Disney Vault

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The "Disney Vault" is a figurative representation of Walt Disney Home Entertainment's practice of releasing its animated features on home video for a finite amount of time before placing them on moratorium. Disney/Pixar films are a common exception to this, generally only being discontinued when a newer edition is released.

The practice is the modern version of Disney's practice of re-releasing its animated films in theaters every seven years, which began with the release of 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1944. ^[1]. When VHS eroded the market for theatrical reissues, Disney shifted its moratorium practices towards home video releases. Typically, a major Disney animated film is released on video or DVD for a pre-established amount of time, ranging from sixty days (the first Disney DVD releases in 1999) ^[2] to several years. ^[3] During the 1980s and 1990s, when the home video market was dominated by VHS systems, Disney films would be reissued every seven years, a time gap equal to that of their theatrical reissues. With the transition to DVD technology, the moratorium period was increased to up to ten years. ^[4] Television commercials for Disney home video releases will alert customers that certain films will be placed on moratorium soon, urging them to purchase these films before they "go back into the 'Disney Vault'". Some direct-to-video Disney films, among them Bambi II, have also been released with a pre-established window of availability. ^[5]

Disney itself states that this process is done to both control their market and to allow Disney films to be fresh for new generations of young children. [1] A side effect of the moratorium process is the fact that videos and DVDs of Disney films placed on moratorium become collector's items, sold in stores and at auction websites such as eBay for sums in excess of their original suggested retail price.