Warner Bros. has announced details surrounding the release of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory: 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition. The children's classic, which has already seen a Blu-ray and Blu-ray digibook release, will be get another edition on October 4th to commerorate the film's 1971 release. This set will include two Blu-ray discs for the film and special features and a DVD version.
Collectible materials housed in the double-wide box will include a 144-page book featuring color photos and notes, a Wonka Bar pencil tin with scented pencils and eraser and a Wonka Bar box with archival production letters. Purchasing the set also gives the buyer a chance to win a trip for two to Los Angeles.
The Ultimate Collector's Edition brings over special features from previous releases and adds a couple new ones. These include:
Mel Stuart's Wonkavision (New)
A World of Pure Imagination (New)
Pure Imagination: The Story of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Commentary by the Wonka Kids
Four sing-along songs
Vintage featurette
Theatrical trailer
Warner has listed Willa Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition with a SRP of $64.99.
I was wondering when this was coming because I saw the Blu-Ray was out of Print. There Are some movies in Warner's Catalog that are treated like Walt Disney Titles and are released and then put on moratorium for quite some time Wizard of Oz comes to mind. I don't have this on Blu-Ray yet so I might pick this up.
Two BD discs? Ahhh what's on the other BD? My digibook has only one BD and unless those two new features "Mel Stuart's Wonkavision" and "A World Of Pure Imagination" are several hours long I dunno why the need for another BD?
well i have the digibook. But I love me some collectible editions with decent looking display pieces. And this box set looks pretty sweet and also seems to have some nice looking additives. I might have to bite on this one to display.
YES! Another Rectangular Boxed Set from Warner Brothers for a Classic Film.
The only thing that bothers me about this set is the Pencil Box. What a dumb extra for a set that is meant for collectors. The Ronald Dahl Novel would have made a better Substitute.
But the 2 BD Discs, the Packaging, and the Booklet it¡¯s all there.
If there is a remaster, I will consider buyingon the di it. The overture should have been in true stereo since they do have the master for it, but it's basically mono on the disc if you listen closely. Certain scenes are mono echanced for stereo and some scenes are true stereo. I'll wait and see.
I hope they do a remaster, but I think they will just recycle the first BD. Unfortunately, it had letterboxed titles which looked very dated on a newer display, which doesn't need this sort of adjustment. Made it look like a rush job to me.
Oh boy, a chance to win a trip to L.A. ...the dirty, smog-ridden, overcrowded land of make believe that hasn't put out more than a handful of good films in the past 10 years...L.A. isn't a place I'd bother going to, even if I did win an all-expenses-paid trip there. I'll stick with my Digibook.
This must be the biggest year yet for Ultimate Collectors Edition and other big box packages from Warner and company, the studio that pioneered these kinds of sets and does them the best. Just to name a few from 2011: The Stanley Kubrick Collection; Gettysburg & Gods and Generals; The Lord of the Rings Extended Trilogy (from New Line); Citizen Kane UCE; Ben-Hur UCE; and now Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory UCE. Am I missing any that have already been announced or released this year? (I suspect a complete Harry Potter UCE will come sooner rather than later.)
In any case, I love collector's sets like these and I absolutely adore this film, so, even though I already have the digibook, picking up this edition is a no-brainer. I may wait, however, for a price drop. The set really does look marvelous in all its candy-colored glory. I'm especially interested in that thick book.
It'd been one thing if they'd pulled a Disney and announced taking it out of print, instead of pulling a quick one on the consumers and deleting it without any word just so consumers are forced to pay $40+. Some people just want the movie and not the excess stuff. Why can't Warner be like Fox (see West Side Story or The Sound Of Music) and offer both alternatives for those who just want the film and for those who want all the excess swagger?
Where's the golden ticket??? Did I miss something in the description or photo? Hmm... perhaps I was a bit too distracted when Veruca "Bad Egg" Salt was trying to kill Augustus "Too Fat For The Tube" Gloop!
How long has it been in print? Two years? If you don't like the movie enough to have picked it up in two years, I doubt you'd be interested in paying $40+ for it anyway.
In any case, I'm sure people could pick it up somewhere sans swagger - eBay, BB, B&N, import, used. If you really want a particular title, the moral of the story is not to wait too long.
I am among the legions that are happy with their digibooks! Unless this has a MAJOR price drop (like the Ten Commandments did 4th of July weekend) there is no way I would even consider this.
Cool, a $65 pencil case with a recycled movie thrown in to sweeten the deal If Warners took the time to triple dip this, I hope they cleaned up the print this time around. Blu ray does = "PERFECT PICTURE, PERFECT AUDIO after all, or so they tell us.
The non-digibook edition was released less than a year ago. I've no interest in the title but it was on my boyfriends' "to get" list. But instead they pull the same crap they did on One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (and before you say anything, the regular edition was already out of print before we got a Blu-Ray player). Usually with a lot of catalog titles, there's the whole idea of being able to take for granted that it'll always be available. He's yet to get the Spiderman movies or Wall Street or others that he does eventually want to own because they're so commonly found that there's no point in rushing to get it until you're really in the mood to wanting to watch it. Yea, people who don't already own Willy Wonka won't pay $40 for a set, but there are many of those who likely would drop $15-20 on the no-frills edition.
Fox does it right. They knew there were a lot of Sound Of Music aficionados who'd pay $75+ for the deluxe box set, but that there were even more people out there who just like the movie and would buy the regular no-frills edition. They were able to appeal to both consumers.
The only difference with The Sound of Music is that both versions of that were released at the same time...with Willy Wonka, you've had nearly two years since the digibook release, as well as a second bare bones release since then.
You can't assume titles will stay in print forever...maybe neither the Willy Wonka digibook nor standard edition sold very well, and they figure the addition of all the kid-friendly stuff in the deluxe edition is the only way they can sell enough copies??? What they might do is sell only the deluxe edition for the next few months to try to maximize sales, then re-introduce the bare bones edition.
As I said, if you really want a title you're best off not assuming it will always be available...otherwise you'll end up paying through the nose for it. Zodiac is the same thing, people who just assumed it would always be around are finding it difficult to get at a reasonable price.
I pretty much have no choice in which version I want to pay for unless I want to pay 20-30 dollars more for just a digibook blu-ray just because they put the old ones out of print already.
lol
...the dirty, smog-ridden, overcrowded land of make believe that hasn't put out more than a handful of good films in the past 10 years...L.A. isn't a place I'd bother going to, even if I did win an all-expenses-paid trip there. I'll stick with my Digibook. 
with your whine? 
If Warners took the time to triple dip this, I hope they cleaned up the print this time around. Blu ray does = "PERFECT PICTURE, PERFECT AUDIO after all, or so they tell us. 
