There’s been a lot of outrage about Disney’s recent decision to purge its library of content following the merger of streaming platforms Disney+ and Hulu. What shocked subscribers most was the fact that fairly recent titles would be axed from the new catalog, including high fantasy series Willow. The removal of the series along with The World According to Jeff Goldblum, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and others angered fans and people who had them on their watchlist, but one person didn’t mind that at all: Willow’s own creator Jonathan Kasdan.The show’s creator and head writer took to Twitter to reveal that he had a different reaction to the news that Disney was removing his work from the library of content. Kasdan revealed that “losing” a title that you’d like to watch takes him back to his childhood, a time when Disney movies were not as easy to get to, which would make kids highly anticipate each re-release. He wrote:
“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.”
Millenials Are Used to (and Even Miss) Re-releases
As any millennial – and boomer – will tell you, past generations did tend to value some experiences more than we do today, since we didn’t have full catalogs available to us at all times. For some less popular titles, being able to just sit down and watch them could turn into a true mission, since you either had to find them on lower shelves of video stores or wait for network television or cable to screen them (probably at a weird time slot). Kasdan’s tweet cherishes this nostalgia, and even though you may not agree with him, you can take comfort in the screenwriter’s conviction that he is absolutely certain that Willow won’t be lost forever.
Willow is a follow-up series to 80s cult-classic movie of the same name – both of which star Warwick Davis (Harry Potter film series) as the title character, a farmer who needs to protect a child from an evil sorceress. In the sequel series, Willow is a fully-fledged sorcerer who leads a team of heroes who embark on dangerous quests. The series premiered on Disney+ on November, 2022 and it is scheduled to be removed from the catalog this Friday, May 26.
You can check out Kasdan’s tweet below: