In August, my colleague wrote how Disney+ is the best streaming service for music fans – and he isn’t wrong. Amongst all the Marvel this and Pixar that, he found a perhaps unlikely number of concert films and documentaries, including Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter To Los Angeles, Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium, and Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour and Folklore: The Long Pond Sessions. I have had access to the Disney+ catalogue for years but until then hadn’t realised quite the wealth of music material in the House of Mouse’s library – material that is, more often than not, available in premium AV formats such as 4K, HDR and Dolby Atmos by the way.
So I have kept an eye on it since and am here to present you with three music and concert movies that have hit the service in the past few months, plus one coming soon that fans of Disney’s animated classics should enjoy.
Elton John: Never Too Late (13th December)
On 13th December, when you were up to your eyeballs in made-for-TV Christmas movies and on your umpteenth viewing of It’s A Wonderful Life, Disney+ released another Elton John masterpiece. The 100-minute documentary is a full-circle look at Elton’s life and 50-year career as he prepares for his final-ever show in North America at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium (2022), fittingly returning to the venue of his legendary 1975 concert. Never Too Late chronicles his rise to stardom and the many well-documented highs and lows he had on the way – what a life! – mostly told using fantastic vintage footage, including never-before-seen concert reels and even some excerpts from his personal diary. It’s highly personal and well put together, even if most of its content won’t be ‘new’ to Elton fans. But it’s the recent tour footage of him with his family (his husband, David Furnish, directed the documentary with RJ Cutler) that I found really valuable.
4K, Dolby Vision HDR, HDR 10, 5.1 audio
Music By John Williams (1st November)
Die-hard Williams fans will no doubt have lined up this documentary as soon as it dropped on Disney+, but even those with only a passing interest in the legendary composer will be in for a treat here. I sit somewhere in the middle of those audiences, and the documentary was a real eye-opener into the genius behind both the man and the musician – a colossal tribute to not only the many (many) hugely impactful scores he has produced but also the process and ideas behind how they came to life. For me, some of the best scenes are those between Spielberg (who produced the film with Ron Howard) and Williams, and just hearing the versatility of his scores within the 106-minute runtime (it could easily have been double that!) made for a wonderfully entertaining and cinematic experience.
4K, Dolby Vision HDR, HDR 10, 5.1 audio
Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (25th October)
Going backstage with the Boss, Road Diary opens with footage of and interviews from the band rehearsing and preparing for its 2023/2024 tour, its goal to get back to where it was in the ’70s and put on a proper rock show (rather than critics and audiences reacting with, as Nils Lofgren says: “it’s nice with these old men going through the motions!”) Naturally, we do get a trip down memory lane, to the band’s early formation and legendary live gigs, but the focus is fittingly on the latest touring – the preparations after six or seven years away and, of course, footage of the gigs themselves – and how much it means to the Springsteen lifers who attended.
4K, Dolby Vision, HDR10, Dolby Atmos, 5.1 audio
The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl (7th February)
This one could end up being my favourite on the list, such is my lifelong affection for my favourite-ever Disney movie. Last year, Disney held two back-to-back live-to-film concert events at the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate the movie’s 30th anniversary (and everything the franchise has so far spawned in the three decades), and in February the recording of that event is coming to Disney+. Most of the film’s running time will no doubt be taken up by performances of the songs – a full orchestra performs Hans Zimmer’s songs and there are also performances from the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. We can also expect cast members from both the 1994 and 2019 films, such as Jeremy Irons (Mufasa), Nathan Lane (Timon) and Jason Weaver (young Simba) as well as celebrity guest appearances from North West and Jennifer Hudson.
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