8/28/2010 Eric's Disney Channel Review

The Disney Channel: How Did We Get Here?

By Eric

As a young child growing up in the 90s, television did a lot to shape me into the contributing member of society I am today. My parents never used it as a babysitter, and I was always involved in sports and other outside activities as a kid; but that never stopped me from enjoying my share of cable television. Like most kids my age, I had a healthy regimen of Power Rangers, Nickelodeon, and of course, the Disney Channel. While the deterioration of the first two is no secret, I’ve found the transformation of the Disney Channel into what it is today to be the most interesting part of the unholy trinity.

As I was watching a programming block of the Disney Channel the other night, as I often do, a thought occurred to me. I was watching “Hannah Montana,” a show about a teenage popstar. During the commercial break, I saw a preview for a new episode of “JONAS LA,” another show about teenage(ish) popstars. Then, I saw an ad for the upcoming movie “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam,” a movie that centers around teenage characters going to camp to learn how to be, you guessed it, teenage popstars. And before I was finally allowed to return to watching my program, I was a shown a music video of a song by Selena Gomez who is aspiring to be, all together now, a teenage popstar. As I sat there, looking down at my remote, I took a moment to reflect on what had just happened. Not on what I had just seen on my TV screen, but on what had happened over the past 20 years that caused the Disney Channel to evolve into what it is today. I decided to recount my lifetime experience of watching the Disney Channel, and determine how we got from programming with a side of popstar, to popstar with a side of programming. So take a journey with me, from shows that launched popstar careers, to popstar careers that spawned shows. This is my review of The Disney Channel. How did we get here?

Disney has done well to subtly usher out its old “Disney Channel Stars” in favor of the new over the years; but in my mind there are four distinct eras of Disney. The “All-New Mickey Mouse Club Era,” the “Lizzie McGuire Era,” the “That’s So Raven/High School Musical Era,” and the “Hannah Montana/Jonas Brothers Era.”

All-New Mickey Mouse Club Era

This goes back to my fondest memories of Disney Channel…well maybe not fondest, but definitely earliest. This was circa 1989, but I remember mostly from the early nineties. This was the show where future pop sensations Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, JC Chasez, and Christina Aguilera got their start. It was mostly a sketch show, with musical performances, comedy sketches, and other forms of variety entertainment; and unlike the Disney Channel of today, the stars of this show did not run the entire framework of the network. They were part of one show, and one show only. There were also other great shows like “Welcome to Poo Coorner,” which was a show in which all the Winnie the Poo Characters were portrayed in full costumed fashion a la Walt Disney World, and where every episode was bookended (literally) by Laurie Main. There was also a live action Alice In Wonderland-themed show called “Adventures in Wonderland.” Circa 1991, this is one of those shows that, if you never saw it when it was originally on, you would never know it ever existed. Aside from the scenes shot in Alice’s house (Alice was played by Elisabeth Harnois), the show was shot entirely in front of a green screen. I don’t remember any show, coming before or after, that was shot in the same fashion. Looking back on it now, it looked absolutely ridiculous, but such is the world of Wonderland.

The only other show I remember vividly from this period was “Under the Umbrella Tree.” It was essentially Disney’s answer to PBS’s “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along,” which featured a human protagonist interacting with three puppet characters to teach lessons to kids. In this version they were Iggy Iguana, Gloria Gopher, and Jacob Bluejay. This was a really popular format at the time, as we also saw it in “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood,” and of course “Sesame Street.” I also remember the channel airing a lot of the “Walt Disney Cartoon Classics,” which featured the likes of Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, Chip, Dale, etc. I felt this supplemented the live-action programming well, and showed that Disney hadn’t lost sight of its roots. My knowledge of this era isn’t as extensive as later eras, as most of these shows ran from the late 80s into the mid 90s, and I was but a young tyke throughout those decades. But from what I can remember, the programming was fun, classic Disney. Rating: A-

