For 37 years, Buena Vista Home Entertainment handled autonomous distribution of those properties in several physical home media formats, such as VHSs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and 4K discs under various brand labels around the world. It was formed in 1987 as Buena Vista Home Video.[6] It was renamed to its current legal name in 1997,[5] although it is currently known in the UK as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (UK & Ireland) since 2013.[b] The division adopted the current Walt Disney Studios-branding in its public name in 2007, but kept the Buena Vista-branding for corporate use.[7]
In recent years, sales in the physical media market have significantly fallen due to the rise of digital media and streaming services like Disney's own Disney+, which has led the company to either let other home video distributors (such as Elevation Sales in the UK) handle distribution for them or exit out of the market (such as Australia) depending on the region.
Before Disney began releasing home video titles itself, it licensed some titles to MCA's DiscoVision label for their newly developed disc format, later called LaserDisc. Disney's agreement with MCA ended in December 1981.[8]
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.[9] Home video was not considered to be a major market by Disney at the time. WDTNT Co. also handled marketing of other miscellaneous ancillary items such as short 8 mm films for home movies.
Disney's first releases on videotape were 13 titles that were licensed for rental to Fotomat on March 4, 1980,[10] 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.
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 (which had titles from 20th Century Fox and others) ceased doing business with Fotomat after they began renting Magnetic Video cassettes without authorization.[11]
In the late 1980s, Disney began seeking other outlets to distribute its video, and signed deals with mass-merchant retailers such as Target, Caldor, and Wal-Mart. Around this time, the studio began partnering with major retailers for advertising campaigns.[12]
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.[8]
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.[15] The next major animated feature to be released (excluding the "package" anthology features) was Robin Hood on December 3, 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.
July 16, 1985 saw the home video premiere of Pinocchio which became the bestselling video of that year. Later, the Making Your Dreams Come True promotion started on November 6, 1985 with repackaged live action titles. In addition, Dumbo was released on the same day.
Buena Vista Home Video
The name Buena Vista Home Video originated as a label of WDTNT in 1983, originally used to distribute tapes of Hopalong Cassidy. Soon, BVHV became the label utilized for a variety of miscellaneous content; such content included animation not created by Disney (such as Rocky and Bullwinkle and Alvin and the Chipmunks), concerts and other adult music titles, and various special-interest programs, including The Very Best of The Ed Sullivan Show. Buena Vista Home Video was legally incorporated on February 13, 1987.[3] The "Buena Vista" name was adopted from Buena Vista Pictures Distribution,[7] who also acted as copyright holder for video tapes released directly under the BVHE banner.
In November 1992, Buena Vista Home Video entered into a worldwide joint venture with Jim Henson Productions to form Jim Henson Video, which distributed Henson-owned material, including various Muppet productions; the company had previously distributed Muppet content in the United States from 1983 to 1985 under the Muppet Home Video label.[16] This lasted until late 1997. The following year, the label moved to Sony Pictures' Columbia TriStar Home Video division.
In July 1993, Buena Vista Home Video signed a multimillion-dollar multiyear North American licensing deal with DIC Entertainment. The deal included over 1,000 half-hours worth of animated content from DIC, alongside the creation of the DIC Toon Time Video label and interactive and multimedia opportunities.[17] In December 1993, Buena Vista Home Video's European Spanish unit signed a distribution deal with Acclaim Entertainment for the distribution of Acclaim's video game titles in Spain.[18]
In April 1996, due to ongoing realignment stemming from Disney's merger with Capital Cities/ABC, Buena Vista Home Video was transferred out of the Disney Television and Telecommunications group to The Walt Disney Studios.[19] In August 1996, Disney and Tokuma Shoten Publishing entered a deal wherein Buena Vista Home Video would acquire the worldwide home media distribution rights to the Studio Ghibli animated films.[20][21] Disney would go on to produce the English dubs and distribute 15 of Ghibli's films, through the Walt Disney Pictures, Buena Vista Home Video, Miramax and Touchstone Pictures banners.[c][22]
In July 1998, Walt Disney Home Entertainment entered into a distribution agreement with Warner Home Video where the latter would distribute over 100 Disney/Touchstone/Hollywood titles on DVD in Europe and Australia until the end of 2000.[23] The distribution of VHS releases, however, remain under Disney's full control.
