Disney Channel



Disney's cable/satellite channel.

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Established in 1983 -- a time when the Walt Disney Company seemed to be on its last legs, just before the arrival of Michael Eisner and company -- it initially served as an outlet for the company's old theatrical shorts, movies, and television shows, a source of documentary shows about Disney Theme Parks and films, and a dumping ground for productions Disney had little faith in. Similar to Nickelodeon's early years, it didn't air around the clock until the "Disney After Dark" block, with PG programming for adults (including Going Home, a series of concert specials featuring mostly baby boomer-era acts, and A Prairie Home Companion), was added. The channel also featured a colorful variety of family-oriented movies and series from other companies and countries, especially Canada (the Anne of Green Gables films were popular enough that they led to the successful spinoff series Avonlea in The Nineties). Many Eighties kids feel very nostalgic for these early days, which included Dot and The Kangaroo and its sequels, the Unico anime films, and the later seasons of Kids Incorporated, all accompanied by colorful, often stop-motion Ad Bumpers (but without the ads).

In the early '90's, when the company and the channel started getting treated with more respect, shows such as The New Mickey Mouse Club, the aforementioned Avonlea, Flash Forward (a launching pad for Ben Foster and Jewel Staite), In A Heartbeat and The Famous Jett Jackson helped the channel improve. However, it eternally lagged behind the wildly popular Nickelodeon, in part because it was a pay cable service like HBO. It subsequently moved to basic cable and developed a unique format -- instead of commecial breaks, pauses in programming are filled with promotions for other shows, Disney films and other Disney products like CDs and their sister radio network, Radio Disney, which are often their own promotional mini-shows. In addition, the adult-oriented lineup was replaced with "Vault Disney", a programming block that featured the vintage Disney shows that had been the channel's lifeblood for so long.

Then someone in the company had the idea for Lizzie McGuire. Its success led Disney to create more and more preteen sitcoms where the idealism is cranked Up to Eleven and the Laugh Track never stops. The channel has become more popular than it's ever been thanks to Hannah Montana, the High School Musical franchise, and other, similar live-action series.

Toon Disney was a spinoff channel that focused on Disney animation, but as a result of Network Decay became Disney XD (eXtreme Disney).

The Playhouse Disney preschool-oriented morning block was a staple of the network for many years and underwent a number of shifts. On Valentine's Day, 2011 it was rebranded as Disney Junior (a website and a YouTube channel have been created) and in March 2012 it became a full 24-hour-network in the U.S., replacing SOAPNet -- a very controversial move among Soap Opera fans. Some carriers are continued to provide an automated version of SOAPNet alongside Disney Junior until carriage agreements have been workedout. Playhouse Disney already existed as an independent network in many non-U.S. markets and have been rebranded as Disney Junior as well.

See also DCLAU.

Animated:

 * American Dragon Jake Long
 * Brandy and Mr. Whiskers
 * The Buzz on Maggie
 * Dave the Barbarian
 * The Emperors New School
 * Fish Hooks
 * Gravity Falls
 * Kim Possible
 * Lilo and Stitch The Series
 * Phineas and Ferb
 * The Proud Family
 * The Replacements
 * Have A Laugh: Shortened and redubbed Classic Disney Shorts.
 * Disney's BLAM: Same thing, but with Totally Radical MST.
 * Re-Micks: Spiritual Successor of sorts to DTV. Medleys songs with scenes from Disney shorts.

Animated shows in both the "Playhouse Disney" and "Disney Junior" blocks

 * Chuggington
 * Handy Manny
 * Jungle Junction
 * Little Einsteins
 * Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
 * Special Agent Oso

Animated shows in the Disney Junior block and 24/7 Disney Junior channel only

 * Babar and the Adventures of Badou
 * Doc McStuffins
 * Gaspard and Lisa
 * Jake and The Neverland Pirates (based on the characters of Peter Pan)
 * Octonauts
 * 3rd & Bird
 * Tinga Tinga Tales
 * One Hundred and One Dalmatians: The Series (once weekly repeats, originally seen as part of the Disney Afternoon, only lasted a couple of months before being removed. The show wasn't a preschool show, anyway. The program later began airing in weekday repeats on the 24/7 Disney Junior network, though unfortunately they seem to have only a very limited library of episodes.)

Animated shows airing only on the 24/7 Disney Junior channel

 * Guess How Much I Love You: The Adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare


 * Charlie and Lola
 * Higglytown Heroes
 * JoJo's Circus
 * My Friends Tigger And Pooh
 * The New Adventures of Madeline
 * PB and J Otter
 * Rolie Polie Olie
 * Stanley

Live-action / puppetry shows in the "Playhouse Disney" block

 * Bear in the Big Blue House
 * The Book of Pooh
 * Bunny Town
 * Johnny and the Sprites
 * Out Of The Box
 * Welcome to Pooh Corner
 * The Wiggles (Now airs on PBSKids Sprout)

Live-action / puppetry shows in both the "Playhouse Disney" and "Disney Junior" blocks

 * Imagination Movers

Also, at least six The Disney Afternoon series which were made for syndication were "previewed" on The Disney Channel:

 * Aladdin
 * Bonkers
 * Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
 * Darkwing Duck
 * DuckTales
 * Tale Spin

Live-Action:

 * ANT Farm
 * Aaron Stone (1st episode only in US, Complete series in South East Asia)
 * Adventures in Wonderland
 * Austin and Ally
 * Even Stevens
 * The Famous Jett Jackson
 * Good Luck Charlie
 * Hannah Montana
 * Imagination Movers
 * I'm in The Band
 * Jessie
 * Jonas
 * Kickin It
 * Lab Rats
 * Lizzie McGuire
 * Mousercise
 * Pair of Kings
 * Phil of the Future
 * Shake It Up
 * Sonny With a Chance
 * So Random
 * So Weird
 * The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
 * Its spin-off, The Suite Life on Deck
 * That's So Raven
 * Its spin-off, Cory in The House
 * Under the Umbrella Tree
 * Wizards of Waverly Place
 * Zeke and Luther

