The Disney Afternoon

The Disney Afternoon (later known internally as the Disney-Kellogg Alliance when unbranded) was a created-for-syndication two-hour animated television programming block produced by Walt Disney Television Animation with distribution through their syndication affiliate Buena Vista Television. Before and after its cancellation, the shows in the block aired reruns both on Disney Channel (Some of them from 1994 through 2000, with some remaining until as late as 2007) and on Toon Disney (all of them from the time the channel launched in 1998 through 2004, with some remaining until as late as 2008). Starting on October 2, 1995, four of the shows (Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, DuckTales, and Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers) were rerun on Disney Channel as a two-hour programming block called "Block Party" which aired on weekdays in the late afternoon/early evening.[1]

Disney-Kellogg Alliance
NetworkSyndication
LaunchedSeptember 10, 1990 (1990-09-10)
Closed1999 (1999)
Country of originUS
OwnerBuena Vista Television
Formerly known asThe Disney Afternoon
Sister networkDisney's One Saturday Morning
FormatAnimated weekday
Running timeTDA: 2 hrs
DKA: 1.5 hrs.

The Disney Afternoon's two-hour block was broken up into four half-hour segments, each of which contained an animated series. As each season ended, the first series shown in the lineup would typically be dropped while the remaining three would move up a time slot, and a new one would be added to the end. The Disney Afternoon itself featured unique animated segments consisting of its own opening and "wrappers" around the cartoon shows shown.

The Disney Afternoon originally ran from September 10, 1990 to August 29, 1997. For the 1997 and 1998 television seasons, it lost its name but was known internally as Disney-Kellogg Alliance, shortened to 90 minutes, followed by its gradual replacement by Disney's One Too for UPN in 1999. Some of the shows also aired on Saturday mornings on ABC or CBS concurrently with their original syndicated runs on The Disney Afternoon. The only show to reach the 2000s was Goof Troop with the 2000 direct-to-video finale An Extremely Goofy Movie, and the only shows to reach the 2010s are DuckTales with a same name reboot and Darkwing Duck as a show within the reboot on Disney Channel.

Background

The Disney Afternoon goes back to Michael Eisner becoming Disney's CEO in 1984 and his push into steady animated television production, which would be based on new characters to bring in new young fans, with a newly launched TV animation department. He set up a Sunday meeting at his house days consisting of creatives. They included Tad Stones from feature animation and Jymn Magon and Gary Kriesel from the music division. Mickey and the Space Pirates was pitched by Stones, but was turned down being that Mickey Mouse is the company symbol, thus wanting to do him right. Stones also pitched a Rescuers TV series, which its sequel was already under development at the time.[2] Eisner suggested the Gummy bear as a series, given his kids liked the candy.[3] Disney Television Animation's first two shows, The Wuzzles and Adventures of the Gummi Bears, were sold to two networks, CBS and NBC, respectively, for their Saturday morning cartoon blocks.[4]

History

In the fall of 1989, DuckTales and Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers were being offered in syndication as an hour long weekday afternoon block. The new block kept these shows, and added Gummi Bears and TaleSpin.[2] The Disney Afternoon programming block, as a named block, premiered on September 10, 1990 via Disney's syndication arm Buena Vista Television.[5]

However, around the same time, Disney had purchased Los Angeles TV station KHJ-TV, channel 9, from RKO General, and renamed it KCAL-TV. At the time, Disney's syndicated cartoons had been airing on KTTV channel 11, and many of the other Fox O&Os and affiliates also aired the block; this may have been due to the fact that the Walt Disney Company's chief operating officer at the time, Michael Eisner, and his then-Fox counterpart, Barry Diller, had worked together at ABC and at Paramount Pictures.[6]. Disney opted to move the block onto their newly purchased station; furious at the breach of contract, Diller pulled DuckTales from all of Fox's other owned-and-operated stations in the fall of 1989. Diller also encouraged the network's affiliates to do the same,[7] though most did not initially. This caused the retaliatory formation of Fox Kids.[2] (Ironically, most of the assets of Fox Kids would be bought by Disney in 2001 via their acquisition of Fox Family Worldwide.)

As the years went on, new shows would be added at the start of the block, with the oldest shows being dropped from the lineup. The 1991-92 season, for instance, saw Gummi Bears' removal, and Darkwing Duck being added at the beginning.

By the fifth season in 1994, the block had undergone a makeover, with the primary branding being the block's initials, TDA. At this point, the original idea of shows being added and removed yearly was dropped, as both new and old shows were now stripped all week, or only aired on certain days.[8] The original four shows were gone from the line up by the 1995-1996 season. The lineup at this point included Aladdin and Quack Pack stripped[2], while one daily slot was split between The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show and Gargoyles, book-ending three days a week of Bonkers.

