Over the past couple of months, Netflix has received a huge boost to its animated offerings, with several films in some of the most popular family franchises making their way to the service’s lineup. Those titles have always performed well on Netflix, and this recent stint is no exception, but that sadly doesn’t change the fact that their availability on Netflix was always going to be temporary.
In the coming weeks, Netflix is going to be losing almost all of the films in the Shrek and Despicable Me franchise. Yes, two of the biggest animation franchises on the planet are going to largely depart Netflix, at least for the time being.
Despite just recently arriving on Netflix, nearly all of the movies in the Shrek series are going to be exiting at the end of the month. Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek The Third, and Puss in Boots will all be leaving Netflix’s lineup on November 1st, leaving Shrek: Forever After as the lone entry remaining on the service.
A similar situation is unfolding with the Despicable Me series, which currently has many of its entries available on Netflix. According to Netflix, three of the five films in the franchise will leave on October 31st. Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, and Minions will all be gone come November 1st, while Despicable Me 3 and Despicable Me 4 will stick around for the time being.
Franchises like these have come and gone from Netflix’s lineup before, so this isn’t exactly new for the service. However, it’s the idea of so many leaving at once that subscribers might find frustrating. This is especially true in the case of Shrek, with most of those films having just arrived over the past couple of months.
It appears as though many of those Shrek movies will be leaving Peacock on the same day as the leave Netflix, which is a double whammy for those who rely solely on streaming to watch their favorite movies. As most of the November newsletters haven’t been released yet, there’s no telling where they will be available next month — if they’re on any major streaming services it all. This could be one of those cases where some incredibly popular films spend a couple of months available only on VOD platforms for purchase or rental.
Word to the wise: If you love a movie like Shrek or Despicable Me, and you’ve got kids that want to watch those types of movies over and over again, it’s best to just go ahead and buy them on Blu-ray or DVD. Players are cheap and so are big movies like those. You pay for them once and never have to worry about where they’re streaming again.
The post Netflix Is About to Lose Two of Its Biggest Animation Franchises (And We Don’t Know When They’ll Be Back) appeared first on ComicBook.com.
