Animation Source Forums

Yeah, I'm just speaking from what I see in the US though, I don't know what Blu Ray adoption is like in other countries. Blu Ray is being pushed very hard in the US. These days, movies don't come out on DVD unless they're on Blu Ray. Even completely forgettable movies that didn't do very well come out on Blu Ray. HD TVs are very prevalent and getting cheaper every week, so the movie studios are pushing the HD content to go with them.

Balto in HD on HBO was broadcast at 720p, so it may have been upscaled, although it was very clean. No pixellation at all. I'm hoping what they did was re-master it from the original at higher resolution, because it seems like upsampling might have generated artifacting or pixellation. Either way, I would like to see it on DVD or Blu Ray in the correct aspect ratio. There's no reason not to do it that way any more. And the only other real advantage Blu Ray has is space to put extras. Probably wishful thinking, but I'd love to see it crammed full of extras.

Heck, you know what we need to do is ask the Criterion people to do it. That'll probably fly as well as Boris does, but it would be a sure fire way to get an excellent DVD or Blu Ray out of it.

Here is a idea...what if insted of sending the petition through E-mail or whatever, Have someone or a handfull of fans in Florida, deliver the petition in person. I would think by doing that, that will give Universal an impression and it will leave them with a better understanding that people really want this DVD to happen. But I think that the more people you have doing this in person, the bigger the statement will be.

My word about the whole making this DVD a Blue-ray thing, I think by asking for a Blue-ray version, we be Biting Off More Than we Can Chew. It's tough enough that we are asking just for a Special Edition. And besides, it would be much more easy for people to get this Special Edition DVD for a regular DVD player that they already have, then to go out and get both a Blue-ray version & a Blue-ray player.

Deleted Scenes.
Bloopers (if there any)
Interviews with the Actors.
And..that's pretty much it.

But even if a Blu Ray will be made there's no guarantee that Universal will make any effort to get people that aren't already fans to get it as evidenced in the tragic way they put it with other movies so you can't even just get it by itself.

It just seems like Universal is trying to damage this movie on purpose because they have not done it the justice it deserves. I would be amazed if they even bother to make a new DVD let alone a Blu Ray and would be more amazed if they put any special features and bonuses in it as well.

But what I'am saying...is to not just make a statement, but to take a statement and turn it into action

I'm pretty new here so I don't know what the previous one was for and about so I don't know what happened with it but dpstq does have the right idea when it comes to how we should deliver the petition.

I still don't know if even doing that will get Universal's attention though.

If that's the answer that we got from universal then why are we doing another one? They obviously did not take us seriously the first time and might not this time too.

It's like what people said on the first petition topic:we need to get more people to sign it and join Balto source.

The problem is not a-lot of people know about Balto Source/the petition or would even be looking for fan sites like Balto Source and notice it like I did. We can't rely on hoping people will see the site and sign the petition; we need to get it even more known about to fans so more people will sign it.

Well, the HD version sounds quite fantastic to me. Widescreen sounds even better! So this is what I'd like to see in a SE release of Balto (perhaps for an anniversary edition or something):

- Widescreen/Fullscreen versions of "Balto" (because I'm sure there's still some full-screen lovers out there, but the widescreen version would be the more preferred thing - heck, they did this with "Secret of Nimh" in its 2-disc set, why not with Balto?)
- Deleted Scenes (because we've heard and seen bits of them, but we wonder why they were taken out of the final film in the first place. Gosh, it would be something nice to see explained by those who worked on editing the film!)
- The 2 sequels included on a second disc (It worked with "Anastasia's" Family Fun release, which included "Bartok the Magnificent", the sequel that only had the albino bat from the original. Too bad they didn't do that with Ferngully's 2-disc set . . . oh wait, that sequel sucked worse than people say WQ did. Seriously, it was horrid. But I digress.)
- That Region-2 documentary (or whatever it was - I liked how it offered more info on the true story of Balto, not the movie's hybrid version. It was informative and quite nice to see actual footage of the real hero! In other words, we in the USA were seriously missing out on good stuff.)
- Full commentary during the film (either with voice cast, directors or other important staff. Seriously, it would nice, because I know we've like to know what people who worked on the film thought about certain scenes, characters, or even lines!)
- Trailers/TV Spots (like the official trailers and TV spots for the theatrical/video/DVD release. Only because Disney does it with their Platinums and I like looking at them!)
- Concept art/character sketches/model sheets/production pics/movie poster art/etc. (Other thing Disney likes to do. I think this allows viewers and fans to see how much their favorite characters had changed throughout the development of the film process. Plus, you can also see who voiced or animated who!)
- A "Making of" featurette? (Or maybe several of them - because most movies have stuff like that. Besides, it would be nice to learn why they chose something like the 1925 serum run as a topic for a family film, right?)

Uh, I can't think of any other good stuff, but I believe that if Disney or some other company bought the release rights for the films, I would so double-dip for this version.

- Juuchan17

Those are terrific ideas! Out of curiosity did the first Balto DVD come with any special features/bonuses or did they just leave it without any extras at all?

Also, can the Balto DVD be bought separately or does it only come in that set with the other two movies?

If they do come out with a special edition dvd, it should have x-tras like a short version (summary) of the true story so people can have all the true facts on the real Balto.
They should also improve the colors on alot of the scenes. Particularly on Jenna's bandana and even Balto himself. Perhaps it would be best to introduce it by having it on 2-disk platinum "For 85 Years of Remembrance" or something. That is, if it comes out in 2010, which if it does come out at all, just might be.
That's what I think it should include. Everyone would love Balto if they saw it, but, that's just the problem, not enough people have seen it to make an impression on Universal. And, even if they did see it, how would they find the petition to be able to sign it? *sigh* too bad we can't make a trailer of it on some huge movie coming out by Universal. Then maybe they could tell them where to find the petition to sign it. I know it sounds a bit overrated, but it's and idea. Maybe a stupid one, but an idea nonetheless.

I think I was watching my Babe VHS (pretty sure it was Babe) a while back and that had a trailer for the Balto VHS, perhaps that could be added in as well