Disney Black Diamonds

[AwallaceUNC]

Wow, great list, Disney Kid. I have Cinderella black diamond... not sure if my other VHS were BD or not.

-Aaron

[MickeyMousePal]

I have all the Black Diamond VHS

Dumbo 2 of them

Bambi

Cinderella

Alice in Wonderland

Peter Pan

Lady and the Tramp

Sleeping Beauty

101 Dalmatians 2 of them

The Sword in the Stone

The Jungle Book

Robin Hood

The Rescuers 2 of them

The Fox and the Hound

The Great Mouse Detective

The Little Mermaid 2 of them

The Rescuers Down Under 2 of them

Beauty and the Beast 2 of them

Aladdin 2 of them

[toonaspie]

the first VHS my family ever bought was "Bambi" for my sixth birthday and this was the black diamond. 1990 y'all!

My other black diamonds films (which were only recorded non bought) are:

Lady and the Tramp
Pinochio (our copy is busted, wah!)
Sleeping Beauty
Sword in the Stone
Robin Hood

Well, those are the ones I know for sure. I dunno about my other films

[Logoliker2004]

So far I have tried putting up a list of the Disney films that featured the Black Diamond Classics logos, not only on the spine, but I am also including the animated versions of them that appear before the movie.
Here is what I have complied...

PINOCCHIO (two versions, one released in 1985-1986, one in 1993 with "Masterpiece" label but features animated Classics logo before film)
FANTASIA (released in 1990-1991, features Masterpiece label and animated Black Diamond logo on the tape)
DUMBO (two versions, one in 1984-1985 with the pink spine and rear cover, another in 1991 with updated Classics animation on film)
BAMBI (probably released in 1989)
CINDERELLA (I'm guessing 1988 since it has an "Oliver and Company" preview)
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (two versions, one was released in 1985, re-released in 1991 with 1980s cover art)
PETER PAN (released in 1990)
LADY AND THE TRAMP (released in 1987)
SLEEPING BEAUTY (probably released in 1984-1985)
101 DALMATIANS (probably released to video in 1991-1992)
THE SWORD IN THE STONE (two versions, one from 1985-1986, another probably from 1991)
THE JUNGLE BOOK (released in 1991)
ROBIN HOOD (two versions, one released in 1984-1985, the other released in 1991, features shortened Classics logo)
THE RESCUERS (released to video in 1992)
THE FOX IN THE HOUND (released to VHS in 1993-1994, final years of the Black Diamond series)
THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (released in 1992, features no WDHV text on spine due to title size)
THE LITTLE MERMAID (released to video in 1990 but quickly recalled due to the "explict" cover artwork)
THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER (released to video around 1991)
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (released to video in 1992)
ALADDIN (released in 1993)

Feel free to make any corrections on my list here, such as if there were any other versions of the films released in Classics format.)

[englishboy]

Disney did a TON of Beta. Back in the day, you could rent the Beta versions of many Disney films from the original national rental outlet. (I was in elementary school.) Anyone remember the first rental chain? I'll give you a clue. It didn't start out as a rental chain. Another clue: for the most part they were situated in grocery store PARKING LOTS? Also you had to request the movie (usually a few days in advance) before it was shipped to that location for pick up.

So, anyone, the name of this rental company is?

bonus question: what was the first Disney full-length animated feature to make its way to Beta? Hint: it was also the first feature to be aired on TV.

[Sunset Girl]

I'm guessing that the first Disney Beta tape was of Alice in Wonderland.

I don't remember any of the eary chains of rental stores very well, as we didn't have a VCR until 1985 (when I was 9) and we lived in a small town that soon got its own independent video rental store.

I do remember that our neighbors had a VCR long before we did and that they had to travel a good 35 miles to the nearest rental store. My mom and I rode there with them once; I can remember it seemed like such a huge deal to hold a whole Disney movie in the palm of your hands (the only time I got to see a whole Disney movie back then was in the theaters or occasionally when they aired on TV). I remember gasping at the tiny store and the handful of movies they had on their shelves, and that my nieghbor paid over $30 for two movies. Not a purchase, but for a rental!

And my best friend had a VHS of Sleeping Beauty that her parents spent about $80 on, new.

For some odd reason, the early days of video fascinates me. It's just really cool. I mean, I was ready to cry when my dad finally threw away our original VCR; they sure don't make 'em like that anymore, it lasted a good eighteen years!!!

