Disney+ Disney+ Streaming Service (Official Thread) (1 Viewer)

[John*Wells]

I doubt that we will ever see an official release of Song Of The South on a mainstream channel from Disney. But my interest in Disney+ will not be affected by whether or not that single title is included with it.

I agree and would go further that Given the current Climate and times we live in, I doubt we will ever see Song of the South .. anywhere Physical or Streaming. the Public backlash would be an unforced Error that I don't think Disney would commit

Also, I Do hate to ask a stupid question or one that may have been addressed already. But, I am wondering if The next star wars will be available to buy before release of the physical media or it comes up for rent on a service like I tunes. I actually bought Solo and the Last Jedi on iTunes ..or will that be a No go because Disney will not License its Properties ??

 

[Cranston37+]

But, I am wondering if The next star wars will be available to buy before release of the physical media or it comes up for rent on a service like I tunes. I actually bought Solo and the Last Jedi on iTunes ..or will that be a No go because Disney will not License its Properties ??

I don't think this will any effect on you being able to purchase Disney movies.

 

[Chris Will]

I was not implying that it couldn’t/wouldn’t be solved. I was just noting that the quoted storage amount (50tb) was grossly underestimating the necessary amount by a magnitude of hundreds or thousands.

True, 50TB is a pretty bad estimate. It's gonna take a whole lot more infrastructure to run this service.

I'm pretty sure Disney is not going to build, manage and maintain their own data centers. That would be a ridiculous waste of time and money for a company like Disney in this day and age. They will use a cloud solution like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud. They will let one of these companies handle all of the hardware, that way they can concentrate on the software side. I'd place my bet on AWS because that is what Hulu, Netflix, and obviously Amazon Prime Video, uses which means it is a proven success in the streaming world.

Here is a good article that attempts to explain how Netflix works in (some-what) simpler terms.

Point is, their is nothing that needs "solving" as this was all solved many, many years ago. Infrastructure isn't a worry with these cloud services available, you don't have to build your own anymore.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I'm not sure the numbers match up with Iger's previous statement where he said Disney+ would contain the entire Disney motion picture library. Here was his exact quote:

"And at some point fairly soon after launch it will house the entire Disney motion picture library, so the movies that you speak of that traditionally have been kept in a “vault” and brought out basically every few years will be on the service."

This is what they showed as to the number of films being available:

When you factor in the Star Wars, MCU and the Fox films they've elected to include, it seems like there's going to be some stuff missing. Do we know if the 740 films mentioned earlier in this thread is strictly Walt Disney Pictures, or does that include subsidiaries like Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures?

 

[Cranston37+]

When you factor in the Star Wars, MCU and the Fox films they've elected to include, it seems like there's going to be some stuff missing. Do we know if the 740 films mentioned earlier in this thread is strictly Walt Disney Pictures, or does that include subsidiaries like Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures?

As was posted earlier, you can see what is included in the 740 number here...

https://d23.com/list-of-disney-films/

If you assume R rated content will not be included, or even non R rated content that just isn't fit for this service (Bridge of Spies, Lincoln), then the numbers feel accurate to me.

 

[Cranston37+]

Song of the South will not be on it and the "Jim Crow" scene from Dumbo will be edited out...

https://boardwalktimes.net/song-of-...sYSugNOb7AGKlgs02VTkOIP_ch3JYuFYoQCmsF0m2pHk0

 

[Jeff Adkins]

As was posted earlier, you can see what is included in the 740 number here...

https://d23.com/list-of-disney-films/

If you assume R rated content will not be included, or even non R rated content that just isn't fit for this service (Bridge of Spies, Lincoln), then the numbers feel accurate to me.

OK, yes..now it makes sense.

While I own the animated classics on Blu-Ray and DVD, I'm happy that the "vault" concept is going away. I am excited about having streaming access to the live action films from the 1950s through the 1980s. There are several of those that I don't own and I'd love to see. It sounds like those will all be included. That makes it totally worth $6.99 for me if that turns out to be the case.

 

[John*Wells]

I don't think this will any effect on you being able to purchase Disney movies.

The main thing I was getting at is. Will Disney still license their content to 3rd parties like I tunes? They’ve made it clear they will pull their content from Netflix

 

[Cranston37+]

The main thing I was getting at is. Will Disney still license their content to 3rd parties like I tunes? They’ve made it clear they will pull their content from Netflix

Those are 2 completely different things, so I still say this will not have any effect on you being able to purchase Disney movies.

