Deadline nears to save your digital Disney movies to new sharing service

If you missed the announcement last fall and you have purchased Disney digital movies, let this be your wakeup call.

Disney Movies Anywhere is shutting down at the end of the month, so members have two weeks left to transfer their movie purchases to the larger service, Movies Anywhere, or they will lose their digital copies of Disney favorites.

Disney Movies Anywhere acted as a hub, where members could store their Disney movies and then access them digitally on multiple mobile devices and their televisions. The service was free and members could earn rewards for the number of digital copies of films they purchased.

Now, The Walt Disney Studios has decided to join forces with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. Entertainment to form Movies Anywhere. The new service is still free for members and the only cost is that of the movies a member purchases from any of the participating retailers — iTunes, Amazon, Google Play and Vudu. The movies then can be viewed on up to 8 devices or televisions.

If you act now, you can receive five movies for free. Once you create an account and connect the first retailer, you will earn digital copies of “Ice Age” and “Ghostbusters: Answer The Call.” After a second retailer is connected to your Movies Anywhere account, you will receive copies of “Big Hero 6,” “The Lego Movie” and “Jason Bourne.”

Like Disney Movies Anywhere, the new Movies Anywhere will allow members with control of the accounts to restrict each linked device’s access to films based on the ratings. This a great tool for parents who set up family accounts to share movies they have purchased. (Restricting access to a movie by rating does not restrict access to the bonus materials associated with that movie, however.)

Digital purchases made through participating providers linked to your Movies Anywhere account are not eligible for Disney Movie Rewards points.

You can import your Disney Movies Anywhere collection to Movies Anywhere in two different ways. If you use the same email address associated with your Disney Movies Anywhere account to register on Movies Anywhere, you will be given the option during the registration process to transfer your Disney Movies Anywhere Collection over to your new Movies Anywhere account.

To transfer your Disney Movies Anywhere Collection to an existing Movies Anywhere account:

1. Go to “Settings” in the Movies Anywhere app or website.

2. Select “Manage Retailers.”

3. Under the “Disney Movies Anywhere” option, select “Import Library Now.”

4. Enter your Disney Movies Anywhere account credentials.

5. Follow the remaining prompts to complete the import.