On November 12, 2019, the Disney group launched its own streaming platform with fanfare, including its great animated classics, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars films: Disney+. Five years later, the group has produced a lot of original content. To celebrate five years of the platform, here is our top 10 of the best Disney+ films and series
#10 Werewolf by Night, de Michael Giacchino (2022)
Broadcast since October 7, 2022, Werewolf by Night marks an interesting stage in the existence of Disney+ and Marvel Studios: the desire to produce event TV filmsHalloween and Christmas. Directed by the great composer Michael Giacchino, close collaborator of Marvel and unanimously considered the most worthy heir of John Williams, Werewolf by Night was very well received by the press and the public. The TV movie tells the story of a group of monster slayers confronted by a terrifying creature. Not content with introducing the anti-hero Jack Russell / Werewolf by Night, the film is a vibrant homage to horror cinema of the 1930s and 1940s. If the film is not revolutionary in itself, it offers us aan entertaining story, served by an elegant staging and a very beautiful black and white. What are the people asking for? (Note that Disney and Marvel have done it again with the special TV movie Guardians of the Galaxy: Happy Holidays by James Gunn, which serves as an introduction to the film Guardians of the Galaxy vol.3.)
#9 Everything is Fine (2023)
In accordance with French law, Disney is forced to invest part of the profits made in France thanks to its platform in local productions. In exchange, Disney+ benefits from a lighter media chronology. The series Everything is fine therefore benefits from the funds of the big-eared company. This dramatic comedy immerses us in the daily life of an ordinary French family, which must face a terrible ordeal : the serious illness of one of the children. Both funny and moving, Everything is fine is a great success, which manages to capture with great accuracy and humor the drama that is playing out, without ever falling into easy pathos. Developed by Camille de Castelneau, one of the talented screenwriters of the legendary series The Legends Office for Canal+, Everything is fine features a prodigious cast, led by the indescribable Virgina Efirawho never ceases to remind us with each production what an exceptional actress she is!
#8 WandaVision (2021)
Disney+ subscribers have long complained about the lack of original content on the platform, and in particular the notable absence of Marvel series. If today, the trend is reversed, with an impression of overexploitation of the license on television, it is above all due to the at best random, at worst declining, quality of Marvel productions. Yet it all started well with WandaVisionthe first original series from Marvel Studios for Disney+. With its plot taking place in the immediate post-Endgamethe series offers us an astonishing reflection on mourning, through the confinement of Wanda Maximoff in the town of Westview. Paying homage to sitcoms from the 1950s to 2000s, WandaVision East a very original series in its form, which offers several puzzles – whose conclusion is not entirely satisfactory, but that’s a detail -, and a tone hitherto unprecedented in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
#7 Alerte Rouge, de Domee Shi (2022)
After the departure of John Lasseter from the management of Pixar, the studio is in dire straits. If the appointment of Pete Docter as replacement is obvious, what direction should the studio take with the flashlight, when the brains behind Toy Story leaves the company overnight? Pixar had to rely on new animators, who proposed daring films. Red Alert is one of them! Telling the story of a young Chinese-Canadian teenager who transforms into a red panda every time she is confronted with too strong an emotionthe film is the work of director Domee Shi. The film, which fully captures adolescent doldrums, also questions the place of community and traditions in families with immigrant backgrounds. Both funny, moving and entertaining, Red Alert led Pixar to tackle new themes. As Soul et Luca before him, the film was offered exclusively on Disney+. Too bad, it could have been a hit in the theater!
#6 Prey, de Dan Tratchenberg (2022)
By purchasing 21st Century Fox in 2019, Disney got its hands on many cult licenses, starting with Alien et Predator. While the series Alien: Earth by Noah Hawley will land exclusively on Disney+ in 2025 – all the information can be found here -, the film Prey landed on the platform in 2022. Directed by Dan Tratchenberg, the film immerses us in North America, in the heart of Comanche territory, at the beginning of the 18th century. To prove that she can become a warrior, young Naru decides to face the Predator who threatens her tribe. Mixing English and the Comanche language, Prey is a formidably effective sci-fi and action film. If it does not deny the heritage of the license created by John McTiernan in 1987, the feature film is not content to be a simple quotation and seeks to bring new forms to the saga Predator. The film was so successful that Dan Tratchenberg is working on a new film Predator planned for 2025.
