"Huevos: Little Rooster's Egg-Cellent Adventure" Gets Doubly Screwed in America

 

This post is at least a few months late in coming, but considering what this blog is supposed to be about (and what I want it to be in the future) I can't have it without discussing the release of this particular film and its American release.  The movie in question is an animated Mexican family adventure called "Un gallo con muchos Huevos." If you want more information about the film and it's interesting release in America, I've written a review of it on my main website.  To give you the abridged version though, someone decided to release this computer animated, Spanish film in American cinemas almost randomly one weekend.  The film is rated PG-13 (for which animation is the one type of movie that DOESN'T benefit from this rating), is released without much publicity, and... yeah, this has failure written all over it.  Amazingly the movie cracks the box office top ten that weekend, reviews are largely positive, and an English dub is planned for eventual expansion.

For some reason the English dub didn't materialize in theaters, but the film was still a surprise hit in America.  You'd think that with this potential the home media release would be treated at least a little better than the shotgun release approach used for the theatrical release.  You'd be wrong in that thinking.  Yes, we did get the movie in disk format, but we got probably the most butchered, pathetic attempt to release the movie I've seen in a long time.  Granted, this wasn't a HUGE hit by any means, but you'd think a surprise hit would be treated a little better!  First of all, I am going to mention that, yes, this movie WAS made with 3D in mind when it was released in Mexico!  I suspected this was the case when I saw the movie in theaters and wasn't surprised to find this was the case.  I know why the 3D version was passed up in theaters, but I held out a little hope that maybe with the unexpected success, the format would be given a second look when it came time to make the BluRay.

Well, to state the obvious we did not get a 3D release of the movie (and it is not in 3D on Vudu this time either).  To a certain extent I knew this could be a possibility, but what I didn't expect was for the BluRay to be passed up altogether.  Almost half a year after I saw the film in theaters, I noticed that it was going to be released on DVD soon as "Huevos: Little Rooster's Egg-Cellent Adventure"...

...but when I saw this listing in the Best Buy ad, I found it odd that there was no BluRay release.  For that matter, when I visited the listing page on Amazon I noticed that the rating of the film was PG.  As you can also see from the cover above, the dub did finally materialize (with such big stars as Jon Hedar and Jason Mews).  But there was no BluRay release.  None.  Any digital copy you could buy online only came in standard definition.  There was no HD release at all.  When I did get my hands on a copy of the DVD my fears were confirmed that the dub was edited to receive the PG rating.  Granted, this IS a kids movie and the original PG-13 seemed a bit even for what was in it, but I dislike censorship regardless.  The only good thing to come from this release is that the DVD DOES contain the unedited, PG-13 subtitled version on the disk (and is advertised on the back of the box, so parents are aware of it).

Unlike most DVD's the PG-13 version is buried on the disk, and it takes a little bit of detective work to find it.  This is likely because the distributors are courting families and they don't want the kids to easily find the "naughty" version of the movie, but the extent they hid it just seems a little silly.  Oh, and that Ultraviolet code... yep, you only get the edited PG dub.  This whole release is just... I don't know what to say.  Yes, I did write in my original review that considering what this movie was and where it came from, I was happy to have gotten it at all.  At the same time I think all movies deserve to be seen in their original intended format and in the best way possible.  So this isn't a big enough movie to get 3D?  Fine, I'll reluctantly accept that (though it still would have been on this sites MIA list).  But to not even release the thing on BluRay and then go out of your way to hide the original version of the film?

That is something I can not get behind.  Not even a little.  Of course "Huevos: Little Rooster's Egg-Cellent Adventure" isn't a great movie by any means.  In fact, I haven't really thought much about it since I've seen it.  I bought the DVD so that I could confirm some suspicions I had about the product, but I haven't re-watched.  I sampled the dub - which was ok - and put the disk on the shelf.  I'm honestly surprised that of all the movies I saw last year, this is one of only a dozen movies I've come back to to write about once again.  Just goes to show you never know what life will give you.  At the end of the day if you have a chance to see the subtitled version of ""Huevos: Little Rooster's Egg-Cellent Adventure" I think you will be reasonably entertained.  But I can not recommend this pathetic DVD in any way.  In this case, for the few fans there are of the movie, they got screwed at least three times over with this release.

