Press, Peter
> S. Beagle's current publisher, you're helping to support Beagle
> himself, who really needs the money (especially since the fight is
> still ongoing to get the distributors of the movie to cough up the
> money they owe Peter from all the prior home video editions). Also,
> for an additional $10 over the cost of the DVD, Beagle will personally
> autograph it in three places.
>
> http://www.conlanpress.com/html/news.html
>
> So if you've already got it pre-ordered elsewhere, cancel it. It might
> be a couple bucks more from Conlan, but over half the purchase price
> is going direct to Peter.
I'll have to do that.
Derek Janssen
> I'd just like to bring people's attention to this bit of news: If you
> purchase the DVD of The Last Unicorn via Conlan Press, Peter
> S. Beagle's current publisher, you're helping to support Beagle
> himself, who really needs the money (especially since the fight is
> still ongoing to get the distributors of the movie to cough up the
> money they owe Peter from all the prior home video editions). Also,
> for an additional $10 over the cost of the DVD, Beagle will personally
> autograph it in three places.
>
> http://www.conlanpress.com/html/news.html
IOW, it's one of those "Koyaanisqatsi" style legal-defense-fund private
charity sales?
Heck, I'd buy a copy just for that, if it was...a different movie. :/
Derek Janssen
eja...@comcast.net
Phil Yff
> I'd just like to bring people's attention to this bit of news: If you
> purchase the DVD of The Last Unicorn via Conlan Press, Peter
> S. Beagle's current publisher, you're helping to support Beagle
> himself, who really needs the money (especially since the fight is
> still ongoing to get the distributors of the movie to cough up the
> money they owe Peter from all the prior home video editions). Also,
> for an additional $10 over the cost of the DVD, Beagle will personally
> autograph it in three places.
>
> http://www.conlanpress.com/html/news.html
>
> So if you've already got it pre-ordered elsewhere, cancel it. It might
> be a couple bucks more from Conlan, but over half the purchase price
> is going direct to Peter.
If you have an all region/all system DVD player, I recommend buying the
German edition instead (region 2 PAL). It includes two English audio
tracks - 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital.
Unlike ITC/Granada, Concorde (the German publisher) has provided Beagle
with full royalties. Unlike the original poor quality pan and scan ITC
DVD, the German edition was a high quality widescreen version. In fact,
the 25th anniversary edition is a derivative from the German version. So,
if you can play Region 2/PAL DVDs why settle for a copy when you can get
the original at a better price.
Mata ato de,
Phil Yff
S.t.A.n.L.e.E
But you don't get the autographs. ^_^
(Beastiality!)
Laters. =)
STan
--
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/___/\/\___|__| |__|___| \ ___|
Robotech_Master
> So, if you can play Region 2/PAL DVDs why settle for a copy when
> you can get the original at a better price.
For one thing, the American version will have extras in English,
including a video interview with Beagle.
Phil Yff
>
>> So, if you can play Region 2/PAL DVDs why settle for a copy when
>> you can get the original at a better price.
>
> For one thing, the American version will have extras in English,
> including a video interview with Beagle.
I've already seen several Beagle interviews both about the film and about
his legal struggles. It's true that he was dealt with unfairly. However,
the real travesty was that the region 1 DVD was just a poorly transferred
copy of the pan and scan VHS. It came out in early 84. It took him a year
before he figured out he was not getting paid his fair share. He has
obsessed quite a bit how unfairly he's been treated. However, I haven't
heard him say anything about how the customers were treated unfairly by
having to pay premium prices for a very poor production. The German DVD
came out at the same time complete with English audio and it was remastered
and faithful to the theatrical widescreen version. This is the real issue.
8-Bit Star
Phil Yff wrote:
> it was remastered
> and faithful to the theatrical widescreen version. This is the real issue.
Say what? Last I remember, The Last Unicorn was a made-for-TV movie.
(Rankin-Bass did theatrical features?)
Derek Janssen
Yyyyep. Just one. [Insert "pre-Studio Ghibli" tidbit here]
Small indie-release studio though, hence the ownership troubles.
Derek Janssen
eja...@comcast.net
Robotech_Master
> It's true that he was dealt with unfairly. However, the real
> travesty was that the region 1 DVD was just a poorly transferred
> copy of the pan and scan VHS.
