What Happend to the Disney Channel we grew up with?

[C-Otter]

I remember when my family first got cable in 95. The three main channels I always watched was Nick, Cartoon Network, and the Disney channel. I am now a Junior in college and I have tried watching the Disney channel again and I am very disappointed to what happened to it. I was just wondering were did the old shows and movies that I grew up with went? I always loved how they played great animated movies like Felix the Cat, Rover Dangerfield and Once upon a Forest and many more awesome movies. I've looked at the T.V. schedule and all I see are shows like Hannah Montana and Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Fine I know that Disney is appealing to a different generation but I feel there is too much of it, I don't even see the Ink and Paint Club listed anymore :sad2: Is there anybody else that feels this? It just really saddens me I see nothing Disney about the Disney Channel anymore...:sad1:

[razzery]

I didn't really watch much Disney channel as a kid, I was definitely a nickelodeon girl. I feel nickelodeon shows have changed more for the worst than disney.

[belleatheart]

I agree on both, I would go in waves of watching Disney and Nickelodeon, but let me tell you, I loved the Babysitter's club on Disney Channel on the weekends, the show about the girl that was psychic, and growing pains, oh what a time. The movie I used to love watching was Return to Witch Mountain with the twins, then there were others I just can not remember right now. Nickelodeon was also pretty awesome, Doug!! Legends of the Hidden Temple, Double dare, those were the days....

[kroberts]

Kids channels in general have gone really down hill in recent years, and I think it really reflects in the behavior of a lot of kids. Not to say all kids have turned into brats, but there's definitely a trend toward mature/obnoxious behavior. You used to be able to trust Disney, at least, for really family-friendly entertainment, and I don't see how the behavior of Disney's current stars (nude photo scandals, reports of showing up late and throwing tantrums on-set) can possibly be setting a good example. That being said, I don't think their programming is nearly as engaging anymore. I wish they played more of the old movies and shows.

[Joanna71985]

I really miss the old Nick and Disney shows. :(

[_frazzle]

Kids channels in general have gone really down hill in recent years, and I think it really reflects in the behavior of a lot of kids. Not to say all kids have turned into brats, but there's definitely a trend toward mature/obnoxious behavior. You used to be able to trust Disney, at least, for really family-friendly entertainment, and I don't see how the behavior of Disney's current stars (nude photo scandals, reports of showing up late and throwing tantrums on-set) can possibly be setting a good example. That being said, I don't think their programming is nearly as engaging anymore. I wish they played more of the old movies and shows.

Yeah I agree with this. When I was little I would come home from school and watch TailSpin or Aladdin or Timon & Pumbaa but now all that's on are weird shows. To tell you the truth I havn't watched Disney Channel since Lizzie McGuire went off lol. Thank goodness for Toon Disney though. They still have some of the good stuff.

[CelebrationNM]

I don't see it the same way. Hannah Montana, Zac and Cody, High School Musical, etc ARE the Disney Brand to the kids growing up today. Mickey and Friends give way to "Hannah Montana" and characters that "tweens" can relate to as they get older. I also think there are positive messages being promoted in these shows.

They're not all live-action sitcoms, either. There is Phineas and Ferb, an original slam-dunk cartoon that came out within the past year. Mini-programs like the Disney Channel Games highlight the importance of getting outside and being active with friends. Read: "It's cool to do sports".

I don't disagree that the programming has changed, but I don't think it's for the worse.

[anijac1412]

I don't see it the same way. Hannah Montana, Zac and Cody, High School Musical, etc ARE the Disney Brand to the kids growing up today. Mickey and Friends give way to "Hannah Montana" and characters that "tweens" can relate to as they get older. I also think there are positive messages being promoted in these shows.

They're not all live-action sitcoms, either. There is Phineas and Ferb, an original slam-dunk cartoon that came out within the past year. Mini-programs like the Disney Channel Games highlight the importance of getting outside and being active with friends. Read: "It's cool to do sports".

I don't disagree that the programming has changed, but I don't think it's for the worse.

I agree 100% with this. Here in Canada our equivalent of the Disney channel is Family channel (It's pretty much the same, just the commercials are different), and the shows HAVE changed, but I don't think it was for the worse. Especially with shows like Wizards of Waverly place, Cory in the House and Suite Life... I think they've just changed the type of shows to "live-action sitcoms", which tweens really do relate to more than exagerated cartoons.

I don't feel there is any negative influence in these shows. What the stars do OFF camera has nothing to do with the show itself. And I know tweens do like to follow the stars' lives, but it still has no impact on the appropriateness of the show itself.

But like it was said, there still are cartoons like Phineas and Pherb, and Kim Possible, etc.

[Ppufi]

Toon Disney is ending next year, and with it, all good programming. Disney should be Mickey and friends, original movies, and great cartoons. Now it's, blah. Some of the programming is almost sick. And their characters are idiots. So, yeah, DC stinks right now.

