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Live Channels Disney+ Needs to Add
Saturday Morning Cartoons
The Saturday morning cartoons that entertained a generation have remained a major force for nostalgia in the world of pop culture, and Disney+ already has so many of those shows available on its lineup.
Just think about the rotation we could have on an old school cartoon channel. A steady rotation of Gargoyles, DuckTales, X-Men: The Animated Series, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, and so many more. This feels like a no-brainer, and a channel that could easily be one of the most popular amongst millennial subscribers.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
This feels like a no-brainer, and it was one of the potential channels mentioned in the initial report about the live Disney+ venture over the summer. In all honesty, it’s a little surprising that a Marvel Cinematic Universe channel wasn’t one of the first channels that launched on the streamer.
With more than 30 movies, several TV shows, and non-MCU Marvel films, there is plenty to populate an MCU channel with.
Mickey & Friends Shorts
Disney was built on the back of Mickey Mouse and it only feels appropriate that one of the live streaming channels should be dedicated to the classics.
You think about Steamboat Willie, Brave Little Tailor, Pluto’s Christmas Tree, and all of the other shorts that have been released over the years, and it’s an easy recipe for a live channel. This would also give younger generations of fans the opportunity to discover so many of the cartoons that made Disney the entertainment powerhouse that it is.
Star Wars
Like the MCU, this is another no-brainer. Star Wars has been one of entertainment’s most iconic franchises for decades and the fandom has only grown with time.
The franchise itself has grown as well, with 11 feature films and now a slew of TV shows on Disney+. You could even throw in animated titles like Rebels and Clone Wars. There’s a ton of great Star Wars to go around.
LEGO
If you’ve ever explored Pluto TV’s kids channels, you’ve probably noticed that the free service has a dedicated LEGO channel, running episodes of different LEGO shows and specials that have been released over the years. There’s no reason Disney+ couldn’t do the same.
Disney has a lot of LEGO shows and specials at its disposal, thanks to the partnerships LEGO has had with Marvel and Star Wars over the years. And there is still a steady stream of new LEGO specials being released on Disney+, giving the potential channel plenty to stay populated with.
Disney Channel Original Movies
Like the Saturday morning cartoons, Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs) were a pillar of television for a generation. From Smart House to Cheetah Girls to High School Musical, there are so many hidden gems tucked away on the DCOM roster.
Just let us have this one, Disney.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons in “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”
– 20th Television Animation)
When Disney+ first launched back in 2019, one of the biggest selling points was the fact that it would have every episode of The Simpsons available to stream in one place. The iconic animated series has a massive fanbase that would keep this channel on at all times.
It would be a genuine surprise if there was never a Simpsons channel introduced on Disney+. It would also be really nice for that channel to feature a healthy amount of Treehouse of Horror in the month of October.
All Musical Channel
A lot of Disney’s animated features are musicals, and many of them have been given sing-along editions on Disney+. Then you’ve got popular concert/live performance titles like Hamilton and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.
Music is deeply engrained in so much of what Disney has done over the years and it would make sense to have a channel dedicated to celebrating that.
Disney Renaissance
Yes, there should be a channel that just airs Disney Animation Studios movies, but I wanna see one of these live options get even more specific. Let’s run through the 1990s classics that have come to be known as the Disney Renaissance.
Everything between The Little Mermaid and Hercules is fair game here, and that should include the straight-to-video sequels and spinoff TV shows that most of these films had. This was a golden age for Disney and there are lots of fans who would love to leave that era on TV for hours at a time.
Pixar
Like Disney Animation Studios, Pixar has a storied history filled with iconic films and animated shorts that have remained loved by fans over the years.
Toy Story, Cars, Inside Out, Up, Finding Nemo, and so many other films could help populate this channel, along with the horde of award-winning shorts Pixar has released alongside its features.
National Geographic
There’s a ton of National Geographic programming tucked away on Disney+, more than enough to populate an entire live channel.
There are nature documentaries, long-running series about animals, even a slew of Disney Nature movies that aren’t technically NatGeo but would be a great fit alongside that other programming.-
