Everything We Learned From the Disney+ Presentation

After months and months of talking about its new streaming service, The Walt Disney Company finally rolled out all of the details that fans have been waiting to hear. On Thursday, Disney hosted a three-hour event at its 2019 Investor Day dedicated to the various streaming platforms. This includes Hulu, ESPN+, and the soon-to-be-launched Disney+.

A lot of time was spent on Disney+, and for good reason, has fans of the Mouse have been anxious to learn about the details of this new streaming service, and whether or not Disney could follow through on its lofty plans. Well, with that presentation yesterday, Disney didn’t just meet expectations. Disney completely raised the bar, changing the way we will look at streaming services going forward.

From its launch date to its cost, and everything in between, we learned quite a lot about the specifics of Disney+ on Thursday. There was also a ton of information about library that will be available when the service launches.

Let’s break it down.

Cheaper Than Netflix

One of the biggest selling points for Disney+ is it’s incredibly reasonable subscription price. When the service arrives later this year, it will cost $6.99 per month. If you go for an annual subscription, you’ll pay a yearly fee of $69.99, which averages out to around $5.80 each month.

This is already a super cheap price point for any subscription service, but with all of the Disney content that comes with it, this feels like a steal.

Most importantly, Disney+ is about half the cost of a regular Netflix subscription, which will be a major blow to the streaming giant once people start signing up.

Arriving in November

When Disney first announced its streaming service more than a year ago, it came with the promise that Disney+ would arrive in late 2019. Well, the company certainly kept that promise.

It was revealed on Thursday that Disney+ will officially launch on November 12th. Disney also noted that the goal was to move the service into more and more territories around the globe as time goes on. There has been no word at this time when various countries will get access to Disney+.

Content Library

The content library on Disney+ is easily going to be the most exciting roster that any streaming service has been able to put together to this point. Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Star Wars, Disney Channel, and so many other brands are owned by Disney and are going to be available on the new streaming service.

When Disney+ launches, every single animated classic will be available to stream, as will almost every MCU, Pixar, and Star Wars movie (save for those that have just released). Once a new movie runs through theaters and has its home video release, it will become available on Disney+. The same goes for the shows that have aired on Disney Channel over the years. 

As an added bonus, thanks to the recent merger of Disney and Fox, all 30 seasons of The Simpsons will stream exclusively on Disney+.

Marvel Cinematic Universe Originals

In addition to the existing MCU movies, Disney+ will release several original TV series that take place within the MCU. These shows, per Kevin Feige, will have the same feel and tone of the movie, using large budgets to keep everything consistent. 

Not only that, but these shows will be a part of the MCU canon. Everything that happens in these series will affect the characters in the movies and vice versa. Many of the same actors will be appearing on both mediums.

So far, Marvel has confirmed three different series for Disney+. The first will focus on Loki’s past, with Tom Hiddleston once again playing the character. WandaVision will tell the story of Vision and Scarlet Witch, with both Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprising their roles. Lastly, Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie will return to play Winter Soldier and Falcon in a series of their own.

Feige also confirmed that an animated What If? series was in the works, and it would feature the voices of MCU alumni and veterans.

Star Wars

There are a lot of plans for Star Wars on the Disney+ and the timing of the streaming service’s launch couldn’t be any better for the franchise.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga, and the last big screen Star Wars adventure for some time. Luckily Disney+ will be around to fill that void.

The first live-action Star Wars TV series is Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian, and the first episodes of the show will be made available at launch. Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that other Star Wars programs were in development but chose not to reveal any details just yet. The beloved animated series The Clone Wars will also be returning for a new season on Disney+.

Pixar

In addition to streaming all of the Pixar feature films and shorts, Disney+ will be home to some new original projects from the world of Pixar.

The most high profile of these titles is Monsters at Work, a serialized sequel to Monsters, Inc. While the show is set to focus on a couple of younger employees trying to make a career on the Laugh Floor, franchise stars John Goodman and Billy Crystal will reprise their roles as Sulley and Mike.

There will also be Pixar-themed shorts and miniseries coming to Disney+. There are already projects set around Bo Peep and Forky from Toy Story 4 in the works.

Original Movies and Shows

There will be plenty of new content from these existing franchise, but Disney+ is also working on several projects that aren’t directly related to its biggest sellers. There are movies and TV shows in development from all corners of Disney’s expansive library.

One of these projects is a follow-up TV series based on High School Musical, which follows a group of students putting on a show based on the original movie. There is also a live-action Lady and the Tramp film that will be available at launch and a Christmas adventure movie called Noelle, starring Anna Kendrick, that will arrive closer to the holidays.

Ads and Downloads

Disney+ will have a lot of awesome titles to watch at any given moment, but the service will also have a couple of very exciting features as well.

Chief among them is the ability to download titles to use offline. Every single title on Disney+ will be able to be downloaded by a subscriber, and there are no limits to the amount of things someone can download. This will allow you to watch all of your favorite Disney movies and shows on the go.

Another great tidbit we learned on Thursday is that Disney+ will not utilize ads. Unlike Hulu, where you can pay extra to get rid of advertisements, Disney+ will offer streaming uninterrupted, all the time.