Disney Plus Just Canceled Two More Family Shows — Before Anyone Can See Them
All of this chaos does make one wish for the $6.99 simplicity of 2019 again.
Two upcoming Disney+ TV shows based on beloved books will not actually end up on Disney+. As a result of the ongoing financial struggles in the entertainment industry — including the ongoing SAG and WGA strikes — countless shows and movies have either been pushed back or, just scrubbed outright.
While a lot of this scans as high-class problems from tinsel-town, the truth is, that the unwillingness of the studios to seriously negotiate with both the writers and actors is starting to impact various aspects of the economy. And, as is often sadly the case, families bear the brunt of some of these disappointments.
For those who are fans of the popular children’s book series The Spiderwick Chronicles, it turns out that a new live-action TV series adaptation of those books will not air on Disney+ as previously planned. Stunningly, the show is already completed, but, according to Deadline, in an effort to cut costs, Disney+ has decided not to air it at all. This tactic is similar to Disney+ deleting Willow and also dropping another based-on-a-great-book-series-turned-family-show, The Mysterious Benedict Society.
Disney+ will also not move forward with a new 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea spin-off TV series called Nautilus. Like The Spiderwick Chronicles, this show has already been filmed, but will not hit the streamer as planned.
Similar to Paramount+ yanking the already airing Star Trek: Prodigy from that streaming service, both The Spiderwick Chronicles and Nautilus may, in fact, end up on different streaming services, assuming some kind of deal can be worked out behind the scenes. But, it seems the days of Disney+ being a 100 percent reliable streaming service for new and old family shows alike are gone. While there is obviously a ton of great stuff for families on Disney+ — including two recent Star Wars shows being especially great for co-viewing — the constant reports of shows getting deleted is frustrating. And this time, these promising shows, with bookish roots, aren’t even getting seen by the public before cancelation.
Most families probably won’t delete Disney+, even amid rising costs, but all of this chaos does make one wish for the $6.99 simplicity of 2019 again.
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