In the modern era of streaming entertainment, it genuinely feels that no story is safe from a tragic end. Not the traditional misery of a bittersweet conclusion but an untimely death at the hands of its owners. It's hard to get invested in anything when a production company can pull the plug at will. Perhaps worse than canceling a show, Disney Plus will remove many of its original series, rendering them inaccessible by most legal means.
Netflix is the usual suspect when it comes to ending shows early. The streaming service's cancelation policy has earned the ire of thousands of fans and spawned social media firestorms. It's now such a common occurrence that many viewers are beyond surprise. Disney Plus's latest decision has inspired shock and anger in its fanbase.
Disney Plus Is Deleting Several Original Series
On May 26th, Disney Plus and Hulu will remove more than 60 titles from their worldwide catalogs. Some of these works will remain available on other services or physical media, while others will immediately be lost. Hulu is dropping several FX series like Little Demon and Y: The Last Man. Disney will be parting with Artemis Fowl and their Cheaper by the Dozen remake. Most notably, the service will ditch some of its wholly original content. Both seasons of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changer and the only season of Willow will be lost. Luckily, both shows can be found on DVD or Blu-ray for those willing to hunt them down, but their first home has abandoned them. These are legacy sequels to well-known IPs. Both shows received a great deal of promotion before their initial release, and they're being taken away with very little fanfare.
Willow wasn't a smash hit when it hit the big screen in 1988. The film turned a profit but was panned by many critics. The 2022 series appeared suddenly, and though Disney spent a fair amount of money on marketing, it wasn't particularly successful. Critics were mixed, though generally a little kinder than they were to the original film. The legacy sequel concept is tried and true at this point, but some memorable names are more of a draw than others. It was praised for its somewhat progressive approach to a queer relationship in a young adult-oriented fantasy series. It's become unusually common for shows with good LGBTQ+ representation to get the ax. Willow clearly didn't attract the audience Disney was hoping for. Its typical fate would be a cancelation, and though fans would be sad, Disney would be somewhat justified in setting aside a project that didn't land. At least the artists who worked hard would still have their creativity honored, and fans could still enjoy it. Removing the entire series and pretending it never happened is a different level of mistreatment.
What Does Disney Plus Gain From Deleting Shows?
The benefits of canceling a show are obvious. What are the financial benefits of removing a title from a streaming service? Does it cost anything to keep a series on a digital platform? If the program is licensed from another production company, the streaming service will have to pay fees to keep it around. Original streaming series must pay residuals to performers. As of 2019, actors are paid an ongoing rate based on the popularity of the project. Both of those costs are seen as net losses for the streaming service because the appeal of creating an original series is drawing in new subscribers and keeping old subscribers paying. If a show isn't a blockbuster like Stranger Things, then its time will come and go. This leaves the service consistently losing money on a project they don't see as an asset. Finally, ditching ostensibly profitable material lowers the on-paper value of a service. In other words, they're burning art to avoid paying actors, other IP holders, and taxes.
Understanding why a streaming service might abandon its creations doesn't make the company seem any brighter. The streaming era of entertainment is starting to show its weaknesses. Companies like Netflix don't want to continue to pay for their gigantic libraries because they don't see those catalogs as their unique selling point anymore. Instead, they're making the same mistake as every other facet of the entertainment industry. They want to bet more money on fewer projects with safer names. This is deflating much of the appeal of streaming entertainment. It's not enough that any show might get canceled before its story truly starts. It's not enough that almost every project getting greenlit has a marketable brand or well-known creator behind it. It's not enough that a small handful of companies are choking out the streaming industry. Now, not even the shows fans love are safe. Expect every streaming service to take a hard look at their libraries and start making cuts. Any subscriber to Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, or any other major streamer has to wonder whether they're there for the most profitable projects. Not even published shows are safe anymore, and Willow is the latest tragic victim of an oncoming plague.