David Zaslav is many things, but you can’t say he isn’t a bit of a trendsetter. Almost a full year after the great HBO Max culling of 2022 and the announcement that the streamer was relaunching as Max, Disney’s prepping to do the same exact thing with their own twin streamers.
On May 10, Bob Iger confirmed that by the end of this calendar year, Hulu will become a tile on Disney+, merging one of the oldest streamers on the market (it launched in 2007) with its much younger sibling. It’s a similar move to the upcoming Paramount+ and Showtime merger happening over at Paramount Global next month. And as the merger approaches, Disney is going to the same playbook as those companies by removing content from both platforms, in a move Iger referred to as “part of the maturation process as we grow into a business that we had never been in.”
Although Disney hasn’t gone as far as to shelve a completed film or movie before it makes it to release, its announced titles that will leave Disney+, a move which goes into effect May 26, has raised ire from fans. In particular, they faced swift backlash for planning to remove “Howard,” a documentary about “The Little Mermaid” lyricist Howard Ashman and one of the most notable gay creatives in the company’s history, from the streamer. The documentary would have been removed the day the live-action version of “The Little Mermaid” premiered, and a week before Pride Month began.
Disney has since corrected course and announced that “Howard” will remain on the service, and said that titles on the list of removals are still being finalized. Other titles have been saved, including docuseries “A Spark Story,” “Marvel’s MPower,” and “Marvel’s Voices Rising: The Music of Wakanda Forever.”
But even with those titles getting saved from the graveyard, over 50 shows and movies are still on the chopping block. The list primarily consists of a mix of docuseries and reality shows like “The World According to Jeff Goldblum,” live-action children’s series like “Diary of a Future President” and “Mighty Ducks: Game Changers,” and, on the Hulu side, FX drama shows like “Y: the Last Man” and “Pistol.” Many titles have been available on the services for an extremely short amount of time; “Willow,” for example, premiered on the service in November and its finale aired in January, just four months before the fantasy series is set to be made completely unavailable. On Instagram, Bryan Cranston publicly urged families to watch his family film “The One and Only Ivan” before it disappears from Disney+ forever.
As with HBO Max, let’s take a second to mourn what we’re about to lose. Here’s a list of all 76 titles getting taken off of Hulu and Disney+, effective this Friday.
Note: entries are listed alphabetically, with its availability on Hulu or Disney+ noted. This list will updated should more titles be removed from the streamers in the coming months.
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“9/11: 1 Day in America” (National Geographic/Hulu, 2021)
Image Credit: Hulu Released near the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, this National Geographic limited series uses archival footage and survivor testimony to recount the tragic events.
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“America the Beautiful” (Disney+, 2022)
Image Credit: Disney+ Michael B. Jordan narrated this National Geographic-produced series about the wonders of America’s wildlife.
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“Among the Stars” (Disney+, 2021)
Image Credit: Disney+ Astronaut Captain Chris Cassidy stars in this six-part docuseries following a NASA mission to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.
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“The Armstrong Tapes” (National Geographic/Hulu, 2019)
Image Credit: Hulu This doc special tells the story of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s life, via the use of never-before-heard audio tapes from the last years of his life.
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“Artemis Fowl” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Plans for a film adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s middle-grade science-fantasy book languished in development hell for a good two decades before Kenneth Branagh finally took the reins on a straight-to-streaming version.
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“Be Our Chef” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ “Be Our Chef” pitted five families together in cooking challenges at Walt Disney World, with Angela Kinsey hosting.
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“Best in Dough” (Hulu, 2022)
Image Credit: ©Hulu/Courtesy Everett Collection Wells Adams of “The Bachelor” fame hosted “Best in Dough,” a thirty-minute pizza based cooking competition.
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“Best in Snow” (Disney+, 2022)
Image Credit: Disney/Todd Wawrychuk Hosted by Titus Burgess, the 90-minute holiday special “Best in Snow” focused on teams competing in snow carving activities.