(I do like how they brought back the Muppets in DC:Almost Live though)

[namara87]

I LOVED Once Upon a Forest. I think I'm more of late 90's era, but one of my all-time favorites was Bug Juice, that is still the original reality tv in my head :rotfl: I think they should bring back Vault Disney too, how I miss Zorro and Spin and Marty.

[laundry]

Bug Juice

it doest come in a jar! bug juice comes from who you are!

[punkyb87]

I didn't really watch much Disney channel as a kid, I was definitely a nickelodeon girl. I feel nickelodeon shows have changed more for the worst than disney.

I was more of a nick girl too. Especially in the early 90's. Nick is the complete opposite of what it used to be. We always had basic cable and had to order disney in a special package. It wasn't until when "That's so Raven'' had the first season until it was included with the basic cable package. So I'm not to familiar with the old disney.

I sure did like to see duck wing duck when I could though:banana:

[orangekid13]

I don't know how long it's been since I've seen one of the old classic mickey, goofy, donald, pluto, etc cartoons... I think my favorite was the Chip and Dale ones

House of Mouse is a small attempt to bring that kind of cartoon back but there's too much other storyline with it to take up time

[pyr8freak87]

I used to love watching the disney channel. I miss the old shows like Doug, Ahh Real Monsters, Rocko's Modern Life, So Weird, Boy Meets World, and I can't remember any of the other one's right this minute...but I would be be happy even with reruns.

[orangekid13]

I used to love watching the disney channel. I miss the old shows like Doug, Ahh Real Monsters, Rocko's Modern Life, So Weird, Boy Meets World, and I can't remember any of the other one's right this minute...but I would be be happy even with reruns.

careful you're listing Nickelodeon shows there...
come to think of it I think they officially shortened it to Nick...

[Joanna71985]

Toon Disney is ending next year, and with it, all good programming. Disney should be Mickey and friends, original movies, and great cartoons. Now it's, blah. Some of the programming is almost sick. And their characters are idiots. So, yeah, DC stinks right now.

(I do like how they brought back the Muppets in DC:Almost Live though)

What?? They can't end Toon Disney! :sad:

[CelebrationNM]

It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out. Toon Disney will be replaced by "Disney XD". The idea is to have a network targeted at tween boys, so it will offer more action-oriented programming: live action, cartoons, etc.

[pyr8freak87]

careful you're listing Nickelodeon shows there...
come to think of it I think they officially shortened it to Nick...


Oh ha ha...I was little...what did I know...:lmao:....well atleast i got boy meets world right, and so weird.

[orangekid13]

it's ok. heck, when I was in 6th grade I got to be on Figure It Out (the year they did "family style") which would have felt like cheating if we didn't spend the week before at Disney World (they paid for my flight and my mom's so we had them book the flight there for a week early and got my dad and sister tickets on the same flights)
that and I won :D

I still like Disney better

[Joanna71985]

it's ok. heck, when I was in 6th grade I got to be on Figure It Out (the year they did "family style") which would have felt like cheating if we didn't spend the week before at Disney World (they paid for my flight and my mom's so we had them book the flight there for a week early and got my dad and sister tickets on the same flights)
that and I won :D

I still like Disney better

You go to be on Figure it Out?!?!?! That is so cool! I loved watching that show growing up. What was your talent?

[laundry]

You go to be on Figure it Out?!?!?! That is so cool! I loved watching that show growing up. What was your talent?

you beat me to the question!! im dyyyyingggg to know!!!! make it a quick response please!!

[punkyb87]

it's ok. heck, when I was in 6th grade I got to be on Figure It Out (the year they did "family style") which would have felt like cheating if we didn't spend the week before at Disney World (they paid for my flight and my mom's so we had them book the flight there for a week early and got my dad and sister tickets on the same flights)
that and I won :D

I still like Disney better

wow that is sooo cool I always wanted to be on one of those game shows!

you beat me to the question!! im dyyyyingggg to know!!!! make it a quick response please!!

lol same here

[orangekid13]

If I had a vcr I could record it from a tape to my computer and post it on youtube... it's hard to explain.

When I was in grade school in Washington there were bars in the playground to play on, it was just a level bar a good height off the ground (there were shorter ones at the end of the playground for the younger kids, it kind of wrapped around the building and the fields were past, they kept us seperate so it was easier to round everyone up at the end of recess). The bars were a couple inches in diameter and there was a pad under them, they were just to play on...

At my grade school (not sure about any others) a lot of kids got good at a bunch of different ways to spin around and around the bar holding on different ways (standing with it in front of you reaching over and holding behind your knees, one leg over holding the bar, one leg over holding your leg, sitting on it holding the bar, sitting on it holding ankles around the bar, and the hardest one: standing with the bar behind you, wrapping your arms behing the bar and holding onto your shirt. Assume one of the positions and start spinning... forwards was easier than backwards on some, harder on others, for the easy ones it didn't make much of a difference.

