Everything You Need To Know About Disney+, Set To Launch In November For $6.99 A Month

"It was all started by a mouse."

Disney unveiled its highly anticipated new streaming service Disney+ at its Investor Day presentation Thursday, a service that will present a strong rival to current powerhouse streaming platforms Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and others. With its historic acquisition of 20th Century Fox this year, Disney has already eliminated a potential competitor by acquiring the majority stake in Hulu, which it will offer in a bundle alongside other paid subscription services like ESPN+. That's in addition to Disney+'s massive collection that includes new and old Disney, Pixar, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and National Geographic titles.

Here's everything we've learned about the Disney+ streaming service, including how its interface works, and the platform's extensive collection of new, old, and original titles.

Disney+ will cost $6.99 per month and $69.99 annually for a premium subscription, with no free ad supported option. That's a reasonable price, compared to its biggest rivals Netflix ($8.99 a month) and Amazon Prime ($8.99 a month for Prime Video only). But when you consider the breadth of Disney+'s collection, that's a great deal for the amount of content we're going to get — most of it just on Day 1.

Disney+ will launch on November 12, 2019, on which day Disney's entire 13-film Signature Collection will be available to stream as well as all of its recent hits like Moana, Big Hero 6, and more. Disney+ will be the permanent home for all of Disney Animation's films, though the presentation did not make clear whether the more unseemly films from the Disney Vault like Song of the South will be made available.

Disney Animation chief creative officer and Frozen director Jennifer Lee appeared on stage to announce Disney's animated titles on Disney+, leading into the top dogs from Pixar, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm. Pixar's Chief Creative Officer Pete Doctor revealed that the full Pixar collection will be available on Disney+ as well as all 30 Pixar shorts, including last year's Oscar-winning Bao. Disney Channel will also have a major presence on the platform, with over 100 original Disney channel movies and 5000 episodes available on Day 1.

Marvel chief Kevin Feige revealed that at least 12 Marvel Studios films will be available on Day 1 of the service's launch, including Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Thor Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and even the recently released Captain Marvel and the upcoming Avengers: Endgame — giving the latter two potentially the shortest gap between theatrical and VOD release. However, he was vague on whether the rest of the Marvel films would arrive on the service at the same time, making it uncertain whether Marvel films would rotate on and off Disney+.

Finally, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announced that Disney+ will hold the entire collection of Star Wars films, the two trilogies plus Rogue One and Solo. As the years go on, remaining titles will be available including Star Wars: Episode 9, Kennedy said.

As for the Fox assets that Disney acquired, National Geographic's collection of documentaries and specials will be available on the platform, as will the first 30 seasons of The Simpsons, and family-friendly Fox series and films like Malcolm and the Middle and Bend it Like Beckham.

This is all in addition to the multiple announced movies and TV shows that will be appearing on Disney+, which brings the total number of original episodic series to 25-plus, 10-plus movies and specials, 7500 past episodes on and off air, 100-plus recent titles, and 400-plus library titles, according to SVP and content chief Agnes Chu.

The app's homepage will lead subscribers to navigate to either a Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm, or National Geographic page, all of them customized with their own logos and dynamic interfaces. A navigation bar on the left side of the screen also allows for easy searches through genres, studios, originals, TV series, and more. The app will be highly customizable, allowing subscribers to make a personalized watch list as well as install parental controls for kid profiles. However, there may not be too much at issue on Disney+, as the presentation emphasized family-friendly content, even among the National Geographic specials and documentaries.

All the content can be downloaded and accessed offline — a feature that's common on services like Netflix and even Criterion Channel. However, the appeal is that this downloadable content will be available on an unlimited basis, as long as they remain subscribers.

All the titles, including theatrical movies will be made immediately available on Disney+after the home release window, will be available for viewing in 4K HDR.

In addition to TV and mobile devices, Disney+ has struck up device partnerships across mobile and gaming devices, including smart TVs, Roku TV, Playstation 4, and more. The name of the game here is synergy, with Disney planning to prominently feature merchandise on its partners and work with Disney Parks, Disney Cruise Lines and the Disney Store to reach 100 million households.

Disney hopes to eventually launch Disney+ in each major region of the world over the next two years, starting with the U.S., and leading to eastern and western Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

Following Disney's acquisition of Fox, the House of Mouse now owns 60% of stake in Hulu, which it will be selling as part of a bundle for its standalone, paid subscription services, according to Kevin Mayer, chairman of Disney's direct-to-consumer division. For an unannounced "reasonable" price, Disney will sell Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu as a bundle.

Mayer said Disney "will likely bundle at a discounted price to offer more value for consumers," though he did not announce what that price will be and whether it will be up-charged from the Disney+ starting price of $6.99. Hulu's monthly subscription recently dropped to a starting price of $5.99, and it also offers an $11.99 "no commercials" plan as well as a Live TV option for $44.99 a month. Meanwhile ESPN+ costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 annually. It's likely the bundle will be somewhere in the middle range.

Disney+ will launch on November 12, 2019 for $6.99 per month and $69.99 annually.