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119-404: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment LLC (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment , Universal Studios Home Video , MCA/Universal Home Video , MCA Home Video , MCA Videodisc , and MCA Videocassette, Inc. ) is the home video distribution division of Universal Pictures , an American film studio, owned by NBCUniversal , which is owned by Comcast . Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

238-489: A VCR , and those who did tended to rent rather than buy videos. The late 1980s saw the emergence of a great many small companies which specialized in producing special-interest home videos, also known as "nontheatrical programming" and "alternative programming". These new video programs differed radically from earlier forms of video content in that they were never intended for theatrical exhibition nor television broadcasting. They were created specifically for niche audiences in

357-539: A cult following, due to their collectability. Ringling Bros. and Barnum %26 Bailey Circus The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus , also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus , Ringling Bros. , the Barnum & Bailey Circus , Barnum & Bailey , or simply Ringling , is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Earth . It and its predecessor have run shows from 1871, with

476-450: A unicycle club from The Bronx and the first ever African-American circus troupe, to perform unicycle basketball for 18 years with the circus. Performing unicyclists also included Ted Jorgensen . The company was taken public in 1969. In 1970, Feld's only son Kenneth joined the company and became a co-producer. The circus was sold to the Mattel company in 1971 for $ 40 million, with

595-495: A "multi-platform entertainment franchise". On September 29, 2023, after a six-year hiatus, the relaunched circus kicked off at Brookshire Grocery Arena in Bossier City, Louisiana. The circus maintained two circus train -based shows, one each on its Red Unit and Blue Unit trains. Each train was a mile long with roughly 60 cars: 36 passenger cars, 4 stock cars and 20 freight. Rolling stock belonging to

714-528: A 6-year-old Siberian tiger named Suzy who had previously starred in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, escaped from a convoy of trucks transporting her from Florida to Memphis International Airport and was fatally shot by police after attacking a nearby dog. In 1952, Paramount Pictures released the Cecil B. DeMille production The Greatest Show on Earth , which traced the traveling show through

833-561: A DVD can be played on a computer. Due to all these advantages, by the mid 2000s, DVDs had become the dominant form of prerecorded video movies in both the rental film and new movie markets. In the late 2000s, stores began selling Blu-ray discs, a format that supports high definition . Blu-ray is a digital optical disc data storage format, designed to supersede the DVD format, and is capable of storing several hours of video in high definition (HDTV 720p and 1080p). The main application of Blu-ray

952-502: A VCR was $ 811, and the percentage of television-owning households with a VCR was unknown but probably just above zero. By 1992, the respective numbers for each of these categories were 105,502,000, $ 239, and 75.6%. During the 1980s, video rental stores became a popular way to watch home video. Video rental stores are physical retail businesses that rent home videos such as movies and prerecorded TV shows (sometimes also selling other media, such as video game copies on disc). Typically,

1071-593: A boy had worked as a ticket seller for Hachaliah Bailey's show, had run the Barnum's American Museum from New York City since 1841 from the former Scudder's American Museum building. Besides building up the existing exhibits, Barnum brought in animals to add zoo-like elements, and a freak show . During this time, Barnum took the Museum on road tours, named "P.T. Barnum's Grand Traveling American Museum". The Museum burned down in July 1865. Though Barnum attempted to re-establish

1190-805: A carryover from the PolyGram Video days, but UPHE operates a joint venture in Australia , New Zealand and Scandinavia with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment called Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The venture distributes UPHE and SPHE titles on home media in those countries and also licensed anime series and films from the anime library of NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan , the Japanese division of UPHE's sister company, Universal Pictures International Entertainment, formerly known as Pioneer LDC from 1981 to 2003, Geneon Entertainment from 2003 to 2009 and Geneon Universal Entertainment from 2009 to very late 2013,

1309-409: A ceremony at Rome's Colosseum. Irving Feld immediately began making other changes to improve the quality and profitability of the show. Irvin got rid of the freak show so as not to capitalize on others' deformations and to become more family oriented. He got rid of the more routine acts. In 1968, with the craft of clowning seemingly neglected and with many of the clowns in their 50s, he established

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1428-675: A company named Studio Distribution Services, LLC. Internationally, Universal will distribute Warner Bros.' titles in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan; while Warner will distribute Universal's titles in the United Kingdom, Italy and Benelux. On April 7, 2020, the European Commission approved the merger. Since June 1, 2021, SDS' logo took the UPHE logo's place on the back covers of the home releases; while there have been several exceptions that had

1547-595: 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 United Kingdom . Universal continued to distribute Paramount's DVDs and Blu-rays out of the United States and Canada until 2020. With the distributor change for Universal's titles in the UK, Paramount Home Entertainment signed

1666-449: A hard disk or flash storage – became available to purchase and rent. Despite the mainstream dominance of DVD, VHS continued to be used, albeit less frequently, throughout the 2000s; decline in VHS use continued during the 2010s. The switch to DVD initially led to mass-selling of used VHS videocassettes, which were available at used-goods stores, typically for a much lower price than

1785-518: A hiatus from 2017 to 2023. They operate as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. The circus started in 1919 when the Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth, a circus created by P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey , was merged with the Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows . The Ringling brothers purchased Barnum & Bailey Ltd. in 1907 following Bailey's death in 1906, but ran the circuses separately until they were merged in 1919. After 1957,

1904-705: A journalist who was writing about the Feld family, and of various animal rights groups such as PETA. After three years in Baraboo, the clown college operated at the Sarasota Opera House in Sarasota until 1998 before the program was suspended. In February 1999, the circus company started previewing Barnum's Kaleidoscape , a one ring, intimate, upscale circus performed under the tent. Designed to compete with similar upscale circuses such as Cirque du Soleil , Barnum's Kaleidoscape

