Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (incorporated as Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. since 1997 and formerly known as Walt Disney Telecommunications & Non-Theatrical Company from 1980 to 1987 and eventually Buena Vista Home Video until 1997 ) is the home video distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. Disney began distributing videos under its own label in 1980 under the name Walt Disney Home Video.

Background
Before Disney began releasing home video titles itself, it licensed some titles to MCA Discovision for their newly developed disc format, later called LaserDisc. According to the Blam Entertainment Group website, which has extensive details of DiscoVision releases, only six Disney titles were actually released on DiscoVision. One of these was the feature film Kidnapped. The others were compilations of Disney shorts. The first titles released in 1978 included: On Vacation with Mickey Mouse and Friends (#D61-503), Kids is Kids (#D61-504), At Home with Donald Duck (#D61-505), Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale (#D61-506), and finally The Coyote's Lament (#D61-507) which was released in May 1979. Disney's agreement with MCA ended in December 1981.

History
In 1980, Disney established its own video distribution operation as part of Walt Disney Telecommunications and Non-Theatrical Company (WDTNT) with Jim Jimirro as its first president. Home video was not considered to be a major market by Disney at the time. WDTNT also handled the marketing of other miscellaneous ancillary items such as short 8 mm films for home use.

Disney's first releases on tape were 13 titles that were licensed for rental to Fotomat on March 4, 1980, initially in a four-city test (Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose), to be expanded nationwide by the end of 1980. The agreement specified rental fees ranging from $7.95 to $13.95. This first batch of titles on VHS and Beta included 10 live action movies: Pete's Dragon (#10), The Black Hole (#11), The Love Bug (#12), Escape to Witch Mountain (#13), Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (#14), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (#15), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (#16), The North Avenue Irregulars (#17), The Apple Dumpling Gang (#18), and Hot Lead and Cold Feet (#19); and three of the compilations of short cartoons previously released by DiscoVision: On Vacation with Mickey Mouse and Friends (#20), Kids is Kids starring Donald Duck (#21), and Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale (#22). Later, on December 30, 1980, Mary Poppins (#23) was added to make 14 titles in all.

No new titles were released for half a year after Mary Poppins, but Walt Disney Home Video announced an expanded program for "Authorized Rental Dealers" in December 1980, and began to expand its dealer network during the first part of 1981. From January 1 to March 31, 1981, Disney had a "License One — Get One Free" promotion to encourage dealers to sign up. They also offered free rental use of a 7-minute Mickey Mouse Disco videocassette for customers who rented any title from an Authorized Rental Dealer from February through May 1981.

Disney was unusual among the major studios in offering a program for authorized rentals. Most of the other studios involved in the videocassette market at the time were trying to find ways to stop dealers from renting out their movie tapes. Magnetic Video (with titles from 20th Century Fox and others) ceased doing business with Fotomat after Fotomat began renting Magnetic Video cassettes without authorization. Disney's rental cassettes in blue cases looked completely different from sale cassettes, which were in white cases. That was designed to make it easy for Disney representatives to tell if dealers were violating their dealer agreements by renting out cassettes intended for sale, and it continued until 1984, when they stopped doing so.

In the late-1980s, Disney began seeking other outlets to distribute its video, and decided to ink deals with mass-merchant retailers such as Target, Caldor, and Walmart. In 1989, Disney sought to further control the distribution of its products by eliminating the use of rack jobbers. Around this time, the studio began partnering with major retailers for advertising campaigns.

Buena Vista Home Video
Buena Vista Home Video was incorporated on February 13, 1987. In April 1996 due to ongoing post Disney-CC/ABC merger realignment, Buena Vista Home Video was transferred out of the Disney Television and Telecommunications group to The Walt Disney Studios. Buena Vista Home Video was renamed Buena Vista Home Entertainment in 1997.

Company structure
The company distributes Blu-ray discs and DVDs under the following labels; Disney, ABC Studios, Freeform, Marvel, ESPN, Lucasfilm, Touchstone Home Entertainment, and Hollywood Pictures Home Entertainment.

Animated features
The first of the Disney animated features canon to be released on videocassette was Dumbo on June 28, 1981, for rental only. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was released for rental and sale at the same time. Alice in Wonderland was released on October 15, 1981, for rental only. Fun and Fancy Free was released in 1982 as 'Fun and Fancy Free' Featuring: Mickey and the Beanstalk, to popularize on the more well-known segment from the film.

