Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.5

[Finch]

I sort of love this one.

That's my own favourite as well, with the image of the children in the boat a close second.

[HistoryProf]

I like the one they went with, but I love the ones with Mitchum with his hand in a claw shape looking upward.

I thought this one was great.

But the "Little Golden Books" is the best of the bunch by a mile...and I can't understand at all why they didn't seem to care for it. it's brilliant and looks fantastic. oh well.

[domino harvey]

The Norman Rockwell one is priceless.

WTF were they thinking not going with that one? Could have been one of the greatest covers ever. Instead we get a total ZZZZZZZZZZZFest. I'm starting to wonder if the problem is a new overseer at Criterion, because clearly the designers are not at fault here

[fdm]

Does "new" mean like when they went wacky-C? Seems like it to me.

[knives]

It's still better than those very early days. The Long Good Friday has to be their worst cover ever.

[matrixschmatrix]

Honestly? I think the recent covers have been largely pretty great- there are standouts like Make Way for Tomorrow and the Sternberg set, but I think the number of totally uninteresting covers has dropped meaningfully since the say 2-300 era.

I think they may also be a little more risk-averse- they haven't done anything that played with the medium as Videodrome and Fear and Loathing did- but that may be fallout from the transition to blu-ray.

[mfunk9786]

There are some standouts from the early era, but I'm of the opinion that the coverart has taken a HUGE step up since the change to the Wacky C.

[zedz]

Much as I love the Golden Books cover, it's an in-joke that only really works for people who already know and 'get' the film. They're going to sell a haywagon more copies with the spooky gothic look than with 'Leave It To Preacher', and have to deal with far fewer complaints about misleading packaging.

[matrixschmatrix]

I think the cover they went with is also something that is as visually satisfying the thirtieth time you see it as it is the first, and the more gimmicky Golden Books cover (though admittedly pretty awesome) doesn't maintain itself as well. I think they are aware of what a huge movie this is, and trying to get a solemn importance about the packaging- which can be sort of deadening, but I don't think the one they went with is an embalming job, either.

[TheGodfather]

Today I received (from deepdiscount.com) my copy of The Royal Tenenbaums. Was the drawn slipcover that`s shown on the Criterion site just a limited first press only thing? because it doesn`t come with my copy. It doesn`t come in an old thick 2disc case but it comes in a weird case :it isn`t your regular Criterion 2 disc cases that we are you used to today.
I looked it up on the Amazon site (looking for pics of things might also be missing from my copy) and I noticed that there were 2 booklets included in the edition shown on Amazon.
Did I get an incomplete copy or just a normal second printing?

[zedz]

The drawn cover wasn't the slipcover, but the cover on the actual case. The slipcover was of the poster art (with the family lineup). If your set is still sealed, the drawn cover is probably inside. This came in the thick double case Criterion used until about spine number 350 approx.

[TheGodfather]

Thanks for the answer. But the actual cover (wich is supposed to be the drawn one then) is in my case the family line-up. The drawn cover isn`t inside or on the backside of my cover. It was sealed but looked very much like it was resealed.
Now what? would it be worth contacting the site?

[cdnchris]

Blu-rays:

Paths of Glory
House

[Alphonse Doinel]

Still not a big fan of the cover, but that Paths of Glory package is gorgeous.

[oldsheperd]

I digs the whole House set up. Get a load of that back cover!

[Finch]

^^ Agreed. Very appropriate for the film!

[zedz]

Thanks for the answer. But the actual cover (wich is supposed to be the drawn one then) is in my case the family line-up. The drawn cover isn`t inside or on the backside of my cover. It was sealed but looked very much like it was resealed.
Now what? would it be worth contacting the site?

So, did your copy have no slipcase? If not, it sounds like Criterion had to ditch the slipcase for a later repress and - being presumably contractually bound to have the less interesting cover on the outside - substituted the group shot on the insert.

Another detail: as I recall, the slipcase was designed to look like a book cover and spine, with wear and tear at the edges. Yes indeed, in all its glory.

[truefaux]

Thanks for the answer. But the actual cover (wich is supposed to be the drawn one then) is in my case the family line-up. The drawn cover isn`t inside or on the backside of my cover. It was sealed but looked very much like it was resealed.
Now what? would it be worth contacting the site?

Granted, this was 5 years ago for me, but mine came without the inserts. So here's some helpful information from the past via our pal JM: While THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS is produced by The Criterion Collection and released under our name, it is manufactured and distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. We recommend that you direct any complaints or technical problems you may have to Buena Vista via the Disney costumer hotline at 1-800-723-4763 (1-800-72DISNEY).

They sent me the missing inserts in the mail.

[arsonfilms]

I bought this title - twice - a few years back, and I think I can shed some light on what happened. The consumer retail version was made with a lovely slipcase that had the same cover as the poster (presumably a Buena Vista requirement) and an Eric Anderson illustration as the cover on the plastic case. The first time I bought this though, there was no slipcase and the photo cover was used as an inlay for a single-wide amaray containing two discs.

Having worked in DVD production in the past, I know that some retailers will complain about over-sized packaging that takes up too much shelf space and non-commercial cover art, and when these retailers are huge conglomerates that don't ordinarily stock the products of a boutique label, alternate packaging will get made for them. Obviously Deepdiscount isn't one of these distributors, but I know that Blockbuster got a lot of those packages, and I'm sure Walmart did as well. You just got sent a case that was created for the check out line.

[thatobscurecharm]

Thanks for the answer. But the actual cover (wich is supposed to be the drawn one then) is in my case the family line-up. The drawn cover isn`t inside or on the backside of my cover. It was sealed but looked very much like it was resealed.
Now what? would it be worth contacting the site?

Granted, this was 5 years ago for me, but mine came without the inserts. So here's some helpful information from the past via our pal JM: While THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS is produced by The Criterion Collection and released under our name, it is manufactured and distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. We recommend that you direct any complaints or technical problems you may have to Buena Vista via the Disney costumer hotline at 1-800-723-4763 (1-800-72DISNEY).

They sent me the missing inserts in the mail.

Did they charge you for the missing inserts? Because I bought The Royal Tenenbaums but my copy didn't come with any inserts and I've been wondering where to get it.

[spocker]

Did they charge you for the missing inserts? Because I bought The Royal Tenenbaums but my copy didn't come with any inserts and I've been wondering where to get it.

I had the same problems with missing inserts for Chasing Amy, and they sent me the inserts free of charge all the way to Sweden, no hassle at all.

EDIT: Used the webform here.

[truefaux]

Did they charge you for the missing inserts? Because I bought The Royal Tenenbaums but my copy didn't come with any inserts and I've been wondering where to get it.

Free and no questions (except, what's your address?) asked!

[TheGodfather]

Blu-rays:

Paths of Glory
House

That House package looks wonderful. The front of the booklet is great!

Oh, and thanks for all the helpfull answers on the Royal Tenenbaums thing.
They did charge me for the inserts that I`m missing, it doesn`t have that lovely slipcase. instead, the cover from the slipcase shown in the picture is the cover of my single amaray dvd case. So no drawn cover either...
Guess I`m gonna contact deepdiscount...

[mfunk9786]

I spotted The Royal Tenenbaums in Borders, and it does appear to be an unfortunate, single-disc-width black keepcase reprinting. The case felt quite light, too.

[swo17]

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