If you and your friends are debating the best streaming service, you might hear the name Disney+ thrown around. The concept was teased back in 2017 to an overwhelmingly positive fan base, and on its launch date in November 2019, it gained over 10 million subscribers, soon spreading to more countries.
Disney+ became the main source for any Disney-owned content such as Marvel, Pixar, National Geographic, 20th Century Fox and various other properties.
What seemed to draw the most excitement around Disney+, besides its library of Disney classic films, were original series like The Mandalorian (which became a smashing success), and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
An extensive supply of nostalgic movies can only keep audiences satisfied for so long, and anticipating this, Disney+ dropped projects such as a live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp and Forky Asks a Question, a mini-series spinoff of Toy Story 4. Over the last four years, Disney+ has continued to release original content, but a few months ago, fans noticed that Disney was removing some of its own original content like the reboot Turner & Hooch, Diary of a Future President, Timmy Failure: Mistakes and many more.
According to Christine Chiney, Disney’s financial officer, the removals were intended to make room for Disney+ to revisit its strategy and maintain a new budget. The biggest cause of this reversal, however, was a loss of subscribers as it’s reported that about 3.8 million people canceled their Disney+ subscriptions between October 2022 and January 2023.
One of the biggest issues with Disney+ is that it has been blamed for the decline of Marvel Entertainment Studios. Over the years, a big chunk of Marvel content has been put on Disney+, but in series form. Though this initially sounded like a great idea, it has since turned out to be a disaster.
Besides removal of original works from a few years ago, viewers have noticed rushed and unfinished CGI in shows like Moon Knight, She-Hulk and I am Groot, possibly due to the absurdly short production schedule required of the visual effects artists.
Another common complaint is that the newer original shows do not add substance to the Marvel cinematic universe or timeline; some don’t even match up with the initial timeline that comics and filmmakers have worked so hard to perfect. Compared to projects like all three of the Marvel’s Phases movies, where each film contributed and led more into Avengers: Infinity War, these new shows and movies feel random and, at times, desperate.
Instead of Disney+ trying to fully put in an effort and make appealing content for kids and adults alike, they have decided to make budget cuts and no longer dub their content in different languages to save themselves money. Though we recognize that dubbing and subtitles are costly, If Disney were committed to providing everything for their audiences, they wouldn’t deprive them of enjoying their favorite show.
Despite its flaws, Disney+ still has the chance to regain the momentum it had upon its release four years ago. The streaming service’s main challenge seems to be understanding what audiences want to see and producing content that caters to that. And of course, Disney+ should always find room for content that’s already been adored for generations.
