Disney Channel (Kaninichia)

**Disney Channel** was a Kaninichian cable and satellite television channel, wholly owned by PBV with license to use the Disney brand and programming. It was first launched on 21 April 2000 in Kuboia and Jetania, later expanding to Gicama and Salliland on 2 June 2000, and the Island of Soda, Barnland, Salasoa and Sulba on 18 November 2002. Timeshifted feeds were available to accommodate the GMT and CET timezones.

On 18 April 2003, Disney Channel Salliland separated from Disney Channel Kaninichia, and the 2002 US logo was adopted on both channels. Three days later, on 21 April 2003, Playhouse Disney was also launched as a programming block and sister channel.

On 8 April 2006, Disney Channel Kaninichia premiered its first original series, *Fashionistas with Issues*. Spin-off series *Les Fashionistas* premiered on 21 March 2008, followed by *Fakaua* on 5 June 2009.

Disney Channel Kaninichia began to broadcast in anamorphic widescreen on 1 March 2010, initially only for movies and *Les Fashionistas* and *Fakaua*. Later seasons of other programs, including *Hannah Montana*, *Wizards of Waverly Place* and *Phineas & Ferb*, followed suit, while the Playhouse Disney block continued to broadcast solely in 4:3 with widescreen programs being subject to cropping or non-anamorphic letterboxing.

On 2 September 2011, alongside Disney Channel Salliland, it rebranded to the "smartphone-app" logo and began full widescreen broadcasting. Unlike the Sallilandic feed, which aired 4:3 programs in an anamorphic format, the Kaninichian feed broadcast 4:3 programs stretched to 16:9. However, the Playhouse Disney block continued to be broadcast with the old Disney Channel logo, and with graphics remaining in 4:3, stretched to 16:9. Widescreen programs mostly aired in their proper format, except for *Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures*, which was distributed exclusively in 4:3 and aired stretched.

The Playhouse Disney block stopped airing on Disney Channel Kaninichia after 8 January 2012, with the Playhouse Disney channel rebranding to Disney Junior on 23 March 2012 to coincide with the launch of the Disney Junior channel in the United States.

Disney Channel Kaninichia rebranded to the 2014 German logo on 3 April 2015 alongside Disney Channel Salliland, and rebranded to the 2017 European branding on 3 June 2017. It closed on 25 July 2021 due to the launch of Disney+ in the region a year before.

## Languages

Disney Channel Kaninichia was initially only available in English, but Italian, Sallish, Salasoan, Barnish and Sulban audio tracks were added for programming on 17 April 2004. Breaks and any program without a dub remained in English, until 2007 when breaks began to be translated into Italian, Barnish and Salasoan. They remained in English on the Sallish and Sulban audio tracks. On the Barnish audio track, programs that did not have a Barnish dub but did have a Sallish dub were broadcast in Sallish. Almost all programming on the Italian audio track used existing dubs from Italy rather than being redubbed in Gicama, but original programming was always dubbed in Gicama. The Island of Soda never had a Sodian audio track for Disney Channel.

From 2004 to 2009, the Sulban audio track was limited to voiceover dubs, except for TJÜ co-productions *Fashionistas with Issues* and *Les Fashionistas* which had proper dubs. The voiceover dubs were all done by Seštu Media with Alvo Hasluk as the sole voice, even for female characters. The only exception was the 1969 *Pippi Longstocking* series, which used the dub from TJÜ.

On 5 June 2009, coinciding with the premiere of local Sulban series *Fakaua* which was originally produced in Sulban, the majority of programming on Disney Channel began to air with proper dubbing and breaks were also translated.

Almost all of the shows on the Sallish track used the same dubs as Salliland, and therefore had been subject to censorship during the dubbing process to adhere to Sallilandic broadcasting standards. As a result, parts that were censored in Salliland aired in English or completely mute on Disney Channel Kaninichia. Episodes that had been subjected to a large amount of censorship, or were banned in Salliland, aired in English.

The only program to ever air on Disney Channel Kaninichia without English audio available was *Winx Club: Magical Adventure*, which had not been dubbed into English by LixFilm which was supplying Disney Channel Kaninichia a dub of the *Winx Club* series. Instead, the original Italian version was used.

In 2012, Disney Channel Kaninichia added a Dutch audio track after the launch of Disney Channel in the Netherlands and Flanders in 2010.

## Timesharing

Disney Channel Kaninichia was timeshared with PBV Nightlife in Sulba and Barnland from launch until 2009. Initially, Disney Channel only aired from 7:00 to 19:00 and the broadcast was simply cut off at 19:00 for PBV Nightlife. From 2004 until 2007, the feed was scheduled differently, so programming would not be advertised to air after 19:00 and instead of a next bumper for a program that would start at 19:00 in other countries, a closedown was aired instead.

However, in March 2007, Disney Channel expanded to broadcasting from 5:00 to 22:00 in Sulba and Barnland. However, the channel returned to its pre-2004 routine of the broadcast of Disney Channel simply being cut off at handover. From 1 June 2009 onwards, Disney Channel stopped timesharing with PBV Nightlife.