Since the time that Disney+ launched a year ago, multiple other streaming services have come and gone. Quibi was a massive failure. Peacock had a rocky start due to COVID postponing the Olympics (and many of its original shows), HBO Max has dissolved DC Universe and even CBS All Access has changed its name recently. The only streaming service that has flown under the weather is Apple TV+ (For better or worse). Meanwhile in the last year, Disney+ has become a formidable rival with Netflix while only releasing a sliver of the original content. Sure, because of the global pandemic, many of the plans for Disney+ has changed, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes for the weirder. There have been hits, misses, and well, whatever "Artemis Fowl" was. Here's my list of the biggest surprises (good and bad) from Disney+ year one: Hamilton was a massive hit for Disney. While nobody knows just how much money the staged production could have brought in at the theatres a year from now, it became the talk of the town (again) this summer. (And it was amazing to witness regardless of how many times you had seen the show or listened to the soundtrack. Arguably the biggest hit from Disney+ has been Star Wars: The Mandalorian. Now airing its season 2, the only show from launch that has had a second season, fan reaction is still going strong. The only other Star Wars show that Disney+ has aired was season seven of The Clone Wars, which was also a hit. Spin offs like The Bad Batch, and original shows like Kenobi and a Rogue One spin-off are also on the way. Disney+ has become home to some stellar documentaries including "Disney Gallery," "The Making of Frozen 2," "Howard," and "The Real Right Stuff." Short form animation has also been big for the streaming service, banking on characters like Olaf and the toys from "Toy Story." Many other shorts are on the way like "The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special" and "The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse." Theatrical releases like "Mulan" and "Artemis Fowl" came to the service, though neither one made much of a splash. And while Marvel was crucial to the marketing of the streaming service, we have yet to receive any content from the House of Ideas. That said, "Wandavision," "Falcon and Winter Soldier," "Loki," "She-Hulk," "Ms. Marvel," "Moon Knight," "Marvel's What If," "Marvel's 616," and a rumored Nick Fury show are on the way. It would be good to note that while new content from the MCU has been absent from the service, the past year took the time to build up legacy content and the MCU films as contracts with other streamers ran out. Now for original content: "Clouds," "The Right Stuff," "Phineas and Ferb: Candace Against the Universe," "Timmy Failure," and "Secret Society for Second Born Royals" were fun romps while "Lady and the Tramp," "The One and Only Ivan," "Togo," "Noelle," and "Magic Camp" were just all right. The only TV shows beyond launch (so excluding HSM:TM:TS) that was actually decent was "The Right Stuff" and "Diary of a Future President," while the new Muppets episodes were rough. So what's next? November sees the premiere of "Black Beauty" and the aforementioned Mickey Mouse cartoon and Lego Holiday special.
December sees the release of Pixar's "Soul" and "WandaVision" as well as the finale of "The Mandalorian" and a Holiday special of HSM:TM:TS. But what about 2021? If 2020 was any indicator, the streaming service will continue to fill out its catalog and offer more original content as the pandemic allows it. I hope to not see any more theatrical movies being pushed onto the service, but understand why it is necessary. I imagine 2021 will be a big year for Marvel on Disney+ while we wait for Mandalorian season 3 in the fall.
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Erick L. Graham Wood
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