Prehistory :

Before we talk about the history of Disney Classics and TV, we have to go back to 1944. It was World War II and Disney needed to make up for the box office failures of Pinocchio and Fantasia overseas. To make up for this, Disney decided to re-release Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs back into theaters to give people a chance to see the film in theaters again; whether it's people who have never seen it, or people who wanted to see the film again. Nonetheless, the 1944 re-release of Snow White made a lot of money and set forward a tradition of re-releasing the Disney classics every ten years. 

Pinocchio - Includes the original theatrical trailer, French 1995 partial redub track, and French localized texts as a bonus. THX certified, and is presented in its original 1.33:1 (full screen) aspect ratio. Uses the 1993 laserdisc transfer as the video source. A brand new transfer was given to this title in 2003 outside of North America which restores the RKO logo to the film (the Limited Issue DVD uses the Buena Vista logo; which was also used on the 1993 restored VHS and Laserdisc) and uses a different color palette. Of all of these releases, Pinocchio was the only one to be given a VHS release alongside a DVD release. In 2000, this edition was reprinted under the "Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection" banner. However the contents of that release are identical to the 1999 Limited Issue DVD release with the only difference being the front cover was changed to the "Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection" banner.

Below are two TV commercials advertising the 1999 "60th Anniversary Edition" VHS and the Limited Issue DVD release.

101 Dalmatians - Includes the theatrical trailer for the 1991 re-release (the only home media release to do so), French and Spanish voice tracks in Dolby Surround (2.0) (with localized texts for both), THX certified, and is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio (full screen.) The French localized texts are completely unique to this release (as well as the 1999 Canadian French VHS.) The Spanish version does not contain the dub cast; it only contains the "Walt Disney Presents" card, film title card, and "The End" in Spanish. The Spanish cast was included on the European DVD release.

Mulan - Includes the music videos for "Reflection" by Christina Aguilera and "True to Your Heart" by 98 Degrees & Stevie Wonder, original theatrical trailer, Canadian French and Latin Spanish voice tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound (with localized texts and credits for Canadian French only, the Latin Spanish credits appear as images at the end of the film), THX certified, and is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 (widescreen) or 1.33:1 (full screen) depending on the viewer's choice. Mulan is the only Limited Issue title to offer a choice between widescreen and full screen versions. In 2000, Mulan was given a re-release under the "Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection" banner. Like Pinocchio, the DVD contents are completely identical to the 1999 Limited Issue release with the only exception of the front cover being changed to the "Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection" banner. In 2004, Mulan was given a brand new DVD release with 2 discs. This release was presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.66:1.

Peter Pan - Includes the French 1992 voice track in Dolby Surround (2.0) (with localized texts) and English track in Dolby 4.0, and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Uses the 1998 Laserdisc as the video source. Not THX certified however the previous 1998 VHS and Laserdisc was THX certified. The film re-released on DVD multiple times each with different color palettes; first in 2002 to promote Return to Neverland, in 2007 for the Platinum Edition line, and in 2013 for the Diamond Edition line. The Diamond Edition uses the same transfer as the Platinum Edition.

Lady and the Tramp - Includes the French 1997 and Latin Spanish 1997 voice tracks in Dolby Digital (5.1) (with localized texts), and is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (widescreen.) Another thing to note about the Limited Issue release is that it includes the Latin Spanish 1955 credits instead of the Latin Spanish 1997 credits. Uses the 1998 widescreen Laserdisc as the video source. Not THX certified however the previous 1998 VHSes and Laserdiscs were THX certified.

The Lion King II : Simba's Pride - Includes the music video for "Love Will Find a Way" performed by Kenny Lattimore and Heather Headley, the trailer for the film, Canadian French and Latin Spanish audio tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 (Canadian French in 2.0) (with localized texts and credits, for Canadian French only; Latin Spanish contained title card in the film and the dubbing credits separately.) THX certified, and the film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1.  This is the only DVD release with the Canadian French dubbing; the subsequent DVD releases starting in 2004 used the European French dubbing in order to keep consistency with the Parisian voices from the first and the third film.
The Lion King II : Simba's Pride is notable for being the only film not in Disney's animated classics canon to be released in this line. As for the film itself, it is presented in its unedited form with the original color palette and is the only way to watch the film in its original aspect ratio without the alterations. The most clear examples of editing are the change in color palette and Kovu's reaction in the crocodile scene. These changes were implemented in the 2004 VHS / DVD release onward. 

The Jungle Book - Includes the French and Latin Spanish voice tracks in Dolby Surround (2.0) (with localized texts) as the only bonus. Uses the same transfer as the 1997 CAV Laserdisc release which is more valued by collectors for two reasons. The first being the only way to own the film in its proper aspect ratio and the second is that the Limited Issue DVD release is still the only release to contain the original aspect ratio on a digital format. In 2007, The Jungle Book was given a remaster for the Platinum Edition series which cropped the film into 1.75:1 (widescreen) in order to fit modern displays which cut the top and bottom of the film to fit the screen.

