Disney plans to compete with streaming giants like Netflix, HBO Now and Hulu with Disney Plus, which is set to release later this year on Nov. 12. (Mark Levin/Flickr Creative Commons)
We’ve all been there: Browsing Netflix for childhood titles that aren’t in their catalog or searching through endless streaming sites with low-quality playbacks of your favorite Marvel movie. Well, those days are long gone, because Disney is set to release its own streaming service, Disney Plus.
Disney plans to compete with streaming giants like Netflix, HBO Now and Hulu with Disney Plus, which is set to release later this year on Nov. 12. The service will be offered for an enticingly low $6.99 a month and will contain a multitude of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, National Geographic, Star Wars and Fox content. Of course, this means all 30 seasons of “The Simpsons” will be available for streaming.
Right from launch, Disney Plus will feature old and new Disney titles like “The Little Mermaid,” “Snow White” and “Beauty and the Beast.” Not only this, but Disney’s live-action releases like “Mary Poppins Returns” and “Dumbo” will be available on the new streaming service.
On day one of its release, Disney Plus will have four Marvel movies: “Captain Marvel,” “Iron Man,” “Iron Man 3” and “Thor: The Dark World.” All Star Wars movies from the first two trilogies will be available alongside “Rogue One” and “The Force Awakens.” All Pixar films will be available from launch, except “Toy Story 4.”
Over the course of the first year, Disney Plus will have about 7,500 series episodes and over 500 movies in its catalog. By then, eight more Marvel films will have been added as well as the rest of the Star Wars and Pixar films.
The excitement doesn’t stop there. Disney Plus will have original films like “Togo,” “Noelle,” live-action “Lady and the Tramp” and “Sword in the Stone” reboots and a “Phineas and Ferb” movie. Disney Plus will be home to original live-action shows like “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” “The Mandalorian,” “Loki,” “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” and “WandaVision.”
Included original animated series will be “Monsters at Work,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Marvel’s What If…?” With “Monsters at Work,” which is based on “Monsters Inc.,” and all of the aforementioned Marvel-related series, viewers can expect their favorite actors and voice actors to reprise their original roles as these beloved characters. Disney Plus will also have its own documentaries and live specials like “Be Our Chef” with Angela Kinsey, “Encore!” with Kristen Bell and “The World According to Jeff Goldblum.”
In regards to the rest of Disney’s 2019 theatrical releases and onwards, films like “Frozen 2” and “The Rise of Skywalker” will first have to run their course in theatres and in home video before being added to the lucrative streaming service.
For a full list of everything that has been confirmed for release on Disney Plus, check cnet.com.
Brandon Barzola is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at brandon.barzola@uconn.edu.