Dear Universal,
The aim of this petition is simple : we, Balto fans, would like to see a Special Edition DVD (and/or Bluray) release for the Universal animated film Balto.
Balto is a film that has a strong cult following. It's an animated film that has always been overlooked, yet is very appreciated by both fans and mass audiences.
We know very well that nowadays, your main focus is on money-maker franchises aka "Despicable Me" - especially now that you've shut down your internal Universal Animation Studios.
But that doesn't mean you should forget your past successes, which could also be very profitable if only given the chance! *Not a single thing* Balto-related has been released since 2004 (= the last cheapquel, Balto 3), and yet the franchise stays very popular. The proof is this petition and our website Balto Source, which gets around 2000 visitors each day and keeps getting bigger.
It hasn't been difficult for us to list many reasons why you should consider it :
- Disney has done the same thing this year for "its less popular" films : The Great Mouse Detective and The Black Cauldron. Both have received very good sales.
- Customers will be more interested in buying the sequels if they own the first Balto. So, releasing the first Balto on DVD will boost the sequels sales, too.
- Balto has always made good sales on videos, the same would be sure to happen with a new DVD/Bluray release.
- The current DVD release does not respect the film in any way : the cover is not appealing at all (such a cheap cover can even turn out people by thinking it's not the "true" Balto film), there are no real extras (where are the deleted scenes? the commentaries? things that BOTH kids and adults like...) As a reference, the cover for the VHS versions and the theatrical release was much better.
And the film ratio was transfered into a bad span-and-scan 4/3 format instead of the original theatrical widescreen format, which means a great part of the original image is cut. Also, ALL of the TV sets sold in the market now are widescreen, and most people don't like watching full screen DVDs on them.
- We've encountered lots of people who want to buy the film, but the current DVD cannot be found in local stores. It's now clearly "sold out" on Amazon and your official site. The only way to find it is by ordering on web shops, which does not seem a good way to sell films to children. How do you expect that people will buy something they can't FIND? Also, you never released any DVD pack with all 3 Balto films, so releasing Balto 1 alone shouldn't be a problem.
- Balto is clearly a "sleeper hit" : a film which most people in the world don't know about, but which everyone who have seen it liked immediately. Balto has never been promoted properly, as a result many people who could be interested in it just don't know about it. If they saw some advertisement for the film (for the occasion of the release of this SE DVD), they would be immediately attracted and would pick it up.
- Special Editions DVDs released for other animated films have always made good to top sales.
- A Bluray edition would be entirely new and a good opportunity to make the most attractive edition yet.
- Releasing a DVD costs much less than making a new sequel. Also, this will boost and revive the popularity of the Balto franchise by a lot, and it could bring more opportunities for this franchise in the future.
- Both the fans and "regular" customers would be interested in such a DVD, which is not the case when you release a sequel.
- Balto fits very well the current brand of franchises you're developing : a simple and clean film for the whole family.
- It is the perfect time to release special edition DVDs : everyone own DVD players now, including children.
We would like to suggest this Special Edition DVD to be spanned on 2 discs.
If possible, the first disc should contain the film in its original widescreen format, and audio commentaries from one of the Balto film creators. Of course, there should be subtitles for all the languages included.
The second disc should contain extras : deleted scenes, making of, interviews (Steven Spielberg, Simon Wells, James Horner, the voice actors such as Kevin Bacon...), pictures gallery (paintings, sketches, storyboards...), bloopers, documentaries on the film or the true story, trailers for the two direct-to-video sequels, interesting games like trivia games...
Please note that these are SUGGESTIONS from us on how to make it successful!
And, the most important : please don't forget Balto! You don't seem to realize that not exploiting is really a waste of profits.
Thank you for reading,
The Balto Source fans :
http://www.animationsource.org/balto/en/Please correct any gramatical / spelling mistakes in it.
And here is the file to print, which contains all the signatures (around 22 pages) :
Thanks!
...I personally believe a re-release could be very successful, that is, if universal can advertise it properly.
