Originally Posted by Keith Paynter

I, too, am surprised at what is turning out to be a less than ownable piece of legendary NFB cinema. They are typically very protective in terms of archiving, but I think that Criterion was probably not prepared to do too much in terms of digital cleanup on a title that's currently pre-selling for less than $10 on Amazon.

It makes me nervous about how they are going to be presenting The Red Balloon, another school-age memory for so many of us. A PPR copy on VHS from our local public library shows how badly the film has deteriorated over the years.