The Buena Vista logo on the Limited Issue DVD is incorrect. The one included on the "Platinum Edition" DVD release is the correct one as proven by the 1991 Demo VHS release.

The Little Mermaid - Includes the Canadian French and Latin Spanish voice tracks in Dolby Digital (5.1), (with localized texts) uncensored, and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 (widescreen). By mistake, the European French dub credits appear at the beginning of the Canadian French dub on this release. The correct Canadian French dub credits appear during the end credits for the film on the Limited Issue DVD. The correct opening Canadian French credits are included on the 1990 Canadian VHS and 1998 Canadian VHS. Not THX certified, but was THX certified on the previous 1998 VHS and Laserdisc release. Uses the 1998 master as the video source which is uncensored. When The Little Mermaid was re-released on DVD in 2006 for the Platinum Edition line, Disney went back and censored the bishop's knee which some viewers interpreted in a certain way. The Limited Issue DVD is still the only way to view the uncensored version on a digital format. Also in 2006, the film was remastered into anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with a different color palette. 

Also available was a limited edition box set containing all nine of the Limited Issue DVD releases. This box set was made in very limited quantities and is extremely rare. On Amazon, the box set is currently priced at $600 USD. If you are buying the Limited Issue DVDs, do yourself a favor and buy these DVDs separately or buy them in a lot, you'll save a lot of money. Especially since the majority of these DVDs don't have many bonus features and are more aimed at collectors nowadays. ;)

Here are photos of the Limited Issue DVD box set (courtesy of eBay) to give you an idea of what this set looked like up close :

​In order to promote the new EuroDisney theme park, Disney produced a short film that showed a preview of what the new park would look like.

So recently, I've picked up this extremely rare Canadian French VHS box set from eBay.

I don't know much about it except that it was a contest prize from 1988.
The titles included in this set are :

Dumbo
Alice in Wonderland (Alice au pays des merveilles)
The Sword in the Stone (Merlin l'Enchanteur)
Cinderella (Cendrillon)
The Jungle Book (Le livre de la jungle)
Aladdin

I'm sure that The Jungle Book and Aladdin weren't part of this set originally, but are a nice bonus as I didn't have them yet. :)

If anyone has more information on this box set, please let me know by using the comment section or the contact page.

Around the world, the VHS tape was a very popular format for film. As such, it was very common for bootleggers to make unauthorized VHS tapes of films. In the USA, it was more frequent in theater recordings recorded directly from the movie theater projection (telecine.) The bootleggers would be caught by the police and be fined for copyright infringement and unauthorized duplication as well as distribution if they were well known in the tape duplication circle.

Worldwide, the bootleg circle was much larger as many of these countries did not have official home media releases (sometimes for many years, if at all.)

This was the case in the USSR (and other countries under communism) as they could not get the home media distribution rights in proper. As a result, voiceover translations were created (this was the translation being read over the original soundtrack) They were usually done by unknown people (usually men) voicing all of the characters.

Some countries did it differently than others. For example, many of the Serbian voiceovers that exist include multiple voices voicing over the characters.

Examples of Bootleg VHS :

Russian :

​Russia is very famous for their many voiceovers. This is due to the bootlegging of videotapes of films during communist Russia. The cover art would be completely different from the official VHS cover art. This tapes contained an amateur male voice that would voice all of the characters.

Serbian :

The Serbian VHSes are an interesting case as these were sold in stores and would have cover art that closely matched the originals. As mentioned earlier, the Serbian voiceovers would typically include multiple voices. In some cases, some of the films would have more than one voiceover version as the VHSes have been released several times.

Some of the voices are even known in some of these versions ! Snow White is an example of one that includes known voices.

These voices include :

Татјана Станковић / Tatjana Stanković
Виолета Пековић / Violeta Peković
Горан Пековић / Goran Peković
Небојша Буровић / Nebojša Burović

The covers tend to vary in quality (some are very close to the official cover art, while others take a different direction.)

In this example, Snow White, Pinocchio and Peter Pan include extra photos that are not included on official releases; while Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone, The Aristocats, Pocahontas, The Lion King II : Simba's Pride, and Tarzan use the original cover art.

In some countries, some of the Disney animated films would fall into the public domain due to how the public domain laws are set up. In Japan and South Korea for example, films produced until 1960 are in the public domain. Which is why DVDs / Blu-Rays of Disney animated classics may have different cover art on Amazon or eBay (these are the public domain editions.) The dubbing included is often different from the normal dubbing circulated by Disney (they would be amateurish quality with the songs left in English.)

Italy :

In Italy during the 1980s, there was a belief that some of the Disney animated films fell into the public domain and as such were released on VHS by unlicensed companies such as Eclecta Video. These VHS editions would vary in quality from very good (Snow White, which included the 1987 print in technicolor) to poor (Bambi.) Dumbo is an interesting case as it uses a print from a TV showing from the 1980s albeit washed out.

