An Open Letter to Disney

[bawpcwpn]

I have just written an open letter to The Walt Disney Company expressing my disappointment on how Ratatouille is being released in Australia 2 months after its release in the US and 1 month after that in the UK, when the fact is that we all speak english and I can't see it needing any dubbing or anything like that.

Read it here.

[Jeroen]

Right on Brother!!

[ShyViolet]

Sorry about this you guys. Maybe the film will do so well that they'll move up the international release dates.

(At least you still get Spider-Man early! )

[bawpcwpn]

I had sent an email to Aussie Buena Vista yesterday. They tell its due to a "business decision".

[Christian]

They need to add subtitles that say things like:

• G'day, mate!
  
  Throw another shrimp on the barbie!
  
  Did you just see all those dingos, koalas, and wallabies?
  
  When is Crocodile Dundee going to come back to the outback?

They also have to PhotoShop in the shot of the Sydney Opera House from Finding Nemo into MTR and change a line of dialogue to reflect the sad loss of Steve Irwin.

Don't forget that they also need to work in a reference to VegeMite.

Finally, the Bowler Hat Guy is going to be changed to using a boomerang as his weapon of choice.

[Jeroen]

[Groaning]

Cars was also released out here in SEPTEMBER!! (after an american June release). But I spent a month in America around August, so I had the oppurtunity to watch it there.
Summers is just sooo crowded. For the boxoffice, it's probably better that way. Everyone thought that Disney was crazy when they were setting Ratatouille in summer 07 (!!!).

[Ben]

The only thing I can say is yes, it IS a business decision. And here's the business...

Foreign prints need dubbing, but as you say, Australia and the UK speak English and can accept the American accented original dubs.

So that's exactly why we get them later...because we can understand the American originals.

Why pay out for new international prints when other English-speaking territories can play those same US prints and understand them perfectly well?

So...America will get first pick of the prints...then two months down the line, when Ratatouille has done the bulk of its business, roughly two-thirds of those prints will make their way to Australian and UK picture houses...the EXACT same prints!

Worn and played to death. Just business, saving a cool $1500 per print they don't have to strike new.

It's usually done with films that they are worried about losing money on, which should tell you something, so they are minimising their risk. On something like Robinsons, which came out internationally around the same time, it's that they already have too much product and holding that back would have messed with their release dates for Ratatouille, Pirates 3, etc, and their November slate.

So, it stinks, but it is good business (for them). I remember being appauled at seeing Treasure Planet here with a streak scratch running all the way down the right hand side of the image. I thought it would give up after reel one, but it just kept right on until the end, obviously a damaged print from the US.

That's why digital is a <I>good thing</I>.

[GeorgeC]

Don't you just love corporate thinking?

Always putting the CUSTOMERS' business ahead of the company!













Yeah, that was sarcasm...

[ShyViolet]

I got this from IMDB: (Ratatouille forum)

It concerns the UK release of this on October 5.

by pink_sparkly_hearts (Mon Mar 19 2007 06:36:44)
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Buena Vista will be releasing the film to coincide with the UK autumn half-term. Their primary audience will be families and children of course. I'm not too familiar with USA school vacations but I expect that the domestic release date will be during a period when families will be more likely to go to the cinema. It's all very interesting stuff, timing release dates.

I expect they've timed it to miss the summer holidays because the UK is a smaller territory, there's only so much money to be taken during the summer and summer 2007 sees the global release of four films from the some of the most successful franchises ever, namely: Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3, Pirates of the Carribean 3, Harry Potter 5. Besides that you also have things like Ocean's Thirteen, Bourne Supremacy, Die Hard 4 and of course the long-awaited Simpsons movie. Pixar are very good at what they do but who can blame them for wanting to give their film a better chance at the box office?

I don't know how true it is, but I found it interesting.

*******************************************************

So, it stinks, but it is good business (for them). I remember being appauled at seeing Treasure Planet here with a streak scratch running all the way down the right hand side of the image. I thought it would give up after reel one, but it just kept right on until the end, obviously a damaged print from the US.

Wow, that's terrible!

[Ben]

Disney films opening in October for the school break goes back as far as I can remember.

That's why we got Robinsons for Easter. But the fact remains that they delay the schedule to then to cash in on reusing the used prints.

After a summer US run, when's the next best time to use them? The October break, leaving the film a good run into Christmas, when they can issue something else!