Blog Talkback: Toons of the 2000s: DVD and Digital Distribution - Parts 1 - 3

I'm glad you got Family Guy's airing history right.

A lot of articles about FG I have read, have incorrectly stated the series aired on FOX until 2003, even though the last new episode to air before the revival on FOX was Viewer Mail No.1 on February 14, 2002.
 
The effects of DVD for animated titles is highly over stated:

Animated films may be well covered by DVD, but there are way too many animated series (old and new) still not available on DVD.

Most older Cartoon Networks series still have not been released on DVD, while others have not been completed released on DVD. There have been more DVD releases in Australia, but still incomplete, and far too slow. I can only hope the new 'Hall of Fame' label will change that, in the future.

I don't think Disney released any of their own animated series completely on DVD. Their DVD releases suffered from poor quality (no restoration), episode order issues, and lacked any extras. Disney just included as many episodes as possible on the DVDs, resulting in compression issues.

Most series from Nickelodeon are still waiting for decent DVD releases, in terms of season sets. The DVD-Rs offered via Amazon are no better than high priced bootlegs.

Many of Warner Brothers later animated titles on DVD, suffer from pan and scan DVD releases. I wonder if that will ever be corrected, with Warner moving more to DVD-Rs, with their Warner Archive.

DVD allowed anime to include both English and Japanese versions, but there has been a reduction in English dubs in the last few years. There are still too many anime series (usually kids titles), that are only released with edited English only on DVD too.

Finally there are too many animated series (ie Animals of Farthing Wood, Exosquad, Once Upon a Time...Space, Phantom 2040, Twins of Destiny) with excellent stories, that have not been completely released on DVD, or released on DVD at all, anywhere worldwide.
 
The second part is worse than the first part, with information more on TV shows in general, rather than focused only on the animation side.

Again, animated series on DVDs are still lacking, compared to any other type on DVD. There has been no saturation for animated series, although anime titles on DVD went overboard at one point.

There was no mention of the rental side of iTunes service, although it only seems to be offered for animated movies, and never for episodes/seasons of animated TV series. The video quality is really lacking on iTunes service, compared to DVD too.

It seems like Japanese companies are limiting how anime can be released on Blu-Ray too, due to continued worries about reverse importation. With upscaled video, and lossly audio often been used, rather than true HD video, and lossless audio.

Why is the illegal content on YouTube highlighted, while the legal content isn't even mentioned? many animated titles have been legally added to YouTube in the last year, especially anime, and there aren't always region restrictions either.

Overall more of a world focus on online content would have been better, I don't think any other region offers as much online content as the USA.

Has the author never heard of a media centre system? a Windows based computer system, can easily double as a media centre, with minor additions (ie remote control and maybe TV Tuner). So you can still watch TV, DVD, video files or online content on a large screen, from the couch, with the aid of a single remote control.
 
Even though this was a three-part article, there are so many facets to DVD and digital distribution that it was tough to get them all in. In many cases I could only speak in broad strokes - that's why the iTunes entry doesn't explain the rental system and video quality. I also tried to stay away from general studio critiques and complaints about certain releases in order to maintain more of a big picture focus. Sometimes, especially in the second part, I needed to steer away momentarily to mention the format or method being discussed, but I always tried my best to keep the focus on animation.

As far as animated series on DVD, I don't believe I am overstating it. This was a market that literally did not exist ten years ago. Now, not only does this market exist, but studios have been filling that pipeline with all sorts of product. Do a lot of them have to do a better job with their releases? Absolutely, with Disney being by far the worst example. There's no excuse for Gargoyles to be left unfinished. And I'm still waiting for Warner to give me that Tex Avery At MGM set I've been dying for.

That said, it's unreasonable for the studios to release everything in their back catalogue. If I went up to the head of Warner Home Video and asked for Turbo Teen to be released he'd likely question my sobriety. The fact is that we're getting to the point where it is only niche product that remains to be released on DVD. Most of the big series have full or partial releases, and most of the newer series are being pushed out as quickly as possible.

As far as YouTube, I chose to highlight the grey area stuff for a reason. Pirates are usually first to embrace or catch on to a new technology. That's not to condone the practice, but to merely state the truth. And while there are legitimate shows streaming on YouTube, that issue was already covered in the section that mentioned Hulu and its ilk.

There is also a US-centric focus because that's where the site and most of the staff is based. While I tried to cover all areas, I am not the biggest anime follower and thus the article tends to focus more on Westernized animation.

I hope this clears up any misunderstandings about where I came from when writing this piece.
 
Actually before DVD there was a large amount of VHS releases of animated titles, I recall the animated/kids sections for VHS in shops been just as large. With direct to VHS animated movies for kids, been just as common as the current direct to DVD animated movies.

Animated titles in general have failed to take full advantage of the DVD format, with many DVD releases offering little better than VHS transfers for audio/video quality, and not offering any extras at all. Only animated movies from major studios, have taken complete advantage of the DVD format. DVD allows seasons sets and complete series to be released much easier, but those types of releases are less common for animated series.



I gave examples of the largest studios, in order to highlight just how little of their complete catalogues of animated series are actually available on DVD. I'm referring to both new and old animated series, and not just their back catalogues. Even recent animated series are lucky to get a few single DVD volumes, while people are wanting well done seasons sets of their recent favorite titles.

Animated series still suffer from not been released in their original aspect ratio too, compared to other types. There are far too many pan and scan DVD releases in the USA, with Warner Home Video been the worst culprit. It doesn't make any sense when even recent titles like Skunk Fu, and Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf And Death are still been released in pan and scan on DVD.



No, I don't think pirates are any quicker to catch on to newer technology. The Hulu section only mentions it was launched, based on the success of YouTube. Surely highlighting the legal side of YouTube would be much better way, to help support companies attempts to provide free content and samples of animated series in more recent times.
 
Regular slot or a one-time thing?

I don't get Boomerang, so if it did air it understandably slipped past my attention. Regardless, the fact that Pac-Man is on Xbox 360 is significant.


Again, I have to reiterate that I sought only to provide an overview of the industry and its evolution, considering how much ground I had to cover. I injected a little bit of my own critical voice but stayed away from overall critiques of releases.

Also, there is the question of whether season sets should be mandatory for releases targeted towards kids. For something like B:TAS or Avatar, season and volume releases are worthy and expected. For something like Skunk Fu or Yo Gabba Gabba, which are targeted to much younger audiences, their appropriateness is questionable.

That's due to how kids shows are usually purchased. Hannah Montana is available only in volume sets last I remember. If Disney made a season release, the volume sets would still be popular. Why? Because parents usually buy the volume sets to get their children to stop bugging them about it, or as a last-minute impulse purchase. That's why Return of the Joker got edited. That's how Disney made a fortune off of home video (and likely why they suck at season sets). That's why V?deo Brinquedo continues to make glaringly obvious animated feature knockoffs.

That said, while Warner is at fault for Skunk Fu they're not at fault for Wallace and Gromit. That release went through Lionsgate/HiT in the US.


I want to make this abundantly clear. Artists should get paid for their work. Studios should get paid for distributing their product. I did not write that to endorse piracy, but I felt that should have been mentioned.

That said, it is not opinion - it is cold, hard fact. Digital distribution of music caught on through piracy. Digital distribution of video was circulating on IRC channels and file-sharing networks long before iTunes became digital. Illegal downloads of video games circulated before Steam or Direct2Drive were ever concieved. We're even seeing that now with the comics industry - they're struggling to come up with legal eComics while nearly every title published can be found on the Internet.

In each and every case, piracy exploited the new digital market while the major studios were sluggish or even resistant to adapt to the new normal. The music industry was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age as their own business model imploded. Without Napster, there would not have been an iTunes. Hell, Hulu was formed as a direct response to the massive copyright infringement that thrives on YouTube.

And while there is legal content on YouTube, there is simply not enough of it. Most of the animation content on YouTube is either original Internet content or replicated elsewhere. Sony's the only major company streaming its stuff through YouTube - everyone else is on Hulu or has their own proprietary site. (Even Sony - their YouTube stuff uses their own video player, not YouTube's.)

While I admire the many avenues of free and paid Internet delivery, the simple fact remains that pirates have exploited these avenues more effectively than the major studios.
 
The first season of Hannah Montana did get a full season release, but it didn't come out until this time last year, and that was after two full years of individual volumes. It's probably worth noting that there haven't been any followup season releases of the show, though.

