Apple Pulls Some Disney and Pixar Titles From iTunes Store and iTunes in the Cloud [Updated]

thelionkingIt appears some Disney and Pixar titles like The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and Cars series Mater's Tall Tales have been pulled from both the iTunes Store and the "Purchased Content" libraries of customers who paid for the content.

While the removal, originally noticed by a 9to5Mac reader, first appeared to be a glitch, AppAdvice has pointed out that the titles are also unavailable via the Amazon Instant Video service, suggesting the disappearance of the content may be intentional, potentially due to a licensing issue.

According to the customer who noticed the missing titles, Disney elected to remove the content from the iTunes Store, preventing customers who have purchased the movies/TV shows from re-downloading the content via iTunes in the Cloud, which allows users access to previously purchased content.

Two movies disappeared from my Apple TV yesterday (Mater's Tall Tales and The Lion King). I called Apple and they told me that Disney has removed them from the iTunes store. They are no longer available for viewing on my Apple TV. There was no warning, no notice and no refund. According to Apple, all digital content belongs to the content provider.

On Amazon.com, searching for the titles results in a notice that licensing agreements have prevented the content from being purchased or rented, and as AppAdvice points out, Apple's iTunes Store Terms and Conditions does specify that previously purchased content can be made inaccessible.

As an accommodation to you, subsequent to acquiring iTunes Auto-Delivery Content, purchased (i.e. not rented) movies iTunes Products and TV show iTunes Products (each, "iTunes Eligible Content"), you may download certain of such previously-purchased iTunes Eligible Content onto any Associated Device.

Some iTunes Eligible Content that you previously purchased may not be available for subsequent download at any given time, and Apple shall have no liability to you in such event. As you may not be able to subsequently download certain previously-purchased iTunes Eligible Content, once you download an item of iTunes Eligible Content, it is your responsibility not to lose, destroy, or damage it, and you may want to back it up.

Both Apple and Disney have yet to comment on the content removal, and it remains unclear whether the disappearance of select titles is temporary or a more permanent move.

Update: A Disney spokesperson told AppAdvice that Disney plans to work with Apple to ensure that users who purchased The Lion King and other content now removed from the App Store will be able to continue to download their purchases.

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...

Top Rated Comments

Razeus Avatar
153 months ago
How can they pull content that's been paid for? This is why I don't buy movies from iTunes or anywhere else as a download. :mad: I consider this THEFT and expect a class-action suit to be filed.

The formula is simple: I give you money for something you have; you give that something to me to own. If you take it back from me (especially without my knowledge), I expect you to give me my money back. Otherwise, it's called theft and there's laws for that.

What kind of world are we going to live when when companies let you buy stuff and they take it back. What is this? I give you money for nothing?

Again, I refuse to buy movies from downloaded sources for this reason alone. Ok, reason #2 is that the prices are too high.
Score: 74 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Razeus Avatar
153 months ago
And these people wonder why the public simply pirates the movies. :mad:
Score: 61 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The Tuck Avatar
153 months ago
This is why people should be afraid of purchasing content from the iTunes or Amazon digital video stores. Nothing beats a 1080p physical disk that you can keep on a shelf that the content owner can't remove from your library.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bearxor Avatar
153 months ago
Just when I was starting to come around to the idea that digital purchases might not be that bad...
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sprawl2 Avatar
153 months ago
Kind of ironic, seeing as how Steve Jobs was basically directly responsible for the creation of Pixar.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
comics addict Avatar
153 months ago
Stuff like this is disconcerting for those of us that buy content through the iTunes Store. :(
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)