First Walt Disney Home Video laser videodiscs and animated features for sale
Their agreement with DiscoVision having ended in 1981, Disney began releasing LaserDiscs under the Walt Disney Home Video label to their own network of distributors and dealers. The first five titles were shipped in June 1982: The Black Hole, The Love Bug, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoons, Collection One. Five more titles shipped in July: Pete's Dragon, Dumbo, Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, and Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoons, Collection Two.

Disney released more cartoon compilations (pre-Walt Disney Cartoon Classics in 1983) in late 1981, including Goofy Over Sports and A Tale of Two Critters.

Dumbo was released for sale on tape in summer 1982, while Alice in Wonderland was released for sale in November 1982. The next major animated feature to be released (excluding the "package" anthology features) was Robin Hood on December 6, 1984, starting the Walt Disney Classics collection. By 1982, all the video releases were for sale and rental, along with newer releases, but at high prices.

To market these new video releases, the company produced an exclusive promo seen after various Disney video films. The promo was nicknamed "Walt Disney and You" by fans on account of the customized tune in the promo. The promo also featured clips from the various releases and ended with a video-freeze of the then-current Walt Disney Home Video opening sequence (known as the "Neon Mickey"; a screenshot from this can be seen above). This promo was also used for other non-Disney labels such as Touchstone Home Video.

July 16, 1985 saw the home video premiere of Pinocchio which became the bestselling video of that year.

Disney later produced the Disney Sing-Along Songs collection of videos for young children in association with Harry Arends and Phil Savenick. The series first hit stores on December 23, 1986.

Disney DVD
Disney DVD is the brand name under which Buena Vista Home Entertainment releases its Disney-branded motion pictures. Disney began releasing titles on DVD in 1997, although they were not released in this format in the UK until 2000. VHS releases ceased with Bambi II, which was released on February 7, 2006. The brand launched a loyalty program called Disney Movie Rewards in October 2006. Participants can collect points by submitting ticket stubs from Disney feature films, "magic codes" from Disney home video purchases and Disney CDs. The points can be redeemed for prizes like games, DVDs, books, posters, and collectibles.

Platinum Editions
The Platinum Editions are a line of special edition DVDs released by Disney. Originally, the line comprised the company's ten best-selling VHS titles and was released in October of each year. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first film to receive this honor in 2001. The two following titles, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King were released in IMAX and other giant screen theaters during the holiday season before their October DVD releases. Due to underperforming box office results, this tradition was terminated after Aladdin. In May 2003, Disney announced that they would be adding the next four best-selling titles to the collection. Starting in 2005, a Platinum Editions was released in October and February/March. Another tradition practiced for these released are gift sets. These gift sets contain supplements such as original animation sketches, a film frame, and a companion's book.

The current list of Platinum Editions includes: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, Bambi, Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, The Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, Sleeping Beauty, and Pinocchio. The original plan for the Platinum Editions was that they would be released ten years after they are put in the Disney Vault. Since then, this time has been shortened to four to seven years.

Diamond Editions
Beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in October 2009, Disney began re-issuing Platinum Editions titles under a new Diamond Editions classification on Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack seven years later. Disney plans to release all the Platinum Edition titles once again.

Disney Blu-ray
Disney Blu-ray is the brand name under which Buena Vista Home Entertainment releases its Disney-branded motion pictures in High-Definition. In late 2006, Disney began releasing titles, like the Pirates of the Caribbean films, the National Treasure films and the first two Narnia films, on Blu-ray.

Disney Blu-ray 3D
In late 2010, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment began releasing their movies on Disney Blu-ray 3D, starting with A Christmas Carol and Alice in Wonderland. As of 2014 however, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has only been releasing Marvel movies on Blu-ray 3D in North America. However, there were Blu-ray 3D releases of Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur, Zootopia, and Finding Dory.

Disney Second Screen
A new feature that was included in the Diamond Edition of Bambi on March 1, 2011, "Disney Second Screen" is a feature accessible via a computer or iPad app download that provides additional content as the user views the film. Disney Second Screen syncs along with the movie, and as the film plays, interactive elements such as trivia, photo galleries, and animated flipbooks appear on the iPad or computer screen. It is currently available in the United States and English-speaking Canada.