[THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN UPDATEd on 2 February 2021. Updates in blue.]
We’ve been waiting for this since what feels like forever — Disney+, the streaming service that hosts content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, has announced that they’ll be launching in Singapore, on 23 February 2021.
For a fee of $11.98 per month or $119.98 a year, audiences here will get to experience exclusive content across the company’s star brands, including Disney+ Originals such as The Mandalorian and WandaVision, or their library of over 500 films and 15,000 episodes across all six content brands.
Subscribers here will also have access to content from: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and Star. Asian entertainment brand, Star, is a timely feature since Singapore will be the first new market to introduce their lineup of entertainment options.
Popular musical Hamilton is also on the list, where you’ll also find well-loved classics of The Lion King and Aladdin, Pixar’s animated films including The Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4, as well as Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame — even The Simpsons. Star will also bring in hits such as Deadpool, How I Met Your Mother, Grey’s Anatomy, Family Guy, and more, which will expand the lineup of entertainment options content, especially for mature audiences with movies such as Deadpool, and Logan, which are rated M18.
As a streaming service, Disney+ offers high-quality and commercial-free viewing, up to four concurrent streams, and unlimited downloads of content on up to 10 devices. You’ll also be able to set up to seven different user profiles per account, including child-friendly Kids Profiles that will only screen age- appropriate content. It will support a wide range of devices at launch, including gaming consoles, streaming media players, and smart TVs.
Here’s a summary of the most exciting news, and all the upcoming and exclusive releases on the Disney+ streaming platform:
MARVEL STUDIOS —
- WandaVision, the first Marvel show on Disney+ now has a new trailer, starring Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), available on Disney+ in Singapore at launch
- The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and its first full trailer, starts streaming on Disney+ in Singapore from 19 March
- Loki, a short series based on Tom Hiddleston’s god of mischief from the Thor universe, with a preview clip, out 11 June 2021
- A first look at What If?, an animated series from Marvel Studios, out Summer 2021
- Hawkeye has confirmed Hailee Steinfeld on the cast as Kate Bishop, out late Fall 2021
During a recent press event at the Hybrid Broadcast Studio at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre on 2 Februrary 2021, attendees also had a live Q&A session with Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios and Chief Creative Officer of Marvel.
He talked about how Disney+ was able to extend Marvel storytelling “to a new format, creating series that are connected to our theatrical releases, making the MCU more immersive than ever”. Feige also revealed how Marvel Studios had changed their initial plans of a movie version of Hawkeye, deciding instead on an Original series that’d do more justice to the story and its characters.
“As we’re working on it, we realise we had more story than just one movie could hold, especially when we’re introducing a whole new hero in Kate Bishop,” he says. “We look at [a movie or a series] creatively at the same level, and therefore [will choose] whichever medium works better for the story we want to tell.”
As for those who might not be as well-acquainted as hardcore fans of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) films, Feige assures that the Original series on Disney+ will be welcoming to new audiences.
“I think there’s an expectation that you do need to have seen all the amazing amount of Marvel Cinematic Universe stuff to watch something new — but we spend a lot of time making sure that’s not the case,” he says. “If you have, you do understand more of the easter eggs, and if you haven’t, in some ways you get a more pure version of the story that we’re unveiling — because you’re not supposed to know everything when you open Page 1 of a new book.”
STAR WARS —
- The Mandalorian, set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order, available on Disney+ in Singapore at launch
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch, an animated series on the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in “The Clone Wars”), out 4 May 2021
- Star Wars: A Droid Story, an animated adventure series featuring R2D2 and C3PO, out 2021
- Two new shows — Rangers of the New Republic and Ahsoka. These are spinoffs of their current series The Mandalorian, and will feature crossovers in the future, launch date TBC
- Star Wars: Andor, starring Rogue One’s Diego Luna, out 2022
- Hayden Christensen returns as Darth Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi, which will also star Ewan McGregor, launch date TBC
- Star Wars: Lando, a new ‘event series’ coming to Disney+, launch date TBC
DISNEY ANIMATION —
- Raya and the Last Dragon premieres on Disney+ and theatres on 5 March 2021
- Godmothered, a comedy about an inexperienced fairy godmother-in-training who decides to show the world that people still need fairy godmothers, available on Disney+ in Singapore at launch
- Flora & Ulysses, a comedy-adventure on Flora, an avid comic book fan, who discovers a squirrel with unique superhero powers, available on Disney+ in Singapore at launch
- Baymax!, a series based on Big Hero 6, planned for early 2022
- Zootopia Plus, a new series based on Zootopia, planned for spring 2022
- Tiana, based on The Princess and The Frog, planned for 2023
- Moana, now a musical comedy series, planned for 2023
- Encanto, a new movie set in Colombia with music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, in development
Representing Disney Animation Studios, Producer Osnat Shurer also responded to questions at the press event, particularly on Raya and the Last Dragon, significant for being the first Disney Animation film based on Southeast Asia culture, and one with strong female leads as well.
On the most inspiring takeaway from the team’s research across Southeast Asia, which took them from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, to Singapore and Malaysia, Shurer says this: “The one thing that goes across the varied cultures and countries of Southeast Asia was food — the love of food, the way people come together over food, or just food itself.”
“The movie’s a journey of trust, our main character learning to trust again, and you can track that through the food,” she continued.”But of course, there are many other things. The visuals, the textiles, the architecture, and more importantly, the people, the sense of community and the sense of people working together for the greater good.”
The fantasy film will be released through Disney+ Premier Access alongside its theatrical release on 5 March this year.
PIXAR —
- The latest SparkShorts episode, Burrow, available on Disney+ in Singapore at launch
- Pixar Popcorn, a collection of mini shorts featuring beloved Pixar characters, available on Disney+ in Singapore at launch
- Inside Pixar, a documentary series that provides an inside look into the people, artistry, and culture of Pixar Animation Studios, available on Disney+ in Singapore at launch
- Dug Days, a new series featuring the beloved dog Dug from Up, out Fall 2021
- Lightyear, an origin story for Buzz Lightyear who will be voiced by Chris Evans, launching into theatres 17 June 2022
- A Cars series, featuring Lightning McQueen and Mater, out Fall 2022
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC —
- Gordon Ramsay: Unchartered, of chef Gordon Ramsay’s journeys to some of the most remote locations on Earth in search of culinary inspiration, available on Disney+ in Singapore at launch
- Disney+ exclusives such as The World According to Jeff Goldblum, and The Right Stuff, on the space race and NASA’s Project Mercury, available on Disney+ in Singapore at launch
- New Disney+ original documentary series, including Secrets of the Whales by James Cameron, A Real Bug’s Life featuring the microcosm world of bugs, and America The Beautiful of America’s best national parks filmed while they were closed to the public
- Limitless, starring Chris Hemsworth who tests out the full potential of the human body in this scientific exploration series
STAR —
- TV series titles include: Grey’s Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Prison Break, Homeland, Modern Family, Family Guy, and more
- Movie titles include: Logan, Deadpool and Deadpool 2, the Die Hard series, The Kingsman series, and more
The Disney+ service will be available on a wide range of mobile and connected devices, including gaming consoles, streaming media players, and smart TVs. In addition, existing and new StarHub Mobile, TV and Broadband customers will be able to enjoy up to two years of access to Disney+.
Disney+ will launch in Singapore on 23 February 2021 for a fee of S$11.98 a month or S$119.98 a year. Subscribe to Disney+ on their website, or via the Disney+ mobile app. Register on DisneyPlus.com today to receive updates.
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