An Open Letter to Disney (About Their Streaming Service)

Dear Disney,

So you’re going to make a streaming service too? You’re going to make the Disney version of Netflix? You’re going to want me to pay somewhere between $5 and $15 a month for another streaming service to add to my monthly payments to Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime, Starz, WWE, Amazon, DC Universe, and whatever other monthly subscriptions I might be paying for? (Lootbox, Playstation or Xbox Live, maybe Sling, possibly MoviePass for those still hanging on to that, and who knows what else.) Yeah, let’s face it, there’s a good chance I’m going to be getting this one as well, or at least trying it out. But Disney, may I call you Disney? Let’s talk for a moment, really, about this streaming service you’re proposing.

You know Disney, you already has a streaming service. It’s called Hulu. Hulu is owned by a joint venture between Disney (30%), 20th Century Fox (30%), NBCUniversal(30%), and Warner Media (10%). Assuming that everything goes as planned with Disney buying up 20th Century Fox (and at this point it looks like it’s an all but done deal), Disney will have a majority stake in Hulu with 60%. So if you’re Disney and you have a streaming service already, or at least the majority of one, then why do you need another one? Why do I need to get a subscription to this other service this Disney+?

I’ll admit, I’m asking the question when I probably already know the answer. I would guess that this new service, Disney+, is going to have the Disney feel to it. It’s hard to define what that Disney feel is exactly but you know it when you see it. Remember, Disney owns ABC, which means that Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal are technically Disney shows, though my guess is that neither of those will be showing up on Disney play. Disney also owns several “R rated” movies though these have never been released under the Disney brand, so I’m guessing those would head over to Hulu if they’re going to be available for streaming anywhere. Disney+, I’m guessing, is for the things that they have that consist of that “Disney Magic” feel.

By “Disney Magic” feel, we are of course also talking about Star Wars and Marvel, it seems that unlike other Disney properties made outside of the House of Mouse, Disney is still more than happy to associate these two mega franchises with the “Disney Brand.” Maybe it’s because Star Wars and Marvel are both still child friendly franchises, or at least that specific brand of child friendly where they still make billions from toy sales, but aren’t too kid friendly to the point where teenagers are too cool to be associated with them. Whatever the reason, Marvel, and Star Wars are not only part of the Disney company, they are both part of the Disney brand, and new projects from both have already been announced for the Disney streaming service.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what has been announced for Disney+ so far. A dozen or so movies have been announced as original projects that will be exclusive to the service. It also looks like Disney is doing their best to avoid a “direct-to-DVD” comparison for their lineup of original movies on their streaming service. For example, the movie Noelle, one of the early movies scheduled to be released features Anna Kendrick and Bill Hader, and was originally intended to be released in theaters, before being moved to the streaming service to bolster its early content library. Of course the biggest name in the early lineup of Disney+ exclusive movies is Lady and the Tramp, Disney’s live action remake of their animated movie from 1955. Disney’s live action remake series has been a huge success for Disney over the past several years and obviously by making this one exclusive to their streaming service, they’re hoping that it will add to the “big deal” feel that they want for this product.

But we should also talk about the television side of your original series lineup, Disney. This is where Marvel and Star Wars come into play. It’s been announced that there are at least three Star Wars tv shows (One titled The Mandalorian, one serving as a prequel to Rogue One and another season of the animated Clone Wars series) and at least three Marvel tv shows (One in the works centered around Loki with the other two being centered around Vision and Scarlet Witch and Falcon and the Winter Soldier ) that are in production. This is in addition to the other Disney brands getting TV shows including, but not limited to, a Mighty Ducks show, a Monsters Inc. show, a High School Musical tv show, and a new Muppets show.

All of this is great Disney. I’m very excited to see these things that you have to offer. But what really gets my attention is the supposed “Death of the Disney Vault” As you know, what we call the Disney Vault is a practice in which Disney continually has their movies go out of print on a rotating basis causing a forced scarcity. For example, the Disney Movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released on DVD on October 9th, 2001, and then put “back in the vault” on January 31st 2002. It wasn’t released again until October 6, 2009 before once again going back into the vault in April of 2010. If you wanted to buy a copy of the movie between 2002 and 2009 you were out of luck or had to turn to eBay. However, with the announcement that all of the Disney movies will be available on Disney+ this sounds like it’s ending the idea of the Disney Vault as you’ll be able to watch whatever Disney movie you want whenever you want.

But what does all actually mean here? Because this is what I really want to get to. When your CEO, Bob Iger says that ENTIRE disney film library will be on Disney+ what does that entail? I’m assuming it means the 57+ movies that make up Walt Disney Animation Studios (Snow White-Ralph Breaks the Internet) but does it also include the Disney Branded live action movies? Does this mean that the streaming service is going to have movies like The Absent-Minded Professor or it’s remake Flubber? What about the the Love Bug franchise? Herbie (the sentient volkswagen beetle) has been in six movies one of which has never even been released on DVD much less blu ray. Is there a chance that when you mean you are releasing the ENTIRE Disney Film library you actually mean entire?

If we can stay on Herbie, the Love Bug for another second, there was actually a TV show that continued the story of the movie that aired in 1982. It only lasted five episodes, but it’s the only part of the franchise I’ve yet to see because it’s been impossible to see since then. But now you have this streaming service where you’re talking about releasing your entire library. Does that include TV shows? Is this going to be a chance to finally see the Herbie tv show, or Disney’s popular Zorro show that’s been out of print for years with DVD seasons easily passing $200-$300 in second hand markets. , What about Disney tv shows like Quack Pack or the Aladdin series that have never seen an official release of any kind beyond a handful of episodes on compilation discs.

Look, I know that what I’m asking for is not what 95% of your potential customers are looking for. Most people want easy access to Frozen, Moana, and Wreck-It Ralph since that’s what their kids watch over and over and over again. Or they want to get to see everything they loved from their childhood all in one convenient streaming space so that they can marathon through The Lion King, Beauty and the Beat, The Little Mermaid and The Hunchback of Notre Dame all in one sitting and bask in the nostalgia. Or they want to find that “obscure” older movie like The Black Cauldron, or Fox and the Hound, or maybe The Rescuers to show their friends since that’s the big hole in their Disney life. Or, let’s be honest, a good portion of the audience is probably looking forward to this just because you’ve promised new Marvel and Star Wars content. And all of those are great reasons to make a streaming service, and all of those are great things to focus on to make everyone happy. But in this new world of streaming Giants, Netflix still gets to be the king because it has content that’s seemingly endless.

Yes, the Netflix library might not all be “good” but you can spend hours just looking through it trying to decide what to watch. And it feels like a new streaming subscription service is coming out every other week. You’re obviously going to stand above that. You’re Disney after all. Just the name alone, is going to put you in the top contenders for must have streaming services. But sixty movies and a handful of tv shows, isn’t going to cut it. Yes, they’ll be your sixty most popular movies, but it’s still going to feel small. It’s going to be one of those streaming services that I get for a month to binge whatever’s new and then ignore you for the other eleven months of the year. And that’s unavoidable because you have the body of work to rival Netflix. It’s annoying that Snow White has been in the Disney vault for seven years but you’ve kept Dumbo’s Circus locked up since 1997. Don’t forget about the massive catalog of movies and shows that you’ve made just waiting for us to rediscover.

Sincerely,

The concerned team of IBA