Disney+ is no longer a safe space after it added Hulu content

Even if parents create a separate kid profile and filter out more-adult content, some are still frustrated by the newly added Hulu shows — shows based on YouTubers or reality shows like “Dance Moms” — that they don’t feel are up to Disney’s standards.

“I was genuinely excited that they were integrating Hulu so I wouldn’t have to switch apps,” Corey Doiron, a parent of two teenagers and a toddler, told Business Insider. He’s frustrated that when he goes to put on “Bluey” for his youngest using his son’s profile, he’ll see thumbnails and suggestions for horror movies like “Smile,” even though his watch history is largely little-kid shows.

Part of this is user error. The Disney+ app has two ways of filtering out adult content for kids, and if a parent doesn’t use either option, well, that’s on them.

Sort of.

Until recently, there weren’t any R-rated movies on the Disney+ app. (“Deadpool” and “Logan” were added in 2022.) Many families never bothered fiddling with the age-rating options because all Disney content — even the PG-13 fare like “Hamilton” or Marvel movies — felt reasonably family-friendly and high-quality.

A Disney+ user profile can still be set to Junior Mode, which will call up a collection of shows and movies for little kids. It has a slightly different, easier-to-navigate interface. The content is aimed at the youngest audience, with shows like “Bluey” and “Muppet Babies” and only G-rated movies.

However, most of the more recent Disney movies, like “Encanto,” “Inside Out,” and “Moana,” are rated PG, which excludes them from Junior Mode. For a lot of families (including mine, which has an Elsa-obsessed 4-year-old), no “Frozen” is a dealbreaker. Junior Mode doesn’t fit our needs.

Netflix has a better way of handling this: Parents can customize the content ratings for kids profiles, allowing up to PG and TV-PG content.

Additionally, Netflix allows you to block certain titles from a kids account — because either you deem it inappropriate for your child or you’re just sick of watching it 20 times. You can’t block by title on the Disney+ app.

With Disney+, if you don’t want Junior Mode, your next option is to select the granular level of content ratings. This isn’t hard to find or to do in the settings — you can create separate profiles for each family member with custom content ratings.

You can block anything above PG or TV-PG. But not all PG or TV-PG content is appropriate or interesting for kids.

Parental guidance is, annoyingly, exactly what is still needed.

For example, allowing PG movies so your 4-year-old can watch “Moana” will also show you recommendations for a true-crime show called “Murder In-Law,” along with the ’80s legal drama “L.A. Law” or the iconic ’70s classic “M*A*S*H.”

James Bulliard, a parent of two (ages 4 and 6) and a Disney+ subscriber, says the streamer’s settings don’t match his family’s needs.

“The reason we have PG is that when it’s set to a lower rating, it only offers extremely childish options better suited to 3- or 4-year-olds,” he said. “It’s like there’s not a suitable rating option for 5- to 8-year-olds.”

Bulliard said he noticed a documentary about the Gambino crime family was mixed in with recommendations for movies like “Rio” and “Rio 2” — cartoons.

“I’m surprised they haven’t figured out the sweet spot of kids who want to watch ‘Frozen’ and ‘Empire Strikes Back’ but not true-crime shows about bayou murders,” he said.

The Taylor Swift Eras Tour movie — popular with young kids — is rated TV-14 because of curse words in a few of her songs. But adjusting your settings to allow up to TV-14 means you will also now be recommended true-crime shows like “Cold Case Files” and “Casey Anthony: An American Murder Mystery.”

This is the heart of the problem: Disney’s whole reputation is that it delivers high-quality, family-friendly content. To some, a Disney PG-13 movie isn’t the same as any and all PG-13 content.

The newly added TV content from Hulu poses a slightly different problem than just maturity; here, there’s a difference of quality. Hulu offers more reality-TV series like “Dance Moms” and “Swamp People” (both rated TV-PG).

Disney declined to comment for this story.

Then there are the YouTube imports on Hulu that are now also on Disney+.

Hulu brings over a handful of shows that were developed out of popular YouTube Kids channels, like “Love, Diana” and “Blippi,” which are aimed at toddlers and preschool kids, though some parents may raise an eyebrow: The man who created and played the character Blippi also made viral gross-out videos as Steezy Grossman and went viral for a video where he pooped on his nude friend to the “Harlem Shake” meme. There are also shows about gaming and Roblox from YouTube creators.

Recently, Business Insider reported that Disney+ was losing the battle with YouTube for Gen Alpha’s attention. Bringing these YouTube-native shows to the Disney+ app might hold their attention more.

But for a parent who wants to avoid YouTube or Roblox content for their kid, Disney is no longer a safe place.

Ultimately, parents and caregivers are in charge of what their kids watch, and Disney has provided some tools to adjust content ratings. But for some parents, until very recently, Disney+ was something they could put on and not worry about. Now they say they feel like the rug has been pulled out from under them.

“It’s been a place where I feel comfortable letting my kid steer,” Emily Johnson, the parent of a 4-year-old, told Business Insider. “Sure, it might not be model parenting, but my kid enjoys the sense of control being able to bop from ‘Bluey’ to ‘Spidey Friends.’ Now I can’t even find my episodes easily. The content is all bifurcated, and, in my opinion, it’s watering down the Disney brand.”