D isney+ is set to enter the streaming wars like a wrecking ball. At least, that’s what it wants you to think. The service, set to debut in the US on 12 November, has been billed as a one-stop-shop for all of the studio’s existing content – from Marvel to Star Wars, National Geographic to Frozen. Add to that a whole host of new films and TV shows, boasting A-list stars and blockbuster-sized budgets. There’s zero subtlety about this. Disney+ has no ambitions to start small and grow steadily in size. It’s here to conquer. Yet there’s been a lot of big talk for a service that still has much to prove, especially when it comes to challenging the current king of the streamers, Netflix, and its base of over 150 million subscribers worldwide (and growing). It’ll also have to fend off the likes of Amazon Prime, alongside several yet-to-debut services from Disney’s biggest competitors at the box office – Universal and Warner Bros.

The boldest of Disney+’s strategies here is its pricing. Crucially, there’s been no official announcement of when the service will become available in the UK, due to several existing agreements that allow Sky to air the studio’s properties. In the US, however, subscriptions will cost just $6.99 (£5.70) a month, with access to four simultaneous streams, alongside 4K and Ultra HD picture quality. Those are options you’d normally only get by signing up to Netflix’s premium plan, which costs $15.99 per month, while its basic package is still $12.99 per month – the exact same price as the Disney+ bundle that includes Hulu and ESPN+, both owned by the studio.

It’s not just a bit of aggressive marketing, though. Disney CEO Robert Iger has been very upfront about the fact that the Disney+ library will initially be much smaller than its competitors. In the first year of launch, the service will feature 500 films and 7,500 episodes of TV, in comparison to Netflix’s estimated 4,000 films and 47,000 episodes (according to Ampere Analysis). That number will surely only grow and, for now, the studio can offer such cut-throat prices because it doesn’t have to worry about expensive licensing deals. Netflix, meanwhile, is in a very different boat. Its library is about to take some major hits now that Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros are starting to pull their product in order to place it on their own streaming services.

Will Netflix have the same appeal when it’s no longer the place to binge endless episodes of The Office and Friends? It’s hard to tell. The service has been so reluctant to release any kind of viewing data that it’s almost impossible to figure out how successful its original content is in comparison to what it licenses from other companies. A handful of shows have managed to enter the cultural mainstream, certainly, and even won a few awards along the way, including Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black, and Making a Murderer. In more recent months, Netflix appears to have narrowed its focus and started snatching up more experienced talent, landing deals with Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and DB Weiss, Patty Jenkins, Scandal’s Shonda Rhimes, and Ryan Murphy.

It’s a similar approach to how Netflix releases its films, where there’s been a focus on handing over creative control to filmmakers with a certain cultural capital and seeing what they cook up. It’s helped a number of them realise their dream projects. And, for every misstep (think Bright or Duncan Jones’s Mute), there’s something like Roma, Alfonso Cuarón’s personal masterpiece and the winner of three Academy Awards. Next month, we’ll finally get to see The Irishman, Martin Scorsese’s long-gestating project starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.

Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows Show all 10 1 /10 Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows 10 Things I Hate About You Want to watch Heath Ledger serenade Julia Stiles in front of an entire school? You'll soon have to buy a Disney+ subscription to do so. Buena Vista Pictures Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows (500) Days of Summer For those wondering why 2009's (500) Days of Summer is nowhere to be seen on Netflix or Amazon, that's because Disney nabbed rights following the Fox merger. Fox Searchlight Pictures Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows Dan in Real life Dan in Real Life's inclusion on Disney+ will a surprise to everyone outside the US and Canada; Disney released the 2007 Steve Carell comedy-drama in those countries. Icon Film Distribution Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows Diana: In Her Own Words Documentary Diana: In Her Own Words first aired on Channel 4 in 2017, but will now be available to stream exclusively on Disney+. Channel 4 Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows Free Solo Acclaimed documentary Free Solo was made by National Geographic Partners, which at the time of the film's release was majority-owned by 21st Century Fox – consequently, following the Disney-Fox merger, it'll be available on Disney+. National Geographic Documentary Films Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows Mr Holland's Opus The Oscar-nominated drama Mr Holland's opus, starring Richard Dreyfuss, will be available to stream on Disney+. Buena Vista Pictures Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows Never Been Kissed Drew Barrymore rom-com Never Been Kissed was released by Fox in 1999, but is now essentially a Disney film thanks to its acquisition of the studio. 20th Century Fox Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows The Simpsons By now, it's common knowledge that Disney+ will have exclusive rights to every single season of The Simpsons when Disney finally arrives in the UK, which is expected to be in 2020. Fox Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows Sister Act / Sister Act: Back in the Habit Following the news that a third Sister Act film was to be released on Disney+, it's perhaps unsurprising to learn that the first two films of the Whoopi Goldberg-starring franchise will be available to stream on the new service. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc Disney+: The most unexpected films and TV shows While You Were Sleeping Thanks to Disney+. gone are the days of While You Were Sleeping, the rom-com starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman, being shown on terrestrial television between Christmas Day and New Year. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc

Disney can’t realistically function this way. At least, it can’t outside of its smaller, more independent offshoots (formerly Miramax and now, presumably, Fox Searchlight). It’s simply not in its DNA, since the entire company bases itself around a single, cohesive vision that can be traced all the way back to Walt Disney himself. Its streaming service, then, is destined to play heavily into the familiar. In the first year after launch, you’ll be able to watch every Star Wars and Pixar film in existence, alongside 5,000 episodes of Disney Channel and Disney Jr shows. They’ll be nicely accompanied by new releases, including a Monsters Inc series and a Lizzie McGuire revival (featuring the triumphant return of Hilary Duff).

At the centre of it all is The Mandalorian, the jewel in Disney+’s crown and the very first live-action Star Wars series. With December’s The Rise of Skywalker bringing the latest trilogy to an end, and with nothing else locked in the release schedule, Lucasfilm is now looking towards television for its future. It gives the films a little breathing room, at least, if you’re inclined to believe that Solo: A Star Wars Story’s mediocre box office returns were the result of oversaturation. Set five years after Return of the Jedi, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal as a bounty hunter navigating the outer reaches of the galaxy, home to the last gasps of a defeated empire. The trailers have so far lived up to Kathleen Kennedy’s promise that the show would maintain the same quality as the films. It’s gorgeous-looking, with echoes of the grittier aesthetics of 2016’s Rogue One and plenty of nods to the samurai films and westerns that inspired it. The Mandalorian will be followed up by a series based on Rogue One characters Cassian Andor and K-2SO, with Ewan McGregor then stepping back into Obi-Wan Kenobi’s shoes for his own spin-off.

Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Show all 20 1 /20 Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Money Heist (TV series, one season, 2017–) Known as La Casa de Papel (House of Paper) in its native Spanish, Money Heist is Netflix’s most streamed non-English language show. The bank heist is a tired dramatic trope these days, but don’t let that, or the show’s bland English-language title, put you off – creator Álex Pina has made something special. The heist here, led by a mysterious man known only as The Professor, involves breaking into the Royal Mint of Spain and printing off €2.4 billion. There are even more twists in the show’s 15 episodes than there are hostages. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed American Vandal (TV series, two seasons, 2017–2018) Part satire of true crime documentaries such as Making a Murderer, part carefully observed portrayal of teenage life, American Vandal was criminally underappreciated during its two season run. It’s been cancelled now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t catch up with it, and then write Netflix a strongly worded email. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed One Day at a Time (TV series, two seasons, 2017–) In stark contrast to the off-beat, low-key comedy that currently rules TV – the kind that provokes a wry smirk rather than a hearty laugh – One Day at a Time is a big, bright sitcom filmed in front of an interminably enthusiastic studio audience. You wouldn’t have thought that the story of a Cuban-American army veteran / nurse / single mother – who suffers from PTSD and depression – would fit into this format, but it does so beautifully, tackling issues of sexuality, racism and sexism in the process. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Private Life (Film, 2018) Based on writer / director Tamara Jenkins’s own fertility struggles, Private Life stars Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti (both giving brilliant performances) as a spiky, loving middle-aged couple desperate to have a baby. They even rope their enthusiastic but irresponsible niece Sadie (Kayli Carter) into the mix, much to the horror of Sadie’s mother (Molly Shannon, turning a potentially repellent character into one worthy of empathy). It’s subtle, restrained and beautifully realised. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Big Mouth (TV series, two seasons, 2017–) Crude, rude, and rife with surprise emissions and bodily functions, animated sitcom Big Mouth is also a sensitive, nuanced deep dive into the various horrors of teenagehood. When 12-year-old Andrew Glouberman (John Mulaney) is visited by the hormone monster (Nick Kroll, who voices many of the show’s best characters), he finds his life irreversibly – and seemingly disastrously – changed. Unlike many other puberty-centred comedies, Big Mouth makes as much time for its confused female protagonists as its male ones; Maya Rudolph is a delight as the female hormone monster, and look out for Kristen Wiig’s wonderful turn as a talking vagina. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Easy (TV series, two seasons, 2016–) Joe Swanberg’s style of defiantly undramatic mumblecore isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoyed his earlier films, Drinking Buddies and Happy Christmas, you’ll find plenty to admire in this anthology comedy-drama series. Big-name stars such as Orlando Bloom and Aubrey Plaza crop up, but Jane Adams – who you might remember from Todd Solondz’s chronically depressing 1998 film Happiness – is the show’s heart, and Marc Maron is its jaded soul. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Love (TV series, three seasons, 2016–2018) Community’s Gillian Jacobs is brilliant as the prickly, magnetic recovering addict Mickey, who forms an unlikely – and arguably deeply unwise – relationship with her nerdy neighbour Gus (Paul Rust). Despite Gus’s pathological need to be the nice guy, we’re never quite sure who or what we’re rooting for – which is what makes Love such complex, compelling viewing. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Patton Oswalt: Annihilation (stand-up special, 2017) In 2016, comedian Patton Oswalt’s wife, the true crime writer Michelle McNamara, died suddenly in her sleep. That subject matter doesn’t exactly scream “stand-up special”, but out of his devastating loss, Oswalt managed to craft something funny and profound. Over the course of an hour, he processes his grief onstage, managing to find humour in the struggle to raise his grieving six-year-old daughter alone. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Santa Clarita Diet (TV series, two seasons, 2017–) Granted, this horror-comedy – which stars Drew Barrymore as a neurotic real estate agent who suddenly develops a taste for human flesh – is really silly, and really, really disgusting. But it’s also strangely charming, and funny. Timothy Olyphant is excellent as Sheila’s frazzled husband Joel, and the pair’s idiosyncratic but respectful relationship with their smart teenage daughter Abby (Liv Hewson) isn’t quite like anything else on TV right now. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Dark Tourist (TV series, one season, 2018–) New Zealand journalist David Farrier is an unlikely TV presenter in the same way that Louis Theroux is – in just about every scenario in which he finds himself, he’s a little bit awkward. But as with Theroux, Farrier’s weakness is actually his strength, allowing him to endear himself to the many unusual people he meets on his journey through the world’s most questionable tourist destinations. Farrier’s stops include the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the road where JFK was assassinated, and the Milwaukee suburbs where serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer murdered his victims. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Sacred Games (TV series, one season, 2018–) Based on Vikram Chandra’s epic 2006 novel, Netflix’s first Indian original series is a slowly unfolding gem. The first season of Sacred Games – which follows a troubled police officer (Saif Ali Khan) who has 25 days to save his city thanks to a tip-off from a presumed dead gangster – only covered one quarter of Chandra’s 1,000-page novel. As the show itself declared when it announced the forthcoming second season, “the worst is yet to come”. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Dumplin’ (Film, 2018) When the trailer for Dumplin’ first landed, it seemed all the ingredients were in place for a film that was at worst tone-deaf, and at best vaguely patronising. Thank heavens, then, that the trailer did Dumplin’ such a disservice. Starring Danielle Macdonald (who broke out in the excellent 2017 film Patti Cake$) as Willowdean, a self-described “fat girl” who enters a local pageant to annoy her former beauty queen mother (Jennifer Aniston), Dumplin’ is as funny, warm and sensitive as its protagonist – and with a killer Dolly Parton-laden soundtrack to boot. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Dark (TV series, one season, 2017–) This sci-fi thriller – which features disappearing children, a mysterious local power plant, and scenes set in the Eighties – has, for obvious reasons, drawn comparisons to Stranger Things. But Dark is even more beguiling and (true to its name) less family-friendly than Stranger Things. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson (Film, 2017) Though it’s been somewhat tarnished by claims that director David France appropriated the work and research of trans film-maker Reina Gossett, this documentary is nonetheless a loving, respectful tribute to gay rights activist Marsha P Johnson. One of the key figures in the Stonewall uprising (though her involvement was almost entirely eradicated in 2015’s critically hated Stonewall), Johnson modelled for Andy Warhol, performed onstage with drag group Hot Peaches, helped found the Gay Liberation Front, and then died under suspicious circumstances in 1992. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed On My Block (TV series, one season, 2018–) This coming-of-age series might not have found as many eyeballs as it deserved last year, but those it did find were glued to the screen. In fact, it was the most-binged show of 2018 – meaning that it had the highest watch-time-per-viewing session of any Netflix original. Created by Awkward’s Lauren Iungerich, On My Block follows a group of Los Angeles teens as they navigate both the drama of high school and the danger of inner-city life. John O Flexor/Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Set It Up (Film, 2018) Two beleaguered assistants (Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell) conspire to get their over-demanding bosses (Taye Diggs and Lucy Liu) together in order to get their lives back in this winning romantic comedy. Set It Up is responsible not only for coining the term “over-dicking” (it’s much more innocent than it sounds), but for rejuvenating a tired genre. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Cargo (Film, 2017) Martin Freeman stars as the father struggling to protect his young daughter from a zombie epidemic spreading across Australia. So far, so overdone. But this drama thriller, directed by Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke and based on their 2013 short of the same name, throws a handful of unpredictable spanners in the works. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed 3% (TV series, two season, 2016–) Like a cross between The Hunger Games and CW series The 100, this Brazilian dystopian thriller, set in an unspecified future, revolves largely around an impoverished community known as the Inland. Every year, each 20-year-old takes part in a series of tests; the highest scoring 3% will be chosen to live in paradise in the Offshore. It is an intriguing and addictive commentary on class and privilege. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Godless (TV series, one season, 2017–) With shades of John Ford's The Searchers, this languorous western was critically acclaimed but swiftly forgotten after it landed on Netflix in 2016. Set in 1884, it's about Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels) and his notoriously ruthless gang of outlaws’ pursuit of their injured former ally Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell), who is hiding out in a small town populated solely by women after a mining accident killed off all its men. A gun-toting Michelle Dockery, clearly relishing the change of scenery after years of Downton Abbey, and a taciturn Jack O’Connell, are on brilliant form. Netflix Hidden gems: The best Netflix originals you might have missed Atypical (TV series, two seasons, 2017–) This coming-of-age series about a teenage boy with autism was sweet and well-intentioned from the start, but its first season was criticised for a handful of inaccuracies, and for its lack of autistic actors. Rather than drowning in a sea of defensiveness – as too many shows tend to do – it listened, and brought in autistic actors and writers for its excellent second season. Netflix

