Disney Channel

**Disney Channel** is a cable television channel specializing in television programming for children through original series and movies as well as third party programming. It is marketed to mostly children; however, in recent years the diversity of viewers has increased with an older audience, typically teenagers and young families. Presently available on basic cable and satellite television, the network is part of Disney-ABC Cable Networks Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is based in Burbank, California, United States, and also runs a website called DisneyChannel.com. Disney Channel began broadcasting in high-definition on March 19, 2008. A high definition feed of the network is also offered on some cable providers, as well as both satellite providers and telco IPTV providers in the ABC/Disney networks preferred format of 720p.

## History

### Disney Channel: The Beginning (1983-1997)

In 1983, The Walt Disney Company announced that it would be launching a channel that would entertain families with the magic of Disney throughout the years. The Disney Channel was formed in late-1982 under the leadership of its first president Alan Wagner. The channel began broadcasting programming on April 18, 1983. At the time of its launch, Disney Channel was a premium channel and only aired 16 hours a day, from 7am to 11pm EST/PST (6am to 10pm CST, 8am to 12 midnight MST). The program that kicked off the channel's first day on the air was the Disney Channel-produced series *Good Morning, Mickey!* Other programs included *Welcome to Pooh Corner* and *You and Me Kid*. In April 1984, the channel extended its programming day to 18 hours a day by adding two hours to its late night schedule (7am to 1am EST/PST, 6am to 12 midnight CST, 8am to 2am MST).

 File:Disney Channel Magazine Premiere Issue.jpg
The original late night schedule featured reruns of the classic *The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet*; more of them are included in *Disney Channel Original Series*. Disney Channel received a special citation from the United States president Ronald Reagan in 1984. On December 1, 1986, Disney Channel commenced full time broadcasting 24 hours everyday. During the early years, Disney Channel aired several foreign animated series and movies including *Asterix*, *The Raccoons*, and *Paddington Bear*. The Australian western, *Five Mile Creek*, was shown during this time period also.

During the 1980s, the channel debuted a few programs that later became part of the cultural lexicon of sorts. Early on, in 1986, the musically-oriented sitcom *Kids Incorporated* became a hit, about a pre-teen (and later teen-to-young adult) gang of friends who formed a pop group, mixing their everyday situations with variety-show and music video style performances. During its nine year run, the series spawned many future stars in both music and acting, the most notable being Martika (who went by her real name of Marta Marrero in the show's first season), eventual *Party of Five* co-stars Scott Wolf and Jennifer Love Hewitt (billed as Love Hewitt) and, not to mention, Stacy Ferguson (Fergie).

Disney also hit a cord with viewers in the early 90's with the popular after school block of cartoons called "Disney Afternoon". Making spin off shows of popular Disney movies (common practice today innovative then) classic Disney characters and originals including Care Bears, the Gummi Bears, Duck Tales, Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers, Tail Spin, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, Bonkers, Gargoyles, Aladdin the Series, & Timone and Pumba the Series. The cassette tapes and CD's of the music from the original shows from the "Disney Afternoon" block are still treasured by viewers.

In early 1989, The Disney Channel revived one of the company's early TV staples with *The All-New Mickey Mouse Club*, which was an immediate hit and proved the basic Disney variety show formula could still work, unlike in the short-lived 1970s revival. The latest version contained many of the classic elements, from "theme days" to updated mouseketeer jackets, but the scripted and musical segments were more contemporary. *MMC* had a stellar young cast, launching more careers of today's big stars than the shows previously mentioned; Christina Aguilera, JC Chasez, Ryan Gosling, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, are just a few of the many "mice that soared". By 1995, Disney Channel was seen in more than 8 million homes across the United States.

### The Zoog/Vault Disney Era (1997-2002)

In 1997 (but in some makets, starting around 1994), Disney Channel began transitioning from a premium cable channel to being offered via expanded basic cable, officially doing so by 2000. It was at this time that Disney Channel started to gain viewers. Prior to 1997, Disney Channel would air week-long previews four times a year, as well as two free preview weekends periodically (with ads targeted to non-subscribers), in the same manner that HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and Starz have.

