To kick this off, I wanted to talk about Disney+, a platform that I'm sure all of us have heard of by now, and some of you might be nose-deep into. I was debating whether or not to do the service, but then noticed that I would get it free through Verizon, and figured I can't turn down access to free movies. A few days into the subscription, I've got some thoughts, and figured I'd share them below.
1. This is Kind of Fun, Even if You're Not Disney Obsessed
I am a fan of movies first, Disney second, but in many ways Disney crafts your relationship with movies at a young age (at least for my generation), so the two are somewhat linked. As a result, there's some delightful pleasure in browsing through the collections, even if you're not someone who still has the first set of mouse ears they got in Orlando when they were 14. The platform isn't just Disney, but also Pixar, National Geographic, LucasWorld, Marvel, and even a smattering of Fox is on the service, so even if you're not someone that's obsessed with Disney, you'll likely find plenty to justify at least the trial period for the program.
2. Queue Fills Up Fast
Again, I'm not much of a television person, and I'm not someone who worships Disney, but it's hard to complain when a library is this stacked. The company went out of its way to boast a plethora of older films, making it markedly different than Netflix who has been quite stingy on pictures from Classic Hollywood, and knows where its adult-fueled nostalgia is grounded by bringing pretty much every TGIF, Disney Afternoon, and whatever we're calling the Lizzie McGuire/Even Stevens era to life on the platform. I quickly had 36 titles just perusing the movies, and that wasn't even including any of the original programming, which I'll admit (aside from the documentaries) felt a bit off to me. The only one that was a movie I thought I would be interested in was the Star Wars series, and reviews have been mixed on that one, enough so that I'll wait to see if it comes together before investing my time.
While Disney did a decent job bringing out some of its A-Game, there are still noticeable titles not included on the platform. While some of these titles are tied up in other platforms (notably Tarzan and Mars Needs Moms, the two most recent missing animated features), the other explanations feel soggier. Much has been made about Song of the South not being included in the lineup (to the point where Karina Longworth is doing an entire series on You Must Remember This about the film), and this feels kind of misleading when you think about how several of the older movies come with warnings (specifically pictures like Dumbo) due to their problematic depictions of race. Movies such as Dumbo and Fantasia (which, despite the billing on the site, is not made "as originally created" as you don't see the controversial character of "Sunflower" in this version even though she was in the original theatrical Fantasia) are presented with warnings, about "outdated cultural depictions," but they're still included, which makes the decision to not have Song of the South even odder, and a bit hypocritical. Perhaps because Fantasia and Dumbo are more important to Disney's bottom line (they do star characters who are a major part of the theme parks, with Dumbo having been rereleased in a live-action film by the studio earlier this year and Fantasia obviously having Mickey front-and-center), they're worth the risk, but Disney doesn't want to include equally insensitive portrayals from a movie that has long been out of the public's domain? I get the urge to not include this movie, as this is a streaming service that in theory should be safe for children to use, but it feels like Disney is trying to have its cake and eat it too here, and as a film preservationist, I think it'd be appropriate for them to release all of their catalog here so we don't ignore history rather than just bury it. This is also true for Make Mine Music (from what I can tell the only fully Disney animated film that isn't on the platform or "headed to" the platform like Tarzan, likely due to its controversial gun violence scene) or So Dear My Heart (an Oscar-nominated film with no obvious taboos around it, so I am actually unclear why they didn't have this one in the lineup, and I hope they soon correct it).
With the recent merger of Disney and 20th Century Fox, it was a sincere question mark over what from the newly-acquired studio's extensive catalog might show up on the site. You can see a spattering of Fox titles in the list of movies & television available for audiences, ranging from "they could honestly pass for Disney movies" like Miracle on 34th Street and Diary of a Wimpy Kid to more rambunctious output from the studio such as The Simpsons, but by-and-large this is more focused on Disney than Fox's universe. It's a sincere question mark of what they'll do with this catalog-is it being saved for a separate streaming platform, or will it be rolled out as Disney tries to go head-to-head with Netflix? Fox's film and television library (not to mention the likely treasure trove of additional content that Disney can pull from ABC, Disney Channel, or Freeform) will keep this service, which had a pretty robust initial release, armed with a lot more cards to play in the streaming wars.
5. Who is Next?
Which begs the question-what's next? Disney's rollout is the most anticipated streaming launch, possibly ever, but it's hardly the only one. NBCUniversal will be having its own streaming launch in April, and it's hard to imagine a situation where pretty much every major studio and media conglomerate isn't doing the same. This is why you've seen such a quick evolution at Netflix from streaming to original content-unlike Disney or Universal or something smaller like Criterion, it simply doesn't have the back catalog of decades of original content to compete, so it can't have its business model rely on such a thing. Disney+ not having certain titles is a telling sign that film lovers shouldn't just move away from physical media (particularly when the studio butchered the editing of old Simpsons episodes, something they are thankfully correcting), but it is heartening to see a home for movies like Return to Oz or Melody Time that might otherwise be difficult to obtain.
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