You may recall that Disney cancelled Willow after one season when its viewership didn’t make the grade. Hey, it’s just business. But after you’ve whacked a guy and sent him to rest in the Jersey Pine Barrens, that’s traditionally the end of it, and back you go to shooting pool at the Bing. Not content with tradition, Disney went full plaid and decided to go to the trouble of digging the body back up so they could shoot the damn thing into the Sun for good measure.
I don’t know quite how else to describe Disney’s decision to remove Willow (among other titles under their ownership) from their catalog altogether. It’s become a disturbing trend with these hemorrhaging streaming platforms – something to do with tax loopholes, residuals dodging and other ledger-book shell games – but it’s still kind of wild to observe. I realize we’re not talking about the most beloved of television casualties here, but nevertheless – damn.
When reached for comment, Jon Kasdan remained firm in his optimism that a Season 2 was still hypothetically possible, probably right after that Solo sequel gets produced.
Source: Deadline
Jones Jr
This is exactly why physical media remains relevant. If you rely on a streaming service to watch or listen to your favourite content, be prepared for it to vanish because of 'tax reasons' or 'rights expiration'.
Sorry to hear that you'll miss the show you love though, that does suck.
Agreed. It's really a shame how companies are discouraging physical media so strongly now. Tactics include...
- Extreme delays compared to the for-purchase digital versions. The new super mario movie is a good example, which is already available for purchase digitally, with the physical release date set to December 31st, 2023.
- No longer releasing UHD formats anywhere but digitally. Universal no longer releases new movies in 4K for physical purchase, only digital. A good example is the new Cocaine Bear movie, in the US, you can only purchase a regular BD for it. In the UK a different company distributes the movie, and UHD is available there (Hint: UHD is not region-locked, so you can import it just fine).
- Reduced presence in retail. It used to be easy to find tons of blu-rays and a decent selection of UHDs in stores, just walk in to any Target and you'd have a pretty good selection and usually at solid prices. Nowadays you're looking at junk DVDs, if anything, and a selection of Vinyl records instead.
- Not releasing physical editions at all.
My wife and I have long bought physical movies/shows/anime, these days you pretty much have to order all of it. I've considered going full doomsday and ramping up my ordering just because the writing on the wall seems to indicate that sooner then later they may go out of print without coming back.
Sorry to hear that you'll miss the show you love though, that does suck.