Speed Racer Silliness

Last Friday I reported that Speed Racer - Volume 4 from Lionsgate, which is going to come out on March 14th, is confirmed by information on the back of the box to have only 8 episodes on it.

Silliness.

The "Volume 1" DVD release, from Artisan (now owned by Lionsgate, bought by them back when they were Lions Gate), had 11 episodes on it. Volume 2 had 12 eps. Volume 3 had 13 eps. All three of those were $22.95 SRP.

Lionsgate had 16 episodes left to release. They could choose to put them all onto Volume 4, making it either a double-sided disc or a two-disc set if needed to keep the video quality up to par, and charge a few bucks more (and I do mean just a few) if need be to cover additional costs.

They could choose to put the eight episodes they went with onto that one DVD, but lower the SRP to an appropriate level to make up for only having 66% of the average number of episodes from the previous three releases.

They could choose to keep the price and dig up some extras to round out the DVD with some bonus content. There are plenty to be found (more on that in a minute).

They didn't choose any of those options. They kept the list price of $22.95 and are giving us one third fewer episodes for the same cost. And stretching out the completion of this series on DVD in the process, by a year based on the annual pattern of releases so far.

Silliness.


As I said, there is PLENTY of bonus material that fans would love to have. Back in the year 2002, "Speed Racer Enterprises" released Speed Racer - DVD Collection Signature Edition, a 5-disc set that had lots of extras: a VW TV Commercial centered around Speed and the gang, a Sponge "Speed Racer" music video, a featurette with a breakdown of the secrets of the Mach-5 based on footage from the episodes, a music video compilation of footage highlighting "Racer X", a 2001 interview with Peter Fernandez (the voice of Speed Racer), and "The Silver Phantom": a pilot which was made in 1997 for a new Speed Racer series that wasn't televised in the USA until 2001. There are also episodes of the 1994 "New Adventures of Speed Racer" series and the 2002 "Speed Racer X" series which could potentially be included as bonus material. Or to let Lionsgate give us 12 episodes on Volume 4, and on Volume 5 put the last four episodes of the original series and then pick up the rest of the DVD with episodes from the newer series.

These extras are hard to find, and the 5-Disc box set was limited to only 1000 copies and is not made anymore (I hear it goes for a bundle on eBay). Lionsgate could have made Speed Racer fans proud of them with lots of extras, but haven't given us any except a paltry few on the first volume. Since then, they've strictly marketed these bare-bones releases to the kiddies, rather than to the adult fans who grew up with the show.

Silliness.


By the way, I don't know why some of the studios think that kids don't like extras. My son just turned 8 last week, and he's ALWAYS asking me if I can help him start the bonus features on his DVDs for Scooby-Doo, Transformers, Wacky Races, etc. You think that kids don't care about supplements? Not my son. Wait, you think I turned him onto extras? Nope, wasn't me. He found them on his own! So it's not his TVShowsOnDVD dad that got him into this "I want to see bonus material" mode...he, like his friends, have all discovered the joys of enhanced content by exploring the DVD menus when the features are done.


So, Lionsgate is handling this release with silliness, I say. Bill Hunt, who runs TheDigitalBits.com, agrees on how silly this is, and has been even more vocal than I about how silly this is. About how upset he is. The Bits and TVShowsOnDVD has spoken plainly that we object to this release strategy.

How did Lionsgate respond? Defensively.


Trade magazine Home Media Retailing ran a story by Chris Tribbey called " 'Speed Racer' Has Slow Rollout, But Flies Off Of Shelves Fast". In it, Liongate VP of Marketing Michael Rathauser predictably defends the company's strategy, pointing out that Lionsgate knew little of the anime market when it took on the property.

Silliness. Speed Racer isn't your typical "anime". It's a classic American televison program, with a hardcore following that may be smaller that the number of fans dedicated to Star Trek or Looney Tunes or Seinfeld or South Park...but no less serious. This was never a "niche" product. This was a mainstream release from the get-go. If they thought otherwise, then they didn't do their homework.

Rathauser says they've sold over 500,000 units of the first three volumes. That's half a million. Do they really think half a million consumers will appreciate getting less for their money this far into the releases? The words I've heard from fans who are incensed in regard to the "we used to get about-a-dozen episodes per release and are now getting a third less for the same amount of money" issue are crying "bait and switch". Some folks are just hopping mad out there, and intend to wait for a price reduction on this 4th volume before getting it. I may be joining them in that. My son loves Speed, but he'll find other things to keep him busy. Beast Machines, Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt and Super Mario Bros. Super Show are all coming...in box sets, loaded with extras. He'll be plenty busy, and so will many adults who wait for a better price.

In the article, Rathauser continues to try to convince retailers that there's no problem with this release, and that they have the winning formula. He says that BECAUSE they were "knowing they had a popular product" (a direct contradiction to his earlier remarks that "initially, we weren’t sure how well it would perform") they skipped doing "simple extras" and instead "added value...and added toys and specialty items to each DVD release". The article cites the specialized packaging as representing that value: Volume 1's rubber tire look (many fans complain that the rubber is pealing off the box after repeated use), Volume 2's theme song and light-up headlights (which no longer work when the battery dies, and no way to replace the battery without destroying the cardboard), and Volume 3's round metal "wheel" package (fans hate the way it needs the decaying cardboard "stand" to stay on the shelf next to the others, and hate how hard it is to open).

So Volume 4's "added value" is a Hot Wheels- or Matchbox-style die-cast car that's probably not going to be as well made as the "Johnny Lightning" brand of toy that you could get in Wal-Mart a while back for under $5. An item many Speed Racer fans already have. Critics do NOT consider this toy Mach-5 to be worth the loss of 4 episodes, and Lionsgate is mistaken to think otherwise. Rathauser says that $22.98 is the right price for this release, a better price than most anime because this has "broad appeal". Too right, Michael, but you're mistaken to compare Volume 4 to other releases. Several years into the release strategy, you're only getting fans who compare it (unfavorably) to the previous three releases.

Knock $3 to $5 off the SRP ($17.95 - $19.95), keep the toy car, and the studio might start to see critics lighten up. Maybe.


The Home Media Retailing story concludes by saying "Lionsgate has spaced out the release of the five volumes, with one each year. Volume Five is due sometime in 2007. 'We have given each volume time in the marketplace,' Rathauser said. 'It’s worked.' "


Will it work this time? Won't consumers feel duped? Will the offline mass-market (who doesn't find about about these issues in advance) even notice? Lionsgate is betting they won't, and that they will make bigger bucks overall from the folks out there who just buy them for the kiddies (or themselves) but are oblivious to how many episodes they got for their money. Sad to say, they're probably going to win that bet.


Silliness.