Disney+ adds unscripted, reboots Quest

Disney+, the new streaming service from The Walt Disney Co, has added four new series to its slate, including a reboot of ABC’s fantasy-based competition show The Quest.

Agnes Chu

The Quest is a reality gameshow filmed at a castle outside Vienna, Austria, where contestants face a range of challenges in the fictional kingdom of Everealm. It originally aired for one season on ABC in 2014.

The Disney+ reboot features teenagers rather than adults and, according to the streamer, more interactive elements as the contestants are “embedded in a fully immersive, 360º world complete with seamless technology, creature design, practical effects and scripted characters who interact dynamically with them.”

The series is exec produced by Court Five’s Mark Ordesky and Jane Fleming, Scout Productions’ David Collins, Michael Williams and Rob Eric, and New Media Collective’s Bertram van Munster, Elise Doganieri and Mark Dziak.

Also in the gameshow space, Disney+ has greenlit brainteaser competition series The Maze. The show features five teams of one adult and one teen relative as they compete to solve riddles and decipher clues that will guide them through European cities and fairytale villages. The Maze is also exec produced by van Munster, Doganieri and Dziak.

Meanwhile, Disney+ has added National Geographic’s Meet the Chimps to its slate. The six-part natural history series takes viewers into the secret life of one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries in the world, Chimp Haven, a 200-acre refuge deep in the forested heart of Louisiana that is home to more than 300 chimpanzees.

Meet the Chimps is produced by Blink Films, the prodco behind Meet the Penguins and Meet the Orangutans, with Justine Kershaw and Michael Welsh serving as executive producers, and Virginia Quinn as series director.

The final addition to Disney+’s latest line-up is an untitled docuseries from Supper Club that follows Pixar’s SparkShorts programme. The programme offers a select group of Pixar employees the opportunity to make their own animated short film, helping discover the next generation of Pixar storytellers. Brian McGinn, Jason Sterman and David Gelb exec produce.

“These projects take people on epic adventures, immerse them in fantastical worlds and shine a light on extraordinary people and creatures, which are all important benchmarks of our Disney+ nonfiction content philosophy,” said Agnes Chu, senior VP of content at Disney+.