Disney Plus Launch, Andi Mack, Darkwing Duck and The Mandalorian

(Video Article)

Disney Plus launched November 12th, 2019, and even if you're not a demented Disney fanboy, this service is pretty enticing. After all, most of us grew up either on The Disney Channel, or seeing shows from the old Disney Afternoon animation block, maybe you're a Star Wars fanatic, yes, even after Disney kinda shat the bed with The Last Jedi, lastly, you could be a fan of cheap entertainment like Marvel, I kidding, I mean Disney Plus is only $6.99 a month at the moment, for that low-low cost you get access to a ton of quality movies, as well as new and classic TV shows. Geez, I am starting to sound like an advertisement, Disney must have some kind of press-related mind control, and judging by The Last Jedi's overly positive critical reception, I am pretty sure they do. In any case, Disney Plus is either going to be alluring for its nostalgic appeal, or for its extremely affordable cost, as this is the cheapest streaming service of it's kind so far, which may explain the slightly bumpy launch, now, I am really not talking about the connection issues that are going to affect any major network service on day one, especially if ten million people are trying to stream Lizzie Mcguire at the same time. No, the issues that are slightly more annoying and less forgivable, are missing episodes of TV shows and episodes being shown out of order.

Now, one of these shows has a specific reason for missing episodes, and thankfully, only two shows thus far have missing episodes, Raven's Home has missing and out of order episodes, and while a plethora of shows feature out of order episodes, Raven's Home and Andi Mack are the only shows to have missing episodes. I can find no reason for Raven's Home to be missing a handful of episodes, but, there is an unofficial explanation for why the brilliant Andi Mack, has a ton of episodes missing. Shortly before the release of the show's third season, actor Stoney Westmoreland who plays Andi's GranDad on the show, was arrested for attempting to meet a thirteen-year-old boy he met on the quote on quote dating app Grindr, and to me, it was not a surprise that someone with that bizarre ass name, would be getting up to some bizarre and disgusting shit. Hello, and what's your name? I'm Stoney Westmoreland and I'm a pedophile. I mean it just sounds right, doesn't it? Of course, this revelation meant that Disney would fire old Stoney, and on top of that, stop airing episodes that had featured him heavily, and also edit him totally out of the third season. Which I am not sure was the right call, the dude deserved to be fired, and punished by the justice system, but, I think punishing the show, by editing important scenes out of the third season, and refusing to show episodes with him, which make up some of the most important episodes in the show's first season, is a mistake. This was one of the most surprising shows I have seen come out of the Disney Channel, the humor and storytelling were very mature, and the show tackled some really important issues that Disney has never done before or since, overall, it was one of the highest quality programs Disney has made.

This brings me to the most annoying issue, which is also the most unforgivable, out of order episodes, which is an issue that seems to mostly affect the classic animated shows on the service, like Darkwing Duck. While most of these shows do not feature storytelling that requires episodes to be shown in order, and while the multi-part episodes are in order together, the biggest issue is that a great many of these shows feature episodes that set up the story for that program. Darkwing Duck has a two-part opener that should be shown first, yet, you will find those episodes midways through the first season listing, and there are plenty of other shows that share this exact same issue, coupled with the order of the rest of the episodes being totally jumbled. I am not sure what caused this issue, I actually hope this is an issue, because if this is how these shows will stay listed, then, it's going to be more annoying than the fact that Kathleen Kennedy was chosen to helm Lucasfilm. We all know, Dave Filoni was the chosen one, he was meant to bring balance to the force, instead, we got Kathleen leaving it in darkness...

If you need evidence of Dave Filoni's greatness, beyond Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars The Clone Wars, then look to The Mandalorian, which is written mostly by Dave, who also directed the first episode. While Jon Favreau did produce and create the show, he also was the one smart enough to pick Dave to iron out the vision for the series, which had me hooked after one phenomenal opening episode that is the best thing to come out of Disney owning Star Wars, next only to Rebels. Seriously, this show is reason enough to subscribe to Disney Plus, and I think Disney made a good call to release episodes weekly instead of all at once, I am just as spoiled like the rest of you by the ease of which we have binged most new shows, but a part of me missed the excitement of watching an episode, and then waiting a week to see what would happen next. Disney Plus even with the annoyance of out of order episodes, it is a great streaming service that tickles that special nostalgic spot, that is more addictive than crack, and just as wonderful as jizzing your pants. I will honestly let the missing episode thing slide, since it only affects two shows, and one of them at least has some kind of reasoning for it, whether I agree with it, or not. There are only two other issues that bug me, the service listing films that will not become available to stream for months or even years, yea, you will find the occasional movie, which due to current streaming agreements will not be available to stream for several months or a couple of years, which made me think, the fuck Disney, the fuck... Lastly, the service is missing something major, something essential, where the hell is Dave The Barbarian? Seriously, that show is such an underrated classic, it's one of Disney's best animated-comedies, and it needs to be on this service.

Finally, I love The Simpsons being here, it is fantastic to see the entire 600 plus episode show from start to finish, even if it is the widescreen cropped versions, but, I still think that it's a really odd show to be on Disney Plus, I know they own it, but, could you picture The Simpsons airing on the Disney Channel? Still, it's not hard to guess why Disney wants the show, even if people talk shit about The Simpsons, it's still a highly rated series, with a huge fanbase, and that means it's potentially a great flagship show for the service. But, I do wonder if people who are not interested in Disney, would subscribe to Disney Plus solely for The Simpsons? Especially since many fans are highly displeased with the show's early episodes being cropped for widescreen presentation, which does look nice, but also has the unintended effect of cutting out a number of the show's many sight-gags. I also wonder if the show being on the service will irk uptight parents who dont find it an odd choice for the service, but a highly inappropriate one. After all, this is Disney, how can such an offensive show, be ok for a service parents will use to babysit little Junior Son of a Bitch?