In 1997, Disney Channel took on a revamped look and dropped the word "The" in the network's name (However, promos often referred to the channel as simply "Disney" and the logo often omitted the "Channel" in the network's name also), and split the network into three programming blocks: Playhouse Disney, comprising of shows aimed at preschoolers; Vault Disney, featuring classic Disney material such as Zorro, The Mickey Mouse Club, the Walt Disney anthology television series, older television specials and features such as *The Love Bug*; and the most distinct one, running from afternoon to late evening for teenagers, called *Zoog Disney*, which used anthropomorphic characters called "Zoogs", who resembled robots (but the Zoog characters were given human voices) as its hosts. The Zoog Disney block was introduced in 1998 after *Toon Disney launched. From September 2001 to August 2002, the entire weekend lineup (except for the Vault Disney and Playhouse Disney lineups) was branded as "Zoog Weekendz".*

The Zoogs original look was one-dimensional, however, the Zoogs were redesigned in 2001, with a more three-dimensional design and mature voices, but were phased out after less than a year. A new channel logo (which featured a 1930s-era Mickey Mouse on a black Mickey ear-shaped TV), was also introduced in 1997. The channel also began to carry break interruptions (not advertising commercials, but promos for network programming).

Disney Channel's original programming during this period began to skyrocket. First, with *Flash Forward* in 1997 and then continuing with shows like *The Famous Jett Jackson*, *So Weird*, *Lizzie McGuire*, *Even Stevens* and *Kim Possible*, among others.

### Disney Channel: Relaunched (2002-2007)

In September 2002, Disney Channel was gradually remodeled once more. First, the "Zoog" brand name was phased out from on-air usage; the "Zoog" name continued under a separate website until 2003, when it was merged with Disney Channel's main website. Then on September 9, 2002, the vintage material aired under the Vault Disney banner was discontinued (primarily to contribute to the network's new "hip" image) in favor of same-day repeats of the channel's original programming and off-network series. As a result, primetime movies were also cut to one a night (from two). The channel also ceased producing drama and reality series, shifting focus to live-action comedies and animated series, and Disney Channel usually premieres about two or three new original series a year (typically two animated series and one live-action series). The current logo was implemented a month later. As a result of these changes, of the three blocks introduced in 1997, only Playhouse Disney continues to this day.

Anne Sweeney, a veteran cable executive, took control of Disney-ABC Television Group in 2004 and successfully remade Disney Channel into "the major profit driver in the company." By 2008, *Condé Nast Portfolio* was able to note that the Channel "has been adding a million viewers a month—every month—for the last five years," and also called the Channel "the greatest teen-star incubator since the NBA stopped drafting high schoolers." Sweeney's successful strategy was to discover, nurture, and aggressively cross-promote teen music stars whose style and image were carefully targeted to pre-teens and teenagers.

While Disney Channel's intended target audience are preschoolers, pre-teens and young adolescents, the channel has gained popularity and also has viewers outside the main target audience and has even made teen idols out of some of the channel's stars. The channel has become well known in recent years for its Disney Channel Original Series, and because of them, Disney Channel is one of the most-watched cable channels in the United States, with some series averaging around four to six million viewers (which is considered impressive for cable television).

In 2003 Disney Channel released its first ever musical movie on Disney Channel entitled *The Cheetah Girls* it received 84 million viewers worldwide. Later in Disney Channel years spin-offs of the Cheetah Girls were created such as *High School Musical*, and *Hannah Montana*. In 2005, *That's So Raven* became the network's highest-rated series since the network's move to basic cable; as well as being the first Disney Channel Original Series to beat the 65 episode limit (eventually hitting 100 episodes) and to be the first to spawn a spin off (Cory in the House).

### Disney Channel Today (2007-Present)

In 2007, Disney Channel remodeled its looks. The logo, instead of bouncing around the screen, turned into a ribbon and swirled around the screen until forming the logo. The background turned into an astronomy sphere, as opposed to abstract objects bouncing and moving in the screen. Also, the font was updated from Digital to bold. Bumpers were updated as well. Instead of the logo popping up and delivering a message, the ribbon swirled up, formed the logo, and another ribbon swirled out with the message. In addition, the female announcer was dropped.

