Hit animated Disney movie Frozen is returning in the form of a digital video series that was created at home. Disney Animation teased the new series in a tweet on Monday, explaining that it was created by Olaf animator Hyrum Osmond with help from others while quarantined at home. As expected, the voice audio for the new short series was also recorded from home.
Late last year following the launch of its Disney+ streaming service, Disney promised that it would make The Simpsons available in its original 4:3 aspect ratio (for the first 20 or so seasons) at the request of fans. This is more than just an aesthetic issue -- the cropping has ruined a number of jokes from the earlier seasons by removing important visual context necessary to complete the humor.
T-Mobile has announced a new deal with Quibi that will allow some of its mobile subscribers to get a year of the streaming video service for free. This new deal is similar to T-Mobile's existing 'Netflix on Us' promotion, which offers Magenta plan subscribers a free year of Netflix service as part of their mobile plan. Going forward, subscribers will need to choose between Netflix and Quibi.
More and more people are turning to digital videos, be it streaming, rental, or outright purchase, during these times of being copped up indoors. That is naturally a prime opportunity for distributors and services to advertise certain features, including free offers, and get more subscribers. Those don't necessarily translate to an exponential rise in profits, especially if they have to pay some "tax" to platform owners like Google and Apple. Almost out of the blue, Apple is now relaxing its much-criticized 30% cut from certain video apps, allowing those apps to keep 100% of the subscriptions, at least for now.
A popular character from hit TV show Law & Order: SVU will return in a new spin-off series, according to a new report. Actor Christopher Meloni is back in his role as detective Elliot Stabler, though fans will need to tune into the new crime series to see him. The series will be part of the new multi-year deal between creator Dick Wolf and Universal Television.
Comedy series Community from Dan Harmon will be available to stream in its entirety on Netflix, it has been announced. All six seasons of the hit show will be available on the platform starting tomorrow, April 1, and no that's not an April Fools' joke. The new arrival on Netflix is good news for people to subscribe to the service, but the deal isn't exclusive -- the series will also remain on Hulu.
A number of beloved older shows are doomed to languish in low-resolution quality due to costs associated with properly remastering them for modern displays. In addition to reprocessing raw footage from these shows, many would require entirely new computer graphics for an official remaster, making the cost astronomical for lengthy series. That hasn't stopped a number of fans from using the next best thing: artificial intelligence.
Netflix has renewed its comic book adaptation Locke & Key for a second season, the company announced on Monday. The renewal isn't surprising -- many Netflix originals get a second season, and most even get a third. Whether the series will manage to survive past the 'three-season curse' is another matter. As expected, the second season will be exclusive to Netflix.
If you're growing tired of being stuck at home and looking for a new experience, a YouTube channel called 'Virtual Disney World' (which isn't affiliated with Disney despite its name) has aggregated a huge playlist of 360-degree videos taken on popular theme park rides around the world. Anyone who owns a VR headset -- even something as simple as a cardboard holder for a smartphone -- can enjoy the videos.
Classic video franchise Dragon's Lair will be returning to the small screen, this time as an original Netflix creation. The video streaming company announced its new project on Friday, stating that it is currently in talks with actor Ryan Reynolds to play the game's main character Dirk the Daring. A number of people are on board the project to serve as producers.
There have been quite a number of streaming services voicing their support to promote the stability of the Internet by throttling the quality of videos or offering more content to help keep people inside longer. One name that is noticeably missing is, of course, Google Play Movies. It may not have enough users to bring the Internet down but, more importantly, it doesn't have that much free content to entice them in the first place. That could, however, be changing soon based on clues found in Play Movies' Android app.
Following similar plans for Europe, YouTube has made the decision to default to standard definition video resolution on its platform around the world. This practice will only be put in place for one month, assuming nothing changes in the coming weeks, and is intended to reduce the strain of internet traffic spurred by the coronavirus outbreak. Other video companies have rolled out similar measures in some places.