20th Century Fox has recently announced the US release of straight-to-Blu-ray sequel Dr. Doolittle: Million Dollar Mutts. Pampered with an AVC transfer and a 5.1 DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio track, the film features none of the original cast and takes an altogether different story route to its predecessors. Will this start a trend of economical, direct to BD sequels?

According to figures collated by Muze Europe Ltd and released by the British Video Association, Pinocchio is the 1,000th Blu-ray title to be released in the UK. “This highly significant milestone not only reflects the confidence of our members in the technology but is also an indication of the public’s interest in purchasing top quality home entertainment,” said BVA marketing manager, Hannah Conduct.

It’s been a long time in the making but Sky HD subscribers can finally experience the broadcasters spanking new Electronic Programme Guide. Containing a PiP screen playing out within the guide so the action is never far away, the new EPG also introduces an all new series stacking tool, not to mention an in-depth genre based search tool, making this update has been well worth the wait.

High Definition Review recently had a chance to speak to Dick Jones, the voice and reference actor for Walt Disney’s Pinocchio, ahead of Monday’s Blu-ray release. The former child actor and veteran of numerous westerns talked to us about his memories of Walt himself as well as his time on the production, and how he initially got involved at the age of ten:

“Walt Disney Studios put out a call for auditions– they tell me there was close to 200 people auditioning for the part of Pinocchio,” Dick recalled. “Over several months of going back and forth and reading different dialogue and doing different aspects of the film, it narrowed down to two of us. And then the last time we auditioned, we parted ways, and bid Walt Disney ‘adios’ - until he called up, and invited my mother and I to have lunch with him in the old Hyperion studio. It was there that he asked me if I would like to do the part of Pinocchio. And I jumped up and went ‘Oh boy, you bet that’s what I really want to do!’”

Pinocchio 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition is released on Disney Blu-ray and DVD on 9 March - for the full interview check out issue 18 of High Definition Review, available from the start of April.

He may have missed out on the Oscar but Mickey Rourke will soon be flexing his muscles in The Wrestler’s BD match up. Announced in an early statement by 20th Century Fox, a supplement list is yet to be unveiled but what you can expect from this title is a grandstand AVC transfer and some pounding DTS-HD Master Audio. Of course when Optimum Releasing spec up the equivalent UK Blu-ray news we’ll have it here first.