TV
DISNEY + REVIEW As of November 19th 2019, Disney+ has officially launched in Australia. In the current media environment where streaming services are absolutely dominating, this only makes sense, especially considering Disney is one of the largest entertainment conglomerates worldwide. And low and behold, the launch was a success. Reports from November 13th (just one day after Disney+ launched in America) announced there were already $10 million subscribers. The platform boasts a large variety of backlisted content including over 500 movies and more than 130 TV shows from various studios including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. Upon launch, reactions were generally positive to the large amounts of content present, though one flaw is clearly present – the lack of original content. Over the years, the importance of original content on a streaming service has become a major factor in drawing in new customers and bringing in high ratings for these shows. Disney+ seems to directly contrast this through its extremely limited catalogue of originals as of its launch date. While the choice to release episodes for their original shows weekly certainly attempts to drag out the content they do have, this can only run for so long. What’s left is only a couple of movies and TV shows, all aimed at significantly different audiences. While confusing, not all the original content is terrible, so let’s start with a general discussion on what IS currently available. The Mandalorian Two words: Baby Yoda. This show really begs the question of does a show really need to be good or can it get by with the sheer appeal of baby yoda alone? The Mandalorian has definitely been marketed as the platform’s biggest selling point in regard to original content throughout initial advertisements. Over the first two weeks since its launch, the show nearly tripled its demand each week across the world, also making it America’s most in-demand digital exclusive series. Aside from baby yoda, the show has some quite nice cinematography, touching character moments and Pedro Pascal’s surprisingly soothing voice to carry it along and make the watch worthwhile.
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Though, the show can be a little tedious at times, with long montages and limited plot progression, particularly within the first few episodes. While this isn’t a terrible show by any means, I definitely suspect the fact that it’s pretty much the only original scripted show targeted to an adult audience on the platform had something to do with its incredibly high ratings… High School Musical: The Musical: The Series I’ll confess, I never got into the High School Musical movies as a kid and as soon as I heard about this series and its premise, I was sceptical and confused. But after watching it, I can safely say I have become this show’s number one defender. Sure, it has its problems. The dialogue can be truly unbearable at times as clearly out-of-touch adults have tried to guess how exactly the youths these days speak. Not to mention, the show’s supposed mockumentary style is utilised rarely, and never successfully. But aside from all this, the cast of characters make this show virtually impossible to hate the longer you stick with it. The music, both old and new, is sweet and catchy and a lot of the season’s drama is extremely entertaining. As I said, this diverse and adorable cast really makes the show what it is and I’m eagerly awaiting to see where the show takes them next. This series has so much potential and I’m just hoping that Disney decides to hire some better and younger writers to really give this show the fighting chance it deserves. Diary of a Future President This show is currently in its early stages, having only started airing mid-January, recounting a Cuban-American girl’s diary from her time in middle school, as she looks back at her childhood as the current president of the United States. It feels very much in lieu of classic Disney channel shows and is definitely aimed at a younger audience. Though, the focus on a Cuban-American family is really refreshing and there seems to be plenty of potential for this show to make its way into everyone’s hearts.
