Eight Spectacular Things to Watch on Disney+ This Spring
The pandemic’s almost over. When it ends, you’ll have to go back outside and interact with other people. There’s no escaping it.
So, you should spend these last couple of months binge-watching as much as you can.
I haven’t done one of these in a while since the rest of MickeyBlog’s staff has had it on lockdown with excellent suggestions. But I want to offer a few final options.
Here are eight programs to watch on Disney+ this spring before the shutdown ends and you finally face the sun again.
Bend It Like Beckham
Here’s a way the world has changed since I started writing about movies.
I wanted to review a British film I’d heard about, but it didn’t have a distributor yet. A German company had bought a British company and…
Look, the details don’t matter. Suffice to say that I had to buy a region-locked DVD copy from England and then watch it on a region-free DVD player.
The entire process took several weeks. Today, you can watch the same movie immediately in your home today on Disney+…and you should.
Obviously, Keira Knightley has become a massive star since the movie came out, especially to Disney fans.
However, at the time, she was a gangly teenager with an overbite and, oh yeah, NOT the lead.
Future ER star Parminder Nagra plays the protagonist, a plucky soccer player whose family discourages her from athletics.
You’ve heard the name of the movie before, but have you actually watched Bend It Like Beckham? Because you should.
The film finished in my top ten for 2002 and remains just as upbeat and culturally significant nearly 20 years later. More importantly, it’s just plain fun.
Black Beauty
I stumbled across this Disney+ original a few weeks ago and felt compelled to watch it.
Unlike most versions of Black Beauty, this one takes the perspective of the horse. She receives voice narration throughout the story.
Black Beauty also takes some liberties with the source material, but that’s to be expected at this point.
At its core, the film details the nuanced relationship between a teenage girl and her spirited horse. It’s multigenerational with its appeal and pure family entertainment.
By the way, if you recognize the lead, she played the younger version of Jessica Chastain’s character in Interstellar.
Disney liked her enough to cast her in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, too.
Clouds
Sometimes, I’ll stumble across a film and find myself crying before I even know what happened.
I’m a softie, and the real-life events that inspired Clouds tugged on my heartstrings.
A high school student named Zach Sobiech received the unimaginable news that he only had a few months to live.
Unwilling to give up on life, Sobiech, his girlfriend, and his female best friend worked together to make those final weeks on Earth unforgettable.
Along the way, the best friend revealed her love for him, but she still helped him set up the prom date of his dreams with his girlfriend.
I’m giving you the broad strokes here. What you should know is that the story encapsulates much more warmth and earnestness than words can describe.
During his final days, Sobiech wrote a song named Clouds that went viral on YouTube and earned the top spot on iTunes for a while.
This poignant story will move you emotionally, and it might be just what you need to place your current struggles in perspective.
Hidden Figures
I’m a sucker for all things NASA. I watch all of it, up to and including Disney’s recent remake of The Right Stuff and Apple’s For All Mankind.
With all due respect to those projects, they can’t hold a torch to Hidden Figures.
This 2016 release earned three Academy Awards nominations and was frankly robbed of more, along with some well-earned wins.
When I ranked my top five for that year, I made this comment:
“In terms of simply putting a smile on my face, something I wish more (films) would aim to do, no other awards contender came close to Hidden Figures.”
My only regret now is that I ranked Arrival ahead of Hidden Figures. I’ve since switched my opinion.
This feel-good story shows three African American women’s battle for equality during the Space Race. It’s incredibly powerful and feels more important than ever today.
Also, when Taraji P. Henson performs extreme mathematical calculations in front of 20 awed, old white guys, it is brilliant storytelling.
The Peanuts Movie
When Disney acquired Fox’s assets, it picked up the entire back catalog of 20th Century (Fox) Studios.
That content includes all the works from Blue Sky Studios, the animation team you know from the Ice Age franchise.
While you may picture Scrat desperately trying to catch a nut, that’s not why I love Blue Sky Studios.
The animators worked with the family of Charles M. Schulz to produce one of the most reverent movies ever, The Peanuts Movie.
Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts franchise, died in 2000, fifteen years before this movie’s release.
However, when you watch the film, you cannot help but notice how respectful it is to the source material.
If Schulz had written a Charlie Brown/Snoopy movie, it would have looked exactly like this one.
The Peanuts Movie will trigger nostalgic feelings for anybody over 30. But even those unfamiliar with the Peanuts Gang will treasure this gentle tale.
I have a reputation as a harsh film critic, and I’m here to tell you that The Peanuts Movie is perfect.
The film finished in my top three for 2007 and seems even better today. The animation is gorgeous, too.
If you have young children, get them hooked on repeatedly watching this rather than dreck like Cocomelon.
Shanghai Resort Grand Opening Gala
Long-time readers may remember that I offered one criticism of Disney+ when it debuted. The streaming service lacked park content.
Well, Disney is working to fix the problem. Some of its recent content has come from the parks, including a stunning performance of Illuminations.
You can and should watch that video, but I want to recommend something else. In 2016, Shanghai Disneyland opened for the first time.
This part represented the most progressive Disney park ever…and by a significant amount.
Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland Paris had both disappointed for various reasons. Everyone loves Shanghai Disneyland, though.
At the time, Freeform aired a television special where Bob Iger formally introduced the park.
For people in Shanghai, it was a gala event filled with pomp and ceremony.
You can now watch this presentation on Disney+. It’ll take your breath away.
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons recently aired its 700th episode, a milestone event for a scripted television series.
During the media interviews leading up to this event, Simpsons producers joked that a second movie seemed inevitable.
After all, Disney gets whatever it wants, and money’s no object for future Disney+ content.
Of course, a sequel to The Simpsons Movie remains several years down the road.
Nobody has even confirmed it yet, even though the last one turns 14 in July.
While we wait for that future bit of joy, I highly recommend that you watch The Simpsons Movie.
Whether this screening will be your first viewing or fifteenth, you’ll still enjoy the experience.
The story involves Grandpa receiving a mystical vision, the members of Green Day dying horribly, and Springfield citizens getting confined to a dome.
For a couple of years, The Simpsons Movie was my go-to nighttime viewing during Disney vacations.
I had the file saved to my laptop hard drive and would start it before I tried to sleep.
I’m not even joking when I say that I’ve watched the first few scenes at least 100 times. It was my favorite movie of 2007, and nothing has changed since then.
Plus, Lisa deserves a worthy love interest for once, right?
Stargirl
Don’t let the title fool you. This movie has nothing to do with science fiction.
Instead, Stargirl tells the story of an awkward high school student who meets and promptly falls in love with a woman named…Stargirl.
Yes, her first name is Stargirl, which becomes a plot point in the story.
This young woman demonstrates remarkable poise and vision for a high school student, especially a transfer meeting other kids for the first time.
Stargirl becomes the darling of the school for a while, thanks to her oddly timed musical performances.
While Disney didn’t hype Stargirl much before its release, the novel’s popularity did much of the heavy lifting.
Fans showed an outpouring of support for the story and begged for a sequel, which Disney has already confirmed. In fact, Uma Thurman will appear in it.
Stargirl strikes me as the rare tween story that inspires with its message of nonconformism. It’s surprisingly deep and well worth your time.
Feature Image: Shuttershock