In 2007, Disney Channel cut down on the number of original movie and series premieres over the course of the calendar year, limiting to four DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie) and two new DCOS (Disney Channel Original Series). The most successful DCOM was High School Musical 2 with 17.2 million viewers. The channel abandoned its uniform schedules for weekday and weekend afternoons (with the exception of the 7-8PM hour), to run a five-hour (later six-hour, now back to five-hour) schedule featuring hour-long blocks of various original series (and the off-network programming that remained on the channel) with the schedule changing each day. As part of the change, promo cards and bumpers were changed to an abstract atmosphere with ribbon theming and themed to the programs.

Promos for the next program now only displayed the program airing next and were moved from immediately after the conclusion of a program to near the end of the last promo break, while a ribbon banner now appears on the bottom of the screen during programming (those airing from 11AM-8PM/ET and airing immediately following the end of each promo break) telling viewers the current program and the two programs airing afterwards. Slightly modified versions of these graphics fit for high definition were introduced in September 2008. The channel also moved its original series (mostly the live-action series) to primetime on weekends with new episodes airing in those timeslots, after having aired new episodes of its series on Fridays between 6-8PM/ET for the previous few years. The series began airing from 8-9PM/ET on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (The Friday 8-9PM block will be preempted if a Disney Channel Original Movie is scheduled to premiere on that night; the Saturday 8-9PM block has aired on a periodic basis since the change; and the Sunday 8-9PM block was added in January 2008).

2008 is recognized for its new series such as *Brian O'Brian*, and *The Suite Life on Deck*, the spin-off to *The Suite Life of Zack & Cody*, plus new Disney Channel Original Movies such as *Camp Rock* , *Minutemen* and *The Cheetah Girls: One World*. *The Suite Life on Deck* was the number one series in the respective categories in kids ages 6–11 and tweens ages 9–14 in 2008.

In 2009, Disney Channel launched new shows like *Sonny with a Chance* (the first original series shot in high definition) starring Demi Lovato in February, and *JONAS* starring the Jonas Brothers in May . New movies in 2009 included: *Dadnapped*, *Hatching Pete*, *Princess Protection Program*, and *Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie*. The four original movies for 2009 had the widest range of Disney Channel Stars in the networks history.

In late October 2009, Disney Channel premiered a new short series called: "have a laugh!"  These 4 to 5 minute segments would include re-dubbed versions of classic Disney Cartoons. The first of which premiered on October 26, 2009: Lonesome Ghosts.

## Programming

Disney Channel mostly airs its original sitcoms geared toward teenagers and sometimes airs its original cartoons geared more towards upper-elementary and middle school age children. However, as of 2008 the only original cartoons it airs are *The Replacements* and *Phineas and Ferb*. Disney Channel also has a programming block that airs in the daytime geared toward pre-schoolers called Playhouse Disney. Despite these other programming, a great majority of the channel's time-slot is taken up by other teen sitcoms.
Series produced by Walt Disney Television or production companies unrelated to the Walt Disney Company used to make up most of the schedule; nowadays, with the explosion of Disney Channel Original Series, fewer of these series have aired on the channel. As of January 2008, the only non-original productions airing on Disney (not including the Playhouse Disney lineup, movies, and short series *Minuscule* and *Shaun the Sheep*) are *Life With Derek*, *The Little Mermaid* and *Recess*. The Playhouse Disney block airs daily from 7:00 am until noon. During the summer line-up it ends at 10:00 AM and the regular Disney block begins. On summer weekends, Playhouse Disney ends at 11:00 AM and then Disney airs its summer lineup. As of February 2008, the only Walt Disney related programming is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Playhouse Disney.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Disney Channel aired special shows that featured old-time Disney cartoons (that were usually made in Walt Disney's time). They were mostly taken off the lineup in 2000, however their presence has returned as of 2009.

After *Totally Rockin' Summer* Disney Channel returned to its basic schedule again on September 7, 2008. *Phil of the Future* ended its run on Disney Channel in the United States on September 8, 2008. It's now being aired on Disney XD. On December 14, 2008, it was announced that Disney Channel in the U.S. would bring back the animated block which has aired from 12 midnight to 6am. The animated block was brought back to the public on Disney Channel after Christmas Day 2008.

