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The new Disney Channel logo.
We're here to review the new and hot Disney Channel.
Well, it's not new, but it's new to many. The network actually started in 1983 as a premium channel, only in recent years has Disney Channel made a legitimate name for itself with their relaunch to market more towards youth audiences. This new revamp is to cash on their new plans and to coincide with increased ratings, not only from the new shows, marketing and a rapidly increasing amount of households nationwide, but also, to take advantage of Nickelodeon's rapidly declining ratings across the broad due to their Nicktoons situation, but now, from another problem itself between Dan Schneider and various stars of Nick's popular live-action shows. Regardless, Disney Channel has huge plans to make itself a major player in the kidvid business, especially with increasing competition from Fox Family(which we will cover soon) and the new network, Universal Kids, and the upcoming Animax animation channel.
For starters, the network's preschool block, Playhouse Disney, now running from 6:00AM thru 2:00PM on weekdays and 6:00AM thru 12:00PM on weekends, is continuing as is, but with a new logo to reflect Disney Channel's new rebrand, and will continue to perform well as is with a new show from Viz Media, Hamtaro, a anime about a hamster that goes on adventures with his friends.
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Hamtaro, the new anchor of the Playhouse Disney block. ©TMS Entertainment, TV Tokyo, Viz Media, Shogakukan.
However, weekday afternoons now has a new feel to it. Replacing Zoog Disney, the network's interactive youth block, is a new afternoon animation block called Disney's Animated Afternoons, an new interactive animation block meant for both boys and girls. The block is basically a revamped version of Zoog Disney, but now with a strictly animation focus, a new original animated host: Jodie, an teenage girl who's favorite hobbies are cartoons(especially if they're action-y), music and video games, and even a live-action element with Mickey Mouse(a human in a MM costume obviously) and 2 stars from whatever Disney Channel original was popular at the time(Lizzie from Lizzie McGuire and Stevens from Even Stevens) with games, quizzes, news, reviews(ranging from movies, shows, music and even games, mainly from Disney and Nintendo), challenges and AMVs. The block initially ran from 4-6PM as a more gender-neutral and more diverse alternative to Cartoon Network's predominantly boy-targeted Toonami action block. Despite that, the block does and will air anime, such as Zoids, which has been a huge hit for the network since it's debut in January, as well as a new anime premiere exclusively on Fridays beginning in November, Great Dangaioh. Other than those two shows, other shows on the block includes many of Disney's newer animated series. It is also confirmed that there will begin to be an increase in production of new animated series to support the block within the next few years, including the much anticipated animated adaptation of the popular Asobu Games franchise Railpunchers, which is set to premiere next summer. However, in the hours before DDA, the network DOES air slightly older cartoons.
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Zoids, the anchor of Disney's Animated Afternoons. ©Xebec, Viz Media, Tomy, Tokyo Broadcasting System.
Meanwhile, in primetime, the network airs it's live-action shows as well as a nightly movie. The network now also airs their live-action premieres in primetime. Overall, aside from being the main home for their live-action shows, it's not really as much to write home about. The network also spends most of the weekend airing live-action shows, movies and concerts.
However, their nighttime lineup now goes for a...........different approach.............
XYZ, Disney Channel's new nighttime block and flipside to ABC.
XYZ, Disney Channel's nighttime block, aims more towards teenagers and young adults and airs starting at 10PM and lasting until 5AM. The new block airs much of Disney Channel's teen dramas, sitcoms, as well as some of the former Zoog Disney shows and some anime. The block even airs Touchstone's animation, including a new animated series Clone High, about famous people who were cloned as teenagers and sent to a high school for teen clones of famous people, which was poached from MTV, it's originally planned network, as well as a anime named Inuyasha, about a teenage girl who is transported into a medieval fantasy world where she meets a human dog demon named Inuyasha, the word is Japanese for "dog demon". These two shows, alongside reruns of Boy Meets World, Home Improvement and the cable debut of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, are all expected to be the anchors of the new block, meant to compete with Nickelodeon's Nick at Nite and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and Midnight Run blocks.
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Clone High and Inuyasha, the two main anchors of Disney Channel's foray into the teen/young adult market with their new "XYZ" block. Clone High; ©Touchstone Television, Nelvana. Inuyasha; ©Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Media, Sunrise, Kyoto Animation, Yomiuri TV.
Also, Walt Disney Television Animation has also confirmed that a new Treasure Planet animated series was in production either for a late 2003 or 2004 premiere, as well as a Lilo and Stitch series and adaptations of other Disney IPs.
Overall, with Disney Channel now in the big ranks, we should look forward to Disney Channel becoming a successful network. Heck, if they play their cards right, then perhaps they'll eventually become #1.
Andnow, here is how Disney Channel's Bounce era looked like IOTL for those who either forgot, were too young, not around yet(by the time I was born, they were getting ready to switch to the Ribbons era), are just nostalgic or whatever......
And how XYZ will look like at launch, which is basically OTL's XYZ branding from when that was a block on ABC Family(which doesn't exist ITTL. It's still Fox Family):
en.wikipedia.org