Let's also not forget that Disney essentially runs Movies Anywhere, the whole point of which is to get you to purchase movies from various services.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The main thing I was getting at is. Will Disney still license their content to 3rd parties like I tunes? They’ve made it clear they will pull their content from Netflix

As Cranston37 stated there are two different business models. Disney would be stupid to cut off a revenue stream from digital sales that has little bearing on their streaming service.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The main thing I was getting at is. Will Disney still license their content to 3rd parties like I tunes? They’ve made it clear they will pull their content from Netflix

As others have said, iTunes and Vudu are different business models than Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. The former offer content for purchase or rent, while the latter are monthly subscription services. Amazon Prime is a combination of both models.

 

[Cranston37+]

The more interesting question actually is - with Disney+ is there a need to purchase Disney movies at all now?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The more interesting question actually is - with Disney+ is there a need to purchase Disney movies at all now?

That’s an interesting question for which there’s probably no single one answer.

For me, I will still be buying Disney content on disc if the disc version offers me something of value that can’t be found on a streaming version. And right now, for me, that’s 3D. As long as there’s a 3D disc version of something available for purchase, I will opt for that over a 2D stream. But for content that’s only available in 2D, it may very well be a different story.

I’ve purchased many Disney titles over the years not because I wanted to watch them right in that moment, but because I didn’t want to lose my chance to get them before they went into the Vault. With that being a thing of the past, I will no longer buy Disney items that I don’t have a desire to watch in the present that are only being bought to hedge my bets in the future.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I finally found the video of the Disney + announcement.

https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/the-walt-disney-companys-2019-investor-day-webcast/

So far, I think it might be the best interface of any streaming service. It looks very easy to use. I also like how certain movies have an "Extras" button. That's a good sign that many of the special features from the physical releases will be available.

I've still got quite a bit left to watch, but so far it looks like it will exceed my initial expectations.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I took a few notes while watching the rest of the presentation:

- Having Disney characters as avatars for user profiles is a nice touch
- Mention of the content being "permanently available". That puts to rest the speculation of whether or not they will swap movies in and out of the service.

- Disney Animation covered starting at 1:10:00
- All 13 animated vault films will be available on day 1....permanently

- Pixar content discussion begins at 1:13:40
- 18 of the 21 Pixar feature films will be available on day 1
- The remaining 3 Pixar feature films (Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, Coco) will be available sometime in the first year.
- Pixar shorts will be available on day 1 (there are 21 pictured)
- 10 new Pixar shorts will premiere on day 1

- Kevin Feige introduces Marvel product at 1:19:20
- The Marvel presenation is a bit unclear. Judging by what he said and what was onscreen, It looks like the only MCU titles available on day 1 are going to be Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Iron Man 3, and Thor: Dark World? Again, it's unclear...but perhaps someone else can watch this segment and comment as to whether I'm misinterpreting something. He then goes to another screen showing MCU titles that will be available in the first year.

The missing MCU titles from the presentation are:

The Incredible Hulk
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Avengers
Avengers: Age Of Ultron
Ant-Man
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man: Far From Home

Obivously, the three films not owned by Disney aren't a surprise. However, some of the others are puzzling. I'm not sure whether there are some other sort of licensing issues, or some other reason. It's not a big deal to me since I already have the majority of these on Blu-ray, but I think it's something that's been under-reported thus far.

- Kathleen Kennedy introduces Star Wars content at 1:25:20
- Original Trilogy, Prequel Trilogy, The Force Awakens and Rogue One will be available on day 1
- The Last Jedi, Solo and Episode IX will be available during the first year
- Walt Disney Pictures content discussion begins at 1:32:30

- Recap of Disney + content begins at 1:56:20
- During the recap, the same 12 MCU titles are shown as being available during year 1 and she says "with more to come".

Perhaps on some rainy day when I have time, I'll go back through the presentation and compile a list of the confirmed catalog titles.

 

[Jake Lipson]

- The remaining 3 Pixar feature films (Incredibles 2, Toy Story 2, Coco) will be available sometime in the first year.

Incredibles 2 and Coco make sense, because they are currently licensed to Netflix. Unless Netflix wants to give them back early, which I very much doubt, Disney will have to wait for the term of Netflix's license to be up before being able to add those to Disney+. Same with The Last Jedi and Solo on the Star Wars side of things.

However, Toy Story 2 is a bit surprising because that's not new and therefore not in the Netflix deal covering 2016-18 theatrical output. So I really wonder what rights issues are holding that particular one up, especially if the other Toy Story films are going to be there at launch.

I just watched the video, and Toy Story 2 is going to be there at launch. It's Toy Story 4 that will be excluded at first, which makes sense because it's new. The Forky and Bo Peep shorts for Disney+ sound like stuff that should be on the Blu-ray releases. It will be annoying if they are excluded from the disc, although it sounds like that will be the case.

