Disney+

Disney+
Launched	November 12, 2019
Owned by	Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (The Walt Disney Company)
Country	United States
Website	https://www.disneyplus.com

Disney+ (pronounced Disney Plus) is a streaming service produced by the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution unit of the Walt Disney Company. It launched on November 12, 2019.

History

It started as a domestic service in the United States, and then expanded internationally after Fall 2019. The service is the exclusive home to Disney-owned original content from the likes of The Walt Disney Company, Pixar, Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, properties from 20th Century Studios, and National Geographic respectively.

Disney+ relies on technology developed by Disney Streaming Services, which was originally established as BAMTech in 2015 when it was spun off from MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM). Disney increased its ownership share of BAMTech to a controlling stake in 2017, and subsequently transferred ownership to DTCI as part of a corporate restructuring in anticipation of Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox. With BAMTech helping to launch ESPN+ in early 2018, and Disney's streaming distribution deal with Netflix ending in 2019, Disney took the opportunity to use technologies being developed for ESPN+ to establish a Disney-branded streaming service that would feature its content. Production of films and television shows for exclusive release on the platform began in late 2017.

Disney+ was launched on November 12, 2019, in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands, and expanded to Australia, New Zealand, and Puerto Rico a week later. It became available in select European countries in March 2020 and in India in April through Star India's Hotstar streaming service, which was rebranded as Disney+ Hotstar. Additional European countries received the service in September 2020, with the service expanding to Latin America in November 2020. Upon launch, it was met with positive reception of its content library, but was criticized for technical problems. Alterations made to films and television shows also attracted media attention. Ten million users had subscribed to Disney+ by the end of its first day of operation. The service had 103 million global subscribers as of April 2021.

Content

The service is built around content from Disney's main entertainment studios and film and television library, including Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Disneynature, Disneytoon Studios, Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, National Geographic, and select films from 20th Century Studios, Hollywood Pictures, Searchlight Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, and Caravan Pictures. The service will operate alongside Hulu, which Disney gained a controlling stake in following their purchase of 21st Century Fox. Bob Iger stated that at launch Disney+ would be focused specifically on family-oriented entertainment (and not carry any R and NC-17 or TV-MA-rated content), and that Hulu would remain oriented towards general entertainment. After a while, Hulu began to host Disney+ as an add-on service for their current subscribers.

Trivia

In early May 2020, Jerry Bruckheimer revealed in an interview with Collider that a National Treasure television series was in the works for Disney+. The series would follow the same concept as the films with a younger cast. The script for the pilot was completed, with plotting for the story continued for the rest of the episodes. In March 2021, Disney officially greenlit the series. The series's title was revealed in July 2022, ahead of its panel at San Diego Comic-Con.

External Link(s)

• Watch National Treasure: Edge of History on Disney+