Cadenza
Disney+ opens the vault for new generations to enjoy
Streaming is—and for the foreseeable future will be—a large part of our day-to-day lives. We have moved into an age where TVs, once a miracle in technology, are becoming obsolete thanks to the internet and the readily accessible devices we carry with us everywhere we go. While there are a healthy number of streaming giants already in the mix—Amazon Video, Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go to name a few—The Walt Disney Company threw their name in the ring with their own streaming service. Disney+ is all Disney, all the time.
The creators of Mickey Mouse and friends have stepped into the world of streaming services, and honestly, I’m not mad at them—they saw an opportunity and they took it. As someone who loves all things Disney, I immediately jumped at the chance to have my favorite childhood movies and TV shows in one place, and I welcomed the nostalgia that would come my way, but I was not prepared for the sheer plethora of options to choose from.
Divided into collections for every mood, Disney+ has something for everyone. Whether or not you’re feeling nostalgic and looking to watch the Disney magic unfold from the very beginning in the 1920s with “Steamboat Willie” all the way to the present day with the live-action iteration of Disney’s “Lady and the Tramp,” recently released directly on Disney+. And for those fans of fairy tales, there’s an entire collection with every single Disney princess movie. It includes those who are part of the franchise, like Cinderella and Rapunzel, as well as the films that are about princesses in general, like “The Princess Diaries” and “Princess Protection Program.”
Even with all of this content, Disney+ still has more to give. All of the Pixar movies that we know and love are housed on this service, as well as the Disney Channel Original Movies we spent our evenings as children waiting to premiere on a Friday night as we watched the familiar blue film reel play on our screens. The “High School Musical” franchise will always have a special place in my heart next to other classics like “Camp Rock” and “The Proud Family Movie.”
While the movie inventory is impressive and has taken up a large amount of my time to sift through and enjoy, the TV show inventory is just as thorough. Taking a walk down memory lane is easy to do with the Disney Channel TV shows available on Disney+. Reliving the emotional final episode of the final season of “Hannah Montana” and watching the Russo family’s magical shenanigans has never been more accessible, and honestly, it’s the perfect thing to close out the semester.
Never have I ever wanted to sit at home, cuddled in a blanket, and watch the Disney movies and television shows of my childhood more. While this is a frequent occurrence for me without the aid of Disney+, this “house of mouse” is bringing me back to simpler times. The shows and movies that Disney has created thus far are monumental in shaping who we are as people because that’s how we learn—by watching and observing. When we’re younger we might decide we want to be a princess just because we loved Cinderella so much, or that we wanted to invent something because Phineas and Ferb are the boy geniuses we wish that we could be.
Looking back on the years of Disney that shaped me, whether it was waiting for Disney Channel’s Halloween weeks where they would show classics like “Twitches” and “Halloweentown,” I’m reminded of the times over the past 10 years where I found comfort in the Disney vault. The vault is now open and the decade is ending—go back and watch some of your favorites from when you weren’t stressed about finals and all that mattered was whether or not you got to stay up past 9 p.m. to watch the sing-along edition of “High School Musical.” So take some time in the vault, and let all your dreams come true. It’ll be worth it.