DISNEY+ (Ava and C.I.)

DISNEY+ debuted last week and set a standard for launching a streaming service.

Sadly, the standard was one of "Here's what not to do."

Were they caught unaware by the launch?  Had they not planned for it?

That's how it appeared.

They had no real new content to offer.

MARVEL movies?

They were online already, weren't they?  At NETFLIX and elsewhere.

What about from the vault?  Not really anything other than some animated films.  Those wanting to see Kurt Russell's DISNEY classics, for example, were limited to THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD and THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES.  That was it.  No NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON'T.  No THE BAREFOOT EXECUTIVE.  No SUPERDAD.  No FOLLOW ME BOYS! nor CHARLEY AND THE ANGEL.  No THE HORSE IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT.

Beyond Kurt, where are the live action films like CONDORMAN, THE MONKEY'S UNCLE (or any film featuring DISNEY star Annette Funicello, for that matter that isn't THE SHAGGY DOG), MONKEYS GO HOME, THE BOATNIKS, THE ISLAND AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD, HOT LEAD AND COLD FEET, THE NORTH AVENUE IRREGULARS, TRENCHCOAT,  . . .

So much to offer but so little actually offered.

After crunching the numbers, the surprise hit for the service last week was SPIDER-WOMAN.  The sixteen episode series began broadcasting on ABC in the fall of 1979.  Since it went off the air in 1980, few have seen it.  Included on a list of SPIDER-MAN offerings, it peaked the curiosity of many and became one of the big surprises for the channel.

The same might have happened to THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB -- the fifties version, the seventies version, the eighties version, etc.  But somehow DISNEY+ -- a streaming service geared to families -- decided to ignore the first family program the studio ever did for children.  The cast alone would have resulted in solid streaming numbers: Annette Funicello, Keri Russell, Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, JC Chavez, Lisa Whelchel, Johnny Crawford, Don Grady, Paul Petersen and Christina Aguilera -- among others.  But it was nowhere to be found on the website.

New content?  They are offering THE MANDALORIAN for STAR WARS fans.  Otherwise?  At some point, they are supposed to offer WANDAVISION about Scarlet Witch and Vision, THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER, LOKI, HAWKEYE, MS. MARVEL, MOON KNIGHT, SHE-HULK and a cartoon of the classic comic book series WHAT IF.   At some point.

Not now.

Not now, you understand.  Not now because why start off like you're serious?  Better to dabble for a month or two, apparently.

We don't doubt that DISNEY+ will be a major streaming service.  We're just surprised by how inconsequential it is currently.