I would like to thank the following people for sending information for this entry :

Cartoons Serbia
(Serbian information and VHS covers)

DisneyTapesAndMore
(Italian information)

At the end of June, I have ordered some Thai DVDs as well as some VCDs from the website ethaicd.com. Despite the shipping from DHL Express, they still took a month and a half to get to the States; my guess is that they lost the shipping information so I took to Facebook and sent them a message and they said they would look into it and they arrived within days.

Here are my pickups from ethaicd.com :

DVDs :

 VCDs :

​For those of you that don't know (I'm assuming that's a lot of you), VCD is a home media format that is basically a CD that holds video. It wasn't popular in the USA, but is very popular in Asia as a means of releasing content on home media. VCDs are the cheapest home media format available on the market. The content is spread across two discs as a CD can only hold 700 MB of space and the movie is highly compressed in order to fit across the two discs. The packaging on these two VCDs specifically makes me think of how Laserdiscs are packaged. However, LDs only come out of one side unlike the VCDs which can come out both sides.

Interestingly there was one VCD that was left out. I have also ordered the 20th Anniversary Editon of Oliver and Company. However once the order arrived, I was told it was out of stock. Oh well... I did receive my money back, so that's good... I guess...

Lot together :

​So, I've acquired two different Israeli VHSes of Dumbo.

VHS #1

VHS #2

​From what I understand, the first one was released in the late 1980s or early 1990s and was the first home media release with the Hebrew dub. The second one was released in the mid to late 1990s and also contains the Hebrew dub from the first VHS release.

​And as a special bonus, the seller who sold me the first VHS also included artwork from the late 1980s French VHS.

The site : eBay
The date : June 23rd, 2019

It was a bidding war...

The item up for auction ?

A VHS of Cinderella. It wasn't just any Cinderella VHS, it was the Mexican VHS with the original Edmundo Santos dubbing !

​​It originally went for $1.99 + shipping, so around $4 total. There was a bid on it already so I waited for the perfect time to strike... Waiting to the last minutes like I normally do on auctions I placed my bid on the VHS. Out of nowhere, I was quickly outbid and had to bid again. I was then in a competition with two different bidders; These two guys put up a fight and really wanted that tape and it kept going on and on until the end of the auction. Within the last 10 seconds; my blood was pumping, excitement through the roof, I've placed a bid of $36 and the other guys just gave up. After all the high stakes action, I won the auction !

The final price ? : $33 (shipping included) 

Photos of my prize :

Details from this dubbing can be found here (VHS capture materials from this tape will appear eventually) : Cinderella Latin Spanish

Have you ever received an offer that was too good to be true ? Well that's what happened to me recently... I've recently acquired the Hungarian VHS of Hercules for $15 USD, was in very good condition, and it shipped from the USA too ! However what I (or the seller) didn't notice is that the tape had some substance growing on the tape; that substance being dust or mold.

Now, this was the first Hungarian VHS I've seen on eBay and they're extremely rare to find. I've seen Icelandic VHS on eBay (that being Buzz Lightyear of Star Command : The Adventure Begins; which I've bought and I have it in my collection) and I've seen Arabic dubbed VHS tapes (I've only bought Toy Story in Arabic, which was the only one not selling for an outrageous $600 USD !!) But I've never seen a Hungarian VHS on eBay before; the VHS is also dubbed in Hungarian as well.

Hopefully the next Hungarian VHS that I will find won't be dirty; maybe it might be another Disney Hungarian VHS on eBay, but that's for fate to decide. :)

​Photos of the VHS :

Some countries release their films on VHS in different versions. A dubbed version which has the film in the language of the country, a subtitled version with the original audio with hardcoded subtitles in a different language, or a bilingual version is which both the dubbed version and English versions are played simultaneously. 
​
The bilingual editions are most common in Japan as an means of watching films on VHS. How these versions worked was that two audios would play at the same time; one audio stream would play on the mono channel and another audio stream would play on the other mono channel. The viewer could decide which version they wanted to watch by unhooking the left or right cable. Typically the left channel would be the Japanese dubbed version while on the right would be the original English version. If both cables are left in, both audio tracks will overlap.

To tell if the edition you have is the bilingual edition, There will be a yellow triangle on the top left corner of the box, yellow on the spine, and a message on the back saying it has two audio channels.

​For reference, dubbed versions are marked with red with the letters 日本語吹き替え, subtitled versions are marked in green with the letters 日本語字幕, and bilingual versions are marked in yellow with the letters 二か国語版.

Why is this interesting ? It shows that the VHS format is capable of holding two audios on a single tape. The Laserdisc format was also capable of doing this as well. How it worked on LD was that there would be two separate audio tracks (one digital and the other in analog, or on older discs; two mono soundtracks) with the ability to switch between them. Unlike VHS, bilingual editions are more common on Laserdisc as it was easier to switch between the audio tracks on Laserdiscs unlike VHS. Like VHS, subtitled editions were released as well as dubbed versions (the dubbed versions are not as common as VHS.) The ability to hold more than one audio track and switch between them would be incorporated into the DVD format as well as the Blu-Ray format.