2023-407: A magnetic soundtrack, but in comparison to modern technologies, film projection was still quite expensive and difficult to use. As a result, home viewing of films remained limited to a small community of dedicated hobbyists willing and able to invest large amounts of money in projectors, screens, and film prints, and it therefore made little revenue for film companies. In 1956, Ampex pioneered

2142-527: A multi-year deal with Columbia-TriStar Home Video to allow the latter to distribute Universal DVDs outside North America, although a few years later, Universal started self-distributing all of its DVDs internationally. For a short time, Universal also distributing titles from Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment on VHS between 2002 and 2003. In the Netherlands , UPHE used to distribute most DVDs of films released theatrically by Independent Films , although this

2261-503: A name for themselves marketing and promoting D.C. area rock and roll shows. In 1959, Ringling Bros. started wintering in Venice, Florida . In late 1967, Irvin Feld , Israel Feld , and Judge Roy Mark Hofheinz of Texas, together with backing from Richard C. Blum , the founder of Blum Capital , bought the company outright from North and the Ringling family interests for $ 8 million at

2380-613: A new UK home entertainment distribution deal with StudioCanal UK and Lionsgate UK 's Elevation Sales on July 14, 2020, that began in January 2021. Along with the announcement of the Universal/Warner Bros. NA physical home media joint-venture, Universal announced that they would begin distributing Warner Bros. titles in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan in the third quarter of 2020 through home video, while Warner Bros. announced that they would begin distributing Universal titles in

2499-572: A plaintiff in the lawsuit. The circus then sued the animal rights groups under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act in 2007, accusing the groups of conspiracy to harm its business and other illegal acts. In December 2012, the ASPCA agreed to pay the circus $ 9.2 million to settle its part of the lawsuit. The 14-year course of litigation came to an end in May 2014 when The Humane Society of

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2618-441: A release print was still at least $ 1,000 —early projector owners rented films by mail directly from the projector manufacturers. The Edison company's business model was fundamentally flawed because it had started with phonographs and did not differentiate home viewing from home listening. Edison exited the home viewing business in 1914; Pathé remained active a few years longer, but exited at some point during World War I . After

2737-402: A rental shop conducts business with customers under conditions and terms agreed upon in a rental agreement or contract , which may be implied, explicit, or written. Many video rental stores also sell previously viewed movies and/or new unopened movies. In the 1980s, video rental stores rented films in both the VHS and Betamax formats, although most stores stopped using Betamax tapes when VHS won

2856-407: A rocket, Fox bought Magnetic Video in 1978 and turned the company into its home video division . The home video market grew rapidly along with the widespread acquisition of affordable videocassette recorders by the majority of households during the 1980s. For example, in 1978, total number of VCRs purchased to date at wholesale in the United States was only 402,000, the average wholesale price of

2975-445: A scaled-back, single-ring version of the show designed to serve smaller markets deemed incapable of supporting the three-ring versions. Many animal rights groups have criticized the circus for their treatment of animals over the years, saying that using them to perform is cruel and unnecessary. In 2004, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey were investigated following the death of a lion who died from heat and lack of water while

3094-550: A select number of its titles in Australia and New Zealand through Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia. In September 2018, Funimation transferred distribution to Madman Entertainment , with Madman handling distribution and classification within the region. On October 3, 2014, Universal established global headquarters for its home video division in Los Angeles. At the start of 2015, Paramount Home Entertainment signed

3213-542: A show that was truly immense, and combined all the elements of museum, menagerie , variety performance, concert hall, and circus", and considered it to potentially be "the Greatest Show on Earth", which subsequently became part of the circus's name. Independently of Castello and Coup, James Anthony Bailey had teamed up with James E. Cooper to create the Cooper and Bailey Circus in the 1860s. The Cooper and Bailey Circus became

3332-555: A single disc, which is spun at high speed, while VHS videocassettes had several moving parts that were far more vulnerable to breaking down under heavy wear and tear. Each time a VHS cassette was played, the magnetic tape inside had to be pulled out and wrapped around the inclined drum head inside the player. While a VHS tape can be erased if it is exposed to a rapidly changing magnetic field of sufficient strength, DVDs and other optical discs are not affected by magnetic fields. The relative mechanical simplicity and durability of DVD compared to

3451-480: A six-year hiatus, a relaunched animal-free circus returned with its first show in Bossier City, Louisiana . Hachaliah Bailey appears to have established one of the earliest circuses in the United States after he purchased an African elephant , whom he named " Old Bet ", around 1806, just 13 years after John Bill Ricketts first brought the circus to the United States from Great Britain. P. T. Barnum , who as

3570-561: A time every few months and active shows to be released on DVD after the end of each season. Prior to the television DVDs, most television shows were only viewable in syndication , on limited "best of" VHS releases of selected episodes or released slowly in volumes with only two or three episodes per tape. These copyrighted movies and programs generally have legal restrictions on them preventing them from, among other things, being shown in public venues, shown to other people for money, or copied for other than fair use purposes (although such ability

3689-524: Is Jumbo and its athletic teams are referred to as the "Jumbos". Barnum died in 1891 and Bailey then purchased the circus from his widow. Bailey continued touring the Eastern United States until he took his circus to Europe. That tour started on December 27, 1897, and lasted until 1902. Separately, in 1884, five of the seven Ringling brothers had started a small circus in Baraboo, Wisconsin . This

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3808-571: Is as a medium for video material such as feature films and for the physical distribution of video games. The plastic disc is the same size as DVDs and compact discs . Blu-ray was officially released on June 20, 2006, beginning the high-definition optical disc format war , in which Blu-ray Disc competed against the HD DVD format. Toshiba , the main company supporting HD DVD, conceded in February 2008. Blu-ray has competition from video on demand (VOD) and