Much of Disney Channel's programming seems to appeal to teenage girls with shows like *Hannah Montana*. Disney Channel has released programming more appealing to teenage boys with *Aaron Stone* and other such Disney XD shows in 2009. New programs are expected to premiere on Disney Channel in 2010.

Disney Channel's live-action series usually have no more than six contract cast members, and have between 6 to 8 credited staff writers (fewer than the typical 8 to 11). Its multi-camera sitcoms, which use the classic studio audience/laugh track format, are shot on videotape (note that these shows have Video Control Operators, Video Tape Operators and Technical Directors listed in the closing credits) and use some type of simulated film look. Former series *That's So Raven*, *Cory in the House*, and *The Suite Life of Zack & Cody*; and current series *Hannah Montana* use the FilmLook image processing. *Wizards of Waverly Place* does use FilmLook's image processing technology for scenes where there are no special effects needed, but does not when there are visual effects used in the scene. *Sonny with a Chance* and *The Suite Life on Deck* use a 'filmized' appearance, but are shot on videotape, which will become standard on other Disney Channel multi-camera sitcoms as they transition to high definition programming.

### Current Programs (Airing New Episodes)

* *31 Minutes* (2007-present)
* *The Adventures of Raz and Benny* (2009–present)
* *The Adventures of Roco & Abyss* (2006-present)
* *Alexei: The Series* (2005–present)
* *As the Bell Rings* (2007–present)
* *Cars Toons* (2008–present)
* *Express Yourself* (2001–present)
* *Flowgo's World* (2007-present)
* *Hannah Montana* (2006-present)
* *I Am Frankie*
* *Imagination Movers* (2008–present)
* *JONAS* (2009-present)
* *Leo Little's Big Show* (2009-present)
* *Little Einsteins* (2005–present)
* *Mickey Mouse Clubhouse* (2006–present)
* *Disney's Movie Surfers* (1998–present)
* *My Friends Tigger and Pooh* (2007–present)
* *Phineas and Ferb* (2007–present)
* *Shanna's Show* (2003–present)
* *Shaun the Sheep* (2007–present)
* *Sonny With A Chance* (2009–present)
* *The Suite Life on Deck* (2008–present)
* *What's New, Angels?* (2006-present)
* *Wizards of Waverly Place* (2007–present)

### Rerun Programs (No New Episodes)

* *American Dragon Jake Long* (2005-2007 in new episodes, 2005-present in reruns)
* *Brandy and Mr. Whiskers* (2004–2006 in new episodes, 2004-present in reruns)
* *Brian O'Brian* (2008-2009 in new episodes, 2008-present in reruns)
* *Charlie and Lola* (2006–2009 in new episodes, 2006-present in reruns)
* *Cory in the House*(2007-2008 in new episodes, 2007-present in reruns)
* *The Emperor's New School* (2006–2008 in new episodes, 2006-present in reruns)
* *The Heart of the Jungle* (2005 in new episodes, 2005-presesnt in reruns)
* *Kim Possible* (2002–2007, 2002-present in reruns)
* *Life With Derek* (2006-2009 in new episodes, 2006-present in reruns)
* *Lilo & Stitch: The Series* (2003-2006 in new episodes, 2003-present in reruns)
* *Lizzie Mcguire* (2002-2004 in new episodes, 2002-present in reruns)
* *The Little Mermaid* (1992–1994 in new episodes, 1992-present in reruns)
* *Moners Sixton 2590* (2004-2006 in new episodes, 2004-present in reruns)
* *The Proud Family* (2001–2005 in new episodes, 2001-present in reruns)
* *Recess* (2003–2004 in new episodes, 2008-present in reruns)
* *The Replacements* (2006–2009 in new episodes, 2006-present in reruns)
* *The Suite Life of Zack & Cody* (2005–2008 in new episodes, 2005-present in reruns)
* *That's So Raven* (2003-2007 in new episodes, 2003-present in reruns)