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Back to Weekly Updates: This Week "Goosebumps" Scares in 3D

This post will be short and brief.  I have a couple longer posts in the works, but this is a little quick to let you know that we will be reporting on the weekly BluRay 3D releases once again.  The big (and really only) new release this week is "Goosebumps," starring Jack Black.  I gave the movie a mild recommendation on my main site, and this is a pretty nice 3D presentation.  Its by not means a make-or-break use of the format, but there are a couple of scares that were obviously made with the third dimension in mind.  After "Pixels" and "Hotel Transylvania 2" were released, it's nice to see Sony finally releasing two BluRay 3D's that are worth adding to your 3D collection (the other was Robert Zemeckis's "The Walk").  That's it.  That's all we have for tonight.  Tune in Monday for a much longer post... and then we'll return to a schedule where we discuss the announcements of upcoming releases (and I do have some thoughts on the new 4K BluRay players as well).  See you soon!

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Lionsgate to Americans: No 3D Version of 'Mockingjay' For You

How many of you out there are looking forward to seeing "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" this November?! Why?  Didn't you hear, the last movie sucked (alright, that's not fair; it might be good).  Now then, who here has been looking forward to seeing it in RealD 3D or IMAX 3D?  Well, if you were, you are just plain out of luck, because the 3D release has been canceled.  Why?  Um... honestly, I don't know.  This is a very strange case.  The movie was announced early on as being in 3D, the 3D was completed, according to the director it looked pretty good, and the rest of the world (including the very lucrative Chinese market) will be getting it.  Heck, many of the posters you see in movie theaters still proudly proclaim that it will be released in 3D.  So, seriously, what the heck happened?

According to director Francis Laurence in an interview with Forbes Magazine; “I love the 3D format and I know that Mockingjay part 2 will play perfectly in 3D and 2D internationally – but I’m pleased that we’re maintaining the 2D only (and IMAX) formats domestically. It is the best of all worlds!”  *sigh* Again, what the heck happened?!  The 3D is finished.  The director likes it.  Yet it won't be coming to America?  Some might expect that this is the result of 3D not being the big deal in America it once was.  Yes, chances are we are never going to see the format account for more than 80% of the box office like it did with "Avatar" in 2010.  I know that.  The format experienced a rebirth of sorts with that movie, and we're unlikely to repeat that in the anytime in the near future.  There was even a period where 3D was making up less than 50% of the box office results.

Times have changed though, with many major films getting a significant boost in box office because of the 3D surcharge.  For "Gravity," "Life of Pi," and "Frozen," over 70% of the box office was accounted for through 3D screenings.  This year "Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Jurassic World," and "Inside Out" have all opened with 3D screenings accounting for at least half of the tickets sold (and maybe more by the time they run their course).  If those movies did not have 3D as part of the release, their opening numbers would have been much, much lower.  And yet... we see more studios cutting back on 3D.  Even when the movie has been edited and finished.  What gives?  This isn't like "Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows - Part I," where the 3D was so terrible Warner Bros. felt like they had no choice but to cancel the release because it would damage the perception of 3D films greatly.

I own those movies on BluRay 3D and... yeah, they weren't lying; the 3D in those movies are terrible.  However, those movies came out a few years ago when up-conversion was still new.  The process has gotten much better now, to the point where "The Amazing Spider-Man 2's" up-conversion looks compatible to "The Amazing Spider-Man's" natural 3D look.  And, again, according to the director, the 3D for 'Mockingjay - Part 2' looked fine.  I also take offense to his 'best of all worlds' comment, as the best of all worlds would be to offer the film in both formats, and let the consumers choose which version they want to see.  This isn't like other movies that have had international 3D releases that were forced on the movie due to popular demand: This was a movie shot with the 3D in mind from the get go.