3927-648: Is limited by some jurisdictions and media formats – see below). After the passage of the Video Recordings (Labelling) Act of 1985 in the United Kingdom, videotapes and other video recordings without a certification symbol from the British Board of Film Classification on their covers – or on the tapes themselves – were no longer allowed to be sold or displayed by rental shops. These tapes are called "Pre-Certs" (i.e. Pre-certification tapes). Recently these tapes have generated

4046-696: Is now limited to catalog releases, as more recent films are now released through Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and later on, Belga Home Video. In South Africa , UPHE distributes films on DVD and VHS through CIC Video in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1999, the company was moved to Ster-Kinekor Home Entertainment until 2007 after CIC Video was dissolved in the same year. In 2008, it was moved later to Nu Metro Home Entertainment on DVDs until 2013, when Next Entertainment took over until 2019. UPHE also formerly distributed StudioCanal titles on home media in France (until 2024 when distribution moved to ESC Distribution), most of

4165-399: Is the direct-to-video entertainment label of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment created in 2005. The entity is a successor to MCA Family Entertainment. It is unknown whenever the label uses an on-screen logo as it uses the standard Universal Pictures logo in use since 2012. It was originally known as Universal Studios Family Productions, and Universal Cartoon Studios was a subsidiary of

4284-687: Is the home video distributor for all of the Universal Pictures film library, the Focus Features film library, most of the 1929–1949 Paramount film library held by EMKA, Ltd. , and shows from the NBCUniversal Syndication Studios library ( NBC , E! , Syfy , USA Network , Universal Kids , and Oxygen ). The division also currently has distribution deals with The Film Arcade , Aviron Pictures , STX Entertainment (save for films from EuropaCorp Films USA , which Lionsgate holds

4403-601: Is usually required to elapse between theatrical release and availability on home video to encourage movie theater patronage and discourage copyright infringement . Home-video releases originally followed five to six months after theatrical release, but since the late 2000s, most films have begun being distributed on video after three to four months. As of 2019, most major theater chains mandate an exclusivity window of 90 days before home-video release, and 74–76 days before electronic sell-through . Christmas and other holiday-related movies are sometimes not released on home video until

4522-701: The Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa . In 1993, the clown college was moved from the Venice Arena to Baraboo, Wisconsin. In 1995, the company founded the Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC). Clair George has testified in court that he worked as a consultant in the early 1990s for Kenneth Feld and the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was involved in the surveillance of Janice Pottker ,

4641-520: The Laserdisc sister label MCA Videodisc and the MCA Videocassette label were consolidated into a single entity, MCA Home Video, alternating with the MCA Videocassette, Inc. name until December 1983. In the mid-1980s, MCA Home Video began to license catalog titles to smaller, independent video firms with a focus on sell-through product. The first was in 1986 with Kartes Video Communications . The deal

4760-1255: The Republic Pictures library in the UK and most of the Carolco Pictures library in Australia, Latin America, and several European countries (along with other StudioCanal properties) until StudioCanal's global distribution deal with Universal expired in January 2022. In the 1980s until the late 1990s, they also distributed tapes released by Cineplex Odeon in Canada. In the UK , UPHE previously distributed its films on video internationally through CIC Video (a division of Cinema International Corporation , later United International Pictures ) alongside Paramount Pictures . In Japan, releases from both Universal and Paramount appeared on CIC-Victor Video, Ltd. (a joint venture between CIC Video and JVC ) for VHS and on Pioneer LDC, Inc. for Laserdisc. Following Universal's then-parent Seagram 's acquisition of PolyGram in 1998, UPHE pulled out of CIC in 1999 and began distributing its films through PolyGram Video (which had international operations) which

4879-567: The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College . Circus Williams, a circus in Europe was purchased for $ 2 million just to have its star animal trainer, Gunther Gebel-Williams , for the core of his revamped circus. Soon, he split the show into two touring units, Red and Blue, which could tour the country independently. The separate tours could also offer differing slates of acts and themes, enabling circus goers to view both tours where possible. . Also in 1968, Feld hired The King Charles Troupe ,

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4998-511: The format war late in the decade. The shift to home viewing radically changed revenue streams for film companies, because home renting provided an additional window of time in which a film could make money. In some cases, films that performed only modestly in their theater releases went on to sell significantly well in the rental market (e.g., cult films ). During the 1980s, video distributors gradually realized that many consumers did want to build their own video libraries, and not just rent, if

5117-660: The 75th anniversary of Universal Studios, it became MCA/Universal Home Video and used that name alternating with the MCA Home Video name from 1990 until 1997. On December 9, 1996, the company was renamed as Universal Studios Home Video when MCA was reincorporated as Universal Studios, which would then later be merged into Vivendi Universal Entertainment in 2000. Universal's first titles on the DVD format, in 1997, were licensed to Image Entertainment for distribution. These early, bare-bones editions quickly fell out-of-print when Universal started making their own DVDs. In 2004, due to

5236-611: The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth are now combined into one record-breaking giant of all exhibitions." Charles E. Ringling died in 1926, but the circus flourished through the Roaring Twenties . John Ringling had the circus move its headquarters to Sarasota, Florida , in 1927. In 1929, the American Circus Corporation signed a contract to perform in New York City. John Ringling purchased American Circus,

5355-505: The Feld family retained as management. After Walt Disney World opened near Orlando , Florida, in 1971, the circus attempted to cash in on the resulting tourism surge by opening Circus World theme park in nearby Haines City , which broke ground in April 1973. The theme park was expected to become the circus's winter home as well as to have the Clown College located there. Mattel placed

