Mar 10, 2019

Disney CEO Bob Iger Confirms Disney+ Streaming Service Will Include Studio's Entire Film Library

In an effort to offer exclusive content and combat competitors like Netflix and Amazon, The Walt Disney Company's upcoming streaming service, Disney+, will house the company's entire catalog, including titles long out of reach of fans.

At the company's 2019 annual shareholders meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, on Thursday, CEO Bog Iger confirmed that Disney+ will launch later this year with a combination of original and library content. No specific date was given.

In response to a question about Disney's library of older films, Iger said, "At some point, pretty soon after launch, [Disney+] will house Disney's entire film library, so ... Movies that have traditionally been kept in the vaults and released basically every few years will be on the service," he explained.

The so-called "Disney Vault" includes some of the studio's most beloved animated films, such as "The Little Mermaid," "Pinocchio," "Aladdin" and "The Lion King." These films are re-released to home video every few years, a system that generates interest and sales by creating artificial scarcity.

The real reason for making these films unavailable is no other than to maximize profits when they come out of the "vault." Ironically, many of the direct-to-video sequels to vault titles are available through other services, even if the originals are nowhere to be found (unless, of course, you already have a physical copy).

The live-action and CG hybrid versions of "Aladdin" and "The Lion King" and the sequel to "Maleficent" will all be released this year, but the animated films on which they are based cannot currently be purchased or rented in the United States through any legal means other than used copies from a reseller

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If Disney+ were to effectively end its vault policy by making all of these titles permanently available at relatively low prices, what would this mean for the company's home entertainment business - they would still have to DVD and Blu-Ray versions of their movies, or will they be phased out in favor of greater exclusivity for the new service -

In addition, Disney has previously announced for its streaming platform that it will be offering Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars branded The company had announced plans to produce original live-action content based on characters from its Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars brands for its streaming platform. Iger promised that more information about Disney+ would be revealed at the company's investor presentation on April 11.