By Glenn Garner
Some familiar faces are dropping in as Disney gets into the micro-drama craze with its new short-form series, Locker Diaries.
Designed for vertical viewing, the series features characters from Zombies, Descendants, and Phineas & Ferb in bite-sized adventures that blend comedy, drama, and thrills, all unfolding in school hallways and told through open locker doors.
The first two Zombies-themed episodes of the 11-part series are now available to stream on Disney+ and the Disney Channel YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. They feature Malachi Barton, Freya Skye, Swayam Bhatia, Julian Lerne,r and Mekonnen Knife, reprising their roles from Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires.
Rolling out every Saturday through mid-April, episodes will also air next month on the Disney Channel, in addition to being made available on Disney Channel On Demand.
The series comes as Disney+ embraces vertical video to drive daily engagement, part of a larger trend of major studios and execs adapting to a growing demand for micro-dramas. The booming medium was projected to surpass $9.4B in China last year.
Erin Teague, EVP of Product Management for Disney Entertainment and ESPN, previously said “everything’s on the table” in terms of how vertical video is delivered on Disney+. It could be original short-form programming, repurposed social clips, refashioned scenes from longer-form episodic or feature titles, or a combination. “We’re obviously thinking about integrating vertical video in ways that are native to core user behaviors,” Teague said. “So, it won’t be a kind of a disjointed, random experience.”
