Disney Plus is a streaming service that provides all you can eat and over the top content from all things Disney, this cover Films, TV’s, Documentaries from years and years of the back catalogue. With its release in 2020, I produced a blog about all the features and my initial thoughts with the mindset to review it, however, a year on Disney Launched Star! content within Disney Plus that’s focused towards more adult viewing.
Table of Contents
The Original Launch
In my original post I gave my thoughts and opinion on an early launch, and to be honest, it was fine, I wasn’t blown away but overall it was a solid start from Disney, and you could argue a much cleaner faster start than almost all other Streaming Services but one of the early observations was the lack of Adult content.
Don’t get me wrong there were some great options Like Marvel and Star Wars but that only takes you so far and I even at the time raised the point that Disney had acquired Fox, which gives them hundreds of TV’s and Films if not Thousands, so if they introduced it in some way then it would be even better, but fast forward and content is here with star.
The only slight problem with Star much like some of Animated Disney stuff is there’s so much! so where doy ou begin? the apparent plan seems like many of the films are on seemingly a rotational cycle, in which they haven’t put all the films on there and even over a year gone things are slowly being placed on with other Streaming services ofcorse its all contractual so that, why you see films and TV’s come and go from year to year and seems like Disney are doing the same thing with the larger content.
Especially with Star and this can differ from Country to Country due pre standing contracts with other platforms and streaming services (remember Marvel TV Series arguments). However, there was a large drop in content and you could argue the largest in history with Star and the selection is quite impressive.
Some Content
Shows Like modern Family, 24, Family Guy, Greys Anatomy, Lost, X files are some of the biggest names in TV history and show their potential range, hundred to thousands of hours of TV landed, there’s even shows like Buffy which I loved that makes the grade, there are many TV series that aren’t there …yet, but thas my point that to keep it fresh no doubt Disney will cycle it around.
With films, its an ok start much like the TV series when they bought Fox etc they had access to lots, but its an ok start with their selection, and much like there previous films they had now a platform to place their films which were more appropriate for adults, films like Deadpool 2 from Marvel for example, but with Fox, they had films like Diehard, Borat, Independence day, Moulon rogue, Grand Bucharest Hotel, Devil wears Prada, very different collection.
No doubt as time goes on more films with be added and there quite a few now but it will get there at some point, personally, I think they need more to compete with Netflix and Amazon, but it’s difficult to forget that it isn’t just Star that ha films, its part of the overall Disney Plus which has films in the other parts.
Parental Controls
The other big update that happened is the age restriction and Pin, with the obvious adult content being added kids would have full access, much like they do with the normal Disney plus, and with Star added its just another icon to click on but you don’t want those kids to have access to, There are two options at the beginning if you are a previous Disney plus owner or renewing you will get prompted to choose an option for each profile, this allows you to choose what age group this is for if your new to Disney plus then obviously you would get those options when you first set up profiles within the App.
However, how do you stop kids from choosing your profile when you’re not looking? well, the other big addition with these parental controls are Profil Pins, so for example my profile is for over 18, the full thing but it has a pin on it should the kid try to click on it. You can do the same for each profile, personally depending on what device you’re using the App on it can be very tough to use, and I didn’t have many different age group options when I set it up, I do find the Disney app can be a little limited and your better to go to the actual website and control far more.
The tech parts
Star on Disney+ will bring a brand new and ever-growing world of TV series, movies and originals to subscribers. It will launch with over 75 TV series, more than 280 movies and a slate of four exclusive Star Originals, with new titles, added every month. Featuring more daring, more surprising, more thrilling and more irreverent TV series and movies, Star on Disney+ offers something for everyone and every mood.
Disney+ subscribers will be able to stream more of what they love and uncover hidden gems they can’t find anywhere else! All of this new content is exactly why Disney+ will also be launching new, robust parental controls the same day as Star on the service from Tuesday, February 23rd. To continue the family-friendly experience that parents expect, the easy-to-use parental controls will include:
- Alongside the new Profile PIN feature, account holders will be able to tailor each profile to have a different level of content controls applied to it
- Main account holders will be able to select bespoke content ratings for each profile: 6+, 9+, 12+, 14+, 16+ or 18+
- Once a content rating is applied, only relevant content for the content rating set will be available within the specific profile via the home page and via the search
These new parental controls alongside the existing Kid Profile option will give parents and guardians peace of mind that Disney+ will remain a suitable viewing experience for everyone.
Overall
Much like my post last year when I commented about it was a good start for Disney Plus I would echo the same for Star, its essentially another icon and content for Disney plus, by don’t underestimate the amount of content that landed, and it’s just the beginning, for people in other countries like the UK, having access to American shows and films etc that doesn’t come round often is excellent, there are countless shows and films that I’m glad are on there and that I want in the future.
The parental controls and Pin is a good addition and they actually thought about it, so again well done to Disney for that, the price has/is changing but its actually only slightly increasing to bring it in line with Netflix and other streaming platforms so you can’t really be annoyed about it, I would recommend it last year but I definitely think it’s worth it now, especially for a family but now with this content, there’s enough and more coming for solely adults.