In 2005, Roger Corman-owned production company New Concorde signed a distribution deal with Buena Vista Home Entertainment, giving BVHE home video distribution rights to 400 Corman-produced films, including the pre-1984 New World Pictures library until 2008.[28][29][30][31]
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
As part of a broader company-wide effort, Buena Vista Home Entertainment dropped the "Buena Vista" branding in 2007 and was renamed as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.[7] However, the division retained Buena Vista as its legal corporate name. By 2012, Disney began to distribute all of the film titles from Marvel Studios starting with The Avengers. In 2013, Disney acquired the first four movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from Paramount Pictures, with notable exceptions are: The Incredible Hulk which was currently distributed at the time by Universal Pictures until ten years later in June 2023; the Spider-Man Universe, with the exception of the MCU-era Spider Man, still handled by Sony Pictures through Columbia Pictures; and the X-Men and the Fantastic Four franchise which were held by 20th Cenury Fox (now 20th Century Studios) until transferred to Marvel Studios in March 2019 following Disney's acquisition of the former 21st Century Fox. In addition, after acquiring the company from former owner George Lucas in 2012, Disney start releasing titles from Lucasfilm, beginning in late-2014 with the first series of Star Wars: Rebels. However, the rights to films such as A New Hope were retained by Fox until 2019 rather than the originally planned deadline of May 2020.[32] The first four Indiana Jones movies are currently distributed by Paramount Pictures due to grandfathered contract but Disney released the fifth movie Dial of Destiny in June 2023. In July 2017, GKIDS and Shout! Studios both took over the North America home video rights of the Studio Ghibli films from Disney. However, Disney still handles home video distribution of the company's films in Japan.[33][34] In March 2019, Disney acquired21st Century Fox's film assets, and in January 2020, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment was folded into Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. As a result, film titles from 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures began to be distributed by Disney for home media formats. Disney also began to distribute home video titles from MGM for a short time under the then-current deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment until June 30, 2020, as where MGM's home video deal transferred to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment afterwards.[citation needed]
Physical media licensing
Following the launch of Disney+ in 2019 and its international expansion in the following years, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has begun to discontinue physical distribution entirely in certain regions such as Latin America, Australia,[35] New Zealand, India, the Middle East, Portugal, Asia (except Japan), Hungary, Russia, Greece, and Romania, or to let other companies distribute in certain international markets like the United Kingdom and Ireland (Elevation Sales[d]), Poland (Galapagos), Czech Republic (Magic Box), Spain (Divisa Films), Italy (Eagle Pictures), Scandinavia (SF Studios), France and Benelux (ESC Distribution),[36] Germany and Austria (Leonine Studios),[37] and Japan (Happinet).[38]
In February 2024, Disney entered into a home video distribution agreement with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, in which Sony would handle all physical media production and distribution for Disney's home entertainment assets in North America,[39] after 37 years as an in-house physical media distribution label. Despite this, Disney will continue as an in-house physical media production label; SPHE-distributed releases will continue using their respective labels, and will not use the SPHE logo. As a result of the deal, Disney Movie Club shut down on May 20, 2024.[40] The first Disney film to be distributed by Sony was 20th Century's The First Omen on July 30, 2024.[41]
Disney is notable for implementing a longtime moratorium practice on its film library, known in the industry as the "Disney Vault".[44] Disney has stated that this practice of moratorium is done to both control their market and to allow the studio's films to be reissued for subsequent generations of viewers.[45] This practice was extended to the 20th Century Fox library, after its acquisition by Disney in early 2019.[44]
Formats
Disney DVD
The Disney DVD logo.
Disney DVD is the brand name under which Buena Vista Home Entertainment releases its Disney-branded motion pictures. Disney began working on title releases for DVDs in 1997, although they were not released in this format in the UK until early 1998. Disney's first US DVD release was George of the Jungle in 1997. Disney's final VHS release was Cars on February 19, 2007.[46]
In late 2010, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment began releasing their 3D movies in the Blu-ray 3D format, starting with A Christmas Carol and Alice in Wonderland. In 2017, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment quietly discontinued releasing new titles in the format in North America, presumably due to the declining interest in the 3D format at home in the region. Despite this, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment continues to release new 3D titles in the format in other regions, mostly in Europe such as the United Kingdom since 2010. In 2023, Disney released Avatar: The Way of Water for the Blu-ray 3D through its 20th Century label.
A new feature that was included in the Diamond Edition of Bambi on March 1, 2011,[47] "Disney Second Screen" is a feature accessible via a computer or iPad app download that provides additional content as the user views the film.[48] 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.[49] The service was discontinued since October 2, 2016.[50]
^Buena Vista Home Entertainment still exists as a legal name for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment since 2007.
^In 1995, Buena Vista Home Video was renamed Buena Vista Home Entertainment in the UK; starting with the VHS release of Pinocchio on 24th May 1995 and ends with the DVD and Blu-ray release of Brave on 26th November 2012. BVHE in the UK was renamed Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, starting with the DVD and Blu-ray release of Frankenweenie on 25th February 2013 and it's still the common name for BVHE to this day in the region, unlike its US counterpart which kept the legal name of Buena Vista Home Entertainment until the home video release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny on 5th December 2023 - although released in the UK a day earlier on 4th December - before Disney made a licensing home video deal with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment the following year.
^Excluding the UK rights to Studio Ghibli's catalogue, which was held by StudioCanal until 2024 as the rights were transferred to Elysian Film Group following a lawsuit between StudioCanal and Wild Bunch International in Christmas 2022.
^Disney first license its home video distribution in the UK to The Rank Organisation in 1988 under Rank Home Video while theatrical distribution were distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures at the same time. By 1989, Disney began its autonomous UK home video distribution. And in 1992, Buena Vista International was revived in the region after its distribution deal with Warner Bros. expired that year. However, Warner Bros. returns to distribute Disney films in the United Kingdom and Europe between 1998 and 2000 but on physical DVDs instead. After 34 years of self-distributing films on home video in the UK, Disney licensed it home video distribution in the region to Elevation Sales – a joint-venture between StudioCanal and Lionsgate – since October 1, 2023. Overall, this makes Elevation the third licensing physical distribution partner for Disney after Rank Home Video (VHS only) and Warner Home Video (DVD only).