#5 Star Wars: The Bad Batch
From The Clone Warsthe license Star Wars maintains a strong relationship with animation. Launched in 2021 and created by Dave Filoni, the series The Bad Batch is a sequence of The Clone Warssince it takes over Clone Force 99, created for season 7 broadcast in 2020. Situated after Revenge of the Siththe series The Bad Batch takes us through the adventures of a group of genetically modified clones, who manage to remain themselves at the outbreak of Order 66. Revealing little-known parts of the Galactic Empire, Dave Filoni’s new series is a great success, which once again confirms the immense talent of the American screenwriter for creating immediately endearing characters. If in its first episodes, the series seems to have struggled to find its tone, it quickly managed to find a more serious tone. It is today one of the most appreciated works of fans of Star Wars. And we can’t blame them!
#4 Shōgun
Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox allowed the group to be the lucky owners of the FX channel, to which we owe excellent series, such as Fargo et Legion of Noah Hawley. In 2024, Disney+ creates a surprise with the series Shōgunwhich adapts the novel of the same name by James Clavell – already adapted in the 1980s in a mini-series with Toshirō Mifune, the favorite actor of the legendary Akira Kurosawa (The Seven Samurai). Featuring the great Hiroyuki Sanada (Ring, Lost, Westworld, John Wick 4), the series takes us into Japan at the beginning of the 17th century and recounts the involvement of an English navigator in the political intrigues of feudal Japan. Shōgun is an exciting series, acclaimed for the beauty of its sets, its costumes and for the complexity of its characters, so much so that it has been compared to Game of Thrones. Just that! During the 2024 Emmy Awards ceremony, Shōgun won 18 awards, including best drama series and best direction. First thought of as a mini-series, it will ultimately be entitled to two additional seasons that we are curious to discover.
#3 The Mandalorian (2019-…)
Launched in the United States on November 12, 2019 at the same time as the platform, The Mandalorian is the first live-action series of the Disney era. The adventures of bounty hunter Din Djarin and Grogu are true calls to adventure. Developed by director Jon Favreau and screenwriter Dave Filoni, to whom we owe The Clone Wars et Star Wars Rebelsthe series The Mandalorian perfectly succeeded in its mixture of novelties and fan service. Drawing inspiration from spaghetti westerns as well as manga Lone Wolf and Cub by Gōseki Kojima and Kazuo Koike – who also inspired the relationship between Joel and Ellie in the video game The Last of Us de Naughty Dog -, The Mandalorian is a pleasant return to the sources of the saga Star Wars and inspirations from George Lucas. She also enjoys the happiness of fans to find characters as cult as Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan Kryze, Boba Fett or even Luke Skywalker. After a third season which explored a little more the heritage and tensions of Mandalorian society, the series will soon be released in cinemas with the feature film The Mandalorian & Grogudirected by Jon Favreau and scheduled to hit theaters on May 20, 2026. We can’t wait!
#2 Soul
After the resounding (and quite sad, it must be said) failure of the animated film Ahead Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Disney chose to distribute the following three Pixar films exclusively on Disney+, against the advice of the studio’s desk lamp artists. Genius Pete Docter’s first film (Monsters and Co., Up there, Vice versa) since he was named artistic director of Pixar following the resignation of John Lasseter, Soul is the first of these films to have been broadcast directly on SVOD. After the monsters of our nightmares and our emotions, Pete Docter decides to tackle death this time, developing a world requiring new 3D animation techniques. Soul is also a declaration of love for jazz and a tribute to the black-American community of Harlem. A true masterpiece, enhanced by the original soundtrack composed by the duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ros from the group Nine Inch Nailsand awarded two well-deserved Oscars: Best Animated Film and Best Film Score.
#1 Andor (2022-2025)
After being disappointed by The Book of Boba Fettand little excited by Obi-Wan Kenobifans of Star Wars were beginning to despair of finding a series worthy of the universe developed by George Lucas. But as the saying goes: everything comes to those who wait! In September 2022, Disney+ launches Star Wars: Andorprequel series to the film Rogue One: a Star Wars storyfocusing on Cassian Andor’s early years in the Rebel Alliance. In addition to benefiting from an artistic direction that honors the film by Gareth Edwards and the photography of Greig Fraser, the series benefits from the writing talents of showrunner Tony Gilroy, who made a name for himself working on the saga Jason Bourne. Separated into four narrative arcs of three episodes each, the first season ofAndor integrated charismatic characters into the universe Star Warsstarting with Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård) and Maarva Andor (Fiona Shaw). Some arcs, like that of the prison planet Narkina 5, are among the most intense in the universe Star Wars. This is the reason why Andor sits in first place in this top.
And you, what are your favorite Disney+ films and series? Tell us in the comments section. And don’t hesitate to discover the series planned on the platform in 2025.
Source: hitek.fr
