Toon Disney

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Toon Disney
Launched	April 18, 1998
Network	Disney-ABC Television Group
Owned by	The Walt Disney Company
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV)
Headquarters	Burbank, California, U.S.
Sister channel(s)	The Disney Channel ABC ABC Family SOAPnet ESPN ESPN 2
Website	Official website
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV	Channel 292
Dish Network	Channel 174
Cable
Available on most cable systems	Check local listings

Toon Disney is a 24-hour American cable television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company that mostly airs children's animated television series. The network debuted April 18, 1998 (the date may have been chosen to commemorate Disney Channel's 15th anniversary). A spin-off of Disney Channel, Toon Disney shows children's cartoons 24 hours a day (except for minimal live action programming); its format has similarities to those of Cartoon Network and Nicktoons Network. Toon Disney's target audience are children ages 2-11, with the exceptions of programming used in a night time block aimed at children ages 7-13 called Jetix. Like other Disney-owned cable channels, starting in 2008, Toon Disney began airing in High-Definition. ^{[1] [2]} Unlike its parent, Disney Channel, Toon Disney features paid commercial advertising during the breaks.

[edit] History

Toon Disney began in 1998 as a spin-off of Disney Channel. An early promotion shows that the network was meant to air older Disney cartoons such as DuckTales and Goof Troop and many other shows from The Disney Afternoon. In the 2000's Toon Disney gained a variety of new programming expanding the vast collection of Disney animation. Many programs from Disney's One Saturday Morning joined the lineup, mostly without the expense of other programs. In 2004 with the addition of Jetix, and the more animated programs from Disney Channel, many of the older programs on Toon Disney vanished. Originally, the channel's programming consisted of older Disney animated television series, including those from The Disney Afternoon and Disney's One Saturday Morning. Toon Disney has also shown some other cartoons, most of them produced by DiC Entertainment, which Disney owned at the time the network was launched.^[3]

[edit] ToonDisney.com

a screen shot of the webpage

Toon Disney has its own website, ToonDisney.com which features brief programming descriptions, a limited selection of games, and a programming schedule. The website has not been updated for many years and has not been changed to accommodate for its recently added shows. As an example, The Weekenders which began airing again recently has no page, while Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers and TaleSpin, both of which have recently left Toon Disney, still have websites there. Toon Disney has recently added its own video page, though only for the Toon Disney-Jetix summer promotion. Jetix, a programming block on Toon Disney has its own video page, however Toon Disney does not. In September 2007, the video page for Toon Disney-Jetix Summer of a thousand prizes was re-themed into the official Toon Disney DXD page. ^[4]

[edit] Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Toon Disney

[edit] Movies

Toon Disney also shows animated films, both Disney and non-Disney. Toon Disney airs many Disney classic films, which are not frequently shown on Disney Channel.

[edit] Live-action programming

Although the majority of the network's programming is animation, live-action programming has become a part of Toon Disney over the years. Live children were featured in bumpers aired from 1998 to 2002, and fan-made animations done in live-action were aired in these bumpers. The Jetix block airs the show Power Rangers. As of November 2004, Toon Disney has also aired Muppet movies, including Muppets from Space, one Muppet movie that Disney does not own.

Recently, Toon Disney has aired the Disney Channel Original Movies: Jett Jackson: The Movie, and Up, Up, and Away, both of which have had minimal exposure on Disney Channel in recent years. The theatrical films Max Keeble's Big Move, Snow Dogs and Herbie: Fully Loaded have also aired recently. Toon Disney will air Check This Kid Out contains more than 10 short segments includes video/slideshow format, the short series will air randomly before or after the brand commercials will air on July 7, 2008.

[edit] Programming blocks

Toon Disney frequently airs groups of series in blocks, over the course of Toon Disney's broadcast history, it has had several programming blocks that featured at least two of their shows.^[5]

[edit] Current

• Jetix - (2004-present), a fourteen hour block on weekdays and a seventeen hour block on weekends. It features action shows that some of which were originally on Fox before Disney bought its children's shows and this block is what Fox Kids eventually became in 2004. Originally the network's nightly block, it has since gone to take up more than half of the network's schedule.
• Big Movie Show - (2005-present), a daily showing of films, usually animated Disney films, but the film shown may be produced by another studio or live-action (the latter happens extremely rarely). The Big Movie Show is often the subject of theme weeks, which usually herald in the initial Toon Disney broadcast of a given film.

