Disney+ Has Arrived And Here’s Why People Are Flocking To The Service
After months of constant hype, Disney Plus has arrived. The service appears to be the exact type of streaming platform desired by millions of people in North America who have immediately flocked to Disney's robust online streaming library. From original programming to Disney Classics and an entire library of Marvel, Star Wars, and even National Geographic options, the service has something for everyone with many titles available in 4K. Here's what early adopters are watching...
The Mandalorian Brings Live-Action Star Wars To The Small Screen
The Imperial Army has fallen and the New Republic now rules the galaxy. In the Mandalorian, a lone gunfighter and bounty hunter makes his way through the outer reaches of the galaxy in search of wanted aliens.
The Mandalorian is available exclusively through Disney+ and the first episode has been met with a mix of critical and fan praise. Watch episode one for a shocking twist that will leave you wanting for more in the last seconds of the pilot.
Lady & The Tramp - Live-Action
The remake of Lady & The Tramp has been called a competent if uninspired live-action remake of the original. Critics have noted that the cats that terrorize the movie's stars are at least replaced with non-Asian caricatures.
To be honest, we don't mind that the film aims to stay close to the original. If Disney taught us anything with the live-action Lion King remake it's that sometimes it's okay to stay slightly "cartoonish" when dealing with talking animals. Lady & The Tramp is available exclusively on Disney Plus.
Noelle Starring Anna Kendrick
Noelle stars Anna Kendrick as Santa Claus' daughter. On Christmas even, Santa decides to retire and his son gets cold feet, leaving his daughter, Noelle, to take over the family business and ensure Christmas continues to capture the hearts of children everywhere.
Critics have called the movie "subdued" with its take on a timeless tale but with Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, Billy Eichner, and Kingsley Ben Adir starring in the film, it's still a fun family movie night selection and only available exclusively through Disney+
High School Musical: The Series
High School Musical turned Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens into household names and now Disney+ has brought the popular movie series to the small screen. The movie focuses on a group of high-school students who are preparing a stage performance of the "High School Musical" movie for their fall theater production.
The students soon realize that drama off-stage is just as real as the musical production they are preparing to perform. We thought the exclusive Disney Plus series sounded like a Glee ripoff but critics on Rotten Tomatoes have given it a surprisingly solid 76% rating. Plus, it's great for family time.
Forky Asks A Question: A Surprisingly Sweet Short Series
Forky made his debut in Pixar's Toy Story 4. The character is literally created from trash and struggles to find his place in this crazy world we live in. Forky Asks A Question introduces children to some important life questions.
Among 10 shorts, Forky asks "What is love? and "What is Time?" With an emphasis on attracting children to the platform, Disney has proven that it can rely on more than just its classic cartoon and movie structure while bringing some educational lessons to the new streaming platform.
The World According To Jeff Goldblum
If you've ever wanted to get into the mind of Jeff Goldblum, now is your chance. The World According to Jeff Goldblum is another Disney+ exclusive and critics have rated it with a solid 79% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The premise for this series is simple. Jeff Goldblum has questions and his inquisitive mind leads him to ask many questions that range from sneakers to ice cream. Throughout the National Geographic produced series, the famous actor aims to show how familiar objections have some amazing connections as he explores science, history, and people. We're intrigued.
Marvel's Hero Project
Disney+ includes an expansive collection of Disney-produced Marvel movies and among its exclusives is a new series called Marvel's Hero Project. Given 88% critic and 89% audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, this may be the most enduring of all Disney Plus' exclusive shows and movies.
The series focuses on highlighting the amazing impact young heroes are having on their own communities. The show focuses on selfless acts of bravery and the kindness of children, among other acts, as these amazing kids make a positive impact on the lives of others.
The Imagineering Story
Disney appears to have knocked it out of the park with The Imagineering Story which has scored a perfect 100% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The Disney+ exclusive focuses on the sixty-seven-year history of Walt Disney Imagineering.
Created by Academy Award-nominated director Leslie Iwerks, the six-hour saga introduces Disney fans to the heart of Disney's creative center, a place that has been called equal parks artist studio, think tank, design center, and innovation laboratory. The men and women who work here have been responsible for building twelve theme parks around the world.
Encore! Starring Kristen Bell
Another Disney+ exclusive arrives in the form of Kristen Bell's Encore. While the series has only scored a 54% critic rating, audiences have given it a 100% (so far). In this series, Kristen Bell reunited with her former high school drama club members to re-enact the plays they performed during their formative years.
Critics say the series will keep theater fans interested. We watched the first episode and found the series to be fairly endearing but definitely geared towards big fans of the theater more than the average viewer.
SparkShorts Moves From YouTube To Disney+
"SparkShorts" didn't start as a Disney Plus exclusive but that's where it's headed. The series consists of giving Pixar employees six months and a limited budget during which time they produce animated shorts that were originally released on Pixar's YouTube channel.
The series debuted on YouTube but on November 12, 2019, it moved to Disney+. The series might surprise Disney fans who haven't caught it on YouTube. Pixar has been generally praised for focusing on slightly more mature themes than the company has given to audiences with its massively successful Pixar feature films.
Gravity Falls Brings Adult-Minded Animation To Disney+
Gravity Falls hit the airwave in 2012 and we were sad to see it make an exit in 2016. The series was clever and fun. We watched as 12-year-old twins Dipper and Mabel Pines were dropped off by their parents in the middle of Oregon to live with their "Grunkle" Stan.
