Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. (

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) is the

home entertainment A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be pe ...

distribution arm of

the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, and other audiovisual content across digital formats and platforms. For 37 years, Buena Vista Home Entertainment handled autonomous distribution of those properties in several physical home media formats, such as VHSs,

DVDs The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

Blu-ray discs Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...

, and 4K discs under various brand labels around the world. It was formed in 1987 as Buena Vista Home Video. It was renamed to its current legal name in 1997, although it is currently known in the UK as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (UK & Ireland) since 2013. The division adopted the current Walt Disney Studios-branding in its public name in 2007, but kept the Buena Vista-branding for corporate use. Since 2024,

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures libra ...

handles physical production and distribution for all film titles released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in North America, although Disney continues to curate all its home media releases.

History

Background

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 LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

. Disney's agreement with MCA ended in December 1981. 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 Co. also handled marketing of other miscellaneous ancillary items such as short

8 mm film 8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the film strip is wide. It exists in two main versions – the original standard 8 mm film, also known as regular 8 mm, and Super 8. Although both standard 8 mm and ...

s for home movies. Disney's first releases on videotape were 13 titles that were licensed for rental to

Fotomat Fotomat was an American retail chain of photo development drive-through kiosks located primarily in shopping center parking lots. Fotomat Corporation was founded by Preston Fleet in San Diego, California, in the 1960s, with the first kiosk open ...

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. 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 Magnetic Video Corporation was a home video/home audio duplication service that operated between 1968 and 1982. History Magnetic Video Corporation was established by the co-founder Andre Blay, an American film producer in 1968 with Leon Nic ...

(which had titles from

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

and others) ceased doing business with Fotomat after they began renting Magnetic Video cassettes without authorization. In the late 1980s, Disney began seeking other outlets to distribute its video, and signed deals with mass-merchant retailers such as

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

Caldor Caldor, Inc. was a discount department store chain founded in 1951 by husband and wife Carl and Dorothy Bennett. Referred to by many as "the Bloomingdale's of discounting," Caldor grew from a second story "Walk-Up-&-Save" operation in Port Ches ...

, and

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

. Around this time, the studio began partnering with major retailers for advertising campaigns.

Walt Disney Home Video

The first Disney animated feature to be released on videocassette was ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy Comedy drama, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film i ...

'' on June 28, 1981, for rental only. ''

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is a 1977 American animated musical anthology fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. It was first released on a double bill with '' The Littlest ...

'' was released for rental and sale at the same time. ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' was released on October 15, 1981, for rental only. ''

Fun and Fancy Free ''Fun and Fancy Free'' is a 1947 American animated musical fantasy anthology film produced by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen and released on September 27, 1947, by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is a compilation of two stories: ''Bongo'', narrate ...

'' was released in 1982 as Fun and Fancy Free' Featuring: Mickey and the Beanstalk'', to capitalize on the best-known segment of the film. 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 A black hole is a region of extreme gravitational pull. Black hole or blackhole may also refer to: Computing *Black hole (networking), in computer networking, a place where traffic is silently discarded * Blackhole server, a DNS server that han ...

'', ''

The Love Bug ''The Love Bug'' (also known as Herbie the Love Bug) is a 1968 American sports film, sports adventure film, adventure comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson (director), Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Bill Walsh (producer), Bill Walsh a ...

'', ''

Escape to Witch Mountain ''Escape to Witch Mountain'' is a science fiction novel written by Alexander Key in 1968. It was adapted for film by Disney as '' Escape to Witch Mountain'' in 1975 which spawned the ''Witch Mountain'' franchise. The novel was illustrated by L ...

'', ''

'', and ''Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck Cartoons, Collection One''. Five more titles shipped in July: '' Pete's Dragon'', ''

'', ''

Davy Crockett and the River Pirates ''Davy Crockett and the River Pirates'' is a 1956 American Western film produced by Walt Disney Productions. A prequel to '' Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier'', it was thought of as a means to salvage revenue from the blunder of Disney ...

'', ''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 Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...

Over Sports'' and ''A Tale of Two Critters''. ''

'' was released for sale on tape in summer 1982, while ''

'' was released for sale in November 1982. The next major animated feature to be released (excluding the "package" anthology features) was ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

'' 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 Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'' 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, ''

'' 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 Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He wa ...

''. 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 ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weat ...

'' and ''

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks and billed for their first two decades as the Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for Novelty records in ...

''), concerts and other adult music titles, and various special-interest programs, including ''The Very Best of

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

''. Buena Vista Home Video was legally incorporated on February 13, 1987. The " Buena Vista" name was adopted from

Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American film distributor within the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. It handles theatrical and occasional digital distribution, marketing, and promotion for films produced and ...

, 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 The Jim Henson Company, Inc., formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc. (commonly referred to as Henson), is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is kn ...

to form Jim Henson Video, which distributed Henson-owned material, including various

Muppet The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential style of musical variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, the eponymous media franchise encompasse ...

productions; the company had previously distributed Muppet content in the United States from 1983 to 1985 under the Muppet Home Video label. This lasted until late 1997. The following year, the label moved to

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

Columbia TriStar Home Video Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures library ...

division, and was renamed Jim Henson Home Entertainment. In July 1993, Buena Vista Home Video signed a multimillion-dollar multiyear North American licensing deal with

DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions, sometimes stylized as DİC) was a French American film and television production company that ...

