Playhouse Disney

Playhouse Disney
Launched	February 26, 1999
Closed	February 14, 2011
Network	Disney Channels Worldwide
Owned by	Disney-ABC Television Group
Slogan	Where learning is powered by imagination (1999 – October 6, 2002) Imagine and Learn (October 7, 2002 – February 14, 2011)
Country	United States
Headquarters	100 Disney Plaza, New York City, New York, U.S.
Replaced by	Disney Junior (February 14, 2011 – present)

Playhouse Disney was Disney Channel's programming block aimed at young children aged two to seven. Internationally, Playhouse Disney was also available as a 24-hour television channel, but not in the United States. Starting with the Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel in the United States on February 14, 2011, and concluding with Playhouse Disney Russia in September 2013, the Playhouse Disney blocks and channels were rebranded into Disney Junior.

History

Playhouse Disney launched on the Disney Channel on May 8, 1997 as the Disney Channel Preschool Block. The first original program created for the block was Bear in the Big Blue House. Other original programs created for this incarnation of the block are PB&J Otter and Out of the Box. By 1999, the block rebranded and introduced its official name. In spring 2001, it re-launched with new graphics. On October 7, 2002, the block used a new logo to fit into Disney Channel's current logo design, though it used the same graphics. This change saw the block's first mascot, who is a stop-motion animated talking yellow ball of clay named "Clay" (voiced by Debi Derryberry) whose catchphrases were "It's true!" and "Are you with me?" Clay would often shift himself into different things that show his thoughts or give clues into the next program in the block.

Around this time, there were plans to make a full 24-hour Playhouse Disney channel in the United States, but those plans were scrapped. However, international channels were created that carried the Playhouse Disney name.

In 2003, Playhouse Disney replaced most of its older series with six new series (Franklin, Seymour, JoJo's Circus, Tikkabilla, Max and Ruby, and Ballerina Girl), which the shows added became hits and helped increased the block's ratings.

The former programming announcer was actress Allyce Beasley (until March 30, 2007). In September 16, 2006, Flip was made at that time of Clay, but however, the following day (March 31, 2007), Clay and Flip was replaced by two monkey hosts, Ooh and Aah. Every summer since 2007, usually starting sometime in June, Disney Channel began truncating the weekday block to four hours (from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time) in order to air episodes of Disney Channel's original series during the late morning and early afternoon hours; however, the weekend schedule continued to air as a six-hour block.

Final programming

Original programming

Live-action series

• Bunnytown (November 10, 2007 – February 13, 2011)
• Imagination Movers (September 6, 2008 – February 13, 2011)

Animated series

• Little Einsteins (October 9, 2005 – February 13, 2011)
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (May 5, 2006 – February 13, 2011)
• Handy Manny (September 16, 2006 – February 13, 2011)
• My Friends Tigger & Pooh (May 12, 2007 – February 13, 2011)
• Special Agent Oso (April 4, 2009 – February 13, 2011)
• Jungle Junction (October 5, 2009 – February 13, 2011)

Foreign programming

Animated series

• Chuggington (January 18, 2010 – February 13, 2011)
• Charlie and Lola (March 21, 2005 – February 13, 2011, now on Universal Kids)
• Timmy Time (September 7, 2010 – February 13, 2011)
• Franny's Feet (August 16, 2004 - February 13, 2011)

Interstitial programming

• Shanna's Show (2003–2011)
• Colors and Shapes (2005-2011)
• Numberjacks (2006-2011)
• Choo Choo Soul (2006–2011)
• Peppa Pig (2006-2011)
• Lou and Lou: Safety Patrol (2007–2011)
• Happy Monster Band (2007–2011)
• Ooh, Aah & You (2007–2011)
• The Feely and Buddy Show (2007-2011)
• Shane's Kindergarten Countdown (2007–2011)
• Can You Teach My Alligator Manners? (2008–2011)
• Tasty Time with ZeFronk (2008–2011)
• Whiffle and Fuzz (2008–2009, international channels only)
• Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom (2009-2011)
• Guess with Jess (2009-2011)
• Where is Warehouse Mouse? (2009–2011)
• Soli and Mo's Nature Show (2010-2011)
• Dance-A-Lot Robot (2010–2011)
• Handy Manny's School for Tools (2010–2011)

Former programming

Original programming

Live-action series

• Bear in the Big Blue House (October 20, 1997 – September 15, 2006)
• Out of the Box (October 5, 1998 – June 10, 2005)
• The Book of Pooh (January 22, 2001 – September 4, 2005)
• Tikkabilla (February 4, 2002 - February 8, 2009)
• Big Barn Farm (May 5, 2008 - March 22, 2009)
• Johnny and the Sprites (October 9, 2005 – February 28, 2009)

Animated series

• PB&J Otter (March 15, 1998 – April 8, 2005)
• Stanley (September 15, 2001 – May 16, 2008)
• JoJo's Circus (September 29, 2003 – January 2, 2009)
• Higglytown Heroes (September 13, 2004 – March 29, 2009)

