Toon Disney was an American multinational pay television channel which was owned by Disney Channels Worldwide, a subsidiary of Disney-ABC Television Group. A spin-off of the Disney Channel, the channel mostly aired children's animated series and some live action programming. Its format had similarities to those of Discovery Kids, Cartoon Network, and Nicktoons. The channel's target audience was children ages 2–11, and children ages 6–11 during its nighttime block called Jetix. The US version of Toon Disney shut down on February 13, 2009, after nearly 11 years, and was succeeded by Disney XD, which has carried some programs previously seen on Toon Disney. The final channel bearing the Toon Disney moniker was in Italy, and was discontinued in 2011.
History
Toon Disney was launched at noon Eastern Time on April 18, 1998, in honor of Disney Channel's 15th anniversary by Disney/ABC Networks on digital tiers of DirecTV, Marcus Cable and EchoStar. The first program aired on the network was The Sorcerer's Apprentice and other Mickey Mouse shorts. At 7 PM that day, its nighttime block, "The Magical World of Toons", was launched. In the next five months, Toon Disney furthered its programming to cable subscribers such as Americast. At its launch, the channel shared half of its assigned series with the Disney Channel. The channel had no advertising until its viewership reached a set number. On January 31, 1999, the first annual Pumbaa Bowl was broadcast. By September 2000, the channel was expected to reach 20 million subscribers, and thus, would start showing advertising. Ad sales would be handled by Disney Kids Network. In the Fall of 2000, Disney launched its first overseas Toon Disney channel in the United Kingdom. In June 2001, Toon Disney US launched its "Most Animated Kid Search". The Santa Claus Brothers had its world premiere on the channel in December. In September 2002, eight new shows joined the line-up as part of Toon Disney's fall schedule. In commemoration of the network's fifth anniversary in April 2003, the channel held a "Toon Disney's Magical Adventure Sweepstakes" in which three winners along with 3 family members each won a trip to Disneyland Resort to see Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular. On February 14, 2004, the Jetix programming block began on Toon Disney and ABC Family as a part of the Jetix programming alliance of ABC Networks Group, Fox Kids Europe and Fox KidsLatin America. The block consisted of the entire acquired Fox Kids/Saban Entertainment action library as the result of a bulk buy-out by The Walt Disney Company in summer 2001, as well as some original programming. Some shows, like The Legend of Tarzan, aired under both the Toon Disney and Jetix monikers. The UK channel switched over to Disney Cinemagic in March 2006. In 2004, 4 new markets added a Toon Disney channel with three in Europe with Germany also adding a time shift channel. In December, Walt Disney Television International India launched a Toon Disney channel with three language audio tracks at the same time as it debuted along with Disney Channel on Star TV. In 2005, a Toon Disney channel was launched for the Nordic countries, as well as another one for Japan. A Hindi-language audio track was introduced on Toon Disney in India on September 1, 2005. The Toon Disney/Big Movie Show premiere of The Polar Express on December 22, 2006 was the channel's highest prime time rating with 1.35 million viewers. On January 27, 2007, Toon Disney launched its weekend afternoon programming block called "The Great Toon Weekend." In February 2009, Toon Disney US switched over to the Disney XD format and name. Some shows that were formerly on Toon Disney US began airing on Disney XD US. Except for Toon Disney Arab, Toon Disney and Jetix were succeeded by September 2009 with Disney XD or the Disney Channel.
Blocks
The Big Movie Show is an afternoon block of movies started in November 2004.
Friday Night Movie was a block of movies started in 1998 until 2001.
Double Feature Friday was a block that shows 2 movies every time. It started in 2001.
Jetix was a block using programming from the Saban/Marvel library held by ABC Family Worldwide and additional original programming launched on February 14, 2004 with the block having 12 hours of weekly prime time programming to start. In the time of Toon Disney's dissolution in February 2009, Jetix had taken up more than half of the network's programming schedule, airing for 12 hours on weekdays and 19 hours on weekends.
The Magical World of Toons was Toon Disney's prime time block upon the launch of the channel. During the week, shorts and series showcasing Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Timon & Pumbaa, Hercules, Aladdin, Doug and Pepper Ann. The block's weekend consisted of animated features, mostly of those created for the home video market, like The Return of Jafar and The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars, as well as some theatrical releases including A Goofy Movie, Alice in Wonderland and The Brave Little Toaster.
Princess Power Hour was a block featuring Disney Princesses Jasmine and Ariel in showcasing episodes of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
Chillin' With The Villains ran on Sundays with a mini-marathon featuring a villain.
The Great Toon Weekend was its weekend afternoon programming block for Saturday and Sunday starting at noon of seven hours of programming a day beginning on January 27, 2007. The Great Toon Weekend started off with a two-hour movie under the banner of "Big Movie Show" followed by five hours of back-to-back episodes of the following shows: Aladdin, Timon & Pumbaa, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, The Emperor's New School and '.
Hangin' with the Heroes' began in January 2002 was a weekend block consisting of two hours of Aladdin, Hercules and Gargoyles''.
