If you read that headline and clicked you’re probably angry and confused. Disney finally utilized a classic “Fox Kids block” animated series that is not Spider-Man (1994) or X-Men (1992) and it went to… Hulu. Not only that, but it was not announced. It didn’t show up on the “Coming in August” list. Nope. They just up and added one of the most requested missing cartoons that people had hoped to see on Disney+ – The iconic classic The Tick (1994) – to the service which allows titles for all ages. Meanwhile, the service which is restricted to a small pool of “Family Friendly” content just got passed over as the streaming home for a TV-Y7 cartoon.
That’s it. That’s the story.
Some will says “pre-existing contracts.” Sorry, what pre-existing contract set 90s Fox Kids cartoon The Tick for a Hulu streaming session almost 2 years into Disney+? I’m not saying it’s impossible… just that it’s frustrating and confusing and suggests the Disney+ library issues will be continuing a lot longer than people hoped. What’s next? Eek! the Cat and Life With Louie and Biker Mice From Mars finally go digital just to stream on Hulu alongside Rated R films? We JUST spoke with the creator of Biker Mice weeks ago and he expressed his disappointment that Disney+ hadn’t added his series.
Disney. Please. Utilize the FOX KIDS library on Disney+.
PS: The Tick has actually been streamable with ads via IMDBTV for months… You can see they still credit Fox Children’s Network as Provider but Hulu credits “ABC” which is the proper answer. Believe it or not The Tick was not gained from the purchase of Fox in 2019. Disney obtained the Fox Kids cartoon library all the way back when they bought Fox Family (now known as Freeform). They’ve had these cartoons a long time and never used them properly.
Drew Ryan is a film, TV, and Disney geek. He has degrees in English, Student Personnel Administration, and Library & Information Science from Lawrence University, Concordia University-Wisconsin, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Interested in the minutia and licensing of streaming service content, he is always publishing lists, suggestions, and advocating for Disney’s missing library to be added to Disney+. Drew subscribes to Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, and Paramount+. You can find him waxing nostalgic over classic Disney Channel or geeking out over Marvel, CW shows, & Disney on Twitter.
