Help Sam Watch Trolls World Tour

In light of the Coronavirus pandemic and the widespread closure of cinemas, Universal Pictures have taken the unprecedented step of releasing Trolls World Tour, previously slated for a theatrical run, directly to VOD platforms on Monday 6 April.

While I am delighted for the opportunity to watch Trolls World Tour from the safety of home, I find Universal's price point - £15.99 to watch the film once within a 48 hour window - to be completely unjustifiable.

This price point - about the cost of two full-price cinema tickets - seems to be based on the assumption that most people will be watching the film in groups. Unfortunately, as a childless man whose partner has zero interest in watching Trolls World Tour, this does not apply to me. I would in all likelihood have gone to see the film on Cheap Tuesday at my local Cineworld for a fiver, meaning this is costing me more than 3x what it would have.

In addition to presumably being a quality piece of entertainment almost certain to clock in at a minimum of two out of a possible five stars on my personal rating system, Trolls World Tour is especially important to me. As we speak I'm preparing to submit the final draft of an academic book on the films of DreamWorks Animation. The original Trolls plays a small but vital roll in this book, and I was hoping to see the sequel before turning the final draft in in case it dramatically shakes up my conclusions.

If I'm able to raise the full £15.99 to watch Trolls World Tour on VOD, I promise to watch the first film on Monday afternoon, and probably live-tweet the experience to prove I'm watching it.

Should I make more than £15.99, I'll donate any excess to Beauty Banks, a charity which provides toiletries to the vulnerable and underprivileged, to help out people in vastly worse positions than myself during this crisis.

If I somehow make £50, I will livestream my face watching and reacting to Trolls World Tour