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“Better Nate Than Ever” (Disney+, 2022)
Image Credit: Disney+ Tim Federle adapted his own 2013 kids novel about a Broadway obsessed kid’s journey to New York, with Rueby Wood, Lisa Kudrow, and Joshua Bassett starring.
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“The Big Fib” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Yvette Nicole Brown hosted this Disney+ game show about kids figuring out who’s a liar in a panel of experts they quiz on trivia topics.
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“Big Shot” (Disney+, 2021-2022)
Image Credit: Disney “Big Little Lies” mastermind David E. Kelley was one of the creators behind this wholesome sports comedy about a college basketball coach who gets fired from his old job and winds up leading a girl’s high school team.
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“Bin Laden’s Hard Drive” (National Geographic/Hulu, 2020)
Image Credit: Hulu Like the name suggests, this Nat Geo documentary special looks at the uncovered hard drive of notorious terrorist Osama Bin Laden. The special is currently available to watch for free on Youtube.
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“Black Beauty” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Anna Sewell’s fictional autobiography of a horse gets a kid-friendly adaptation, with Kate Winslet voicing the gender-flipped titular horse.
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“Buried Secrets of WWII” (Nat Geo/Hulu/Disney+, 2019)
Image Credit: Hulu Pete Kelsey and Martin K.A. Morgan host this six-part series about using advanced sensory techniques to uncover lost artifacts from the second World War.
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“Cheaper by the Dozen” (Disney+, 2022)
Image Credit: Disney+ Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff are the mom and dad of the latest reimagining of the family film franchise about a gigantic family, here reimagined as a blended unit after the parents remarry each other.
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“Chef vs. Wild” (Hulu, 2022)
Image Credit: Hulu Each episode of “Chef vs. Wild” pitted two world class chefs against each other to prep gourmet courses out of ingredients they scavage for in the wilderness.
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“Clouds” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Based on a true story, this film stars Finn Argus as an aspiring teenage musician who seeks to acheive his dreams with his best friend (Sabrina Carpenter) after he receives a bone cancer diagnosis.
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“Club Mickey Mouse” (Disney+, 2017-)
Image Credit: Disney+ One of Disney+’s relatively rare international productions, “Club Mickey Mouse” was produced in Malaysia, and featured a young cast performing in a variety of sketches, musical numbers, and performances.
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“The Croc That Ate Jaws” (National Geographic/Disney+/Hulu, 2021)
Image Credit: Disney+ This National Geographic special focuses on what happens when a crocodile and a shark fight. Spoiler: the crocodile won.
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“Darby and the Dead” (Hulu, 2022)
Image Credit: HULU Riele Downs plays the titular Darby, a teen girl with ability to see ghosts, in this team comedy movie, while Auliʻi Cravalho plays one of the ghosts she encounters.
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“Diary of a Future President” (Disney+, 2020-2021)
Image Credit: Disney “Diary of a Future President” was a charming two-season kids show about ambitious 13-year old Elena’s (Tess Romero) struggles in middle school, narrated by Gina Rodriguez as, yes, Elena as a future president.
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“Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings” (Disney+, 2017-2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ This show about couples who stage weddings at Disney resorts began at Freeform in 2017, before returning for a Disney+ season in 2020.
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“Dollface” (Hulu, 2019-2022)
Image Credit: ©Hulu/Courtesy Everett Collection Kat Dennings starred as Jules, a woman who gets dumped by her longtime boyfriend and reconnects with her female friends, in this two season Hulu comedy.
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“Drug Lords: The Next Generation” (National Geographic/Hulu, 2020)
Image Credit: Hulu No, it’s not a series about Picard, Data, Riker, and the USS Enterprise gang starting a drug hustling side gig. Instead, “Drug Lords: the Next Generation” is a six episode docuseries profiling the rise of new drug lords in the cocaine trafficking scene.
