Reflection/refraction raytracing, and especially true GI were never something used a lot in major productions until fairly recently.  Even now, they're still used sparingly.  They were available and being explored for a long time, but often dismissed as too slow for any serious production work.  Advancements in render technology, as well as hardware improvements made some of these things possible for a big production budget, but still many pro houses choose to fake what they can, or do it in post.

There's an old saying in CG that goes something like: "Never model what the camera will not see, and never raytrace what can be faked".  The first part, at least, still hold true.