Written by Skulblaka_Shur'tugal :

In an age where VHS tapes are forgotten, nobody knows what Laserdiscs are, and DVDs are all but yesterday, many people are turning to the high-definition of home entertainment--trying to replicate a movie theater as closely as possible. And with this, many companies are releasing their older movies on Blu-Ray for an unmatched clarity and clean-cut film that has been unseen since their original release in theaters.

Disney is no exception: recently, they released their "Diamond Edition" for Beauty and the Beast, continuing on with a tradition that started with Sleeping Beauty of releasing animated classics on high-definition Blu-Ray.

Disney's "Diamond Edition" Blu-Ray set of films was conceived as an idea by the late Roy Disney, Walt Disney's nephew. During his last year of working a the company, Disney found that more and more people were buying Blu-Ray disc players, and high-definition televisions. He suggested that the Disney Company release some of their animated films again, treating these specific films with more care and delicacy than other animated films to be released on Blu-Ray. In the same fashion as Disney's "Platinum Editions", these "Diamond Edition" movies would make the old films as clean and true to the original theatrical releases as possible--and then be released on Blu-Ray.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first film to use such a technique, hitting store shelves on Blu-Ray in October, 2009. Its success was phenomenal, as it made more money in its first day on the shelves than almost any other movie had in years. Disney announced that Beauty and the Beast would be next, and the Blu-Ray hit shelves on October 5, 2010. The 2-disc DVD will arrive on November 23.

The next two films lined up for a "Diamond Edition" release are Bambi--in Spring, 2011-- and The Lion King--in Fall 2011.