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“Earth to Ned” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ This bizarre but fun talk show parody was hosted by the titular Ned, a puppeted alien who comes to Earth to invade it, falles in love with its pop culture, and starts his own show to meet earth celebrities.
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“Encore!” (Disney+, 2019-2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Kristen Bell hosted this charming series about high school graduates reuniting years later to restage their old school musical productions.
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“Everything’s Trash” (Freeform/Hulu, 2022)
Image Credit: Freeform Phoebe Robinson created and starred in this one season Freeform series about a podcast host navigating dating and sex in New York City
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“Extreme Rescues” (Nat Geo/Hulu, 2020)
Image Credit: Hulu Each episode of this docuseries tells a different story of a dramatic real-life rescue, using footage captured from the rescuers themselves during the event.
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“Family Reboot” (Disney+, 2022)
Image Credit: Disney+ This wholesome reality series focuses on busy families that are given an opportunity to abandon their busy schedules for a week and reconnect through a series of bonding activities.
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“Fearless: The Inside Story of the AFLW” (Hulu, 2022)
Image Credit: Hulu This documentary tracks the first season of the Australia Football League Women’s division, which commenced in 2017.
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“Flora & Ulysses” (Disney+, 2021)
Image Credit: Disney+ Based on the children’s novel from Kate DiCamillo, “Flora & Ulysses” stars “Station Eleven” actor Matilda Lawler as a comic book fan who meets a squirrel with superpowers.
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“Foodtastic” (Disney+, 2021)
Image Credit: Disney+ Keke Palmer hosted this cooking competition, which featured teams creating sculptures out of food.
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“@Gina Yei: #Withallmyheartandyours” (Disney+, 2023)
Image Credit: Disney+ This Puerto Rican series stars Didi Romero as the title character, a girl who gets a scholarship to attend the Caribbean Music Institute.
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“Harmonious Live!” (Disney+, 2022)
Image Credit: Disney+ This 2022 live event recording captures a special performance for World Music Day at Walt Disney World, with Idina Menzel hosting and Auli’i Cravalho performing.
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“Hollywood Stargirl” (Disney+, 2022)
Image Credit: Disney+ A sequel to the original “Stargirl” film, “Hollywood Stargirl” saw Grace VanderWaal reprise the titular role as the quirky teen moves to Los Angeles.
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“The Hot Zone” (National Geographic/Hulu, 2019-2021)
Image Credit: National Geographic/Peter Stranks This two season anthology looked at different public health emergies: Season 1 focused on the ebola virus, while Season 2 tackled the 2001 anthrax attacks in New York City. The show was never officially canceled by National Geographic, but a third season was never ordered.
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“It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ This reality show focuses on working dogs across the United States, from acting canines to surfing corgis.
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“Just Beyond” (Disney+, 2021)
Image Credit: Disney+ Based on a series from “Goosebumps” author R. L. Stine, each episode of “Just Beyond” told a different story of a teen fighting the supernatural.
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“Little Demon” (FXX/Hulu, 2022)
Image Credit: Courtesy of FXX Danny Devito voiced Satan in this FXX animated series, which focused on his relationship with former flame Laura (Aubrey Plaza) and their antichrist daughter Chrissy (Devito’s daughter Lucy). The show was never officially canceled by FXX, but its removal presumably means new seasons won’t be moving forward.
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“Life Below Zero: Next Generation” (National Geographic/Hulu/Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: National Geographic This reality series focuses on a group of people who reject modern life in favor of attempting to live off the land in the brutal Alaskan wilderness.
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“Locked Up Abroad” (Nat Geo/Hulu, 2007-Present)
Image Credit: Hulu Each episode of this long-running National Geographic series focuses on a different traveler who was put in jail while traveling through foreign countries.