• Super Stacked Weekdays - (October 30, 2006-present), which consists of 2 mini-marathons each weekday. The marathons consist of The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa and Disney's Recess on Mondays, Disney's House of Mouse and The Weekenders on Tuesdays, Kim Possible and Lilo and Stitch: The Series on Wednesdays, The Emperor's New School and The Proud Family on Thursdays, plus another run of Disney's House of Mouse and other random shows on Fridays (including shows that are no longer regularly included in Toon Disney programming). It began as Mega Movie Jam, but changed its name afterwards to Mega Jam. Starting October 1, 2007, it was renamed Toon Disney Treasure Cove. After this, it was changed to Super Stacked Weekdays to coincide with the Super Stacks, at this time known as Super Stacked Weekends.

• Super Stacked Weekends - (October 1, 2007-present), a three-hour weekend marathon of two random programs, one Saturday, and one Sunday. It was known as Super Stacks before its concision with Super Stacked Weekdays.

[edit] Past

• Magical World of Toons - (2000), it disappeared in 2003, where its slot was replaced by The Power Pack, which was a bunch of three-hour marathons of certain shows.

• Toons in the House - (2000-2001), A four-hour weekday-afternoon block similar in spirit to The Disney Afternoon.

• Chillin' with the Villains - (2000-2004), it was a two-hour marathon of a certain show was presented on Sunday afternoons. However, these particular marathons focused on a certain villain from whichever series was being featured.

• Princess Party Palace - (2000-2007), a one-hour block featuring episodes of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. The block ended up airing only in the afternoons on weekends. Formerly known as Princess Power Hour. It was replaced by The Great Toon Weekend Getaway.

• @Toon - (2001-2004), spun off Toons in the House. Shortly after @Toon's premiere, before each first commercial break for most of the shows, it featured some viewer submissions and game high scores from the official website.

• Hangin' with the Heroes - (2002-2004), it originally aired on weekends, but then aired on weekdays too. It featured Aladdin, Gargoyles, and Hercules: The Animated Series.

• Weekday Bonus Stacks - (2004-2005), were basically three 2 hour marathons of three different shows that aired from 11 AM to 5 PM. Everyday were three shows different from the previous day. Though many kids have enjoyed these shows, many of these programs were already airing in good time slots, so it decreased the variety of shows on the network. In September 2005, this block was renamed the Superstar Bonus Stacks and its starting time changed to 10 AM, but this time airing 7 different shows for an hour each and on a more regular schedule. However, this didn't last long. In October 2005, Toon Disney went back to the regular Bonus Stacks. It was replaced by Play it Again, Jam!

• After Class Laughs - (2005-2006). A two-hour block of "The Most Funny Shows" on Toon Disney. The shows are Lilo and Stitch: The Series, American Dragon: Jake Long, Disney's Recess, and Kim Possible. This block is shown on weekdays from 3/2c to 5/4c. It came back in 2006 under a slightly different name (After Class Laugh Attack). It was replaced by Mega Jam.

• Play it Again Jam! - (2006), replacing the Bonus Stacks. This format had three episodes of a given show in a row instead of four. Its name is a pun to the phrase, "Play it again, Sam!". It was replaced by Mega Jam, now named Treasure Cove.

• The Great Toon Weekend Getaway - (2007), A five-hour weekend block featuring shows based on Disney movies, which are Aladdin, Timon and Pumbaa, The Little Mermaid, The Legend of Tarzan, The Emperor's New School, and Lilo and Stitch: The Series.

[edit] Logos

Toon Disney's very first logo from 1998-2001; similar to Disney Channel's 1997 logo.

Toon Disney's second logo from 2001 to 2004.

Toon Disney's third logo from 2004 to 2005; a variation of Disney Channel's current logo. Now is only used in reference of the Jetix block.

Toon Disney's fourth logo from 2005; a variation of Disney Channel's current logo.

[edit] Toon Disney around the world

Main article: Toon Disney around the world

A Spanish language language audio track is available on Toon Disney via the SAP option within the United States; some cable and satellite systems also offer the Spanish language feed as a separate channel. Toon Disney networks also broadcasts in Germany, Spain, Italy, India, and Scandinavia. In the Indian version, it is the only channel available with English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu audio^[6]. The British version was replaced by the channel Disney Cinemagic in March 2006. The French version was also replaced by the channel Disney Cinemagic in September 2007.

In Israel, Toon Disney is a one-hour block on the Israeli Jetix service; the block began on that channel in the Summer of 2007.

In the Philippines, Toon Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long is aired on ABS-CBN 2 every Saturday. Toon Disney was planned to be launched in Australia in March 2008 onto TV carriers Foxtel and Austar, But recently due to the upcoming Foxtel HD + service the channel will be scheduled to launch later in the year.

In Japan, Toon Disney and Jetix Japan are available with English and Japanese.

[edit] See also

• List of programs broadcast by Toon Disney
• List of DirecTV channels
• List of Dish Network channels
• Jetix (US)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Toon Disney News Archive from Cable TV talk