Who's going to distribute the 2019 new series from the Pokémon main TV anime outside of Japan for the English dub release: Disney XD or Netflix?

[thomaswiencek]

What's up, guys? Right after the English dub release of the Sun & Moon anime series finale, I'm just wanting to know who's going to originally distribute the 2019 new series from the Pokémon main TV anime for the English dub release: so, do you think it's Disney XD, Netflix, any other or none at all? Why? Please let me know, thanks.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I'm hoping that Disney XD will keep airing the new series. The Netflix release of the Mewtwo remake is concerning, along with how they haven't announced anything about PM outside of Japan, but it would be a shame for them to remove the anime from their lineup after they did a pretty good job with SM all things considered. Not outstanding, but not Cartoon Network levels of indifference either.

If they do have to go with a streaming service for the future, then Disney+ would be a better option than Netflix. Netflix generally releases their shows in large chucks since it's designed for people to binge watch shows, which wouldn't really benefit a show like Pokemon. I'm pretty sure that Disney+ give their shows weekly premieres instead, which would work better than just getting half of the season every few months. Plus, Disney still has episodes of the anime available on their website, so I assume that would make it easier to put them on their shiny new streaming service. Neither of these options thrill me. I don't like having to pay for another streaming service, but having new Pokemon episodes available would one guarantee way for me to break down to get a Netflix or Disney+ account.

 

[Bloodstained]

I’d say Disney XD will keep going with the main anime series, but let Netflix have the future movies for now.

 

[Islander Princess]

I really hope it stays on Disney XD. I enjoy having weekly episodes to look forward to. One of my least favorite things about Netflix is how they tend to release new episodes in batches. I watch one animated series that exclusively releases new episodes on Netflix, and having to wait months at a time for new episodes to drop is honestly annoying. I'm also not one to binge watch shows anyway, so my preference remains with the weekly releases.

I'm not thrilled with the movies coming out exclusively on Netflix either, but at least it's one chunk of media instead of individual episodes.

 

[Shadowlarvitar]

Netflix probably. Though they don't do the new episode a week thing like Hulu and Disney plus does so...
They've been as silent about the new series being dubbed as the Mewtwo remake was until today, and I honestly don't think Disney cares. They skipped weeks so much just to air Duck Tales or Phineas and Ferb marathons

 

[Hidden Mew]

Netflix probably. Though they don't do the new episode a week thing like Hulu and Disney plus does so...
They've been as silent about the new series being dubbed as the Mewtwo remake was until today, and I honestly don't think Disney cares. They skipped weeks so much just to air Duck Tales or Phineas and Ferb marathons

I don't think that they've skipped that many weeks for marathons outside of holidays, which isn't really unreasonable. They've been consistent with airing new episodes at 9AM, they still provide a decent amount of rerun slots for it and they feature Pokemon in their Anime Block promo, so I think that they're still interested in the show to some degree at least.

 

[Momentum]

If memory serves, while Cartoon Network premiered new episodes of Season 19, it was Disney XD who ended up premiering Movie 19. With that in mind, I'm seriously beginning to think Netflix may become the new home for Pokémon media and their acquisition of Movie 22 is the first indicator of that. I mean, why on earth would Disney allow Movie 22 to be shopped around instead of having it featured on the brand new Disney+ service?

It's entirely possible for Netflix to premiere all the movies going forward while Disney XD retains exclusivity to the episode premieres, I just find that unlikely considering their history. I know if I was Disney, I wouldn't be all too pleased that a competitor of mine had access to movies from a franchise I was broadcasting television episodes for.

The only thing I can't figure out is which party is responsible for this happening. Even if the episodes haven't been huge in ratings, Disney would be absolute fools to sever ties with the highest-grossing franchise in the world so easily. TPCi, on the other hand, not only has Pokémon on a television channel but also had the capability of negotiating a license for it to be on Disney+. And I can't imagine a scenario where Netflix outbid Disney for Movie 22 unless Disney really had no interest in this new CGI adaption of Movie 1.

Regardless, so long as Viz Media can continue distributing Pokémon on DVD and Blu-ray, I will be content. And since Movie 22 isn't a "Netflix Original", that shouldn't prevent it fron receiving a home video release. When it is releases, however, will be a completely different matter.

