by Jordan Bartlett
Everyone has been all hyped up about the “downfall of Disney” recently, from the battles of the theme park with the governor of Florida, to the hate aimed at films like “The Marvels,” to the recent losses poured into its “new baby,” streaming channel Disney+. But before all of this recent talk of the “Disney Crash,” older viewers such as myself could see the problem coming from a million miles away. Why? Because they were fans of the Disney Channel, and they could sense the change.
A child’s happiness is greatly influenced by the abundance of comedy, entertainment, and even real-world messages. The Disney Channel had a significant impact on the lives of people such as myself. The channel would become one of the greatest networks in the entire world, rising up into the top 10 television networks. It was only a couple of years ago that people either outgrew the network or were completely dissatisfied with the newer shows and movies. Despite the numerous successful TV shows like That’s so Raven, Lizzie McGuire, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and DCOMs like High School Musical, The Even Stevens Movie and Camp Rock, adult and children’s audiences have disappeared…but why?
The Disney Channel has always been known for its wide-ranging humor. The jokes could be either kid-friendly or adult-themed, depending on the show’s target audience. Gravity Falls and Good Luck Charlie are both successful Disney shows that introduce dark humor to children, becoming Disney’s most popular shows because of it. Whether a joke was appropriate or not, kids and adults were both very engaged. Upon comparing newer shows and older ones, the jokes and writing can really affect the quality of the show. It’s clear that as Disney invested its money and resources into the “new baby” of the Disney+ streaming channel (which includes not only Disney and Pixar films, but new shows and specials for Marvel and Star Wars), they forgot all about their “first kid”, the Disney Channel, and great thing they already had going.
For example, Good luck Charlie has an episode where Bob and Amy are going out to dinner. Teddy sends them off telling them to have fun… “But not too much fun; we have enough kids already.” This phrase may be inappropriate for kids, but it still generated much laughter, more than today’s Disney channel shows. Disney Channel’s viewers has declined from over 17 million in 2007 to only 0.18 million in 2022 over the years. Newer Disney shows don’t seem funny anymore, and they tend to be too cheesy for today’s generation, which has had a lasting impact on Disney’s success.
Creativity has become very limited on the Disney Chennel comedies and TV Series. The Chennel hasn’t produced anything original in a while. Instead, they have taken the approach of taking old shows and recreating them or making it into a spin-off. Remakes have also become very popular on Disney channel. They aren’t too bad, but they have caused audiences to leave because they haven’t given them anything new. Kim Possible, one of the most memorable Disney Channel shows, was highly influential for kids everywhere, but it seemed to have been ruined for them once the remake came out. The Live-Action film was released in 2019 and fans were not pleased with what they saw. Fans say Kim’s character wasn’t the same as the one on the show. Many also feel that the new writers took an original and ruined it. Considering many other live-action remakes out there, it became clear that Disney’s writers are short on ideas.
The main reason that the Disney Channel community is not as unified as it has been in the past. The channel was greatly impacted by the gathering of actors such as Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, and others. The actors were united in a way that felt like a family. I truly believe that the audience disconnected when the actors became less of a family. Disney introduced the Disney Channel Games in 2006, which involved everyone from their shows reuniting for tournaments. The positive and joyous nature of it made it really entertaining for children. Disney’s Circle of stars also had a major effect on children as they watched all their favorite actors being together. Sure, there are entertaining new shows on Disney+, but the corporatization and outreach to win subscribers have eaten away what made its older channel special, even before last year’s “Marvel Crash” and financial losses.
The Disney Channel will always hold a special place in the hearts of people like myself, because of the joy it has brought them as kids. From the sitcoms to the animated shows, the channel taught so many people great lessons and given them so many good memories. It had been producing awesome movies and TV shows for a long time. It’s an era that even adults will always have nostalgia for. So keep your Mandalorians and Groot cartoons; give me people like Miley and Selena, and that feeling of having a special place to tune in. The Disney Channel is a channel that we had grown to love, and in the world of streaming, it’s not the same as it used to be.
