Guess what’s on the “Wonderful World of Disney” this Sunday night? “A Tale as old as time, true as it can be … “
That’s right. Disney’s 1991 Academy Award winner “Beauty and the Beast.” The very same film that you (and I) already own in the VHS format, but just recently bought as a DVD, is being shown – free of charge – this coming weekend on ABC. (Consult your local listing for exact times & listings).
Which – given the tens of millions of dollars that Disney has just spent on hyping the limited availability of the Platinum Edition of “Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition” may seem … well … kind of nuts. After all, how is it that Walt Disney Company expects us to believe that that DVD we all just purchased is a “Special Edition” when they’re giving away the same film for free on TV?
“What sort of business plan is this?,” you ask. For Disney to be showing “Beast” on ABC for gratis while the company’s retail partners are still struggling to move all those millions of copies of ‘Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition’ that they still have on the shelf? I mean, this Platinum Edition home video and DVD of the film only went on sale back on October 8th. Surely the higher-ups at the Walt Disney Company can’t believe that – in just over a month – that they’ve already sold all of the copies of “Beauty” that they’re going to sell.
Well – as it turns out – there actually is some sort of method to Mickey’s madness. You see, to hear the folks at Buena Vista Home Entertainment tell this story: This Sunday’s airing of “Beauty and the Beast” on ABC isn’t really giving away that movie for free. But – rather – this coming weekend’s presentation of “The Wonderful World of Disney” is actually a two hour long commercial for “Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition” as well as a marathon length ad for BVHE’s next big release: “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas – The Special Edition.”
How is this possible? Well, you have to understand that the version of “Beauty and the Beast” that will be airing on ABC this Sunday night will NOT be the “Special Edition” of that film. But – rather – the original 1991 version of the movie.
So the only chance that TV viewers will get to see that new “Human Again” production number (The much hyped addition to the 2002 IMAX re-release of “Beauty and the Beast”) will be during “The Wonderful World of Disney”‘s numerous commercial breaks. When (I’m told) several ads for the Platinum Edition of “Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition” will air over the length of the program.
Sounds sort of crass, doesn’t it? Well, wait ’til near the end of Sunday night’s show when a second series of “Beauty and the Beast” related ads will begin to air. This additional set of commercials will reportedly stress that, though the film that you’re watching appears to be ending, the story of “Beauty and the Beast” really isn’t over yet. And if viewers want to learn about what really happened to Belle during her first holiday at the castle, they’re just going to have to go pick up a copy of “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas – The Special Edition. ” Which (not-so-co-incidentally) goes on sale next Tuesday, November 12th.
Undoubtedly, some Disney Company critics (and – for that matter – a number of Disneyana fans) will decry foul at this tactic. Turning this much beloved film into a feature length advertisement for the “Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition” DVD (as well as an elaborate tease for this week’s upcoming release of “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas – Special Edition’). But the sad fact of the matter is, kids, Disney’s using this tactic because it works.
In the past, when Disney ran “Lady and the Tramp” and/or “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” on the “Wonderful World of Disney” just a few days prior to the release of the company’s direct-to-video sequels, both “Lady and the Tramp II : Scamp’s Adventure” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame II” sold extremely well. So it just stands to reason that – in order to help kick-start sales of the “Special Edition” version of the “Enchanted Christmas” DVD – that Disney would air the original version of “Beast” on ABC just days before the film’s sequel would go on sale.
Which means that the folks in Mouse House management will have no problem at all with turning “Beauty and the Beast” into one two hour long commercial. It’s just too bad that the same supposedly can’t be said for some of Disney’s retail partners.
How’s that? Well, I’ve heard that a number of the larger retail chains aren’t exactly thrilled with Disney’s unique promotional plan for this coming Tuesday’s DVD release of “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas – Special Edition.” Representatives of these companies have reportedly been quite vocal about expressing their displeasure with Disney’s decision to air – in its entirety – the original version of “Beauty and the Beast” for free on ABC this Sunday night.
What would these retailers have preferred? Reportedly, they were pushing for an hour long television special that would have hyped all of the extra features that can be found on the Platinum Edition of “B & B.” Not a two hour long program that basically gives away the film that they’re trying to sell for free.
Supposedly, these retail giants are extremely concerned that consumers won’t understand that the version of the film that’s being shown on “The Wonderful World of Disney” this coming weekend is significantly different from the one that they’ve currently got on sale at their stores. Which is why they fear that they may get stuck with millions of extra copies of the Platinum Edition of “Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition” that they can’t move. All because holiday shoppers will think that they already seen this film for free on ABC.
BVHE reps have tried to reassure these enormous retail chains that this won’t happen. That Disney will be going out of its way to make sure that ABC viewers understand that they’re NOT watching the “Special Edition” of “Beauty and the Beast.”
Which is why – should you actually decide to sit down and watch “Beauty and the Beast” on “The Wonderful World of Disney” this Sunday night … Well, be prepared for a pretty “Beast”-ly night of television. How so? Well, I’m told that there’ll only be one or two commercial breaks during the first half hour of the program. But, after that …
Well, how much fun do you think you could have watching a movie when – every 15 minutes or so – an ad would come on to remind you that you’re NOT actually seeing the really good version of that same film? That – no matter how much fun you may watching “Beauty and the Beast” – you’re still somehow short-changing yourself. That your life won’t be complete unless you own the Platinum Edition of “Beauty and the Beast: Special Edition” and/or “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas – The Special Edition.”
Just thinking about all that hype makes my head hurt. Which is why (me personally) I’ll probably end up watching “The Simpsons” this coming Sunday night.
I mean, I love “Beauty and the Beast” and all. (In fact, look for a new short series about the creation of that film to get underway here at JimHillMedia.com next week.) I just hate the idea of seeing Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale’s fine film – featuring all those wonderful Howard Ashman and Alan Menken songs – stretched and distorted so that it becomes this two hour long commercial for Disney DVDs.
Your thoughts?