Walt Disney Treasures

Walt Disney Treasures is a series of two-disc DVD collections of Disney cartoons, television episodes and other material. They cover material from the studio's earliest days to its more recent work. There were nine waves, each containing two to four sets, for a total of 30 titles. All content is presented uncensored and uncut with digitally restored picture and remastered sound (except where noted on individual titles).

Walt Disney Treasures promotional title card
"The Ultimate Disney Treasure Chest": Costco-exclusive repackaged box set of the first two waves without the tin cases

The first wave was released to Region 1 DVD on December 4, 2001, as a part of Walt Disney's 100th birthday. They were sold in limited quantities. The numbered units are largely commercially unavailable. Only a handful of these titles have been sold outside Region 1.

Most of the sets are available in Europe as Region 2 except The Mickey Mouse Club Presents: Annette; The Complete First and Second Seasons of Zorro; Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh; The Chronological Donald Volume Four; Disneyland: Secrets; Stories and Magic; Your Host, Walt Disney; The Complete Pluto Volume Two; Elfego Baca and the Swamp Fox; The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure; The Adventures of Spin & Marty (The Mickey Mouse Club); More Silly Symphonies; Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s; Davy Crockett; Tomorrowland; Disneyland U.S.A and On the Front Lines.

In Japan, more of the sets were produced for the Japanese market in Region 2, along with sets that are available in Europe: The Chronological Donald Volume Four, The Complete Pluto Volume Two, Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s, Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic, More Silly Symphonies.

In Brazil, only five Walt Disney Treasures sets have been released: two Mickey Mouse in Living Color volumes, Silly Symphonies, The Chronological Donald, Volume One, and The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

"The Runaway Brain" Mickey Mouse cartoon is available on the Walt Disney Treasures Mickey Mouse in Living Color: Volume 2 sets in France, Brazil, Mexico and Japan. These are the only internationally released sets featuring the cartoon.

Each title has been packaged in a numbered tin case. The first two waves featured numbers stamped into each case, while subsequent waves contained certificates of authenticity marking their numbers. The first three waves were bound in a cardboard sleeve displaying the reproduced signatures of Leonard Maltin and Roy Disney. In 2003, a Costco-exclusive boxed set called The Ultimate Disney Treasure Chest presented the first two waves of the series without the tin canisters.

The DVD sets were the idea of film critic/historian Leonard Maltin,[1] who appears in each set to introduce the DVDs and to provide historical context to some of the more dated works. These introductions would sometimes alert viewers of politically incorrect content, similar to Whoopi Goldberg's introductions for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection.

Release history

Walt Disney Treasures: Wave One — December 4, 2001

Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Two — December 3, 2002

Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Three — May 18, 2004

Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Four — December 7, 2004

Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Five — December 6, 2005

Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Six — December 19, 2006

Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Seven — December 11, 2007

Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Eight — November 11, 2008

Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Nine — November 3, 2009

Comic album line

In 2006, Gemstone Publishing published the first of two Walt Disney Treasures comic albums: Disney Comics: 75 Years of Innovation, reprinting approximately 160 pages of vintage international comics in chronological order.[2] Much like the DVD releases, the comic album featured some politically incorrect stories in unedited form, accompanied by an article to put them in historical context. The comic album also featured a cover designed to look much like the DVD series' cases.

In 2008, Gemstone published the second Treasures comic album: Uncle Scrooge: A Little Something Special, featuring various Scrooge comics from over the years.[2]

Two more Treasures comic albums were announced for 2009, with the titles: Mickey Mouse: In Death Valley and Donald Duck: 75 Unlucky Years. Due to the cessation of Gemstone's Disney comics license, these albums never came out in the Treasures series.

References
  1. Ultimate Disney interview with Leonard Maltin
  2. Walt Disney Treasures at Inducks
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