The Disney Channel had developed its own copy, called Block Party, concurrent with TDA's sixth season, that was similarly scheduled and stripped with early Disney Afternoon series like TaleSpin and Rescue Rangers.[8]

Disney-Kellogg's Alliance

By August 1996, owing to decreasing business in the syndicated children's television market due to new competitors such as the cable networks Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, and the children's blocks of the new UPN and The WB networks, Buena Vista entered into an agreement with the Leo Burnett agency to market and distribute a revamped version of the block for the 1997–98 and 1998–99 television seasons. Buena Vista established a partnership with Leo Burnett and Kellogg's—who had been a major sponsor of The Disney Afternoon, to purchase an amount of dedicated advertising inventory.[9] The new block did not carry any blanket branding, but was referred to internally as the "Disney-Kellogg Alliance."[10]

With the September 1, 1997 season start, the block dropped The Disney Afternoon name, a half hour from the stripped block and the Gargoyles series. Moving to the Disney Channel were Disney's Aladdin and The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa. 101 Dalmatians, which was shared with ABC's Disney's One Saturday Morning (which broadcast their own set of episodes), premiered on the block. The Mighty Ducks and Quack Pack reruns shared the second slot in a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays through Fridays, split respectively. DuckTales repeats filled the third half hour slot, with flexibility for the local station to air it at other times.[11]

In 1998, Disney reached a deal to program a new children's block for UPN, Disney's One Too, as a replacement for that network's internal UPN Kids block. The syndicated block ran until the debut of One Too on September 6, 1999.[10][12][13]

International broadcasts

Some of The Disney Afternoon's shows also aired on international versions of Disney Channel (including Disney Channel Southeast Asia), Toon Disney (later Disney XD), Disney Junior (including Disney Junior in Southeast Asia) and Disney Cinemagic, and on several local channels in various countries. In Europe, blocks similar to The Disney Afternoon were produced, mostly with names which translate in English as "Walt Disney Presents" (not related to the anthology series). Furthermore, shows that never aired on the American version of The Disney Afternoon (such as The Little Mermaid and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) did air on foreign versions of the block.

In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the city's then-independent TV station ITV (now Global Edmonton) produced its own version of The Disney Afternoon over roughly the same period as the American block, but only once per week in a two-hour block on Saturday afternoons, though using the same cartoon lineup as the American weekday block. Apart from the animated introduction, the block did not use any Disney-produced wrapper segments, instead using locally produced live-action segments between programs with host Mike Sobel.[14] ITV (and thus the Sobel-hosted version of the block) was at that time also available on cable and satellite in various mid-sized and smaller markets across Canada, as far away as St. John's.

Disney Parks

Characters from the shows first appeared in Disney Parks with the debut of Mickey’s Birthdayland in the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World.[5]

The popularity of The Disney Afternoon led to a temporary attraction at Disneyland in Fantasyland called "Disney Afternoon Avenue." Disney Afternoon Avenue was a feature of Disneyland from March 15 to November 10, 1991,[15] two years before Mickey's Toontown (a name linked to the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit) opened in January 1993.

On September 14, 1991, then-Disney owned KCAL-TV broadcast a one-hour TV special Disney Afternoon Live!, which included the opening of Splash Mountain, at Disneyland.[15]

Shows

Over the years, the block consisted of 13 individual shows:[5][16]

SeriesBlock premiere yearOriginal premiere
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 1989 Disney Channel
Adventures of the Gummi Bears 1990 NBC
DuckTales Disney Channel
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Disney Channel
TaleSpin
Darkwing Duck 1991
Goof Troop 1992
Bonkers 1993
Aladdin 1994
Quack Pack 1995
Mighty Ducks 1996
The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa 1996
Gargoyles (1994) 1997
101 Dalmatians1997[lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2]
Doug (aka "Disney's Doug", 1998-1999)[16] 1997 [lower-alpha 2]
Hercules 1998 [lower-alpha 2]
  1. shared with ABC's Disney's One Saturday Morning, but having 52 exclusive episodes[11]
  2. Aired under the Disney-Kellogg's Alliance

Adaptations

The block was adapted into comic books, films and launched the Disney Adventures magazine.[5]

Disney Parks

Characters from the shows first appeared in Disney Parks with the debut of Mickey’s Birthdayland in the Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World. In 1990, the characters got a daily show, "Mickey’s Magical TV World", which lasted until 1996.[5]

The popularity of The Disney Afternoon led to a temporary attraction at Disneyland in Fantasyland called "Disney Afternoon Avenue." Disney Afternoon Avenue was a feature of Disneyland from March 15 to November 10, 1991.[15] Two attractions were also made over to match series from the block.[5]

Video games

Many of The Disney Afternoon shows were made into video games.