I'm still going to see "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2." Chances are you will as well.  I mean, if everyone went to see the pointless 'Part 1' despite poor reception, they are going to see this one as well, 3D or not.  Its just frustrating that the studio is nixing a (reportedly) perfectly acceptable 3D release of their biggest franchise, all while being vague about why the decision was made in the first place.  Lionsgate, you have some explaining to do.

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Spongebob Pops and More Bad News for "The Seventh Son"

Hey everyone, I'm back!  I know I've been ignoring this blog the past several months, but I'm going to be getting serious about updating more often.  For the most part I haven't been updating because we have been getting most of our favorite films on BluRay 3D these days, with the very few non-releases to have not been received being bad movies (and Disney films, of course).  This is a bad way to run the site though.  If a movie was released in 3D, it deserves to be seen in 3D, whether the movie (or the 3D itself) was good or not.  This week proves that more than any other week.  On one hand, I want to applaud Nickelodeon for releasing "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water" in it's native 3D presentation tomorrow.  The film (which I found to be largely enjoyable) was sold as a 3D event film, with cutting edge CGI you'd see in movies like "Yogi Bear" and "Alvin & the Chipmunks." What is ironic about this...

...is that the movie itself barely has any reason to be in 3D.  The images that virtually all the commercials and print ads showed off take up a mere twenty minutes of the movie, and don't come into play until VERY late into the film (more than an hour to be exact)!  Almost the entire film is traditionally hand drawn, giving the technique it's first real hit in years.  Truthfully, because of this format, the 3D actually looks pretty awful for most of the film, and this is one time when the 2D version might be the preferable one to watch.  Kudos to Paramount for giving fans of the film the choice though, since it costs them very little and goes a long way to providing goodwill to fans of the format.  I will still be buying it in BluRay 3D tomorrow.  Partially because I might want to watch the one sequence where the 3D matters again, and partly because the format could use all the support it can get, and the difference is going to be a measly $3.

Less lucky is the release of "The Seventh Son" we got last week. 

Despite being announced for BluRay 3D along with the 2D versions of the film, despite having the disk up for pre-order for months, and despite many of the disks already being pressed, the movie hit store shelves without a BluRay 3D release, with a new date to be determined.  There is no word on what happened in this case, but the fact that many sites (including Amazon) were taking pre-orders until two weeks ago suggests that the decision to forgo/delay the release of the 3D version came late in the game.  "The Seventh Son" has not been the luckiest of movies, having been delayed almost a full two years after being filmed and being widely panned by critics.  The 3D was tacked on at the last minute of filming to take advantage of the booming 3D craze.

Course, that was two years ago, and it's hard to deny that the format has taken a hit in popularity since then.  Most TV's still have 3D capabilities, but almost none of the manufacturers use it as a major selling point anymore.  Still, the format has it's fans, there is more content for it than ever before, and since there have already been disks pressed, it's all the more strange that it didn't ship to stores.  That said, Vudu has once again come to the rescue by providing a 3D digital download on their service (though only to rent at the moment... oddly enough).  I don't like buying things digitally, but it's nice that there is an option of sorts out there.  Stay tuned for more developments on the situation as they develop.

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Warner Bros. 'Diamond Lux' Line is Ignoring the Most Important Aspect of a BluRay: The Movie

Buyer beware: Real movie NOT included!
 