 

[Hidden Mew]

If memory serves, while Cartoon Network premiered new episodes of Season 19, it was Disney XD who ended up premiering Movie 19. With that in mind, I'm seriously beginning to think Netflix may become the new home for Pokémon media and their acquisition of Movie 22 is the first indicator of that. I mean, why on earth would Disney allow Movie 22 to be shopped around instead of having it featured on the brand new Disney+ service?

A key difference here is that they announced both the sneak peak of SM and the premiere of the Movie 19 for Disney XD. They made it clear right off the bat that Pokemon was going to move to a different channel, so if they were going to do that with Netflix, I think that they would have done something similar. It's still possible when they haven't had any announcements for the new series yet, but since we're so close to the end of SM in the dub, I kind of hope that they'd announce it moving to Netflix sooner rather than later if that was the case. As for why they didn't put it on Disney+ instead, I think that they're primarily focusing on their own properties on the site. I'm sure that they have some third party content there, but the bulk of what they promote is all of their movies, shows and big properties like Star Wars and Marvel being available all in one streaming service. They currently don't have any Pokemon episodes or movies available there either. I really can't see TPCI being okay with their episodes being released through the Netflix format. That can work with Netflix original series, but I don't think it would work for an on-going series like Pokemon.

It's entirely possible for Netflix to premiere all the movies going forward while Disney XD retains exclusivity to the episode premieres, I just find that unlikely considering their history. I know if I was Disney, I wouldn't be all too pleased that a competitor of mine had access to movies from a franchise I was broadcasting television episodes for.

I don't know if it would be a heavy loss for Disney to have a competitor air the movies instead. I don't know how much money they get from airing the movies on Disney XD. They want more money of course, but I don't know if they'd fight tooth and nail to get Pokemon movies like they would for other properties like with the whole Spider Man leaving the MCU issue awhile ago.

 

[Daenerys]

I mean given the low ratings that the series gets on Disney XD, maybe moving the series to a streaming platform is the way to go.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I mean given the low ratings that the series gets on Disney XD, maybe moving the series to a streaming platform is the way to go.

Would either Disney XD or TPCI really care about low ratings though? Disney XD isn't a widely available in as many households compared to Cartoon Network, so I imagine that does impact their expectations for the series' ratings. Not to mention the show is designed to promote the newest games and merchandise. Ratings matter so little nowadays in general, but they really don't matter for toyetic series like Pokemon. The merchandise sales matter much more than ratings, so I don't think that would be a major factor in this situation.

 

[L87-1729]

Well, we'll always have Pokémon TV.

 

[Daenerys]

Either way, Disney would know this anime's popularity among those above the age of seven flip-flops all the time because of the writers' refusal to acknowledge the past (except when forced, or when trying to bait)

Are you seriously blaming the writers' decision not to pander to nostalgia all the time as a reason for bad ratings? Not the mediocre writing of the show in general or one of the many other flaws that the craptastic dub is known for?

 

[Daren]

Yeah let's be honest, Johto was very good with continuity and it wasn't exactly popular with the older fans.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Had Disney owned the airing rights to the anime during late AG, DP, and early BW, it would've been screwed anyway because this was the era where Hannah Montana and High School Musical (and, despite not being Disney-related, Twilight) were very overpromoted, and Disney would choose that (and merchandise profits from brainless 16-year-old girls) over an anime still reeling over the change in voice actors.

I don't think it was necessary to call the girls who bought stuff from those franchises brainless. Just because they liked those series and movies doesn't mean that they were stupid for doing so. Maybe it stings more for me since girls tend to be mocked for liking just about anything, but it seems rather harsh to throw all of them under a bus like that.

It would be a foolish decision to toss away the rights to air the new series in favor of more live-action remakes... but then Disney could be planning a[nother] remake of Mewtwo Strikes Back. In live-action. But had Ash lost the Alola League, we'd be seeing PM19 airing on Disney Junior instead of XD. Either way, Disney would know this anime's popularity among those above the age of seven flip-flops all the time because of the writers' refusal to acknowledge the past (except when forced, or when trying to bait), so they could assume it's easier to just give the rights to Nexflix than be misblamed for bad episodes that would be the fault of the actual writers.

