Questions About Disney VHS Labels

[Elladorine]

Ok, this may seem way too dated to merit discussion or even care about, but way back in the <strike>dark ages</strike> late 1990's I started noticing something strange about the Disney VHS's I was buying. At the time, most of the tapes themselves had some type of permanent white ink printed/screened on them instead of the typical paper label most other companies used (anyone who ever owned later black diamonds should know what I'm talking about). So I was a little surprised the first time I noticed a black label with white printing instead, as if it was trying to replicate the same look but on paper. No big deal, right? But out of curiosity or sheer stupidity I peeled the label back and noticed the already existing white ink found beneath. Which was the title of a different Disney movie.

What was the significance of this? Did Disney "rebulk" (tape-over) unsold Disney VHS's? And if so, wasn't that lowering the quality?

I noticed this practice continued as long as I was buying VHS's, which was probably up until about the year 2000. I was pretty annoyed over it actually, and it was one of the reasons that DVD's appealed to me so much when Disney decided to join the format. Interestingly enough, they eventually started coating black ink over the white before putting on the new label, I'm assuming as an attempt to hide the fact that the VHS in your hands had in fact once been a previous release.

As it is I only own one VHS now, the 1999 release of The Rescuers. I got to chatting about all this with a friend last night, and pulled out the tape to see if it was one of those with the labels. Yep. I peeled it back and could barely see through the black ink underneath that it had in fact been previously labeled as Aladdin and the King of Thieves.

With VHS's no longer being produced and the main concern with formats these days being the debate between DVD and Blu-ray, I know this doesn't really matter anymore. But it strikes me as weird/interesting and I was wondering if anyone else had noticed this or if they still had some of these oddly-labeled tapes? Does anyone know if they were actually taping over unsold movies or what?

[milojthatch]

I've never talked about it before, but I do know what you are talking about. I don't know why this is, but when I had VHS, I found the same thing. Rather odd I think.

[MattDean]

Interesting. I've loads of US Disney vhs - I may check mine out!

Well, perhaps Disney was trying to be environmentally friendly?!

In terms of quality, and this may seem backwards, when I used to have a vhs and bought new tapes to record on I always recorded on the entire tape first and then recorded what I wanted to keep over it! Why? Because I always found when I recorded on a tape for the first time the quality was pants! Lots of those annoying flickering lines and drop-outs, however when I re-recorded most of these problems disappeared. Yes, I know vhs degraded everytime it was played/used but remember I'm only talking about 2nd (recording) use here.

I'm not saying Disney used old tapes for quality purposes but it could have meant your end product was better!

Or perhaps the actual cassette label may have been printed in reserve but never recorded on? I'm pretty sure there were millions of left over Aladdin and the King of Thieves!!!

Here in the UK, I had lots of problems with Disney vhs - poor picture (those annoying lines - particularly noticeable on bright scenes , flickers and weird distortion at the top of the picture!), muffled sound or patchy stereo, and I once pre-ordered Sleeping Beauty and when I received it the tape was blank! Lol!

In some ways I miss VHS, even though they were clunky and unreliable compared to digital films.

Matt

[Elladorine]

I was 9 years old when we got our first VCR and 99% of my first VHS pre-records were of Disney movies, so I still have a special affection for them. I'd have held on to them all if I had the space.

I do remember being disappointed in the quality of tapes during the late 90's; much of what I recorded at home looked better than what I bought at the store, and I always wondered if the fact that they were rebulked had anything to do with it. Then again, of course I'm not sure if they'd had the previous films already recorded on them, maybe they were in fact just labeled and still blank at that point?

The worst tape I'd ever stumbled across was of The Brave Little Toaster. I don't think it had one of those labels, but within 5-10 minutes of the movie, it turned to snow! I couldn't complain too much as it had only been $5, but at the same time it had been several months since I'd bought it so I couldn't exactly take it back to the store for an exchange.

[Scarred4life]

I have all my old VCR tapes, but all of mine have the white words, not the labels. I just recently became aware of this when I was sorting through my collection, but I have the Platinum BatB, on VCR. Was it released at the same time as the dvd? (Yes, I know I need to brush up on my release dates.)

[Ostrum-Safari1992]

Oh yeah, I have some Disney VHS tapes like that. Around 1999, I think, or maybe 1998 they started doing that. It is kind of odd, since they were doing the ink labels for a while. Then they went over to the black labels with the white ink.

I always wondered why they were plastered over Disney VHS tapes that already have a label on it. When I was young, I got "Lady and the Tramp II" on VHS, and I noticed something under the label, I peeled some of the sticker label and it was "101 Dalmatians" (1999 VHS release). I thought I was one of the only ones who noticed these things. I collect Disney VHS tapes (everything from the 1980s white clamshell titles to the last ones made), and this I noticed very early on.

What is also odd is that some 2003/2004 Disney VHS tapes like "Finding Nemo" and "Brother Bear" have ink labels. I haven't seen copies of those VHS tapes with a black label.

[kenai3000]

I have 3 like that.

The Tigger Movie was once Mulan
The Hunchback of Notre Dame II was once Nightmare Before Christmas
Lady and the Tramp II was once 101 Dalmatians (1999 version)

[ajmrowland]

You mean the 1996 version.

I never noticed any of them that way before, and I cant now because I sold them all. Miss the previews the most.

[Margos]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II was once Nightmare Before Christmas

Can you say, "down-grade of epic proportions!?"

[Just Myself]

I had a few tapes like these. The ones I can remember off the top of my head....

Holes was once 102 Dalmatians
Inspector Gadget was once The Hunchback of Notre Dame
George of the Jungle 2 was once The Tigger Movie
Freaky Friday (2003) was once Beauty and the Beast: The Platinum Edition (might have been a different tape like Pirates of the Caribbean, but I do remember it was a very quick turnaround)
The Haunted Mansion was once The Hunchback of Notre Dame II (hey, a matched set of recycled tapes!)

I had a bunch of others (I bought tons of used tapes for $0.99 when I worked at Albertson's) so I might come back and post others I find. I found it bizarrely fascinaiting that they used this practice.

Cheers,
JM

[kenai3000]

You mean the 1996 version.

Nope I mean the 1999 Masterpiece edition VHS.

Also I found 4 more like that in my collection.

Pooh's Grand Adventure was once Oliver & Company
A Goofy Movie & Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh were once Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse was once I'll Be Home For Christmas

and a strange one my copy of The Aristocats has a sticker label, but underneath it is an ink label for the same movie.