On 12 Jan 97, DAWN BIDOT wrote to KIT BALLANTYNE:
 KB>> I think these films are so excellent that everyone should be able to
 KB>> see them. I know that high pricing would keep most people out of the
 KB>> market, so I don't try to make a buck off of my Disney hobby.
 DB> Yes, I agree with you on that point, that is why I had posted the 
rginal
 DB> message about how high some people were asking for the Videos.  I wish
 DB> I could get ahold of The Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty, and Lady and
 DB> the Tramp at a reasonable price...  Those are the only animated Disney
 DB> Videos that I am missing.
There's at least hope for you on getting two of the three titles you 
mentioned.  Little Mermaid should be out on video in summer of 1998.  That's 
only about 18 months from now.  Disney doesn't yet have a release date for 
Sleeping Beauty, but almost for sure, it will be released again sometime in 
the next few years.  That is the movie that has been on moratorium the 
longest.
The one you may not be able to get very soon is Lady.  There is some 
litigation going on concerning people who did voices and songs in that movie. 
(The video rights and alottments to that picture were never decided upon.)  
So there is a possibliy it may be years before it ever comes out on tape 
again. It *will* be in theaters though, because all movie and TV rights 
agreements were worked out in the 50s, so theatrical re-release and TV/Disney 
Channel broadcast isn't a problem.  But video is another story, and remains 
to be worked out.  The families of people who worked on the movie are really 
peeved because there were no agreements in place the first time Disney 
released Lady, and so Disney didn't have to pay out what would have been 
quite an amount to the people who worked on the movie.  Now those families 
want royalties from the first video release, as well as a share of the pie 
for every reissue of Lady from now on.  The studio doesn't want to do that, 
so right now things are at loggerheads, it's all being worked out in court, 
and God only knows how long that process will take.
But as I said, Sleeping Beauty and Little Mermaid you should be able to get 
at $16.95 or less sometime in the next few years, when Disney re-releases 
them.
--- GoldED 2.50
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