Disney+ Launching Today
Disney’s $7-a-month subscription service Disney+ debuted on Tuesday in the United States, Canada and The Netherlands, offering something for all ages.
Disney says that the new service is not just for kids, and has promised that 60 million to 90 million customers could susbscribe within about five years.
Following a series of acquisitions, Disney is much more than classics like “Cinderella” and “Mary Poppins”. The company now owns the celebrated “Star Wars” movie franchise; Iron Man, the Hulk and dozens of other Marvel superheroes; “Toy Story” animation house Pixar, and nature programming channel National Geographic.
Previously released movies and TV series from all of those brands, plus 30 seasons of “The Simpsons,” are available on Disney+ alongside decades of Disney’s family-centric offerings.
The provided content includes most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Mandalorian and more. Original shows on Disney+ won't be available at once. Several new series premiered tonight, and they'll each add new episodes every Friday from now on.
All of the Star Wars movies streaming right now are available in 4K Ultra HD, a first-ever for the first seven movies in the series. Other selections that are available for the first time with 4K and HDR include Hocus Pocus, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Toy Story 1-3.
The price for all that is $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year -- there is a 7-day free trial -- while a bundle option for those who want to add ESPN+ and Hulu (with ads) to the subscription is available for $12.99 per month.
These are the devices supported at launch: Amazon FireTV and FireOS, Apple iOS, Android/Chromecast, Roku, Xbox One, PS4, LG webOS smart TVs and Samsung Smart TV.
Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio are here, along with support for downloading on up to ten mobile devices, up to four concurrent streams on each account, plus individual profiles so everyone can have their own queue.
Here's a partial list from Disney covering some of the "nearly 500 films and 7,500 episodes" available for viewing right now:
- Timeless animated films from Walt Disney Animation Studios' Walt Disney Signature Collection, created or inspired by the imagination and legacy of Walt Disney – including "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Beauty and the Beast," "Pinocchio," "Bambi," "The Lion King," "Lady and The Tramp," "Peter Pan," "The Little Mermaid," "Cinderella" and more.
- Three of the four highest-grossing films of all time: "Avengers: Endgame," Avatar," and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
- Thirty seasons of the 11-time Emmy Award-winning series "The Simpsons."
- Hit films from Marvel Studios, including "Avengers: Endgame," as well as "Captain America: Civil War," "Guardians of the Galaxy," "The Avengers," "Iron Man 3," "Doctor Strange," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," "Captain Marvel," "Iron Man," "Thor: The Dark World," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," "Iron Man 2," "Thor," "Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Captain America: The First Avenger," and "Ant-Man."
- Thousands of episodes from hit Disney Channel and Disney Junior series such as "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody," "Kim Possible," "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse," "PJ Masks," and "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" along with more than 100 Disney Channel Original Movies including "Descendants," "High School Musical," and "Camp Rock."
- 18 of Pixar Animation Studios' groundbreaking fan favorite movies including "Wall-E," "Up," "Monsters Inc.," "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles," "Toy Story," "Inside Out" and "Brave," as well as all of Pixar's beloved theatrical shorts such as the Academy Award-winning "Bao" and "Sanjay's Super Team."
- Over 400 hours of content from National Geographic, including the critically-acclaimed and award-winning documentary "Free Solo" and the streaming debut of "Science Fair."
- All six of the original classic Star Wars films released between 1977-1999, in addition to recent blockbusters "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One:
- A Star Wars Story." By the end of 2020, the entire Skywalker saga will be available on the service.
- Marvel television series from the 1970s to present day including "X-Men," "Spider-Man," and "Marvel's Runaways."
However, the launch of Walt Disney Co’s streaming hasn't been so smooth.
While trying to access the service, users were greeted by an image of “Mickey Mouse” on a blue screen, with a message asking them to exit the app and try again.
Disney says it's working quickly to address the problems which it attributes to an "incredible response" for its new service.