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“Love in the Time of Corona” (Freeform/Hulu, 2020)
Image Credit: Freeform One of a crop of shows filmed during the COVID-19 lockdown, the four episode “Love in the Time of Corona” took its name from a 1985 Gabriel García Márquez book.
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“Maggie” (Hulu, 2022)
Image Credit: ©Hulu/Courtesy Everett Collection This one-season wonder starred Rebecca Rittenhouse as the title character, a psychic whose life becomes complicated when she sees a vision of her own potential romantic future.
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“Magic Camp” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Adam Devine plays a camp counselor at a school for young magicians in this streaming original family comedy.
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“Marvel’s Project Hero” (Disney+, 2019)
Image Credit: Disney+ Not an MCU project per se, “Marvel’s Project Hero” was a docuseries that profiled teens making an impact and becoming heroes in their local communities.
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“The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers” (Disney+, 2021-2022)
Image Credit: ABC/Liane Hentscher A twist on the iconic underdog sports film series, “Mighty Ducks: Game Changers” focuses on a new team of underdogs after the once weak Mighty Ducks have grown into a competitive hockey powerhouse.
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“More Than Robots” (Disney+, 2022)
Image Credit: Disney+ A documentary about teens preparing for the 2020 FIRST robotics competition, “More Than Robots” made its debut at the 2022 SXSW Film Fesitval.
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“Most Wanted Sharks” (Nat Geo/Hulu/Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Hulu This National Geographic special focuses on some of the most memorable sharks of all time, including the biggest recorded great white shark on record.
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“The Mysterious Benedict Society” (Disney+, 2021-2022)
Image Credit: Courtesy of Disney+ Adapted from Trenton Lee Stewart’s series of children’s books, “The Mysterious Benedict Society” was led by Tony Hale as the titular Mr. Benedict, who recruited a group of talented kids to infiltrate his twin brother’s private school to foil a world-threatening plot.
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“National Geographic Investigates: LSD and Psychedelics” (Nat Geo/Hulu, 2023)
Image Credit: Hulu One of the more recent removals from Hulu, this National Geographic special investigating the role of psychedelics in modern medicine only premiered this January.
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“North Korea: Inside the Mind of a Dictator” (Nat Geo/Hulu, 2021)
Image Credit: Hulu North Korean defectors and experts discuss the turbulent leadership of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
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“The One and Only Ivan” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Based on Katherine Applegate’s 2012 novel, “The One and Only Ivan” told the story of the real life Ivan gorilla, with Sam Rockwell voicing Ivan.
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“Own the Room” (Disney+, 2021)
Image Credit: Disney+ A National Geographic documentary film, “Own the Room” profiles five students from all over the world who journey to China in order to compete in the annual Global Student Entrepreneur Awards.
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“Penatonix: Around the World For the Holidays” (Disney+, 2022)
Image Credit: Disney+ A capella group Pentatonix lead their own Christmas special on Disney+ in 2022, featuring performances and fans of the group from countries like Japan, Iceland, and Ghana.
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“Pick of the Litter” (Disney+, 2019)
Image Credit: Disney+ This 2019 documentary series focuses on the training process required for canines to become guide dogs for the blind.
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“Pistol” (Hulu, 2022)
Danny Boyle directed every episode of this five-part FX limited series, which starred Toby Wallace as the lead guitarist of the Sex Pistols.
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“The Premise” (Hulu, 2021)
Image Credit: alyssa moran Ben Platt, Jon Bernthal, Lucas Hedges, Daniel Dae Kim, Kaitlyn Dever, Ayo Edebiri, and Tracee Ellis Ross were some of the famous faces in B. J. Novak’s anthology series that tackled social issues via biting satirical comedy.
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“The Princess” (Hulu, 2022)
Image Credit: Hulu Joey King plays the titular princess, who attempts to save her kingdom after a suitor she rejected mounts a plan to conquer it, in this fantasy action film.
