Disney is in Minneapolis today for an insiders’ look at its Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray release, due Oct. 7. And on Friday, the folks from the House of Mouse’s home-entertainment division return for a very public promotion of the Blu-ray and DVD releases of Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of
Both Worlds 3-D Concert and Camp Rock: Extended Rock Star Edition, both due Aug. 19.

The big news is Sleeping Beauty. Disney has always been an innovator — Snow White was one of the first great special-edition DVDs, for example — and its plans for Sleeping Beauty continue that tradition. The 1959 animated classic’s release on Blu-ray Disc will also mark the debut of the Disney BD-Live Network, which will allow viewers to access cool online-enabled extras. I got a sneak preview this morning, and here’s what’s in store:

Movie Chat (pictured above): Talk with friends anywhere while you’re all watching the film and see their real-time comments on-screen. You can use a split-screen interface to key in text with your remote, or use any text-enabled device, such as a laptop or cell phone. It would be nifty if Disney used this feature to hold scheduled chats, say, with people involved in the making of the film.

Movie Mail (pictured below): You can record a video message (using your own device) and send it to someone to be viewed during the film. A demo showed a father on a business trip sending a “miss you” message to his daughter during the movie’s birthday cake scene.

Movie Challenge: Compete in an online trivia game against other viewers while the movie plays. Games could be updated or added via the network depending on consumer interest.

Disney Movie Rewards Live: Accessing various features on the disc earns points in this existing incentive program, which can now be accessed via BD Live. Points can also be redeemed, say, for avatars used in games and extras such as trailers.

Of course, the Blu-ray release of Sleeping Beauty, which has been fully restored and presented in its original widescreen aspect ratio, will also feature traditional extras, such as picture-in-picture commentary, making-of featurettes and a disc-based game. More importantly, similar BD Live extras will appear on ensuing Disney Blu-ray releases and capitalize on the power of the Disney BD Live Network.

As far as Camp Rock and Hannah Montana, if you have a tween kid, you might want to head to Southtown Center (494 and Penn Ave., Bloomington) on Friday between 12:30 and 5 p.m. That’s when the free ”Rock Like They Do” bus tour will stop in the Twin Cities as part of the promotion for the upcoming Blu-ray and DVD releases of those Disney titles. Young fans can see Miley Cyrus’ 75-foot tour bus, get their hair styled like a rock star and sing along karaoke-style to songs by Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. None of the Disney stars will actually be there, but fans can bring a camera and get their pictures taken with life-size cutouts of Hannah Montana and the cast of Camp Rock, along with some freebies. What a deal.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 10:43 am and is filed under DVDs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.