Disney Plus A Real Threat to Netflix

Netflix should be worried about Disney Plus, its newest competitor.

With Netflix plans starting at $8.99 a month to $15.99 a month, it is a bit more expensive than Disney Plus’ $6.99 a month. If you are also a sports fan or still want to watch “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Hulu, Disney Plus offers the full package of Disney plus, ESPN, and Hulu for $12.99 a month. 

“I genuinely love Disney Plus,” said Chaminade sophomore Je’sha-Ariana Outlaw-Pila. “And not just because of the hype that has surrounded it these past few months. Disney Plus is giving me the option to relive my childhood, because as a college student, I feel like watching some of my old childhood shows allows me to stress less about school and gives me a clear head space so that I can get back to my school work without overwhelming myself.”

Disney Plus now offers new shows like “Star Wars: The Mandalorian” or “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” which appeals more toward the newer generation compared to shows like “Jonas” or “Boy Meets World,” which may appeal to more of the older demographic. These are shows that all family members can now enjoy together and make those new memories with kids or with friends or significant others who have not gotten the chance to experience their childhood shows from Disney.  Not only are you able to watch anything Disney, but also traveling into the world of Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, and National Geographic.

“I would consider getting Disney Plus,” said CUH sophomore Josephine Iose. “But the only thing that is stopping me is that it’s not like Netflix where you are able to watch multiple movies on different accounts and the quality between the older movies like the ‘The Thirteenth Year’ (1999) and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019).” 

Shows and movies that are currently on Disney Plus are “The Simpsons,” “Avatar,” “Remember The Titans,” “The Sandlot,” “Wall E” and so many other movies and TV shows that customers look forward to and have been scouring the internet for.

Disney Plus is also looking to add to its list of movies and TV shows. According to Newsweek, Marvel has many movies that will be coming out between 2020 and 2021 such as “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (late 2020), or “Loki” (spring 2021). Star Wars looks to add “The Last Jedi,” “Solo,” and “Rise of Skywalker” by November 2020. The series “The Clone Wars” looks to be arriving February 2020. Disney will look to put out “Monsters at Work” (2020) which is inspired by the characters of Monsters Inc, “Phineas and Ferb the Movie” (2020), “Greek Freak” and many other new movies and TV shows.

Disney Plus already has 10 million subscribers, according to Hawaii News Now. Disney Plus is offering a free seven-day trial, which may interest many trial customers into buying the monthly service or being able to use multiple platforms like Hulu or ESPN. Verizon is also offering customers a free year of Disney Plus. Disney is pulling ahead of its competitors and reaching out to many different sources to help boost numbers. 

With all the Disney movies and shows that have made their way back, Disney also sent out a reminder that many of the movies are culturally outdated, according to Hawaii News Now. Many of the older movies like “Dumbo” have negative references to people of color. “This Program is presented as originally Created.It may contain outdated cultural depictions,” according to Time. Time says that Disney’s disclaimers are a good way to talk to children about racism that happened in history and that these images should be shown instead of being deleted.    

When using the streaming service, it allows you to watch on web browsers, and mobile devices such as apple and Android, smart TVs, game consoles and streaming devices such as Chromebook and Apple AirPlay according to Business Insider in 2019.