WithThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader finally released on Disney+, the entire Disney-20th Century StudiosNarnia trilogy is together for the first time. (It’s a shame all 7 novels weren’t produced as films, whichnow Netflix will attempt, but that’s another story.)
However, currently, at least two dozen Disney-owned franchises remain incomplete or missing entirely from Disney+. Sometimes sequels or spin-offs are present, but not the original film. Complex realities of co-productions, music licensing, and decades-old contracts make it potentially costly for some titles to arrive in a timely manner. Yet, in many cases, gaps in the Disney+ library are simply baffling.
Five incomplete Disney+ franchises are not covered here: Star Wars (see this article), Marvel Cinematic Universe (three films missing), The Muppets (see this article), and two seriesnoted in ourMissing Musicals article: theStep Up franchise, along with Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals.
For now, here are 22 Disney-owned franchises currently missing or incomplete on Disney+ – listed in alphabetical order. NOTE:Click here for comprehensive list of missing Disney+ titles. This list is based on U.S. availability.
Starting in 1997, Disney’s 1 Saturday Morning was a cartoon block produced by Disney for ABC. Several shows likeRecess and101 Dalmatians have made it to Disney+ though many favorites remain absent.
Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) donned wings for Disney’s 1994 sports comedy, with Danny Glover as the California Angels manager, Tony Danza their star pitcher, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the foster child who needs a miracle. Lloyd returned for the made-for-TV sequel, and a third flick followed – though none have arrived on Disney+.
When their young master mysteriously disappears, five electrical appliances set off for the big city in search of him. This animated musical – from Disney greats like Glen Keane, Mark Dindal and Rob Minkoff – was the first production from Hyperion Pictures, which went on to produceThe Proud Familyfranchise with Disney Channel. While its two sequels are on Disney+, the original 1987 classic is currently toast.
Since June 2020, Disney+ has featured a collection called Celebrate Black Stories with both real-life films (that portray issues of civil rights, heroism, and notable athletic exploits) as well fictional films that often provide insights into real-life experiences and/or have been groundbreaking in Black representation on-screen. Many relevant Disney-owned titles, whether historic or fictional, remain inexplicably absent from the Disney+ library.
Before the current crop of fantasy-driven, tween-targeted, bubble-gum DCOMs — that’sDisney Channel Original Movies — Disney’s TV movies were decidedly more mature (and, many would argue, better stories overall.) From 1983 to 1997, these44 films were known asDisney Channel Premiere Films… and essentially none of them have yet released on Disney+. The list below doesn’t name all 44, only a few highlights.
Created by British novelist Hugh Lofting, Doctor Dolittle is a physician who shuns human patients in favor of animals with whom he can speak in their own languages. The original Rex Harrison musical was famously a flop at the time, though it’s now considered a cult classic. A couple 1990s films starring Eddie Murphy have made it to Disney+ but two sequels remain in the doghouse.
Comic actor Jim Varney – whom many Disney fans know best as Slinky Dog in theToy Storyfilms – made his biggest splash with buffoonish character Ernest P. Worrell. While Varney’s character starred in nine films, three were produced through Disney’s Hollywood Pictures.
Overprotective George Banks (Steve Martin) has his world turned upside-down – twice! – in these two comedies featuring Diane Keaton, Martin Short, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley. In fall 2020, series writer/producer Nancy Meyersreunited the cast for a 20-minute “Part III” short film produced by Netflix andreleased on YouTube. Considering that Warner Bros. has aFather of the Bridereboot in the works, the rights on this Disney-produced franchise are very unclear.
One of Disney’s biggest hits in the post-Walt and pre-Eisner era, the Herbie films feature a white Volkswagen Beetle that seems to have a mind and spirit of its own. Disney+ features quite the Herbie cinematic universe, with four films – but it’s still missing a short-lived TV series, a remake fromAnt-Mandirector Peyton Reed, and the 2005 remake.
Cinephiles often know the name of a director rather than a producer — unless you’re Jerry Bruckheimer. Known for action-adventure films that have earned billions at the box office, the producer partnered with Disney for nearly 20 years. It resulted in several hit franchises, includesPirates of the Caribbean andNational Treasure. While most of his Disney films are on Disney+, includingRemember the Titans,The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and others, a few Bruckheimer productions seemed to have missed the boat.
Rudyard Kipling’s classic story of a boy raised in the jungle has been retold in four different films on Disney+. In addition, fans also have animated seriesTale Spin which features characters from the 1967 film. However, the streamer still lacks an adventure take fromThe Mummydirector Stephen Sommers, and a spin-off show from the 1990s.
A series of mystic mishaps mistakenly bring a girl’s fashion doll “Eve” to life. Starring Lindsey Lohan and Tyra Banks, the original 2000 film remains missing though its 2018 sequel is on Disney+.
A young man inherits his father’s ranch in the rugged Snowy River country, trains under an experienced horse rancher (portrayed by Kirk Douglas) and marries his daughter (Sigrid Thornton). 20th Century Studios produced the first film, and Disney the sequel, so fans are hopeful both will arrive on Disney+.
Decades of Disney comedies have been set at fictional Medfield College, starting withThe Absent-Minded Professor in 1961. While that one is on Disney+, its sequel is not. A decade later Medfield was the setting for a trilogy of movies starring Kurt Russell, one of which never arrived on Disney+ nor have several remakes. Disney went with “Midvale College” for their two Merlin Jones comedies, which have a similar tone.
