Disney+

[Nick]

Speaking as someone working in the industry: the perception is Disney is the only entity with the critical mass capable of originating and sustaining compelling content worthy of an individual subscription price outside of the big 3 (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu).

We'll see if they botch this, but the industry expectation is they will become the #2 to Netflix within a year or so of launch.

Yeah, I see them getting subscribers at a rapid pace once this launches. The launch will be crucial as they will want to make sure that initial users are spreading good word of mouth. With the large catalog Disney possesses, this service will appeal to pretty much those of all ages as yes, you have your princess fare and other WDAS/Pixar content for younger ones, but then you have Marvel and Star Wars for a more male oriented demographic that spans a wide age range for both. The Muppets are a completely separate, quirky kind of appeal. Then of course there's just things like Sister Act 3, which will give people who liked the first two films a reason to try out the service. They are even going to be reaching into some niche areas with the WDI docuseries and things like that. Not sure what stuff from Fox will be on Disney+ vs. Hulu.

I've gone over some of that before, but it really can't be overstated. The amount of content and broad appeal means that there will be something for everyone, which will be especially handy when families are thinking about getting the service.

 

[HereWeGo]

Then of course there's just things like Sister Act 3

I have no idea how this is the first time I have heard that this is a thing. Sister Act 1 & 2 are guilty pleasures... Actually screw that. There's no guilt involved watching those. They're hilarious.

 

[Doug A.]

I have no idea how this is the first time I have heard that this is a thing. Sister Act 1 & 2 are guilty pleasures... Actually screw that. There's no guilt involved watching those. They're hilarious.

I am in the same boat I didn’t know it was a thing until @Nick brought it up. Yes they are hilarious movies and the amount of times I have watched them with my wife (she absolutely loves them) I could quote it start to finish.

 

[Nick]

I have no idea how this is the first time I have heard that this is a thing. Sister Act 1 & 2 are guilty pleasures... Actually screw that. There's no guilt involved watching those. They're hilarious.

I am in the same boat I didn’t know it was a thing until @Nick brought it up. Yes they are hilarious movies and the amount of times I have watched them with my wife (she absolutely loves them) I could quote it start to finish.

Only reason I even know it's a thing is because I keep up with the programming that's scheduled for Disney+.

 

[Doug A.]

I’m glad somebody does for the rest of us :thumbsup:

 

[Nick]

It's not my preferred route and the budget would definitely be sliced, but i'd love to see Tron 3 get made someday and honestly it feels like Disney+ is the best shot that it has at getting made. For all intents and purposes, Disney will be releasing twice as many films per year (pure Disney films) now once Disney+ launches. Most of the theatrical movies being big budget and the Disney+ movies being smaller-budget (mostly meaning most will be straight live action, meaning limited to no CGI involved).

Fox will mean they will be almost tripling their output. I'm sure Fox will be scaled back as far as their releases go, but between the Fox studios, I still expect about 8-10 per year.

 

[Andysol]

Most of the theatrical movies being big budget and the Disney+ movies being smaller-budget (mostly meaning most will be straight live action, meaning limited to no CGI involved).

Correct. And, of course by “live action”, we don’t really mean “action”. Specifically they’ll be character focused drama, thriller, etc. that we’ve seen from content such as Netflix.

 

[quinnmac000]

Disney+: A Comprehensive Guide to All Its Programming (So Far) | Hollywood Reporter

The biggest issue i forsee is the rather weak selection of non blockbuster based original series....

 

[Imperius]

Is it getting The Office? If not I’m out. Kidding. I will take a look at it for the backlog of Disney movies and go from there. At the point now though where it’s costing way too much for the amount of streaming services needed.

 

[Nick]

Disney+: A Comprehensive Guide to All Its Programming (So Far) | Hollywood Reporter

The biggest issue i forsee is the rather weak selection of non blockbuster based original series....

I mean, if those "blockbuster" series' are really good/great though, does it matter if it's not original? When buying a subscription to Disney+, the GP is buying in for the IPs anyway.

Obviously it's a wait and see on how good the content is, but that's a given.

 

[Clive]

With the casting news, I wanted to be excited about Monsters at Work... but there are a few obvious caveats.

