Disney to release BD-Live titles in 2008

Chronicles of Narnia to offer picture-in-picture, Sleeping Beauty also bowing

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 8/17/2007

AUG. 17 | Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment next year will bow its first Blu-ray Disc titles with advanced interactivity, including Web-enabled and picture-in-picture bonus features.

National Treasure will be configured as a BD-Live disc, the format’s term for software that features interactivity accessed through the Web.

Picture-in-picture, with which a separate video streams plays concurrently with the feature film, will be included on Finding Nemo and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Disney classic Sleeping Beauty also is in the 2008 BD pipeline and will be the studio’s first high-definition release of one of its Platinum-branded animated films. Sleeping Beauty will offer BD-Live features, including a virtual castle and multi-player activities.

Further interactivity details were not specified.

Narnia should bow in the spring, with National Treasure in summer and Finding Nemo and Sleeping Beauty in the fall.

“The Platinum titles are the crown jewels of the Disney Studio, and we do not take releasing them lightly on any format,” Disney president Bob Chapek said. “The proven Blu-ray technology has allowed us to take our films to new heights, fully utilizing the larger capacity and interactive capabilities for an incredible all-new consumer experience.”

No currently available set-top Blu-ray players can playback picture-in-picture interactivity. And, with the exception of the PlayStation 3, few BD players can access the Internet for BD-Live content.

However, all Blu-ray players introduced after Oct. 31 are required to handle picture-in-picture. Manufacturers also are expected to start rolling out BD-Live-capable hardware at that time.