I just read a short article stating that Matt Groening is in negotiations with various mobile phone companies regarding the release of the Ullman shorts. Without further ado, the article:
Source: http://www.pr-inside.com/groenings-r...urn-r14068.htm
GROENING'S REPEATS U-TURN 2006-08-06 17:08:59
THE SIMPSONS creator MATT GROENING has caved in to pressure to re-release the first episodes of his hit animated show.
Groening originally vowed never to show the first cartoon short - which premiered on the TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW - because he was embarrassed by the poor quality of the drawings and lacklustre script.
He is now in negotiations with mobile phone companies to release them with streaming video, insisting, "It's a format crummy enough to do those primitive episodes the justice they deserve."
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Although any official release is better than no official release, I can't say I'm particularly pleased. It doesn't take a genius to look around Google and find various sites offering the Ullman shorts for download. Chances are, the mobile video releases will be of even lower quality than these VHS-rips that have been floating around the net for years due to the generally low bitrate of most mobile video formats (ie. 3GP, etc.). Take the standard cost of a mobile video, and you're looking at over £/$100 for the full set. No thanks.
However, this raises a few questions... has the rights dispute been resolved? Has the asking price for the rights been lowered? If so, is it only for this particular release because of the higher profits involved (ie. sending a single video to a phone for $3 vs. a DVD featuring all 48 shorts, packaged nicely for only roughly five times that amount)?
Comments?
Harry Michaels