5 Disney+ shows to watch
Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Thu, 07 Nov 2019 19:00:43 +0000
There are all the other streaming services. Then there is Disney+. Without doubt, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and the newly launched Apple TV Plus are all jittery with the arrival of the Magic Kingdom into the world of subscription streaming services.
It’s not for no reason that all of the aforementioned providers and all the other players have front-loaded their fall seasons this year.
The Walt Disney Company brand is a behemoth encompassing almost a century of producing wildly popular entertainment that is available in its catalogue. Then you can add in the other brands under the company banner — Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic — each one of which is a major player in their own right. All of those products will be part of the Disney+ package. Advance market research suggests that consumers are likely to either add Disney+ to their existing subscriptions, or even drop something to add it.
But what new shows are likely to top the Disney+ must-see list when the service launches on Nov. 12? Here are five recommendations:
1: Lady and the Tramp. Another live-action remake from the Disney vault. This time around, it’s the 1955 animated canine character romance about a refined upper-class American cocker spaniel named Lady who meets up with a stray mutt named Tramp. The two embark on a series of wild adventures and, like all Disney films, fall in love. On its initial release, the film was criticized for being “gooey” and overly sentimental. Expect this remake to up the fear factor a la remakes of the Jungle Book, the Lion King and others, while still basically telling the same story. The trailer pretty much proves that.
Pedro Pascal in Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian.”
2: The Mandalorian. Pedro Pascal may finally escape being forever associated with his role as Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones and having his head smooshed by the Mountain. In this first ever live-action Star Wars series, Pascal plays a bounty hunter working in the far reaches of the New Republic, about five years after the events of Return of the Jedi. The show is described as an “American space western” which pretty well is what the original Star Wars amounted to. Needless to say, fans are fully freaking for this foray into the non-Force field.
3: High School Musical: The Musical. The Series. Meet the members of the drama club and their faculty advisers at East High School as they rehearse and prepare for the opening night of the school’s first-ever production of High School Musical: The Musical. There is no question that this is going to be one for the whole family to watch as the franchise that kicked-off in 2006 has been a big hit with tweens, teens and on up the generational ladder. Plus, Glee proved viewers love the whole kids singing, dancing and being ridiculously dramatic thing.
4: The World According to Jeff Goldblum. The idea of a series where Jeff Goldblum goes out and explores topics ranging from tattoo artists to tennis shoes seems silly. Or does it? Because if there is one thing that can’t be denied about the tall guy, it’s that he has a particularly delightful and self-effacing onscreen charm. Let loose from the constraints of a film script, expect him to generate ample laughs and very offbeat observations.
The 1988 movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” [PNG Merlin Archive]
5: The Disney back catalogue. With titles going back to the 1940s, the Disney+ library is loaded with classics. The list from 1950 alone includes Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and The Sign of Zorro. And then there is the treasure trove of animated classics such as 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Why worry about new content at all?
The 1988 movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” [PNG Merlin Archive]