. 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. In December 1993, Buena Vista Home Video's European Spanish unit signed a distribution deal with

Acclaim Entertainment Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally founded by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes, and Jim Scoroposki from a storefront in Oyster Bay in 1987, the company built a global develop ...

for the distribution of Acclaim's video game titles in Spain. In April 1996, due to ongoing realignment stemming from Disney's merger with

Capital Cities/ABC Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. It was eventually acquired by The Walt Disney Company and re-branded i ...

, Buena Vista Home Video was transferred out of the Disney Television and Telecommunications group to The Walt Disney Studios. In August 1996, Disney and

Tokuma Shoten Publishing is a publisher in Japan, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. The company was established in 1954 by Yasuyoshi Tokuma in Minato, Tokyo. The company's product portfolio includes music publishing, video game publishing, movies, anime, magazines, man ...

entered a deal wherein Buena Vista Home Video would acquire the worldwide home media distribution rights to the

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio based in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It has a strong presence in the animation industry and has exp ...

animated films. Disney would go on to produce the English dubs and distribute 15 of Ghibli's films, through the

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film Film production company, production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios (division), the Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company. The st ...

, Buena Vista Home Video,

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

and

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...

banners. In July 1998, Buena Vista Home Entertainment entered into a distribution agreement with

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

where the latter would distribute over 100 Disney/Touchstone/Hollywood titles on DVD in Europe and Australia until the end of 2000. The distribution of VHS releases, however, remain under Disney's full control. In 2000, following

Andy Heyward Andrew B. Heyward (born February 19, 1949) is an American media executive and animator who is currently CEO of Kartoon Studios, formerly known as Genius Brands International. He previously worked at defunct animation studio and production com ...

's purchase of DIC back from Disney, DIC's rights with BVHE expired. With this, DIC later signed a new deal with

Lions Gate Home Entertainment Lionsgate Studios Corp. (simply known as Lionsgate Studios) is a Canadian-American film and television production and distribution conglomerate, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, and primarily based in Santa Monica, California. It was f ...

in 2001. In 2001, following Disney's acquisition of

Fox Family Worldwide ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company that operates American basic cable channel Freeform (previously known as ''ABC Family'') and manages the programming libraries of BVS E ...

(including

Fox Family Fox Family or Fox family may refer to: Genealogy * Fox family (English aristocracy), a noble family * Robin Fox family, an extended family of actors * Fox sisters, three 19th century sisters involved in the creation of the religious movement Spirit ...

, the

Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...

brand and

Saban Entertainment BVS Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Saban Productions, Saban Entertainment and Saban International, is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Founded on April 24, 1980, as a music production company by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, it ...

). A year later in 2002, Saban became BVS Entertainment and BVHE took distribution over from

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

. In 2005,

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

-owned production company

New Concorde New Concorde (NC) is an American film distribution company founded by Roger Corman. NC got its start in 1983 when Corman formed the production and distribution Concorde-New Horizons (CNH) as one of the first production companies to develop and t ...

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 New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment, New World Communications Group, Inc., and New World International) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia com ...

library until 2008.

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. 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 Marvel Studios, LLC, formerly known as Marvel Films, is an American film and television production company. Marvel Studios is the creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), a media franchise and shared universe of films and television ser ...

starting with ''

The Avengers Avenger(s) or The Avenger(s) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of "The Infinity Sag ...

''. In 2013, Disney acquired the first four movies in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...

from

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

, with notable exceptions are: ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book ...

'' which was currently distributed at the time by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

until ten years later in June 2023; the '' Spider-Man Universe'', with the exception of the MCU-era Spider Man, still handled by

through

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

; and the ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

'' and the ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

'' franchise which were held by 20th Century 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 George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

in 2012, Disney start releasing titles from

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...

, beginning in late-2014 with the first series of ''

Star Wars Rebels ''Star Wars Rebels'' is an American 3D animated science fiction television series produced by Lucasfilm Animation and set in the ''Star Wars'' universe. It takes place 14 years after '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'' (2005 ...

''. However, the rights to films such as ''

A New Hope ''Star Wars'' (later retitled ''Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope'') is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Lucasfilm Ltd. and released by Twentieth Century-Fox. It is the first film in ...

'' were retained by Fox until 2019 rather than the originally planned deadline of May 2020. The first four ''

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...

'' movies are currently distributed by

due to grandfathered contract but Disney released the fifth movie ''

Dial of Destiny ''Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'' is a 2023 American action-adventure film directed by James Mangold and written by Mangold, David Koepp, Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. It is the fifth and final installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' f ...

'' in June 2023. In July 2017,

GKIDS GKIDS is an American film and television distributor owned by Toho International. Based in New York City, GKIDS releases mostly international animated films and television series to North American audiences, as well as American films by indepe ...

and

Shout! Studios Shout! Factory, LLC, doing business as Shout! Studios (formerly doing business as Shout! Factory, its current legal name), is an American home video and music distributor founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases, issued i ...

