After months of anticipation, UK fans can finally subscribe to Disney+ through a special pre-launch offer to the streaming platform.
UK audiences won't have to wait much longer, as Disney+ will launch on March 24, 2020, with standard pricing confirmed at £5.99 per month, or £59.99 for an annual subscription.
If you subscribe today, Disney is offering a special pre-launch offer for the annual subscription at £49.99.
The streaming service has been available in America since November 12, 2020, offering all of the company’s iconic entertainment brands, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic.
Original content is available too, including feature-length films, series, documentaries, and short-form content made exclusively for the service.
Disney+ is joining a host of other big names in the streaming service market – from Apple, whose Apple TV+ launched at the start of November, to the BBC and ITV’s joint Britbox venture, to Amazon Prime to, of course, the leader of the pack, Netflix.
What is Disney+?
Disney+, or Disney Plus, is the beloved studio's answer to Netflix, a comprehensive streaming platform featuring all the shows and films the company has produced since the 1930s.
It features previous shows and films, as well as new content exclusive only to Disney+.
The service has five flagship franchises which it will focus on: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.
It will also include all the animated classics, from Sleeping Beauty to Frozen.
Subscribers will be able to stream Disney+ on nearly all major mobile and connected TV devices at launch, including gaming consoles and smart TVs.
There is also an option for parents to set Kids Profiles that have an easy to navigate, child-friendly interface to access age-appropriate content.
What is the Disney+ release date in the UK?
British audiences don't have much longer to wait, with the platform hitting UK screens on March 24, 2020, a week earlier than it was originally anticipated.
Disney+ is set to launch in every major region within the next two years. The Netherlands was the first to get access to the service via a trial beginning in September, but the Dutch were joined by customers in the US and Canada in November, with New Zealand and Australia will gaining access a week later.
You can sign up now at DisneyPlus.com/uk.
How much will the new streaming service cost?
Standard pricing at launch is confirmed at £5.99 per month or £59.99 for an annual subscription.
Eager fans can subscribe to Disney+ for the introductory price of £49.99. This pre-launch offer for the annual subscription is only available until March 23rd 2020 and is equivalent to £4.17 per month.
This puts Disney+ just below Netflix’s pricing, which starts at £7.99 per month.
What movies and shows will be on Disney+?
There will be more than 7,500 episodes and 500 films in the first year that Disney+ is online, with more films and TV shows added over time.
At launch, over 25 exclusive Disney+ Originals will be available including the highly anticipated series, “The Mandalorian,” and viewers will have access to all the upcoming Marvel productions like WandaVision and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier when they release.
The Originals have been created based on series in the Disney canon, with a particular focus on Marvel and Star Wars. The Mandalorian marks TV's first Star Wars series and centres on a lone bounty hunter on a journey through the galaxy.
Last year, Charmaine Chan lead compositor and visual effects artist at Industrial Light & Magic which did the VFX for The Mandalorian spoke on the Women Tech Charge podcast about the making of the show. "It’s a little bit of old school, it’s a little bit of new school. And I think that’s where visual effects really succeed", she told host Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon.
However, The Simpsons is not going to be available on the platform in the UK. In an interview on Radio 5 Live, managing director of content Zai Bennett confirmed that the long-running series will be available to view on Sky in the UK for the foreseeable future.
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