Disney to take complete animated catalogue to streaming service

Disney will make its entire catalogue of animated movies available on the forthcoming Disney+ family-oriented SVOD service, reversing a policy that saw it make library content available on in a limited way.

Disney CEO Bob Iger told the company’s shareholders that the back catalogue would be made available on the Disney+ service soon after it launched.

Movies that are currently subject to restricted availability within the Disney ‘vault’ include The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.

To a much greater extent than rivals such as Viacom and WarnerMedia, Disney is placing exclusive content at the heart of its streaming strategy, taking a hit of US$150 million on operating income this year as a result of its decision to remove content from Netflix’s platform in favour of its own service. Captain Marvel, due out in Q2, is the first major Disney movie to be withheld from output deals.

Speaking on the company’s most recent earnings call, Iger said that Disney was “not looking to compress the theatrical window” for content, although some content in the home video window may be brought into the pay window in the longer term.