Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures) was an American home entertainment and production company owned by Starz Inc. The company was formed through the merger of Video Treasures and StarMaker, both subsidiaries of The Handleman Company.
Anchor Bay also had a film studio known as Anchor Bay Films, which mainly distributed direct-to-video or independent films.
They distributed US VHS and DVD releases of the Thomas & Friends series from 1995 to 2008, in conjunction with Gullane Entertainment and HiT Entertainment. Lionsgate fully took over this role in 2009. Anchor Bay also had a Canadian branch by the name of HGV Video Productions.
On 30 June 2016, Lionsgate agreed to acquire Anchor Bay's parent company Starz Inc. for $4.4 billion in cash and stock. The merger was completed on 8 December 2016. Not long after, Lionsgate folded Anchor Bay into their own home media division. In June 2021, LionsGate agreed to be purchased by Shake Creations, Inc. for over $7 billion.
Releases
Originals
1995
- Thomas and the Special Letter and Other Stories (15 August 1995)
1996
- Thomas and His Friends Help Out (2 February 1996)
- The Gallant Old Engine and Other Thomas Stories (6 August 1996)
1997
- Sing-Along and Stories (11 February 1997)
- Thomas Meets the Queen and Other Stories (19 August 1997)
1998
- Thomas and His Friends Get Along (10 February 1998)
- Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Other Thomas Adventures (18 August 1998)
- A Big Day for Thomas (18 August 1998)
1999
- Thomas' Useful Stories (2 February 1999)
- Cranky Bugs and Other Thomas Stories (2 February 1999)
- Races, Rescues and Runaways and Other Thomas Adventures (10 August 1999)
- 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (14 September 1999)
2000
- Spills and Chills and Other Thomas Thrills (29 February 2000)
- Make Someone Happy and Other Thomas Adventures (25 July 2000)
- Thomas' Christmas Wonderland and Other Thomas Adventures (26 September 2000)
2001
- Thomas' Trackside Tunes and Other Thomas Adventures (13 February 2001)
- Best of Percy (24 July 2001)
- Best of Thomas (25 September 2001)
2002
- Best of James (5 March 2002)
- Thomas' Fan Favorite Adventures (23 July 2002)
- Thomas' Magical Musical Ride (24 September 2002)
- Salty's Secret and Other Thomas Adventures (24 September 2002)
2003
- Two Thomas Adventures (25 February 2003)
- Percy's Chocolate Crunch and Other Thomas Adventures (25 February 2003)
- Fun With Thomas (22 July 2003)
- Thomas' Sodor Stories (22 July 2003)
- James and the Red Balloon and Other Thomas Adventures (22 July 2003)
- Thomas' Snowy Surprise and Other Adventures (14 October 2003)
- Best of Gordon (14 October 2003)
2004
- New Friends for Thomas and Other Adventures (16 March 2004)
- Thomas and the Jet Engine and Other Adventures (20 July 2004)
- The Early Years (26 October 2004)
2005
- Quarry Adventures on Sodor (25 January 2005)
- Hooray for Thomas and Other Adventures (25 January 2005)
- Percy Saves the Day and Other Adventures (26 July 2005)
2006
- Thomas and the Really Brave Engines and Other Adventures (7 February 2006)
- On Site with Thomas and Other Adventures (15 August 2006)
- Thomas' Halloween Adventures (29 August 2006)
2007
- Thomas' Trusty Friends (1 May 2007)
- Thomas and the Toy Workshop (18 September 2007)
- Ultimate Christmas (23 October 2007)
2008
- Thomas and the Treasure (29 January 2008)
- Mud Glorious Mud (6 May 2008)
Re-releases
1995
- Thomas Gets Tricked and Other Stories (15 August 1995)
- James Learns a Lesson and Other Thomas Adventures (15 August 1995)
- Trust Thomas and Other Stories (15 August 1995)
- Thomas Gets Bumped and Other Stories (15 August 1995)
- Thomas, Percy and the Dragon and Other Stories (15 August 1995)
- Daisy and Other Thomas Stories (15 August 1995)
- Percy's Ghostly Trick and Other Thomas Stories (15 August 1995)
- Thomas' Christmas Party and Other Favorite Stories (15 August 1995)
1996
- James Goes Buzz Buzz and Other Thomas Stories (2 February 1996)
- Rusty to the Rescue and Other Thomas Stories (18 June 1996)
Canadian releases
All titles are VHS format.
- Thomas Gets Tricked (1995)
- James Learns a Lesson (1995)
- Trust Thomas (1995)
- Thomas Gets Bumped (1995)
- Thomas, Percy and the Dragon (1995)
- Daisy (1995)
- James Goes Buzz Buzz (1996)
- Percy's Ghostly Trick (1996)
- Thomas' Christmas Party (1996)
- Rusty to the Rescue (1996)
- Thomas and the Special Letter (1995)
- Thomas and His Friends Help Out (1996)
- Gallant Old Engine (1996) (Light Blue Variant)
- Sing Along Songs (1997)
- Thomas Meets the Queen (1997)
- Thomas and His Friends Get Along (1998)
- Thomas Comes to Breakfast (1998)
- A Big Day for Thomas (1998)