5474-535: The Museum at another location in the city, it too burned down in 1868, and Barnum opted to retire from the museum business. In 1871, Dan Castello and William Cameron Coup persuaded Barnum to come out of retirement to lend his name, know-how, and financial backing to the circus they had already created in Delavan, Wisconsin . The combined show was named "P.T. Barnum's Great Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Hippodrome". As described by Barnum, Castello and Coup "had

5593-559: The U.S. were The Mummy , its sequel The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King . Since August 9, 2016, UPHE has released Ultra HD Blu-rays . In 2015, Funimation (now known as Crunchyroll, LLC ), formed a multi-year home video distribution deal with UPHE. Two years later, Sony Pictures Television acquired a 95% stake in Funimation, which resulted in Sony Pictures Home Entertainment taking over distribution after

5712-469: The UPHE deal expired. Starting on June 5, 2018, because NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation in 2016, Universal began re-releasing all of DWA's film library on home video after their deal with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment ended. On January 14, 2020, Universal and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment announced that they would partner on a 10-year multinational joint-venture. In North America, their physical distribution operations were merged into

5831-893: The UPHE logo in place, mainly manufactured on demand titles, including 4K (including steelbooks) and Blu-ray releases. It is unknown whenever SDS uses an on-screen logo, as Universal releases by SDS use the 2012–present Universal Pictures logo. On June 24, 2024, it was reported that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment had entered into a distribution deal with SDS to handle distribution of titles from Sony Pictures ( Columbia Pictures , TriStar Pictures , Screen Gems , Crunchyroll, LLC , etc.) as well as those from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment ( Walt Disney Pictures , Marvel Studios , Lucasfilm Ltd. , 20th Century Studios , etc.), Lionsgate Home Entertainment ( Lionsgate Films , Summit Entertainment , eOne Films , Roadside Attractions , etc.) and The Criterion Collection through retailers such as Walmart . On February 28, 1999, Universal signed

5950-569: The USDA by PETA, the company agreed to pay a $ 270,000 fine, the largest civil penalty ever assessed against an animal exhibitor under the Animal Welfare Act. In March 2015, Feld Entertainment announced it would stop using elephants in its shows by 2018, stating that the 13 elephants that were part of its shows would be sent to the circus's Center for Elephant Conservation , which at that time housed over 40 elephants. Feld stated that this action

6069-726: The United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in the first quarter of 2021 through home video. In 2020, SF Studios had signed a distribution deal with Universal to handle titles across the Nordic region. In early 2024, Plaion Pictures (who currently distributes Paramount releases in Italy and Sony Pictures releases in Germany) had signed a distribution deal with Universal to handle titles in Italy, which caused Universal's deal with Warner Bros. to expire there. Universal 1440 Entertainment

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6188-576: The United States and a number of other animal rights groups paid a $ 16 million settlement to the circus' parent company, Feld Entertainment . From 2007 to 2011, the United States Department of Agriculture conducted inspections of the circus's animals, facilities, and records, finding non-compliance with the agency's regulations. The allegations, as brought forth by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) included videotapes of

6307-663: The United States, and over 154 million subscriptions total, including free trials. It is available worldwide except in mainland China (due to local restrictions), Syria, North Korea, and Crimea (due to U.S. sanctions). The company also has offices in India , the Netherlands , Brazil , Japan , and South Korea . Netflix is a member of the Motion Picture Association . Netflix began producing media itself in 2012 and since then took more of an active role as producer and distributor for both films and television series. Following

6426-429: The United States; until 2024, after which Lionsgate Home Entertainment took over). Their releases are currently distributed by Studio Distribution Services , a joint venture between UPHE and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment , with select titles distributed by Allied Vaughn through its Manufacture on demand (MOD) solutions. The company was founded in 1980 as MCA Videocassette, Inc. with Gene Giaquinto as president of

6545-399: The audiences, with most media consumers in urban areas globally having domestic Internet access. As early as 1906, various film entrepreneurs began to consider the business potential of home viewing of films, and in 1912, both Edison and Pathé started selling film projectors for home use. Because making release prints was (and still is) very expensive—as of 2005, the cost of making

6664-450: The canvasmen, ushers and sideshow workers. The third section had 19 sleeping cars for the performers. On January 13, 1994, eighteen cars of the circus train derailed while traveling between St. Petersburg and Orlando . Ringling estimated that 150 employees were on board at the time of the accident; fifteen received minor injuries, and clown Ceslee Conkling and elephant trainer Ted Svertesky were killed. The animals were not injured due to

6783-421: The chief competitor to Barnum's circus. As Bailey's circus was outperforming his, Barnum sought to merge the circuses. The two groups agreed to combine their shows on March 28, 1881. Initially named "P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show On Earth, And The Great London Circus, Sanger's Royal British Menagerie and The Grand International Allied Shows United", it was eventually shortened to "Barnum and Bailey's Circus". Bailey

6902-469: The circus announced that all elephants would be retired in 2018 to the CEC, but Ringling accelerated the decision and retired the elephants in May 2016. Eight months after it retired the elephants, it was announced in January 2017, that the circus would do 30 more performances, lay off more than 462 employees between March and May 2017 and then close. The circus cited steeply declining ticket sales associated with

7021-559: The circus corporation up for sale in December 1973 despite its profit contributions, as Mattel as a whole had a $ 29.9 million loss in 1972. The park's opening was delayed until February 1974. Venture Out in America, Inc., a Gulf Oil recreational subsidiary, bought the combined shows in January 1974, and the opening was further pushed back to 1975. While the Circus Showcase for Circus World opened on February 21, 1974 , Venture Out placed