The show focuses on the twins as they stay at a rundown tourist trap known as the "Mystery Shack." They soon realize the location is at the center of supernatural happenings. The show might not be appropriate for Disney's youngest fans but it's worth a viewing if you like a slight bit of edge in your animated shows.
Phineas & Ferb
There are 104 days of summer vacation and Phineas and Ferb have to figure out how to spend them. That's the basic premise of this Disney classic. The stepbrothers spend their summer vacation building crazy contraptions as their sister attempts to expose their plans to their parents and the always hilarious Dr. Heinz Doffenshmirtz attempts to take over the world.
Throw in a pet platypus named Perry who lives a double life as a spy and it's easy to see how Phineas & Ferb have captured the hearts of children and adults alike. It's at times absurd but always fun and whimsical. As an added bonus, the show's Christmas episode is a classic.
The Simpsons Delivers 30 Seasons Of Fun
The Simpsons debuted in 1989 and 31 seasons later new episodes are still showing up on our TVs. We admit that maybe the first decade of the show was its best but that doesn't mean binge-watching thousands of hours of the animated series is out of the question.
The good news is that Disney has every previous season of the popular Fox TV show available for streaming. This might be a great time to introduce your children to the original seasons of the show or you can just sit back and reminisce.
Mary Poppins Is Ready To Stream
Let's be honest, the recent Mary Poppins film lacked that "something special" that Julie Andrews originally brought to the silver screen. Even though the movie debuted in 1964, Mary Poppins is still as relevant today as it was during its initial premiere.
As Disney promised when announcing Disney+ the service has opened the company's vaults and Mary Poppins was an obvious choice for sharing with fans of the movie behemoth. Children misbehaving at home? Just stream this popular movie on repeat.
The Muppets Movies Arrives Along With Other Muppet Classics
What Disney streaming service would be complete without some help from Jim Henson's beloved puppet creations. Disney+ features various Muppet movies but we can't help but reminisce about the original Muppet Movie. Can you believe Henson released his fan-favorite way back in 1979?
Featuring the loveable Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Kermit, and many others, this critical success had led to other Muppet movies including "The Muppet Christmas Carol," "Muppet Treasure Island" and "Muppets Most Wanted," among other movies and TV series. One of Disney Plus' best features is its catalogs of tv shows and movies based on specific characters.
Star Wars Movies: All Of Them
When Disney acquired Lucas Films in 2012 for $4 billion it was obvious from the start that the movie studio was going "all in" on the popular franchise. Since that time there have been numerous new movies and cartoon series that have debuted, including The Mandalorian live-action series that is exclusively featured on Disney+
Thanks to Disney's ownership of the Star Wars franchise, subscribers now have streaming access to the original trilogy, the three prequels that followed, and all of Disney's already released new features including "Rogue One" and "Solo: A Star Wars Story." There are even a ton of Lego-based Star Wars cartoons available for streaming. As an added bonus, the Star Wars movies are available in 4K/HDR.
Pixar's "Shorts" Are Available On Demand
Remember when Toy Story debuted and all of a sudden Pixar was at the forefront of the cinematic universe? As new Pixar film's followed we waited in anticipate to see what type of "shorts' would debut before Pixar's main feature flashed upon the screen.
Disney Plus now brings Pixar's shorts to the small screen with on-demand access. There are now more than a dozen critically acclaimed shorts to view including "Bao," La Luna," "Lava,", "Float," "For The Birds," "Piper", and "Purl" among others. Do yourself a favor and watch all of these shorts because they're pretty incredible.
Free Solo Is A Must Watch That Might Just Will Surprise You
When Free Solo won an Oscar in the best documentary category we were intrigued. How could a movie about a guy climbing a rock cliff possibly be worth an Academy Award? We had no interest in free-climbing before watching the film but it quickly grabbed our attention.
The film focuses on professional rock climber Alex Honnold as he attempts to conquer the first free solo climb of famed El Capitan's 900-meter vertical rock face at Yosemite National Park. The cinematography is gorgeous, the danger is real, and in the end, if successful, Honnold will have conquered one of the greatest feats in sports history.
Avengers. Thor. Guardians Of The Galaxy. And The List Goes On...
When you're Disney and you have worked for years on popular Marvel films it only makes sense that you would debut your new streaming service with a focus on the more than a decade you've spent helping build the superhero-based movie industry.
Whether you're a fan of Captain Marvel, Iron Man, The Avengers, Captain America, Thor, or any other handful of superhero films, you're going to find them on Disney Plus. Oh yeah, they've also thrown in Ant-Man and Dr. Strange for good measure. Enjoy!
Runaways. Agent Carter, X-Men, And Way More
If you haven't watched Marvel's Runaways now is the time. The critically acclaimed TV series is featured on Disney Plus alongside Agent Carter, Inhumans, and more. Marvel cartoons are also heavily featured including the original X-Men cartoon, Spider-Man Unlimited, The Incredible Hulk, and more new cartoon series' and classics.
Disney Plus packs a big punch for comic fans but only if you're a Marvel fan, sadly, DC comics are lacking because Disney has been focused on working with Marvel Studios for many years. Still, we can't help but love the number of cartoons available for streaming.