When I was old enough to have consciousness, most likely 2007-2008, my first memory was my grandmother putting in some kind of cartoon with a play screen in the DVD player. It was very brief because she hit play very fast, because in the 2000s it was equivalent to an ad that you could skip. However, I was extremely fascinated. There was music, short scenes, fun sound effects. 

There were times I would pick a movie just to look at the play screen. The ones that had good music, and a bunch of scenes playing were my favorite. The plain ones with just a picture and music were my least favorite. Sometimes my grandma would catch me staring at the menu and just give me an odd look. Especially when I would go “don’t press play yet!” And continue watching. This continued in my teen years when I would get a new DVD at the flea market and pop it in. I would either go “ugh, this play screen sucks” or “oooo, I like this play screen” then my mom would call me weird.

It’s had such an imprint on my mind that anytime I watch a new movie, I go “I wonder what the play screen looks like” and then think about what it would be.

Below are some of my favorite play screens. (TW for brief blood spatter in Disturbia)

There are a ton more that haven’t been uploaded to the internet because it’s a niche thing to like. Like when you look up. 10 Things I Hate About You menu” it shows the 1999 DVD version, which is just a picture. The one I remember is one I got in 2019 where it showed the scenes, and had cool background music. 

An oddball that sticks out in my mind is this set of DVD’s my teacher gave to my mom to help me learn outside of the class (I am autistic if you couldn’t already tell). I cannot for the life of me remember what this learning series was called, but there were around 4 CDs, and the playscreen was so fun. It made bouncy noises, and had a child’s voice reading the buttons on the screen. Then mixed in the educational CDs was a cartoon with a boy playing a piano, and the play screen used to make me cry because the music was so sad. It wasn’t even a sad movie, it was educational!

You may be asking “Imogen, it’s just a play screen. Something that is the least focused on a movie. Why do you care about them?” Because to me, they complete the movie (if done right.) You can look up “DVD menu screens” and about 70% of them are just pictures with music. It’s like the purgatory of films for me. 

I guess what im saying is BRING QUALITY MENUS BACK. Even on new DVD’s, I want the menu to be able to blend into the background, then when I peek at it while I’m cleaning, I go “ooo nice.” I wanna wake up to the most bomb song ever and hit play to make it stop. 

I could go on for hours about menus. Are there any you remember? Were they annoying or did you watch them for a minute before hitting play? I’ve never heard anyone show interest in them before so I would love to hear your thoughts.