Disney already had the perfect release plan for the delightful I Am Groot shorts - but wasted it. Every streaming service needs a constant stream of content to keep it feeling fresh and new, and Disney+ is no exception. Pressure is particularly intense given that Disney+ feels overly dependent on Marvel and Star Wars and few other releases seem to be having quite the same degree of cultural impact.

Unfortunately, this means there are occasions when even Marvel and Star Wars releases feel just like additional content, and consequently fail to be treated with the respect they might deserve. For example, Marvel's I Am Groot shorts were released on Disney+ on August 10, 2022. It's anybody's guess whether these five animated shorts should be considered MCU canon (James Gunn appears to disagree with others at Marvel, who insist they are), but frankly, that debate is irrelevant. The I Am Groot shorts are simply tremendous fun, an opportunity to enjoy a lightweight story using a popular MCU character. Sadly, all five dropped on a single day, and their irreverent, low-stakes nature meant they barely generated any discussion at all. Their title card was gone from Disney+ within days, as yet more content came out (She-Hulk dropped only a week later), and they were forgotten. I Am Groot deserved far better.

Related: Did Marvel Just Reveal Baby Groot Remembers His Past Life?

Disney would have been wise to forget Disney+, and instead pattern I Am Groot's release on Pixar's popular animated shorts. For years, Pixar released one of these before every movie in the cinema, and the shorts became part of the Pixar experience. Disney and Marvel could have used the I Am Groot shorts in the same kind of way, with one placed strategically before every Marvel movie. This would have given them the attention they deserved, making them part of the Marvel experience rather than simply another content drop.

I Am Groot Could Have Started A New MCU Tradition

According to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, the MCU's celebrated post-credits scene flow from his love of the cinema experience. "I always liked that sort of thing, whether it’s Ferris Bueller or Masters of the Universe," Feige explained when discussing Marvel's post-credits scenes. "As a film nerd, I never wanted it to end. I didn’t want the experience…no matter how good or bad the movie was, just the experience of being in the movie theater, I didn’t want to end. So I would always sit through the credits." New Marvel animated shorts feel like another evolution in that idea, paying homage to a rich tradition in film history, one now sadly neglected given even Pixar has stopped doing them. They're even easier to do now Marvel is producing animated shows as well.

Naturally, Baby Groot could not be the star of these MCU shorts for forever. It's hard to imagine episodes of I Am Groot releasing alongside Phase 6 films, when Groot won't have been in that form for years. But every phase is introducing other characters who could star in this kind of short; it's easy to imagine Miss Minutes episodes, for example, or perhaps some shorts exploring the blink-and-you'll-miss-it character Rintrah, who (briefly) appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. I Am Groot could have started a new MCU tradition, but unfortunately it was not to be and was simply lost on the streaming service instead.