I don't think Beagle necessarily had anything to do with the way the
movie was released. It's not as if he owned the rights to it.
Jack Bohn
>8-Bit Star wrote:
>
>> Phil Yff wrote:
>>
>>>it was remastered
>>>and faithful to the theatrical widescreen version. This is the real issue.
>>
>>
>> Say what? Last I remember, The Last Unicorn was a made-for-TV movie.
>>
>> (Rankin-Bass did theatrical features?)
>
>Yyyyep. Just one.
Mad Monster Party!!!
--
-Jack
David Given
[...]
> For one thing, the American version will have extras in English,
> including a video interview with Beagle.
Alas, I got three-quarters of the way through the order process before
realising that the American version would cost more to ship to the UK than the
DVD itself cost...
I don't suppose it's available here, is it?
--
┌── ｄｇ＠ｃｏｗｌａｒｋ．ｃｏｍ ─── http://www.cowlark.com ─────────────────────
│ "Parents let children ride bicycles on the street. But parents do not
│ allow children to hear vulgar words. Therefore we can deduce that cursing
│ is more dangerous than being hit by a car." --- Scott Adams
Megane
David Given <d...@cowlark.com> wrote:
> Robotech_Master wrote:
> [...]
> > For one thing, the American version will have extras in English,
> > including a video interview with Beagle.
>
> Alas, I got three-quarters of the way through the order process before
> realising that the American version would cost more to ship to the UK than the
> DVD itself cost...
>
> I don't suppose it's available here, is it?
Didn't someone mention a German DVD?
Peter Bruells
Yes, but the point was the the new anniversary edition was based on
the German DVD, with extras in English. Personally, I'll buy the
German edition some day, just to hear Christopher Lee speak German...
Derek Janssen
...Oh, well, if we're counting THOSE, four, then. ("The Daydreamer"?
"Marco"?)
Derek Janssen
eja...@comcast.net
Phil Yff
There was a theatrical release - widescreen. In fact, the theatrical
release in Germany was a huge box office hit.
Derek Janssen
US, Dec. 1982, in fact.
(You're thinking of "A Flight of Dragons" and that other "Return of the
King", which DIDN'T get releases.)
Derek Janssen (and we won't count the animated "King & I", as R-B was
already out of business by that point)
eja...@cocmast.net
Phil Yff
> On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 19:57:20 -0500, Phil Yff <phil...@adelphia.net> wrote:
>
>> It's true that he was dealt with unfairly. However, the real
>> travesty was that the region 1 DVD was just a poorly transferred
>> copy of the pan and scan VHS.
>
> I don't think Beagle necessarily had anything to do with the way the
> movie was released. It's not as if he owned the rights to it.
My point is you have to earn royalties. He wasn't paying attention to what
was going on with his intellectual property. The big villain in the piece
is ITC. They released the atrocious DVD using the pan and scan VHS version
rather than the theatrical version as the basis. As part of their
mercenary approach, they screwed Beagle out of his royalties.
What I would like to know is why it took Beagle a year to figure out that
the movie based on his book had been released on DVD and why, when he did
find out about the DVD, he didn't raise a ruckus about the low quality. As
the creator of the story he should have protested vehemently about putting
VHS quality on a DVD.
The bottom line is even if one goes to the Conlan site you are still
rewarding the distributor for bad behavior. One is sending a message that
it's OK for a publisher to exploit customers by following up a poor quality
release with a bells-and-whistles-version. The German release was good
right from the start. The studio paid the royalties as appropriate.
Wouldn't you rather reward the good guys for good behavior than keep giving
the bad guys more money in the hopes that eventually they'll produce
something adequate.
Phil Yff
Yes. Yes. If you can play region 2, PAL DVDs, get the German version. It
was remastered from the theatrical version and will knock your socks off.
It's got two English voice tracks (5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital) in addition
to the German. Amazon.de is selling it for under eight Euros.
Robotech_Master
> Yes, but the point was the the new anniversary edition was based on
> the German DVD, with extras in English. Personally, I'll buy the
> German edition some day, just to hear Christopher Lee speak
> German...
I have the German edition. It's quite good. Even if all the extras
are in German. (Though in at least one case this is actually a bonus;
I'm sure I got more enjoyment out of the Deutch "Thomas the Tank
Engine" trailer than I would have if I had seen it in English.) You
can order it through amazon.de; just log in with the userID and
password you use on your local English-language Amazon and it will
auto-populate your shipping information.
