Disney, Fox, and the magic Vault

Disney, in recent years, has slowly become one of the single largest media companies in the world. This is mostly due to their accumulation of other companies and characters, movies, and franchises, known as intellectual properties (IP’s). One of their largest sales to date was their purchase of Fox Entertainment Group. For the most part, this has been a good thing. The Marvel franchise has all its characters now owned by one company, and up-and-coming releases, such as the Avatar sequels, have the financial backing. However, recent news has come to light that the mouse has more up his sleeve.

The main criticisms fall to what is known as the Disney Vault. The Vault was a marketing technique implemented in the 1980’s as a modern approach to explaining the re-releases of its older films onto home video. Many commercials from this time through the early 2000’s could be seen, urging viewers to buy the movies before they return to the Vault. You can watch one for Bambi here.

Though it is mostly older, ‘classic’ Disney films that are in the Vault, there are quite a number of more modern films as well. Disney was continually updating their Vault with some of their more popular films. The last film to be added was The Lion King in 1994. You can learn more about the Vault and find a full list of films in the vault here.

However, just a few weeks ago, Disney made an announcement. With the release of Disney+ in just under two weeks, the company made an executive decision. Nearly all of the films the company has ever produced will be available to stream on the new platform, including ones ‘in the Vault.’ Because of this, Disney has announced that they will be going away with, or at least changing, how the Vault system operates.

So, what does this have to do with Fox and science fiction?

As I said before, Disney has been acquiring new IP’s at an astronomical rate, the largest group being with the purchase of Fox. The company now has the rights to quite a few famous science fiction movies and franchises, such as Alien, Avatar, Independence Day, Predator, and Planet of the Apes.

So what is Disney planning to do with these films? We know they want to go forward with Avatar, since they already have ties with James Cameron and Pandora: The World of Avatar, a section of Animal Kingdom dedicated to the franchise. But what about the rest of them? Will they make sequels, or re-release into theaters?

According to a recent report, Disney has other plans. Put them into the Vault.

Disney didn’t announce this was happening. Disney made no statement about their plans to vault these films. The first time this was even noticed was when independent movie theater owners requested to screen some previously Fox- owned films for various purposes, such as a horror movie marathon. They were denied. They were given no reason.

Upon some further investigating, sources came forward and it was revealed that the company planned to vault the Fox films. There is still some rumors (and hope) that these films may make their way onto Disney+, though, at the time of writing nothing is confirmed. But, we can always hope that we get unlimited access to watch Xenomorphs whenever we wish.

What is your opinion about this news? What films or franchises are you sad to see go into the vault? Leave your comments below: