Update August 23, 2019: We have updated this post with more info on Disney Plus, including all the new exclusive shows for the service that were just announced during D23 (Obi-Wan! Ms. Marvel! Moon Knight! She-Hulk! Lizzie McGuire reboot!) Plus we tell you how you can sign up for the service early (if you have a lot of money).
Disney announced well over a year ago that the company plans to launch its own streaming service for its many movie and TV properties. It would compete directly with services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and upcoming ventures like Apple’s streaming TV launch. Now we know what the Disney streaming service will be called: Disney Plus (or Disney+, as the company officially brands it). As you can see with its official logo, the company is trying to show that Disney Plus will link up organically with the rest of its properties.
Disney is wasting no time in creating new content for the streaming service. Disney Plus will be the home for lots of exclusive movies and TV series, and that includes new Pixar, Marvel Studios and Star Wars content. We will go over everything we know about the Disney streaming service, and will update this post with new information as it is revealed.
What is Disney Plus?
As mentioned, Disney Plus is the official name for the Disney streaming service that was first announced in August 2017. It will be the home for people of all ages to watch movies and TV shows across all of Disney’s brands. That includes its main Disney brand, its Pixar animated movies, and its Marvel Studios and Star Wars properties.
At the service’s placeholder website it also shows it will have content from National Geographic when it launches. In December 2017, Disney announced its plan to acquire most of Fox’s content, including its majority control of the NatGeo TV channel. When Disney Plus actually launches, it will have content from that channel as well, since the deal to acquire Fox has since closed.
Disney Plus launch date, price, and availability
Disney Plus will launch first in the U.S. on November 12, for the price of $6.99 a month or for $69.99 for an annual subscription. Disney Plus will also be bundled with Hulu and ESPN Plus for consumers in the U.S. The price for getting all three streaming services will be $12.99 a month and it will be available on the same day as the Disney Plus launch.
On that same day, it will launch in Canada for $8.99 CAN per month or $89.99 CAN for a yearly subscription. Disney Plus will also launch in the Netherlands on Nov. 12, priced at 6.99 euros per month or 69.99 euros for an annual subscription.
One week later, on Nov. 19, Disney Plus will launch in Australia and New Zealand. In the Land Down Under, the service will cost $8.99 AUS a month $89.99 AUS per year. In New Zealand, Disney Plus will cost $9.99 (New Zealand) a month or $99.99 (New Zealand) for an annual subscription.
Disney Plus will expand to every major market worldwide within two years after its launch.
If you are going to the D23 convention in Anaheim, California from August 23-25, you can sign up at the event for a special “Founder’s Circle” subscription to Disney Plus. Those lucky folks can pay for a three-year subscription to the service for just $140.97. That price is $23 off the normal annual price tag if they bought it for each year. From August 26 to September 2, D23 Gold Members, who have to pay $99.99 a year up front, can also sign up online for that same Disney Plus three year subscription at the same price. This deal is restricted to U.S. residents.
What platforms and devices will support Disney Plus?
Disney Plus will be available on a wide variety of platforms devices when it launches. Here’s a list of what’s been confirmed:
- iOS, including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices
- Apple TV set-top boxes, including integration with the new Apple TV app, which will allow customers to sign up for the service inside the app
- Android, including Android-based phones and tablets (specific OS version not yet revealed)
- Android TV-based devices
- Google Chromecast and devices that have Chromecast built-in
- Microsoft Xbox One game consoles
- Sony Playstation 4 game consoles
- Roku, including all Roku sticks and set-top boxes and TVs that have the Roku OS installed
- PC desktop web browsers (currently unannounced)
One big streaming company that is not currently listed as a Disney Plus supporter is Amazon. Its Fire tablets are not on the official list, nor are its Fire TV streaming sticks and set-top boxes. No TVs with the Amazon Fire OS are currently supported either. Also, the company has not confirmed Disney Plus support for the Nintendo Switch console, even though an early promo slide for the service did show Disney Plus running on that device.
Disney Plus interface and features
The Disney Plus app and UI will include special sections for Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic brands, but there will also be sections in the interface so users can see all of the service’s movies, TV shows and original content. Users will be able to create up to seven custom individual profiles so that kids can see the shows and movies they are interested in, while their older parents can see their preferred content.