There's a UK edition too, but it's not anamorphic widescreen so avoid
it.
Robotech_Master
> There was a theatrical release - widescreen. In fact, the
> theatrical release in Germany was a huge box office hit.
And a German friend of mine tells me that it's traditionally shown
every year on German TV as a Christmas special.
Robotech_Master
> What I would like to know is why it took Beagle a year to figure
> out that the movie based on his book had been released on DVD and
> why, when he did find out about the DVD, he didn't raise a ruckus
> about the low quality. As the creator of the story he should have
> protested vehemently about putting VHS quality on a DVD.
I gather that Peter was in the process of trying to rebuild a career
that he had driven into a hole, while trying to care for his ailing
100-year-old mother whose estate had been bled dry by an unscrupulous
individual who was supposed to be helping her. As much of a mess as
his life was in at the time, I find it hard to blame him for being a
little distracted.
Also, just because you don't hear someone make a fuss over something
doesn't mean they approve of it. In business it's not usually the
best practice to make a public fuss over things right away, because
that can endanger any private discussions that are going on. Don't
assume that Beagle only "figured out" that he wasn't getting royalties
from the DVD and video sales at the time he announced it. Presumably
negotiations had been going on behind the scene for quite some time,
and they only made the public announcement when all other avenues had
failed. Likewise, don't assume he approved of it because he didn't
say anything against it. After all, going on a tirade against a
company for screwing up is not exactly going to make them more willing
to work with you to correct the issue.
> The bottom line is even if one goes to the Conlan site you are
> still rewarding the distributor for bad behavior. One is sending a
> message that it's OK for a publisher to exploit customers by
> following up a poor quality release with a
> bells-and-whistles-version.
So, essentially, once a crappy version has been released, you can't
buy a good version because that would reward them for releasing the
good version rather than the crappy version.
So, if a crappy version has been released, you can NEVER BUY THAT
MOVIE AGAIN even if they fix it in a reissue--or ESPECIALLY if they
fix it in a reissue, because you'll be "rewarding" them for releasing
the crappy version. :P Heaven forbid that you should just SKIP the
crappy version and get the better version, thus penalizing them for
the crappy one but rewarding them for the good one...
> The German release was good right from the start. The studio paid
> the royalties as appropriate.
Glad to hear it. I already have that one; have had it for years now.
But not everyone is going to be able to play multiregional/PAL
DVDs--and I want the English language extras too. And I want a copy
of the movie I can take elsewhere and show people whom I *know* don't
have that. Like the high-definition TVs at the local medical study
clinic.
> Wouldn't you rather reward the good guys for good behavior than
> keep giving the bad guys more money in the hopes that eventually
> they'll produce something adequate.
Personally, I'd prefer giving them the money once they *have* produced
something adequate.
Phil Yff
I, myself, first saw "Last Unicorn" on screen. Quoting from the Conlan
site:
"November 1982 — THE LAST UNICORN premieres on 648 movie screens in the
United States, earning $2,960,727 in its first week. In its second week it
expands to 690 screens and earns another $2,565,286, only a 13% drop.
(Source: VARIETY magazine's online box office database.) The movie stays in
distribution for at least 6-8 weeks around the country. Note: No box office
figures for the remainder of this initial release have yet been uncovered,
but based on the first two weeks, standard industry rules of thumb would
indicate a total US box office between $12 million and $18 million."
"October 1983 — DAS LETZE EINHORN, the German-language version of THE LAST
UNICORN, opens in West Germany. Thanks to an inventive campaign from its
local distributor, the film outgrosses the German release of STAR WARS,
earning an estimated $4.1 million."
Martin Kaletsch
> Megane <megane#fanbo...@127.0.0.1> writes:
>> Didn't someone mention a German DVD?
>
> Yes, but the point was the the new anniversary edition was based on
> the German DVD, with extras in English. Personally, I'll buy the
> German edition some day, just to hear Christopher Lee speak German...
If you want to hear him singing in German (and English), look for the single
"The Magic of the Whizards Dream" by Rhapsody.
