I’ve already seen The Mandalorian seven times now and it’s only the first day.
Disney+ launched officially today, although somehow I was able to watch it last night around 10pm on our Roku. In that time, I went to sleep, took my daughter to school, did some shopping, and STILL watched The Mandalorian over half a dozen times. Part of that is because it is SUCH a good show. But part of it…there isn’t much else to watch.
Don’t get me wrong. There is PLENTY of content on the new streaming service and I spent about an hour just looking at the different titles available. If you wanted to watch most of the Disney classics, you could spend a few days just watching that. Everything from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to modern classics like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast are available. Even some lesser known Disney animated films like The Black Cauldron and The Three Caballeros are here. Classic Mickey and Minnie cartoons can also be found – Steamboat Willie, The Band Concert, and Hawaiian Holiday just to name a few. Personally, I was surprised to find one of my favorites on here – The Reluctant Dragon.
And if you’re a fan of some of those older live action films like The Parent Trap (the Haley Mills version AND the modern one), Freaky Friday (again both the Jodie Foster version and the modern one as well as the musical one), The Love Bug, or The Absent-Minded Professor, you’ll find hours and hours more to watch. There were some I had never even heard of like Candleshoe (also featuring Jodie Foster, Helen Hayes, and David Niven) that just went on my watchlist.
BUT there’s a serious lack of original programming. Beyond The Mandalorian there is the live-action adaptation of Lady and the Tramp (looks promising), High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (which admittedly I am intrigued with), The Imagineering Story (have to watch because I’m fascinated by Imagineering), and since Christmas is just around the corner, I do want to watch Noelle starring Anna Kendrick. But the rest? I’m skeptical about. Encore! is just about a bunch of older people like me trying to reclaim their glory days back in high school. The World According to Jeff Goldblum is a docu-series that explores sort of whatever Jeff wants to know more about. And the rest is pretty much not interesting at all. You can tell Disney isn’t all that interested in them either because they list the shows pretty much in the order they think will appeal to audiences with The Mandalorian and Lady and the Tramp leading off and the rest following. At the bottom of the list – Disney Family Sundays. You might think it’s a new version of The Wonderful World of Disney which I loved, but no. This one is a series on the love of CRAFTING and DIY projects with kids. Yawn….
Also, what’s worse is that Disney is rolling these out ONE AT A TIME! I love the Netflix way. Let me binge watch please. I’m happy to tell everyone I know about it. But with the launch of a new streaming service, I want to see what I just purchased. To be honest, I own quite a bit of the movies and shows already listed. And while it’s great to have them all in one place and not have to load up the DVD player, what I signed up for was original content. I’m betting most of you have, too. At the very least, they could have released the first three episodes of each series so we get a real flavor for the series. Who knows? Maybe the first episode of Disney Family Sundays looks like a complete snooze-fest, but maybe the second would have tempted me to watch. No such luck now. That is definitely on the “pass” list. Also, Disney listed a bunch of movies that aren’t even available yet. I’m looking at The Mighty Ducks (a classic underdog story) but it says it’s coming July 1, 2020! Really? Why even list it then? That’s not actually content. Get my hopes up only to dash them to the ground.
Overall, I’m sticking with Disney+. There is a TON of content for the Disney fan and there’s lots of great stuff for kids, families, and adults. There are some genuine classics, some fan favorites, and some off the wall stuff maybe I would never watch, but someone will and be happy that it’s there. And I can’t wait for all the new original material that’s been promised – Clone Wars Season 7, WandaVision, Loki, the unnamed Obi-Wan Kenobi live action, and the list goes on. But for all the fanfare, they could have released more original programming right out of the gate. It’s pretty light and watching only one episode at a time makes for impatient viewing. Now, excuse me while I watch The Three Musketeers with a very young Chris O’Donnell, Charlie Sheen, Oliver Platt and Kiefer Sutherland.
Disney Nerds 