Foreign programming

Live-action series

• The Wiggles (June 17, 2002 – May 24, 2009, now on Universal Kids)
• The Doodlebops (April 11, 2005 – April 4, 2009)

Animated series

• Katie and Orbie (June 2, 1997 – 2000)
• Rolie Polie Olie (October 4, 1998 - June 2, 2006)
• Rupert (September 4, 2000 - January 2001)
• Anatole (2002 - 2003)
• The Koala Brothers (January 26, 2004 - May 16, 2008)

Acquired programming

Live-action series

• Adventures in Wonderland (April 7, 1997 – June 5, 1998)
• Sing Me a Story with Belle (October 5, 1998 – December 11, 1999)

Animated series

• Amazing Animals (April 6, 1997 – 2000)
• TaleSpin (April 6, 1997 – October 2, 1998)
• Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (April 6, 1997 – September 5, 1999)
• The Little Mermaid (April 7, 1997 – September 7, 2002)
• The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (April 7, 1997 – September 1, 2006)
• Madeline (June 2, 1997 – January 2, 2005)
• Jungle Cubs (September 15, 1997 – 2000)
• 101 Dalmatians: The Series (October 5, 1998 – 2000)

Interstitial programming

• Curious George (April 6, 1997 – 1999)
• Joke Time (April 6, 1997 – October 6, 2002)
• Spot the Dog (April 6, 1997 – October 6, 2004)
• Behind the Ears (1997–2000, 2007-2009)
• Circle Time (1997 – October 6, 2002)
• Microscopic Milton (1997 – October 6, 2002)
• Frankenguy and the Professor (November 3, 1997 – October 6, 2002)
• Magic Drawings (1997–2001)
• Pet Stop (1998–2000)
• Feet Beat (1998 – October 6, 2002)
• Poky and Friends (1999-2001)
• Pablo the Little Red Fox (1999 – October 6, 2002)
• Animal Stories (1999 – October 6, 2002)
• Mini Movies (2001 – October 6, 2002)
• Stanley's Animal Facts (2001-2006)
• Mike's Super Short Show (January 1, 2002 – 2007)
• Ethelbert the Tiger (2002)
• Wiggles Time (2002)
• Music Time (2002)
• Use Your Noodle Time (2002 – 2005)
• Mickey's Letter Time (October 7, 2002 – 2005)
• Sharing Time (October 7, 2002 – 2005)
• BB's Music Time (October 7, 2002 – 2007)
• Page's Word of the Day (October 7, 2002 - 2007)
• Who, What & Where with Bear Time (October 7, 2002 - 2004)
• Manners with Max (2002–2005)
• Mini Show-and-Tell Time (2003–2007)
• Project Playtime (2003-2007)
• Captain Carlos (2004–2007)
• Felix and the Flying Machine (2004–2007)
• Go Baby! (January 1, 2005 – 2008)
• Here Come the ABCs (January 1, 2005 – 2006)
• Big Barn Farm (May 5, 2008 - March 22, 2009)
• This is Daniel Cook (2005–2009)
• Johnny and the Sprites (October 9, 2005 - January 13, 2007)
• Tikkabilla (February 4, 2002 - February 8, 2009)
• Dan Zanes House Party (2006–2009)
• Flip (2006-2007)
• Feeling Good with JoJo (2006–2008)
• Here Come the 123s (2007)
• This is Emily Yeung (2007–2009)

Announcers

• Randy Thomas (1997-2001)
• Allyce Beasley (2001-2007)
• Margit Furseth (2007-2010)

Sponsorships

• McDonald's (2002-2006)
• Chuck E. Cheese's (2007-2009)
• Arby's (2008-2010)

Rebranding

On May 26, 2010, it was announced that the Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel US, as part of a new rebranding strategy, would be renamed "Disney Junior". The announcement also called for Disney Junior to launch as a 24-hour channel to replace Disney-owned SOAPNet in the United States (which occurred March 23, 2012), and for international channels & blocks with the Playhouse Disney name to also rebrand into Disney Junior. Playhouse Disney ended its almost 14-year run as a block on Disney Channel US on February 13, 2011, and Disney Junior started the next day. A majority of Playhouse Disney programs moved over to the new block to carry future episodes of their respective series (the case with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and Imagination Movers) or air reruns (the case with Little Einsteins).

Overseas Format

Main article: Playhouse Disney (Overseas Format)

International versions of Playhouse Disney (such as the United Kingdom and Australia) use a completely different format when compared to the United States, using in-vision continuity rather than the out-of-vision links. It takes place inside a large house usually named the Playhouse where the presenters do certain activities to encourage viewers to take part in them. There could also be other segments that take place outside the Playhouse using different formats.

Gallery

1998-2001 logo (North America)

2001-2002 logo (North America)

1999-2003 logo (International)

2002-2011 (North America), 2003-2011 (International)

2010-2011 logo

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Playhouse Disney. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.