Disney Will No Longer Sell Physical Media in Australia or New Zealand
The Land Down Under is about to be deprived of physical media. On its Facebook page, Sanity, an Australian movie and music store, posted a message (which no longer seems to be up) that Disney would no longer sell physical media in the country, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 being its last one. Always On did some investigating and confirmed that Sanity was correct, with no other recent Disney films available for pre-order or having release dates in Australia. Several days later, CordCuttersNews discovered that New Zealand would also be cut off from Disney’s physical media. It seems sales aren’t as robust in these territories as they are elsewhere, and Disney wants to encourage (read: force) people to subscribe to Disney+ for their Mickey-owned entertainment needs. In 2020, Disney did the same to Latin America. Aside from its own classics, the media Disney owns includes Marvel, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pixar, and anything made by 20th Century Fox (think Die Hard, Home Alone, Alien, Independence Day, and Mrs. Doubtfire for just a handful of examples of that last one).
This is a nightmare scenario for Australia and New Zealand in terms of consuming entertainment. Sure, most Disney stuff sucks now, but it didn’t always, and that includes a ton of the stuff the company has acquired over the years. And relying on streaming, or even digital downloads, is not safe because you don’t own the media, even if you buy the download; Disney does, and they can remove it any time they want. They can also alter it. For example, The Criterion Channel, which is owned by the same film preservationist organization that makes the Criterion Collection DVDs and Blu-rays, recently aired an edited version of The French Connection, the classic crime thriller from William Friedkin starring Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider. The edit is a now-deleted scene of dialogue in which the leads use racial epitaphs. The French Connection is not only rated R, but it won the Oscar for Best Picture (back when that meant something), not that it matters. Want to know who owns The French Connection and sent the edited copy to Criterion? The new owners of 20th Century Fox, Disney! This doesn’t absolve Criterion of refusing to warn people about the edit or even respond to questions, but Disney is entirely too comfortable with this kind of behavior, and not even a group like Criterion will try to stop them or even warn people. That’s a dangerous, fascistic attitude, and Australia and New Zealand are about to be at the mercy of these cultural vandals. Right now, America still has physical media, but make no mistake: Disney would love to do the same here, as their ploy with The French Connection proves, not to mention their disappearing Song of the South. Buy ‘em while you can, folks.
And if you want to have fun with some guys who will no longer be able to buy half the movies that exist (and Blabs), check out The Full Aussie!
