How Do Kids Today Get Introduced to the "Old" Disney Characters?

[cbg1027]

I wasn't sure which forum to put this in, but I went with this one so I hope it's ok here!

I'm 24. I remember watching stuff like the Mickey Mouse Club and cartoons starring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto, etc. when I was little.
Are those kind of shows even on TV anymore? How did you children get introduced to "old school" Disney?
What about rides - like Winnie the Pooh or Dumbo? Do you try to have your kids watch the movies first so they recognize what they're seeing?

[Amy162]

My girls know most of the "old" characters from Mickey Mouse Playhouse on Disney Channel. Only they're more updated now.

I also read to them a lot, and we have a lot of Disney books so they get to know the characters from there as well.

[StrawberryMin]

You can buy collections of the old classic cartoons at Best Buy, and other places...they come in commemorative silver box.

[DJHPMouse]

My kids love the old Mickey Mouse Club DVD's, especially Spin and Marty and the Hardee Boys. We have most of the old cartoons, they would rather watch those than the new ones on TV.:thumbsup2

[A Family]

Netflix! :thumbsup2

[serene56]

as for the rides--- we watch youtube. I just want my GD to be prepared and show her the "scarey" stuff is all part of mickey magic.

We watch tons of old movies--and read the classics that come with the movies.
She is 3 now but is well prepared.

[Colleen27]

Playhouse Disney has Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and My Friends Tigger & Pooh. The one and only TV show DD1 watches is MMCH, because DD8 wanted to make sure she knew who Mickey was before our trip.

We also have quite a collection of Disney movies from Dumbo and Snow White up through Cars and Nemo, so the kids get to know the classics that way as well. And Mickey's Christmas Carol is an annual part of our holiday decorating rituals.

[AudreyE]

I've actually had quite a hard time getting my 8 year old son to watch many of the Disney classics. Today's animation is so sophisticated that he acts like I did when my Mom made me watch black & white cartoons from the 1940s. Of course, it doesn't help that a lot of the classics are about princesses, which he says are "gross." Peter Pan was a winner, though, of course.

[fairestoneofall]

DD used to LOVE House of Mouse. Unfortunately, Disney took it off the air. I wish I'd have known, I would've DVR'd them.

[luvmylatte]

You Tube....old and new cartoons. Mickey and the gang. This is how I introduced my son to all character.:goodvibes

[mmtska]

I know my best friend's son watches MMCH like it's going out of style. He is OBSESSED. I walked in with Mickey's Christmas Carol on DVD and the kid attacked me. I've gotten so many hugs from him since I think I've lost weight-he's squeezed it right out!

My collection of Disney movies grows constantly so when we do have children they'll be introduced to the new and the old....and the getting old.

[cgorn]

My DD2 does the whole "roll call" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She knows and likes all of those characters. We haven't had much luck with others, though she did seem to pay attention to some of Cinderella recently.

The other day, in an effort to introduce other characters, I gave her a choice of Finding Nemo or Sleeping Beauty. She picked Sleeping Beauty. But when I motioned to put it in the DVD player, she yelled, "No! Mouse!!"

However, she did pick up the Fun and Fancy Free DVD and seemed interested in it. And I have a t-shirt with a really old version of Mickey, and she correctly identified him even though he barely resembles the Mickey of today.

We also bought a "Sing Along Songs" DVD, which shows all kinds of characters romping through Disneyland. That has helped, and I understand there is a DVD of characters in Animal Kingdom and another that has movie clips. Could be a good way to introduce the history of Disney.

Chad

[amyj1024]

Before we left for our last trip, I spent the summer renting Disney movies from the library...Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Sword in the Stone, and others that had to do with some rides. Also, we used DVR for some that were being played on the Disney channel. Target also sells the old Mickey cartoons for pretty cheap. My kids love watching them.

[Galls]

Walt Disney Treasures
-These are simply awesome.
Classic Cartoon Favorites

Most of the older DVDs like Dumbo have silly symphonies clips with them.

[grace&philipsmom]

Before we took our then 2 year old on her first Disney trip, we introduced her to a lot of the characters through books. At our local library we were able to get almost all of the Disney stories. We did also rent some movies and watch some of the shows, but we found the books best, especially for intense movies like the Lion King and Bambi.

[MAH4546]

This is exactly the reason the marketing geniuses at Disney take their 14 core classic titles* and re-release them on DVD every seven years with marketing campaigns. This way, every child is guaranteed to be exposed to a marketing campaign for Disney's core classics between the ages of 4 and 11. Just in case anybody ever wondered why The Lion King goes into the Disney Vault and The Aristocats doesn't.

*Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady & The Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalamations, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.

[ccudmore]

For the few months before we last went, we watched a bunch of the classic movies that were related to the rides. Things like Swiss Family Robinson, Song of the South, etc. The kids got a lot more out of the rides when they'd recently seen the movie on which it was based.

[wdwislife]

When I was little, which was not all that long ago, you couldn't make me STOP watching the disney classics, and all disney movies in general. I would watch them on a loop all day, and eventually my mother had to make a rule that could only watch each movie once per day. Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and Snow White were some of my favorites.
As for Mickey and Friends, I'm not sure how I knew them, but today they have the playhouse disney show which gives the characters a new CGI look. They bring them to the next generation! :)
For the rides: I didn't know what was coming whatsoever the first time I went. I didn't need seeing them or hearing about them to know that they were magical, I could feel this completely on my own even as a 6 year old.

[kwitcherkicken99]

I wasn't sure which forum to put this in, but I went with this one so I hope it's ok here!

I'm 24. I remember watching stuff like the Mickey Mouse Club and cartoons starring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Pluto, etc. when I was little.
Are those kind of shows even on TV anymore? How did you children get introduced to "old school" Disney?
What about rides - like Winnie the Pooh or Dumbo? Do you try to have your kids watch the movies first so they recognize what they're seeing?

While the early cartoons are difficult to come by these days (though you can see them ALL over WDW...) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse harbors Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Clarabelle, Pete, Chip and Dale, Donald, Daisy, and Figaro.

I'll show DS a good amount of "old" Disney - I have some of the Treasures (classic Pluto, Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Silly Symphonies), Dumbo, Sword in the Stone, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, etc. You just have to sit down and watch them. He watches Lion King and Bambi with my MIL, and he watches Cars, Nemo, Peter Pan, SitS, MI etc with my dad. We all generally use the movies as family time.

[GoHerbie]

Try your local public library. We're currently "studying" for our trip in a month by checking out free movies from the library. The problem is that people don't take care of them and many are scratched, so sometimes you miss part of the movie but it's free. Luckily the movies we own are in much better condition.

[PoohsFan1]

I have all of the Disney classic movies on VHS, and are in the process of getting them all on DVD. My kids love the classic movies and the newer ones. In fact when we come across a character and if I don't know who it is, they are the ones that can tell who they are and from which movie....I trained them so well :goodvibes. As for the rides, my DH and I love the classic rides and make sure the girls go on them as well. In March when we were there we rode Carousel of Progress (which the girls loved) and Jungle Cruise (another one that they loved) and they can't wait to go back on them again in December. And when we do return, we plan on going to Tom Sawyer's Island, Swiss Family Treehouse, and go see the Tiki Birds since we didn't have enough time to do that on our last trip.

[KellyNY]

I used to buy lots of videos and books. Also rented old videos.

[Supermom3]

This is exactly the reason the marketing geniuses at Disney take their 14 core classic titles* and re-release them on DVD every seven years with marketing campaigns. This way, every child is guaranteed to be exposed to a marketing campaign for Disney's core classics between the ages of 4 and 11. Just in case anybody ever wondered why The Lion King goes into the Disney Vault and The Aristocats doesn't.

*Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady & The Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalamations, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.

I never realized how that worked. Thanks for the info. Beauty and the Beast is last on our list to complete our collection.

What's different about kids now and when I grew up is that I had to wait until a movie was released in the movie theater in order to see it. So growing up I saw all of these movies once or twice if I was lucky. My kids have the luxury of watching all of the Disney classics over and over again. We've already watched Snow White 4 times and we only just bought it three days ago. So I think on one level our kids are much more familiar with all of the characters than I was as a kid.

[blondinkaya]

We rent from Netflix, have some of the movies (Peter Pan, Jungle Book, etc), and we have the Disney storybooks.

[Boog's Mommy]

My son is 2 and he watches "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and "My Friends Tigger & Pooh " on the Disney Channel. But we also buy or rent dvd's of many different Disney movies. Though you need to be careful with some of the older ones. For example, we just bought him "Pinochio", but there is a scene where Pinochio is drinking beer and smoking and one character actually says the word *******. Another movie we bought is "Sleeping Beauty" and when the witch turns into the dragon she says something about the "depths of hell". Obviously these movies were created a long time ago, when things weren't so potically correct, etc. I still let him watch them, but I may fast-forward or mute over some stuff or I just get his attention elsewhere during those scenes. Ha ha.

[SydneyFalco]

Being in a no-kids marriage, our cable package has neither Family or Disney channels of any sort. I've been wondering, though, how much vintage Disney programming gets on. Can anybody please fill me in? Do they ever broadcast, say, Wonderful World of Disney? Or is it ALL 24 hours a day of modern stuff, like pop kid singers and quickie animation?

[Diznygrl]

Being in a no-kids marriage, our cable package has neither Family or Disney channels of any sort. I've been wondering, though, how much vintage Disney programming gets on. Can anybody please fill me in? Do they ever broadcast, say, Wonderful World of Disney? Or is it ALL 24 hours a day of modern stuff, like pop kid singers and quickie animation?

NO. They USED to, though. Every night they had a programming block called "Vault Disney" which showed vintage programming such as the original Mickey Mouse Club, Walt Disney's "Disneyland", and Wonderful World of Color. It was awesome. But that all changed some years back. It is now like you say, 24 hours of modern tween/preschool programming. I have little use for this channel anymore, and it makes me sad. Back in the day, Disney Channel used to pride itself on having programming for every member of the family to enjoy. :sad2:

And when I was a kid, they actually used to air classic DISNEY cartoons on The DISNEY Channel. What a concept! :rolleyes:

[DoraDoug]

I have always collected the Disney movies, even before I had children. Everytime a new movie comes out, I'm right there buying it. My DS was 5 before he ever realized not all movies are Disney cartoons! :lmao:

[skier_pete]

MMCH on Disney channel is showing a whole new generation Mickey and the Gang - there are lots of references to the classics in there too - even Pete and Butch. (Pete's dog.) Professor Von Drake...many of the old characters. Very very smart of Disney to bring these characters back to the younger set. They also have always had a "Pooh" show on Playhouse Disney.

I also introduced my DD to some of the classics...both Disney (she loves Chip and Dale & Donald cartoon DVDs we have) as well as Looney Toons (here tweety and Sylvester rule). With everything available on DVD, it is partly up to parents to carry-on some of the classics. (Some of those old Looney Toons are just brilliant!)

SkierPete

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Theme Parks Community board. :)

[dmccarty]

Our kids have done/watched what others have mentioned but they really get a kick out watching the old B&W cartoons when we go back home to AKV. :) This really surprised me. They will watch them while we eat at Mara's and they will go to the lobby at sit there with a BUNCH of other kids watching the TV with the old cartoons. The only time I have seen the TV in the AKL lobby kid less was EARLY in the morning or late at night. Even late at night there are people checking in and the kids go to that TV.

The kids really are drawn to that TV with old cartoons.

Our oldest loves Goofy for some reason. Not sure why but she is goofy for Goffy! :laughing::confused3:lmao:

One year at Jiko's Goofy called her on the phone and the server brought over the phone for her. She really got a kick out of that but she was disappointed when Goofy said he would see her in the park but we never did. :eek:

She was really bummed when we did not see Goofy so when we got home I sent and email to Disney explaining the situation. They mailed two Goofy photos to my daughter. Goofy had signed the photo saying he was sorry he had missed her in the parks. :thumbsup2:rotfl: It made her day! :banana:

Later,
Dan