• What is the quality of the animation? Not sure we've seen a Pixar property translated into ongoing television animation before.
• What's the targeted age range here? The guy working on this did Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which doesn't inspire much confidence.
• Are Mike & Sully bit/cameo players? Kind of sounds like the show isn't based around them.

 

[TheGentTrent]

With the casting news, I wanted to be excited about Monsters at Work... but there are a few obvious caveats.

• What is the quality of the animation? Not sure we've seen a Pixar property translated into ongoing television animation before.
• What's the targeted age range here? The guy working on this did Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which doesn't inspire much confidence.
• Are Mike & Sully bit/cameo players? Kind of sounds like the show isn't based around them.

There was a Buzz Lightyear show in the early 2000s, but that was hand-drawn and not computer animation. Chances are Pixar will use the latter to be seen as a more enticing way of drawing people in to watch.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I'm suspecting, Disney Television will make a play similar to what they've done with shows like Tangled and Big Hero 6; resulting to 2D Animation as opposed to 3D.

I would love to see Pixar try to tackle 3D Televised animation, but I somewhat doubt it.

 

[quinnmac000]

‘High Fidelity’ Series Reboot Moves From Disney+ To Hulu | Deadline

Kinda figured it would as I don't know how they would "family" the original since it was rated R

 

[bob albert]

Disney owns 40% of media now. They have waited this long in order to gather data from other services while the market for streaming is not yet mature and while they could milk desperate cable services as much as possible. Now they are in a market where people are comfortable cutting the cord and streaming. How many people out there are going to pay for much more than Disney/Netflix/maybe amazon (as a bonus to the people who have prime)? I guess hulu will do alright given their selection but not as well as Disney most likely. It will be interesting how much ESPN even matters to Disney in the streaming realm. That business model was based on milking desperate cable and we could see them bid less on sports content in the future.

 

[Nick]

Disney owns 40% of media now. They have waited this long in order to gather data from other services while the market for streaming is not yet mature and while they could milk desperate cable services as much as possible. Now they are in a market where people are comfortable cutting the cord and streaming. How many people out there are going to pay for much more than Disney/Netflix/maybe amazon (as a bonus to the people who have prime)? I guess hulu will do alright given their selection but not as well as Disney most likely. It will be interesting how much ESPN even matters to Disney in the streaming realm. That business model was based on milking desperate cable and we could see them bid less on sports content in the future.

I see them selling ESPN as time goes on. I know live sports is something that can't be knocked because it's one of the few things people will actually watch live these days, but the rights are super expensive, plus paying their anchors and TV personalities. It all adds up and ESPN really doesn't make that much money anymore and I actually see it as a diminishing asset. But of course maybe ESPN+ will save them.

 

[belloq87]

Disney+: A Comprehensive Guide to All Its Programming (So Far) | Hollywood Reporter

The biggest issue i forsee is the rather weak selection of non blockbuster based original series....

Honestly, the STAR WARS shows and INK & PAINT are really the only series I envision myself watching (the Marvel stuff runs the risk of diluting the "event" status of the MCU, I think), and none of the movies sound terribly thrilling.

So it's looking like having the entire theatrical Disney catalogue on there (supposedly) is really my main selling point at this stage.

 

[Nick]

‘High Fidelity’ Series Reboot Moves From Disney+ To Hulu | Deadline

Kinda figured it would as I don't know how they would "family" the original since it was rated R

I did always find it weird that a High Fidelity series was part of the show line-up. Could be a big boon for Hulu, though. Haven't been interested in most of their originals, but I am at least interested in what this show is to follow up on reviews for it and potentially check it out.

 

[MrRoamer]

I think with the advances that have been made in computer hardware, quality full scale 3D CGI may not be that far off anymore. The biggest things to tackle are getting the technology in place (rendering engines, model designs, skeletons, atmosphere, etc) which has already been done in the full length movie. This is translating all the outputs of that work and then knocking out episodes. I'm not even sure rendering time is as big a hurdle anymore with AWS, Azure, etc plus adding in Pixar and Disney's actual render farms.

Monsters Inc is probably a safe bet because most of the characters and environments are simple with the main exception being Sully.

 

[belloq87]

I'd be more skeptical about the quality of the writing than the quality of the animation.