7140-414: The circus displayed the reporting mark "RBBX". The Blue and Red Tours presented a full three-ring production for two years each, taking off the month of December, visiting alternating major cities each year. Each train presented a different "edition" of the show, using a numbering scheme that dates back to circus origins in 1871 – the first year of P.T. Barnum's show. The Blue Tour presented

7259-466: The circus has continued to be a part of Feld Entertainment , an international entertainment firm headed by his son Kenneth Feld , with its headquarters in Ellenton, Florida . In May 2017, with weakening attendance, many animal rights protests, and high operating costs , the circus performed its final animal show at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and closed indefinitely. In September 2023, after

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7378-463: The circus no longer exhibited under its own portable " big top " tents, instead using permanent venues such as sports stadiums and arenas. In 1967, Irvin Feld and his brother Israel, along with Houston judge Roy Hofheinz , bought the circus from the Ringling family. In 1971, the Felds and Hofheinz sold the circus to Mattel , buying it back from the toy company in 1981. Since the death of Irvin Feld in 1984,

7497-729: The circus train was traveling through the Mojave Desert . In 1998, the United States Department of Agriculture filed charges against Ringling Bros. for forcing a sick elephant to perform. Ringling paid a $ 20,000 fine. In 2000, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and other animal groups sued the circus, alleging that it violated the Endangered Species Act by its treatment of Asian elephants in its circus. These allegations were based primarily on

7616-473: The circus would be relaunched in 2023, without animal performances. In early 2022, the circus began auditioning artists for a retooled circus. More than 1,000 acts applied, and auditions were held in Paris , Las Vegas , Ethiopia , and Mongolia . In May 2022, Feld Entertainment announced that the circus would resume operations in the fall of 2023 with a tour of 50 cities. The circus said the new show would debut as

7735-591: The circuses separately until 1919. By that time, Charles Edward Ringling and John Nicholas Ringling were the only remaining brothers of the five who founded the circus. They decided that it was too difficult to run the two circuses independently because of labour shortages and complications to rail travel brought about by American involvement in World War I, and on March 29, 1919, "Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows" debuted in New York City. The posters declared, "The Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows and

7854-530: The company. Universal Playback is a division of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and specializing in DVD and Blu-ray releases of TV shows, either it be produced or distributed by Universal Pictures . It offers a variety of titles across different TV genres, including TV shows, documentaries, and special interest content. Home video Released in 1978, LaserDisc (LD) is another home video format, which never managed to gain widespread use on North American and European retail markets due to high cost of

7973-437: The continued sale of DVDs. As of January 2016, 44% of U.S. broadband households had a Blu-ray player. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, though, people continued to use VCRs to record over-the-air TV shows, because they could not make home recordings onto DVDs. This problem with DVD was resolved in the late 2000s, when inexpensive DVD recorders and other digital video recorders (DVRs) – which record shows onto

8092-405: The division. It released 24 films on Betamax and VHS in May 1980, including Jaws , Animal House and The Deer Hunter as well as classic films such as Dracula , Animal Crackers , and Scarface . Jaws 2 and 1941 were also released that year. Before 1980 Castle Films (known as Universal 8 after 1977) had served as Universal's home film distribution unit. In late 1983, both

8211-516: The equivalent film on a used DVD. In July 2016, the last known manufacturer of VCRs, Funai , announced that it was ceasing VCR production. One of streaming's largest impacts was on DVD, which has become less popular with the mass popularization of online streaming of media . Media streaming's popularization caused many DVD rental companies, such as Blockbuster , to go out of business. In July 2015, The New York Times published an article about Netflix 's DVD-by-mail services. It stated that Netflix

8330-524: The even-numbered editions on a two-year tour, beginning each even-numbered year, and the Red Tour presented the odd-numbered editions on the same two-year tour, beginning each odd-numbered year. In the 1950s, there was one gigantic train system comprising three separate train loads that brought the main show to the big cities. The first train load consisted of 22 cars and had the tents and the workers to set them up. The second section comprised 28 cars and carried

8449-495: The first commercially practical videotape recording system. The Ampex system, though, used reel-to-reel tape and physically bulky equipment not suitable for home use. In the mid-1970s, videotape became the first truly practical home-video format with the development of videocassettes , which were far easier to use than tape reels. The Betamax and VHS home videocassette formats were introduced, respectively, in 1975 and 1976, but several more years and significant reductions in

8568-792: The following year, when the holiday occurs again. Major studios have made films available for rental during their theatrical window on high-end services that charge upwards of $ 500 per rental and use proprietary hardware. Exceptions to the rule include the Steven Soderbergh film Bubble , which was released in 2006 to theaters, cable television, and DVD only a few days apart. Netflix has released some of its films, such as Roma and The Irishman , in limited theatrical release followed by streaming availability after less than 30 days. Many television programs are now also available in complete seasons on DVD. It has become popular practice for discontinued TV shows to be released to DVD one season at

8687-420: The fragility of VHS made DVDs a far better format from a rental store's perspective. Though DVDs do not have the problems of videocassettes, such as breakage of the tape or the cassette mechanism, they can still be damaged by scratches. Another advantage from the perspective of video rental stores is that DVDs are physically much smaller, so they take less space to store. DVDs also offer a number of advantages for

8806-594: The head elephant trainer and the animal superintendent backstage repeatedly hitting elephants with bullhooks just before the animals would enter the arena for performances. A tiger trainer was videotaped beating tigers during dress rehearsals. An inspection report alleged that a female Asian elephant, Banko, was forced to perform at a show in Los Angeles despite a diagnosis of sand colic and observations that she appeared to be suffering abdominal discomfort. The inspection reports also cited splintered floors and rusted cages. Following these inspections and complaints filed with

