Disney+ Announces End of Streaming Service as We Know It

Disney+ will look a lot different in the future.

The Walt Disney Company announced it would enter the streaming arena in August 2017. In November 2019, Disney+ officially launched in the United States, and content from the last century of Disney entertainment trickled onto the platform. Content from Disney-owned properties like 20th Century FOX, Hulu, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm also eventually made its way onto Disney+.

During its first few years of operation, Disney+ tried different profit-making strategies, from charging extra for the newest films like the live-action Mulan (2020) to adding an ad-tier plan in 2022. In recent years, Disney+ has raised prices and cracked down on password sharing, forcing those caught logging in on multiple devices to upgrade their plan or make separate accounts.

As of the first quarter of 2025, Disney+ boasts more than 125 million subscribers worldwide. This was the third consecutive profitable quarter for the streaming service, which struggled to achieve profitability in the years after its debut. But as Disney+ looks to the future, it’s preparing to make some major changes.

According to an exclusive report from The Hollywood Reporter, Walt Disney Animation Studios has decided not to scrap all future long-form animation projects for Disney+. A spokesperson for Disney told THR that this announcement would result in layoffs at its Vancouver studio.

Among the scrapped Walt Disney Animation Studios projects are the Tiana series starring Anika Noni Rose, based on The Princess and the Frog (2009), and an untitled feature-length project intended exclusively for Disney+.

Walt Disney Animation Studios plans to focus its energy on one major theatrical release per year, in addition to shorts and other surprise projects. Zootopia 2, a sequel to the wildly successful 2016 film, will premiere on November 26, 2025.

The decision to halt long-form Disney animation content on streaming follows the risky move Disney announced in February 2024. Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the long-form animated series based on Moana (2016) intended for Disney+ was being redeveloped into a theatrical release. Moana 2 (2024) premiered last November to massive box office success.

Short-form content performs well on Disney+. Perhaps the most iconic example is Bluey, an Australian animated series that Disney licenses for U.S. release. Walt Disney Animation Studios has also created its own short-form content for Disney+, including Zootopia+ and Baymax!. It’s unclear whether Disney will release more original short-form series in lieu of long-form, Disney+ exclusive animation content.

Pixar made a similar announcement last year, revealing that it would not prioritize long-form episodic content after the premiere of its Disney+ series Win or Lose. The show premiered on February 19, 2025.

What’s your favorite Walt Disney Animation Studios project on Disney+? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments!