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Castle Films was a home-movie distributor founded by Eugene W. Castle in 1924, primarily to handle business/advertising films. In 1936, Castle branched out into the 8mm and 16mm home movies, buying old theatrical films for home use. Castle's first home movie was a newsreel of the Hindenburg explosion. In 1937, Castle launched his "News Parade" series, a year-in-review newsreel; travelogues followed in 1938. Castle also released sports films, animal adventures, and "old time movies." Castle obtained home-movie rights to cartoons from several animation studios, including Terrytoons (1938), Ub Iwerks (1941), and Walter Lantz (1947). In 1947, Universal Pictures purchased a majority stake in Castle Films. Castle subsequently became a Universal subsidiary, drawing upon the studio's library of vintage films (with Abbott and Costello, W. C. Fields, Boris Karloff, James Stewart, etc.). Castle Films changed its name to Universal 8 in 1977, and the era of home video brought an end to Universal's home-movie enterprise. The complete inventory of Castle Films (more than 1000 titles over 40 years) is listed in Scott MacGillivray's book Castle Films: A Hobbyist's Guide, ISBN 0-595-32491-6.