There are several new releases popping into retailers this week, but chances are the only one most of you are interested in is "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies." The ending of Peter Jackson's (some would say needlessly extended) trilogy based on Tolkien's beloved children's book (which the movies are certainly not made for), this was by far the best installment in the trilogy and contained one of the best uses of 3D any movie has seen to date. The movie is being made available in 3D by Warner Bros. And MGM in a joint effort.  It's sort of funny to think that when 'The Hobbit' was first announced as a 3D trilogy, it was going to be the movie that saved 3D.  While it did get some decent business in 3D, it did not save the format at the movies or at home.

In fact, in the theaters, two films brought a lot more business to the 3D format than any of 'The Hobbit' films did: "Gravity" and "Frozen." Both movies, I'm sorry to say, have been treated with absolute disrespect when it came to preserving their original looks on BluRay.  We've already discussed "Frozen" at great length here and how Disney still refuses to release their high in demand BluRay 3D in America (though they can take time to release a sing-along DVD instead).  "Gravity" has been treated a little better by mere virtue that we got a BluRay 3D release at all.  That is about to change greatly with the "Gravity: Diamond Lux Edition" BluRay Warner Bros. is releasing.  What is 'Diamond Lux?' It's a fancy term for "special edition."

This is a new lineup for Warner Bros. to present some of their classic movies in a package that is fancy, has great special features, and (usually) a newly remastered 4K print of the film.  The lineup is off, as it includes movies like "The Green Mile," "Batman," and "Gremlins," movies that are all very popular, but might be more up for debate on which of these can truly be considered groundbreaking films (if any at all).  I think including "Gravity" in this lineup shows some very smart forward thinking on Warner Bros. part.  However, there is a strange omission when it comes to the release: There is no 3D included.  This is baffling and unacceptable for a number of reasons.  First of all, "Gravity" is a 3D movie. Period. There is no debating this.

It was filmed in 3D, it was built around 3D, and many people who saw the movie in 2D didn't even like it compared to the people who saw it in 3D, which should give you all the information you need to know.  To take the 3D away is the same as colorizing "Casablanca." Yes, you can technically still watch these movies in these forms, but you are not watching the movies the film makers intended for you to see.  Now, unlike Disney, Warner Bros. is not denying you the chance to watch "Gravity" in the way it was intended to be seen, but to make a BluRay edition that is touted as being the definitive way to own the movie (in so many words) while not including a very important aspect of the film is not only wrong, it's outright lying.

How would you feel if you bought Paramount's ultimate edition of "The Godfather" trilogy on BluRay, only to find the iconic opening scene from the first movie wasn't included?  The Diamond Lux edition of "Gravity" looks very nice by all accounts.  It has a new 4K transfer.  It has new audio commentaries and other special features.  The packaging is so very beautiful.  But it does not contain the option to view the film in 3D, which is how the film was conceived and shot.  There is no way any serious movie fan can make the claim that this is the ultimate edition of the movie when the look and feel of the movie itself has been compromised.  Neither can the studio.  Therefor, the Diamond Lux lineup is seriously compromised because Warn Bros. has ignored the most important aspect of the product: The presentation of the movie itself. And that, ultimately, is a huge problem.

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Why Can't More BluRay's be Like "The Polar Express?"

I know December isn't until tomorrow, but tonight I decided to start my Christmas movie watching season with "The Polar Express.". Being one of the best 3D films ever made, I of course chose that format to watch it in (and since my therapist has challenged me to look on the positive things in my life, I consider it a blessing to be able to still be able to view this film in 3D).  Unlike most BluRay 3D releases, this set only comes with one disk.  If your BluRay player doesn't detect a 3D TV it informs you of your need for one to view the film in 3D, then switches to a 2D menu so you can watch it without the third dimension.  If the disk senses the 3D TV it will go straight to 3D with the option of switching to 2D if (for some crazy reason) you decide this is how you want to watch the movie.

