Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection

The Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection (Walt Disney Colección Maestra in Spanish and Collection Chefs-d'œuvre de Walt Disney in Canadian French) was a line of VHS tapes and Laserdiscs released by Walt Disney Home Video from 1994 to 1999 in the U.S. and Canada. Similar to the Walt Disney Classics line that preceded it, it consisted mainly of Disney animated features (excluding the Pixar films, the DisneyToon Studios theatrical films, and the direct-to-video sequels) along with a few live-action/animated hybrid films. French and Spanish versions were also released.
Each tape in this video collection began with a short animated opening sequence of Tinker Bell sprinkling pixie dust on the bare version of the logo to the completed version of the logo (a purple hump-shaped logo complete with Disney castle in the middle, as seen on the spine and front of each video's case) while a re-orchestrated version of the 1988-1994 Walt Disney Classics music plays over.
Of note, the series featured the first home video releases of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Aristocats, Oliver & Company, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Melody Time, The Black Cauldron, and Mulan.
The series was followed by the Limited Issue DVDs in 1999, and then the Gold Classic Collection in 2000.
==Releases==
VHS cover	Laserdisc cover	Film 	Release date 	Bonus Feature 	Disappeared to Vault
 	 	Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 	October 28, 1994 	N/A 	April 30, 1995
 	 	Alice in Wonderland (first release) 	October 28, 1994 	N/A 	
 	 	Bedknobs and Broomsticks 	October 28, 1994 	N/A 	
 	 	Dumbo 	October 28, 1994 	N/A 	
 	 	Mary Poppins (first release) 	October 28, 1994 	N/A 	
 	 	Pete's Dragon 	October 28, 1994 	N/A 	
100px 	 	Robin Hood (first release) 	October 28, 1994 	N/A 	
 	 	So Dear to My Heart 	October 28, 1994 	N/A 	
 	 	The Sword in the Stone 	October 28, 1994 	N/A 	
 	 	The Three Caballeros 	October 28, 1994 	N/A 	
 	 	The Lion King 	March 3, 1995 	N/A 	1997 (originally slated for an April 30, 1996 vault date, but was kept available for an extra year due to strong sales and popular demand)
 	 	Cinderella 	October 4, 1995 	N/A 	April 30, 1996
 	 	Pocahontas 	February 28, 1996 	N/A 	
 	 	The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 	March 27, 1996 	The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Story Behind the Masterpiece	
 	 	The Aristocats 	April 24, 1996 	N/A 	
 	 	Oliver & Company 	September 25, 1996 	N/A 	
 	 	Bambi (THX 55th Anniversary Edition) 	February 4, 1997 	Bambi: The Magic Behind the Masterpiece 	March 31, 1997
 	 	The Hunchback of Notre Dame 	March 4, 1997 	N/A 	
 	 	Fun and Fancy Free (THX 50th Anniversary Edition) 	July 15, 1997 	
The Story Behind Fun and Fancy Free 	January 31, 1998
 	 	Mary Poppins (second release, THX Limited Edition) 	August 26, 1997; March 31, 1998 	Mary Poppins: Practically Perfect in Every Way 	
 	 	Sleeping Beauty (THX Limited Edition and THX Widescreen Edition) 	September 16, 1997 	Once Upon a Dream: The Making of Sleeping Beauty 	January 31, 1998
 	 	The Jungle Book (THX 30th Anniversary Limited Edition) 	October 14, 1997 	The Jungle Book: The Making of a Musical Masterpiece 	January 31, 1998
 	 	Hercules 	February 3, 1998 	 	January 31, 1999
 	 	Peter Pan (THX 45th Anniversary Limited Edition) 	March 3, 1998 	You Can Fly!: The Making of Peter Pan 	April 16, 1998
 	 	The Little Mermaid (THX Special Edition) 	March 31, 1998 	"Part of Your World" music video 	January 31, 1999
 	 	Melody Time (THX 50th Anniversary Special Edition) 	June 2, 1998 	 	
 	 	The Black Cauldron 	August 4, 1998 	 	January 31, 1999
 	 	Lady and the Tramp (THX Limited Edition and THX Widescreen Edition) 	September 15, 1998 	Teaser for Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure 	January 31, 1999
 	 	The Rescuers 	January 5, 1999 (original release date) and March 23, 1999 (reissue after a recall on January 8.)	 	
