Disney removing Willow from Disney+ is “absolutely cruel,” says writer

Earlier this month, in a move viewers have compared to the Thanos snap, Disney+ announced plans to purge dozens of shows from its service. Those shows include Y: The Last Man, Bigshot, Artemis Fowl and Willow.

Willow was a new series based on the 1988 cult fantasy movie. All things considered, the show was pretty good. It went down well with fans and critics, but viewership was lackluster. Cancellation may have been inevitable, but to be axed from Disney+ altogether seems a step too far.

Writing on Twitter, Willow writer John Bickerstaff blasted Disney following the news. “They gave us six months,” he wrote. “Not even. This business has become absolutely cruel.”

"Before you say tax-write off: these shows have already been released and so can’t be a write-off. And in the case of Willow, they own the property outright. The only conclusion is that this is to get out of paying residuals. During a strike.And look, eternal streaming libraries are not sustainable. We’re all going to have to adjust to that at some point. But to spend [REDACTED] on a show and then disappear it six months later is just bad business."

Willow creator Jonathan Kasdan is glad Willow being taken off Disney+

Disney has not given a specific reason for why they removed shows from Disney+, though it was probably to save money in some form or another. It’s also possible Disney could show Willow elsewhere, similar to how HBO Max removed Westworld from the service with the intent to air it on FAST streaming platforms.

Willow creator Jonathan Kasdan may be thinking along those lines. He also took to Twitter to explain why he’s actually “into” this decision:

"I’ve been quiet on this news that ‘Willow’ is leaving Disney+ ’cause… I’m kinda into it. I grew up at a time when Disney movies were periodically re-released and not available to own, and it made them… more special. I worry about many things… but NONE of them are that ‘Willow’ will never be available again, either on Disney+ or perhaps… someplace else, & ya never know where that could lead… stranger things have happened. So grateful for all the love and enthusiasm; it’s truly what keeps these worlds alive."

Kasdan is referring to how, for years, Disney would periodically take movies off the home video market and put them in “the vault,” thus creating artificial scarcity and driving up the price of the films when they released new editions years later. That practice was criticized at the time, but apparently it made Kasdan happy.

Anyway, you’ve got until May 26 to watch Willow before it disappears from Disney+ and goes out into streaming limbo.

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