So what is the Disney vault, is it real, why does Disney put movies in it, and is it a
bad idea?
Well for starters no, it’s not real.
There is an actual Disney vault that houses the animations for some of Disney’s most
classic animated films, but that’s different.
The Disney vault I’m talking about today is the name given to the release strategy
for their movies on the cinema and home movie market, where a film would be released for
a limited run, and then taken off the market, or put “back in the vault”, for seven
to ten years.
Today the idea of the Disney vault seems kind of pointless, but there are reasons why Disney
started the practice, and it goes back over 70 years to the 1940s, before it was even
called the Disney Vault.
We have to go back to Disney’s first animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The film was a major hit when it first came out in 1937, and so Disney re-released the
film in theaters just seven years later in 1944.
That might sound like a cash grab, and to be honest it kind of was.
Disney was feeling the economic pressures of World War II at the time.
Animators were leaving the studio to join the military, Disney was wrapped up working
on propaganda videos for the US government, and their overseas revenue was virtually non-existent
due to the war going on.
It was one of the handful of times in the company’s history that their future was
rocky and uncertain.
So while re-releasing Snow White didn’t solve their problems, it at least helped.
On top of that there was a genuine benefit for the audiences in putting out the film again.
At that point, seven years later, there would be a whole new wave of children who had never
seen the film.
Remember, this was the 40s.
There was no Netflix.
No Blu-Rays or DVDs or VHS tapes.
TV was still pretty new and the industry’s relationship with film would be rocky for
a while anyway.
If you missed a film in theaters, you just missed that film.
So when Disney argued that re-releasing the film in theaters would introduce a new generation
of children to the film, they weren’t kidding.
These were kids who literally had no other opportunity to see the movie.
This re-release would set a precedent that would continue on for decades, with Disney
re-releasing classics every seven to ten years for the same reasons.
It was not only a dependable source of revenue, but it kept Disney’s films in the forefront
of people’s minds around the world.
Then the 80s rolled around and the world was introduced to VCRs.
With this new technology, people had the ability to own a film and watch it whenever they wanted
and however many times they wanted.
Today it seems like a no-brainer, but back at the beginning of the industry, there was
a lot of resistance within the Disney company, including from Walt’s nephew Roy, to sell
it’s classic films on VHS.
They worried that owning the films on VHS would kill any desire to see the re-releases
in theaters, and even feared that the mass production of the movies itself would drag
down Disney’s image, cheapening the brand.
They also feared that these VHS copies of films would be passed from generation to generation,
killing any future market for the movies.
The compromise that the company came up with internally was that they would test the waters
with one film, Pinocchio.
Furthermore they would set the price of the film at $80, thinking that at such a high
price only video rental stores would buy the movie which would in-turn keep ownership out
of the picture for most people.
Lastly and most importantly, they would limit the window during which they’d sell the movie before pulling
it off the market until the next generation.
The Disney Vault.
Eventually they would try slashing the price down to $30, and as a result the film quickly sold out
They’d continue to experiment with Sleeping Beauty and then Cinderella, with both rapidly
selling out in stores across the country.
Cinderella alone would generate $180 million in sales, which was no small figure for a
company trying to pull off an economic turnaround.
While the decision to sell Disney films on VHS was vindicated, they stuck
to the Disney Vault concept
It was both a compromise that would keep the market from being flooded with their films,
as well as a clever way to increase their profits.
Normally when a film is released on video, the price would drop over time.
By re-releasing the films on video every seven to ten years however with a new version, they’d
have the ability to charge full price all over again.
That brings us to today.
The media landscape is wildly different than the age of VHS tapes and early DVDs.
We have online streaming, we have digital downloads and the piracy that comes with it,
and we have an endless number of websites that allows us to buy whatever we want, whenever
we want.
But beyond just the changes in technology, we have also grown accustomed, as a society,
to experiencing media on our terms.
So with all of that said, is there still a place for the Disney Vault?
If we look back at the original reasons and intentions behind the vault, it seems like
the answer is no.
We no longer have to imagine an instance in which new generations are unable to watch
these films between releases, and we’ve seen that having convenient access to these
movies don’t cheapen them as the pieces of art they are.
All that leaves remaining is the ability for Disney to charge full price for the films
every decade.
While that might be enough of a reason for them to keep it going, it’s certainly not
one that benefits us.
So I say it’s time to open the Disney Vault and keep it open.
...not the actual Disney vault though.
Keep that one locked.
There’s a lot of valuable stuff in that one.