R..I.P. Disney Channel (1983-2006)

The Rise and fall of the Disney Channel

The Walt Disney Company is perhaps one of the most well-known names in entertainment today. Everyone has probably seen a Disney animated movie (or a CG animated flick from sister company Pixar), visited Disneyland or Walt Disney World, or probably even wanted to work for the company someday. No matter the obstacles they faced, no matter the mistakes they have made, there is no question that they are still a very powerful name in show business. Their theme parks are fantastic. Their animated movies (Pixar included), with one or two exceptions, are great. Their live action movies, well... let's just say they're hit or miss to me. However, I will be talking about the network that is now what I consider the black sheep of the Disney Company. A network that had so much potential of being the Hallmark Channel of its time before it decided to change its format and cater to the teenyboppers of today. That network? The Disney Channel.

Before I start my article, let me ask this. If the network is called Disney Channel, what's "Disney" on there? Nothing on their regular lineup, that's for sure. They do have two Disney-related shows on their new sister-channel Disney Junior (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake & the Neverland Pirates), but the problem is they're both Dora the Explorer knock-offs. It still baffles my mind that there is nothing "Disney" about the Disney Channel anymore (except for the logo). However that wasn't the case when Disney Channel first launched.

The channel first launched in 1983, at a time when the company seemed to be on its last legs. Its original concept was to air movies, shows, and specials aimed at the entire family, not just kids. Some examples of Disney Channel's earliest programs are [italic]Welcome to Pooh Corner[/italic], [italic]You & Me, Kid[italic][/italic], [italic]Good Morning Mickey![/italic], and [italic]Donald Duck Presents[/italic] (the latter two were showcases of classic Disney cartoons). Not to mention it aired a lot of Disney's animated and live-action catalog made when Walt himself was still alive, and it also aired reruns of [italic]The Mickey Mouse Club[/italic].

Now, I don't really know much about the Disney Channel's early days (I was born in 1991, 8 years after the network's official launch), but from what I've looked up, at the time it really did seem like what the Hallmark Channel is today, with the exception of the kids' shows I mentioned. Then in 1996 (around the time Walt Disney Animation Studios was still having its second golden age), they began to tank in the ratings when Nickelodeon became the #1 network for kids 6-14. As a result, Disney decided to re-format the network into a basic-cable service and make it focus more and more on kids. They still had classic Disney cartoons airing on the channel at the time, and they had a late-night block of vintage Disney material called Vault Disney as well (pretty much their answer to Nick at Nite). In 2002, Vault Disney was discontinued, but the classic Disney characters were still able to call Disney Channel home once House of Mouse moved there from ABC later that year.

It was around 2003 when my family finally got Disney Channel in our basic cable lineup. But, outside of a few exceptions (House of Mouse, Kim Possible), I began to lose interest thanks to tween shows like Lizzie McGuire (shown above) and That's So Raven being popular at the time. It was also around that time when Disney as a whole was entering a very dark age, which it is still trying to recover from today. What I find disturbing about this time was the channel was the only part of the Disney Company that was turning a profit. The reason being was in 2004, a woman by the name of Anne Sweeney joined the Disney-ABC television group and successfully turned Disney Channel into the "major profit driver for the (Walt Disney) company", and in the process slowly got rid of all the remaining Disneyness that made the network a household name and phased in more and more tween shows.

As a result of Anne Sweeney's new business model for Disney Channel, Hannah Montana and High School Musical was born... or at least that's what I think happened, I don't know. Anyway, since Disney Channel was changing its format into an MTV for little kids, they decided to move Mickey and the gang to Playhouse Disney in a [italic]Dora the Explorer[/italic]-style show called [italic]Mickey Mouse Clubhouse[/italic]. What's frightening about these changes at the network is this was also around that time Disney was in the process of acquiring Pixar, 2006 to the exact. Please note, I'm not blaming Disney as a whole for what's happening right now (I don't think their CEO, Bob Iger, could even control that since he doesn't micromanage the company like his predecessor did during his last of his tenure), but I can tell you right now that as a result of teenybopper trash like Hannah Montana, High School Musical, and Wizards of Waverly Place has aired on the Disney Channel, I officially turned away from the network as of 2007.

