'80s Home Video Ads

And now for something completely different! In the mid-'70s, VCRs began being marketed to the public, which sent all of the movie studios into a frenzy. Film piracy instantly ran rampant, copyright laws were called into question, and the studios retaliated with pointless lawsuits against the VCR industry (funny how technology changes but history repeats itself). In those early days, VCR's were so expensive that you either had to be comfortably well off or a hardcore movie buff to have one. By 1980, several studios became wise that these videocassette things weren't going away, so they began officially releasing their films on video at affordable prices -- and by "affordable," I mean anywhere from $30-$100+ for a single movie (which was substantially more by '80s standards than it is today). Mom and Pop video stores soon began to flourish... making VCRs commonplace in many American homes by the mid-'80s, eventually driving the costs of videos down... just in time for us to upgrade to DVD.... and then Blu-Ray.

At the forefront of both the early lawsuits and the mass-marketing of their own tapes was the Disney Corporation. With a few exceptions (most notably SONG OF THE SOUTH), the bulk of their library was available to own on various American home video formats by the early '90s. And they advertised the hell out of their releases (as they still do today). Unfortunately, in the years since, they've neglected, abused and disowned many of the films from those original video releases...

Yep, I have a point. Here's a collection of more than 50 ads, mostly for home video releases of films, taken from '80s magazines -- and there's a ton of Disney ads, including many from their dark, culty, pre-Eisner period. Some of these ads are generic, others inventive -- and the listed prices on many of these tapes will doubtlessly shock some younger people who stumble in. Included are ads for:

BUT WAIT!!! There's MORE!!

A second batch of ads are not all for home video -- there's also some movie teaser ads, celeb endorsements and several TV movie ads, and a few from the '90s...

MOVIE/VIDEO ADS:

ANNIEBACK TO THE BEACHTHE BIG CHILLBLUE COUNTRYTHE BOYS NEXT DOORBRAZILCHRISTIANE F.THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACKFAMETHE FOUR SEASONSHALLOWEEN IITHE HIDDEN FORTRESSIKIRUTHE HOBBIT