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“The Quest” (Disney+, 2022)
Image Credit: Disney+ Eight teens starred in this lavish 2022 reality competition series, in which they cosplayed as heroes saving the kingdom of Everealm.
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“The Real Right Stuff” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Released in tandem with the fictionalized “The Right Stuff” series, “The Real Right Stuff” is a two-hour documentary about the real life Mercury 7 team.
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“The Right Stuff” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Jake McDorman, Patrick J. Adams, and Colin O’Donoghue played NASA astronauts Alan Shepard, John Glen, and Gordon Cooper in this one-season adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s classic 1979 book.
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“Rogue Trip” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ ABC News journalist Bob Woodruff and his son starred in this National Geographic produced travel series.
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“Rosaline” (Hulu, 2022)
Image Credit: Courtesy of 20th Century Studios “Booksmart” breakout Kaitlyn Dever plays the famously unseen “Romeo & Juliet” character Rosaline in this revisionist film take on the play.
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“Shop Class” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ One of many compeition reality shows hosted by a famous actor on Disney+, “Shop Class” focused on teams of builders facing off in different challenges to create unique contraptions. Justin Long hosted.
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“Stuntman” (Disney+, 2021)
Image Credit: Disney+ Kurt Mattila directed this documentary, a profile of stuntman Eddie Braun.
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“Stargirl” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Based on Jerry Spinelli’s 2000 young adult novel, the original “Stargirl” film is a musical telling of the romance between a shy boy and the nonconformist title character (Grace VanderWaal).
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“Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made” (Disney+, 2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Based on Stephan Pastis’ book series, the “Timmy Failure” movie follows a quirky kid who starts a detective agency with a 1,500-pound polar bear. The film was directed by Tom McCarthy of the Oscar winner for Best Picture, “Spotlight.”
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“To Catch a Smuggler: Rome” (Nat Geo/Hulu, 2021)
Image Credit: Hulu This National Geographic series focuses on members of Italy’s Customs and Border Protection as they handle smugglers and enforce the country’s quarantine protocals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller” (Nat Geo/Hulu, 2020)
Image Credit: Muck Media/National Geographic This original documentary series focuses on exposing the global underground trafficking industry.
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“Turner & Hooch” (Disney+, 2021)
Image Credit: Disney+ Former Nickelodeon star Josh Peck made the transition to Disney for “Turner & Hooch,” a sequel series to Tom Hanks’ 1989 buddy cop film about a police officer teaming up with a bulldog.
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“Ultimate Survival WWII” (Nat Geo/Hulu/Disney+, 2019)
Image Credit: National Geographic “Ultimate Survival WWII” was hosted by Hazen Audel, who traveled the globe to investigate tales of wilderness survival during the Second World War.
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“Weird But True!” (Disney+, 2016-2020)
Image Credit: Disney+ Brother sister duo Charlie and Kirby Engelman hosted this three season educational series about wildlife and the environment, which began as a National Geographic Kids program before coming to Disney+ for a third season.
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“Willow”
Image Credit: Lucasfilm Ltd. Warwick Davis returned to his iconic role as Willow Ufgood from the 1988 fantasy film for a new adventure series that debuted in 2022. A “Making of Willow” featurette documentary will also be taken off Disney+.
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“Wolfgang” (Disney+, 2021)
Image Credit: Disney+ David Gelb directed this Tribeca Film Festival premiere documentary about celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.
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“The World According to Jeff Goldblum” (Disney+, 2019-2021)
Image Credit: Disney+ The “Jurassic Park” and “The Fly” star traveled the world and interviewed experts on various cultural topics in this two season documentary show.
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“Y: the Last Man” (Hulu, 2021)
Image Credit: Rafy/FX ” After Hollywood spent a solid decade attempting to adapt Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra’s classic comic book for the screen, a TV version finally made it to Hulu in 2021. Sadly, Eliza Clark’s take on the story of an apocalypse targeting the Y chromosome was canceled two episodes before its first season finished airing.