The Brutal Disappointment of the Netflix/Disney Coupling

Disappointment is a part of everyday life. Most people don’t really have a lot of choice in the matter as not everything is destined to go their way. Human beings live with letdowns in their careers for instance being passed over for a promotion for which they believed they were perfect. We deal with triumphs and troubles in our personal lives, troublesome families, and monetary issues and yet we all find a way to soldier on. Some disappointment is extensive and some are trivial, but either way, it still stings.

Thingamabobs? I’ve Got Twenty

When Netflix announced their super cool coupling with Disney, people were stoked. A place to watch all of our favorite Disney titles without having to shell out $30 for the DVD? YES PLEASE! Then it happened. Now when it comes to trivial disappointments, the actual logistics of the merge were less than thrilling. Some blogs and articles had provided some details that led people to believe that maybe this joyous union wasn’t going to be everything we expected, but we blissfully ignored these warnings while humming “Part of this World” from the Little Mermaid.

Sure, we’ve got bigger things to worry about in the world than whether or not we are going to be able to catch the Beauty and the Beast or the way cool live action movies, but the disappointment rang true for a lot of people. There were a lot of people for whom all the press releases were quite confusing and they got their hopes up for something more than was ever supposed to happen.

Here’s a Little Outline of How Things Went Down

So, in late summer of 2016, there begins to be a rumbling about a merge happening between Disney and Netflix and that any and all content created by the former was licensed to the latter for streaming purposes. With this announcement emerged the adult Disney Princess fangirls who still secretly wish – at 25 and 30 – that they were Ariel and still go to Disney World without hating it. Facebook and Twitter went crazy with grown women celebrating the idea that they could now watch Mary Poppins AND Finding Nemo on Netflix.

By fall of last year, the rumor had been confirmed with some vague press releases from both camps that didn’t really confirm or deny programming. The only thing they would confirm is that NEW Disney content would be readily available for the streaming application. However, no one came out and said “hey, you’re not gonna be watching Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Aladdin on here” with any degree of certainty.

Then it debuted and a lot of people were pretty upset by the fact that they weren’t seeing classic Disney titles all over the Netflix home screens begging to be watched.   Some avid Netflix watchers thought it was pretty cool that newer stuff was showing up sooner, including recent flicks like the Avengers movie or Finding Dory. However, the fangirls were still pretty bummed.

Then something happened. Netflix started pumping out Marvel television shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage, thus pleasing the comic book fanboys and girls. Then something even better happened; the shows were good and they were reeling in viewers left and right. These shows were sick and finally, Netflix stopped getting yelled at by overgrown children who just wanted to watch Ariel marry Prince Eric.

There comes a time, although, where we must face the burden of disappointment all over again, as Disney announced – not too long ago – that they were leaving their distribution contract early. Of course, the still very angry viewers still crying over not being able to watch Lady and the Tramp, but a lot of the feedback indicated that their audience was sad to see Disney go.

The powers that be at Netflix are currently assuring viewers that nothing is going to change, at least through 2018, which means the Marvel shows aren’t going anywhere. Hopefully, Disney’s departure will end the roller coaster of disappointment for many people. Did the merge meet your expectations?