## Former Programs (No Longer Run On Disney Channel)

* *101 Dalmatians: The Series* (1997–1998)
* *Adventures in Wonderland* (1991–1995)
* *The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet* (1983–1994)
* *The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin* (1998–2000)
* *The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes* (1991–1993)
* *The Adventures of Shirley Holmes* (1996–1997)
* *Adventures of the Gummi Bears* (1985–1991)
* *Aladdin* (1997-2000)
* *Amazing Animals* (Late 1990s–Early 2000s)
* *Arle* (2004-2008)
* *Baby Potter: The Series* (2006-2009)
* *The Baby-Sitters Club* (1990-1997)
* *Bear in the Big Blue House* (1997–2007)
* *Bonkers* (1993–1995)
* *The Book of Pooh* (2001–2006)
* *Boy Meets World* (1993–2000)
* *Braceface* (2005–2006)
* *Breakfast with Bear* (2005–2006)
* *Brotherly Love* (1997–2001)
* *Bug Juice* (1998–2001)
* *Buzz Lightyear of Star Command* (2006–2008)
* *Care Bears* (1990–1997)
* *Cave Party* (1995-2002)
* *The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show* (1990s)
* *Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers* (1989–1990)
* *Contraption* (1983–1989)
* *D-TV* (1984–1999)
* *This Is Daniel Cook* (2000's)
* *Danger Bay* (1985–1993)
* *Darkwing Duck* (1991-1992)
* *Dave the Barbarian* (2004-2009)
* *Disney Family Album* (1984–Late 1980s)
* *Disney's Doug* (September 1999-2000, 2001–2002)
* *Disney's House of Mouse* (2002-2006)
* *The Doodlebops* (2004–2009)
* *Donald Duck Presents* (1983–1997)
* *Donald's Quack Attack* (1992–1999?)
* *DuckTales* (1987-1990)
* *Dumbo's Circus* (1985–1988)
* *The Edison Twins*
* *Eerie, Indiana*
* *Even Stevens* (2000–2003)
* *Faerie Tale Theatre* (1982-1987)
* *The Famous Jett Jackson* (1998–2001)
* *Fillmore!*
* *Five Mile Creek*
* *Flash Forward*
* *For All My Family* (1984-1997)
* *Fraggle Rock*
* *Gargoyles* (1998–1999)
* *Gerbert*
* *Going Wild With Jeff Corwin* (1997-1999)
* *Goof Troop* (1995–2000)
* *Good Morning, Mickey!* (1983–1992)
* *Good Morning, Miss Bliss* (1988–1991)
* *Growing Pains* (1985–1992)
* *The Hardy Boys*
* *Hercules: The Animated Series* (September 1999–2001)
* *Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show* (Early 2000s–2004)
* *In A Heartbeat* (2000–2001)
* *The Jersey* (1999–2003)
* *Johnny and the Sprites* (2005-2009)
* *JoJo's Circus* (2003–2009)
* *Jungle Cubs* (1998-2000's)
* *Katie and Orbie* (1997–September 2000)
* *Kids Incorporated* (1986–1993)
* *The Koala Brothers* (2004–2008)
* *The Legend of Tarzan* (2001–2007)
* *Lloyd in Space* (2002–2004)
* *Mad Libs* (1998–2000)
* *Madeline* (1998-2002)
* *Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies*
* *Max and Ruby*
* *Marsupilami*
* *Mickey Mouse and Friends*
* *Mickey Mouse Club* (1989-1996)
* *Mickey Mouse Works*
* *Mickey's Mouse Tracks*
* *Minuscule* (2007–2008)
* *The Mighty Ducks*
* *Mike's Super Short Show* (2002–2006)
* *Mousercise* (1983–1997)
* *Mousterpiece Theater*
* *My Little Pony and Friends/My Little Pony Tales* (1992–1995)
* *Muppets Tonight*
* *The Muppet Show*
* *Naturally, Sadie* (2005–2007)
* *The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh* (reran on Disney Channel from 2002-2006)
* *New Kids on the Block*
* *Ocean Girl*
* *Out of the Box* (1998–2000s)
* *Paddington Bear*
* *PB&J Otter* (1998–2000s)
* *Pepper Ann* (2001-2002)
* *Phil of the Future* (2004–2008)
* *Quack Pack* (1998–1999, 2008)
* *The Raccoons*
* *Raffina And Rulue Adventures* (2004-2008)
* *Raw Toonage* (1993-?)
* *Ready or Not*
* *Disney's Really Short Report* (2007–2009)
* *Road to Avonlea*
* *Rolie Polie Olie* (1998–2006)
* *Rupert*
* *Sabrina, the Animated Series/Sabrina's Secret Life* (2002–2004)
* *Save the Day* (1997-2002)
* *School House Rock* (1973-1986)
* *The Schnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show*
* *Shorty McShorts' Shorts* (2006–2007)
* *The Sinbad Show*
* *Sing Me A Story With Belle*
* *Sister, Sister* (2002–2007)
* *Smart Guy* (1998–2003)
* *So Weird* (1999–2001)
* *The Smurfs* (1992-2008)
* *Snorks* (1997-2008)
* *Spellbinder*
* *Stanley* (2001–2008)
* *Studio DC: Almost Live* (TV Special) (2008)
* *TaleSpin* (1994–1998)
* *Teacher's Pet* (2002–2005)
* *Teamo Supremo* (2002–2003)
* *Teen Angel*
* *Timon and Pumbaa* (1998–2001, 2006–2008)
* *The Torkelsons*
* *Totally Circus* (2000)
* *Totally in Tune* (2002)
* *Totally Hoops*
* *Under the Umbrella Tree* (1990–1996)
* *Videopolis*
* *W.I.T.C.H.* (2005)
* *Walt Disney Presents* (1990-1996)
* *The Weekenders* (2003)
* *Welcome to Pooh Corner* (1983–1986)
* *The Wiggles* (2001–2007)
* *Will Quack Quack*
* *Wind in the Willows*
* *The Wuzzles* (1985-1987)
* *You and Me Kid* (1983–1984)

## Original series programming

### Comedies and dramas

The first official Disney Channel Original Series was also its first original comedy series *Flash Forward (Canadian 1996 tv series)*, which debuted in 1997 (and was a co-production with Canada's Family cable channel). The sci-fi drama *So Weird* (which some critics likened to a teen version of*The X-Files*) and the sports comedy The Jersey debuted in 1999. 2000 saw the debut of the teen medical drama *In a Heartbeat* (the channel's shortest-lived live-action series), but the most successful of the shows that year was the sitcom *Even Stevens*. In 2001, *Lizzie McGuire* debuted, becoming the channel's most-watched series (and star Hilary Duff's success resulting from the show would open the door for today's generation of Disney stars, like Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers).

*That's So Raven* (starring Raven-Symoné) debuted in 2003, becoming the channel's highest-rated original series of all time prior to *Hannah Montana'*s debut; and was the channel's first series to last more than the standard quota of 65 episodes, the first Disney series to last 100 episodes, and the first series to create a spin-off with the less-successful Cory in the House in 2007. The campy sci-fi comedy *Phil of the Future* debuted in 2004, and was controversially cancelled in 2006. 2005 saw the debut of *The Suite Life of Zack & Cody*, which later spun-off *The Suite Life on Deck* in 2008, which has become equally popular as its parent series, becoming the #1 live-action series for kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14 in 2008. *Hannah Montana* premiered in March 2006, and quickly became the channel's banner show and made its star Miley Cyrus a household name. In 2007 Wizards of Waverly Place premiered and proved successful.
In 2009, the channel debuted two new sitcoms, both of which are the channel's first starring vehicle series. In February 2009, Sonny with a Chance premiered starring Demi Lovato, star of a 2008 Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock. JONAS, the channel's first single-camera comedy since Phil of the Future, starring The Jonas Brothers debuted in May 2009.

### Reality programming

In 1998, the channel debuted its first documentary series Bug Juice, which centered on a group of kids attending summer camp. 1999 featured the debut of the interactive series Z Games, in which viewers would submit their own homemade games. 2000 saw the debut of the documentary series Totally Circus (which would be followed up the next year with the basketball documentary series Totally Hoops and in 2002 with Totally in Tune, the last reality program on Disney Channel). Since then, reality programming on Disney Channel has been relegated to short series, such as Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream, High School Musical: The Music in You, and Camp Rock: Down Under.

