Disney has announced that both Disney+ and Hulu will start culling titles from their libraries starting May 26, 2023.
The Details
In the recent earnings call from The Walt Disney Company (TWDC), CFO Christine McCarthy said Disney will also be removing certain content from its streaming services as it looks to improve profitability.
“We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation that you’ve heard Bob discuss. As a result, we will be removing certain content from our streaming platforms and currently expect to take an impairment charge of approximately $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion. The charge, which will not be recorded in our segment results, will primarily be recognized in the third quarter as we complete our review and remove the content.“
And it looks like TWDC will make good on that statement with this first pull of titles. It’s important to note once these titles are pulled, residuals to the writers and actors will also end, since the series and movies can no longer be streamed.
Since this list was first announced, some titles have been removed to stay in the streaming catalog for different reasons.
Titles that have been saved since the list was posted include the 2018 documentary “Howard,” about the brilliant lyricist Howard Ashman, who collaborated with composer Alan Menken on soundtracks for several Disney animated films.
Also reportedly saved are Pixar’s “A Spark Story,” Marvel’s “MPower” (which only recently debuted on Disney+), and Marvel’s “Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever.”
If I hear of any more saves, I’ll update this list.
The Titles
Here is the current batch of titles to be pulled from Disney+ and Hulu, and I find some of them very surprising (“Harmonious Live!”??)
If you have any of these on your “to watch” list, they need to be moved to your “binge now” list immediately.
Disney+
- America the Beautiful
- Among the Stars
- Artemis Fowl
- Be Our Chef
- Better Nate Than Ever
- The Big Fib
- Big Shot
- Black Beauty
- Cheaper by the Dozen (2022)
- Clouds
- Diary of a Future President
- Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings
- Earth to Ned
- Encore!
- Flora & Ulysses
- Foodtastic
- Harmonious Live!
- It’s a Dog’s Life With Bill Farmer
- Just Beyond
- Magic Camp
- The Making of Willow
- The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers
- Marvel’s Hero Project
- More Than Robots
- The Mysterious Benedict Society
- The One and Only Ivan
- Own the Room
- Pentatonix: Around the World for the Holidays
- Pick of the Litter
- The Princess
- The Right Stuff
- The Real Right Stuff
- Rogue Trip
- Rosaline
- Shop Class
- Stargirl (2020)
- Stuntman
- Super/Natural
- Timmy Failure
- Turner & Hooch
- Weird but True!
- Willow
- Wolfgang
- The World According to Jeff Goldblum
Hulu
- Best in Dough
- Best in Snow
- Darby and the Dead
- Dollface
- Everything’s Trash
- Little Demon
- Love in the Time of Corona
- Maggie
- Pistol
- The Premise
- The Quest
- Y: The Last Man
Responses
Some creators have taken to social media to protest their shows being included in the pull:
From John Bickerstaff, a writer for the “Willow” series on Disney+, which was only cancelled two months ago:
From Phil Hay, a writer on “The Mysterious Benedict Society” series on Disney+:
And Chelsey Lora, who was also a writer on “The Mysterious Benedict Society”:
From Eliza Clark, showrunner for “Y: The Last Man” series on Hulu:
From Julia Hart, the director of both “Stargirl” and “Hollywood Stargirl” on Disney+: