The Eastman Kodak Company revolutionised film making in April 1965 with the introduction of the Super 8 film system. Super 8 quickly become the best way for people to capture their lives’ personal events but also to enjoy films in the privacy of their own homes.At the end of the 60’s the Walt Disney company soon began production of 7 minute shorts, film extracts or abridged excerpts from their classic animated films on the super 8 format creating the “Walt Disney Home Movies” division (Walt Disney Cinecasa in Italy).

The customers could purchase films that were produced with several options: black & white without and with sound and in colour without or with sounds, the latter being the most expensive option.

By the first half of the 70’s Disney Home Movies were released in different countries in different languages, even though the released sequences were always the same ones. The first excerpts from the classic films were sequences from Snow White (The Dwarfs Dilemma), Sleeping Beauty (The Prince And The Dragon), Cinderella (Cinderella’s fairy godmother), 101 Dalmatians (The Dapper Dalmation), Bambi (Bambi Falls In Love), Winnie The Pooh (and the Honey Tree), Dumbo (Dumbo makes it to the bigtop) and a few more.

The cover artwork on these original releases were very simple in style. They usually had an illustration taken from Little Golden Books or Vinyl record covers put together with a couple of coloured stripes to adorn them. This way the artwork could be easily adaptedfor foreign country releases in not time.

Looking at these boxes today, they certainly have a naive quality to them and some of the characters portayed not even resemble the actual ones, but indeed they still have a charm, especially the ones for Prince and The Dragon and The Dapper Dalmation, that vaguely recall some Psychedelic art.

Click on images to enlarge them

Scenes from more movies were quicky added in the following years: Peter Pan meets Captain Hook, The Match Of The Century from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Duel of the Wizards from The Sword In The Stone, Alice’s Mad Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland, The Tar Baby from Song Of The South, the “Bella Notte” sequence from Lady and The Tramp. Cover artwork has had a little improvement but still, some characters definitely look off model.

In the late 70’s, now with great cover images, sequences from more films were added. The Tree Caballeros, Saludos Amigos, The Aristocats, Robin Hood and even the latest release of the time, The Rescuers

To strengthen even more the great success of Disney Home Movies, the company decided to release a second scene from movies already “covered” by the original Super 8 releases so new sequences from such classic as Snow White (Whistle While You Work), Sleeping Beauty (Once Upon A Dream), Cinderella (Cinderella’s Surprise Dress), Alice in Wonderland (The White Rabbit) and more, could be added to the collections of Super8 films around the world for the viewing pleasure of kids and their parents.

Before Walt Disney Home Movies went out of business and turned itself into Walt Disney Home Video, the two sequences from the 1982 new movie The Fox And The Hound succeded to debut on Super8. They were named “A Test Of Courage” and “The Best Of Friends” and they really came to end an era. They were released in the new plastic box coming with picture insert, the type of container used for super8 films in the early 80’s.

The full list of official excerpts from the Classic Disney Films contains the following scenes, that we have arranged by chronological order following the films original theatrical release.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Dwarfs’Dilemma
Whistle While You Work

Pinocchio
Monstro The Whale
Pinocchio Comes to Life

Fantasia
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Bambi
Bambi Falls In Love
Bambi and his friends

Dumbo
Dumbo makes it to the big top
Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Saludos Amigos
Donald Duck in the High Andes
Pedro The Mail Plane

The Three Caballeros
The Three Caballeros
The Flying Burro

Song Of The South
The Tar Baby
Breer Rabbit’s Laughing Place

Cinderella
Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother
Cinderella’s Surprise Dress

Alice in Wonderland
Alice’s Mad Tea Party
Alice and the white Rabbit

Peter Pan
Peter Pan meets Captain Hook
Join Up With Captain Hook

Lady And The Tramp
An Evening With Lady And The Tramp
Muzzle Trouble

Mary Poppins
Jolly Holiday
The Super Nanny

Sleeping Beauty
The Prince And The Dragon
Once upon A Dream

101 Dalmatians
The Dapper Dalmatian
101 Dalmatians Escape

The Sword In The Stone
The Duel of the Wizards
A Most Befuddling Thing

The Jungle Book
I wanna be Like You
Mowgli The Jungle Boy

The Aristocats
The Aristocats
The Aristocats meet Scat Cat

Robin Hood
Robin Hood Rescues Maid Marian
Robin Hood and Little John

Bedknobs and Broomsticks
The Match Of The Century
The Beuatiful Briny

The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh
Winnie and the Honey Tree
Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too

The Rescuers
The Rescue
Albatross Airlines

Pete’s Dragon
Pete’s Dragon

The Fox And The Hound
A test of courage
The best of friends

Through the years these film excerpts have been rereleased using different cover images and original images adapted to foreign countries. Here are some examples of alternate covers for some of the super8 we’ve already covered above.

To close this first part of our visual journey through vintage artworks for Disney Super8 Home Movies here is a collection of boxes from different countries that show some design variations or completely different images.
A special thanks goes to Nunziante Valoroso, one of the most important Disney collectors of Italy for his help and support. For a complete list of Disney Super8 releases in Italy please check his page by clicking HERE

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