### Playhouse Disney

Playhouse Disney's first hit series was Bear in the Big Blue House, which debuted in 1997. This was followed in 1998 with the computer-animated Rolie Polie Olie. Other popular Playhouse Disney series of the past and present include: Little Einsteins, Out of the Box, PB&J Otter, Stanley, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Imagination Movers, Special Agent Oso, and Jungle Junction.

## Programming blocks

### Summer

*Main article: Disney Channel Summer Events*
Disney Channel's new summer programming block , *Summer of Stars*, begins Saturday, May 30 2009 and will last until the end of August 2009. Previous blocks have been *Totally Rockin' Summer!* (May 17, 2008- September 7, 2008),*Summer!* (May 24, 2007- September 8, 2007) and *So Hot Summer!* (June 1, 2006- August 31, 2006), *Summer 2005!* (June 10, 2005- August 28, 2005) and *Raven's Psychic Summer* (June 7, 2004- August 27, 2004).

### Halloween

*Main article: Disney Channel's Hauntober Fest*
Every night during October, Disney Channel has had Halloween Events. there were many new halloween films introduced in 2006 such as Twitches and The Scream Team and many others and more recently Twitches 2 and Wizards of Waverly Place:The Movie

### New Year

*Main article: Disney Channel's New Year Events*
Disney Channel Stars host New Year events every New Year's Eve followed by a Series Marathon on New Year's Day. The next New Year Block will be titled *New Year Star Showdown!*

### Disney Channel Games

*Main article: Disney Channel Games*
Debuting in 2006, the Disney Channel Games includes stars from Disney Channel Original Series and Movies. After the kick-off Games in 2006, the 2007 and 2008 Games included stars from across the world, making room for the addition of a Yellow Team (Added to Blue, Red and Green) during the 2007 event. In 2008, the games featured 4 teams: Cyclones, Comets, Lightning and the Inferno. 2008 was the last DC-Games to date. No future games have been planned or scheduled for 2009 or 2010.

## Criticism

Disney Channel has come under strong criticism ever since the network switched its broadcast from premium, more limited cable to more basic, wide-spread cable. Experts criticize the company for programming that has pulled away from the characters that the networks parent company, The Walt Disney Company was based on: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. Other critics disapprove of the marketing strategy made by Anne Sweeney, the President of ABC-Disney Television Group, which makes the programs on Disney Channel geared only toward pre-teens and teenage girls.

## Films

A film is broadcast almost every night, but not necessarily a theatrically released feature film. Disney Channel airs new original films, called Disney Channel Original Movies (or DCOMs), about 4 to 6 times a year, and those are frequently broadcast during that timeslot. In 2000, Disney Channel claimed to produce a new movie each month; this only lasted throughout that same year.

The Disney Channel Original Movies began in 1997 with *Northern Lights*. The amount of DCOMs per year began to increase—from two in 1997 to three in 1998 to a high of twelve in 2000.

*High School Musical 2* is the most successful DCOM in popularity and awards, setting a cable record for most viewers of a basic cable program, when its debut scored 17.2 million, a record that stood until the December 3 Monday Night Football matchup between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens on corporate sibling ESPN surpassed it with 17.5 million viewers (it still remains the most watched made-for-TV movie in cable television history). *The Cheetah Girls* films are also notably successful, with huge merchandise, sold out concert tours and soundtrack sales. The first film was the first musical tv movie on Disney Channel. It saw over 84 million viewers world wide. The second movie was the most successful of the series bringing in 8.1 million viewers in the U.S. It scored an 86 date concert tour, and was on the top 10 tours of 2006, the tour set a record at the *Houston Rodeo* that was set by *Elvis Presley* back in 1973. The concert sold out at 73,500 tickets and was done in 3 minutes.