Based on a series of novels, this trilogy tells of an inventor who sends his daughter to high school with his latest creation, an android teen called Chip. The films have been out-of-print for years and never released on Disney+.
“I don’t like to make sequels to my pictures,” Walt Disney famously said. “You can’t top pigs with pigs.” He made a rare exception forOld Yeller, a frontier tale about a beloved hound dog. Six years after its 1957 debut in theaters, sequelSavage Sam (1963) reunited the cast – though fans are still scanning the horizon for its arrival on Disney+.
The original 1961 film about twin sisters who meet after being raised separately by divorced parents, then deciding to switch places, was one of Walt Disney’s biggest hits. Disney+ features the classic movie, and the 1998 remake starring Lindsey Lohan. Currently lost at summer camp are the three TV sequels, which star Hayley Mills again in dual roles.
Acclaimed African American director Debbie Allen reimagines the story of Pollyanna with a Black cast and a half-dozen musical numbers. After the first film became a ratings hit, a sequel reunited the cast one year later. However, neither musical film has shown up on Disney+.
An American classic, this dramedy presents the misadventures of a group of kids who play baseball at the neighborhood sandlot. While Disney+ features a 2007 threequel – and aseries reboot is in the works with the original cast in cameo roles – the original classic and its sequel must be lost somewhere in left field.
The timeless characters created by A.A. Milne continue to be a favorite of families with young children. To its credit, Disney+ features nearly 100 hours of the silly old bear and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. However, some past Winnie the Pooh titles have slipped through the cracks – including a Searchlight Pictures biopic on A.A. Milne that U.S. fans hope makes it to Disney+.
Starting in 1954, producer and innovator Walt Disney personally hosted an hour-long family anthology series broadcast on Sunday nights. Initially calledWalt Disney’s Disneyland, it would be re-titled twice in his lifetime and many more times later. Before his untimely death in December 1966 at age 65, Walt Disney was featured in approx. 400 of these programs.
While some anthology programs feature a simple film introduction by Walt Disney, the Disney Studios produced hundreds of unique programs for the TV anthology series. Currently five have been released on Disney+ U.S.:Disneyland Around the Seasons,The Story of the Animated Drawing,Mars and Beyond,Man in Space, andThe Liberty Story. Fans are eager to see many more released in coming months and years, including the small sampling below.
Walt Disney’s first TV dramaZorrointroduced star Guy Williams as a Bruce Wayne high-society type in 1820’s California — moonlighting as the masked hero of justice. Only portions of eight episodes show up on Disney+, in a filmThe Sign of Zorro which splices them together. Fans await the release of all 78 episodes and 4 specials. Through 20th Century Studios, Disney also inherited earlier incarnations of Zorro including the lesser-known Family Channel seriesZorro(1990-1993).
Which missing or incomplete franchise have you requested to arrive on Disney+? Are others missing from this list? Raise your voice and comment below.
They're Coming To Disney+
Both Oz The Great and Powerful and Enchanted are missing!
The first 3 Home Alone movies, the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and the 2 Sandlot movies and others have been added and removed multiple times, and also the years on various tv shows are wrong, and theres multiple Winnie the Pooh titles missing other than just those 5. Theres also 3 Zorro movies from Fox, from 1920s, 40s, and 70s. Also The Dolittle (2020) film starring Robert Downey Jr. Was made by Universal so not owned by Disney. And there were several other Disney owned franchises missing aswell, like High School Musical, theres currently 5 films missing from that series.
I find it ironic that the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean film is the ONLY Disney film that keeps getting removed by Starz when literally Disney made a deal with Starz to have the streaming rights to the Disney-owned films from 2010 to 2015 to stream on Disney+.
You missed the herbie the love bug tv series that lasted one season. Absent minded professor and davy crockett had episodes on wonderful world of disney in the 80s also.Stitch had ai and stitch and disney's stitch (aka stich the anime or stitch 20 years later!) Plus two anime tv movies with a new girl and lilo is a adult with her own daughter! (funny thing is ai and stitch was released last but storywise takes place before the anime series!)Ducktales pilot sports goofy in soccermania is missing.Star wars is missing the two ewok films, holiday special, the great heap hour prime time special and droids and ewoks cartoons.Dumbo is missing dumbo's circus.Pooh is also missing welcome to pooh corner, pooh learns about the seasons and pooh to smart for strangers specials also.Hercules still does not have all it's episodes and is missing the aladdin crossover.Where is house of mouse?The 60s and 80s incredible hulk cartoons are missing.Where is the 7d?What about fluppy dogs?
Don't forget the 20th Century content: the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise, the Rio franchise, the Ice Age franchise, etc.
Bunk'd, Alice in Wonderland(TV series) and Aladdin(TV series)
Follow Me Boys.
Wait, why does that House Of Mouse picture have Land Before Time characters and characters from movies released after the show?
What about the Ever realm you know The universe that Sofia the first and Elena of Avalor takes place in by the end of January they’ll have all Three seasons of Elena of Avalor but they are would be missing both Sophia The first And the special Elena and the secret of Avalor which is more of a Sophia special than A Elena One and it is the pilot of Elena So those things missing are more noticeable
Pair of Kings please. One of the best shows on Disney.
When will this be updated again
Dave the Barbarian, The Wuzzles and the second season of The Replacements