Disney Plus will also support 4K streaming for movies and TV shows that support it. The service will support streaming for up to 10 devices at once, with up to four concurrent streams at once. The smartphone and tablet apps will include support for downloading content as well, so users can watch movies and shows offline for as long as they subscribe to the service. Some movies and TV shows will have DVD-like commentaries and extras.
Disney Plus will also have a Kids Mode, which will include parental controls so moms and days can keep their sons and daughters from seeing content that’s out of their age group.
What older movies and TV shows will Disney Plus have?
When it does launch in late 2019, Disney will have access to hundreds of movies and TV shows from its 90 years of content. As we mentioned, that will include all those great animated films and live action movies from the Disney brand, from Mickey Mouse to Snow White to Beauty and the Beast to Frozen and everything in between. Disney has confirmed that all of the Pixar and Star Wars films will be available on Disney Plus within the first year of its launch. It will also include nearly all of the Marvel Studios superhero movies and will include TV shows from the National Geographic Channel. Classic content from The Disney Channel will also be shown on Disney Plus, from Duck Tales to Hannah Montana, with thousands of episodes and over 100 movies.
See also: The best movies available now on Netflix
Because of a current contract with Netflix, the most recent films from the studio, such as Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and A Wrinkle in Time, have made their streaming debuts on that service. Disney’s contract with Netflix ends in 2019. The New York Times reports that the first upcoming Disney movie that will make its streaming debut on Disney Plus will be Captain Marvel.
Disney Plus will also add a number of family-themed TV shows and movies from its recent Fox purchase, from Malcolm in the Middle to Dr. Doolittle and even The Simpsons, with all 30 seasons available from day one on the service.
What original and exclusive movies and TV shows will Disney Plus have on the November 12 launch date?
In addition to its tons of library content, Disney seems to be going all out to develop original and exclusive TV shows and films for Disney Plus. Indeed, Deadline reports that the budgets for the exclusive movies could be as high as $35 million and that budgets for a 10-hour TV show could be as high as $100 million. Disney decided to pull a few of its upcoming films that were supposed to launch in theaters first, and now they will make their worldwide debut on the Disney streaming service.
Disney has confirmed these will be the debut original and exclusive movies and TV shows that will be available to stream on Disney Plus for the launch day on November 12:
Noelle – a Christmas movie starring Anna Kendrick as the daughter of Santa Claus. The movie also stars Bill Hader.
Lady and the Tramp – a live action-CGI remake of the classic Disney animated film.
The Mandalorian – A 10-episode live-action TV series based in the Star Wars universe and centering on an unnamed Mandalorian bounty hunter.
High School Musical – The Musical: The Series – A TV series reboot of the popular Disney Channel movie series
The World According to Jeff Goldblum – A NatGeo series centering on actor Jeff Goldblum and his look at interesting things on the planet.
In addition, Disney Plus will drop One Day at Disney on the service December 3, a few weeks after it launches. It will be a feature-length documentary that will look at the lives of Disney employees around the world, and was filmed during one day on the job, February 21, 2019. After the feature film is released, Disney Plus will show One Day at Disney short subjects every week, and each will focus on just one employee in the Walt Disney company.
What other original and exclusive movies and TV shows will Disney Plus have?
Here’s a quick look at the many other original films and TV shows that are either in production now or have been completed that will make their exclusive debut on Disney Plus:
Disney Plus original films
- Magic Camp – a family comedy centering on a summer camp for magicians
- Timmy Failure – a movie based on the popular children’s book series of the same name
- Stargirl – a movie based on the young adult novel of the same name
- Togo – a movie based on the real-life story of a sled dog, Togo, and his master who have to transport a diphtheria serum to Nome, Alaska in 1925
- Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe – A new animated movie based on the classic Disney Channel series
- Secret Society of Second Class Royals – This movie centers on a princess who is second in line to the throne of her kingdom, who discovers she has superpowers.
In addition, Disney is in early development for a ton of other movies for the streaming service, including remakes of many of its live-action comedies, such as Three Men and a Baby, Father of the Bride, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, and The Parent Trap. Also, live-action remakes of other classic Disney animated films are in development for Disney Plus, including The Sword in the Stone and Peter Pan.
Disney Plus original TV shows
Here’s a look at the TV shows that have been confirmed as being in development for Disney Plus:
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – A continuation and conclusion to the cult-favorite animated TV series set in between Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
- Untitled Star Wars: Rogue One prequel series – a TV show that centers on rebel spy Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, before the events of Rogue One
- Untitled Star Wars: Obi-Wan series – Ewan McGregor will return to the role he took on during the Star Wars prequel movies in this series.
