Disney has made some slight but noticeable updates to the logo and splash screen of its Disney Plus streaming service that are likely a nod to its impending merger with Hulu. The biggest change is the new teal/sea foam background color, which appears to be a rough mix between their original blue background and the green used by Hulu.
Just at first glance, the updated design, which can already be seen on the Disney Plus website and various app stores, makes sense for the corporate giant. Besides the obvious unity with Hulu, the new color also makes it stand out more against the sea of blue and black logos used by other streaming services like Prime Video, Max and Paramount Plus.
Since its launch in 2019, the Disney Plus service has used a deep king blue that is very reminiscent of the company’s famous Cinderella Castle logo. That design, featured in 1985’s “Return to Oz,” is a prominent childhood memory for many. Variations of it appeared in nearly every Disney movie we millennials saw in theaters and on VHS and DVD. Since then, sadly, that logo has fallen out of use.
Even the curved swoosh in the Disney Plus logo, which previously featured a color gradient that looked like Tinker Bell flying over the castle, was updated to be solid white. It’s not a bad design by any means, but I can’t help but feel that some of the whimsy has been lost. The new design may also confuse some Disney Plus subscribers outside the U.S. in places where Hulu is not well recognized and has already been merged with Disney’s streaming platform for some time.