Best new movies and TV series on Disney+ New Zealand: December 2024

Each month, new films and TV shows are added to Disney+’s New Zealand library. Here’s Eliza Janssen’s recommendations for the titles most worth watching. Scroll down for the full list of everything arriving on the platform.

Top picks

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: Season 1 (December 3)

What do you get if you hurl the Goonies into a galaxy far, far away? It might look something like this family-oriented Star Wars effort, starring Jude Law as the force-sensitive guardian of four lost kiddos, who will encounter bizarre creatures and foreboding new planets in their journey home. It all looks a fair bit sweeter and more accessible than Lucasfilm’s lore-expanding sequel and prequel series of late, and Nick Frost adds some funny as the voice of a decrepit droid drawn along for the ride. The show’s created by Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, who brought youthful, welcoming energy back to the Spider-Man franchise with their Tom Holland film trilogy: a promising pick for whole-fam entertainment this December.

Dream Productions: Limited Series (December 11)

Inside Out 2 was Pixar’s most recent hit, and this episodic return to the world inside Riley’s mind is not another sequel; not a prequel; but a mid-quel, taking place right after the events of the original film. Hopefully it’s anything but mid. The hilarious Paula Pell and Richard Ayoade voice the Hollywood-esque bigwigs that put together Riley’s dreams, directors who must reflect the troubled tween’s daily life back at her in nightly productions. “Dreams really do come true”, the show’s tagline tells us: “every night, on time and on budget.” We love media that’s about making media, and this surreal odyssey inside the mind might end up resembling a kid-friendly take on The Franchise.

Elton John: Never Too Late (December 13)

He’s a Rocketman! He’s Still Standing! He wants to Kiss The Bride (ehhh kinda)! Elton John has threatened to wrap up his iconic career, with this intimate doco capturing his final North American concert at Dodger Stadium. Directors R.J. Cutler and David Furnish will chronicle Sir Elton’s early days: the hurdles of addiction, abuse and adversity that shaped a bespectacled British outsider into a legend of queer culture and pop songwriting alike, reflecting a full-circle journey that even a delightful biopic like Rocketman can’t quite encompass. And oh geez, don’t forget the tunes. I quite like John’s Xmas tune “Step Into Christmas”, and if I don’t manage to hear it over the radio and in the supermarket at least five times this festive season, I’ll definitely need to tune into this feature-length documentary and see if it sneaks onto the setlist.