Around this time, the studio began partnering with major retailers for advertising campaigns. In 1989, Disney sought to further control the distribution of its products by eliminating the use of rack jobbers. 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. 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. Disney's rental cassettes in blue cases looked completely different from sale cassettes, which were in white cases. Magnetic Video (with titles from 20th Century Fox and others) ceased doing business with Fotomat after Fotomat began renting Magnetic Video cassettes without authorization.
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.
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.ĭisney was unusual among the major studios in offering a program for authorized rentals. From January 1 to March 31, 1981, Disney had a "License One - Get One Free" promotion to encourage dealers to sign up. 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. Later, on December 30, 1980, Mary Poppins (#23) was added to make 14 titles in all. 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). The agreement specified rental fees ranging from $7.95 to $13.95. WDTNT also handled the marketing of other miscellaneous ancillary items such as short 8 mm films for home movies.ĭisney'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. Home video was not considered to be a major market by Disney at the time. 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. Disney's agreement with MCA ended in December 1981. 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. The others were compilations of Disney shorts. One of these was the feature film Kidnapped. According to the Blam Entertainment Group website, which has extensive details of DiscoVision releases, only six Disney titles were actually released on DiscoVision. The division adopted the current Walt Disney Studios-branding in its public name in 2007, but retained the Buena Vista-branding within its legal corporate name.īefore Disney began releasing home video titles itself, it licensed some titles to MCA Discovision for their newly developed disc format, later called LaserDisc. It was renamed to its current legal name in 1997. The division was legally incorporated as Buena Vista Home Video in 1987. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, and other audiovisual content across several home media formats, such as Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and digital media, under various brand labels across the world. Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International (2018-2020)ĭisney Media Distribution (Disney Media Networks) (2020-present)īuena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Telecommunications & Non-Theatrical Company (1980–1987)īuena Vista Home Entertainment (1997-2007) Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Type