Poor Mickey (left), ever since Disney Channel kicked him out, he's now stuck on preschool television while more and more trash for teenyboppers like [italic]Shake It Up[/italic] (pictured on the right), [italic]A.N.T. Farm[/italic], [italic]Austin & Ally[/italic], and [italic]Let It Shine[/italic] are being spewed out by greedy network executives wanting to make a quick buck. As a result, I believe the network has become the black sheep of The Walt Disney Company as a whole, just like what Paris Hilton is to the family of Conrad Hilton (founder of Hilton Hotels Worldwide). Luckily for Mickey, Disney says they have a feature-length film with him in development right now. I hope it gets approved by John Lasseter (which I'm sure you all know is the founder of Pixar, and is trying his best to make Disney Animation Studios follow tradition), because a huge 2D animated comeback is what Mickey really needs these days. It will probably be awesome news for traditional Disney fans like myself, as it will be a great distraction from the epitome of awfulness that is today's Disney Channel.

Comments

Though this is part of the "This Channel Sucks more than watching Cleveland Sports", this isn't a bad article. I wish that The Disney Channel would show both the tween stuff and the classics on the same channel. TeenNick did that with "The 90's Are All That", so why can't Disney XD do that?

While I do miss the classic movies and cartoons, the Disney Channel is still pretty decent. I mean it's not like they have reality shows about teen moms or high school students that get shot at every week. There's still some good shows on. Phineas and Ferb and Good Luck Charlie, as you mentioned. I also like A.N.T. Farm. Olive cracks me up. Well at least she did in the first season. They toned her down this season for some reason. Although I did enjoy the episode where Fletcher made that cartoon.

@twcfan: i agree with you
cause i miss toon disney & vault disney too.

These kind of articles are ridiculous. Not only (as Benjanime already pointed out) are there are ton of these "this channel sucks now" kind of articles already buried on this site, they all seem to make the same assumptions.

Whether you like it or not, television is a business. Companies like Disney couldn't care less about your precious memories or what you think of them. They are going to do the things that make them money, whether they hurt your feelings or not in the process.

The stuff you're calling "trash" has been some of the most popular programming Disney has ever run. You may not like stuff like Hannah Montana or High School Musical, but apparently millions upon millions of people did. It's the way things are.

I cannot give this article anything but a thumbs down.

I have no problem with today's Disney Channel being today's Disney Channel (a teenybopper utopia trying to compete with Nickelodeon). However, if you're going to do that, change the network's name into something that target audience will find catchy, something "hip". Don't use the Disney name on your network, and mislead Disney fans by putting tween trash on the airwaves.

If Walt Disney were to see the channel right now, he'd be rolling in his grave like a top. He wanted to aim his work at the entire family, because if you aim your work at just kids, it's boring, and it's garbage. Disney's well-known for their family entertainment, and believe me, they're keeping that tradition alive, unlike that snake-pit of a TV network they own now.

great article Disney classics come and go, but kids tastes in television changes based on what is broadcasted. A show that was popular when I was little was Saved by the Bell, which is similar to the Disney "Tween" shows of to today. Also I hate the term "Tween" I prefer "Preteen."

(The first two seasons of) So Weird and Gargoyles were easily the best two things to ever come from Disney. Nothing else they did ever got my attention.

I remember 80's disney was a premium cable channel like HBO. The programming they showed was great but 1990's disney was good too. They started showing reruns of their afternoon cartoons and some of their live action movies like Mighty Ducks but I can't watch it now. I wish they'd make a channel showing their cartoons again.

Really every channel is dead to me now between netflix and the internet in general. I would rather just watch the show and forget what channel it was on to begin with. TV may not have killed the radio star but the Internet killed TV.