Oh, and all of the special features are included as well (most of which are in standard definition, but what can you do).  All of this on one disk.  I find this fascinating because this release shows just how pointless all these multiple releases are.  Every 3D movie you buy on BluRay comes on it's own disk.  Usually the movie is all you'll get.  Once in awhile you'll get a trailer for a 3D movie or a commercial recommending you buy a 3D TV (yeah, I know), for the most part, though, all your getting is the movie.  I'm not sure why this is.  Some people who work in the industry tells me it's because giving the 3D version it's own disk gives the manufacturers the space they need to make it look the best the movie can look.  I have no problems with this response.  However, when you watch "The Polar Express" in 3D it looks great.  I mean, it looks demo worthy. 

The thing is, when you compare this to Disney's "A Christmas Carol" (also a 3D motion capture film directed by Robert Zemeckis, ironically enough), both of the disks feature demo worthy presentations. Maybe there's a difference in the sound quality, but it all sounds great as well.  Yet "A Christmas Carol" has it's own disk for the 3D, where "The Polar Express" shares it's 3D with everything else.  I bring this up because it occurred to me: Why can't more studios do this?  Look, if giving the 3D version it's own disk results in a better presentation then I say go for it.  I'm paying lots of money for these disks, so I want them to look and sound as good as they can.  Yet the reality is that studios are starting to cut back on 3D releases because they don't want to pick up the extra costs associated with extra disks for a version that might sell a fraction of the regular version.

If there is a movie where these extra costs don't seem to make financial sense on the outside, then they need to put the 3D version on the same disk as the 2D version.  Really, there is no excuse not to.  We know the studios can do this.  We know it can look great even without the extra space on the disk.  Heck, when Sony released their first BluRay 3D's they all included the 2D version to assure people who didn't have 3D TV's at the time (which was pretty much nobody) that these disks would be future proof.  They would work on their current TV's, you didn't have to upgrade to watch them, but the 3D version was there for when you did.  Somewhere along the line that line of thinking stopped, and I feel it's time to bring it back.  The studios need to insure that if I movie was made with 3D in mind, that there is a way to put the 3D version on disk.

Even if it has to share space with the 2D version and give up some of the quality (of which there is some debate it will), I think most film lovers would prefer to have it at a compromised level than to not have it at all.  Back when there was the big "widescreen debate" going on, studios would have to cater to two types of people: Film lovers who wanted to watch their movies in the format the directors originally filmed them in, and the everyday consumer who didn't like "black bars" and insisted the image be cropped so they wouldn't have to look at them.  Most studios made two versions available to appease both groups (I also want to mention practically all those full screen versions are practically un-sellable now).  When economics dictated that it would be financially cumbersome to do that, the studio would have to choose which version.

Sometimes they picked the consumer friendly full screen version.  In fact, they did this a lot.  Just ask Disney, who would almost always choose to compromise how the film was intended to look in favor of the more commercially friendly (but incorrectly looking) version... whoa, I just got a huge sense of déjà vu there.  Some studios put both the widescreen and full screen versions on the same disk.  Yes, this compromised the picture quality a little, but given the choice between that and no widescreen at all, it was an easy compromise for most film lovers out there.  I think the compromise of the 3D and 2D sharing the same disk is one that fans of, say, "Frozen," would be more than willing to make.  Also, from a marketing perspective, this would make a lot of financial sense as well as help push the market towards selling more 3D TV's.

There would be less disks to make, only one version of the product on the shelves (thus eliminating consumer confusion about different versions), and if more people had more movies in 3D (whether they intended to buy them or not) they would likely consider making sure their next TV they got would have 3D capabilities to insure they could watch them.  In short, it's a win-win for everyone.  Of course, the whole idea of the combo packs was also to do this very thing, but it doesn't work when you sell the products outside of the combo packs.  That's another topic for another day... and possibly another blog.  Anyway, I think this is something that is worth bringing up to the studios as a compromise if they insist on holding back on 3D releases because that extra $0.25 BluRay disk is just going to cost too much money.

