he House of Mouse certainly knows how to deliver quality content – it’s been doing it for seventy years.
This August there’s a whole range of new shows and films coming onto Disney+ for people to enjoy. From restored classics, to Star Wars spin-offs, take a look below to find your next obsession.
Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol. 3 – August 2
When Marvel’s latest superhero film, Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol. 3, dropped in May, it was, as predicted, a huge success. Despite having a run time of two-and-a-half hours, and involving a relatively large number of characters – all of whom have complicated backstories (Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill used to live on Earth; Bradley Cooper’s Rocket is haunted by memories of a nefarious scientist; Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora makes a surprise return) – the film all made sense, and didn’t feel too long.
Director James Gunn did a brilliant job of speedily filling in the gaps for those who were joining the film with fresh eyes, and the film itself was heralded as being a tonne of fun. “This feels like their finest hour,” said The Standard about the characters in its five-star review. The plot follows Quill and his team as they must once again defend the universe from an almighty threat.
The Randall Scandal: Love, Loathing & Vanderpump – August 4
Vanderpump Rules is an American reality TV show about The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ Lisa Vanderpump that has been running on Bravo since 2013. But although the show has been rammed full of drama, the real scandal is – according to Hulu’s new documentary, The Randall Scandal: Love, Loathing & Vanderpump – the stuff that’s been going on behind the scenes.
The documentary focuses on American film producer Randall Emmett, who was featured in the eighth and ninth series of the show. In June 2022, a Los Angeles Times investigation titled “The man who played Hollywood: Inside Randall Emmett’s crumbling empire,” alleged that Randall faced “bombshell allegations,” as Hulu explains it.
In a statement to Page Six, Emmett described the article as a “factually inaccurate hit piece”. He has denied all accusations.
Only Murders In The Building – Season 3 – Episodes 1 and 2 – August 8
Only Murders in the Building was created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman and stars Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short, as three neighbours who start their own podcast after a suspicious death takes place in their New York apartment building. The first two seasons focus on Martin, Gomez and Short’s characters, Charles, a semi-retired actor, Mabel, an artist, and Oliver, a financially-strapped Broadway director. The comedy series quickly became a huge hit – fans have described it as being charming, fun and elegant, despite all the murders.
This time, matters get even more charming as Meryl Streep joins the cast. As shown in season three’s trailer, an actor keels over and dies during the opening night of Oliver’s new Broadway play. The scene is once again set for high drama as the now unlucky trio will have to work out what’s happened before suspicions fall on them again.
More classic Disney shorts added to the streamer – August 11
Disney has been adding some of its old animated shorts to Disney+, and this month six more sweet stories join the streaming site. There’s Barnyard Olympics (1932), which is a black and white story about Mickey, Pete, Minnie, Horace Horsecollar and the gang all enjoying a series of sporting events; Donald’s Cousin Gus (1939), a story about Donald’s eccentric and hungry cousin; and Donald’s Nephews (1938), where audiences get to meet more of Donald’s high-energy family. This time, Huey, Dewey, and Louie are coming to stay.
There’s also The Flying Jalopy (1943), about Donald’s chaotic attempts to fly a plane; Goofy and Wilbur (1939) about a fishing trip; and Mickey’s Steam Roller (1934) another black and white picture of Mickey. This time the mouse is trying to use a steam roller.
Star Wars: Ahsoka – Episodes 1 and 2 – August 23
This Star Wars spin-off show stars Rosario Dawson (Luke Cage) as Ahsoka Tano, a former jedi who audiences may have met in Star Wars’ other spin-off show, The Mandalorian. The new series follows Ahsoka as she tries to hunt down the evil Grand Admiral Thrawn. She’s trying to discover what happened to Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), a young Jedi who disappeared and was last seen with the wicked Imperial military leader. As she travels through the galaxy, Ahsoka comes to realise that Thrawn is not the only threat she might have to face.
Cinderella – 4K Restored Version – August 25
A newly restored 4K version of Disney’s 1950 animated classic is landing on the platform at the end of the month. Disney+ has described it as “a stunning new restoration of the animated classic”. We’re excited to see the beloved musical transformed for modern day audiences.
A Murder at the End of the World – Episode 1 and 2 – August 29
Emma Corrin, Clive Owen and Harris Dickinson star in this detective series from director Zal Batmanglij (The OA) and his frequent collaborator, actor and writer Brit Marling. Owen is Andy, an unsociable billionaire, who invites nine guests to his remote compound. While it’s not clear yet why the guests agree to attend, it ends up being a bad decision for everyone involved. One of the guests is murdered, and now Darby (Corrin) has to scramble to work out whodunnit before she, or any of her companions, become the next victim.