--
Martin Kaletsch
Eric Schwartz
> What I would like to know is why it took Beagle a year to figure out that
> the movie based on his book had been released on DVD
Having recently spoken with a number of authors, I can tell you it's
because they generally don't get informed about these things, and
unless you're in the habit of searching the DVD shelves for your
movies (and few authors are egotistical enough, or have time enough,
to do this), it's easy to not notice. It's not as if he were
receiving any royalty cheques that would have alerted him to this
after all.
> and why, when he did find out about the DVD, he didn't raise a
> ruckus about the low quality.
Most likely because he was smart enough to realize there's nothing he
could do about it anyway. And because he was focused on the one thing
most authors are worried about anyway, which is getting paid for his
work.
> As the creator of the story he should have protested vehemently
> about putting VHS quality on a DVD.
Yeah, because looking like a whiny bitch is going to help him recover
his missing royalties. Oh wait, no it's not.
> The bottom line is even if one goes to the Conlan site you are still
> rewarding the distributor for bad behavior. One is sending a message that
> it's OK for a publisher to exploit customers by following up a poor quality
> release with a bells-and-whistles-version.
Or maybe, just maybe, one is sending the message that Beagle deserves
his royalties, and that one is happy to help out in the only
reasonable way one has available to one. I don't see you bitching
about the umpteen-billion versions of Evangelion ADV has put out; why
get so bent out of shape about somebody finally doing something right
for a change?
Seriously, Phil, most of the time I'm grateful for your input here,
even if it is sometimes denser than weapons-grade plutonium, but shit
like this makes me seriously consider sending ELL a check to implement
his proposal to shut you the hell up. Lighten the hell up for a
change, and get a sense of perspective. It's a fairly simple
narrative: Beagle gets screwed, finds out about it, and tries to get
just compensation. One company decides that regardless of what the
copyright owners say, they'll pay him royalties, and you think that's
a *BAD* thing? It's not like Beagle had anything to do with any of
the video releases; sure, he could have complained, but it wouldn't
have affected things one iota.
> The German release was good right from the start. The studio paid
> the royalties as appropriate. Wouldn't you rather reward the good
> guys for good behavior than keep giving the bad guys more money in
> the hopes that eventually they'll produce something adequate.
No, and you're an idiot for suggesting that's a reasonable approach.
-=Eric
Phil Yff
> On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:18:23 -0500, Phil Yff <phil...@adelphia.net> wrote:
>
>> There was a theatrical release - widescreen. In fact, the
>> theatrical release in Germany was a huge box office hit.
>
> And a German friend of mine tells me that it's traditionally shown
> every year on German TV as a Christmas special.
It also looks like the 25th Anniversary edition is going to use the box
cover art from the German edition.
Phil Yff
>
> So, essentially, once a crappy version has been released, you can't
> buy a good version because that would reward them for releasing the
> good version rather than the crappy version.
>
> So, if a crappy version has been released, you can NEVER BUY THAT
> MOVIE AGAIN even if they fix it in a reissue--or ESPECIALLY if they
> fix it in a reissue, because you'll be "rewarding" them for releasing
> the crappy version. :P Heaven forbid that you should just SKIP the
> crappy version and get the better version, thus penalizing them for
> the crappy one but rewarding them for the good one...
>
people who owned the 2004 DVD version - similar to upgrade prices in the
software industry. I also expect them to provide Beagle with the royalties
he is entitled to. There is no question that Beagle was screwed. However,
I think the issue has degenerated into a legal feeding frenzy right now as
the two sides haggle over the price. If I were the distributor, I would
cut Beagle a reasonable check and move on. Beagle would be free to take
further action if he felt the studio's good will gesture was insufficient.
My point is that right now the studio has not demonstrated that they are
the type of company I would like to do business with. The Conlan ploy
merely prolongs the agony without taking resolute action to resolve a
dispute that has affected both Beagle and fans of the movie.
Phil Yff
> On Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:33:28 -0500, Phil Yff <phil...@adelphia.net> wrote:
>
>> What I would like to know is why it took Beagle a year to figure
>> out that the movie based on his book had been released on DVD and
>> why, when he did find out about the DVD, he didn't raise a ruckus
>> about the low quality. As the creator of the story he should have
>> protested vehemently about putting VHS quality on a DVD.
>
> I gather that Peter was in the process of trying to rebuild a career
> that he had driven into a hole, while trying to care for his ailing
> 100-year-old mother whose estate had been bled dry by an unscrupulous
> individual who was supposed to be helping her. As much of a mess as
> his life was in at the time, I find it hard to blame him for being a
> little distracted.