Other Disney (or not) shows that originated elsewhere have aired on Disney Channel:

 * Adventures of the Gummi Bears
 * Boy Meets World
 * Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
 * Care Bears
 * Danger Bay
 * Doug
 * Eerie Indiana
 * Flash Forward
 * Fraggle Rock
 * Growing Pains
 * H 20 Just Add Water (in Australia until season 2)
 * Honey I Shrunk the Kids
 * Kids Incorporated
 * K-On (in Japan, but edited)
 * The Legend of Tarzan
 * Life with Derek
 * The Little Mermaid
 * Lloyd in Space
 * My Babysitter's a Vampire
 * Naturally Sadie
 * Ocean Girl
 * Pepper Ann
 * Quack Pack
 * The Raccoons
 * Recess
 * Road to Avonlea
 * Sabrina the Animated Series
 * Sister Sister
 * Teamo Supremo
 * Timon and Pumbaa
 * The Torkelsons
 * Totally Spies (in South East Asia)
 * The Weekenders

Well known Disney Channel Original Movies:

 * Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam
 * The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls: One World
 * High School Musical, High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3
 * Kim Possible: A Sitch In Time and Kim Possible: So The Drama
 * Zenon, Zenon: The Zequel and Zenon: Z3

Other Disney Channel Original Movies

 * 16 Wishes
 * Alley Cats Strike
 * Avalon High
 * Brink!
 * Buffalo Dreams
 * Cadet Kelly
 * Can Of Worms
 * The Color of Friendship
 * Cow Belles
 * Dadnapped
 * Den Brother
 * Don't Look Under The Bed
 * Double Teamed
 * Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off
 * The Even Stevens Movie
 * Frenemies
 * Full Court Miracle
 * Geek Charming
 * Genius
 * Get a Clue
 * Go Figure
 * Going to the Mat
 * Gotta Kick It Up!
 * Halloweentown, Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge, Halloweentown High, and Return to Halloweentown
 * Harriet the Spy Blog Wars
 * Hatching Pete
 * Horse Sense
 * Hounded
 * The Jennie Project
 * Jett Jackson: The Movie
 * Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board
 * Johnny Tsunami
 * Jump In!
 * Jumping Ship
 * Lemonade Mouth
 * Life is Ruff
 * The Luck of the Irish
 * Minutemen
 * Motocrossed
 * Moms Got a Date with A Vampire
 * My Date With The President's Daughter
 * Northern Lights
 * Now You See It...
 * The Other Me
 * Phantom of the Megaplex
 * Pixel Perfect
 * Princess Protection Program
 * The Proof Project
 * The Proud Family Movie
 * Quints
 * Radio Rebel
 * Read It And Weep
 * Ready to Run
 * Right On Track
 * A Ring of Endless Light
 * Rip Girls
 * The Scream Team
 * Smart House
 * Starstruck
 * Stepsister From Planet Weird
 * Stuck In The Suburbs
 * The Suite Life Movie
 * The Thirteenth Year
 * Tiger Cruise
 * Tru Confessions
 * Twas Tthe Night
 * Twitches and Twitches Too
 * The Ultimate Christmas Present
 * Under Wraps
 * Up, Up, and Away
 * Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior
 * Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie
 * You Lucky Dog
 * You Wish!

Among the popular celebrities who gained fame through this channel:

 * Adam Irigoyen
 * Allie DeBerry
 * Alyson Michalka
 * Alyson Stoner
 * Amy Bruckner
 * Anna Maria Perez De Tagle
 * Ashley Tisdale
 * Bella Thorne
 * Brenda Song
 * Brian Stepanek
 * Bridgit Mendler
 * Caroline Sunshine
 * China Anne McClain
 * Chelsea Staub
 * Christy Carlson Romano
 * Corbin Bleu
 * David Henrie
 * Davis Cleveland
 * Debby Ryan
 * Demi Lovato
 * Dylan and Cole Sprouse
 * Emily Osment
 * Erik Von Detten
 * Hilary Duff
 * Jake T. Austin
 * Jake Short
 * Jason Dolley
 * Jennifer Stone
 * The Jonas Brothers
 * Katherine Heigl
 * Kenton Duty
 * Kimberly J. Brown
 * Kirsten Storms
 * Kyle Massey
 * Laura Marano
 * Lee Thompson Young
 * Lucas Grabeel
 * Miley Cyrus
 * Mitchel Musso
 * Moises Arias
 * Nicole Anderson
 * Orlando Brown
 * Peyton R. List
 * Phill Lewis
 * Raini Rodriguez
 * Raven-Symone
 * The Cheetah Girls
 * Raviv "Ricky" Ullman
 * Roshon Fegan
 * Ross Lynch
 * Ryan Merriman
 * Selena Gomez
 * Shia LaBeouf
 * Sierra McCormick
 * Stefanie Scott
 * Tiffany Thornton
 * Vanessa Hudgens
 * Zac Efron
 * Zendaya Coleman
 * MMC, the Mickey Mouse Club of The Nineties.
 * Britney Spears
 * Christina Aguilera
 * Justin Timberlake
 * JC Chasez from *NSYNC
 * Keri Russell
 * Ryan Gosling
 * From Kids Incorporated:
 * Fergie (a.k.a. Stacy Ferguson)
 * Jennifer Love Hewitt
 * Mario Lopez