History Main / TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment

** The ''VideoGame/1-2-Switch'' sequel ''VideoGame/Everybody1-2-Switch'' was completed and ready for an early 2022 release but it play-tested so poorly with the casual audiences it was aimed at that Nintendo had no idea what to do with the game and debated cancelling it's release altogether, but they eventually settled for dumping the game over a year later in June 2023 with almost zero promotion and [[NotScreenedForCritics without sending critics review copies]](something which has never been done before for a first-party Nintendo title).

** The ''VideoGame/12Switch'' sequel ''VideoGame/Everybody12Switch'' was completed and ready for an early 2022 release but it play-tested so poorly with the casual audiences it was aimed at that Nintendo had no idea what to do with the game and debated cancelling it's release altogether, but they eventually settled for dumping the game over a year later in June 2023 with almost zero promotion and [[NotScreenedForCritics without sending critics review copies]](something which has never been done before for a first-party Nintendo title).

* The third ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' movie was screened in some theaters by Funimation in 2013, and was slated to be released to DVD/Blu-ray in February 2014, with pre-orders going up. However, the release was indefinitely put on hold, with widely varying explanations (from the booking of more screenings, to Studio Khara wanting more involvement), and the English voice actors discussed coming back to re-record some of their lines. There were even rumors of the film being snatched from [[Creator/FUNimation Funimation]] and given to someone else with a completely new dub. The film came out on Blu-ray in February 2016 from Funimation, two years after its original release date, with an entirely redone English dub and two different subtitle translations. It was later revealed that a representative from Khara had attended the dub's premiere at Otakon, and was horrified at the audience's amused reaction to the film, and blamed it on the localization. Funimation tried explaining to them that anime convention crowds are usually very energetic, but Khara still forced them to redo the localization from scratch. This may have played a part in Funimation eventually losing the license to the franchise, and new dub with a new script and cast being commissioned for both the original ''Evangelion'' series on Netflix, and the Rebuild series on Amazon Prime Video.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Stanley}}[='s=] Dinosaur Round-Up'' was completed in 2003, but was not released until 2006.

** Season 2 was intended to premiere in Fall 2001, given by the copyright date in the credits, but due to the September 11 terrorist attacks, Season 2 didn't debut unril Spring 2002.

Compare KeepCirculatingTheTapes (where the rights holders don't release copies for purchase after broadcast), AshcanCopy (where the work was produced only to maintain the rights and was never intended for wide publication), DevelopmentHell (where the work is never completed or takes an extraordinarily long time to complete), MissingEpisode (where the work ''is'' released, but lost afterwards) and SequelGap (where the movie is made usually quickly but a long time since the last installment). See also ReleaseDateChange, though that one doesn't have only delays.

* All episodes of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTellYourTale'' to date were produced in 2022, even those released as late as May 2023, due to the show released one new episode weekly, then bi-weekly as of January 2023.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The "Friendship is Forever" clip shows. Despite finishing production in 2019, they have never aired on Discovery Family to this day.

* Many of the final episodes produced of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' have a 2019 copyright date, but wound up airing from 2020 to 2022.

* Music/FearFactory completed what was meant to be their first album in 1991, and its release was meant to launch a record label founded by its RecordProducer, Ross Robinson -- the band didn't like the details of their record contract and wouldn't sign it, so the album was shelved. Robinson kept the commercial rights to the recording, so the band used a copy as a demo tape, got signed by Roadrunner Records, and re-recorded eight of its songs for their proper debut, ''Soul Of A New Machine''. Eleven years later, the recordings came out on Roadrunner, unsanctioned by the band, and given the new title ''Concrete'' -- according to Burton C. Bell, Robinson had sold the album to Roadrunner, who in turn released it when the band broke up one album short of their contractual obligation with the label.

* Film/StanleysDinosaurRoundUp was completed in 2003, but was not released until 2006.

* ''WesternAnimation/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur2023: The first season, despite airing in early 2023, in its entirety was produced in 2022 according to the end credits of every episode.

** Although the series didn't premiere in the United States until August 2003, the copyright dates indicate the entire first season was made in 2002. Although, the first season did start airing in late 2002 and early 2003 [[ShortRunInPeru in regions like the United Kingdom, Australia, and Latin America]].

* Music/TheBeachBoys' career-defining masterpiece ''Music/{{Smile|TheBeachBoys}}'', in probably the most famous example of this trope in music history, sat around for nearly ''forty-five years'' past its intended release date of January 1967, always in different states of completion due to Brian Wilson's obsessive tinkering. The album was finally released to mark the band's fiftieth anniversary in a massive 5 CD's + 2 45's + 2 LP's box. (Seven years prior, Wilson had done a solo version of ''Smile'' that greatly influenced the eventual Beach Boys release).

* ''Film/AWrinkleInTime2003'' was initially to air in February 2002, and even early promotions (which were included on the first video releases of ''Film/SpyKids1'') stated it. It didn't air in the United States until May 2004; it had aired in Canada a year earlier.