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. In March 2019, Disney

acquired ''Acquired'' is a podcast by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal about business history and strategy. As of 2024, the podcast has more than 600,000 monthly listeners. History Gilbert and Rosenthal worked together at Madrona Venture Group and ini ...

21st Century Fox Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., which did business as 21st Century Fox, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was formed on June 28, 2013, as the legal successor ...

's film assets, and in January 2020,

was folded into Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. As a result, film titles from

20th Century Studios 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

and

Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc., formerly known as Fox Searchlight Pictures, is an American arthouse film production and distribution company, which since 2019 is owned by Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Disney Entertainment segment of the ...

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 Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

afterwards.

Physical media licensing

Following the launch of

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

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, 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), Poland (Galapagos), Czech Republic (Magic Box), Spain (Divisa Films), Italy (), Scandinavia (

SF Studios SF Studios is Sweden’s largest film studio. It is involved in production, distribution, and movie theater market chains (both Swedish and international, including American) with headquarters in Stockholm and local offices in Oslo, Copenhagen ...

), France and Benelux (ESC Distribution), Germany and Austria (

Leonine Studios Leonine Holding GmbH, also known as LEONINE Studios and formerly known Tele München Group, LLC (German: Tele München Gruppe; TMG), is a German media production and distribution company that is based in Munich and since 2024 its owned by French ...

), and Japan (

Happinet is a Japanese entertainment company. History In February 1968, Hiroshi Kawai left Bandai to establish his own toy business. Kawai founded on June 7, 1969. In September 1972, it changed its name to . Tōshō merged with two other companies, ...

). In February 2024, Disney entered into a home video distribution agreement with

, in which Sony would handle all physical media production and distribution for Disney's home entertainment assets in North America, after 37 years as an in-house physical media distribution label. Despite this, Disney continues as an in-house physical media production label; SPHE-distributed releases continue using their respective labels instead of the SPHE logo. As a result of the deal, Disney Movie Club shut down on May 20, 2024. The first Disney film to be distributed by Sony was 20th Century's ''

The First Omen ''The First Omen'' is a 2024 American supernatural horror film directed by Arkasha Stevenson (in her feature directional debut), who co-wrote the screenplay with Tim Smith and Keith Thomas from a story by Ben Jacoby. It is a prequel to ''The ...

'' on July 30, 2024.

Distribution

The company currently distributes

digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, an ...

, and formerly distributed

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

s internally under many labels around the world until the early-to-mid 2020s, when it struck a deal with

to handle distribution for them.

Moratorium practices

Disney is notable for implementing a longtime moratorium practice on its film library, known in the industry as the "

Disney Vault The "Disney Vault" was a term formerly used by The Walt Disney Company for its policy of regularly imposing sales moratoria on home video releases of specific animated feature films. Each Walt Disney Animation Studios film was available for purch ...

". Disney has stated that this practice of moratorium is done to both control their market and to allow the studio's films to be

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Reco ...

d for subsequent generations of viewers. This practice was extended to the

library, after its acquisition by Disney in early 2019.

Formats

Disney DVD

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

s 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 ''George of the Jungle'' is an American animated television series produced and created by Jay Ward and Bill Scott, who also created '' The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends''. The character George was inspired by the story of ...

'' in 1997. Disney's final

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

release was ''

Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

'' on February 19, 2007.

Disney Blu-ray

Disney Blu-ray is the

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

under which Buena Vista Home Entertainment releases its

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

-branded motion pictures in high-definition. In late 2006, Disney began releasing titles, like the ''

Pirates of the Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with Wa ...

'' films, the ''

National Treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

'' films, and the first two ''

Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a ...

'' films on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

. In late 2010, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment began releasing their 3D movies in the Blu-ray 3D format, starting with ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

'' and ''

''. 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.

Disney Second Screen

A new feature that was included in the Diamond Edition of ''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

'' on March 1, 2011, "Disney Second Screen" is a feature accessible via a computer or

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

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. The service was discontinued since October 2, 2016.

Ultra HD Blu-ray

Disney began releasing their new films on

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray supports 4K UHD (3840 × 2160 pixel resolution) video at frame rates up to 60 progre ...

starting with Marvel's ''

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'' is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team), Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios M ...

'' on August 22, 2017. Touchstone's ''

The Prestige ''The Prestige'' is a 1995 epistolary science fantasy mystery novel by Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between two stage magicians in late 1800s England. Its main structure is that of a collection of diaries that ...

'' was Disney's first catalog release on UHD, released on December 19, 2017.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Accuracy disputes from February 2024 American companies established in 1987 Mass media companies established in 1987 1987 establishments in California Companies based in Burbank, California Home video companies of the United States Walt Disney Studios (division) The Walt Disney Company subsidiaries Home video distributors Disney Media Networks

History

Background

Walt Disney Home Video

Buena Vista Home Video

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Physical media licensing

Distribution

Moratorium practices

Formats

Disney DVD

Disney Blu-ray

Disney Second Screen

Ultra HD Blu-ray

See also

Notes

References

External links