Hidden histories: Vaulting as corporate archival practice

Abstract

In this article, I insist on a broader conceptualisation of the Disney Vault, not only as a figurative place for films outside of their distribution windows, but also as an industrial practice of vaulting which continues to play a role at the Walt Disney Company. Drawing on primary resources and the company’s home-video distribution history, I explore Disney’s relationship to past, present, and future. I posit that mobilising the Vault as a branding tool has broader historiographical implications in that it works as a tool of public relations that obfuscates problematic corporate histories—even as the company continues to distribute content in the streaming age. Using Song of the South (Wilfred Jackson, 1946) and the film’s paratexts as a case study, I consider how contemporary language surrounding the Vault has served to mask Disney’s most problematic and notorious property in the streaming age. By painting the streaming platform as a democratic space of open access, Disney conceals a fraught past by guiding users to believe that they maintain complete access to the Disney collection. Recognising vaulting as an industry practice can help researchers more effectively account for the limitations of the corporate-owned streaming archive.