* The UsefulNotes/NeoGeo game ''Zupapa'' was all set to be released in 1994, but publisher Face went bankrupt, delaying the game's release for seven years. Another unreleased Neo Geo game from the same year, Visco Games' ''Bang Bang Busters'', finally had an authorized release by Neo Conception International in 2011.[[note]]They also [[http://www.neogeoprotos.com/games/caribbean.htm remade]] another prototype Neo Geo game (''Treasure of the Caribbean''), but the original game has yet to be found.

* The UsefulNotes/NeoGeo game ''Zupapa'' was all set to be released in 1994, but publisher Face went bankrupt, delaying the game's release for seven years. Two other unreleased Neo Geo games from the same year, Face's ''Treasure of the Caribbean'' and Visco Games' ''Bang Bang Busters'', finally had authorized releases by Neo Conception International in 2011.

* ''Chantze's Stone'', a [=LaserDisc=]-based arcade game by Creator/DataEast that was scheduled to be released in 1985, but was shelved once the popularity of FMV-based games started dying off. When the genre saw a brief resurgence during the early [='90s=], once optical media started taking off as a home media, it saw a release on the [=LaserActive=] as ''Triad Stone'' and on the [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer 3DO]] and UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn as ''Strahl''.

* Most of Season 1 episodes of ''Series/BetweenTheLions'' have a 1999 copyright date in the credits (which means they were produced in 1999) but aired in 2000.

* ''VideoGame/{{Goldeneye}}'': Creator/{{Rare}} completed or almost completed an HD remaster for the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox Live Arcade}}, but [[ScrewedByTheLawyers intellectual property issues]] prevented them from releasing it. In 2021, a near-final build leaked onto the Internet, allowing people to see WhatCouldHaveBeen. Eventually, the fully realized product [[https://twitter.com/RareLtd/status/1569693409467662337 plans to be released sometime soon on Xbox Game Pass as of September 2022.]]

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'' was intended to be a MilestoneCelebration for the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series, releasing in 2020 for the 30th anniversary. ScheduleSlip meant that the game ultimately didn't come out until January 2023, but it had already been classified by the German and Australian game rating boards in mid-2021, meaning if it was ready to ship by year's end. The game was likely shelved for over a year to avoid releasing two ''Fire Emblem'' titles in the same year, as it would have overshadowed 2022's ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes''.

* Creator/{{Nintendo}} does this regularly, with most games they've developed -- ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'', ''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE Encore'', to name a few -- being fully completed at least three months before release, if not even longer. The reason for this is simply to spread out their game lineup more evenly throughout the year (preventing their own games from cannibalizing each other's sales) and also allow them to make quick release schedule changes if any given title needs for time for development (e.g. ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' is thought to have been moved from a September 2022 release to July 2022, as part of quietly swapping months with ''VideoGame/Splatoon3''). They do have their fair share of games that sit on the shelf for much longer, though:

** ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndGreen'' similarly were supposed to be out in December 1995, but at the last minute got bumped to February 1996. This is why the series' copyright seen at the start of every game officially lists both 1996 and 1995.

** According to rumors and leaks, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'' was intended to be a MilestoneCelebration for the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series, releasing in 2020 for the 30th anniversary. ScheduleSlip meant that the game ultimately didn't come out until January 2023, but had already been classified by the German and Australian game rating boards in mid-2021, meaning if it was ready to ship by year's end. It isn't known why the game was shelved for over a year between completion and release, though it's most likely that they wanted to avoid releasing two ''Fire Emblem'' titles in the same year, to prevent 2022's ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'' from being overshadowed.

** According to rumors and leaks, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'' was intended to be a MilestoneCelebration for the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series, releasing in 2020 for the 30th anniversary. ScheduleSlip meant that the game ultimately didn't come out until January 2023, but had already been classified by the German and Australian game rating boards in mid-2021, meaning if it was ready to ship by year's end. It isn't known why the game was shelved for over a year between completion and release, though it's most likely that they wanted to avoid releasing two ''Fire Emblem'' titles in the same year, to prevent 2022's ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes' from being overshadowed.

* Creator/{{Nintendo}} does this regularly, with most games they've developed -- ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'', ''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE Encore'', to name a few -- being fully completed at least three months before release, if not even longer. The reason for this is simply to spread out their game lineup more evenly throughout the year (preventing their own games from cannibalizing each other's sales) and also allow them to make quick release schedule changes if any given title needs for time for development (e.g. ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' was moved from a September 2022 release to July 2022, quietly swapping months with ''VideoGame/Splatoon3''). They do have their fair share of games that sit on the shelf for much longer, though:

** A remake of the first two Advance Wars games, ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars 1 + 2 Re-Boot Camp]]'', was announced in 2021 for a December release. It was later pushed back to April 2022 for extra development time, before its release was delayed again [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents due to the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war a month prior]]. A few players who pre-loaded the game had their copies accidentally unlocked in April, however, giving them temporary access to the full game. The game is currently slated to release on April 2023, one year after its original release.
** According to rumors and leaks, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'' was intended to be a MilestoneCelebration for the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series, releasing in 2020 for the 30th anniversary. ScheduleSlip meant that the game ultimately didn't come out until January 2023, but according to the German and Australian game rating boards the game actually finished production in 2021. It isn't known why the game had at minimum a one and a half year gap between being completed and released, though it's possible they wanted to avoid overshadowing ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes'', which released in mid-2022.