There are always questions regarding how Disney manages their properties after systematically dismantling some of our favorite franchises, and the latest challenge comes five months after they pulled the 2022 series Willow from their Disney+ platform.
Picking up twenty years after the 1988 movie Willow that was a hit and had a very solid fanbase wanting more, the series was met with decent reviews and fanfare, but there are a fair share of fans that felt it didn’t come close to matching the original movie.
Warwick Davis Makes a Case for Physical Media as he Rips into Disney for Pulling Willow from Disney+ Streaming
In fact, that’s the consensus among just about everyone, but it was only one season and few shows are blockbusters right out of the gate.
Unfortunately for the fans, with questions about whether there would be a second season, Disney pulled it entirely from their Disney+ streaming service.
Warwick Davis, the star of the movie and show and a longtime fan favorite, took to X (Twitter) to voice his frustration and called out Disney pulling the show “embarrassing.”
“I meet lovely people on a daily basis who are fans of #Willow, who are the reason the @DisneyPlus Series was made. Please tell me @WaltDisneyCo, what do I say to these subscribers when they ask why they can’t watch the series any more? #embarrassing”
I meet lovely people on a daily basis who are fans of #Willow, who are the reason the @DisneyPlus Series was made. Please tell me @WaltDisneyCo, what do I say to these subscribers when they ask why they can’t watch the series any more? #embarrassing pic.twitter.com/tUu9gstkbS
— Warwick Davis (@WarwickADavis) October 14, 2023
A need for physical media
While the show was only on the platform for six months, it’s been reported that it had strong viewership numbers and had favorable reviews and it’s now impossible for fans to view it anywhere.
The reason has been speculated as being part of cost cutting measure Disney are doing as they’re purging their content (over 40 other titles between Disney+ and Hulu) and locking it away in their vaults until they decide to do more or another company buys it from them.
This leaves fans out in the cold as there’s no physical media for the series and there may not be since that would rob Disney of the chance to build more desire for it before bringing it back or releasing it on DVD for a limited time as they’ve done with their classic movies for years.
They honestly can’t cite production costs to prevent physical media releases as they could do a print on demand system like Amazon does for books and other media, especially for Indie creators.
Under that system, they could manufacture a set number to sell in stores and online, and once that number’s been reached they would start manufacturing them as orders came in.
That would limit how much they have on hand and give fans a chance to see their favorite shows.
But with Disney, Netflix, and other sites limiting what they release on DVDs, it prevents fans from buying their favorite shows once and cancelling their subscriptions.
In the end, it comes down to power and steady income revenue through subscriptions, and it could take a lot of convincing to get the companies to start producing physical media.
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