8925-401: The home video market, and through its home video division, Buena Vista Home Entertainment , the company did just that during the 1980s and 1990s. This spectacular success "catapulted the head of Disney's video division, Bill Mechanic , into executive stardom." In 1994, Mechanic left Disney to become head of Fox Filmed Entertainment . Another executive, Bob Chapek , would later ascend through

9044-409: The indebted circus twice, the first from 1937 to 1943. Special dispensation was given to the circus by President Roosevelt to use the rails to operate in 1942, in spite of travel restrictions imposed as a result of World War II . Many of the most famous images from the circus that were published in magazine and posters were captured by American Photographer Maxwell Frederic Coplan , who traveled

9163-563: The largest traveling amusement enterprise of that time. Bailey's European tour gave the Ringling brothers an opportunity to move their show from the Midwest to the eastern seaboard. Faced with the new competition, Bailey took his show west of the Rocky Mountains for the first time in 1905. He died the next year, and the circus was sold to the Ringling Brothers. The Ringlings purchased the Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth in 1907 and ran

9282-758: The launch of various streaming services during the early 2020s, in particular those operated by the major Hollywood studios, home video continued to decline. One of the most prominent examples of this effect was with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment which, following the launch of Disney+ in 2019 and its international expansion in the following years, began to discontinue physical distribution entirely in certain regions such as Latin America, Asia (excluding Japan), Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Hungary, or to outsource its activities to other regional distributors (like Divisa Home Video for Spain, Eagle Pictures for Italy, Leonine Studios for Germany, and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for North America. A time period

9401-684: The loss of the elephants combined with high operating costs as reasons for the closure, along with animal cruelty concerns. On May 7, 2017, its "Circus Extreme" tour was shown for the last time at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The circus's last performance before the hiatus was its "Out of This World" tour at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on May 21, 2017. In October 2021, Feld Entertainment Chairman and CEO Kenneth Feld and COO Juliette Feld Grossman announced that

9520-437: The merger of Universal Studios and NBC to form NBCUniversal , Universal started releasing DVDs of shows from the newly established NBCUniversal Television Distribution . Before 2004, NBC shows were distributed on DVD by Lions Gate Home Entertainment and A&E Home Video under the label NBC Home Entertainment (formerly NBC Home Video under Trimark until it was bought by Lions Gate). NBC's home entertainment on-screen logo

9639-586: The movies and television, abandoned the circus, which gave its last performance under the big top in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , on July 16, 1956. An article in Life magazine reported that "a magical era had passed forever". In 1956, when John Ringling North and Arthur Concello moved the circus from a tent show to an indoor operation, Irvin Feld was one of several promoters hired to work the advance for select dates. Irvin Feld and his brother, Israel Feld , had already made

9758-425: The nature of the derailment. The cars carrying the horses and elephants were at the front of the train because otherwise their weight could derail the train, and the other animals were carried at the back of the train. The NTSB's report on the accident concluded that the train derailed due to a fatigue crack in one of the train's wheels. From 2003 to 2015, the circus also operated a truck-based Gold Tour presenting

9877-430: The number of topics, including "...dog handling videos, back pain videos and cooking videos", which were not previously thought of as marketable. Next, even "golf and skiing tapes* started selling. Contemporary sources noted, "new technology has changed the territory" of the home video market. In the early 2000s, VHS gradually began to be displaced by DVD . The DVD format has several advantages over VHS. A DVD consists of

9996-597: The one-ring International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo that debuted in Japan and Australia. The Felds bought the circus back in 1982 less Circus World. Irvin Feld died in 1984 and the company has since been run by Kenneth. In 1990, the Seminole Gulf Railway , who took over the rail line serving the Venice facility in 1987, could no longer support the show's train cars, which led the combined circus to move its winter base to

10115-566: The owner of five circuses, for $ 1.7 million. In 1938, the circus made a lucrative offer to Frank Buck , a well-known adventurer and animal collector, to tour as their star attraction and to enter the show astride an elephant. He refused to join the American Federation of Actors , stating that he was "a scientist, not an actor." Though there was a threat of a strike if he did not join the union, he maintained that he would not compromise his principles, saying, "Don't get me wrong. I'm with

10234-626: The players and their inability to record TV programs (unlike the VHS ), although it retained some popularity among videophiles and film enthusiasts during its lifespan; the format had greater prevalence in some regions of Southeast Asia such as Japan , Hong Kong , Singapore and Malaysia where it was better supported. Film titles were released in LD format until 2001, production of LD players ceased in 2009. The home video business distributes films , television series , telefilms and other audiovisual media to

10353-453: The price was right . Rather than sell a few thousand units at a wholesale price of $ 70 into the rental channel, video distributors could sell hundreds of thousands of units at a wholesale price of $ 15-20 into the retail " sell-through " channel. The "ultimate accelerant" for the rise of the "sell-through" home video market was the development of children's home video. The pre-1980s conventional wisdom that consumers had no interest in watching

10472-487: The prices of both equipment and videocassettes were needed before both formats started to become widespread in households. The first company to duplicate and distribute feature films from major film studios on home video was Magnetic Video . Magnetic Video was established in 1968 as an audio and video duplication service for professional audio and television corporations in Farmington Hills, Michigan . After Betamax

10591-532: The program ran on Tuesday evenings for thirty episodes on ABC in 1963–1964. In August 2011, 20th Century Fox announced that a biographical musical drama film entitled The Greatest Showman was in development. Michael Gracey was set to direct, with Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon as writers. Hugh Jackman plays P.T. Barnum , and produced the film, with Michelle Williams portraying Barnum's wife, Charity. Principal photography began in November 2016. The film

