Disney has eliminated its entire home entertainment division in a sweeping round of layoffs that has sent ripples through the entertainment industry and intensified concerns over the long-term viability of physical media formats such as DVDs and Blu-ray discs according to a report from The Wrap. The move, part of a larger effort to cut approximately 1,000 positions company-wide, reflects the studio’s accelerating shift toward digital-first strategies amid declining sales of tangible entertainment products and a broader push for operational efficiency.
The home entertainment team had long served as the backbone for managing the production, marketing, distribution, and retail partnerships tied to Disney’s vast catalog of films and television series on physical media. This group coordinated everything from packaging special edition releases to negotiating shelf space with major retailers and overseeing global sales campaigns for both new theatrical titles and legacy library content. Its complete dissolution marks a stark departure from an era when physical discs generated substantial supplemental revenue for studios, often through elaborate collector’s editions featuring bonus features, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and exclusive artwork that streaming services cannot replicate.

Quite a few companies are already swapped over to a print on demand service for their physical releases, this is likely the road Disney is going down.

CD-R manufactured on demand by Amazon.com. Each disc comes fully packaged, with artwork, in a standard jewel case.

The bad sounding picture disc is one thing. The liquid filled record that never gets played, going straight into a frame, is better. I love how the liquid starts to separate and then leak…ruining the matting in the frame and perhaps the paint on the wall. A disaster…but oh that warm sound!

Ironically my best sounding (least terrible sounding) picture disc is probably the reprint of Mickey’s Christmas Carol. I’m not sure how they did it. It’s the same basic construction as any other picture disc from the 80s but doesn’t sound like someone dumped sand on the turntable. It also has some good songs that didn’t make it into the animated version. Being Tight is Not Alright (It’s All Wrong) was simply not capitalist enough to make it off the record I guess.