My parents love reminding me of the things I used to do when I was little.
One thing they bring up every so often is how I used to get fixated on one children's movie or show and request that I watch it over and over again. While my parents were red in the eyes, I would go back to the well each time for my daily dose of VeggieTales.
Now I'm only 24 years old, and what I'm about to say might sound like a luxury for households when I was a kid, but the options for parents either came through cable or VHS tapes. Now, there are endless libraries of programs for children that families can enjoy together. And none of them are better than the selections on Disney+.
In the streaming era, we are getting to the point where it's strange if studios or channels don't have a paywall streaming service. While it may have been late to the game, Disney added an affordable option to compete with services like Netflix.
Disney is an entertainment empire that has its hands on more than kids shows and Pixar movies. It owns two of the most profitable film franchises in entertainment history in Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney owns everything you see on ESPN and ABC. In March 2019, Disney purchased 21st Century Fox, which owns shows like The Simpsons and Marvel franchises like Deadpool.
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What Disney did is it found a way to make more money by charging less. It isn't trying to take subscriptions from Netflix, bust instead share the space. Disney understood that Netflix isn't going away any time soon, but instead of selling its properties to Netflix, it decided to cut out the middleman.
What that leaves us with is an expansive library of beloved movies and TV shows from several decades, all on one platform, that wasn't previously on Netflix. In a time like this, where people want to keep the kids entertained, Disney+ might be the best option.
Animated movies are consistently near the top of the yearly box office numbers because the kids want mom and dad to take them to the theater. However, the theater usually shows no more than one animated movie at a time. Parents are stuck watching a dull kids movie with average-at-best visuals and lazy writing.
Let me make this clear: it is possible to find kids movies that are enjoyable to watch as an adult. You just have to look in the right direction.
It doesn't matter how old your kids are, Pixar movies are some of the best products released every year. Everybody knows the classics like Toy Story and Finding Nemo, but there are so many gems that didn't get the limelight they deserved. Coco, Inside Out, and Ratatouille are all fun watches for the whole family.
Finding time to spend with family is essential right now. While keeping your distance, grab some popcorn at your grocery store, turn all the lights off and have a movie night.
Movies should be a good distraction, so get distracted together.
Sportswriter Jared Rubado writes an entertainment column that appears each Friday in the Echo Press. Contact him at jrubado@echopress.com