Off the top of my head, the only other live-action Disney Channel series to get that same sort of treatment on these shores is Lizzie McGuire. It didn't have full season sets just because they produced so many episodes every year, but the first big volume was the size of a normal season set anyway. Even Stevens did get a first season DVD release in Australia, but it wasn't released anywhere else as far as I know, and there weren't any followup seasons of that either. (I'd actually buy 'em if there were any.)
 
You clearly over stated the real difference made, in the case of animated titles though. An extra paragraph or two, explaining how exactly DVD made a difference to animated titles, and where DVD failed to make any difference would have been better.



Yo Gabba Gabba isn't animated, and Skunk Fu isn't aimed that younger either. Single DVD volumes maybe a better choice for animated series aimed solely at pre-schoolers, but there is no good reason why anything above that age group, can't be released on DVD in season sets.



Actually the first season of Hannah Montana is available on DVD, and season 2 (part 1/2 and complete) has been released on DVD in Australia too. But Hannah Montana isn't an animated series.

I don't see why split season sets (ie part 1/2) or well priced season sets, couldn't sell in the same way. But I would question, the true amount of sales produced through impulse buys and nagging children.

Return of the Joker got edited, since Warner Home Video didn't understand their market. People complained, and the movie was eventually released uncut on DVD.

The only reason those animated movie rip-offs from V?deo Brinquedo continue to sell, is due to ignorance. People who don't know exactly what they are looking for, and grab the similar named titles.



I didn't state that Skunk Fu and Wallace and Gromit were been released By Warner Home Video. Skunk Fu and Wallace and Gromit were meant as examples of continued pan and scan DVD releases, from other studios.



Actually there were a few legal online streaming services, even in those early days of the internet. I recall Spunik7 from Manga Entertainment offering many of their anime titles, and even Toonami offered several anime series through the initial Toonami Reactor web site back in 2002.



Actually shareware (for applications and games) was around long before any Stream type services, and took advantage of the internet even quicker, in order to boost sales.



I can't comment on the music side, but I expect getting all the rights issues for online distribution sorted, did take more time. Since pirates would not have to worry about rights issues of any type.



YouTube does provide more of a central location for legal content, even though most companies offer their content through their own web sites too. With a good amount of anime titles in particular, currently been offered by the various distributors in the USA.
 
Actually, before Hulu there was AOL's IN2TV, which had several cartoons on it. Sadly, now theyve only gone down to a few (The Batman, B:TAS, He-Man, Thundercats, and a few others).
 
QFT. I'd add this to my sig line if there were room for it.

The difference is that VHS animated titles were almost entirely volume-driven and episodic, and offered minimal content. Studios/Distributors would put 1-2 episodes (3-4 if you were lucky) in a "volume" (which is ironic, considering the minimal content) and release them periodically in attempt to make more money off naive consumers. This was so prevalent in the 90s that it it made it *look* like a "large amount" of animated titles, but the actual content on those titles was pathetic.

Anyone care to recall how many titles you had to purchase in total to own the complete BTAS VHS collection from Time-Life?

In the 80s, a single VHS animated title with only 1 episode at retail cost more than two-disc DVD animated titles do today. According to iema.org, the original retail price for "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" on VHS was $39.95. (And I still think paying that much for a season box set of *anything* on DVD is too much.)

And even in an era of content on-demand, studios/distributors are reluctant to discontinue this outdated, exploitative marketing/packaging tactic with consumers. Disney still overcharges for their titles, and Disney/Nick/WHV are still releasing low-content volume releases.

However, the introduction of DVD did help to end the outrageous overpricing, and there are significantly more animated titles on the market today (especially for TV series) thanks to DVD. But the DVD market expanded so quickly to take advantage of consumer demand that it caused oversaturation. Then came the recession, and unfortunately caused both studios and distributors to scale back.

WHV is finally making progress in digital distribution. Hopefully Disney will follow their example and release the remainder of their Disney Afternoon titles they still owe fans. Otherwise, there's really no reason for either studio to hold onto back catalog titles and other titles for which they hold the distribution rights.

Maybe I'm nitpicking, but it's not the "titles" which you say are failing to take advantage of the DVD format, but the studios/distributors who are producing them.

