In April, Disney unveiled their upcoming streaming service Disney+, which will released November 12th for $6.99 a month. While Disney has revealed some details of the design of the app, like a carousel of featured content, with animated tiles for each of Disney’s properties — little is known about the functionality of the app itself.
While Disney has made it clear that the service isn't just for kids, they are making sure it is designed with kids in mind. Disney+ will include a Kids Mode which will give parents more functionality around what their kids can and can’t see in the app. During the demo in April, Disney Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer, Kevin Mayer said, that with parental controls children “will only see curated and recommended content or the youngest members of the households.”
Each member of the household will be able to create a profile and select an avatar of their favorite Disney character like Woody from Toy Story. We have learned that some of those avatars will only be available for profiles set in Kids Mode.
It is not surprising that the company known for its kid-friendly brand is building in parental controls, as well as a unique experience for children. While Disney+ will have no R-rated content, it will have both PG-13 & TV-14, which might not be suitable for younger kids — like certain Star Wars, Marvel, and Nat Geo content.
Other streaming services handle ‘Kids Mode’ in different ways. For instance, Disney-owned Hulu, lets you create a new profile which only kid-friendly programming. On Netflix, you can set a 4-digit PIN at the account-level or a desired maturity level for an individual profile. YouTube has a separate YouTube Kids app with curated selection of children’s content and the ability to set time limits and access to search.
When it is released in November, Disney+ will include the entire collection of Disney Classic films, which traditionally were in the Disney Vault. This means films like Aladdin, Bambi, Beauty & the Beast, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid will all be available, as well as recent animated films like Frozen, Big Hero 6, and Moana. At launch 18 of 21 Pixar films will be available to stream on Disney+ — with Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, and CoCo all coming within the first year.