There is a Kino Video release of "The Movies Begin" which has films dating back to 1894 that is in the Db. I believe Ya_Shin has it in his collection.

There are others with late 1800s films, Dan W I know has some.

My oldest is the 1923 Epic Silent Film of the Ten Commandments that is included with the 50th anniversary collection of the Charlton Heston movie.

I have Winsor McCay: The Master Edition (014381-198225) which contains a Little Nemo short from 1911.

The oldest, eh?

Does it matter how long it is?

If length is not a factor the oldest title "officially" released to DVD in Region 1 or 2 would be..........


1889 - Edison: The Invention of the Movies

A very short camera test film titled: "Monkey Shines, No. 1" is the earliest at 1889.
"Dickson Greeting";  "Newark Athlete (with Indian Clubs)"; and "Men Boxing"; all date from 1891 or earlier. They are camera tests as well.

Quoting Dan W:

Quote:
I guess it's only fair to also mention the "Series Photography" on "The Movies Begin: A Treasury of Early Cinema".

It is an homage to Eadweard Muybridge and his "Primitive Motion Studies". His motion studies were several different series of stills taken in fast sequence in an attempt to capture motion. Usually you find these in a sort of "contact sheet" format where all you see is the series of photographs on a printed page. This DVD set has taken several of these series and put them in motion by playing them in sequence rather than showing them as a group of photographs as they were originally presented. In effect, simply animating Muybridge's work.

These studies date from 1877-1885.

Those included on this set are animated recreations of his 1877-1885 motion studies, with the animations made in the 20th Century. This disc also has a couple of films dating from 1894 ("Sandow" & "The Barber Shop"), but "The Barber Shop" was more likely created in 1893.

"'Edison: The Invention of the Movies" has a cover blurb stating: "140 Edison Company films 1891-1918", but there is a section on disc 1 from 1889-91, all early Edison camera tests (Monkeyshines, No. 1; Dickson Greeting; Newark Athlete (with Indian Clubs); Men Boxing.

So, 20th Century animation recreating motion from series stills, 1877. Actual film, produced at the time as a camera test, 1889. Film as film, to be shown publicly, from the Edison collection, an 1893 "Blacksmithing Scene" (& the Barber Shop one, as well).

Those are the oldest I've found.