And the short of it is -- when it comes to animated titles -- that the studios/distributors really don't give much of a crap about the quality or the content, just profiting from consumers. (But technically, they *do* give a crap, because that's what the releases sometimes are.) They claim that consumers don't care about bonus content, which is just stupid. DVD collectors/fans care a LOT about the bonus content. I've bought some titles solely FOR the bonus content.

And until they are willing to acknowledge what consumers want, you're going to continue to seeing low-content volume releases, which they love to call "value priced." But they lose that "value" when you realized how over-"priced" they are after buying a few volumes in a series.

...and then they release a box set and throw the fans a bone or two with some bonus content in attempt to get them to double-dip.

I generally agree with your opinion on how animated titles should be released though. I just think it's a pipe dream is all.

Well, except for Shout! Factory -- they're a rarity as a distributor because they understand and acknowledge their consumer base. And some of the US anime distributors are to be commended as well for their attention to fandom. And Warner Home Video at least gets an honorable mention, although they're holding onto far too many titles that fans really want to own, and sometimes their so-called "special editions" are lacking.
 
Sadly some episodes (of animated series) and some animated series are still only available on VHS, even after all this time.

Yes, the DVDs of many animated series are still been released in that way. With infrequent DVDs only offering slightly more episodes (3 - 5), and often tied into any related promotions (ie movies).

Yes, DVD market has definitely helped reduce the overall price of TV series in general.

In terms of episodes (of animated series) and animated series, is there really a huge difference with DVD though? many animated TV series have been released as single volumes, followed by season sets, or been re-released (especially anime series, in both cases).

A quick look at Amazon (US) shows animated titles on DVD are double, compared to the animated titles on VHS. But if you exclude multiple releases and re-releases, I really wonder if DVD would even offer a 50% advantage.

Digital distribution is much more limited outside the USA though, with other areas offering much less variety. Unfortunately the masters of many animated series don't seem to have been kept in good condition over the years, and could really use clean ups or remasters too.

Yes, it is the studios/distributors fault that animated series aren't taking full advantage of DVD format. But the fact remains, that animated titles in general have failed to take full advantage of the DVD format.



Warner Home Video are trying to push people to Blu-Ray already, with their DC animated movies in particular, no longer offering complete extras for the special edition DVD releases, even though there more than enough disk space available (used by bonus episodes).

Overall too many incomplete DVD releases, continued use of double sided DVDs, and continued pan and scan DVD releases on even recent tiles (ie Scooby-Doo: Abracadabra-Doo).
 
But you also have to consider how little was released on those VHS titles. At times, it felt like episodes were randomly selected -- not even close to being ones that fans really wanted, as happens with "best of" releases today. And even then, those are questionable if the studios/distributors don't bother to ask for feedback from fans.

It would require a considerable amount of research to do a proper comparison, and I don't think a quick search on Amazon is an adequate way to assess that comparison either -- there's too great a margin for error due to various factors.

But you can almost make a case for DVD based on WHV's releases for Looney Tunes in this decade compared with what they released on VHS between the 80s and 90s.

Transformers is another good example. Just a handful of episodes were released on VHS by FHE, and even when Rhino first obtained the license they were *still* attempting to exploit fans by slowly releasing 2-episode VHS volumes of the series. I'm trying to remember how much I paid for the 3-volume "box set" was that I ordered from Previews through a local comic shop, but it seems like it was between $20-30... and there were only 6 episodes included.

And then DVD entered the market and Kid Rhino released both volume titles and season box sets on DVD. Guess which one consumers preferred?

Also, there's the DiC catalog. Granted, they're still anti-consumer by releasing low-content volume titles, but they really didn't release that much on VHS prior to the DVD boom.

And I doubt we'd have ever seen Freakazoid released on DVD had it not been for the YouTube exposure. And as Matt's explained in his article, DVD not only saved Family Guy from cancellation, but it also caused studios and distributors to realize there was a much greater interest in animated product and thus a sizable chunk of the consumer market to profit from.

Shout! Factory, again, has been a pioneer in getting back catalog titles released thanks largely to their great customer relations and consideration for feedback from fans. Fans never really had a distributor before Shout! that catered directly to them -- targeted their demographics, certainly, but not one that specifically asks what fans want and then delivers product accordingly.

