Starting Tuesday, November 18, Disney will provide access to movies purchased through Walmart’s Vudu service from within the Disney Movies Anywhere apps and website. The announcement represents a big step in providing consumers with more universal access to their digital movie purchases, in what has been a disconnected experience for digital movie buyers who manage multiple accounts depending on availability on specific platforms.
The Disney Movies Anywhere service is available on Android and iOS devices through supporting apps, and on PCs through the disneymoviesanywhere.com website. The Vudu titles are expected to show up in the Disney application once a Vudu account is connected through a linked email address.
We haven’t heard anything about the shared access to titles being mutual, however; meaning, the availability of Disney titles through Vudu apps. Movies purchased through Vudu are connected with the UltraViolet digital movie database through which most studios allow distribution of digital titles to multiple devices. Major studios that support UltraViolet include Fox, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Bros., and several other smaller studios. But Disney, and competing video services Amazon, Google, and iTunes have not been part of the UltraViolet coalition lead by the DECE alliance.
The UltraViolet digital movie database is connected to thousands of titles from supporting studios, while the Disney Movies Anywhere digital library consists of approximately four hundred Disney, Pixar and Marvel movies.
Earlier this month Disney launched support for Android devices via the Disney Movies Anywhere app now on Google Play. The app for Apple iOS devices launched in February, and an update was issued last summer that opened up access to users who log-in from outside the United States.
Disney is still providing a free digital copy of the movie Wreck-It-Ralph to those who sign up and authenticate the Disney Movies Anywhere app.
[Update: It appears Disney movies will be accessible via Vudu. According to Disney, “Once connected, all eligible movies will be available in both places, subject to availability and VUDU Terms of Service.”]