The Lizzie McGuire Era

Also known as ZooG Disney. This was Disney’s way of embracing the new millennium, with the channel being hosted by these futuristic cartoon characters that were all about the internet, email, emoticons, websites, online games – these characters knew it all. These “Zoogs,” (with clever names like “Dotcom,” and “Zoogina,”) hosted a slew of Disney programming of old and new. These included “The Jersey,” a show about a magical jersey that transported its wearer into the body of a famous sports star, “The Famous Jett Jackson,” which was about a famous TV star trying to live a normal life in his hometown of Winstead, North Carolina (think Hannah Montana, but simpler), “So Weird,” which was essentially the “Twilight Zone” for kids, “Even Stevens,” a show about a brother and sister who go to the same middle school, and older shows like “Brotherly Love,” “Boy Meets World,” “Smart Guy,” and “Sister Sister.” There were even some bumper segments introduced in this era, like “Movie Surfers,” and “Imagineer That!” the former of which still runs in a different incarnation today. And of course, we had Disney’s pride and joy, “Lizzie McGuire.”

Starring Hilary Duff, this show chronicled the life of a middle-schooler, and her two best friends: Miranda, and Gordo. It dealt with issues like living with a younger brother, first relationships, school fieldtrips, being a good friend, cheating, and embarrassing parents. That’s it; no gimmicks. No wizards, secret pop-star lives, or stars of a sketch comedy show; just a simple show that kids could relate to. It wasn’t my favorite show of this era, but it was still solid programming and one that I always found myself watching. But of course, this era also started the trend of what felt like every Disney Channel Star thought they could sing. Not long after the “Lizzie McGuire” trend was in full swing, music videos of Hilary Duff began airing between shows, of songs like “I Can’t Wait,” and “Wake Up.” They were basically watered-down, bubblegum pop that were pulled almost as abruptly as they were aired.

And let’s not forget a key part of any era of Disney Channel programming: Disney Channel Original Movies. Officially, “DCOMs” premiered in 1997.¹ This era had its slew of classics, like “Under Wraps,” “Brink!” “Halloween Town,” “Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century,” “Smart House,” “Johnny Tsunami,” “Don’t Look Under the Bed,” “The Color of Friendship,” “Motocrossed,” “The Thirteenth Year;” the list goes on. While new DCOMs continue to air till this day, this era was arguably the renaissance of Disney Channel Original Movies. They were clever, witty, and charming, and more often than not taught a good life lesson. “Motocrossed” and “Johnny Tsunami” taught that you don’t always have to accept conventions. “Brink!” taught that passion is stronger than all else. And “The Color of Friendship” addressed the issue of racism for a new generation. This era was by far the most entertaining and educationally aware collection of programming that Disney has ever seen. Rating: A+

That’s So Raven/High School Musical Era

This era sparked what would become Disney’s anxiousness to jump on bandwagons and play to the lowest common denominator. This is where Disney’s shows became gimmicky and a lot harder to relate to. That’s not to say the shows weren’t good, it was just harder to relate to a girl with psychic powers that it was to relate to a girl who was your average middle-schooler. This was also where Disney became a breeding ground for new teen pop sensations. DCOMs and shows became more musically themed, as this era was the direct precursor of Disney Channel Today. “That’s So Raven” was Disney’s new bankable television show. The days of ZooG Disney and “Lizzie McGuire” were a thing of the past. Raven had psychic visions at random, which would eventually lead her and her two partners in crime, Eddie and Chelsea, to take part in hi-jinks in order to prevent the vision from coming true. Sadly, that pattern was rarely deviated from throughout the show’s 100-episode run, which constantly gave it the vibe of “seen it before,” no matter how clever the jokes were, or how contrived the plot was.² Raven is also the first, what I deem “Disney 1.0 Pop Star,” in that her show, and subsequent DCOMs, showcased her singing talent. In fact, Raven, Orlando Brown, and Anneliese van der Pol – the show’s three protagonists – each had a hand in the performance of the show’s theme song.

