Oops!

I found the following anecdote in a Home Theater Forum review of the Finding Nemo DVD, and thought it was wonderful…

The marketing people at Buena Vista are surprisingly cool. The first package I got…which looked like the normal mailer they send me for DVD marketing material…had a letter stating “Here is the DVD to some movie that I can’t remember!”. There was no DVD. The message was printed on a color printer on “Finding Nemo” letterhead and was signed “Dory”. Ok so Dory is forgetful…so I figured she’d just forgotten to include the DVD.

The next day I get the typical bubble-mailer (the way BV sends me all their DVDs) with a DVD case with a note “Oops! Forgot to send the DVD the first time! here it is!”…signed… “Dory”. Opening the DVD case revealed…there were no discs inside. Ok…at this point the folks at Disney had me. I placed a call to their PR department just to make sure that they were aware of the mistake. I left a message on their answering machine which had the voice of…you guessed it…Dory. Dory was kind enough to return my call and when I got home she assured me that she had discovered that she had sent out all the DVD packages but had forgotten to include the actual discs and that they would be sent forth shortly.

The next day a third package arrives with yet another letter on Nemo stationary apologizing for the previous mistakes and this time containing 2 Nemo DVDs (Discs 1 and 2) in a shnazy little custom Nemo 2-disc plastic holder. All in all I’m impressed with Dory’s promptness in discovering her mistakes, her self-awareness of her memory problem and her ability to make it all come out right in the end.

The DVD, by the way, is incredible (as is the movie). Gorgeous to look at, and a good selection of special features. I highly recommend taking the time to watch the commentary track. Not only are Pixar’s commentaries generally among the best that I’ve listened to, they intercut the movie with behind the scenes clips that focus on whatever particular effect, technique, or moment that they’re talking about at the time. Very nicely done.

And, of course, there are a few fun easter eggs to be found…

…including an ad for the AquaScum 2003!

The AquaScum 2003’s hermetically sealed dual phase motor technology is not for use as: air conditioner, fountain, tire pump, pool sweep, water purifier or laser pointer. Not approved for fresh water fish. The AS2K3 contains a class 3 laser. WARNING Laser beams may cause permanent eye damage. Filter canisters contain ammonium nitrate, may cause ichthyological diarrhea, scale warts, cankers, fish gout and/or bloatation. One additional canister filter supplied in EAG compliant areas if purchased on 3rd Sunday of the month. Free keychain on purchase of two or more at participating Fish-a-ramas.