‘End of an era’: Disney announces huge change for Australian fans

Disney has announced a huge change for its Aussie customers and it will make you feel nostalgic.

Disney has announced it will stop releasing DVDs and Blu-ray discs in Australia.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, which is set to hit shelves in August, will be the last physical release in Australia. Previously released DVDs will continue to be available only while existing stocks last.

The decision affects Disney’s many film studios, including Marvel and 20th Century Fox. It means, when the time comes, nostalgic Aussie fans and collectors will have to turn to international retailers if they want to buy DVDs.

Disney will pull out of the Australian physical media market. Picture: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Walt Disney Company confirmed it is pulling out of Australia’s physical media market and its limited number of Australian and New Zealand stockists will not receive DVDs after the highly anticipated Marvel release.

It is understood the decision is due to dwindling physical sales and the increasing popularity of online home entertainment, such as the company’s in-house screening platform Disney+.

In April, Netflix finally called time on the movies-by-mail subscription service that underpinned the company before its internet era.

The announcement was greeted with bemusement by some broadband binge-watchers who did not know Netflix’s DVD business was still running — or even that it existed in the first place.

Fans lamented Disney’s news on social media, saying it marked the “end of an era”.

“Disney is pulling out of the physical media market in Australia. That means no more DVDs or Blu-rays. This covers Marvel, 20th Century Fox, all of it,” one person said.

“A domino effect with other companies will begin, then likely to happen all over the world. It is the end of an era.”

Australian stockists will no longer receive Disney DVDs after the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. Picture: Mark Brake

Another person said it was a “sad indication as to what’s to come around the world”.

“Hang onto that Rocketeer Blu-ray, kids,” they added.

However, others said the call wasn’t so surprising.

Pop culture commentator Dave Lee, who shares movie reviews with the 133,000 subscribers to his Dave Lee Down Under YouTube channel, said it was a “long time coming”.

“I’ll be very candid about home media in Australia. It’s doing terribly,” he tweeted.

“Almost no one I know in real life buys physical, the physical ‘collectors’ online are a very, very small bubble.

“It’s been dire straits out here for a while. This has been a long time coming … doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck.”

Originally published as ‘End of an era’: Disney announces huge change for Australian fans