If one thing has been clear over the past six months, it’s that the idea of a traditional theatrical run is a divisive topic. Even for theaters that are proposing the safest possible means are being met with derision, believing that a concealed room will somehow spread COVID-19. It’s a fair piece of paranoia, especially since I’m sure the news tonight will report on how the virus has spread further thanks to Labor Day encouraging illegal get-togethers. Even then, American theaters currently do have options for those who don’t believe in the risk. You can see Tenet (2020), SpongeBob Squarepants: Sponge on the Run (2020), or by some miracle The New Mutants (2020).
But one of the most buzzed-about films of this moment isn’t in a theater. For almost every significant movie, they’ve gone to streaming services. Netflix has bought out a lot of deals in order to make them accessible from the comfort and safety of your own home. It’s something ideal and reflects the best way to consume entertainment during a pandemic. Don’t believe me, go over to Disney+ right now and see their variety of options. Just this past Friday, they launched the live-action remake of Mulan (2020) after a giant hiatus.
I do not fault the studio for making the moves that I’m about to cover. According to records, they are on track to lose billions this year. Anyone wanting to recoup losses can at least sympathize with that detail, trying to find some way to make 2020 not entirely derail the economy. Even if Disney has the fortitude to survive this, drastic measures on their part aren’t all that terrible, especially when they have enough variety in their back catalog to make up for things.
I’m not the first to suggest this, but Disney+ IS the best streaming app for family entertainment right now. While everyone has their variety, there’s no denying that having classics going back to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) really does help people love your brand more. It’s accessible, at your fingertips. They even have NEW stuff. When the pandemic hit, Disney+ put up Frozen II (2019) prematurely. They also pushed forward the Hamilton (2020) release by over a year.
But the one big question is, for a studio that knows how to market entertainment so well, who can make any of their new films look like masterpieces with a compelling teaser trailer, why was it so difficult to understand what was going on with Mulan?
This isn’t about when the film was put on indefinite hiatus following the pandemic. That was practical, especially since it seemed rigged to be one of their international tent poles, grossing hundreds of millions. In an ideal situation, that would’ve happened by now. The early buzz was so positive that it might’ve had an extra leg, playing on one or two screens right now. Who knows, maybe there would be talk about how Christina Aguilera’s “Loyal, Brave and True” was an Oscar front-runner for Best Original Song.
But instead, the conversation was so muddled in a question that shouldn’t have been that hard to understand. When it was finally announced that Mulan WOULD be being released, there was one accompanying stipulation that returned the consensus to “Oh, Disney is greedy, picking on poor vulnerable families.” As it currently stands, they’re doing a terrible job self-promoting any update that takes away this animosity and headache that families are having.
Basically, if you were to follow what was said, Mulan WAS coming out on Disney+ (that’s good) for an additional $29.99 (that’s bad). That’s not counting the $6.99 a month that subscribers already pay. Some would argue that the most rational thing to have done was to release it separately like other major studios have done with their films. Even then, the poor families suckered into a Scoob! (2020) ticket got off lucky, as they only had to pay $19.99 on opening weekend. While Disney+ claims that you can own Mulan and rewatch it as many times as your heart’s content, it does get into a whole host of ethical topics about streaming.
While this makes sense as an incentive, I find owning something digital is a frustrating mess. Unless you are holding it in your hand, maybe on a flash drive, you don’t really own it. You own ACCESS to it, which is fine but is a flimsy goal when considering preservation. What if Disney+ went bankrupt (not likely, but for argument’s sake)? Would you still have Mulan to watch one random night in seven years? It’s doubtful. While I have bought digital media en masse for years, I am someone who personally prefers owning hard copies of movies, such as DVD and Blu-Ray, for those special titles or, in cases that I hope are rare for you, internet shortages where you’re stuck with entertainment not connected to a Wi-Fi modem.
That’s the thing with Disney still, They don’t come cheap because they’re geniuses at supply and demand. They know how to get you excited about anything. I pretty much scavenge Disney movies at local retail stores, waiting for the prices to drop to something reasonable, like $13. Considering how little is offered in special features these days, the exponential increase in price is often offensive. But I get it. You just have to have Pete’s Dragon (2016) for $25. That’s why for me, Mulan on Disney+ Premier Access for $29.99 is offensive. I’d maybe pay that for a DVD if my nieces cured Lou Gherig’s Disease, but considering that they’re four, it’s a hard bargain. I don’t know if that makes me cheap or reasonable, but Disney’s price gouging has been offensive long before this conflict.
There’s of course a bigger conversation that many are having with the simple question: is it worth it? To the consumer like me, the answer is a capital NO with a bunch of exclamation points. I’d rather wait for a decrease, which as of their announcement was never confirmed. Any ambiguous plans for a date were largely ignored. The only ones who thought that $29.99 were those invested in family entertainment more than I, who whipped out that calculator and proved to me with math that it was a bargain, costing less than a trip to a Cineplex to see it. To them, I say “Okay.” Mulan in its current form seems a bit too adult for wide family appeal, but if you think they’ll enjoy this wuxia take, then more power to you.
