Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment^[1] (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc Inc. , MCA Videocassette Inc. and MCA DiscoVision Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures. The company is owned by NBCUniversal, the entertainment division of Comcast.

The company was founded in 1978 as MCA DiscoVision with the Beta and VHS label MCA Videocassette, Inc. in 1980, with the release of films on Beta and VHS, including Jaws, Jaws 2, and 1941. In late 1983, both the Laserdisc sister label MCA Videodisc and the VHS/Beta label MCA Videocassette were consolidated into a single entity, MCA Home Video, alternating with the MCA Videocassette name until December 1983. In 1990, with the 75th anniversary of Universal Studios, it became MCA/Universal Home Video, alternating with the MCA Home Video name from 1990 until 1997. The company later went by various company names, including Universal Studios Home Video (1998–2005), and Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2005–2014).^[1]

In 1980, they released two '50s 3-D motion pictures, Creature From the Black Lagoon and It Came From Outer Space, in anaglyphic format on Beta and VHS.

This company was the video distributor for DreamWorks titles until DreamWorks was sold to Paramount Pictures' parent company, Viacom, in 2006, at which point Paramount took over distribution. After Viacom spun off DreamWorks in 2008, Universal Studios Home Entertainment was planned to resume distributing DreamWorks' movies, but this deal fell through. The company was also the video distributor for Summit Entertainment releases until 2014, at which point 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment took over distribution. (Fox currently distributes releases by Summit's parent company Lions Gate Entertainment) Until they formed their video division, Lions Gate Entertainment releases were distributed by UPHE with the exception of Dogma, which was distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

In addition to DVDs, Universal was a major supporter of the HD DVD format until March 2008, when Toshiba discontinued manufacturing of HD DVD players. Since July 22, 2008, Universal released Blu-ray discs; it was the last major Hollywood movie studio to do so. The label's first three Blu-ray releases were The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and The Scorpion King.

Universal is the US video distributor for Open Road Films, Funimation, Picturehouse, STX Entertainment, Bleecker Street, Pure Flix Entertainment, and HiT Entertainment releases and the Canadian video distributor for Elevation Pictures and Funimation releases.

Internationally

In the Netherlands, Universal distributes most DVDs of films released theatrically by Independent Films, although this is now limited to catalog releases, as more recent films are now released through Warner Home Video.

It also distributes Alliance Atlantis DVD titles in Canada, most of the Republic Pictures theatrical library in the UK, and most of the Carolco Pictures library in Australia, Latin America, and several European countries (along with other StudioCanal properties). In the 1980s until the late 1990s, they also distributed tapes released by Cineplex Odeon in Canada.

Universal previously distributed its films on video internationally through CIC Video (a division of Cinema International Corporation, later United International Pictures) alongside Paramount Pictures. Following Universal's acquisition of PolyGram in 1999, PolyGram Video (which had international operations) was folded into Universal.

The international operations are a joint venture with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, a carry-over from the PolyGram days.^[2]

In October 2014, Universal established global headquarters for its home video division in Los Angeles.^[1]

In February 2015, Paramount Home Media Distribution signed a distribution agreement with Universal, whereby the latter will distribute the former's titles overseas, particularly the territories where Paramount holds an office. The deal began on July 1, 2015 in the UK.^[3]

List of direct-to-video films

American Girl

R.L. Stine

Universal 1440 Entertainment

Universal Animation Studios

List of video releases

Universal Cinema Classics

• All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
• Arabian Nights (1942)
• Easy Living (1937)
• Going My Way (1944)
• The Heiress (1949)
• The Major and the Minor (1942)
• Midnight (1939)
• No Man of Her Own (1932)
• Scarface (1932)
• She Done Him Wrong (1933)
• So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
• Unconquered (1947)

Universal Legacy Series

• The Deer Hunter (1978)
• Double Indemnity (1944)
• Dracula (1931)
• Frankenstein (1931)
• Imitation of Life (1934, 1959)
• The Mummy (1932)
• Psycho (1960)
• Rear Window (1954)
• The Sting (1973)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
• Vertigo (1958)
• The Wolf Man (1941)

Universal Noir Collection

• The Big Clock
• Black Angel
• Criss Cross
• This Gun for Hire

Universal Vault Series

Turner Classic Movies Presented by Universal

HiT Entertainment

• Barney & Friends
• Bob the Builder
• Fireman Sam
• Pingu
• Thomas & Friends
• Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps
• Kipper the Dog

Funimation

• Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero
• Fairy Tail
• Ghost in the Shell: Arise
• One Piece
• Dance in the Vampire Bund^[4]

Nine Network

• Hi-5 (2004-2005)

ABC Music

• The Wiggles

Notes and references

External links

• Official website
• Universal TV DVD
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment at the Internet Movie Database