There's something really cool about the little Beta format that just didn't make it. We never had one, but my parent's friends sure did. The tiny tapes were really neat, and I heard that the quality was better than VHS. Why did VHS win out? I suspect that it was because the tapes had a longer running time, but I'm sure that wasn't the only factor. Anyway, I remember they had a copy of Sleeping Beauty on Beta.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

Aside from Alice in Wonderland and Dumbo I have all of the black diamond videos!

[Disneykid]

Disney did a TON of Beta. Back in the day, you could rent the Beta versions of many Disney films from the original national rental outlet. (I was in elementary school.) Anyone remember the first rental chain? I'll give you a clue. It didn't start out as a rental chain. Another clue: for the most part they were situated in grocery store PARKING LOTS? Also you had to request the movie (usually a few days in advance) before it was shipped to that location for pick up.

So, anyone, the name of this rental company is?

bonus question: what was the first Disney full-length animated feature to make its way to Beta? Hint: it was also the first feature to be aired on TV.

I know the bonus question: it's Alice in Wonderland. I have no idea about the main question, though, so a wild guess: Blockbuster Video?

[rb_canadian181]

I know all about this collection! The black diamonds are definetly my favourite series of video ever put out by Disney . Well...that and the platinums hehe
here are a couple resources for anyone who want to know more about this collection...
Paka and Luke from UD put together this informative site:http://www.ultimatedisney.com/blackdiamonds.html
and here are two of my sites, the first is a selection of custom dvd covers with restored artwork from the black diamond collection:
http://ca.geocities.com/sanderson93/custom_dvd.html
and the second is a collection of pictures and research of the series:
http://members.fortunecity.com/disneyblackdiamond/

oh and if anyone has a video or laserdisc(preferably) copy of cinderella or lady and the tramp classic edition, and scanner access, please let me know! id like to fix those custom covers .
-ryan!

[bennyb98]

When did Pinocchio become a Black Diamond?? I have a REALLY old copy of it, it is in a bulky case and you cant remove the cover. It has a picture of Pinocchio walking down the street.

[my chicken is infected]

I hate to be nitpicky, but Snow White was actually the first release in the Masterpiece Collection, not The Lion King.

[Wonderlicious]

I hate to be nitpicky, but Snow White was actually the first release in the Masterpiece Collection, not The Lion King.

And the line also started way back in 1985 with a limited release of Pinocchio (which can be found on Ryan´s site) and ended in 1994, not 1993 with The Fox and the Hound

Also, has anyone seen an early cover for The Sword in the Stone. I saw it once on another site which had Arthur raising the sword up in the air after pulling it out. It also had no mention of classic on the main front cover (not spine), just saying "Disney´s" in the same font as the words "Walt Disney´s" on the Sleeping Beauty cover. Has anyone else seen this?

[rb_canadian181]

When did Pinocchio become a Black Diamond?? I have a REALLY old copy of it, it is in a bulky case and you cant remove the cover. It has a picture of Pinocchio walking down the street.

It was the first classic made in October 1985 only half a million copies were made but then it was in production with the same cover art but in the newer cases(the inserts were removable). the masterpiece edition came out in 1993.
it's all on my site, it's the fist cell, hard to miss
-ryan

[rb_canadian181]

...Also, has anyone seen an early cover for The Sword in the Stone. I saw it once on another site which had Arthur raising the sword up in the air after pulling it out. It also had no mention of classic on the main front cover (not spine), just saying "Disney´s" in the same font as the words "Walt Disney´s" on the Sleeping Beauty cover. Has anyone else seen this?

My friend has this copy of the movie. I'm guessing it came out around 1988?I own the second classic copy, the more common one. I like it more Here's pictures of the original, notice the one to the left says 'walt disney's" abouve the title, and to the right, it just says "disney's" hmm...

enjoy!

[Disney-Fan]

I love the cover art! Very classy...

[Logoliker2004]

There's another difference with those Black Diamonds.

From 1984-1987, they started with a cheap-looking CGI Black Diamond animated logo with a bouncy moog synthesizer fanfare. The final Disney video to use that version was "Lady and the Tramp."
In 1988, what with the "Sorcerer Mickey" Disney Home Video logo introduced, Disney did a remake of the Classics logo with animation similar to the WDHV version at the beginning, but with better-looking CGI animation and effects than the 1984 version. The music has also been changed: it can be described as a cross between the Masterpiece Collection theme and the "Sorcerer Mickey" Home Video theme.

The Classics logo also showed up on the early 90s "Masterpiece" prints of "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia."

BTW I LOVE the fake DVD versions of the Classics videos. I picture it will have an all-new CGI Classics logo animated by Pixar and using the 1988 Classics music.

Hope that helps.

[Pukahontas]

Again, I completely agree with what everybody is saying here.