"Pink Panther Ultimate Collection" coming November

[Clouseau]

www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=13415

MGM Plans Pricey Boxed Sets

Author: BILLY GIL
Posted: August 28, 2008

MGM Home Entertainment, distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, announced...the Pink Panther Ultimate Collection, an 18-disc set at $199.98.



...

Pink Panther Ultimate Collection is due Nov. 25 (prebook Oct. 29) and gathers for the first time major live-action and animated releases associated with “The Pink Panther” franchise. The set has the eight original Pink Panther films, including the collector’s edition of the Oscar-nominated 1964 original The Pink Panther, starring Peter Sellers. The collector’s edition has more than 60 minutes of never-before-released footage.

The collection also includes the 2006 remake of The Pink Panther, starring Steve Martin and directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum).

The set’s nine cartoon selections inclue the Oscar-winning “The Pink Phink” as well as the only two programs in which the pink cartoon panther speaks (“Sink Pink,” “Pink Ice”).

Chris Franchino, associate director of MGM marketing, said fan demand is high for “The Pink Panther,” in conjunction with the Feb. 6, 2009, theatrical release Pink Panther 2, also starring Steve Martin. He said the inclusion of the coffee table book Pink Panther, the Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town! by Jerry Beck, as well as the new collector’s edition of the original movie warranted the high price.

“The ‘Pink Panther’ cartoon collection and film collection were some of MGM’s best-selling giftsets,” he said. “There’s a new film coming out, so we wanted to get something into Q4.”

...

[Dreyfus]

Looks very nice but I'd grudge spending that on DVDs I already have

[riobravo]

I would like to have the first PP DVD in this set. It's suppose to have over 60 minutes of deleted scenes!

[Clouseau]

yeah, i'm hoping the "collector's edition" of TPP63 will be released seperately... i'd buy that, but like Dreyfus, i'm not gonna shell out for this set when i already have all the other movies in my collection...

i'm still hoping for a fresh release of TPP06 with more of the deleted scenes i know exist but weren't included in the current release... no mention here, though, of there being any difference between the current TPP06 release and the one included in this set...

[Clouseau]

official press release:
www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Pink-Panther-Ultimate-Collection/10428

[pinkadilly]

it looks cool, but like the rest of you, its just not worth that much moneywhen i already have the movies in my collection. maybe the collectors editin of the first movie will be released seperately.

[Clouseau]

from what i'm reading elsewhere, it appears that the initial article i posted above was a little bit misleading... when i read the above article, i got the impression that there were 9 movies and 9 cartoons included in the set, but in reality (note in the press release linked above), the set will include 9 movies and 9 volumes of cartoons...

only 6 volumes of cartoons have so far been released in the US... the first 4 are the original Pink Panther shorts, volume 5 was the Ant and the Aardvark collection, and volume 6 was the first 17 Inspector cartoons... according to a few articles i've found, those 6 will be included in this new set, along with volume 7 (the rest of the Inspector Cartoons), volume 8 (Roland and Rattfink), and volume 9 (as yet untitled)...

if i had not already bought all the movies and all the cartoons that have so far been released and the book by Jerry Beck, i would consider this new set.. since i've bought so much so far, though, i'm only gonna be looking for the Collector's Edition of TPP63 and volume 7 of the cartoon set to add to my personal collection (not sure that i'll ever buy any more of the cartoons past volume 7)...

btw, here's a picture of the "shelf look" for the set:

[pinkadilly]

yeah, hopefully the new stuff will be released seperately sometime!

[thecolonel93]

The only new stuff for Region 1 will be Classic Cartoon Collection Volume 7 and 8 (the rest of The Inspector and Roland and Ratfink). Volume 9 is allegedly the primetime specials (A Pink Christmas, Olympinks, and Pink at First Sight) previously released. The hour of deleted scenes with the original Panther is nothing of the kind (there aren't that many outtakes from the original film anyway). The hour of extras is THE PINK PANTHER SPECIAL EDITION, the previously released Region 1 release of the 2006 film. The press release mistakenly lists this as the original Sellers-Edwards film. This is a nice collection (minus RETURN) for anyone who doesn't have the films already. Otherwise, its not worth the price unless you collect everything. I'll be picking up THE INSPECTOR VOLUME TWO from Amazon.de if a Region 1 release is not forthcoming.

[Clouseau]

it would appear you're wrong for once, colonel... we already know that MGM has announced TPP63 coming to Blue-ray on January 27, 2009... that edition is being listed as "Collector's Edition", which would seem to verify this press-release's claim that TPP63 is getting a CE, and that we're not just talking about TPP06's previously-released SE DVD... and now DVD Aficionado is listing "The Pink Panther (1963) - Collector's Edition" to be released seperately on DVD on the same day as the Blue-ray disc...

i suppose nothing is set in stone until we see some artwork or see the discs in stores, but it looks for now like there may in fact be a new TPP63 DVD with over an hour of added footage!

[thecolonel93]

I agree the original film is coming to Blu-ray in January, but I maintain it is the same edition we all know and love. There are also standard DVD reissues coming early next year with the trailer to PP2 added to the special features. I would love to be wrong about TPP63 Special Edition, but I fear that is not the case.

[Clouseau]

well the "Collector's Edition" PP63 Blu-ray is out for pre-order now...

the PP63 DVD is out for pre-order, as well, but the artwork isn't confirmed yet... it does still say Collector's Edition in the description, but it's modestly priced if it's different from what we already have...

[thecolonel93]

I haven't seen it myself, but I've heard the "Collector's Edition" refers to feature length director's commentary from Blake Edwards and the other extras from the 2004 release. Did anyone pick up the Ultimate Collection and watch the first film to confirm whether there is anything new this time around?

[Clouseau]

Dec 8, 2008 14:11:41 GMT thecolonel93 said:

I haven't seen it myself, but I've heard the "Collector's Edition" refers to feature length director's commentary from Blake Edwards and the other extras from the 2004 release. Did anyone pick up the Ultimate Collection and watch the first film to confirm whether there is anything new this time around?

looks like the CE does contain some of the same featuers from the '04 release, but also includes a few new ones: details