History Main / DirectToVideo

* Starting in 1994 with ''[[Disney/{{Aladdin}} The Return of Jafar]]'', Disney released sequels, prequels, and interquels to a significant portion of the DisneyAnimatedCanon, animated by the company's various television animation units. At first they were follow-ups to TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation titles, but they gradually shifted back to films from the [[Main/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation Golden]] and [[Main/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation Dark]] ages. There were also a few titles based on ClassicDisneyShorts characters and WinnieThePooh, while at least one film (''Atlantis: Milo's Return'') was a CompilationMovie consisting of the completed episodes of an aborted [=TV=] spinoff. When Pixar head John Lasseter took over Disney's feature animation department he brought this trend (deeply unpopular with critics and adult Disney fans) to an end, with the key exception of the ''[[Main/DisneyFairies Tinkerbell]]'' CGI films.

* Disney releases countless sequels to pretty much everything they make.
** Averted by, of course, {{Pixar}}. Disney asked Pixar to produce a DTV sequel to ''ToyStory'', which was turned over to a secondary production crew. Disney was so impressed with the work they were doing that they wanted to expand the runtime from the projected 60 minutes so it could be theatrically released, but John Lasseter didn't like the direction it was taking, and so had the script entirely rewritten and put the entire crew from the first film on the project in order to finish it within the 9 months left on their deadline.

* ''HomestarRunner'' parodies this and {{Mockbuster}}s in the [=SBEmail=] ''unlicensed''. One of the DVD examples are pictured above on this page.

* ''HomestarRunner'' parodies this and {{Mockbuster}}s in the SBEmail ''unlicensed''. One of the DVD examples are pictured above on this page.

* The travesty that is ''TheSecretOfNIMH II''.

** All the Sentai shows since ''SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' are followed by an epilogue movie that is released straight-to-video shortly after the series finale.

* Most of ErnestPWorrell's films after .

Internationally, many films that had a theatrical release may be released DirectToVideo in other countries [[hottip:*: The ''PowerpuffGirls'' movie for example after its flop in the U.S was converted to direct to video for the European market.]]. This may be due to several factors.

* Most of ErnestPWorrell's films.

* The American releases of the ''{{Pokemon}}'' movies, beginning with the sixth one.

In short, while "direct-to-video" means "too bad for theaters" in the West, OVA means "too good for a series" in the East.

** Millennium Films also produced the Morgan Freeman/Antonio Bandaras heist film ''The Code'' (a.k.a. ''Thick As Thieves''), which revolved around a veteran thief recruiting a younger crook to help him pull off a final job to pay off the Russian mob. Despite attracting some top-tier talent - Mimi Leder (''DeepImpact'') directed and TomHardy co-starred - the film was also dumped on DVD without a theatrical release.

* ''{{Animaniacs}}'' AlternateUniverse film, ''WakkosWish''.

* You would think that a movie starring MichaelJackson put out in 1988 would have no trouble getting a theatrical release - and you would be right... except that ''{{Moonwalker}}'' wound up going straight to video in the US after Jackson's then-manager Frank [=DiLeo=] asked for an extortionate share of the box office takings.

* The SuperSentai [[{{crossover}} team-up films]] that started with ''[[ChourikiSentaiOhranger Ohranger]] vs. ''[[NinjaSentaiKakuranger Kakuranger]] were originally released directly to home video until ''[[EngineSentaiGoOnger Go-onger]] vs. [[JukenSentaiGekiranger Gekiranger]]'', in which they were all given proper theatrical releases from that point onward.
** ''[[RescueSentaiGogoFive Gogo-V]]'' had a video spin-off titled ''Clash! The New Super Warrior'' (aka ''Gogo-V vs. Zeek''), which focused on a new hero made specifically for the movie in order to make up for the lack of an actual SixthRanger in the series itself.
** All the Sentai shows since ''SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' had an epilogue movie that are released a few months after each series ends.

** ''[[RescueSentaiGogoFive Gogo-V]]'' had a video spin-off titled ''Clash! The New Super Warrior'' (aka ''Gogo-V vs. Zeek''), which focused on a new hero made specifically for the movie in order to make up for the lack of an actual SixthRanger in the actual series itself.