 	 	Mulan 	February 2, 1999 	 	
 	 	One Hundred and One Dalmatians (THX Limited Edition) 	March 9, 1999 	N/A 	June 18, 1999
 	 	The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (50th Anniversary Limited Edition)	May 25, 1999 	 	
 	 	Alice in Wonderland (second release) 	July 13, 1999 	 	
 	 	Robin Hood (second release) 	July 13, 1999 	 	
== Trivia==
*Some early copies of the Pocahontas VHS contained the 1989 Walt Disney Classics opening logo instead of the opening logo of its respective video line.
*The videotapes of Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, Old Yeller (1997 Film Classics Collection release), and early copies of the 60th anniversary edition of Pinocchio contain the opening logo for the video line at the start, despite the fact that those videos were not part of the line. Pinocchio was most likely planned to be released in the Masterpiece Collection for fall 1999. A tape master was prepared, but was quickly aborted when the series ended; however, early copies of the 60th Anniversary edition still contained the early master with the Masterpiece Collection logo.
*In the 1994 trailer for the video line, Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Fox and the Hound are shown among the many clips shown, but a Masterpiece Collection VHS was never released for those films. This is because the films were in moratorium during the series' run. A Spanish-dubbed version of Aladdin was released as part of the lineup, however.
*The video line was promoted by McDonald's. That same restaurant chain gave out toys that included Toy Story and The Return of Jafar, even though these two movies were stand-alone video releases and not part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection line.
* Some early copies have the August 1994 print date and the 1986 Sorcerer Mickey Walt Disney Home Video Logo on it.
*Some tapes from 1995-1996 had the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection logo, but with the 1992 variation of the Walt Disney Classics music. The logo also shines twice on this variant. It also shows up on most (if not all) 1996-1999 non-VHS releases in the line, including laserdiscs such as Peter Pan and Hercules, and the 1998 DVD release of Mary Poppins.
**Surprisingly, the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection logo was shown on 1996 French Canadian VHS tapes of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and The Aristocats, and on the Toy Story 1997 DTS Laserdisc.
*Some tapes in this VHS series did not have the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection logo ident. These include early printings of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (to have the 1986 WDHV logo instead because the WDMC logo wasn't completed yet at the time), The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mulan, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and early printings of The Black Cauldron. However, the laserdisc had the WDMC logo and the THX logo.
*Some tapes from 1997-1999 were THX certified. Such tapes were advertised as "Fully Restored Limited Edition" on either their VHS covers and/or their VHS trailers beforehand.
*This series' release of Melody Time is censored to remove scenes involving cigarettes from the Pecos Bill segment. This edit is also later carried over to it's 2000 VHS and DVD release from Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection.
*Mary Poppins is, thus far, the only title to have had a DVD released in the series because it was still part of the collection at the time.
*Lady and the Tramp is released simultaneously in both alternate Academy ratio and letterboxed CinemaScope versions in both it's respective VHS and Laserdisc releases. 
**Similarly, Sleeping Beauty is also released simultaneously on both alternate letterboxed widescreen version and pan-and-scan versions on separate VHS releases, while it's laserdisc version only contains the letterboxed widescreen version.
==Promotional Galleries==
===Print ads===
Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection - 1995 Promotional Print Advertisment - Front Cover with Logo.jpg|Front cover of the 1995 promotional print ad (VHS) booklet with the logo.
Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection - 1995 Promotional Print Advertisment - Characters and Introduction.jpg|Page flaps from the 1995 promotional print ad (VHS) booklet with Alice, the White Rabbit, Lumiere, Cogsworth, (sitting on the golden couch), Dumbo, Timothy Mouse, Aladdin, Jasmine, Carpet, Abu, Elliott, Mary Poppins, Robin Hood, José, Panchito, and Donald enjoying the view at night.
Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection - 1995 Promotional Print Advertisment - Back Cover with Logo.jpg|Back cover of the 1995 promotional print ad (VHS) booklet with the logo.
Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection - Promotional Print Advertisment - 1.jpg|Front cover of the 1996 promotional print ad (VHS) booklet with Alice holding a giant key.
Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection - Promotional Print Advertisment - 2.jpg|Page flaps from the 1996 promotional print ad (VHS) booklet with Elliott, Mufasa, Young Simba, Pumbaa, Pocahontas, Grumpy, Doc, Dopey, Bashful, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Baloo, Mary Poppins, Alice, Winnie the Pooh, Dumbo, Timothy Mouse and the Three Caballeros (including Donald, José, and Panchito) making the way down the red carpet.
The Aristocats VHS Masterpiece Collection print ad NickMag May 1996.jpg|1996 print ad for the VHS release of The Aristocats.
==See also==
*Walt Disney Classics
*Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection
Category:Disney videos and DVDs
Category:Former Disney subsidiaries and assets