In 2018, Fox released a successful teen movie by the name of Love, Simon and it proved to be a hit pulling in over $66 million on a budget of $10 million and is proving to be an instant cult classic. Love, Simon is based off the bestselling book Simon VS The Homo-sapiens Agenda written by Becky Albertalli and follows the life of Simon Speir who deals withe regualr problems of being an adolescent in modern times as well as suppressing him homosexuality. Simon forms a connection with the mysterious “Blue” over email and they form a connection without even meeting in person. There’s a twist though, Blue goes to the same school as Simon.
In 2019, Disney acquired Fox and they ordered a Love, Simon spin-off series entitled Love, Victor. The series was meant to follow Victor played by Michael Cimino, arrives at Creekwood Institute and will go on a similar journey as Simon, in which he would discover himself, his sexuality and possibly find love. The series was set to be a hit, however Disney+ has decided to not go ahead with the series. Disney felt a show that contained “alcohol use and sexual exploration” was not “family friendly”. However, all is not lost the streaming service Hulu has acquired the series from Disney and fans of Love, Simon will be able to enjoy a brand new love story.
It’s fair to say this series shake up caused a lot of controversy and fans were looking forward to Disney running Love, Victor. Social media was lit up with people sharing some other Disney films and TV shows that are considered “family friendly” for their streaming service. People were bring up the likes of Star Wars as well as some of the princess movies and someone who had something to say about her own Disney Plus show was Hilary Duff. After hearing of Love, Victor sereis moving to Hulu, Duff posted a screenshot of a headline relating to the series moving to Hulu with the caption “sounds familiar…”. At the beginning of 2020, Duff’s series Lizzie McGuire which was revival of her 2011 Disney Channel series, was put on hold after show creator Terri Minsky stepped down. Until now, there was no explanation of why the show was shelved. Following Love, Victor moving to Hulu, Duff posted on her Instagram saying “I feel a huge responsibility to honour the fans and relationship with Lizzie”. Duff then went on to say “I’d be doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30 year old’s journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating”. Duff continues on saying that she would love if Disney would let them move the show to Hulu as she is passionate to bring her beloved character back to our screens. This has been an eventful time for Disney+ as they are taking over but with the pulling of Love, Victor and the uncertain future of Lizzie McGuire this may hurt them a little bit but I don’t see anyone unsubscribing.
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