Other shows of this era continued to showcase the gimmicky side of Disney. “Phil of the Future” was about a family from the 22nd century traveling back to the year 2004 (present time), where their time machine ultimately broke down. The series premise was about this family trying to repair the time machine, while the two children adjusted to school life in a society that existed over a hundred years before their time. Again, it was fun, but there wasn’t a whole lot to relate to like in previous series’, where the main premise was simply, life in middle school. Oddly enough, there were two shows that featured a more “realistic” setting. These were “Life with Derek,” and “Naturally, Sadie,” both added to the lineup in 2005. Naturally, “Naturally, Sadie” was pulled shortly thereafter, but “Life with Derek,” essentially a 21st century retelling of the Brady Bunch, had a healthy 70-episode run before being pulled from regular series programming.³ However, actors from these shows were never part of the “Disney Channel Family,” that partook in segments for the channel like the “Disney Channel Games,” or “Express Yourself.”

The DCOMs of this era became increasingly music-related, like “The Cheetah Girls,” (which went on to air two sequels) “Pixel Perfect,” “Stuck in the Suburbs” and of course, the first two “High School Musical” movies. Also, in its heyday, Disney would air a new DCOM nearly every month, whereas in the time of The Cheetah Girls and High School Musical, DCOMs went down to one every two months, and would continue to decline.¹ There were a few good non-musical DCOMs as well, like “You Wish!” which revolved around a main character (played by AJ Trauth from “Even Stevens”) wishing his life to be perfect, and then realizing what he’d have to give up in order to make it so, and “Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board,” the sequel to “Johnny Tsunami.” However, Disney grabbed the popstar pony by the scruff of the neck and would continue to ride it into the present day. The programming wasn’t bad, but it was clear to me that gimmicks were quickly replacing more reality-based programming. Rating: B+

The Jonas Brothers/Hannah Montana Era (Present Day Disney)

By this time, Disney had become primarily VH1 for kids. It actually began its “everyone can sing” campaign earlier, in the Raven era. On the “Lion King Platinum Edition DVD,” there’s a music video of the “Circle of Life” performed by the Disney Channel “Circle of Stars,” which is exactly what it sounds like. Literally every star from that time, save for Shia LeBeouf (I always liked him), sings part of the song. The roster included Raven, Orlando Brown, Anneliese van der Pol, Taj Mowry, Hilary Duff, Kyla Pratt, Christy Romano, and AJ Trauth. While some of these stars had legitimate musical talent (Christy went on to play Belle on the Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast!”), many never went on to anything notable after their stint with Disney was over. Sadly, AJ Trauth was probably the most musically talented of the entire group, but he got one line in the entire song and spent the majority of the video behind Hilary Duff and Raven, looking like a back-up dancer. Another incarnation of the Circle of Stars returned (featuring many currently active members of the Disney Stars roster) to record “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” for the “Cinderella Platinum Edition DVD.” Again, it appeared as if singing was a Disney Star prerequisite, as the circle this time featured Raven, Alyson Michalka, Amy Bruckner, Anneliese van der Pol, Orlando Brown, Kyla Pratt, Dylan and Cole Sprouse, Brenda Song, and Ricky Ullman as this song’s obligatory “one line monkey.”

The current Disney Channel line-up now revolves primarily around “living the popstar life,” and other such gimmicks. Now again, I’m not saying I don’t like these shows, but they’ve definitely been watered down from the deeper, simpler series’ of old. Its current line-up consists of “Wizards of Waverly Place,” a show about a family of wizards living in New York City, “The Suite Life on Deck,” a spin off-series from “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” which features teen attending a “sea school” aboard the S.S. Tipton, “Sunny with a Chance,” a show about a small-town girl becoming a regular on a comedy sketch show called “So Random!” “Good Luck, Charlie” a show about a family of five raising the newest addition to the family, “JONAS/JONAS L.A.” a show about the Jonas Brothers playing pretty much themselves, and “Hannah Montana/Hannah Montana Forever,” a show about a normal girl who has to deal with a big secret – she’s an international pop sensation. Now of these six shows (and yes, I’ve watched them all) my favorite is actually “Good Luck, Charlie.” It’s a wonderful throwback to the days when a family made up of interesting characters was enough to carry a show, without having to rely on wizardry or superstardom. It’s witty, the characters are interesting and fun, and the stories again return to things all kids can relate to. I mean, “Wizards of Waverly Place” is a fun show, but how many kids do you know can relate to a scenario in which someone reverses time or gets angry because they can’t use magic whenever they want? This show brings up issues of first romances, babysitting, getting asked to the dance, and other common scenarios that come with being a teenager.

