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Credit: Inside the Magic The way Disney approaches its Disney+ streaming service is about to change in a big way.
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It’s practically impossible to avoid Disney in this day and age, with The Walt Disney Company having a hand in nearly every form of media and entertainment product there is. In the last few decades, Disney has slowly been curing some of the biggest and most recognizable brands and franchises in history, like Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm. Disney now owns and creates original content through franchises such as Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and many more. However, Disney’s core business has always centered around creating unique and original stories through animation.
This mission dates back all the way to 1937 when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in theaters. This film would single-handily set Disney on a path that would lead to where it is today, a company that brings in billions in revenue annually. However, not everything is perfect, even at Disney, with the company posting significant losses in one major area.
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The Walt Disney Company launched its streaming service Disney+ in 2019, with the platform quickly becoming one of the most popular choices in the streaming wars. Disney+ had some stiff competition, with industry juggernauts like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video all having years of success behind them. However, Disney+ became a success almost instantly, mostly due to its impressive collection of content. Disney+ is the home of classic Disney films, both animated and live-action. Disney+ also features a wide range of Marvel and Star Wars content, which has significantly beefed up its subscriber count.
By the end of the fiscal fourth quarter, Disney+ reached a whopping 150 million subscribers, which is up from 147 million in the previous quarter.
Unfortunately, Disney+ has failed to become profitable for The Walt Disney Company, even four years later. As we reported here at Inside the Magic a few weeks ago, The Walt Disney Company posted a whopping $387 million in losses during Q4 of 2023. Despite this number being quite large, it actually represents a year-over-year improvement of 74% from a loss of $1.4 billion in Q4 of 2022. At Disney’s Q2 call earlier in 2023, Disney+ reportedly lost a total of four million subscribers.
These losses make Disney’s recent announcement that much more interesting.
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Disney recently revealed that it would be bringing not one but three feature-length films to theaters in 2024 for the first time ever. The three films include Pixar’s Turning Red (2022), Soul (2020), and Luca (2021), all three of which originally premiered on Disney+ and were seen as Disney+ originals.
Part of the reason Disney switched its focus from theatrical premiers to at-home viewing is the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020. Disney was far from the only company affected, but Disney was dealt a massive blow as a result, with dozens of movies and shows coming to a halt.
You fell in love with them 😍…now experience them on the 👏BIGGEST👏SCREEN👏POSSIBLE!!!
Disney and Pixar’s Soul, Turning Red, and Luca are coming to theaters in 2024! pic.twitter.com/Y20K1ELoPk
— Pixar (@Pixar) December 5, 2023
It’s really exciting to see Disney shift its focus back to physical theaters when it comes to animated features. That is not to say that Disney has stopped releasing animated movies in theaters entirely, with recent films like Strange World (2022) and Lightyear (2022) having traditional theatrical releases.
The decision to bring these three Pixar films to theaters for the first time indicates Disney realizes there’s still a huge market for these films and is seeking to give fans a more traditional way to experience them on the “biggest screen possible.” We’re incredibly excited that we will have a chance to watch these movies on the big screen, and we hope Disney prioritizes theatrical releases even more in the future.
Will you be watching these movies in theaters? Do you enjoy using Disney+?