‘Prop Culture’, the short-lived series detailing movie props from recent and classic films, most of them streaming on Disney+, was removed from the streaming service at the end of May. The show’s host, Dan Lanigan, shared more information on social media about the removal.
“Prop Culture” Removed from Disney+
The single-season series of “Prop Culture” was removed from the streaming service during a recent wave of budgetary scaling. Disney+ shows that were deemed unprofitable were removed, and many didn’t make the list above before meeting their demise. Only a lucky few, such as “Howard,” the 2020 documentary about songwriter and Disney Legend Howard Ashman, were re-evaluated after inclusion on the list and kept on the service.
Keeping movies on streaming services comes with a financial cost, which has to be justifiable. Each time a title is streamed, most contracts require residuals to be paid to the film’s production team, actors, writers, and more. Even if many viewers are enjoying a certain title, the service may deem it unprofitable if they could remove it without impacting subscriptions to avoid paying excess residuals that do not impact the streaming service’s bottom line.
Dan Lanigan, the host of the now-removed serial, “Prop Culture,” spoke about residuals’ effect in a Facebook exchange yesterday in the Movie Props group.
“Prop Culture didn’t have any residual requirements, outside of the short film clips and some of the music used. [It] was a very inexpensive show to keep on Disney+ (relatively speaking) compared to anything else out there, except for some documentary or game show style shows.”
He went on to express confusion about the show’s removal from the service, citing the low cost to defend his thoughts.
“I still don’t understand why they removed it. It was a great promotion for their other films,” Lanigan added.
The series covered many films available on the streaming service, including movies from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Indiana Jones films, Mary Poppins, Tron, and more.
Do you hope Disney reconsiders this decision and brings back “Prop Culture”? Let us know in the comments.
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