The Walt Disney Company has finally revealed all of the exciting details about the upcoming direct to consumer, streaming service, Disney+. This afternoon, Disney Chairman and CEO, Bob Iger, and others made several big announcements during today’s Disney Investor Day presentation that can be reviewed in our Live Blog
Quick facts:
- Disney+ is set to launch on November 12, 2019.
- The service will offer two subscription options:
- Monthly at $6.99 per month
- Annually at $69.99
- Disney+ will be ad free at launch and at this time, Disney does not have plans to introduce ads in the future.
- Disney+ will feature content from The Walt Disney Company’s massive library including:
- Disney
- Pixar
- Marvel
- Star Wars
- National Geographic
- Disney Channel (Disney Junior)
- Disney+ will also feature new, original content developed by Disney for Disney+.
- Subscribers will be able to download and access content offline for as long as they are subscribers.
- Disney is currently securing distribution for game consoles, streaming media players, smart TVs and more.
- Disney has already made distribution arrangements for
- Roku
- PlayStation 4
- Disney+ will be a global product and the company has plans to roll out this service internationally.
Why Create a DTC Service?
- Since 2006, Disney has seen massive success at the box office, but beyond that, TWDC has over 1 billion self proclaimed fans. Fans who actively attend theatrical releases, purchase merchandise, visit the parks and so much more.
Walt Disney Animation Studios
- Walt Disney Animation Studios CCO, Jennifer Lee shared a little more about the animated films coming to the Disney+.
- Fans will be able to stream hundreds of animated films, including films that had formerly been in the Disney Vault. These titles will be available to stream on demand day 1, and going forward, new animated films will be available on Disney+ following their theatrical and home releases.
- Along with announcing animated titles coming to the service, Lee also mentioned that the highly anticipated Frozen II will come exclusively to Disney+.
- In addition, a documentary film titled Into the Unknown will take a look at the making of Frozen II.
- Lee teases that that title may also be the name of one of the new songs in the upcoming feature.
- Frozen II debuts in theaters on November 22, 2019 and will arrive on Disney+ by Summer 2020.
Pixar
Disney+
Disney+
- Pixar’s CCO, Pete Docter talked about some of the new Pixar offerings that will be available on Disney+.
- Pixar films will of course be available to stream, as will two new short films, and a new series.
- Forky Asks a Question will feature Bonnie’s new toy, Forky, discovering the world around him and asking questions of the other toys in Bonnie’s room.
- Lamp Life a short film about Bo Peep and her adventures between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 4
- Monsters at Work will see the return of Mike and Sulley voiced by Billy Crystal and John Goodman, and the introduction of plenty of new monsters.
Marvel
- Several Marvel Cinematic Universe series are in development for Disney+ that will follow characters fans already know and love.
- Marvel president, Kevin Feige notes that repercussion from these storylines will be felt and impact the overall MCU going forward.
- Among these series are:
- WandaVision (available year two)
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (available year one)
- Loki (available year two)
- Additionally, an animated What If? series is currently in development and will feature some of the characters in in the series voiced by their MCU actor counterparts.
- What If? is Marvel Studios first animated project. The first episode of will explore what would happen if Peggy Carter became a super soldier and Steve Rogers got an iron suit.
Star Wars
- The Jon Favreau created series, The Mandalorian will debut with Disney+. The series will contain eight-episodes.
- Favreau says it will be accessible to new fans but will also reward old fans.
- As for other Star Wars content, the Rogue One prequel series that focus on Cassian Andor will see, Diego Luna reprising his role as Andor as well as serving as a producer.
- Alan Tudyk will also return as K2-SO.
- An animated Clone Wars series is also in development.
Disney Live-Action Exclusives
- Noelle is one of Disney+’s first original films and stars Anna Kendrick as Santa’s daughter Noelle. Her brother Nick is next in line to take on the family business, but when he goes missing, it’s up to her to take charge.
- Noelle is expected to be available soon after launch.
- Other films joining Disney+ are:
- Timmy Failure
- Stargirl
- Togo
- Lady and the Tramp will be available at launch
National Geographic:
- National Geographic is creating two original series for Disney+.
- The World According to Jeff Goldblum
- Magic of the Animal Kingdom
- In The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Goldblum “pulls back the curtain” on familiar objects like ice cream and speakers and dives into the science behind them. The series just began shooting, but will be available to subscribers on day 1.
- Magic of the Animal Kingdom is a new, original series that takes fans behind the scenes and right into the heart of Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Epcot SeaBase Aquarium
Disney Channel and Disney Junior on Disney+
- The streaming service will feature an all new Phinneas and Ferb movie that will have the young brothers attempting to save Candace after she’s abducted by aliens.
- Additionally, all episodes of Phineas and Ferb will be on Disney+.
- Fans will also get to spend some time at East High and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
Disney+ Original Series
- In its first year, Disney+ will have more than 25 original series and more than 10 original films.
- One of the highly anticipated new series is Encore!
- Executive produced by Kristen Bell, this series reunites former classmates and cast members of a high school musical. According to D23, they will be tasked, “with re-creating their original performance in a high school reunion like no other.”