Life was much simpler when we were younger and a killer Friday night meant inviting friends over for pizza and turning on the tv to find that Disney (DIS) channel was airing one of their famous Disney Channel Original Movies, or “DCOMs,” for people in the know. These iconic films taught us youths the many life lessons that would allow us to grow into the adults that we are today.
For example, in the film, “Smart House,” we learned the importance of never growing too dependent on technology lest it rise against us and try to take over. In “Moto-Crossed,” we were taught about gender stereotypes and that women deserve to be respected in all sports, especially in professional dirt bike racing. All in all, these films were a testament to Disney’s commitment to shaping the lives of young people through creative, colorful content.
Ultimately, these films were placed in the Disney Vault, a secret location containing limited releases of other Disney (DIS) films that rarely saw the light of day. When Disney (DIS) would release a film from their vault, consumers would go crazy and buy these DVDs and VHS tapes to add to their home video collections, but the era of streaming killed the DVD star.
The age of sites like Netflix (NFLX), Amazon Prime Video (AMZN), and others have buried discs and tapes far beneath the Earth’s surface, with no intention of letting them see the light of day. Several months ago, Bob Iger, Disney’s (DIS) Chief Executive Officer, shared with the world that the wonderful world of Mickey Mouse, Space Mountain, and Hannah Montana would soon have a place on the Company’s streaming platform, “Disney +.”
Given the cult affinity for films from the Disney (DIS) vault, Bob Iger announced at the Company’s most recent shareholder meeting, that the Disney + streaming service would include the “entire Disney motion picture library,” including films currently resting peacefully in the vault.
“The service, which I mentioned earlier is going to launch later in the year, is going to combine what we call library product, movies, and television, with a lot of original product as well, movies and television. At some point fairly soon after launch it will house the entire Disney motion picture library , so that movies that you speak of that traditionally have been kept in a vault and brought out basically every few years will be on the service…”
–Bob Iger, Chief Executive Officer, Disney
Iger made it clear to shareholders, as well as the informed public, that certain films would not be made available to Disney + users, due to the fact that some content reflects the Company’s dark past. Believe it or not, there was a time when Disney (DIS) produced Nazi-related propaganda in the 1940s, which featured Donald Duck sporting a mustache akin to a certain despicable character from history. In addition to these cartoons, Disney (DIS) will be removing Song of the South from its film offerings because, as Bob Iger has said on countless occasions, the film is both “antiquated” and “fairly offensive.”
All in all, Disney’s (DIS) library of content, which now includes all films from the Marvel cinematic universe, as well as the Star Wars movies, deserves to be made available to the public, and streaming sites will only increase in popularity as time continues. Assuming the deal goes through, Disney (DIS) will also own 21st Century Fox, and with that, they’ll own 60% of Hulu, giving the Company a real shot at taking on Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN).
