.jpg)
If you like to play the Disney Vault game then I have some important news for you: one of Disney’s most famous love stories, “Lady and the Tramp,” was freed from its locked depths this month. I’m not sure how long it will be available, probably for a number of months, but if you’ve been waiting to purchase this film now’s the time to do it.
Of course Disney does a bit more than just let movies out of the Vault; the company always dresses up the discs in fancy editions with special content; whether or not the content is worth the wait and the extra price is up for individual consumers to decide. This time it’s the “Lady and the Tramp” Blu-Ray and DVD Diamond Edition combo packs.
What exactly does that mean? For $22.99 for either the Blu-Ray or DVD or $27.99 for a combo pack featuring both, you get the movie and a bonus disc. Special features include deleted scenes and a never-before-released deleted song, “making of” shorts, a documentary on how they found the voice of the Siamese cats (Peggy Lee did the voices, but any information on the directorial choices for these characters should be interesting, to say the least), and more. Two special features stand out, enough so that the official Disney Parks blog thought they merited their own post.
The first concerns a Disney legend, one so hallowed that it even made an appearance as I played through “Epic Mickey.” It’s Walt Disney’s apartment.
Disney buffs know that Walt Disney kept a live-in apartment above the fire station on Main Street in Disneyland. He and his family actually lived there from time to time. The “Lady and the Tramp” Diamond edition contains an interview with Walt’s daughter Diane Disney Miller, in which she tours and describes the apartment. You can catch a sneak peek of it in the YouTube video from the Parks blog post.
What does the apartment have to do with “Lady and the Tramp”? Not necessarily a lot; in order to justify the whole vault-and-special-edition practice Disney Co. has to load a bunch of special features onto the discs when they re-release a film. I imagine now after years of the custom they’re starting to run low on bonus clips, especially for the older films. But in the clip of “Remembering Dad” posted on the Parks blog, Miller does assert that her father spent much time living in his Disneyland apartment during the production of “Lady and the Tramp.” So at least there is some connection.
The other special feature to which Disney draws extra attention is “Second Screen.” In order to access this feature users have to insert the disc into their computers. Then players can load an “inside Walt’s Story Meetings” feature, and also access an interactive tour of Walt’s apartment.
I’m not sure what the point is behind Second Screen; why make someone have to access just a few bonus features in a separate place from the rest? I’d get it if they were a hidden Easter egg, but if that was the case then they shouldn’t be advertised.
Well, no matter what “Lady and the Tramp” fans should be glad to hear of this re-release. Those who wanted to own the film either had to content themselves with rentals, pay a hefty $44 for a new copy of the 2006 release, or make do with a cheaper used copy.
Related Articles:
A Disney Lover’s Valentine Treat
Princess Sofia the First: Let’s Hope She’s the Last
*(This image by Karen Horton is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