I totally agree, MattNor91. As someone born in mid-1979, I grew up with The Disney Channel. I remember when my family first got cable (which was a semi-big deal back then) how excited that I was to get certain channels like Fox, so I could watch The Simpsons, and Disney Channel. It really did used to be a great place. I work in television now in the Orlando area, and as a kid I grew up watching Disney Channel and seeing many of their shows and parts of their movies produced down here at MGM Studios. My dream was to live here and work at MGM producing animation, shows, and films for Disney and Disney Channel. Sadly, most all of that has left this area almost completely. But back in the day I can remember Disney Channel premiering Disney films on TV for the first time. Michael Eisner would intro the movie, and it was a really magical experience. These days, I rarely ever turn the channel on. It's become sort of a joke.

To cgimovieman: I couldn't agree with you more about how the Disney Channel is nothing but a joke. What TV station in Orlando do you work at?

P.S. Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM) was the exact theme park I worked at earlier this year.

Yes, it would seem that the Disney channel has gone the same way as poor Nickelodeon lately. Infact Phinaeous And Pherb is the only show that I like on that station now. Heck, it's even gotten it's own movie. Personally, I don't know how or why Hannah Montana and High School Musical got so popular, I guess the kids of today don't realise what they missed from our childhoods so they know what real television was, poor kids. (Not to sound harsh of course). And I've recently heard about a movie in the works called "Magic Kingdom" wher a family visits one of the parks' probably the one in California, and it magicly comes to life. Not sure if that is the one you were referring to, just thought I would throw it in here.

I personally stopped tuning into the Disney Channel in the mid 2000s, when the High School Musical craze began. Even before that time, there wasn't much to watch. I miss Vault Disney.

When the channel first premiered for a long time they also had an exercise show that came on at around 6am before the 2nd mickey mouse club came on for about an hour. (think it was on for an hour) But yeah, the DC of today has gone down hill. Watching the Disney Vault and seeing Annette Funichello (spelled it wrong im sure lol) and tommy kirk in the Merlin Jones movies and things like old yeller and swiss family robinson was what made disney great. Not saying they are not a power house today with what they have because it is. and it still is geared towards kids, just not the ones that grew up with it when it first launched is all. Maybe we will get lucky and they will make a nostalgia channel for us to watch it and maybe they will play song of the south on it. I know that will never happen to both things.

also there's been enough "this channel sucks now" related articles going around for the past several years on this site. thumbs down

I didn't, in any way, intend this to be a "this channel sucks now" article (I think shows like Phineas and Ferb and Good Luck Charlie are pretty good, with the former having fantastic writing and a smart sense of humor), I intended this article to be based on my own particular knowledge of the Disney Channel's history. As a former Walt Disney World cast member (I did the Disney College Program from January to May of this year), it's really sad to see the Disney Channel, aside from a few exceptions, not following the company's great tradition anymore, and having nothing "Disney" about it on there. II don't think most of the shows are bad because they're "new" like a nostalgia fanboy would. But, from what I've seen, most of the Disney Channel is "tween" shows, nothing even remotely related to the Disney company as a whole.

either way it certainly sounds like one in how it was written. times change my friend, and we can't expect certain channels to stay in the same format. this one in particular changed to get pleased by a new generation of kids and teenagers, and it's been going in that cycle since 2003

@Matt i'm with you bro,
Disney used to be my fave channel but now
disney channel just trashy tv now

i hate to break it to you but the disney channel died around 2001. lizzie mcguire was alright but the rest was just shit

i rember in the erlay 200's disney channle was awesome there was still bear there was still mickey and the gang then (well to me ) 2009 came aorund and came bad proucdt placment horrible cartoon shows and even worse movies that made no sense makes me wish they could go back to the disney i grew up with

I still remember when I finally got Disney channel in the mid nineties (born in 82) they still had Care Bears and My little pony on there used to race home and watch them when I could

I remember the Care Bears being on the Disney Channel as well.

hey i remember having disney channel in the 90's
too, i was (born in 81) tho,