10710-452: The public could purchase a film projector for one of those film formats and rent or buy home-use prints of some cartoons, short comedies, and brief "highlights" reels edited from feature films. The Super 8 film format, introduced in 1965, was marketed for making home movies, but it also boosted the popularity of show-at-home films. Eventually, longer, edited-down versions of feature films were issued, which increasingly came in color and with

10829-566: The public in the form of videos in various formats, either bought or rented and then watched privately in purchasers' homes. Most theatrically released films are now released on digital media (both optical and download-based), replacing the largely obsolete videotape medium. As of 2006 , the Video CD format remained popular in Asia. DVDs have been gradually losing popularity since the late 2010s and early 2020s, when streaming media became mainstream for

10948-480: The purchase deal back into negotiations, and the opening of the complex was moved to early 1976. In the 1980s, Ringling sued the American Broadcasting Company for airing a Schoolhouse Rock! episode titled "The Greatest Show On Earth", later known as "The Weather Show" due to the circus' slogan being used as a title for that episode. By May 1980, the company expanded to three circuses by adding

11067-456: The quick failures of these early attempts at home viewing, most feature films were essentially inaccessible to the public after their original theatrical runs. For most of the 20th century, the idea that ordinary consumers could own copies of films and watch them at their convenience in their own homes "was beyond the grasp of reasonable expectations." Some very popular films were given occasional theatrical re-releases in urban revival houses and

11186-453: The ranks of Disney's home video division to become chief executive officer of the entire company in 2020, and for that reason (before his sudden 2022 departure) was called "the home entertainment industry's single biggest success story." Until the mid-1980s, home video was dominated by feature film theatrical releases such as The Wizard of Oz , Citizen Kane , and Casablanca from major film studios . At that time, not many people owned

11305-467: The same films again and again at home turned out to be entirely wrong with respect to children. Many harried parents discovered that it was a good investment to pay $ 20 to purchase a videocassette that could reliably keep their children riveted to the television screen for over an hour—and not just one time, but many, many times. The Walt Disney Company recognized that its flagship animation studio's family-friendly films were superbly positioned to conquer

11424-507: The screening rooms of a few archives and museums. Beginning in the 1950s, most could be expected to be broadcast on television, eventually. During this era, television programs normally could only be viewed at the time of broadcast . Viewers were accustomed to the fact that there was no easy way to record television shows at home and watch them whenever desired. In 1924, Kodak invented 16 mm film , which became popular for home use, and then later developed 8 mm film . After that point,

11543-452: The setup and breakdown of performances during the 1951 season, the show's 81st edition since 1871. The film starred Charlton Heston , Betty Hutton , James Stewart , and Emmett Kelly . After its 1952 release, the film was awarded two Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture . A television series of the same title , was inspired by the film, with Jack Palance in the role of Charlton Heston's character. Produced by Desilu Productions,

11662-486: The small community of film buffs who for decades had willingly paid hundreds of dollars to purchase release prints. Therefore, in 1977, Magnetic Video originally priced its videocassettes at $ 50 to $ 70 each—a princely sum at a time when the average price of an American movie ticket was $ 2.23—and sold them only to wholesalers capable of handling a minimum order of $ 8,000. When the American home video market suddenly took off like

11781-583: The so-called "sell-through" channel, to be purchased at retail or ordered directly by consumers and viewed exclusively as home videos. It was pointed out at the time that [L]imitations within the video marketplace may be gone tomorrow. More people are finding innovative ways to create visually stimulating entertainment and information for the video tape player... Like contemporary book publishing, you can produce and distribute yourself to very narrow markets or seek broad-based distributors for mass-oriented appeal. Special-interest video increased to larger audiences

11900-452: The testimony of a circus barn worker. After years of litigation and a six-week non-jury trial, the Court dismissed the suit in a written decision in 2009, finding that the barn worker did not have standing to file suit. (ASPCA v. Feld Entm’t, Inc., 677 F. Supp. 2d 55 (D.D.C. 2009)). Meanwhile, the circus learned during the trial that the animal rights groups had paid the barn worker $ 190,000 to be

12019-455: The video rights to), Mattel Creations (for the long-running Barbie direct-to-video film series ), 101 Studios, Sovereign Films, Open Road Films , Briarcliff Entertainment , Pinnacle Peak Pictures , Picturehouse , Blumhouse Tilt , Funimation Productions (in the United States and Canada; until 2018, after which Sony Pictures Home Entertainment took over) and Entertainment One (in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany and

12138-473: The viewer: DVDs can support both standard 4:3 and widescreen 16:9 screen-aspect ratios, and can provide twice the video resolution of VHS. Skipping ahead to the end is much easier and faster with a DVD than with a VHS tape (which has to be rewound). DVDs can have interactive menus, multiple language tracks, audio commentaries, closed captioning, and subtitling (with the option of turning the subtitles on or off, or selecting subtitles in several languages). Moreover,

12257-554: The working man. I worked like a dog once myself. And my heart is with the fellow who works. But I don't want some ... union delegate telling me when to get on and off an elephant." Eventually, the union gave Buck a special dispensation to introduce Gargantua the gorilla without registering as an actor. The circus suffered during the 1930s due to the Great Depression , but managed to stay in business. After John Nicholas Ringling's death, his nephew, John Ringling North , managed

12376-575: The world with the circus, capturing its beauty as well as its harsh realities. North's cousin Robert took over as president of the show in 1943 with North resuming the presidency of the circus in 1947. On July 6, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut , during an afternoon performance attended by some 8,000 people, the Big Top tent caught fire. At least 167 people were killed and many hundreds injured. Circus management

