Disney Plus
Disney Plus offers a rich catalogue of films and TV shows from Disney and its subsidiaries, such as Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic, as well as a slate of new Disney+ Originals – all for £6 per month. Many are presented in the best video and audio technologies available today – 4K, HDR10, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos – and Disney has really gone the distance on device support.
Disney Plus’s catalogue comprises more than 500 films and 350 TV series, from all-time classics to family favourites. One of the service’s biggest selling points is its slate of original shows, such as The Mandalorian, Clone Wars and The Imagineering Story. That expands to more than 30 films and 50 series from the Marvel universe, including Black Panther, Captain Marvel and Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Disney Plus is the only place to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Captain Marvel and all future releases from both Lucasfilm and Marvel, and will be the exclusive streaming hub for every Disney theatrical release from 2019 onwards. The service also has over 600 episodes (30 seasons) of The Simpsons.
The catalogue features plenty of 4K HDR content. We counted just over 100 titles and all five of Disney’s new Original movies. 4K support isn’t limited to just new titles, though. Toy Story is in 4K HDR, as are the original Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King. Classics such as
Alice In Wonderland, Pinocchio, The Jungle Book and Sleeping Beauty are presented in Full HD with 5.1 audio.
The fact you can download these titles in full 4K onto a compatible tablet or smartphone is arguably one of Disney Plus’s best features, considering the cost of individual 4K movies to rent or buy. Downloads are unlimited, don’t expire, and can be downloaded on up to 10 devices. The same treatment isn’t so abundant with TV shows, with 4K HDR material limited to a handful of new Disney Originals series.
Touch of nostalgia
Disney Plus’s interface is similar to Netflix’s – and just as easy to use. A banner of featured content heads up the home page, with titles grouped into categories such as ‘Recommended for You’, ‘Originals’ and ‘Musicals’. There is also a ‘Nostalgic Movies’ tab for those who wish to revisit Bedknobs And
Broomsticks or Herbie Goes Bananas. Above these categories are blocks for Disney, Marvel, National Geographic, Star Wars and Pixar. A pull-out sidebar lets you view only movies, TV series or Disney Originals, search for specific content and access your watchlist. Up to seven profiles for each family member can be made on one account.
The search function isn’t perfect and, on the UK version, you can’t specifically look for ‘Ultra HD or HDR content. Searching for ‘4K’ brings up no results, so to see what is available, you have to go into the description for each title.
Disney Plus has launched with exhaustive hardware support. It works across web browsers; IOS (IOS 11.0 and later) and Android (OS 5.0 Lollipop and later), phones and tablets; Google Chromecast, Apple TV and Airplay. Xbox One and Playstation 4 consoles are supported, as are newer Samsung, LG and Android-based Sony and Sharp TVS, plus a wide range of Roku streamers, Android TV set-top boxes, all of Amazon’s Fire TV streamers and Sky Q.
Up to four screens can stream simultaneously on one account, which is on a par with Netflix’s pricier Premium tier and better than Apple TV+’S and Amazon Prime Video’s three screens.
Reduced bandwidth
Disney reduced the service’s streaming bandwidth by “at least 25 per cent” to ease pressure on internet providers during the coronavirus pandemic, so our judgment of the picture quality compared with that of its rivals will have to wait, but we play The Lion King remake (a 4K, HDR10 title) and are met with lush landscapes, tangible textures of fur and skin, and a clean, crisp picture.
In the opening of The Mandalorian, that crispness reveals itself again, complete with punch to lights and shine from helmets. Even older titles that have been remastered in Full HD, such as The Aristocrats (1970) display a surprising amount of clarity, coherence and richness on our 55in Samsung QLED TV.
Disney Plus is a well priced, polished streaming service that fans of Disney’s output are bound to enjoy. But it isn’t perfect. The UK service currently overlooks the importance of 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos content discovery; and, being Disney-only, it is likely to be a second subscription alongside a general service. But with quality original content and plenty of theatrical releases, Disney Plus has fast found itself a place in the competitive streaming world.