I was one of the people who sent a letter to Granada in support of Beagle
so I'm definitely one of his supporters. However, since I have supported
him as the creator of the story, I would ask that he support fans of the
story by insisting on the highest quality of production.
Phil Yff
>
> There's a UK edition too, but it's not anamorphic widescreen so avoid
> it.
I think the UK edition is distributed by the same company that distributes
the US version. It was a UK company IIRC. It was ITC originally that
morphed into Granada. It looks now that it has a Lionsgate label. Bottom
line is that the UK version is the same as the US version except its PAL
rather than NTSC and a different DVD region.
Robotech_Master
> I was one of the people who sent a letter to Granada in support of
> Beagle so I'm definitely one of his supporters. However, since I
> have supported him as the creator of the story, I would ask that he
> support fans of the story by insisting on the highest quality of
> production.
Which it...looks as though he in fact has done, by getting them to
come out with the new R1 anamorphic/5.1 version based on the German
masters.
Asking that he go back in time and keep them from putting out the
crappy version is a bit much.
Eric Schwartz
> I was one of the people who sent a letter to Granada in support of Beagle
> so I'm definitely one of his supporters. However, since I have supported
> him as the creator of the story, I would ask that he support fans of the
> story by insisting on the highest quality of production.
Criminy, Phil, would you have him order the tide to retreat as well?
Repeat after me: WRITERS HAVE ZERO INFLUENCE OVER DVD RELEASES. It's
that simple. Try again: WRITERS HAVE ZERO INFLUENCE OVER DVD
RELEASES. See? It's easy! Let's do it one more time, just to make
sure we have it down: WRITERS HAVE ZERO INFLUENCE OVER DVD RELEASES.
Now please, go soak your head.
-=Eric
Phil Yff
>
>> The bottom line is even if one goes to the Conlan site you are still
>> rewarding the distributor for bad behavior. One is sending a message that
>> it's OK for a publisher to exploit customers by following up a poor quality
>> release with a bells-and-whistles-version.
>
> Or maybe, just maybe, one is sending the message that Beagle deserves
> his royalties, and that one is happy to help out in the only
> reasonable way one has available to one. I don't see you bitching
> about the umpteen-billion versions of Evangelion ADV has put out; why
> get so bent out of shape about somebody finally doing something right
> for a change?
>
particularly messy. The distributor charged theatrical quality prices for
a sub-VHS quality DVD. Compounding the mercenary approach, the distributor
reneged on sending Beagle his royalties. I did write Granada (the
distributor), last year, protesting their treatment of Beagle and the
inferior quality of their product.
With regards to Evangelion, I have no one to blame but the compulsive
collector in me. I bought the Japanese laser disk box set and watched it.
When it came out on Region 2 DVD, I bought that and watched it. When ADV
released the series on VHS, I bought it for the subs and watched it. When
ADV released the series on DVD, I bought it but never opened it - it's
still shrink wrapped. When ADV released the series on Platinum series in a
thin-packed DVD box-set, I bought it but never opened it - it's also still
shrink wrapped.
As far as I know, all the ADV releases are of high quality. The VHS tapes
are of higher quality than the "Last Unicorn" DVD. I keep buying because I
want to collect different versions of a great series and not because I was
dissatisfied with the quality of an edition. ADV sold the DVD box sets at
very attractive prices enticing people like me who already had the series
to buy a different version.
Robotech_Master
> The distributor charged theatrical quality prices for a sub-VHS
> quality DVD. Compounding the mercenary approach, the distributor
> reneged on sending Beagle his royalties. I did write Granada (the
> distributor), last year, protesting their treatment of Beagle and
> the inferior quality of their product.
Yep. And 550,000 people bought it, even with the inferior quality. I
wasn't one of them. I took one look at the back of the box where it
said full-frame and stereo and went, "Nuh-uh." (Though granted, that
was easier to do given that I already had my German R2 DVD of it.)
So now they're coming out with a version that's been done right. And
though they're still not paying Peter royalties on it, that's under
negotiation and the Conlan Press news page implied that they're closer
to an agreement than they have been. So if you buy the DVD through
Conlan Press, the retailer mark-up from those copies goes to
Beagle--plus, eventually, the royalties too.