Now, to re-enforce what I said before about Disney being a breeding ground for new teen pop idols, at least one cast member in each of the six series’ I mentioned has put out a music video on Disney Channel. In Wizards: Selena Gomez. In The Suite Life: Debby Ryan. In “Sunny with a Chance:” Demi Lovato. In “Good Luck Charlie:” Bridgit Mendler. In “JONAS:” the Jonas Brothers (surprise!). And in “Hannah Montana,” each of the three main characters has tried their hand at pursuing a music career – only one has been hugely successful thus far. Miley Cyrus, Emily Osment, and Mitchell Musso have all lent their voices to Walt Disney Records. Again, it’s a mixed bag when it comes to actual singing talent, but you have to wonder: is being able to carry a tune a pre-requisite for becoming a Disney Channel Star these days?

As for the DCOMs, they come out three to four times a year at this point. Disney had dabbled in the musically-themed DCOMs with “The Cheetah Girls” and “Pixel Perfect,” but didn’t really hit pay dirt until the “High School Musical” series swept the nation. I’ll give credit where credit is due here: the cast was very talented and fun to watch, the plots were well thought out and different enough to make each sequel its own, and they all formed together as a nice chronicle of these characters as they went through the last years of high school together. It was corny, yes, but it was fun. You have to believe that once Disney reached success with this franchise that they tried to re-create the magic again. And so we have the “Camp Rock” series. I watched the first movie, and it was decent enough, but it tried too hard to be “High School Musical Goes to Summer Camp,” and only came off with a couple of memorable songs. The second installment is slated to cap off the summer of 2010, and in the mean time we were given “Starstruck.”

This film, you guessed it, returned to the same “living the popstar life” we saw in “Hannah Montana,” “JONAS,” etc. However, I found this film to actually be a bit more enjoyable than I expected. The soundtrack had a bit more of a rock edge to it than the, what I call, “Disney bubblegum pop;” and the plot centered around an ordinary girl meeting a pop superstar, and how their newfound friendship had to overcome the hurdles of both worlds.

Now, I like music as much as the next guy, Disney, but I also would like a little more meat with the proverbial popstar potatoes. I think shows like “Good Luck Charlie” are a step in the right direction; shows don’t need to rely on gimmicks to be entertaining. “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “Hannah Montana” are fun, but I can’t help but get bored after thirty or forty episodes with the same series premise. “What are the wizards going to do today?” “Is Hannah going to blow her secret?” These ideas are entertaining to a point, but I can’t help but find all the episodes running together in my mind.
Rating: B- bumped up to a B+ because of “Good Luck Charlie”

That said, I have loved, love, and will continue to love Disney; but it seems like they’ve been quick to jump on the popstar bandwagon and have no intention of getting off it any time soon. Maybe with the ending of “Hannah Montana” after its fourth and last season, the wagon may start to slow. I just think Disney should push towards the direction of “Good Luck Charlie,” and return to good, deep, quality programming. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great to have a couple fun shows like Wizards and “Sunny with a Chance;” but when I watch the Disney Channel, I want the meat of my programming with a side of popstar potatoes, not potatoes with a side of meat. ~



References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Disney_Channel_Original_Movies
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_That's_So_Raven_episodes
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_with_derek