It’s not that Mulan looks bad. It’s among my most anticipated movies of the year. It’s just that this was an odd one to strike out with. Sure it was one of their big movies, but why not apply this $29.99 to something more guaranteed to be a hit, like Pixar’s Soul (2020) or Marvel’s Black Widow (2020) that could appeal to four quadrants? The live-action remakes have had a lousy track record with being called dark and scarier. The Lion King (2019) is a photorealistic musical about cats dying. It’s less creepy in animation. Mulan at least makes sense in the transition. Still, it feels like an odd pick for any reason other than “it was ready to go” and they had weeks of marketing already out there to work with.
Mind you, this is all frustrating stuff when you don’t understand what Disney+ Premier Access symbolizes. The way it is continuing to be sold is that this is the ONLY way to see Mulan. For the rest of time, you’ll have to pay $29.99 to see this movie that may be a crapshoot. After all, Beauty and the Beast (2017) was an abomination, so what makes this any different? There are layers to understanding the frustration, on top of the fact that a kid who wants to see this will look at the promo and be like “I want that!” without an understanding of the economic force.
The parents who don’t read the fine print (which I hope are few and far between given the dangerous subtext of certain products) will fall for this “exclusive” offer. They don’t know that Disney is planning something greater than this, and as they check their wallet, they put angel wings on a couple Hamiltons and watch it fly into the TV, crying when the kid looks back and says “IT’S SO BORING!” In this scheme, I doubt there are refunds, and you get to have Mulan for the rest of time.
But in the fine print, you’ll begin to notice how things really are stacking up. Yes, it is all true that Disney+ Premier Access is the ONLY way to see Mulan. What they don’t tell you is that this is a limited time situation. It’s the type of act that makes everything a bit more forgivable, especially if you see it how every other streaming release has done things in the past six months. The price gouging isn’t a lingering threat. It will go away. Much like there’s an incentive to go to a theater and see the film there exclusively, Disney+ is using Premier Access as their proverbial theater. As any consumer will tell you, it will transition to its next stage of life.
So, in the wake of last week’s big release, news began to break that Mulan would be available for free, exactly three months to the day on December 4. With this decision, I generally forgive Disney for the price gouging. It makes sense that you’re wanting to recoup a profit with a faux-theatrical plan. I’m for it, actually.
However, I want to talk to everyone who has been paying attention to Mulan since July or August. When you heard the news that Mulan would cost $29.99, were you confident that there was going to be another plan offered, let alone by the end of 2020? It feels like something that should be obvious, but you can’t exactly count Disney out. After all, why is Disney+ Premier Access not sold separately? Why do you have to pay that on top of $6.99? I get its convenience on one hand, but considering that most freemium apps exist to rip you off, where’s the ethics behind these decisions?
Most importantly, following backlash why not be public about your FULL plan. Families deserve to have some knowledge of what’s being sold to them. The intimidation of this being as good as things get is a terrible marketing tool and a cynical one that makes you look like greedy capitalists over family entertainment. I’m not saying to put a lot of effort into changing things, but maybe mention in your ads that it’s “Coming Soon to Disney+ [Free] This December.” I get that this is counterintuitive to making an immediate profit, but so is hiding the plan. Imagine if you flat out admitted that something like Frozen II was never getting a home release. It just existed at a theater and would never be on DVD or streaming. That’s what this feels like, and you only make the world feel like suckers while doing it.
Going forward, I do understand the value of Disney+ Premier Access. However, the optics were always skewered, especially when the service has other new movies like Stargirl (2020) and The One and Only Ivan (2020) (both pretty good) for free right now. Mulan was always higher profile, but even considering that Hamilton was free, it felt like some perverse new form of price gouging. I’m sure that audiences will pick up on this trend with their next endeavor, be quicker to notice the follies of this marketing team. I know some will give in any way (and that’s your prerogative), but they should know all of the options ahead of time.
Me personally, I am waiting until December to give the film a chance. I’d prefer a theatrical release, but we all know how that’s going right now. I just hope at that time that Disney’s plan doesn’t come back to bite them, with potentially negative reviews that turn audiences off from renting it in October or November. Maybe it should as karma, but really all I wanted was honesty. Tell me that you’re doing a new and ambitious (read: not ambiguous) release plan and I’ll believe you. Otherwise, you’re just going to make the people Torrenting your movie seem like heroes for giving to the poor families who are struggling economically right now due to a global pandemic and can’t afford to watch a movie with lukewarm reviews. Be honest with them before they lose interest. Otherwise, you admit that this was always about money first, which is fine but doesn’t speak well of your product’s quality given recent track records.
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