Disney, like other companies operating streaming services, recently came to the conclusion that streaming isn’t quite as profitable as it was projected to be. That’s why the company has unceremoniously pushed aside Bob Chapek, until recently CEO of Disney, and rehired the previous CEO, Bob Iger. 

Latter Bob recently said that, in order to return to profitability, he “wants to revisit distributing content across all channels, including legacy home entertainment.” Many took that to mean a renewed focus on physical media formats DVD and Blu-ray Disc that Iger championed during his previous tenure at the House of the Mouse.

This interpretation sounds all the more plausible since he added: "Home video, at one point as we called it, was extremely lucrative for our company. We’re looking at all of that again."

But what exactly did he mean? In this exclusive interview he reveals the details for the first time. Here’s what he had to say. 
Update: Happy April Fools' Day! We hope that you enjoyed our contribution.
- "We’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching since I started this assignment. We’ve been digging through a hundred years of archives. And I don’t just mean the film archive, but the financial archive. I’ve made the accountants go through 100 years of balance sheets, profit & loss statements, everything – to find out what was the most profitable product in our history. Where did we make the best margins?"

- "We found a peak in the second half of the nineties. Ah, DVD, I hear you think. But hang on just a minute. We’ve organized focus groups, surveyed fans, polled retailers, talked to distributors, looked at wider market trends, and then it hit us. Surely you’ve read the news how vinyl sales surpassed CD’s years ago, and recently even exceeded them in units, not just in value?" he said, referring to recent articles such as this, citing official RIAA figures.

"Everything old is new again"
- "Suddenly it all made sense. You know, size does matter. People just love holding those twelve inches of gorgeous art with two hands. We should have known, because that’s why we did those Big Sleeve editions," – a reference to the Blu-ray Discs in square 12-inch/30-cm packaging that Disney sold via retailer Zavvi. "Sure, CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs are shiny, but we’ve got something even better. That’s why we’re returning to LaserDisc. It just adds up."

- "We’ve been sitting on a treasure trove of movies that have never been released on LaserDisc before, including all of our live action remakes. It’s gonna be great. There’s just a huge pent-up demand. Before you know it, sales of LaserDiscs will eclipse those of DVDs. Time is a flat circle, and so is LaserDisc. Everything old is new again. And people really appreciate the picture quality. Nothing quite matches the warm image of analog video on disc. People don’t want digital."

 "12 inch is better than 12 centimeter" – Bob Iger
- "These new reissues are going to be glorious. We’ll have Collectors Editions that’ll be truly videophile editions, on 250-gram polycarbonate pressings, with half-speed mastering and Blu-spec master cutting. We’ll also have limited editions with CAV mode. Of course, those will span multiple discs but they’ll come in luscious gatefold sleeves. We will start with James Cameron’s movies, because all of them except Avatar we’ve already released on LaserDisc before. And heaven knows when he’s going to find the time to approve those 4K HDR remasters of The Abyss and True Lies."

- "Of course, you’re thinking, who’s going to be able to play these? Well, we’re talking to all the big CE manufacturers, and they love the idea. They’ve been looking for a new hit product for years. And it doesn’t matter much anyway if the installed base is small. Did you know that half of the people who buy vinyl don’t have a record player? That’s the consumer segment we’re targeting. This way, we can keep reissuing our classic content forever and ever."

- "Collectors are going to be extremely pleased, as will our shareholders, at the sight of the triple-digit margins we’ll make here. It's going take a few months to get the production up and running, but mark my words: One year from today will be known as LD-Day."