Warwick Davis calls out Disney for mishandling Willow show: “#embarrassing”

The streaming wars are in a weird place right now. Years after Netflix broke the mold, companies like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery rushed into the streaming market hoping to find a gold mine, but there’s dust in them there hills. Money has been harder to come by than expected, which has led to seemingly weird moves like Warner Bros. Discovery canceling a Batgirl movie even though it was basically already done, purportedly because writing the expenses down on their taxes would be a better move financially than releasing a movie straight to streaming that very few people will subscribe to watch.

Disney did something similar earlier this year, when it removed dozens of original shows and movies from its streaming service Disney+. There are no plans to bring them back or release them in other forms; they’re just…gone.

One of those vanished shows is Willow, a follow-up to the 1988 fantasy movie of the same name starring Warwick Davis as the aspiring sorcerer Willow Ufgood. Disney reportedly spent nearly $106 million making the Willow show, but in an economy dependent on subscriber dollars rather than commercials or other revenue streams, it was more financially sound to chuck the series into the bin rather than let it remain on Disney+.

Warwick Davis calls out Disney for bungling the distribution of the Willow TV show

This is all quite stupid, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Davis himself called the situation “embarrassing”:

"I meet lovely people on a daily basis who are fans of #Willow, who are the reason the @DisneyPlus Series was made. Please tell me @WaltDisneyCo, what do I say to these subscribers when they ask why they can’t watch the series any more? #embarrassing"

I guess you could tell them that money is more important to Disney than their happiness? It’s kind to be honest.

When will streaming studios stop making these dumb mistakes?

Having gotten his start playing an Ewok in Return of the Jedi before moving onto roles in the Harry Potter and Leprechaun franchises, Davis is something of a living legend, and it’s interesting to see him calling out Disney so directly. Something has to give in the streaming world; if studios are spending this much money on this many high profile projects only to take them off the service or even junk them before they see the light of day, it’s obvious that priorities need to shift. This isn’t sustainable.

I predict we’ll see more studios shift their strategies in the coming years, whether by running commercials on their streaming shows or even just by focusing more on regular linear TV, which has a proven business model. Although there may some other hiccups before that happens…

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