Walt Disney Classics - Prehistory

Prehistory

Disney has used the word "classics" at various times to describe three types of feature-length films which include animation. The first type, identified most closely with the "Classics" label, consists of animated features which contain one continuous story. A second type are films made up of several shorter self-contained animated stories. This type includes the six package films produced from 1942 to 1949, most of which also include some live-action characters. One other film of this type was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, released theatrically in 1977, which was a compilation of several shorter Winnie the Pooh films that had been released previously. The third type of features sometimes referred to by Disney as "classics" are largely live action, but contain fully animated sequences or characters. Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Pete's Dragon are some examples of this type. Some of the animated package films and live-action films featuring animation were released on home video in the early 1980s, such as The Three Caballeros and Fun and Fancy Free in 1982, but most of them were not big sellers.

Disney's Classics category was originally defined during discussions for the April 18, 1983 launch of the Disney Channel. While the people at Disney were looking through their inventory of films to see what was available for the new cable channel, they decided that they could show some favorite films such as Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins, but that 15 other animated movies would never be shown.

These 15 animated feature films had never been shown on television at that time and had never been released on video, or anywhere else outside of a theater. These movies became the untouchables. These 15 movies were the foundation upon which the Disney company was built. Every time they were re-released to theaters (on a roughly seven-year cycle), they earned money like new releases and it was felt that allowing them on video or on television could end their lives as theatrical releases. The 15 untouchables were the following: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, Robin Hood, The Rescuers, and The Fox and the Hound. By the time the Masterpiece Collection replaced the Classics collection in the domestic market, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Aristocats were the only two of the original 15 Classics remaining unreleased.

All of the single-story animated features ever made by Disney were included in the list of 15 Classics except for two. The exceptions were Dumbo and Alice in Wonderland, both of which had been shown on television at the very earliest opportunity. The Disneyland TV series began with The Disneyland Story, but the very next episode, broadcast on November 3, 1954, was Alice in Wonderland, edited to fit into the one-hour TV time slot. The following season kicked off September 14, 1955, with a one-hour version of Dumbo. Both of these movies were released on video in the first two years of Walt Disney Home Video, at first for rental only, then for sale as well, but the untouchables remained locked in the vault.