Each Walt Disney Animation Studios film was available for purchase for a limited time, and then returned "to the vault", unavailable for retail sales, pending some future re-release.
[1] This is the modern version of Disney's practice of re-releasing its animated feature films in theaters every several years, which began with the reissue of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1944.
The moratorium period was continued with the evolution of home media delivery mechanisms, including DVD, Blu-ray, and digital streaming, which Disney itself mainly markets through its own Movies Anywhere initiative.
[1] One Disney film that remains vaulted was Song of the South, based on the Uncle Remus stories by folklorist Joel Chandler Harris.
The film has neither aired on television nor it ever been released on home video in the United States due to criticism of its portrayal of African Americans.
[5][6] In 2023, Disney announced that it would permanently remove dozens of underperforming films and TV series from its Disney+ and Hulu streaming services, effectively vaulting those productions.
This write-down allowed Disney to avoid paying ongoing residuals and reduced its tax bill.