I got good at all of them, then moved to California. The playground equipment was closer to a jungle gym and there were only a couple high chin-up bars, I tried to play on them but the texture was wrong and they were too skinny.
Then though some budget miracle when I was in 5th grade my school got the money to get a new playground... the stuff we got was from the same company that made the big toys at my grade school in WA (the bars weren't from them) but we got a set of 3 pull up bars at different heights, and one of them was just barely low enough to spin on. (after a while I had to start piling up the bark underneath cause it got compacted.) My 4th grade teacher saw what I could do and was impressed from the start, later that year they started running commercials on Nickelodeon to send in tapes of your talents, inventions, accomplishments, etc... My 4th grade teacher told me about it a few times, he was so excited he made sure to tell my parents about directly, then bugged them about it a couple more times after the first shows started airing.

At the end of the school year my grandparents were in town and we had them bring their video camera. I think it was after school got out on the last day that we taped me doing a bunch of different spins. We sent in the tape with all the info they needed and waited, I didn't think anything was going to happen.

Later that summer my mom had taken my sister and I up to visit my grandparents in WA and we got back to their place one evening and they had a weird message from my dad saying we really needed to call home when we got back, but he didn't sound worried which is why it was weird. We called him and he had my mom put me on the phone and told me there was a message on the answering machine for me when he got home from work. He played it for me and it was one of the producers of Figure It Out saying they wanted to fly me and a parent to Orlando to be on the show.

The following weeks we worked with the producer to schedule it and we had a few million questions for them, we decided that since I was going we shouldn't leave my big sister out so we planned a week in Disney World beforehand. We flew to Florida on the 3rd day of my 6th grade year, on my birthday. That night I was sitting on the top bunk in our room at the Wilderness Lodge, opening presents and eating birthday cookies and Mark McGuire broke the home run record.

We moved to some weird really cheap kinda dirty hotel with a broken scary elevator and lipstick on the glasses and the next day we filmed the show. I won all 3 rounds to get a Nintendo 64, a mountain bike, and a trip to Busch Gardens. That night my sister got food poisoning, we had to get up really really early for the flight home, and it was back to school. (We decided we should have gone from the $60/night place to the $300/night WL doing WDW after Figure It Out so the change wasn't so disappointing.)

The words they had to guess were "Human Pinwheel On Monkey Bars And Spotter" (cause it was the year they did Family Style, so they had to pretend my mom was involved) and I was on the second half of the show with the girl that rode ostriches. The panel was Kevin Kopelow, Michelle Trachtenberg, Robert Ri'chard, and Lori Beth Denberg. Nobody was slimed cause they were running short on time so they changed the secret slime action from wearing blue to sticking your finger in your ear.

[Joanna71985]

I have a feeling I may have seen that one.

That is so cool though!

[laundry]

oh my god hahaha. im glad you typed out such a long explanation and tbh, i usually just skim those huge posts. BUT YEAH i totally read the wohle thing! way to go youre like a celebrity to me right now. my friend and i honestly tried absolutely everything to be on the show, including things we saw other people on the show doing. well, for example, we saw one kid bite cheese into the shape of states (seirously, how dumb) and we thought if we did that we could be on the show. MAN i wanted that soooo bad.

[salvaXdana]

awh thats awesome that you were on figure it out!

just wondering, did anyone else watch 'mousercise?'
i just remember waking myself up at like 5:30 in the morning every day before school just so i could do the excersises hahaha
heres a video i found of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTsYy0vm8Ys

[pyr8freak87]

awh thats awesome that you were on figure it out!

just wondering, did anyone else watch 'mousercise?'
i just remember waking myself up at like 5:30 in the morning every day before school just so i could do the excersises hahaha
heres a video i found of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTsYy0vm8Ys

Was it just me or did mickey mouse look a little like mighty mouse in this video?

[salvaXdana]

hahaa he did! just a bit!

[pyr8freak87]

hahaa he did! just a bit!

Good so it wasn't just me....lol....for a minute i was starting to think I was seeing things:rotfl:

[DisneyFanForLife89]

I was just thinking about the old Disney channel yesterday!!!

Anyone remember when they used to have Zoog Disney, or whatever you call it?

[CarrieQuiteContrary]

I totally remember zoog!

I really miss the old Disney shows.. Once Lizzie McGuire came on is when everything changed I think. I wouldnt think the show that are on the Disney channel now were that bad if the characters didnt act so stupid... They WAY overact everything. I know they are "trying" to do that, but its to the point where its annoying to watch. I have an 8 year old sister and watch with her sometimes, when I can stomach it, haha.