How come Disney didn't release Oliver And Company until 1998?

[DodgerGirl]

Why did it take so long for Disney to bring Oliver And Company to video until 1998? Because you would've thought that with Oliver And Company a hit movie in theaters in 1988 Disney would've released Oliver And Company on video in 1988. But waiting until 1998 for Oliver And Company's video release must've been hard for Disney movie fans. Considering how popular Oliver And Company was in 1988 I would've thought Disney would've released it on video in 1988. Was it the film's anniversary in 1998 that caused Oliver And Company to finally be released on video in 1998?

 

[BrianL]

Moveis didn't always come to video right away back then. They would be given a window when only rental stores would have them, though Disney started releasing their movies directly for purchase. I think they started releasing the classics first, but then would release new movies at the same time as the rental window (technically all mociews were for sale, but the cost was high, about $100 per tape, so only video stores would buy them then rent them out to recoup the costs - many family films including Disney movies would release at around $20 so the average consumer could buy them). Anyway, they had a lot of backlog to work through anyway and Oliver wasn't really a huge hit - though it was the start of the turn-around for Disney feature animation.