Disney+ "Bans" Children From Platform, Removes Kids Content Entirely

Disney+ is one of Disney’s biggest financial arms of the company, but now, it seems children are being banned from content that was once made for them.

Once hailed as a savior for the Walt Disney Company, Disney+ emerged as a brainchild of the current CEO, Bob Iger. This streaming service witnessed unprecedented growth, quickly becoming the go-to platform for all things Disney. However, the fortuitous timing of its creation coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the shutdown of Disney parks and a subsequent loss of revenue for months.

During the Q3 2023 Earnings Call this summer, Disney reported a 9% increase in direct-to-consumer sales. Despite this, Disney+ subscribers saw a decline to 146.1 million, falling short of Disney’s target of 154.8 million. The “core” consumer base increased by 1%, but a noticeable trend emerged as subscribers started dropping off. This decline is attributed to Disney scaling back its content offerings, impacting the audience who regularly pays for these services on a month-to-month basis.

Bob Iger, Disney CEO, acknowledged the rise in Disney+ prices and highlighted that 40% of users have opted for ad-supported Disney+ subscription services. Additionally, the US now offers ad-free bundles for Disney+ and Hulu at a higher cost, contributing to increased Disney+ revenue. However, this move has drawn criticism as it adds expenses without introducing additional content; in fact, the service has been detracting and removing existing content.

As subscribers first enrolled in Disney+, they sought access to an extensive Disney library with the convenience of having all their favorite content in one digital space. Gone were the days of buying DVDs or searching for Disney classics online; everything was now at their fingertips. However, recognizing the need to compete with major streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney extended beyond its existing repertoire and ventured into producing exclusive Disney+ content.

This realization marked a significant surge in content creation, propelling Disney+ into the ranks of the largest streaming services. The platform not only became a repository of beloved Disney classics but also a hub for a diverse array of original and exclusive content, catering to the evolving preferences of viewers in the competitive streaming landscape.

Now, there are tons of options when it comes to original Disney+ programming: The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Loki, The Simpsons, and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Users can also watch iconic movies like Soul, Elemental, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, The Lion King, Frozen, Moana, Avengers: Endgame, Tangled, and more.

That being said, we are still seeing that content is being removed, and while that is happening, prices are hiking upward. Disney has also cracked down on password sharing, meaning that now, users must live in the same house in order to share their Disney+ account.

Related: Disney Deletes Classic Character From Film to “Protect” Kids, Updates Revealed

Recently, Disney has made some changes to its content in the form of warnings, as well as entirely removing some films due to their racial undertones.

In the past, we shared that Disney added warnings to films like Dumbo, Peter Pan, The Aristocats, and more.

Initially, these warnings were placed solely at the conclusion of the film’s descriptions, appearing before the “watch now” option. However, a recent observation indicates a shift, with these advisories now being displayed after the movie starts and before the film commences. Movies affected by this updated warning placement include Dumbo, The Jungle Book, the original Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan, and Swiss Family Robinson.

The following warning is what viewers will see: 

“This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or culture. These stereotypes were wrong then and wrong now. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknlowedge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. Disney is committed to creating stories with inspiration and aspirational themes that reflect the rich diversity of the human experience around the globe. To learn more about how stories have impacted society visit www.Disney.com/StoriesMatter.”

While the warning was added, we recently noticed that Disney removed one of the films that initially had the warning from the platform entirely, The Aristocats. 

Now, one parent noticed that on the child settings on Disney+, multiple children’s shows have been removed but are still available for adults.

The parent wrote, “Obvious kids’ content suddenly rated for adults?”.

They continued, “So my 2.5 year old is obsessed with Monsters University and Bear in the Big Blue House. I noticed one day it was gone from my son’s kids account. But I could watch them on my account. I contacted support, and they said it was rated MA, and that’s why. I asked her if she was familiar with them because they are clearly kids content and they were on his account before. She said she’d never seen them and insisted it was MA. So I asked again why it would be on his kid’s account for so long and suddenly be rated MA. In the end, she said it might be a glitch.”

In the end, however, it appears that this was not a glitch but a by-product of the ad-supported tiers that have launched.

One reader replied to the parent, stating, “They’re not rated MA; they’re rated G and TV-Y, respectively in the US. However, what happened is they removed all the popular movies from the kids section because the ad-supported tier launched in a bunch of new countries, and since kids’ profiles won’t play ads on an ad-supported plan, they don’t want adults on ad-supported plans watching the popular G-rated movies in kids’ profiles as a loophole to not get ads.

Even if you’re on an ad-free plan, they still made this change because I guess their IT is too lazy/incompetent to only make the changes for ad-supported plans. It sounds like the support lady has absolutely no clue what she was talking about (and that’s ridiculous if she was never informed of this change to kids’ profiles due to ads).”

So, parents who are looking to see why content is disappearing from their kids’ Disney+ accounts will likely have to turn their accounts into adult ones, in order for them to see the missing content and, therefore, be shown ads unless a higher tier is selected to avoid them.

Do you think that Disney+ is becoming too costly? Are you still a subscriber?