I think that you're assuming that Disney has way more control over the anime than they actually do. They only have the airings and I assume streaming rights to the anime. I don't think that they'd be the ones to make a call for a live action Mewtwo Strikes Back remake. I might be misreading this if you're just taking jabs at Disney for their overload of live action remakes and poor treatment of their animated series, but it doesn't really make any sense when they don't have much say over the anime beyond where it airs.

The notion that they would have put PM on Disney Junior instead of XD if Ash had lost the Alola League is especially ridiculous. Why would they care about Ash winning or losing a League? Why would losing the Alola League make them put the anime on a channel full of preschool shows? Pokemon would stick out like a sore thumb there. It's also ridiculous because they didn't make a big deal about Ash's victory, or the Alola League itself for that matter. They just aired it at 9AM with no huge fanfare behind it. It's still better than how Cartoon Network handled the Kalos League, if only because kids would actually be awake at 9AM on a Saturday morning. The notion that the lack of continuity is responsible for the anime not being that popular among older fans is pretty ridiculous, especially when SM seems to be generally well received among fans online from what I can tell. It may not be as popular as DP or XY, but it isn't hard to find people who do like it. XY had less continuity references than SM did and it's still considered one of the more popular Pokemon series out there.

Yeah let's be honest, Johto was very good with continuity and it wasn't exactly popular with the older fans.

It was quite common around AG's run to see people say that they stopped watching the anime around Johto due to either the amount of filler episodes or Misty being replaced at the end.

 

[Islander Princess]

Had Disney owned the airing rights to the anime during late AG, DP, and early BW, it would've been screwed anyway because this was the era where Hannah Montana and High School Musical (and, despite not being Disney-related, Twilight) were very overpromoted, and Disney would choose that (and merchandise profits from brainless 16-year-old girls) over an anime still reeling over the change in voice actors.

First off, this is a poor thought and also pretty rude. I loved those franchises and Pokemon as a kid. Very off putting to assume that only "brainless" girls could like those franchises and Pokemon is apparently not meant for them.

Also, obviously Disney, and any company, is going to market the things that are popular, whether you personally like them or not. If it's going to make them money, they're going to advertise it. Pokemon is a popular franchise, for sure, but I really don't think the anime is the driving force behind its popularity. My sister babysits kids (both boys and girls) who love Pokemon cards and video games but don't watch the anime. Disney XD is also an "add on" channel, which means not every household has it, even those with cable. So I don't necessarily think ratings are that big of a deal breaker for Disney in that respect.

At the end of the day, however, just as @Hidden Mew said: Disney doesn't own Pokemon. They only own the distribution rights for the anime. They have nothing to do with the show's content or the direction it goes in. They literally just advertise and air it. And yes, they do still treat the show far better than Cartoon Network did at the end of its run there.

 

[Kurolegacy]

I’d say it’ll probably be Disney XD that premieres them before Netflix gets them later.

 

[Everclear]

Probably Disney XD but I wouldn't care if the new series doesn't get dubbed at all. I don't feel bad for the potential viewers who would miss out on the dub because it's 2020 and anyone who still watches the dub gets what they deserve. *shrug*

 

[Islander Princess]

I’d say it’ll probably be Disney XD that premieres them before Netflix gets them later.

This I'd be fine with. I know this is essentially what they've been doing with SM. I like that I still get my weekly new episodes, but know that I can go on Netflix and watch the show whenever I want as well.

Probably Disney XD but I wouldn't care if the new series doesn't get dubbed at all. I don't feel bad for the potential viewers who would miss out on the dub because it's 2020 and anyone who still watches the dub gets what they deserve. *shrug*

I don't think that's really fair. A lot of young kids watch the dub who wouldn't be going online looking for subs and the like. I don't mind watching subs, but I still like to watch the dub because I enjoy seeing the show in my native language as well. I'm not saying the dub is a masterpiece or anything like that, but saying that people who watch the dub "get what they deserve" is kind of harsh.

 

[Daren]

There's also the whole "there is no legal way to watch the subbed original in the west" thing.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Some people may also not want to try to read subtitles and watch a show at the same time for various reasons. Belittling people who choose to watch the dub is needlessly harsh. The dub isn't perfect by any means, but people do genuinely enjoy it too.