A print advertisement showcasing the FastPlay feature, as well as the EasyFind Menus feature also present on Disney DVDs
- “This Disney DVD is enhanced with Disney's FastPlay. Your movie and a selection of Bonus Features will begin automatically. To bypass FastPlay, select the Main Menu button at any time. FastPlay will begin in a moment.”
- ―Announcer (Tom Kane) at the Disney's FastPlay menu whenever the viewer inserts a Disney DVD disc after the Disney logo at the start
Disney's FastPlay is a special feature utilized in many Disney DVD/Blu-ray titles since August 2004.
History[]
In 2004, the DVD boom was at its peak, with more DVD players entering homes than ever before. However, most of these homes had parents and small children who were unfamiliar with the DVD format; as a result, many parents complained about how they were unable to start the main feature. Disney responded by developing a technology that would skip right to the feature after the previews concluded, similar to VHS, making the DVD format more user-friendly. Concurrently, the Disney EasyFind technology was introduced, giving all Disney DVDs a set of similar icons to ease menu navigation. The original 2004 DVD release of Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers was the first Disney DVD to use this feature. FastPlay became more common in 2006.
Controversy[]
One would think that it would play the movie and then the (non-interactive) bonus features on the disc, but it actually plays all the previews on the DVD first, which viewers have to skip or sit through before being able to watch the movie and bonus features. This has led to numerous articles from irritated viewers criticizing it for its unavoidability, blatant commercialism, and misleading content, with some people nicknaming it "Disney's SlowPlay". The feature itself has since become an Internet meme.
Video[]
Trivia[]
- The DVD cover for the 2009 release of Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse incorrectly stated it had the FastPlay feature. In actuality, it did not, since it was a reissue of the original 2001 DVD release.
- The music that plays during the menu is taken from the KPM music library, called "Open Market" by Dick Walter, which was previously used in an ident for Disney Channel Feature Presentations, circa 1986-'90.
- This is one of the many intros people remembering the "Mandela Effect" in which Tinker Bell dotting the "i" in Disney.