You can't do anything about the old American DVD. I feel sorry for
the people who didn't know better than to waste their money on it, but
at this point it's a sunk cost for them. It's laudable that the
German company paid Peter royalties as they were supposed to, but that
really doesn't enter into the equation here. People who really love
the movie and want to watch it in the best quality on ordinary R1 NTSC
DVD players _will_ buy the 25th anniversary edition regardless of
whether they have the old R1 already. And if they're going to buy it,
they might as well buy it from Conlan so Peter gets more money out of
it.
(Anyway, in terms of double-dipping Granada is really at the "spitting
on the sidewalk" level when you look at some of the other DVD
franchises out there. Look at Star Wars. Look at Monty Python and
the Holy Grail. Look at X-Men. Look at Lord of the Rings.)
Derek Janssen
> You can't do anything about the old American DVD. I feel sorry for
> the people who didn't know better than to waste their money on it, but
> at this point it's a sunk cost for them. It's laudable that the
> German company paid Peter royalties as they were supposed to, but that
> really doesn't enter into the equation here. People who really love
> the movie and want to watch it in the best quality on ordinary R1 NTSC
> DVD players _will_ buy the 25th anniversary edition regardless of
> whether they have the old R1 already. And if they're going to buy it,
> they might as well buy it from Conlan so Peter gets more money out of
> it.
>
> (Anyway, in terms of double-dipping Granada is really at the "spitting
> on the sidewalk" level when you look at some of the other DVD
> franchises out there. Look at Star Wars. Look at Monty Python and
> the Holy Grail. Look at X-Men. Look at Lord of the Rings.
But then, they had studios. Last Unicorn had a production company that
went out of business long after the release studio did, and the title
was tossed in the air for grabs.
Like other "orphaned" indie titles from mom-and-pop release studios,
you're lucky you can get the video from a PD-vulture house if you can
get it at all.
Derek Janssen (jealous of "Unicorn" fans that it found a home, unlike
the Maurice Sendak "Nutcracker")
eja...@comcast.net
Robotech_Master
<eja...@nospam.comcast.net> wrote:
> But then, they had studios. Last Unicorn had a production company
> that went out of business long after the release studio did, and
> the title was tossed in the air for grabs.
> Like other "orphaned" indie titles from mom-and-pop release
> studios, you're lucky you can get the video from a PD-vulture house
> if you can get it at all.
I don't think that applies here, though. The production company may
have gone out of business, but the library of films, still under
copyright, was transferred from owner to owner with the sale of Rankin
& Bass's other video assets. It was never "up for grabs" or in the
public domain in any sense. It was just up to whoever did own it to
decide to put it out on DVD.
(Consolidation of studios in recent decades has led to this kind of
thing happening more and more lately. For instance, MGM/UA now owns
not only all its own James Bond films, but also Never Say Never Again,
*and* the original Casino Royale too.)
And it's not surprising that the first release was so half-hearted,
when you think about it. Probably some clueless studio executive, not
cognizant of the film's history or significance, took one look at the
cover and said, "Eh, no need to go to extra trouble for kiddievid.
Just slap whatever you've got on a disk, like you'd do with Care Bears
or My Little Pony."
Eric Schwartz
> I apologize for sounding a little shrill on the issue. This was
> particularly messy. The distributor charged theatrical quality prices for
> a sub-VHS quality DVD. Compounding the mercenary approach, the distributor
> reneged on sending Beagle his royalties. I did write Granada (the
> distributor), last year, protesting their treatment of Beagle and the
> inferior quality of their product.
All this is fine-- what I'm objecting to is your unwarranted and
completely invalid belief that Beagle had anything to do with either
version being released in any format, or that he would have been able
to affect it in any way, and that he deserves to be punished for it.
Here's a reconstruction of the imaginary conversation that might have
been had if Beagle had said anything:
SECRETARY
Sir, there's a Peter S. Beagle on the line. Apparently,
even though we did not contact him in any way about our
plans to release _The Last Unicorn_ on DVD, his psychic
found out about it, and he demands that we release a
high-quality version of the film for his fans.
GRANADA CHAIRMAN
Fuck Beagle. Also, send some people over to his house to
beat him until he forgets all about it.
Years pass.... until, finally...
