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A moratorium is the practice of suspending the sales of films on home video DVD, VHS, and Blu-ray and boxed sets after a certain period of time. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment was famous for this practice, known as the "Disney Vault," in which it would only sporadically sell home videos of animated films in the Disney catalogue, until 2019 when a program of undeletions and re-releases ultimately restored all Disney titles into simultaneous print on home entertainment for the first time and on the Disney+ streaming service. [1] The 20th Century Fox film library (with the notable exception of The Rocky Horror Picture Show ) was placed into moratorium and removed from theaters following Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019 according to a Vulture article; the decision noted the different policies between Fox, which had made most of its film archive available to theaters at all times, and Disney, which did (and does) not. [2]
Disney was the first studio to put its films on moratorium. In 2002, Universal Pictures used this practice with the release of the Back to the Future DVD boxed set due to widescreen framing problems. George Lucas also used this practice with the 2004 Star Wars original trilogy DVD boxed set. However, the moratorium was lifted on Back to the Future in 2009 before the release of the 25th anniversary Blu-ray set on October 26, 2010, and on Star Wars, once Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was released to theatres on May 19, 2005, and releasing the original theatrical versions of the original trilogy on DVD on September 12, 2006.
Disney itself stated that the practice of moratorium was done to both control their market and to allow Disney films to be fresh for new generations of young children. [3]
The practice of moratorium has been frowned upon by consumers because it forces higher sale prices. A normal DVD that is sold under moratorium can sell at retail for a very high price relative to the general run of DVDs. However, prices are known to drop near the end of the issue. In the past, a moratorium created urgency for people interested in a film to obtain it before it became unavailable. A side effect of the moratorium process was the fact that videos and DVDs of films, once they are placed on moratorium, would become collector's items. Additional unintended side-effects to the practice of moratorium had made films a prime target for internet piracy and bootleg sales. [4]
Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film that is a sequel to The Empire Strikes Back (1980). It is the third installment in the original Star Wars trilogy and the sixth chronological film in the "Skywalker Saga". It is directed by Richard Marquand based on a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who was also the executive producer. The film follows the ongoing struggle between the malevolent Galactic Empire and the freedom fighters of the Rebel Alliance. As the Rebels attempt to destroy the Empire's second Death Star, Luke Skywalker tries to bring his father, Darth Vader, back from the dark side of the Force. The film stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew and Frank Oz.
A home cinema, also called a home theater or theater room, is a home entertainment audio-visual system that seeks to reproduce a movie theater experience and mood using consumer electronics-grade video and audio equipment and is set up in a room or backyard of a private home. Some studies show that films are rated better and generate more intense emotions when watched in a movie theater, but convenience is a major appeal for home cinemas. In the 1980s, home cinemas typically consisted of a movie pre-recorded on a LaserDisc or VHS tape; a LaserDisc Player or VCR; and a heavy, bulky large-screen cathode-ray tube TV set, although sometimes CRT projectors were used instead. In the 2000s, technological innovations in sound systems, video player equipment, TV screens and video projectors have changed the equipment used in home cinema set-ups and enabled home users to experience a higher-resolution screen image, improved sound quality and components that offer users more options. The development of Internet-based subscription services means that 2020s-era home theatre users do not have to commute to a video rental store as was common in the 1980s and 1990s.
Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated musical romantic comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. Based on Ward Greene's 1945 Cosmopolitan magazine story "Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog", it was directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, and Wilfred Jackson. Featuring the voices of Peggy Lee, Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Bill Thompson, Bill Baucom, Stan Freberg, Verna Felton, Alan Reed, George Givot, Dallas McKennon, and Lee Millar, the film follows Lady, the pampered Cocker Spaniel, as she grows from puppy to adult, deals with changes in her family, and meets and falls in love with the homeless mutt Tramp.
The Lion King 1½ is a 2004 American animated direct-to-video musical comedy film directed by Bradley Raymond, produced by DisneyToon Studios and released on February 10, 2004. The third installment in the Lion King franchise, the film is both a prequel and a sidequel to The Lion King, focusing on the supporting characters Timon and Pumbaa. A majority of the voice cast from the first film returns to reprise their roles, including Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella as the voices of Timon and Pumbaa, respectively. The film's structure is inspired by Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a tragicomedy that tells the story of Hamlet from the point of view of two minor characters. The Lion King 1½ received generally positive reviews from critics.
Many of the films in the Star Wars franchise have been re-released, both theatrically and on home media formats. Franchise creator George Lucas often altered the films for the re-releases. These alterations range from minor refinements to major changes. The original trilogy was altered the most, although revisions were also made to the prequels. According to Lucas, some changes brought the films closer to his original vision, while others were attempts to create continuity with later films.
The Criterion Collection, Inc. is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A de facto subsidiary of arthouse film distributor Janus Films, Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinephiles and public and academic libraries. Criterion has helped to standardize certain aspects of home-video releases such as film restoration, the letterboxing format for widescreen films and the inclusion of bonus features such as scholarly essays and documentary content about the films and filmmakers. Criterion most notably pioneered the use of commentary tracks. Criterion has produced and distributed more than one thousand special editions of its films in VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc, DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray formats and box sets. These films and their special features are also available via The Criterion Channel, an online streaming service that the company operates.
Redbox Automated Retail, LLC was an American video rental and streaming media company, based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. Redbox specialized in automated DVD rental kiosks, and also operated transactional and ad-supported streaming video and television services. From 2022, Redbox was a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.
Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. is the American home video distribution division of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The original Star Wars trilogy, formerly marketed as the Star Wars Trilogy, is the first set of three films produced in the Star Wars franchise, an American space opera created by George Lucas. It was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox, and consists of Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Beginning in medias res, the original trilogy serves as the second act of the nine-episode Skywalker Saga. It was followed by a prequel trilogy between 1999 and 2005, and a sequel trilogy between 2015 and 2019. Collectively, they are referred to as the "Skywalker Saga" to distinguish them from spin-off films set within the same universe.
20th Century Home Entertainment was a home video distribution arm that distributed films produced by 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, and 20th Century Animation and several third-party studios, as well as television series by 20th Television, Searchlight Television, 20th Television Animation, and FX Productions in home entertainment formats.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. is the home entertainment distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony.
MGM Home Entertainment LLC is the home video distribution arm of the American media company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). It is owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. is the home entertainment distribution arm of the Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, and other audiovisual content across digital formats and platforms.
The Making of Star Wars is a television special produced by 20th Century Fox Television, which aired on ABC on September 16, 1977. It was written by Richard Schickel and directed and produced by Robert Guenette.
Paramount Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of Paramount Pictures.
Film distribution, also called film exhibition or film distribution and exhibition, is the process of making a movie available for viewing to an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketing and release strategy for the film, the media by which a film is to be exhibited or made available for viewing and other matters. The film may be exhibited directly to the public either through a movie theater or television, or personal home viewing. For commercial projects, film distribution is usually accompanied by film promotion.
The revived Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company owned by Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz. Anchor Bay Entertainment markets and releases "new release genre films, undiscovered treasures, cult classics, and remastered catalog releases".
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 purchase for a limited time, and then returned "to the vault", unavailable for retail sales, pending some future re-release.
Home video is recorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. In a different usage, "home video" refers to amateur video recordings, also known as home movies.
The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the intention of putting previously unreleased catalog films on DVD for the first time. In November 2012, Warner expanded the Archive Collection to include Blu-ray releases, Some Warner Archive releases, such as Wise Guys, previously had a pressed DVD release but have lapsed out of print and have since been re-released as part of the Warner Archive collection.