Disney To Halt Distribution Of DVD And Blu-ray In Australia

The sales of physical media, including Blu-Ray and DVDs, have been in decline for years, following the increased popularity of streaming services and a shift to digital movie releases.

Recently, Disney announced it was closing down its Movie Club program in Canada following a shift in consumer patterns to watching films on digital and Disney+. And now, according to Digital Bits, multiple industry, distributor, and retailer sources, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will be pulling out of distributing physical discs in Australia.

Over the past few years, many retailers in Australia and other countries, have slowly been withdrawing physical media, including video games, movies and music from sale, as audiences shift to digital platforms. Disney has previously stopped releasing movies on physical media in Latin America and across most of Asia. And it is likely other countries and regions will follow, as the sales of physical discs continue to fall.

For context, in the United States, in 2006, “Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest” sold 14,476,924 million discs.  In 2012, the highest-selling disc was “Hunger Games”, with 7,434,058 discs sold and in 2022, “Top Gun: Maverick” was the highest-selling DVD with 829,831 sold.  However, in 2023, currently, “Black Adam” is the highest-selling DVD of the year, with just 74,353 discs sold in the US.

Many movie fans are unhappy with this news, especially with a growing trend of streaming services like Disney+ making changes or removing content without notice. Disney has been releasing fewer of its films and shows on physical media over the past few years. Australian film collectors will still be able to import films from global retailers, but this will result in much higher costs due to international shipping etc.

“Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol 3” is set to be the last physical release in Australia, which arrives in stores in August. Previously released titles will continue to be on sale, but as stock is reduced, these may become unavailable over time.

Ultimately, as audiences have moved to watching films on streaming services such as Disney+ and buying/renting films on digital platforms, it now looks like it’s no longer sustainable to distribute physical discs in Australia.

‘Tom And Jerry’ To Spar In Singapore; First Ever Localized Version To Premiere On Cartoon Network & HBO GO

Warner Bros Discovery has announced the first ever localized version of the Tom And Jerry series, featuring the famous cat and mouse duo as they take their rivalry to Singapore.

Produced locally in Asia, in association with Warner Bros Animation, the new 7×3-minute series will premiere on Cartoon Network in Asia Pacific and HBO Go in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong later this year, before being rolled out internationally. 

A pilot episode giving a flavour of what’s to come will launch in August – further details will be announced soon. 

The project is produced by Warner Bros Discovery’s Carlene Tan, with Vivek Bolar serving as lead director. India’s Aum Animation Studios handled the animation, with stories and designs from Singapore-based Robot Playground Media and Chips and Toon Studios.

Christopher Ho, Warner Bros Discovery’s Head of Kids, Southeast Asia, said: “This series brings back the iconic music and classic animation style from the Hanna-Barbera 1950s era – but with a modern Singaporean twist. 

“With distinctive landmarks, backdrops and atmosphere, the Asian city-state is the ideal location to create a humorous addition to the Tom And Jerry canon. Working with homegrown creative talent in Singapore and across Asia, this project grows the much-loved franchise in the region and beyond.”

Vishnu Athreya, Senior Vice President of Series, Warner Bros Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, said: “Tom And Jerry are two of our most universally loved characters, proving that laughs can translate to any audience. The fans in Asia have long embraced these characters and it’s great to finally give them a version to call their own.”

Tom And Jerry is one of Warner Bros Discovery’s leading franchises with a global social reach of 50 million and almost 30 billion minutes watched on the Warner Bros Kids YouTube channel. There have been more than 500 episodes, 15 movies and seven Academy Awards so far in its 83-year history. 

Warner Bros Discovery also plans to launch additional Tom And Jerry-branded consumer products to complement the series launch later this year.

Rats! (GBC)

Rats! is a 2D platform video game designed for single-player where players play as the character Mr. Rez, described as "a radical yo-yo playing rat-for-hire assassin with an attitude and cool, black shades" who was an "awful assassin".

Rats! uses a password-based save system which allows players to resume their gameplay where they last left off by inputting the correct password for the level.

There are eighty-five levels included within the game. These levels are spread over five environments (themes/worlds) with each environment spanning fifteen levels and two bonus levels and having a time limit. Failure to complete a level within the allotted time will result in black devil enemies appearing.

Each of the environments has its own enemies and unique boss at the end of the level. Each level and boss becomes increasingly harder as the player progresses.

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The story of the game falls in line with the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day : to save the leader of the Human Resistance, John Connor , and his mother Sarah from the T-1000 , an advanced prototype Terminator bent on killing them both.

The player takes the role of a T-800 Terminator cyborg, already captured and reprogrammed by the human resistance, and fights alongside them against Skynet in the year 2029.

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The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback! (GBC)

The game follows Frank Castle after the death of his wife and children at the hands of the mafia, and he became a vigilante who hunts and kills every criminal he believes deserves it.

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