* The ''SuperSentai'' [[{{Crossover}} crossover films]], up until ''EngineSentaiGoOnger vs. [[JukenSentaiGekiranger Gekiranger]]''.

** Also, in the Heisei era, there are Hyper Battle Videos, which act as {{Clip Show}}s for the respective show and usually show off something that will be exclusive to the video (for example: [[KamenRiderFaiz A boombox that makes everyone dance]], [[KamenRiderKabuto a super mode for one of the riders]], and [[KamenRiderKiva a form that combines two forms into one]].)

Internationally, many films that had a theatrical release may be released DirectToVideo in other countries. This may be due to several factors.

In the United States, while there have been plenty of direct-to-video films and such since the advent of home video, they were usually things that were considered financially unsound to release in theaters, like instructional videos, specialized documentaries, films with controversial or niche subject matter ([[HeroicBloodshed including]] [[{{Wuxia}} many]] [[LeFilmArtistique foreign]] [[{{Euroshlock}} films]]), or [[PornTropes pornography]]. The practice of creating and releasing regular fiction specifically for video didn't really take off until 1994 with {{Disney}}'s ''[[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Return of Jafar]]'' and [[{{Universal}} Universal Studios]]' ''TheLandBeforeTime II'', neither of which was intended to hit theaters at any point in its production. [[hottip:*: The financial failure of ''TheRescuersDownUnder'' was what caused Disney to decide to do this with their sequels.]] Other studios started following suit, hardly limited to child-oriented animation. In particular, independent studios and filmmakers quickly picked up on this distribution model, due to its lower distribution costs and reduced censorship (video stores will often stock [[UnratedEdition unrated]] films that theaters won't touch).

* [[LegendoftheGalacticHeroes Legend Of The Galactic Heroes]], being 110 episode-long (i.e, longer than most TV series ) was - to many viewers' surprise - an OVA released straight-to-Laserdisc. The result is a tight script with virtually no PlotHole nor {{Filler}}. Limited animation budget somehow effectively avoided StockFootage usage throughout long-winded space battles... almost (StockFootage was used occasionally, but the interval between each usage can easily be wide up to tens of episodes that you won't notice it once it's in effect).
* The Animatrix is probably the second best thing that ever happened to TheMatrix franchise (with the sequels rarely on fans' favorite list, the video game adaptations fall victim to the [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames typical syndrome]] and the graphic novels largely forgetable). Most of its success can be credited to bold exploration into the Matrix mythos, a return to the cyberpunk theme (that was never revisited by the sequels) and the excel in both hand-drawn and CGI animation.

-->'''Stewie''': Oh Brian come here, I want you to hear my presidential address for Saint Rupert's day. I'm unveiling all the new laws I've passed.\\
'''Brian''': Screw off! I don't want to have anything to do with you of your damn laws.\\
'''Stewie''': Oh just take a look will you.\\
'''Brian''': You're banning straight-to-video {{Disney}} films?''\\
'''Stewie''': ''Absolutely! I mean look at this. Disney/{{Aladdin}} [[{{Sequelitis}} 4: Jafar May Need Glasses]].''\\
- FamilyGuy

* Many BBC panel games in TheNineties made special episodes only released on VHS, including ''HaveIGotNewsForYou'' and ''NeverMindTheBuzzcocks''. The "will never be seen on TV" advertising was sometimes mocked by the later examples with jokes along the lines
of "...except when you watch it by putting the tape into the VCR".

* In a rare example of a [[YourMileageMayVary decent]] DTV, the {{Bionicle}} films.

* You would think that a movie starring MichaelJackson put out in 1988 would have no trouble getting a theatrical release - and you would be right... except that ''{{Moonwalker}}'' wound up going straight to video in the US after Jackson's then-manager Frank DiLeo asked for an extortionate share of the box office takings.

* Most of the ''OpenSeason'' franchise.

* Many BBC panel games in TheNineties made special episodes only released on VHS, including ''HaveIGotNewsForYou'' and ''NeverMindTheBuzzcocks''. The "will never be seen on TV" advertising was sometimes mocked by the later examples with jokes along the lines of "...except when you watch it by putting the tape into the VCR".

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