Disney+ Scores a Prestige Anime Vault for UK, Ireland and France

Disney+ and UK distributor Anime Ltd. have struck a multi-title streaming agreement that plants a curated library of Japanese animated cinema on the platform across the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France. Announced on July 2, the deal hands Disney+ exclusive streaming rights to more than ten films that rank among the medium's most celebrated exports — a move that significantly widens the service's prestige anime footprint in two of Europe's largest fan markets.

The lineup reads like a greatest-hits reel of modern anime auteurs. Makoto Shinkai's Your Name. and Weathering with You anchor the collection alongside Mamoru Hosoda's Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated Mirai, his cyber-fantasy Belle, and fan favorites Summer Wars, Wolf Children, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Satoshi Kon's psychological thriller Perfect Blue and Naoko Yamada's A Silent Voice round out the emotional spectrum, while Mamoru Oshii's Cannes Palme d'Or-nominated Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence and Katsuhiro Otomo's cyberpunk landmark Akira bring heavyweight genre credentials to the table.

Regional availability varies by title. A Silent Voice and Akira are confirmed for the UK and Ireland only, while several Hosoda and Shinkai features will make their streaming debut in both the UK and France — a detail that should matter to subscribers who have hunted these films across fragmented platforms for years. Individual premiere windows have not been set; Disney+ says each title will roll out later in 2026.

The partnership arrives as anime's theatrical and festival momentum shows no sign of cooling — Anime Ltd. co-managing director Kerry Kasim noted the timing fresh off the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Disney executives framed the deal as a bid to consolidate must-watch Japanese storytelling under one subscription roof, reflecting how European audiences increasingly expect flagship anime films to be as easy to find as any Marvel or Pixar release.

For otaku on either side of the Channel, the pact is less a single-title headline than a seismic shift in where the canon lives. Whether you are revisiting Your Name. for the fifth time or finally queueing Perfect Blue on a big screen at home, Disney+ just became a far more serious destination for Japanese film — and Anime Ltd. secured a marquee platform for the catalog it has spent years building.

Read more about Your Name. on Hoshika →