Also, Jennifer Lee said that Disney+ will be the "exclusive home of Frozen II by summer 2020, following its theatrical and traditional home entertainment releases." That should debunk the rumor that they're going to have the Disney+ release on the same day as the Blu-ray. There will still be a window. The "Into the Unknown" documentary series Jennifer Lee mentions also sounds like a Blu-ray extra. Again, if this is available for Disney+ but it's NOT included on the eventual physical Blu-ray disc for people who want to pay for that content, that's going to be annoying to me.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I just watched the video, and Toy Story 2 is going to be there at launch. It's Toy Story 4 that will be excluded at first, which makes sense because it's new.

Oops, that was a typo. I went back and fixed my original post.

Also, Jennifer Lee said that Disney+ will be the "exclusive home of Frozen II by summer 2020, following its theatrical and traditional home entertainment releases." That should debunk the rumor that they're going to have the Disney+ release on the same day as the Blu-ray. There will still be a window.

I think that's a smart move. I'm sure some will disagree, but I don't think they're going to lose a single subscriber because of the window.

 

[Cory S.]

The more interesting question actually is - with Disney+ is there a need to purchase Disney movies at all now?

Truthfully, if your connection is good enough and the fact that it looks like the special features will be included on the streaming version, I think the answer is no....especially if we get all of this/whatever titles are available in 4K.

 

[Chris Will]

For all the “available in year 1” titles, I believe I’ve read that the Netflix contract expires sometime in 2020 which is what will free those titles up.

Just imagine how this will play out if all the other studios follow the Disney+ model and pull their content from Netflix. Is the Netflix original content enough to keep people around? Probably for some, I would not be one of them. Very few of their original movies are any good and I’m only interest in a few of their original shows. I watch far more older TV shows/movie and Star Trek shows on Netflix then I do of their original stuff.

This also put Warner on notice for pricing. I don’t see how Warner can now come out with a significant higher price, even if they have more content to offer. I’d gladly pay each major studio $7 per month (Warner, Paramount, Universal) for access to their catalog. I’d also drop Netflix and Amazon Prime in the process. If Warner comes out at say $20 a month, than no way, I’ll never do that; HBO is too pricy at $15 IMO. It will be interesting to see how Disney’s announcement influences the industry. I was expecting a much higher price and a limited catalog for some reason and was absolutely floored by their announcement.

The more interesting question actually is - with Disney+ is there a need to purchase Disney movies at all now?

I think my answer is no. We switched to exclusively buying digitally through iTunes and Vudu a couple years ago. I still haven’t bought Mary Poppins Returns or Ralph Breaks the Internet. Been waiting for a good deal on a 4K code. Since Disney said that this service will support 4K, I may not buy them at all now. Just depends on how long this window between the digital purchase release and streaming release ends up being.

I think that window will eventually disappear anyway, if not one day flipping around to where they show up on streaming first and purchases second. They already try to encourage digital purchases now by releasing them a few weeks before the BD/DVD. If the streaming service catches on and eventually becomes a bigger financial success then digital/disc sales, I wouldn’t be surprised if they started pushing streaming over purchases one day.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Is the Netflix original content enough to keep people around?

I think Netflix has been long planning for this day.

For me, there's very little on Netflix in terms of original content that actually interests me. I would be able to get by pretty easily by subscribing for a month here and there to watch a specific thing and then letting the subscription lapse. But my wife finds a lot of value in their offering. Netflix also ends up encouraging people to share passwords, indirectly at least, by allowing subscriptions to work with multiple logons being used at the same time, and allowing different users within the same account to set up profiles. We don't know the numbers on how many people use Netflix without being in charge of the subscription in this manner, but I'm sure it must be a high number. I think password sharing and account swapping has become so ingrained in people's behavior that when you think one Netflix account my power two or three different households, there's probably still enough value there.

I think what's unique about the Disney+ offering is that they're pricing it so low and offering so much content, with the promise of that content not disappearing, that I think they'll be able to attract more subscribers over the long term than the other services. Disney has always had a unique relationship with customers and home video compared to every other studio, and they should be perfectly positioned to exploit that with Disney+. For what they're offering, and for how little they're charging for it, the convenience factor will be so high that it's going to be a no-brainer for a lot of people to set it and forget it.

If I had kids, I'd probably be doing cartwheels. Instead of having to having hard copies of movies which the kids could break or lose, or having to spend $20+ for each individual title the kids want to see, to just spend $7 a month and have virtually everything at the touch of a button? How do you argue with that? The downloadable option means that copies of the content could be stored on an iPad or similar device for offline viewing, which is probably more convenient for a parent in 2019 than having a disc would be. To think that you could put your kid in the carseat for a long drive or a flight or train ride, and that they could have just about every Disney movie instantly portable to make that trip go more smoothly for the kids? The vast majority of parents who already like Disney stuff are going to love this.