Animation Source Forums

ok. thanks, it just for clearing ideas.

Well it WAS popular at the time. And I remember seeing somewhere that the first American Tail was one of the most profitable animated films when it was released (but also because of a lower budget than the Disney ones)

I believe it's mostly because of the following :

1. The first Balto film was released at the same time as Toy Story

2. People these days tend to lean more towards 3D animated films rather than 2D

Personally, I much rather 2D animation. Oh well, I guess 3D is the "new" thing.

As mentioned by Togo, the guy (or girl xD) who planned to release Balto at the same time as Toy Story should have been fired (if he wasn't)..because it really wasn't a smart move =\ (in my opinion anyway)

hmm.. now that I think about it. I wonder if Balto would've done better if it was released in 1996 you would've had two dog movies that year (the other being All Dogs 2).. and the only real competion would've been Huncback of Notre Dame.. or Space Jam.. maybe James and the Giant Peach.. but nothing like Toy Story.. *shrugs*..

also, I think American Tail was the first animated movie to outgross a Disney's movie.. some people say that after "Tail's" success.. the Disney folks put a lot more effort in the Little Mermaid movie..

I also think if Fox and the Hound was released in 82, instead of 81.. Secret of Nimh and The Last Unicorn would've beaten it at the box office easily.. but Fox was orginally scheduled for 1980.. so that couldn't have happened..

Movie merchandise is the result of hype. Bolt was more popular than any of the Balto movies ever were. As such, more products were sold on ebay, amazon and so forth.

I really cant blame the companies. Balto is a nice movie but its not really comparable with Bolt.

But hype can be a result of merchandise and attention, neither of which the Balto movies got. When I see large sites like this for the Balto movies, it makes me think that if the movies had more mainstream attention at the time or their release(s) and after, things would be a lot different.

Like Disney's Afternoon cartoons released on DVD, most of these are released on the sly and silently to the point where the only reason I'd know they'd existed is through the VHS rental store in my own home town. What further confuses me is that supposedly, in the case of An American Tail, another film released by Universal - made quite a big wad of cash and rejuvenated most of the animation scene of it's time. For a film where Spielberg and Bluth put their stamp on it, some pretty known names, I'm rather disappointed that's been relegated to the bargain bin with incorrect covers (Tanya's appearance from the second film still appears on the first movie cover). It's gotta be either the studio's decision to do so, or maybe conflicts between those involved, I suppose.

In the case of Balto though, it was a film I never really cared much for. The story is unique, the animation is nice, but it's less-than-moderate success at the box office might be why it's not getting much attention. *shrug* Most films, cartoon or otherwise, tend to go that way of the buffalo after awhile if they weren't really major hits. I recall the reviews being average or below.

Well, I think I have a few answers to that. One, Balto was made by Universal, who's primary type of movies they make is not animation. You can clearly tell that by seeing how they closed the animation half of their studio.

Also, you have to think about the difference in time. Balto was released in 1995 where they may not have had as many opportunities to make items for it. Whereas Bolt as released somewhere in 2008. That's pretty much a 13 year time gap. Besides that, Toy Story came out at around the same time as Balto so it probably wasn't as popular. Hence, Universal didn't really think it would get along that well. They probably lost a lot of money to Disney's toy story taking all the viewers, therefore they saw no benefit in spending more money to promote it.

Well, for one thing, Disney is a larger company than Universal, thus they have more money for publicity. And in my opinion, people tend to care more about Bolt and Disney movies in general than Balto. Which i love Disney films, but Balto will always be my favorite.

Zuko, let's just go over the fact one more time that what you just said was AN OPINION!