New Disney Streaming Service: Disney+

[Randall]

So..... not going for the Mando 4Ks then?

I am tempted to get WandaVision's disc... but it still sits there on D+, which I plan to continue for a while.

For those that have not heard, those shows and Loki got announced for physical releases last week.

[Bill1978]

Typical Disney. Releasing some stuff I wanted a physical copy for, after the revelations that my country isn't worthy of physical releases.

[Ben]

Well, I’ll say the obvious thing in that you can still import, and you can say yes, that’s true but it costs an arm and a leg, and I’ll come back with an appreciation of that, seeing as your Ozzie companies Umbrella and ViaVision have been knocking it out of the park for a good couple of years now and we have the reverse here, where I’ve been importing from *your* country on a bunch of titles (with their crazy shipping fees!).

Actually, then again, I do import most of my titles from the US and elsewhere, for quality reasons harking back to the VHS and DVD days, so I’m pretty used to importing and the silly shipping and import costs. If I was at all interested in the SW and Marvel steels, I’d have to import those too, and even if the UK got an announcement I’d still probably go for the US ones.

Luckily, I will not be picking up any of these shows that I only just watched and will just sit there gathering dust. Mando has been uniformly full of filler and crap from the start, and Loki was painful enough to endure the one time, let alone again. In fact I put the glut of substandard Marvel shows down to why I have largely unplugged from the MCU lately.

No Way Home apart I don’t intend to pick up anything after the Infinity Saga films. The story is done. It was done exceptionally well. But Marvel has lost its way with weaker films and even weaker series that don’t really bear repeating. There was a clear build up plan with those films; now it’s just gone multiverse crazy and lacking cohesion.

Yes, WandaVision was really good. Great, maybe, even. That’s the only one I’m half tempted on, because of the show itself. But I’m unlikely to want to ever see Multitude Of Madness again, which it basically does little more than to set up, so it will forever be a story that doesn’t resolve itself (and, no, absolutely zero interest in the Agatha spin-off of a spin-off).

Yes, everyone will get excited about the novelty of being able to own these titles, and Disney know they’re going to nab the easily swayed on the fencers by offering steels with the bright and shiny packaging with "exclusive art", when these titles haven’t had releases before, so obviously the art is exclusive already), and that’s why some people will buy them. And then again in standard packaging or when complete series sets eventually emerge. Which will happen.

I’ll bet you that someone strikes a deal to distribute Disney disc content in Oz, too, or that Disney rethinks that strategy in time anyway. But for now, if you’re that bothered about owning a lot of filler (!), welcome to the import club!

[Daniel]

Artwork:

[Ben]

Bright 'n' shiny…!

[Randall]

I do really love the artwork, but only WV is worthy.

[Ben]

What is it with this current Disney ethos of having a main character pose, and then having some detail, other characters or — worst — that character repeated again, within the body of that main character? We’ve seen it on the recent Cinders, now these, and also just announced Snow White.

Pretty much al of them would have been better just having their "master image" as the main fronts, except for WV's sitcom couple sitting down, which sells the show. In fact, it’s a shame the best title there has the most off front cover art. It is bizarrely balanced, and not intentionally so.

Oh well, just as long as I never have to sit through Loki again…!

[Daniel]

Dropping today:

:
Star Wars: Ahsoka – Episode 3
Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life - Season 2
Pretty Freekin Scary - 6 Episodes
Rewind The '90s

:
Futurama – New Episode
Only Murders In The Building – Episodes 5 (Season 3)
Mayans MC – Season 5

:
Solar Opposites - Season 4
Reservation Dogs – Season 3
Justified: City Primeval
The Jewel Thief

:
Life on Mars - Season 1

Rewind The '90s is a pretty good docuseries that just finished airing on National Geographic. Favorite episode was the fifth one "Mass Appeal". Man, I remember the Beanie Babies days so vividly... still have my collection. There was also a short segment on Pokémon. What made it extra special is they got Veronica Taylor, Ash's original voice, to be a part of it. Still such an iconic voice.

[Ben]

And there I was lamenting we can’t see any of the Disneyland episodes like Toot, Whistle, Plunk And Boom in another thread…

Really weird on Ahsoka…usually there’s general chitchat around the webs about such things, but no-one really seems to be that bothered one way or another. Even to someone who doesn’t follow all this stuff avidly, the lovers and and the haters usually break through and we get a general idea of how something is being accepted or not, but it’s radio silence on this one. Has it landed with a thud, secretly excellent, or is it that bad that no-one can really muster up any real feelings one way or another?

[Bill1978]

I've watched the first episode of Ahsoka and I'm indifferent to it. Haven't committed to keep watching it or to give up on it. I think the main thing I'm struggling with is that I don't really know anything about the pre-story because I never watched any of the animated series linked to the Star Wars Universe. I know of the characters but have no investment in them. And also, I see no connection to the movieverse at the moment - like Andor and Obi-Wan did - that keeps me intrigued to see how it all links.

Also probably doesn't help that the character design for Ahsoka looks odd in live action. It works in animated form but in live action it's really distracting.

[Randall]

It's hard to imagine any non-viewers of Clone Wars and/or Rebels being interested in Ahsoka. OTOH, I had no recollection of Cassian Andor, but really liked the show - though only after my son insisted we watch it.

I did really enjoy the animated shows, so I will watch Ahsoka, which promises to close off the Rebels mysteries. But as time goes by, these Star Wars shows are bound to be increasingly for diehards only.

[Ben]

…Which is not sustainable. They need to make that juggle between those that got into the whole Clones series and those that have just been introduced to Ahsoka through Mando. Clever, good writing would be able to "recap" what we need to know without boring those that already know, while allowing those playing catch-up to get the info they need with the knowledge that more stuff has gone down in the past than we may be aware or. It can be done, or… not.

[Daniel]

Dropping today:

:
Star Wars: Ahsoka – Episode 4
Trolley Troubles
All Wet
The Barn Dance
Playful Pluto
Mickey's Kangaroo
Merbabies
Bone Trouble
Pluto, Junior
The Three Detectives
Doc McStuffins: The Doc & Bella Are In!
I Am Groot – Season 2
2000s Greatest Tragedies
9/11: One Day in America
Bin Laden's Hard Drive
George W. Bush: The 9-11 Interview
The Little Mermaid Live-Action

:
Futurama – New Episode
Only Murders In The Building – Episodes 6 (Season 3)
Justified: City Primeval

:
Praise Petey
Venom

:
Demons and Saviors
SuperKitties
Hailey's on It! - New episodes
Master & Apprentice: A Special Look at Ahsoka

[Ben]

How long before this rush of classic shorts goes bye-bye because they’re not getting enough views? Just give us discs already!!

[Daniel]

Dropping today:

:
Star Wars: Ahsoka – Episode 5
Animals Up Close With Bertie Gregory
Marvel Studios’ Assembled: The Making of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Lang Lang Plays Disney
Carl's Date: Dug Days
Good Chemistry: The Story of Elemental
Elemental

:
Futurama – New Episode
Only Murders In The Building – Episodes 7 (Season 3)
The Other Black Girl
Welcome To Wrexham – Season 2
Butter Man: The Slickest Mexcian Thief

:
Betrayal: The Perfect Husband
Theater Camp

:
Arthdal Chronicles
Hamster & Gretel – 4 New Episodes