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Best Buy Has Exclusive "Planes: Fire & Rescue" 3D...Cover

Most people are already aware that Disney has skimped on releasing a BluRay 3D of "Maleficent" this week, what most of you might not be aware of is that Disney also skipped on releasing a BluRay 3D of "Planes: Fire & Rescue."  Unlike "Maleficent" though, "Planes: Fire & Rescue" does not have an international release for important.  Vudu does have a 3D stream available as is the custom, however what's amazing about this is that Vudu is also giving you the 2D stream and special features this time!  You know, like how they should have been doing these releases all along instead of price gouging on a crummy 3D stream without special features.  Never mind, that's another post for another day.  If you want the cherry on top of this very strange affair check out this photo I took while I was at Best Buy today:

At first glance it looks like they might have negotiated to have exclusive rights to the 3D version, but a closer look reveles that they simply have an exclusive 3D cover.  I couldn't help but laugh at the irony in this.  Of course this isn't the first time Best Buy has spent money to secure the rights to an exclusive cover.  Heck, this seems to be one of the more bizzar attempts retailers make to try and lure fans of movies away from Amazon.com and convince them to trek to the store and make their purchase.  Does the cover make that much of a difference?  I personally don't think so, but I would probably be wrong in that assumption.  Anyway, I find it annoying that Best Buy would spend money on the rights to an exclusive cover but not on the 3D version.  I also want to warn potential buyers that if they see this in the store it just LOOKS like a BluRay 3D, but it's not!  Of course, considering how quietly this came to video, there's probably not many people who want "Planes: Fire & Rescue" in the first place.

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BluRay 3D This Week

This week we have two major 3D exhibited movies being released with only one of them getting a BluRay 3D release.  That release would be for "Hercules.". The Dwayne Johnson vehicle isn't what I would call a particularly good movie, but it's still nice that the 3D version is being made available for those who want it.  The much bigger release (which also had 3D was used to much better effect) is "Maleficent" (which also isn't very good).  This is the much bigger release of the two, yet Disney still insists on releasing their BluRay 3D's everywhere in the world except America.  Per the custom though, Vudu has the 3D version available in digital release.  It doesn't look as good as a BluRay would and good like having a connection that is consistent enough to stream it properly, but I suppose it's better than nothing.  Actually, considering the recent events, I'm starting to wonder if the reason Disney has cooled on releasing BluRay 3D disks is because Vudu has paid for exclusive rights to the 3D versions?  It's worth looking into at the very least.

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"The Book of Life" Makes Great Use of 3D! Will We Get a BluRay 3D?

Reel FX's "The Book of Life" is one of the most unique animated films in years (along with "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" by Studio Ghibli).  The film was also released in 3D.  Animation and 3D tend to compliment each other greatly, and in this case it has resulted in the best use of 3D all year so far.  Chances are I will be seeing it a second time for a couple reasons.  The first is that it's just a great movie that deserves to be seen more than once.  The second is that I want to see it in 3D again should I not have the chance.  I am a little fearful that we might not get a BluRay 3D release despite the obvious need to view the film in three dimensions.  I worry about this because Reel FX's previous film "Free Birds" also made great use of 3D yet became one of the first mainstream 3D titles to only get a 2D release state side (Europe got the 3D though).

Granted, "The Book of Life" is critically acclaimed and a likely Oscar contender for Best Animated Feature where "Free Birds" was a critical bomb.  Yet if you look at the box office between the two films you'll notice there isn't much difference in how the two performed in their first couple of weeks in release.  It's hard to know if "Free Birds" 3D release was nixed because of box office, poor reviews, or a little of both, but common sense indicates that money is the driving factor behind most decisions in Hollywood.  So far the box office for "The Book of Life" gives me concern that a BluRay 3D release might not happen, so if you want to see the film the way it was intended to be seen you might want to catch it in theaters while you have the chance.

