In a couple of days I’ll upload The Lion King 35mm to the Internet Archive and various other preservation sites. Others to follow.
In addition to that, maybe post a couple of 2 or 3 minute clips in the comments section of Disney’s official Twitter. When the inevitable “Where’d you get that?” comments roll in, I’ll just let’em know.
No scans are being “sold”. Sometimes optional donations are set up because it takes a lot of money, time and resources to create these projects. The folks restoring these scans have homes they need to pay for, families they need to provide for, etc. etc. and film reels, and especially the equipment used to scan and edit them, are not cheap by any means. No one is forcing you to pay, but that option is there for the community to give back to the individuals who donated their own time and money into these projects.
Not to mention, you or any of us here are not entitled to these preservations. If you want to watch a specific movie, guess what? They’re almost all available officially on physical media and/or streaming. Scanning and preserving film prints is extremely niche, and we’re damn lucky that there are people out there who want to work on these preservations in the first place, especially with copyright obviously being a huge concern. Having access to these theatrical film prints is not a right, it is a privilege; one we should not take for granted.
You start doing dumb, childish crap like you mentioned in your comment, and suddenly these preservations will stop being created. And then nobody will be able to enjoy them.
No legitimate preservationist is interested in making a quick buck, or something as silly as clout. Scans aren’t kept private because we “want to feel cool” or whatever other nonsense you heard on Reddit. It’s to keep communities like this from being DMCA’d.