- Loki – A six-episode TV show based on Loki, the popular Marvel Studios supervillain. Actor Tom Hiddleston will reprise that role for the series.
- WandaVision – A Marvel series that focuses on The Scarlet Witch and Vision couple
- Hawkeye – Jeremy Renner will return to his role as Marvel’s top archer in this series.
- Falcon and The Winter Soldier – A Marvel series that teams up two of the superheroes that have been previous teammates of Captain America.
- Ms. Marvel – A Marvel Studios series centering on the Pakistani-American superhero of the same name.
- Moon Knight – Yet another Marvel Studios series, this one telling the story of Marc Spector, a dark vigilante with moon-based powers
- She-Hulk – The gamma-powered woman who is also a lawyer will be the subject of another Marvel Studios series.
- Marvel What If – A animated series that takes a look at how the Marvel Cinematic Universe would look if certain events had happened differently
- Lizzie McGuire – This is a sequel series to the popular Disney Channel teen comedy show, with Hillary Duff reprising her role as the title character, who is now 30 years old.
- Monsters at Work – A TV show based on the universe of Pixar’s Monsters Inc and Monsters University animated films
- Diary of a Female President – A show about a 12-year old Cuban-American girl who is destined to become the President of the United States. This show will actually be made by CBS Studios, rather than by Disney.
- Love Simon – A show based on the 2018 teen romantic comedy movie
- The Sandlot – A show based on the cult hit kids baseball film
- Chip ‘n’ Dale – A new reboot of Disney’s animated show featuring the two chipmunks Chip and Dale
- Life and Death – A half-hour sitcom about a child who grows up in the 1970s with two deaf parents.
- Forky Asks A Question – A series of shorts featuring Forky, the new character from Toy Story 4.
- Muppets Now – A new series of shorts featuring the Muppets characters.
In addition, unconfirmed reports claim that many more TV shows are in the early stages of development for Disney Plus, including a reboot of The Mighty Ducks.
Disney will also launch a number of non-scripted TV shows on Disney Plus:
- Ink & Paint – the story of the women who worked on Disney’s classic animated films.
- Encore – Former students reunite to once again stage their high-school musical as adults.
- Marvel’s 616 – A show about how Marvel Comics stories and characters intersect with the real world.
- Earthkeepers – A look at people dedicated to preserving endangered animals.
- Be Our Chef – Families complete to cook dishes, with the winning dishes to be offered at Disney’s theme parks.
- Rogue Trip – A travel series centering on overlooked destinations.
- Shop Class – Students compete to create new and cool gadgets.
- (Re)Connect – Families with issues try to come back together with the help of experts.
- Cinema Relics: Iconic Art of the Movies – A look at props and costumes from well known Disney films.
- Marvel’s Hero Project – A series about kids who are making a difference in their communities.
- Untitled Imagineering series – A show that looks at the history of Walt Disney’s Imagineering division.
- Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2 – A series that goes behind the scenes of the creation of the upcoming CGI movie sequel.
What about all of that Fox content and Hulu?
As mentioned, Disney has now acquired much of the content of 21st Century Fox. That means Disney will have the movie and TV rights to franchises like Aliens, Predator, Avatar, Planet of the Apes, and the X-Men-Deadpool Marvel Comics characters. However, Disney Plus will launch for a family audience, which means that much of Fox’s franchises, which are made for an older audience, won’t show up on the Disney streaming service.
However, in a recent investors call, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that a number of former Fox franchises will be rebooted in some way for Disney Plus. Specific movie franchises that were mentioned included Home Alone, Night at the Museum, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Cheaper by the Dozen.
The good news for Disney is that it now effectively controls all of Hulu. It originally owned 30 percent, and then it bought the 30 percent share once owned by Fox. Recently, it made a deal with Comcast to buy the remaining interest it has in Hulu in about five years, but Comcast also agreed to give operational control of the service to Disney. Hulu currently has about 20 million subscribers. Disney has indicated that it could offer content of the properties that it bought in the Fox deal on Hulu, rather than on Disney Plus.
That’s all we currently know about Disney Plus. What do you think of the Disney streaming service as it now stands, and do you plan to sign up for it when it launches?
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