Christmas is coming a little bit early for families with a Netflix subscription. The online movie service has signed a multi-year deal that will return classic animated films to the online library and, in a few years, make the new films available as well.
Netflix previously had several Disney animated films as part of its library, but lost the rights when its contract with Starz expired. With the new contract signed directly with Disney, classic animated films like “Dumbo,” “Pocahontas” and “Alice in Wonderland” are once again available for online streaming. Next year, we will begin to see Disney’s straight to video releases added to the Netflix library.
While waiting at restaurants or even in the car, my wife and I frequently let our son watch cartoons on our iPhones while using the Netflix app. It is a super easy way to pull up episodes of Curious George, Bob the Builder, or Dora. And now with the Disney agreement, my son can watch some classic Disney films as well.
The larger part of the agreement takes effect in 2016 when Netflix will get exclusive rights for online streaming of films from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Disneynature. Starz still has the rights to distribution until then, so we’ll have to wait for the old agreement to expire before seeing these films in the Netflix library.
There’s also a good chance that we will see the Lucasfilm library added down the road. Disney’s purchase of Lucasfilm is still going through the approval process. But it stands to reason that Star Wars and Indiana Jones could be added to the Netflix deal after the Disney/Lucas deal is official.
As a parent who often uses Netflix to provide family entertainment, I am really happy to hear the Disney films are once again available on Netflix.
Image via CNNMoney
