Sleeping Beauty, Finding Nemo Lead Disney's 2008 Blu-ray Charge

The CES 2008 news is all Blu so far. Disney announced its first classic animation title, Sleeping Beauty, which wil join Pixar's Finding Nemo on Blu-ray Disc in 2008.

Disney's Bob Chapek stated that these titles will feature dazzling interactivity, including full motion Picture-In-Picture (PIP) and, you guessed it, BD Live web-enabled virtual games and online shopping opportunities. In addition to 1080p video both Beauty and Nemo will feature new 7.1-channel home theater surround mixes.

Beauty was specified for a Fall 2008 release, while Nemo has no date attached.

It's also worth noting that standalone Blu-ray Disc players are just now starting to appear on the market that will support streaming PIP features (BD-ROM Profile 1.1), and no players we're aware of are currently spec'd to support BD-Live. Sony's PlayStation3 unequivocally meets all the hardware specs, but beyond that the standalones in most early adopters homes will play the movies but won't be able to access these exciting new features.

In addition to these animated giants, Disney has also announced day-and-date with DVD releases of new titles for February and March, such as The Game Plan, Gone Baby Gone and Becoming Jane, and Dan in Real Life.

Hotly anticipated catalog titles are also on the way this spring, with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and Wardrobe, National Treasure: Collector's Edition, and Unbreakable hitting shelves.

Disney also noted some hot European and Japanese BD releases, including Signs, and PT Anderson's highly acclaimed There Will Be Blood. No word on US releases for these if indeed Disney has distribution rights for them here.

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