Warner to release Wizard of Oz on Blu-ray
PHYSICAL: 70th anniversary edition streets Sept. 29
By Marcy Magiera -- Video Business, 6/9/2009
JUNE 9 | PHYSICAL: Warner Home Video will release Wizard of Oz as a features-packed and pricey Blu-ray 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition on Sept. 29.
The Wizard of Oz Ultimate Collector's Edition will come in a collectible box.
The high-def debut of one of the most popular films of all time will carry an $84.99 price. The studio also will bring the title out on DVD, in UCE ($69.92) and two-disc ($24.98) versions. Prebook is Aug. 25.
The UCE versions hold about four hours of new bonus features plus a digital copy, and they are wrapped in numbered collectible packaging that also includes such souvenirs as archival material, a coffee table book and an exclusive crystal watch.
The 1939 film was remastered with each of the original Technicolor camera negatives scanned using 8K resolution. As a result, the studio says the resolution is twice that of the previous DVD release. In a press release, Warner calls the title a “benchmark in the history of the Blu-ray format.”
New bonus features include The Dreamer of Oz, an NBC TV movie from 1990 about author L. Frank Baum that has never been released on video; Victor Fleming, Master Craftsman, a feature length documentary; and silent films The Magic Cloak of Oz and The Patchwork Girl of Oz.
Marketing for the event release includes a national tour of a seven-story-high hot air balloon, unveiled at a party Tuesday evening at Los Angeles’ Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising; cable, print and online ads; and a dedicated Web site, www.thewizardofoz.warnerbros.com.
