Driving more kid audience engagement is one of the main priorities for Disney+ this year, and new interactive features are expected to pave the path towards achieving that goal.   

Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden teased this fresh strategy in San Francisco yesterday at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference.

“Looking holistically at that kids audience, we know we have the stories they love. We’re working on the technology that will allow them to engage with them in the way they want,” said the exec during her Q&A session, which was otherwise brief and steered away from specifics or announcements. These mystery features will “address how kids are interacting with content right now in a very contemporary way,” she noted.

Naturally, YouTube also came up in the conversation, with Walden acknowledging that the platform is an important part of Disney’s strategy to sustain engagement. The Disney Junior channel, for example, has attracted more than 22 million subscribers with its shorts, episodes, compilations and livestreams. “We know that’s where kids like to consume content, along with Disney+, [so we] want to keep incubating IPs on a platform that’s important to creators and kids.” 

In Disney’s latest Q1 financial results, Disney+ subscribers were down slightly from the previous quarter, from 125.3 million to 124.6 million. But over the past year, this flagship Mouse House streamer has made a number of moves to boost DTC profitability and engagement, from introducing a wide-ranging password crackdown, to adding live channels like Disney+ Playtime (a strategy that Netflix also rolled out in a limited number of markets to boost engagement for its kids library). 

Walden—who may be among the potential successors to replace CEO Bob Iger when he steps down next year—did take the opportunity to highlight the strength of the Disney+ kids catalogue, singling out top performers like Bluey (which Nielsen recently revealed was the most-streamed series of 2024), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Spidey and His Amazing Friends and Ariel. 

And in another kids content update, Walden revealed that Mufasa: The Lion King is slated to roll out on Disney+ in late March. Released theatrically on December 20, this prequel will have had a slightly shorter box-office window than Moana 2, which is set to make its streaming debut on March 12 after premiering in theaters on November 27.

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