🎄 Home Video History ❄

Fun facts on the history and evolution of home video| Lover of physical media| Not affiliated with home video companies/film studios| Created by @MEDewald1

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SpongeBob SquarePants VHS and DVD print ad (2002)

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Happy belated 86th birthday, Ringo Starr!

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The DVD release of Regular Show: Slack Pack (2012)

This is the first home video release of Regular Show.

Fun Fact: This is the only DVD release to feature the original unedited version of the episode "The Power".

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Fun Fact: Despite "Better Late than Never" being the last main home video release of Thomas & Friends in the US to feature episodes narrated by Ringo Starr, there were still seven episodes of his US dub that remained unreleased on home video for years.

While these episodes did air during the first season of the PBS series "Shining Time Station" (the show that introduced Thomas & Friends to the US in which he played the role of Mr. Conductor) and eventually got released on home video later on, they were instead narrated by the late George Carlin (yes, that George Carlin), who succeeded Starr as the narrator of the US dub (and Mr. Conductor on "Shining Time" for the rest of its run).

In addition to narrating new episodes, Carlin would also redub episodes Starr already narrated as well as the remaining episodes from the first two seasons of Thomas that Starr didn't get to renarrate for the US prior to his departure from the show in 1990.

These seven Ringo Starr episodes include:

"Percy Takes the Plunge", which was released on the VHS and DVD "Best of Percy" in 2001.

"Saved from Scrap" and "A New Friend for Thomas", which were released on the DVD "Engine Friends" in 2012.

"Thomas' Christmas Party" and "Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree", which were released on the Shining Time VHS "Tis a Gift" in 1992.

"Woolly Bear", which was not released on any VHS or DVD, but it did air on Shining Time Station and was featured on an audio cassette for the book "Diesel's Devious Deed" in 1992.

"Percy's Ghostly Trick", which was never officially released in the US on any home video format and only survives through recordings of Shining Time (making it the most elusive of the US Ringo Starr episodes).

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Happy belated 20th anniversary, Cars!

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June 7, 1990: Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends: Thomas Gets Tricked and James Learns a Lesson are released on VHS.

These are the first official home video releases of the series in the US. Narrated by Ringo Starr, each video contains seven episodes from the series' first season.

In addition to the standard black cassettes, some copies also came in blue and red cassettes.

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June 1, 2004: SpongeBob SquarePants: Spongeguard on Duty is released on DVD and VHS.

Fun Fact: Despite the last three episodes on the DVD not being featured on the VHS version, the VHS back cover still features a screenshot from the episode Doing Time.

This is also one of the few SpongeBob VHS releases to be released in an orange cassette along with the standard black cassettes.

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May 27, 2003: The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius: When Pants Attack and Time Warp are released on VHS. A DVD titled Confusion Fusion was also released and contains all nine episodes from the two tapes.

These are the first episodic home video releases of Jimmy Neutron following the video and DVD release of the movie the previous year.

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May 24, 2005: SpongeBob SquarePants: Fear of a Krabby Patty is released on DVD and VHS.

This is the first home video release of SpongeBob SquarePants to feature episodes from the series' fourth season.

In addition to the first two episodes of season four, this release also contains six (three on the VHS) additional episodes.

This is also the only SpongeBob VHS to feature season four episodes along with episodes from the previous seasons as well as one of the few VHS releases to feature episodes from said season. This is also the last VHS to feature an episode from the third season (the episode being "One Krab's Trash").

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May 23, 2006: The Fairly Oddparents: Fairy Idol is released on DVD and VHS.

Not counting some Nick Jr tapes released after, this is the last Nickelodeon VHS release. It is also the last VHS release of The Fairly Oddparents. The VHS release only contains the special though the DVD also features two bonus episodes.

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May 23, 2006: Thomas & Friends: Tales from the Tracks is released on DVD and VHS.

This is the first home video release in the US to contain episodes from the series' ninth season and the first Thomas home video release distributed by 20th Century Fox.

This is notably the final VHS release of Thomas & Friends in the US and the only VHS to feature season nine episodes (not counting the special Calling All Engines).

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May 1, 2001: Disney's The Emperor's New Groove (2000) is released on VHS and DVD.

In spite of its relative underperformance at the box office, the film was a massive success on home video, becoming the best-selling Disney video of the year.

In addition to the standard DVD release, a two-disc collector's edition DVD was also released and contained loads of additional bonus features.

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Happy 20th anniversary, Over the Hedge!

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Which Thomas & Friends VHS or DVD would you pick?

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In memory of Tom Kane.

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Fun Fact: The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy III" is the first episode of the series to be officially released on home video. It was released on the compilation VHS Nickelodeon Super Toons (alongside two episodes of Rugrats and one episode of Rocket Power) in February 2002, predating the first official SpongeBob VHS and DVD releases Nautical Nonsense and Sponge Buddies by a month. The episode was later featured as the first episode on the VHS Laugh Your Pants Off and the DVD Tide and Seek.

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Happy Easter, y'all!