Buena Vista have today announced their DVD distribution plans in Europe, covering 30 regional territories, including the Middle East, Africa and the former Soviet Union. Teaming up with Warner Home Video, Buena Vista intend to release 100 titles from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures and various acquired motion pictures until the year 2000. Each of the films will see a simultaneous release with VHS. The DVD rollout will include the list of about 40 titles already released in the US, but also mentions films like “Dead Poet’s Society” and “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride”, which are also tentatively scheduled for US release, according to a Buena Vista representative.
The really interesting part is that Buena Vista’s press release also mentions that the company intents to release a wide selection of classics from the Disney library, including “Alice In Wonderland” and “Dumbo”. Checking with our sources in Buena Vista we were able to find out that Disney has indeed been taking a close look at the market for a while now, evaluating its potential. While not anytime soon, the Disney classic animation movies are definitely planned – and supposedly worked on – for a release on DVD. The coming months should reveal a number of exciting news on this end, as well as Buena Vista’s attitude towards anamorphic, 16×9 enhanced DVD releases.