The Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection, or the Gold Classic Collection for short, is a series of VHS and DVD releases of animated Disney films, similar to the Walt Disney Classics and Walt Disney Masterpiece Collections that preceded it. The series notably also featured the first home video release of Make Mine Music and the first VHS and DVD release of Saludos Amigos (although content from these two was cut) and the first DVD release of Toy Story.
The DVDs were similar in content to the failed Limited Issue DVDs, to the point that the Gold Collection DVDs for Pinocchio, Hercules, and Mulan were actually reissues of those films' Limited Issue DVDs. Most of the DVDs contained a few bonus features in the form of interactive read-alongs, trivia games, and sing-alongs, though some also contained making-of featurettes and bonus cartoon shorts.
Each wave of Gold Collection videos and DVDs were released on select days of each month from January 11, 2000 through March 20, 2001. However, due to subpar sales as a result of too many videos in the series being released all at once, Disney discontinued the line afterward. As a result, later releases with similar content and cover designs were not labeled as Gold Collection videos.
Many of the films released in the Gold Collection have since been released on DVD again, one of them as part of the Walt Disney Platinum Editions (and its second successor series, the Walt Disney Signature Collection) and many others released as individual "special edition" DVDs. As of 2015, Make Mine Music, Melody Time, and A Goofy Movie are the only films released in the series that have not been given new Region 1 DVD releases since then, although the latter films have been released on Blu-Ray as Disney Movie Club exclusives, one in 2019, and the other two in 2021.
The Spirit of Mickey and So Dear to My Heart were apparently going to be re-released as part of the Gold Collection (as seen on a trailer for the collection on various videos), but these videos were never released. The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Oliver & Company were also planned to be included but were cut from the collection and instead released as stand-alone videos without the "Gold Collection" banner. So Dear to My Heart was eventually released on DVD as a Disney Movie Club exclusive.
Releases[]
VHS Cover | DVD Cover | Film | Released | DVD bonus features | Moratorium |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Toy Story | January 11, 2000 (VHS); October 17, 2000 (DVD) |
|
May 1, 2003 | ||
Mulan | February 1, 2000 |
|
January 31, 2002 | ||
Pinocchio | March 7, 2000 |
|
January 31, 2002 | ||
The Aristocats | April 4, 2000 |
|
2006 (month unknown) | ||
The Fox and the Hound | May 2, 2000 |
|
Early 2006 | ||
Saludos Amigos | May 2, 2000 |
|
Early 2008 | ||
The Three Caballeros | May 2, 2000 |
|
Early 2008 | ||
Make Mine Music | June 6, 2000 |
|
N/A | ||
Melody Time | June 6, 2000 |
|
N/A | ||
Pocahontas | June 6, 2000 |
|
Early 2005 | ||
Fun and Fancy Free | June 20, 2000 |
|
N/A | ||
A Goofy Movie | June 20, 2000 |
|
N/A | ||
Alice in Wonderland | July 4, 2000 |
|
Late 2003 | ||
Mary Poppins | July 4, 2000 |
|
Early 2004 | ||
Robin Hood | July 4, 2000 |
|
Early-mid 2006 | ||
Hercules | August 1, 2000 |
|
Early 2014 | ||
The Rescuers Down Under | August 1, 2000 |
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Late 2011 | ||
A Bug's Life | August 1, 2000 |
|
May 1, 2003 | ||
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World | September 5, 2000 |
|
Early 2012 | ||
The Black Cauldron | October 3, 2000 |
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Late 2009 | ||
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad | October 3, 2000 |
|
Early 2014 | ||
Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas | November 7, 2000 |
|
Still avaliable seasonly. Reprinted on DVD + Blu-ray debut in 2014. | ||
Pete's Dragon | January 16, 2001 |
|
Early 2009. | ||
The Sword in the Stone | March 20, 2001 |
|
Early 2008 | ||
Bedknobs and Broomsticks: 30th Anniversary Edition | March 20, 2001 |
|
Early 2009. |
Similar later releases[]
The following videos, similar in appearance and design to the Gold Collection releases, came out after the Gold Classic Collection line was discontinued.
VHS Cover | DVD Cover | Film | Released | DVD bonus features |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dumbo: 60th Anniversary Edition | October 23, 2001 |
| ||
Peter Pan: Special Edition | February 12, 2002 |
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The Hunchback of Notre Dame | March 19, 2002 |
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Oliver & Company: Special Edition | May 14, 2002 |
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The Great Mouse Detective | July 23, 2002 |
| ||
The Rescuers | May 20, 2003 |
|
Trivia[]
- While the VHS versions use the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection logo in place of the 1991 golden-colored Walt Disney Home Video logo at the beginning, both logos use the same music. The DVD versions, however, use the 1991 Walt Disney Home Video logo.
- This is the first series of re-releases to include Pixar films (Toy Story and A Bug’s Life) as all future re-releases of these two films would be standalone re-releases and not a part of neither the Platinum Editions, Diamond Editions or the Walt Disney Signature Collection. The second being the Disney100 series of releases, which once again include Toy Story, only this time without Bug's life and instead with Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Up, Brave, Coco, and Cars (albeit reprinting releases from prior to 2023).
- This series' release of Melody Time is censored to remove scenes involving cigarettes from the Pecos Bill segment, much like its previous 1998 VHS/Laserdisc release.
- This one, Saludos Amigos and Make Mine Music all have an aspect ratio screen on the VHS and DVD release in this series stating that they have been "edited for content" since these three films are affected with censorship and cuts.
- Almost all of the VHS tapes have the exact same opening previews, including a trailer to the then-recent direct-to-video film The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. This could be due to many videos in the series being released all at once.
- A Goofy Movie is presented as a pan-and-scan version on the North and South American DVDs, though European and Australian DVDs from 1999 present the film in a non-anamorphic widescreen format.
- Toy Story is the only Gold Collection DVD not to be released simultaneously with its VHS release. Additionally, it was the only Gold Collection DVD that was not a standalone release until 2001, as it was instead released in a two-pack with Toy Story 2 later in 2000.
- The reason for this delay is so the DVD release would coincide with that of Toy Story 2.
- New VHS covers with updated images included The Aristocats, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Pocahontas, Fun and Fancy Free, Mary Poppins, Hercules, A Bug's Life, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, The Sword in the Stone, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Black Cauldron, The Rescuers Down Under, Melody Time, Make Mine Music, and Pete's Dragon.
- The 2001 Canadian VHS of Oliver & Company is the only Gold Classic Collection release to not have a DVD equivalent at the time of its release.
- The DVDs were originally released with a gold embossed banner. Around the time Disney Movie Rewards launched, this was changed to a printed yellow banner.
See also[]