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MIA Last Week: "Legends of Oz: Dorthy Returns"

Now that I'm back in the full wowing of things here, I have to mention that we got another BluRay release last week whose 3D version is Missing In Action: "Legends of Oz: Dorthy Returns." Both a critical and box office failure, the film was released on DVD and BluRay combo packs last week.  However, no BluRay 3D was made available.  This is especially disappointing for fans of the film (if there are indeed any out there feel free to comment and let us know why you liked it) because the movie was made with 3D in mind, and many of the shots look distorted in 2D.  The fans are extra screwed in this case as there is no international BluRay 3D release of any kind (so no importing on this one), and Vudu doesn't have a digital 3D download.  In fact they don't sell the film at all... which probably speaks volumes to how big of a disaster this really was.  So, again, if there are indeed any fans of this movie that exist, hopefully you don't mind the odd looking 2D version of this film.

Edit: If you really need your Oz 3D fix I want to remind you that Warner Bros made a 3D version of the classic 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" recently.  I'm not a huge fan of watching older movies forced be in 3D, however this was a surprisingly good upconversion, so for what its worth that's an option.

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DreamWorks Animation Continues Strong Support for BluRay 3D

While most of the Hollywood industry has started to downplay 3D's future, Jeffery Katzenberg of DreamWorks Animation is still one of the most high profile fans of the format.  During a 20th Anniversary party held in London, Katzenberg reminisced on his career in the movie industry, his firing from Disney and helping Steven Spielberg and David Geffen found DreamWorks SKG, then he spent some time at the end confirming that DreamWorks is still dedicated to the 3D format and see's it as being very profitable in the long term.  Course, talk is cheap in this industry, and the best indication that DreamWorks is still fully backing the format shows up today in their release of "Mr. Peabody & Sherman."

The movie is being release in DVD, BluRay, and BluRay 3D combo packs (all versions come with UltraViolet, the format that studios are trying to force down your throat gradually introduce you to so they can take ownership away from consumers ride the digital revolution).  The BluRay 3D Deluxe Edition stands out for a couple reasons.  The first is that it has a cover that resembles the teaser poster very closely.  The second thing is that the cover proudly proclaims that the set "Includes All-New 'Rocky & Bullwinkle' Adventure!" (it should be noted that the short was supposed to accompany the film in theaters, however those plans were scrapped for some reason). 

What the cover fails to mention is how exclusive to this edition the short is.  Not only do you have to buy the Deluxe Edition to get the short, but it's only available to view in 3D. The reason the short is not included on the 2D BluRay or the DVD is not because there is a lack of space on the disks to include it.  I can tell you that there was ample space on all the disks to include the short and it would not have been very difficult.  No, the reason the short is only the 3D disk is that DreamWorks likes the format and wants to help it succeed.  It's not difficult to see why this is, seeing that they are probably the only company consistently putting out quality 3D in their movies (even Pixar seems to be struggling to figure out what to do with the format).  It gives them a reason to sell up-charged tickets and people who pay for them actually feel like they get their money's worth (just ask anyone who saw "How to Train Your Dragon 2" in IMAX 3D this year).

While most studios are tacklessly making a 3D combo available (or in some cases just skipping the 3D release altogether), DreamWorks is making a strong statement that they prefer you to buy their movies in 3D.  If people are lukewarm about the format, then they will include features that you can only get if you buy the 3D version.  And make no mistake, including a full seven minute short as a 3D exclusive is a substantial stance on where you should spend your money.  Chances are some people will buy the Deluxe Edition just because they'll want the short.  If they don't have a 3D TV, they might keep things like this in mind when it comes time to buy a new TV.  If more 3D releases had exclusives like these, stuff that would make people want to spend the extra few dollars for them, it would help the format out greatly.  When BluRay came out special features started to mainly become BluRay exclusives, and I see no reason why more studios can't give their movies a little 3D love to help sweeten the pot.

There was also a Best Buy BluRay 3D exclusive, and I'll discuss the importance of that in my next post.

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