Disney is releasing a $1,500 Blu-ray box set — this sounds like a terrible deal

An image of the contents of the Disney Legacy Film Collection Blu-ray box set
(Image credit: Disney)

Disney has announced a new Blu-ray box set that costs more than one of the best OLED TVs and a top-of-the-range player put together. Even the most die-hard Disney fanatics will need to have a serious think — and maybe a consultation with a financial advisor — before committing their cash to this mammoth movie collection. 

Set to release on November 14 for $1,500 (yes, that’s $1,500!), the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection is a box set containing 100 Disney movies on Blu-ray disc. The picks start with 1937’s Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs and run all the way up to Pixar’s Elemental which was released in movie theaters in June and hits Disney Plus on Wednesday (Sept. 13). 

The box set does highlight how many beloved classics the House of Mouse has released over the last 85 years with this set packing dozens upon dozens of animated favorites from Disney Animated Studios, Pixar and DisneyToon Studios, which closed in 2018. 

The full list of movies included in the Disney Legacy Film Collection can be viewed below (courtesy of The Wrap):

1. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1937)

2. Pinocchio (1940)

3. Fantasia (1940)

4. Dumbo (1941)

5. Bambi (1942)

The set comes in a bespoke presentation box and is split into three volumes. Each of these includes original poster designs and can be unfolded into a storybook that stands on its own. The pricey package also includes digital copies of all 100 movies, a certificate of authenticity, a lithograph for the upcoming Disney movie Wish and a collectible set of crystal Mickey Mouse ears. The extra will surely delight Disney collectors, which is a good thing considering the mammoth four-figure price tag. 

This Disney box set is ludicrously priced  

There’s no denying Disney has clearly put a lot of thought into the design of the box set, and the selection of 100 movies has been well curated — although the omission of The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride is an injustice that I won't stand for — but it's hard to deny this box set is seriously overpriced. 

I’m a lapsed Blu-ray hoarder, but even if my collecting days are (mostly) behind me, I still treasure my Alien Anthology and Batman: The Complete Animated Series box sets. So, I definitely appreciate the value of a well-put-together and presented Blu-ray set. Plus, I can acknowledge that a collection of classic Disney movies on an increasingly niche physical media format is going to carry a hefty price tag, but the math on this one doesn’t add up to me. 

The Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection costs $1,500 and comes with 100 movies, which works out at $15 per disc, a value proposition that any collector would balk at. $15 per disc is within the regular retail price bracket for a Blu-ray (roughly $15-30). With a set of this scale, I would have expected the per-disc cost to be around $10 at most. In fact, the majority of people would be much better off just picking their couple dozen favorites from the 100 movies in this set and buying them each individually — you would save a lot of money that way, and not be saddled with discs for movies you don't particularly care for. 

Of course, there is definitely some value in the extras included in the set. And when it comes to presentation, Disney has done a hell of a job making this box set look like a premium product. But unless you are a committed Disney collector, this 100-movie Blu-ray collection is a tough sell at such a high price. And that’s before you consider that $1,500 could pay for more than a decade of Disney Plus, where almost all of these movies are available to stream right now. 

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Rory Mellon
Entertainment Editor (UK)

Rory is an Entertainment Editor at Tom’s Guide based in the UK. He covers a wide range of topics but with a particular focus on gaming and streaming. When he’s not reviewing the latest games, searching for hidden gems on Netflix, or writing hot takes on new gaming hardware, TV shows and movies, he can be found attending music festivals and getting far too emotionally invested in his favorite football team.