Films are already leaving Disney Plus, and complicated streaming deals explain why

• Disney Plus, Disney's $7 a month streaming service, launched in November with promises of old and new content.
• Fans are already noticing that some films, including "Home Alone" and "The Sandlot," have disappeared from the streaming service.
• Unlike competitors HBO and Netflix, Disney Plus does not release monthly updates with information about what content will be leaving the service.
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Disney Plus is a Disney fan's dream streaming service, as long as they weren't planning to watch "Home Alone" or its sequel, or any of the other movies that have quietly been removed in the last few weeks.

Subscribers on Reddit noticed that certain films had been removed, with no official statement from Disney, including "Home Alone," "The Sandlot," and "Pirate of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," making 12 films total that fans noticed were removed.

Disney Plus doesn't release monthly lists of content leaving the service the way that competing Netflix and HBO do, Polygon reported. Disney never promised that all content would permanently stay on the service, but in a November statement, a spokesperson clarified that animated classics like "Snow White" will remain available.

Movies may have been removed for other, preexisting streaming and licensing deals. Six Marvel movies are missing from the service for a variety of reasons. "Black Panther" and "Infinity War" are both on Netflix, with plans to come to Disney Plus in the near future, although "Black Panther is already set to return to Netflix in 2026.

Hope isn't lost for films that have disappeared from the platform, or that were never there in the first place. Disney was able to strike a deal with Turner, the company that owns "Star Wars" broadcast rights, to make all but two of the films available for subscribers. In the meantime, fans can request shows and movies be added.