The channel will occasionally secure the rights to air a picture released by a non-Disney studio, most notably Warner Bros.' *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone* and *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets*, NBC Universal's *Beethoven*, The Weinstein Company's *Hoodwinked* and *Doogal*, Sony Pictures' *Stuart Little*, eight Cartoonverse Animation Studios/Halfbrick Animation Studios/Puyo Puyo Films/Splashinis Animation Studios/Penguin Studios movies (*Pablo the Little Penguin*, *Three Stars*, *Trulli Tales*, *Uniquarella*, *The Boo Crew Movie*, *The Masked Retriever*, *Walking Up with Dinosaurs* and *Puyo Puyo Legends*), Sony Pictures Entertainment's *Stuart Little 2*, Lionsgate's *Happily N'ever After*, 20th Century Fox's *Catch That Kid* and Paramount's *Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown*. Also, another non-Disney Christmas themed film, such as*The Polar Express* have aired. Other non-Disney films may include *Little Secrets*, *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, *Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown* and *Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird* just to name a few.

Between 1986 and 1998, films made up most Disney Channel's evening and overnight schedule. It now only airs usually around 12 hours of movies per week, occasionally 14 or 15. Many of the channel's earliest original movies (particularly those made from 1997 to 2002) have seldom been aired by Disney Channel in recent years, except for some holiday-themed movies. This changed in January 2009 when the channel began airing these early original movies in late night on Fridays and Saturdays. A Disney Channel Original Movie used to air twice in a row on the night of its Friday night premiere; this tradition ended with the January 2006 premiere of *High School Musical*. Encore presentations of Disney Channel Original Movies however, still air on the channel in primetime on the Saturday and Sunday after its original Friday night debut (*Camp Rock* is the only exception to this rule as that movie debuted on Disney Channel on June 20
, 2008, then re-aired on ABC's *Wonderful World of Disney* the following night, and then aired on ABC Family the night after that; that movie is currently the only DCOM to air on a non-Disney Channel branded network domestically).

Because of this, Disney airs programming following the film:

* If it lasts 1:25 to 1:35, an Original Series will air (Disney used to air syndicated series that aired on the channel). In primetime, *Wizards of Waverly Place* will air and in daytime or primetime, *The Suite Life of Zack and Cody* will air, followed by another episode airing at its regularly scheduled time.
* If it lasts 1:40 to 1:45, a miniature episode of an Original Animated Series will air (most likely an 11-minute episode of an Animated Original Series).
* If it lasts 1:50 to 1:55, either a music video will air (e.g. Disney Channel Circle of Stars) along with a Disney Channel promos music video, or an episode of a Disney Channel Short Series such as *Shaun the Sheep*, *The Road to The Cheetah Girls 3: One World*, *As the Bell Rings,* *Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream*, or *Brian O' Brian*.

## Slogans

* Everything You Ever Imagined and More (1983-1986)
* Disney's Our Channel (1986-1988)
* America's Family Network (1988-1997)
* On Disney (1997-2002)
* Our Stars, Your Place. Everyday. (2002-)

## See also

* Disney XD
* Disney Cinemagic
* Disney Channel around the world
* Playhouse Disney around the world
* Toon Disney
* Jetix

## References

1. ↑ The Disney Channel Magazine, Premiere Issue (April/May 1983), *Eastern/Pacific, Central, and Mountain time zone editions*
2. ↑ *New York Times*: Alan Wagner, 76, First President of the Disney Channel, Is Dead Retrieved Oct 26, 2009
3. ↑ **Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration' not found.**
4. ↑ Cable TV Arlington's Archived Lineup. Disney is channel 21 under the basic lineup.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Karl Taro Greenfeld, "How Mickey Got His Groove Back," *Condé Nast Portfolio*, May 2008, 126-131 & 150.
6. ↑ Disney Channel/DisneyChannel.com Highlights For 2008. Retrieved on 19 January 2009.
7. ↑ Mickey Mouse & Have a Laugh Website
8. ↑ http://affiliate.zap2it.com/tv/have-a-laugh/EP01202403
9. ↑ http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/bios/anne\_sweeney.html
10. ↑ http://www.commercialexploitation.org/news/2009/04/disneyexpert.html

## External links

* Official Website US
* Disney Channel International
* ABC Cable Networks Group page