Disney started out by establishing its own video distribution operation in 1980 as part of Walt Disney Telecommunications and Non-Theatrical Company (WDTNT) with Jim Jimirro as its first president. WDTNT Co. also handled marketing of other miscellaneous ancillary items such as short
8 mm films for home movies. When Disney started with video cassettes, "Home video" was not considered to be a major market by them at the time. Their first releases on videotape were 13 titles that were licensed for rental to
Fotomat on March 4, 1980. Disney was unusual among the major studios in offering a program for authorized rentals. Most of the other studios involved in the videocassette market at the time were trying to find ways to stop dealers from renting out their movie tapes.
Magnetic Video (with titles from
20th Century Fox and others) ceased doing business with Fotomat after Fotomat began renting Magnetic Video cassettes without authorization. The switchover from rental to sales was a "thorny" issue that was solved by giving dealers an option on the type of outlet they desired. For those who just wanted to rent video cassettes, a title was given (for US$52) on a 13-week cycle. The dealer could then set the price as many times as they wanted in those 13 weeks before purchasing a new title from Disney. Disney later offered a promotion for Summer 1982 called "Disney's American Summer", where they sold some of their live action movies for the first time. At the time this promotion was done in an effort to make video cassettes more affordable, and boosted the video software involved. Marketing included a 7 foot tall gazebo which was set up in stores and a free mug as an incentive. Towards the end of 1984, Disney did a “Wrapped And Ready to Give” Christmas promotion which included seven newly released titles on video cassette. Later promotions include Disney's 1986 "Wonderland Campaign" as a further attempt to bring prices down. When
The Disney Channel was launched on April 18, 1983, it gave the company an opportunity to air made for TV films such as
Tiger Town and
Gone Are the Dayes, both of which were released to home video in 1984. During that same year Disney also started releasing their animated feature films under the
Walt Disney Classics line starting with
Robin Hood. On March 8, 1985, Disney released "Love Leads the Way" which became their first title that went straight to Home Video. The
Walt Disney Home Video division was legally incorporated as
Buena Vista Home Video on February 13, 1987. The
Walt Disney Home Video brand continued to be used for all Disney branded releases afterwards. ==North American releases==