Main title/alternate title Developer Publisher Regions released Release date Players Console(s)
DuckTales Capcom Capcom JP, NA, EU September 14, 1989 1 NES, GB
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers Capcom Capcom JP, NA, EU June 8, 1990 2 NES
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers Tiger Electronics Tiger Electronics NA 1990 1 Handheld electronic game
DuckTales: The Quest for Gold Incredible Technologies, Sierra On-Line Walt Disney Computer Software NA December 31, 1990 1 Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS, Windows, Mac OS 8
DuckTales Tiger Electronics Tiger Electronics NA 1990 1 Handheld electronic game
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers: The Adventures in Nimnul's Castle Hi Tech Expressions Walt Disney Computer Software NA March 1, 1990 1 PC
TaleSpin Tiger Electronics Tiger Electronics NA 1990 1 Handheld electronic game
TaleSpin Capcom Capcom NA, EU December 1991 1 NES, GB
TaleSpin NEC NEC NA, EU 1991 1 TG16
TaleSpin Sega Sega NA, EU 1992 1 GEN, GG
Darkwing Duck Capcom Capcom NA, EU June 1992 1 NES, GB
Darkwing Duck Turbo Technologies Inc. Turbo Technologies Inc. NA 1992 1 TG16
Darkwing Duck Tiger Electronics Tiger Electronics NA 1992 1 Handheld electronic game
DuckTales 2 Capcom Capcom JP, NA, EU April 23, 1993 1 NES, GB
Goof Troop Capcom Capcom JP, NA, EU July 11, 1993 2 SNES
Goof Troop Tiger Electronics Tiger Electronics NA 1993 1 Handheld electronic game
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2 Capcom Capcom JP, NA, EU 1993 2 NES
Bonkers Capcom Capcom JP, NA, EU December 15, 1994 1 SNES
Bonkers Sega Sega NA, EU October 1, 1994 1 GEN
Bonkers: Wax Up! Sega Sega BR February 4, 1995 1 GG, SMS
Gargoyles Buena Vista Interactive Disney Interactive NA May 15, 1995 1 GEN
Gargoyles Tiger Electronics Tiger Electronics NA 1995 1 Handheld electronic game
Mighty Ducks Tiger Electronics Tiger Electronics NA 1996 1 Handheld electronic game
Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam Walt Disney Company Walt Disney Company NA 1998 1 Arcade
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers Dinamic Pixels Dinamic Pixels NA 2010 1 Mobile Phone
Darkwing Duck Iricom Iricom NA 2010 1 Mobile Phone
DuckTales: Scrooge's Loot Disney Mobile Disney Interactive NA July 26, 2013 1 iOS, Android
DuckTales: Remastered[5] Capcom, WayForward Technologies Capcom, Disney Interactive Studios JP, NA, EU August 13, 2013 1 Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android
The Disney Afternoon Collection Capcom, Digital Eclipse Software Capcom NA, EU April 18, 2017 2 PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows
gollark: You can totally compare it! We're making comparisons now!
gollark: Elections: people are broadly unsatisfied with the results somehowFreedom of citizens: constitution is blatantly ignored half the timeRight to bear arms: kind of decreasing over timeRight to free speech: in practice, probably notRight to assemble: right now, you don't have that, which I feel is justified, but stillRight to privacy: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAAGHASHFHASGFAHsf
gollark: The right to privacy isn't a constitutional thing. I think it's important, though.
gollark: I mean, those things aren't quite as meaningful as one would hope nowadays, but it's more than North Korea.
gollark: Much more freedom of information going in/out, too.

References
  1. "Block Party: Four Disney Animated Series." The Disney Channel Magazine, Vol. 13, no. 5, October/November 1995: p. 36.
  2. Zakarin, Jordan (November 1, 2018). "Life is like a hurricane: An oral history of the Disney Afternoon". SYFY WIRE. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  3. Bentley, Rick (November 19, 2014). "Disney TV Animation Is 30 Years Old, and It's Going Strong". Valley News. The Fresno Bee. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  4. FRIENDLY, DAVID T. (July 28, 1985). "Team Disney--Flying High in Burbank". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  5. Metevia, Thomas (April 8, 2019). "How well do you remember 'The Disney Afternoon'?". WKMG. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  6. James B. Stewart (2005). Disney War. New York City, New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-6848-0993-1.
  7. Michael Cieply (February 22, 1990). "Disney, Fox Clash Over Children's TV Programming". Los Angeles Times. Times Mirror Company. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  8. "Life is Like a Hurricane: A Brief History of the Disney Afternoon". Oh My Disney. Disney. April 24, 2016. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  9. "Disney Takes Kellogg Clout To Stations". Ad Age. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  10. Hontz, Jenny (January 20, 1998). "Disney kids to play UPN". Variety. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  11. "Tooning in the Fall Season". Animation World Magazine (2.6). September 1997. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  12. "It's Show Time! The Fall TV Preview". Animation World Magazine (4.6): 4. September 1999. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  13. Chris Pursell (July 19, 1999). "Mouse brands UPN kidvid". Variety. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
  14. "Personalities: Mike Sobel". GlobalTVEdmonton.com. Shaw Media. May 26, 2011. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  15. Strodder, Chris (2008). The Disneyland Encyclopedia. pp. 130, 137. Retrieved November 13, 2015 – via Chronology of Disneyland Theme Park 1990-1999.
  16. "7 'Disney Afternoon' cartoons today's kids are missing". ABC13 Houston. October 4, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.