Even by the standards of streaming’s ongoing content purge, Disney Plus deciding to wipe Crater off the face of the planet just seven weeks after it premiered was nothing short of ruthless.
The family-friendly intergalactic adventure drew decent enough reviews from critics and became one of the platform’s most-watched features following its debut, but that apparently wasn’t enough to convince the powers that be to allow it to spend even so much as two months on-demand before it was pulled.
For a while, it looked as though nobody would ever be able to watch Crater ever again under any circumstances – a fate that still applies to a great number of the in-house exclusives purged as part of the company’s wide-ranging cost-cutting measures – but in a small mercy, the cosmic caper has managed to rise from the ashes and make itself available to watch.
Along with fellow exiles Better Nate Than Ever, Flora & Ulysses, The One and Only Ivan, Rosaline, Cheaper by the Dozen, and Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made, Crater has materialized on various VOD retailers – including Amazon and Vudu – to rent or purchase digitally.
It’s a small mercy, and it’s one that hasn’t yet been afforded to some of the other high-profile casualties including action-packed fairy tale The Princess and incredibly expensive fantasy sequel series Willow, but it’s a start nonetheless. Being tossed out into the cold nothingness of streaming purgatory was a kick in the teeth for the cast, crew, and creatives who spent so much time and effort bringing Crater to life, but at least it hasn’t been filed away forever never to be seen or heard from again.