BEL AIR'S 'ARISTOCATS' EVENT FEATURES RARE DISNEY TITLES

DAN ALAIMO

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Bel Air Markets here used a package of hard-to-find Disney moratorium titles to promote the release of "Aristocats." The grand prize for a contest, which ended last month, was put together by dipping into a stockpile of Disney Masterpiece videos set aside when the titles came out, said Rick Ang, buyer at Video Mart here, which racks the video departments in 17 Bel Air supermarkets. "This was a promotion that we hope will stick in people's minds for quite a while, rather than your typical trip to Mexico," said Ang. Disney's video subsidiary Buena Vista Home Video, Burbank, Calif., did not play a role in the promotion, he said. "We had everything we needed in-house, so we just did it on our own." Customers could enter the contest by filling out an entry blank. The grand prize package comprised 20 tapes, a combination of current and rare moratorium titles, said Ang. All were new tapes in their original packaging. The tapes were worth $500 according to their suggested retail prices, but have a street value of about $800, said Ang. Moratorium titles in the package included "The Little Mermaid," "Bambi," "Peter Pan," "Fantasia," "Beauty and the Beast," "Pinocchio" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Among the more recent titles were "The Lion King," "Cinderella" and "Pocahontas."

Collectors have created a bustling aftermarket for Disney moratorium titles, said industry observers. When the studio takes its animated feature movies off the market, those that remain in inventory appreciate in value.