There is hardly anyone in this world that hasn’t seen movies from the Disney stable in their childhood days. It has been a source of great happiness for many children throughout the globe. In earlier times, when there were no DVDs, children used to watch these movies, both animated and otherwise on low quality video cassettes. As time progressed and technology took a leap, CDs and DVDs were invented which led to better quality video and sound. Disney DVD releases were the best thing to happen to many children all over the world.
Movies like Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Beauty and the Beast are only a few names in the famous history of Disney’s movie making. These movies were greatly responsible for igniting the passion in kids to hunt classics and read them. Now with the surge in the animation industry, Disney has decided to release many movies on DVD- a decision which all children and many adults would praise.
Disney DVD is the brand name under which Buena Vista Home Entertainment releases it Disney-branded motion pictures. DVD titles were released first in the late 1990s and VHS releases were phased out in 2004.
One of the most popular and ambitious movies released by Disney was “The Black Hole”. It was widely anticipated by many as Disney’s reply to the Star Wars though work on “The Black Hole” was started as early as 1975. It was a monumental film made in many aspects. It was the first movie by Disney that had a PG rating attached to it. This was the movie, which led to the formation of Touchstone Pictures because Disney thought the experimentation of movies dealing with mature subjects was not in sync with the image of the brand. The movie has been released ever since many a time on VHS and DVD.
Special edition DVDs are released under the title of Platinum Editions. Originally, it was supposed to be the release of the ten best-selling titles on VHS to be out in the month of October each year. The first film to be out was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 2001. The following year, the Lion King and Beauty and the Beast were released in Imax theatres in the holiday season before the October DVD release. The poor show at the box-office led to rethinking of the marketing strategy by the Disney authorities. In May 2003, Disney announced the addition of four titles to this collection. Finally, they decided that the titles would be added to this prestigious collection after 10 years from the release of the movies on the big screen. But a recent announcement declared the time limit to be 7 years from the date of release.
Some of the most recent releases on DVD have been: Leroy and Stitch 2006), Brother Bear 2 (2006), Bambi 2 (2006), The Fox and the Hound (2006) and Cindrella 3 -A Twist in Time (2007).
The upcoming movies on DVD which people are waiting with bated breath are: The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning (2008), Tinker Bell (2008), Tinker Bell: North of Neverland (2009), Tinker Bell: A Midsummer Storm (2010) and Tinker Bell: A Winter Story (2011). The Platinum Edition of Beauty and the Beast is the most awaited release on DVD according to polls which Disney declared recently.