Confirmed: The Simpsons Are On Disney+ Australia


Disney Plus is the latest Netflix competitor to land in Australia. For the past few weeks, we’ve been wondering if we’ll be getting the full American lineup – particularly The Simpsons, which currently streams exclusively on Foxtel.

We just got confirmation from Disney that The Simpsons will indeed be available on the Australian platform at launch with a few caveats. Here’s what you need to know.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/11/disney-plus-australia-movies-list/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2015/02/Frozen-410×231.gif” title=”Disney Plus: Australian Launch Lineup Revealed” excerpt=”What movies and TV shows are coming to the Australian version of Disney Plus? It’s a question we’ve all been pondering for weeks. As Netflix has shown, just because a title is available in the US doesn’t mean it will be appearing Down Under.”]

It’s official: The Australian version of Disney+ will provide on-demand access to series 1 to 29 of The Simpsons. That’s over 630 episodes to binge on! Seasons 30 and 31 will presumably be added at a later date.

This is a huge boon to Aussie Simpsons fans who have never had on-demand access to the series before. (Well, apart from DVDs that is.)

Even better, the episodes won’t be leaving the service thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Fox. In other words, Disney+ subscribers basically have the entire Simpsons catalogue in one place, forever.

Admittedly, The Simpsons‘ heyday was a very long time ago – probably before some of you were even born. But it remains a landmark of television, comedy and western culture. Having it all in one place for $8.99 is a very tempting proposition.

With that said, there are a couple of issues it pays to be aware of. Namely:

  1. The memorable Michael Jackson episode Stark Raving Dad has been expunged from existence for obvious reasons. It will not be appearing on Disney Plus.
  2. Earlier episodes have been cropped to match modern TVs’ widescreen aspect ratio. While this looks better, it has resulted in several visual gags being ruined. (See below for an example.)

On the plus side, Disney has promised to release the old episodes in their original aspect ratio early next year. As for Stark Raving Dad, it wasn’t that great of an episode anyway.

You can check out what else is coming to the Australian version of Disney Plus here.

[referenced url=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/11/disney-plus-movies-and-tv-shows-last-forever/” thumb=”https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/10/Star-Wars-410×231.jpg” title=”Disney Plus: The Killer Feature No One Is Talking About” excerpt=”When Disney Plus launches in Australia tomorrow, it will be one of the cheapest streaming entertainment services in the country. It will also be the only place to (legally) watch the first live-action Star Wars series, The Mandalorian.

But these aren’t the reasons we’re excited. Disney Plus has another ace up its sleeve – and it could be the deciding factor that gets you to subscribe.”]

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