SECRETARY
Sir, there's a Pete Beagle, something about giving the fans
who bought the crappy version of _The Last Unicorn_ a
discount on the new, improved transfer.
GRANADA CHAIRMAN
Beagle? He's the one suing us, right? Fuck him.
I mean, you're right that Granada sucks, you're right that they
shouldn't have released the first version the way they did, you're
right that releasing the updated version is profitable, but you know
what?
IT DOESN'T MATTER. It's not Beagle's fault, and he has not only no
responsibility for either DVD release, he has no blame for them
either. There's no reason for you to punish him because of someone
else's stupid decisions. Besides, it's not like you were forced to
buy the first one. Some of us know how to read reviews, and when I
found out the original transfer sucked so badly, I didn't bother.
-=Eric
Robotech_Master
> All this is fine-- what I'm objecting to is your unwarranted and
> completely invalid belief that Beagle had anything to do with
> either version being released in any format,
Actually, I think that the second release came about in part as a
result of the negotiations involving an "eminent" third party that
happened earlier this year.
In fact, it's right there on the Conlan Press news page:
| It took a lot of cheerleading, plus a lot of work by Peter and
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| Connor (nearly two years' worth, in fact) but we are pleased to
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| report that on February 6, 2007, Lionsgate Entertainment will be
| releasing a brand-new 25th Anniversary DVD edition of The Last
| Unicorn.
http://www.conlanpress.com/html/news.html
So they apparently had _something_ to do with getting this new one
out. Just not the old one.
Phil Yff
> Phil Yff <phil...@adelphia.net> writes:
>> I apologize for sounding a little shrill on the issue. This was
>> particularly messy. The distributor charged theatrical quality prices for
>> a sub-VHS quality DVD. Compounding the mercenary approach, the distributor
>> reneged on sending Beagle his royalties. I did write Granada (the
>> distributor), last year, protesting their treatment of Beagle and the
>> inferior quality of their product.
>
> All this is fine-- what I'm objecting to is your unwarranted and
> completely invalid belief that Beagle had anything to do with either
> version being released in any format, or that he would have been able
> to affect it in any way, and that he deserves to be punished for it.
> Here's a reconstruction of the imaginary conversation that might have
> been had if Beagle had said anything:
>
I'd already apologized for being shrill and was going to stop beating a
dead horse. However, it seems you're picking up where I left off. ^-^
I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but authors exert creative control all
the time. An example appropriate to this context is Miyazaki's reaction to
"Warriors of the Wind", HBO's butchered version of "Nausicaä of the Valley
of the Wind." Miyazaki imposed a strict no-edit mandate on future foreign
licensees of his work.
Like Miyazaki, I don't expect Beagle to be able to put the genie back in
the bottle once let out. What I do expect is that he would be an advocate
for fans of his work demanding that studios ensure appropriate quality
standards are met. For all I know, he has done that behind the scenes.
However, he has not been very vocal about it. Since fans, such as myself,
have been very vocal in our support of him, I would expect him to
reciprocate and be vocal in demanding that his work be shown in the most
favorable light. His effort might come to naught, but I would appreciate
it.
Oh, why did I say Miyazaki's example was appropriate to this context? Most
of the animation in "The Last Uniform" was contracted out to Topcraft, a
Japanese company whose primary creative talent went on to establish
Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli.
Phil Yff
>
> And it's not surprising that the first release was so half-hearted,
> when you think about it. Probably some clueless studio executive, not
> cognizant of the film's history or significance, took one look at the
> cover and said, "Eh, no need to go to extra trouble for kiddievid.
> Just slap whatever you've got on a disk, like you'd do with Care Bears
> or My Little Pony."
That I believe is a very astute observation and one that I agree with. I
doubt the people who marketed the DVD understood the value of the work they
were selling.
Invid Fan
<phil...@adelphia.net> wrote:
> On 14 Dec 2006 12:27:17 -0700, Eric Schwartz wrote:
>
> > Phil Yff <phil...@adelphia.net> writes:
> >> I apologize for sounding a little shrill on the issue. This was
> >> particularly messy. The distributor charged theatrical quality prices for
> >> a sub-VHS quality DVD. Compounding the mercenary approach, the distributor
> >> reneged on sending Beagle his royalties. I did write Granada (the
> >> distributor), last year, protesting their treatment of Beagle and the
> >> inferior quality of their product.