Marvel is also making a big splash on the service, with shows such as Loki, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Hawkeye. An obvious tactic here is that Disney+ is trying to guarantee subscribers by teasing that certain characters introduced in its shows (namely Kamala Khan, who will get her own Ms Marvel series) will later appear in the films. Hand over your hard-earned dollars or risk getting Fomo, Marvel fans. What’s most intriguing, however, is how risky some of these projects seem to be. Take What If…?, an animated series based around alternate timelines, including one where Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter gets injected with Captain America’s supersoldier serum and starts wielding a Union Jack-emblazoned shield. Or what about WandaVision, which traps Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany’s Vision in a 1950s sitcom?

Much like Netflix, Disney+ will almost certainly be keeping its viewing numbers tightly under wraps. Which, for them, might actually be a good thing, since they’ll be less obsessively fixated on every release becoming a record-breaking hit. For example, it’s given them the room to essentially resurrect the kind of mid-budget family fare that’s been near impossible to make in the blockbuster age. Although Lady and the Tramp, on the surface, is just the latest in the studio’s long line of live-action remakes, its use of real dogs – made to talk with a little CGI magic – feels reminiscent of the animal flicks that reigned supreme in the Nineties, including Homeward Bound and Babe. Add to that Togo, a film about a scrappy sled dog that, for some reason, stars Willem Dafoe. There’s also some traditional Christmas fare in the form of Noelle, which sees Anna Kendrick play a member of the North Pole’s own Kringle family, who heads off on the search for her missing brother, recently promoted as the new Santa Claus.

Lady and the Tramp - official trailer

Yet the service is always going to be severely limited in what it can provide, since it’s perpetually stuck inside the Disney mould. Disney+ will be a strictly family-friendly platform, with reports suggesting that Hulu will be developed in tandem as the home of more mature fare. Presumably, this is where some of the more valuable content that Disney acquired in the Fox merger will sit, although the studio’s stayed very quiet on how it’ll be handling franchises such as Alien. Even then, it’s lacking the range Netflix can provide: they’ve got their indie darlings and award winners, but they’re also providing an absolute bounty of binge-ready nonsense, from property shows to low-budget horrors. It’s the stuff we never like to admit that we watch, but still crave on occasion. Disney+ will have a small selection of reality programming, including Be Our Chef, a cooking competition, and Pixar in Real Life, a prank show. But it’s all so achingly on-brand for Disney that it’s hardly going to hit the same impulses as all of Netflix’s glorious trash.