- Deadline reported that 58 titles will be leaving Disney+ and Hulu on May 26
- Fans are outraged, especially since some have only been out for months
- Others are furious that they’re removing LGBTQ+-focused content
By LILLIAN GISSEN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 10:29 EDT, 19 May 2023 | UPDATED: 15:20 EDT, 19 May 2023.
Disney is facing furious fire after announcing that its getting ready to remove more than 50 different shows and movies from its streaming platforms.
Deadline reported that a total of 58 titles will be leaving Disney+ and Hulu beginning on May 26 – and the internet is not happy about it.
Disney has not given a specific reason for its decision to remove the titles – claiming in a statement from its chief financial officer that it is part of ‘strategic changes in its approach to content curation’ – however many are speculating that the company is attempting to delete shows and movies that are no longer making them major profit.
Some of the titles being taken off includes the movie Big Shot (which starred John Stamos), the Turner & Hooch remake (which featured Josh Peck), and the beloved kids movie The One and Only Ivan.
The adventure series The Mysterious Benedict Society, the new version of Cheaper By the Dozen, and the 2020 film Artemis Fowl are some of the others among the lengthy list of titles that are getting axed from the platform.
Bid them farewell! All of the titles being ERASED by Disney
DISNEY+
- Big Shot
- Turner & Hooch
- The Mysterious Benedict Society
- The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers
- Willow
- The Making Of Willow
- Diary of a Future President
- Just Beyond
- The World According to Jeff Goldblum
- Marvel’s Project Hero
- Marvel’s MPower
- Marvel’s Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever
- Rosaline
- Cheaper by the Dozen remake
- The One and Only Ivan
- Stargirl
- Artemis Fowl
- The Princess
- Encore!
- A Spark Story
- Black Beauty
- Clouds
- America the Beautiful
- Better Nate Than Ever
- Weird but True!
- Timmy Failure
- Be Our Chef
- Magic Camp
- Howard
- Earth to Ned
- Foodtastic
- Stuntman
- Disney Fairy Tale Weddings
- Wolfgang
- It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer
- The Real Right Stuff
- The Big Fib
- Rogue Trip
- More Than Robots
- Shop Class
- Pick the Litter
- Own the Room
- Among the Stars
- Harmonious Live!
- Pentatonix: Around the World for the Holidays
HULU
- Y: The Last Man
- Pistol
- Little Demon
- Maggie
- Dollface
- The Hot Zone
- The Premise
- Love in the Time of Corona
- Everything’s Trash
- Best in Snow
- Best in Dough
- Darby and the Dead
- The Quest
As soon as the news hit the web, social media erupted with a slew of angry tweets about it.
Many online users voiced their disdain over the company taking down their favorite shows and movies – especially since some of them have only been out for a few months.
Others pointed out that since Disney is so strict when it comes to streaming its content, the shows and movies that are leaving will be practically ‘erased from existence for the public.’
Some people also slammed Disney for removing LGBTQ+-related content – like the show Willow, which has multiple queer characters, and its documentary on Howard Ashman, a gay man who helped pen some of Disney’s most well-known hits like Beauty and the Beast, Under the Sea, and Friend Like Me.
‘The fact that Willow hasn’t even been out for more than a few months and Disney+ is already removing it is insane to me… And right before Pride Month too,’ wrote one person.
‘Willow is one of their first LGBTQ+ projects,’ someone else pointed out. ‘Certainly sends the wrong kind of message in the wake of Disney’s fight with DeSantis and anti-LGBTQ+ politics. Feels icky they’re removing it and sort of caves to these bigots.’
Another user added: ‘Kind of disgusting that Disney+ is removing the Howard Ashman documentary.
‘The man is responsible for the lyrics to Little Mermaid/Beauty and the Beast/Aladdin – which is the cornerstone of the ongoing wave of success Disney has enjoyed over the past three decades.’
“Did you enjoy Disney’s The Little Mermaid in theaters? Then come to Disney+, where we spit on the grave of the man responsible for it by removing the excellent documentary film Howard,’ read a fourth tweet. ‘I’m paralyzed with fury right now.’
‘Canceling and removing shows so the writers can’t get residuals and performers their royalties…’ said a different user.
‘Also, because Disney has such a solid lockdown on their digital content, making them near impossible to pirate, these projects will be literally erased from existence for the public.’
Another person tweeted: ‘Disney: “Get Disney+, you will have access to our entire catalogue of shows and movies!” Also Disney: “We’re removing shows as new as six months because… *vague capitalist reason*.’
‘This is so devastating,’ wrote someone else. ‘They’re Disney+ originals. Don’t they have nowhere to go?
‘Mysterious Benedict Society is an absolutely lovely, comforting show, with a ton of loyal fans. I’m sure many of the others are too. This is disappointing @DisneyPlus.’
‘@DisneyPlus removing content that people worked hard on isn’t the answer,’ scathed a different user.
‘The best part of Disney+ was removing the illusion of the “Disney vault” where content is just never seen or heard from again. Don’t go backwards, go forwards.’
‘Disney removing TV shows that haven’t even been finished for a year because they don’t want to pay residuals is so f**king dark,’ read another tweet.
Some of the writers and creators behind the titles that are leaving have also spoken out.
Julia Hart, who directed the 2020 Disney+ movie Stargirl, said she was ‘devastated’ that the movie she ‘poured her heart and soul into was leaving Disney+.’
‘This business is relentless right now,’ she wrote. ‘Like, we’re already all suffering. Not able to work. Not able to make money. Oh cool we’ll also take away the meager residuals you were making.
‘100s of people won’t be able to use this movie now to seek employment. That breaks my heart most of all.
‘I bet a lot of people don’t realize how much crew and actors rely on employers being able to view their previous work in order to secure future employment.’
Willow writer John Bickerstaff also reacted to the news on Twitter. He said, ‘They gave us six months. Not even. This business has become absolutely cruel.’
He theorized that Disney was trying to ‘get out of paying residuals,’ adding, ‘To spend [REDACTED] on a show and then disappear it six months later is just bad business.’
Someone who worked on The Mysterious Benedict Society described the show as ‘some of his proudest work.’
‘As long as it is stream-able, I GET PAID. Now it will be gone forever,’ he raged.
Disney’s chief financial officer Christine McCarthy addressed the situation to Deadline, stating, ‘We are in the process of reviewing the content on our DTC services to align with the strategic changes in our approach to content curation.’