> >
> > All this is fine-- what I'm objecting to is your unwarranted and
> > completely invalid belief that Beagle had anything to do with either
> > version being released in any format, or that he would have been able
> > to affect it in any way, and that he deserves to be punished for it.
> > Here's a reconstruction of the imaginary conversation that might have
> > been had if Beagle had said anything:
> >
> I'd already apologized for being shrill and was going to stop beating a
> dead horse. However, it seems you're picking up where I left off. ^-^
>
> I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but authors exert creative control all
> the time. An example appropriate to this context is Miyazaki's reaction to
> "Warriors of the Wind", HBO's butchered version of "Nausicaä of the Valley
> of the Wind." Miyazaki imposed a strict no-edit mandate on future foreign
> licensees of his work.
>
That's the difference between the creator of a film controlling things
and an author doing the same. Could the creator of Kiki have any
influence on how Miyazaki's film version is released on dvd? Ask the
creator of the Earthsea books how these film deals work :)
--
Chris Mack "Refugee, total shit. That's how I've always seen us.
'Invid Fan' Not a help, you'll admit, to agreement between us."
-'Deal/No Deal', CHESS
Derek Janssen
Think was way back before the Warner/"Willy Wonka" Wars, where we cult
fans all first stood up for our rights and shoved the importance of
"kiddy movie" catalog titles back down the studio's throats--
Would be about '02 or '03, I'm thinking, and the first US "Unicorn"
would well predate that.
Derek Janssen
eja...@comcast.net
Robotech_Master
> I'm not trying to be antagonistic, but authors exert creative
> control all the time. An example appropriate to this context is
> Miyazaki's reaction to "Warriors of the Wind", HBO's butchered
> version of "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind." Miyazaki imposed
> a strict no-edit mandate on future foreign licensees of his work.
Except that Miyazaki is the director of the film.
That's like saying that the author of the books _Kiki's Delivery
Service_ or _Howl's Moving Castle_ should have control over how
Miyazaki's movies based on them are released.
> Like Miyazaki, I don't expect Beagle to be able to put the genie
> back in the bottle once let out. What I do expect is that he would
> be an advocate for fans of his work demanding that studios ensure
> appropriate quality standards are met. For all I know, he has done
> that behind the scenes. However, he has not been very vocal about
> it.
The funny thing about being vocal is that it tends to interfere with
your ability to get things done behind the scenes.
Eric Schwartz
> In fact, it's right there on the Conlan Press news page:
>
> | It took a lot of cheerleading, plus a lot of work by Peter and
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> | Connor (nearly two years' worth, in fact) but we are pleased to
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> | report that on February 6, 2007, Lionsgate Entertainment will be
> | releasing a brand-new 25th Anniversary DVD edition of The Last
> | Unicorn.
I wonder what the nature of the work was. It sounds like the
cheerleading (i.e., the convincing them to do it) was someone else,
and then Peter worked on the resulting product (under a new contract,
one hopes).
-=Eric
Derek Janssen
Lionsgate already had the last US release "inherited" from Artisan, so
it's not a question of new ownership--
It is, however, a little less tight-fisted than the '99-'00 Artisan
about putting modern-day perks on its DVD, especially its kids'-DVD line
from which it knows part of its bread is buttered. (Barbie already
having built their studio.)
Derek Janssen
eja...@comcast.net
Phil Yff
>> Authors exert creative control all
>> the time. An example appropriate to this context is Miyazaki's reaction to
>> "Warriors of the Wind", HBO's butchered version of "Nausicaä of the Valley
>> of the Wind." Miyazaki imposed a strict no-edit mandate on future foreign
>> licensees of his work.
>>
> That's the difference between the creator of a film controlling things
> and an author doing the same. Could the creator of Kiki have any
> influence on how Miyazaki's film version is released on dvd? Ask the
> creator of the Earthsea books how these film deals work :)
Naturally, some creative personnel are more influential than others. It is
also a given that film adaptations of books make substantial changes from
the books. Since we are talking about Miyazaki, it is interesting to note
that he met with Diana Wynne Jones and discussed his proposed script based
on her book "Howl's Moving Castle." She was very impressed and declined to
make any changes. Miyazaki also flew to England three months before the
release of his movie to give her an advance viewing of the movie. This is
the type of professional courtesy I like to see in the industry.