With the July list out that leaves 2 more chances in August and September to get the missing Halloween titles ready for this year. Many subscribers were astonished at launch to discover the 1st DCOM ever – Under Wraps (1997) was not on Disney Plus. Making matters worse – it’s one of only 5 DCOMS missing AND there’s a remake coming out this year! If the original Under Wraps isn’t added this September – October it’s likely never coming which is colossally disappointing considering Disney still has access to it – they sell it on VOD and it was on DisneyNow and Disney Channel all throughout October last year!
Strangely enough, many of Disney Plus’s biggest gaps are exposed in Halloween. 1 of only 4 missing DisneyToon films missing – Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween (2005) was requested constantly last year. It’s also a sequel to a film that is already streaming. Will Disney finally hear people’s cries and start filling the gaps? I know a lot of people get frustrated at how many collections are in the same state as DCOMS and DisneyToon films – only missing a few titles and not seeing progress.
Another major missing title – Mickey’s House of Villains (2002). This is another of the 4 missing DisneyToon films. And it’s the sequel to yet another (Snowed In at the House of Mouse (2001). It streamed on Netflix from November 1, 2013 November 1, 2019. Leaving 2 weeks before Disney+ only to be vaulted. When you see things like these old tweets from people freaking out about how happy they were it was added to Netflix and you go through and see how many families made it a Halloween tradition to watch this film, it makes you question how much the content team actually understands their own library.
Most likely this is because Disney is holding it back until they add House of Mouse (2001), the series it belongs to. Still, you’d have to hope that that show was nearing the time it gets added because it’s probably THE most requested show since launch. When does Disney start “hearing” people? A September drop of House of Mouse along with this Halloween special and then a November drop of the missing Christmas special would be a solid way to end the year.
At launch Disney added half the Walt Disney Pictures films. In the 20 months since they’ve added about 7. Last year a lot of people were sad 2 of Disney’s spookier films – Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) and Watcher in the Woods (1990) were still vaulted. Ricky Strauss let people down last year. Will Joe Earley, the new content head finally answer the call this year?
Fun fact: Hilary Duff once acted alongside Casper, the Friendly Ghost. While most of Casper’s franchise is owned by Universal, Disney actually acquired one Casper title in their 20th Century Fox purchase. The Fox Family Original Movie (now know as Freeform Original Movies) Casper Meets Wendy (1998) has never been available digitally. Let’s do it!
Another missing Fox Family Original movie – When Good Ghouls Go Bad (2001) is an RL Stine story. Everybody loves Goosebumps. What are you waiting for, Content Team? Remaster and add it! Disney+ has had an issue since launch where they rarely add gems – sticking almost exclusively to the usual, current stuff. It sucks seeing so much potential squandered.
In 1997 Wonderful World of Disney aired a Tower of Terror Made-for-TV film. Now they just announced that Scarlett Johansson is making a new one. Like Under Wraps you have to ask – what is it going to take to get the original streaming? As is the case for most of these titles we’ve covered, they are amongst the most-requested missing Disney titles overall – not just at Halloween time. People love their seasonal films because there is a lot of nostalgia associated with holidays.
Disney owns some of the earlier (and best) Ernest films. But since Disney is loathe to add Touchstone titles to Disney Plus, Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) is is likely to remain vaulted despite being a cult classic. Disney’s continued assault on my childhood continues.
This last title is interesting – for some odd reason it went to Australia last week – well out of season. In USA it’s stuck on DisneyNow… it seems unlikely we get it this year since the DisneyNow expiration date is listed as March 2022. Stupid pre-existing contracts… The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular! (2017) is actually a special that was part of the Mickey Mouse (2015) series which is on Disney+.
Here is the full list:
- Under Wraps (One of only 5 Disney Channel Original Movies missing – also it’s the first AND is being rebooted THIS Halloween!)
- Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie (1 of only 5 DisneyToon films missing)
- Mickey’s House of Villains (1 of only 5 DisneyToon films missing)
- Tower of Terror
- Something Wicked This Way Comes
- Watcher in the Woods
- Casper Meets Wendy
- When Good Ghouls Go Bad
- Ernest Scared Stupid
- The Scariest Story Ever: A Mickey Mouse Halloween Spooktacular!
Help us get these missing titles added by requesting them at help.disneyplus.com. Just click “Give Feedback” and then “Request a film or show”
Do you know of any Disney-owned Halloween films we forgot? I’m guessing there’s a Touchstone, Fox, or Hollywood Pictures film that slipped through. Leave a comment!
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.