As for your estimate that DVD "would even offer a 50% advantage" over VHS, that's still a considerable increase. That means twice as much animated product is being released on DVD than it was on VHS. And just a sheer conjectured guess that I'm pulling out of my butt, I'd say the percentage is greater than 50% just based on the animated product that was available for rental on VHS compared with what's available now on DVD. Through Netflix, I could watch an animated title (movies and single-discs from box sets) every day of the year for the next decade and probably still not run out of something to see.

In the 80s and 90s, you were lucky if you could find a few dozen animated titles to rent from Blockbuster or the local video store, and most of those were for kids. And as an adult animation fan, you considered yourself lucky if you lived near an indie shop that had a variety of anime and animation to offer.

Which brings me to more important point: available product on DVD for adults was slim pickings on VHS. In the 80s and 90s, I don't think the studios/dist. even acknowledged that there was a consumer market there. Even FOX seemed reluctant to release The Simpsons on VHS that was anything other than "best of", specials or themed titles that barely offered more than 1 episode. Compare that with their DVD season box sets.


That is unfortunate, and I do sympathize with animation fans living outside of the US in that regard. There are some Transformers titles still unreleased in the US from UK's Metrodome that I would like to own without having to buy a region-free player.

And that's the kind of expense that neither studios or distributors seem willing to make. They want titles they can dump quickly onto DVD without having to make any additional effort to restore their original quality. And that is unfortunate for consumers.

But you have already acknowledged that it has helped to make more animated product available. And studios/dist. are to blame for not taking "full advantage" by releasing more product, but you also have to consider their investment and effort involved just in getting the product on the market.

I believe we'll see digital distribution help in that regard in the next decade. The days of hard copy media product selling at MSRP in brick-and-mortar stores is close to extinction. When they realize they can offer product online on-demand direct to consumers -- tailored to their interests -- without the overhead and other expense involved in getting hard copies of that product into stores, it's going to revolutionize the media retail industry. It will be cheaper for them to produce, and more affordable for consumers to purchase.
 
True, but some smaller animated series still managed to get completely released via VHS.



Browsing by genre (animation) and type (DVD/VHS) makes it very easy to narrow down via Amazon (US). Amazon (US) does have a good coverage of DVD titles, although could be more lacking on the VHS side, due to their age.



No, the DVD and VHS releases of the Looney Tunes were aimed at completely different markets. The VHS releases were focused on mainstream characters, while the DVD releases are aimed more at collectors. The Golden Collections are often criticized, for failing include enough of the mainstream characters, while including more older content only of interest to collectors.


DVD definitely benefited the various Transformers series, I think all the Transformers series have been released on DVD now. With several Japanese series released on DVD in Australia, and Transformers: Robots in Disguise released on DVD in the UK.

Yes, Shout Factory have done quite well releasing animated titles from DiC catalogue on DVD so far.

Yes, BCI and Shout Factory would be the best examples of companies producing well done DVD releases of animated series. Unfortunately BCI no longer exists though.


Well almost half of animated titles are anime, judging by Amazon (US). Drop the single volumes, and the amount of anime titles is halved. So my '50% advantage' estimate, was actually been quite generous.
Keep in mind, there were many anime titles released on VHS, that would rarely be available for rental in video hire stores.


Video hire stores, were always focused on movies, rather than TV series. There still isn't a large variety of TV series (especially animated TV series), at most video hire stores. Only online rental services, have been able to offer a much wider range of variety.

I don't think there was as much adult animation around then, other than anime. Most animated series for adult have been produced, after DVDs become more common.

Yes, more animated titles are available on DVD. But I don't think DVD helped as much with animated TV series, compared to other TV shows.

If most companies just took a bit more care with their DVD releases of animated TV series, they could really help improve their sales. The continued DVD releases of only a few episodes, or pan and scan DVD releases, only gives people good reasons, not to buy these DVD releases.

Personally I would definitely have bought many more animated from Warner Home Video in particular, if they were just released in their original aspect ratios. I can't bare to watch pan and scan versions of animated series (ie Legion of Super Heroes), after seeing the series in true widescreen on local TV network.
 
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