12495-768: The year they switched to their current name. The name of the joint venture is Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia. Before that, though, NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan had a marketing and distribution division in North America called Geneon USA, which, like UPHE, also distributed home video. At the time, NBCUEJ was known as Geneon Entertainment. Geneon USA shut down in late 2007, and Universal has licensed all of NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan's catalog to other companies rather than directly distributing them themselves. Starting on March 26, 2022, NBCUEJ (through UPHE) distributes and licenses anime series and films. From 2017 to 2018, Funimation began directly distributing

12614-541: Was about the same time that Barnum & Bailey were at the peak of their popularity. Similar to dozens of small circuses that toured the Midwestern United States and the Northeastern United States at the time, the brothers moved their circus from town to town in small animal-drawn caravans. Their circus rapidly grew and they were soon able to move their circus by train , which allowed them to have

12733-515: Was absorbed into the Family Productions unit. The year after, UPHE acquired distribution rights to the Barbie film series after negotiations between Mattel and their previous domestic distributor, Lionsgate Home Entertainment , fell apart (Universal had already been distributing these films internationally). This company was the worldwide video distributor for DreamWorks titles until DreamWorks

12852-521: Was born, initially, as a rental business. Film studios and video distributors assumed that the overwhelming majority of consumers would not want to buy prerecorded videocassettes, but would merely rent them. They felt that virtually all sales of videocassettes would be to video rental stores and set prices accordingly. According to Douglas Gomery , studio executives thought that the handful of consumers actually interested in purchasing videocassettes in order to watch them again and again would be similar to

12971-484: Was continuing their DVD services with 5.3 million subscribers, which was a significant decrease from the previous year, but their streaming services had 65 million members. Netflix's primary business is its subscription-based streaming service , which offers online streaming of a library of films and television programs, including those produced in-house. As of April 2019, Netflix had over 148 million paid subscriptions worldwide, including 60 million in

13090-463: Was distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Video . In 2007, it was signed on as home video distributor of releases by Summit Entertainment (ironically, Summit was later bought by Lionsgate). In addition to DVDs, Universal was a major supporter of the HD DVD format until Toshiba discontinued the format. Since July 22, 2008, UPHE released Blu-rays and it was the last major Hollywood movie studio to do so. The first three Blu-ray releases to come out in

13209-552: Was followed with a similar agreement with GoodTimes Home Video in 1987. Also in 1986, the company made agreements with Motown Productions and with children's book publisher Price Stern Sloan . Both deals were intended to expand MCA's non-theatrical product. 1987 was a busy year for MCA Home Video; the company underwent an executive shuffle, signed an exclusive three-year deal with International Video Entertainment for video distribution, and began offering new content from Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus . In 1990, with

13328-460: Was found to be negligent and several Ringling executives served sentences in jail. Ringling Brothers' management set aside all profits for the next ten years to pay the claims filed against the show by the City of Hartford and the survivors of the fire. The post-war prosperity enjoyed by the rest of the nation was not shared by the circus as crowds dwindled and costs increased. Public tastes, influenced by

13447-457: Was instrumental in acquiring Jumbo , advertised as the world's largest elephant, for the show. After Jumbo died, Barnum donated his taxidermied remains to Tufts University on whose Board of Trustees Barnum served as one of Tufts' first trustees. The Barnum Museum of Natural History opened in 1884 on the Tufts campus and Jumbo was a prominent part of the display. To this day the Tufts athletic mascot

13566-558: Was launched in the United States in 1976, Magnetic Video chief executive Andre Blay wrote letters to all the major film studios offering to license the rights to their films. Near the end of 1977, Magnetic Video entered into a first-of-its-kind deal with 20th Century Fox . Magnetic Video agreed to pay Fox a royalty of $ 7.50 per unit sold and a guaranteed annual minimum payment of $ 500,000 in exchange for nonexclusive rights to 50 films, which had to be at least two years old and had already been broadcast on network television . Home video

13685-476: Was not a result of the allegations by animal rights groups, but rather due to the patchwork of local laws regarding whether elephants could be used in entertainment shows. Some of those local laws referred to were bans against the use of bullhooks. Subsequently, the retirement was moved up to 2016. Seven tigers, six lions and one leopard were part of a convoy to temporarily move the animals out of Florida ahead of Hurricane Irma on September 5, 2017. One of them,

13804-444: Was not successful, and ceased performances after the end of 2000. Nicole Feld became the first female producer of Ringling Circus in 2004. In 2009, Nicole and Alana Feld co-produced the circus. In 2001, a group led by The Humane Society of the United States sued the circus over alleged mistreatment of elephants. The suit and a countersuit ended in 2014 with the circus winning a total of $ 25.2 million in settlements. In March 2015,

13923-647: Was simply the NBC Enterprises syndication logo. In 2005 (by which point the Universal Studios Home Entertainment name was in use), the group was restructured; Universal 1440 Entertainment was formed as an internal production arm, while the London-based Universal Pictures Visual Programming (formerly PolyGram Visual Programming ) unit was folded into Universal Pictures International; Universal Cartoon Studios

14042-411: 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 planned to resume distributing DreamWorks' movies, but this deal fell through. Until Lionsgate formed their home video division , their releases were distributed by Universal with the exception of Dogma , which

14161-428: Was then renamed Universal Pictures UK Ltd. In June 2002, Columbia-TriStar Home Entertainment formed a new joint-venture with Universal Pictures UK called UCA (Universal Columbia Alliance), under which Universal would distribute both new and back catalogue Columbia-Tristar titles through retail, though Columbia-Tristar Home Entertainment would continue self-distributing through rental. UPHE's international operations are

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