I don't know how old you guys are, but back in the VHS era, widescreen films were more expensive.
I can only imagine that widescreen copies of films on VHS were really a niche product as TVs were predominately square, or rather 4:3. So to get more money out of the punter, they were often packaged with extra gubbins.
This copy of Dances With Wolves I found today in a charity shop just brought up a lot of memories of that time. This copy includes the almost 4-hour cut, the soundtrack CD (which was still sealed) and an exclusive colour brochure (which was missing). Also, it was exclusive to WH Smith. This was a UK chain of glorified newsagents that also sold books and films.
Interview With A Vampire, which I owned, came in a box like this and was packaged with an abridged version of the original novel spread over two cassettes.
In case you were thinking of waiting out for a plain plastic box version, there was a disclaimer informing you that this was the only version of the widescreen VHS tape that was going to be available.
One of the best VHS box sets I had was The 5th Element. The tape came with this huge making of/ art book, which I still have today.
I feel back then the humongous packaging didn’t matter that much since the format itself is bulky. Now huge packaging annoys me. 😂
You reminded me of the recent God of War limited edition packaging. It comes with a steelbook but the game doesn't come with any discs, just a download code!