LAST UPDATED: December 24. 2022
Before Disney+ launched, many exciting originals were announced. Of these early announcements, a bunch of titles disappeared and never saw release. The pandemic in early 2020 resulted in some of the planned series or films getting cancelled and others getting delayed considerably. When 2 “lost” titles surfaced over the past few weeks, it made us wonder when or if we’ll see the rest. We’ve decided to track these early announcements that haven’t joined the streaming service yet and even expand our scope all the way into 2021 announcements.
Check out this handy dandy list to see what you’ve been missing.
This table is best viewed on desktop or widescreen (in desktop view).
| TITLE | MOST RECENT STATUS | INITIAL ANNOUNCEMENT | RELEASE DATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| INK & PAINT | Initial Disney+ launch promotional materials and brochures mentioned INK & PAINT would be a YEAR 2 title. It’s now YEAR 3. No updates since. | October 3, 2018 | |
| LIFE & DEAF | No updates have ever been received. FutonCritic suggests it’s scrapped. As they say, “Previously in development (2020-2021 season).” | July 3, 2019 | |
| ALADDIN: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL fka ALADDIN: LIVE FROM WEST END | The film was intended for early 2020 release, but postponed when Hamilton got fast-tracked for July 2020 release. On July 15, 2020, it was reported a Disney rep had confirmed the film’s streaming details would arrive shortly. The idea was to capitalize off success of Hamilton and release it later in 2020. On September 19, 2020, Apple TV+ leaked the thumbnail and official art when they accidentally had it appear in the “Recently Added” row. The next day, the poster appeared with a 2020 date. On January 6, 2021 the ridiculous saga continued when TheDisInsider claimed the video would premiere between February and April 2021. Genuinely, the handling of this title reeks of incompetence. It’s now been delayed roughly 6 times. Just release it! Annual Broadway on film releases should be the norm. | September 1, 2019 | |
| EXPLORER ACADEMY | No updates since. | October 16, 2019 | |
| BIGGEST STAR IN APPLETON | No updates have ever been received. FutonCritic suggests it’s scrapped. As they say, “Previously in development (2020-2021 season).” | December 3, 2019 | |
| THE NIGHT MARKET | No updates have ever been received. | December 3, 2019 | |
| PEOPLE & PLACES (Revival) | No updates have ever been received. Original series remains unstreamable on Disney+. FutonCritic suggests it’s scrapped. As they say, “Previously in development.” | October 18, 2019 | |
| THE MAZE | Casting call went out February 2020, weeks before Hollywood shutdown. No news on if series ever resumed production. It’s by the same team as The Quest who managed to quietly film the series in 2021. Could this series have similarly been stealth-filmed? | January 29, 2020 | |
| ONCE ON THIS ISLAND | No updates since. | July 30, 2020 | |
| UNTITLED MAKING OF SOUL DOCUMENTARY | No updates since. | October 9, 2020 | |
| THREE MEN AND A BABY (Reboot) | Disney’s initial announcement provided a 2022 release plan. On January 29, 2021, Mo Marable signed on as Director. The move never started filming. The 2022 release is not happening. No updates since January 2021. | December 10, 2020 | |
| UNTITLED KEANON LOWE | No updates since. | December 10, 2020 | |
| 61 fka UNTITLED CHRIS PAUL | On September 27, 2021, Tori Sampson is named writer and working title 61 is revealed. No Director or actors were attached at that point. There have been no updates since. | December 10, 2020 | |
| SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (Reboot) | No updates since. Jon Chu is a busy man. | December 10, 2020 | |
| A REAL BUG’S LIFE | 10 episode docuseries. February 7, 2022 it received a 2023 release window in Nat Geo’s Winter TCAS press release. | December 10, 2020 | 2023 TBD |
| LANDO | No updates since. Will it star Donald Glover, Billy Dee Williams, or (hopefully) both? | December 10, 2020 | |
| A DROID STORY | Animated film. No updates since. | December 10, 2020 | |
| SECRET GUIDE TO CELESTIAL CREATURES | No updates since. | December 15, 2020 | |
| OCEANXPLORERS | 6-episode docuseries. February 7, 2022 it received a 2023 release window in Nat Geo’s Winter TCAS press release. | February 9, 2021 | 2023 TBD |
| OUR TIME | No updates since. It’s still early. | December 15, 2021 | |
| NOGGIN | No updates since. It’s still early. | December 16, 2021 |
Which of these titles do you hope release? Which do you think are dead FOREVER!?