Another Example of Pushing Customers to Blu-Ray: Bolt Release Staggered

Bolt DVD cover

I knew studios were pushing the Blu-ray format hard in their product announcements, but I was surprised to see them stacking the deck when it comes to release dates.

Normally, DVDs are released for sale on Tuesdays. On March 24, Disney’s Bolt will be available in a one-disc edition at $30 or a two-disc version at $33. The second disc contains these extra features:

Bolt DVD cover

  • “I Thought I Lost You” music video.
  • The recording of the song.
  • “First-time directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard take fans along as they traverse the road from concept to completion.”
  • A voice cast recording session: John Travolta (Bolt), Miley Cyrus (Penny), Susie Essman (Mittens), James Lipton (Director), and Mark Walton (Rhino).
  • A featurette on “Bolt’s painterly backgrounds” and
    “the unique look of this CG movie.”
  • Deleted scenes.
  • A digital copy of the movie.

For $40, you can get the Blu-ray version … and it comes out two days early, on Sunday, March 22. It includes the following extra extras, above and beyond the DVD bonuses:

  • Bolt’s Be-Awesome Mission, an interactive game.
  • Bolt Art Gallery — early creative concepts, storyboards, character mock-ups. (Wonder if that’ll address the whitewashing of the original creator?)
  • BD-Live includes Movie Chat, Movie Mail, Movie Challenge, and Movie Rewards.

Not offering customers a fair choice is one way to goose the sales figures and make the Blu-ray format look more popular, I guess.



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