Bedknobs/Poppins/Pete's Dragon on the Horizon?

[that1guypictures]

As many of you may know, Mary Poppins 45th Anniversary edition
was re-released on DVD yesterday, but snubbed for Blu-ray release.

Now comes word that the other two major Disney live action musicals
Bedknobs & Broomsticks and
Pete's Dragon
will be "silently" discontinued on DVD as of January 31st, 2009.

Typically, in the past Disney has discontinued it's
animated titles by putting them in the "vault,"
while more widely available titles
(live action or lesser animated fare)
are "silently" discontinued
(AKA: Disney doesn't announce it, because they
want more people to buy the newer version that comes out,
while still allowing retailers to sell existing copies.)

Mary Poppins is already rumored for Blu-Ray
release for late 2009 or early 2010 as pointed out
by Golden Hollywood on thedigitalbits.com

Now with the Disney's other musicals
being discontinued on DVD it bodes well that
Disney may be gearing up for a series
of re-issues on DVD & Blu-Ray of these classic
musicals for release together to tie-in with each other.
Bedknobs and Pete's Dragon already
have 1080p masters prepped,
unless Disney wants to do a more thorough
restoration on them before they hit Blu-Ray.

Also, the Mary Poppins DVD that was released yesterday
does feature a remastered audio track and new special features
that I can confirm were filmed in HD. Also, the menu designs
were also done by a production company that specializes in
BD-Java, so they designs are likely to have been duplicated
from the designs on the forthcoming Blu-ray disc.

[Blu-News.com]

I hated Pete's Dragon, Bedknobs was entertaining though. Have you seen Pete's Dragon clips in high-def? It almost takes away from the experience.

[dmarvin]

If I can't have The Sound of Music on Blu yet, I will sure take Mary Poppins to tide me over.

[that1guypictures]

I hated Pete's Dragon, Bedknobs was entertaining though. Have you seen Pete's Dragon clips in high-def? It almost takes away from the experience.

I agree, Bedknobs is a much better film, and it's master is in great shape. Dragon's master however is not in good shape during the animated scenes, though the live action scenes are in great shape. Any scenes with SFX are in need of a restoration.

I for one would love to see Newsies.
It's an often overlooked modern Disney musical...
and it's got a great choreography and score...
plus Christian Bale is always a plus...I think he's a great actor.
Plus it had pretty great production values and would
definitely benefit from a proper HD remaster!