I’ve had a hard time lately deciding what to write about next. I thought about reviewing a couple of movies, since I haven’t done that in a while. But I didn’t really feel like doing a full-fledged review of either of the movies I had in mind.
Then I came across an old Disney Channel clip yesterday, and I realized that both movies had something in common: we had recorded them off the Disney Channel back in the late 80s/early 90s. So I figured, why not just write about my memories of the Disney Channel?
There will be a second half to this post, coming immediately after I post this one. I just wanted to split it up since I’ve written almost 1200 words on the subject. I’ll give you fair warning: this first half will be focusing on the geeky stuff like station IDs and bumpers and junk, so if you’d rather skip this part and read the next one, my feelings will not be hurt: I’ll even give you the link.
The Disney Channel launched in the spring of 1983. So it’s been around almost as long as I have. Some of you may not know that for several years, it was a premium channel, like HBO, so you had to pay extra for it (I believe it was $9.99 a month or something like that). It also only broadcasted for 18 hours a day until 1986. And of course, that means they had a sign-off animation. And of course, that means I’m going to show it to you.
Here’s a clip of some bumpers and promos and whatnot. These things are super nostalgic for me, since some of my earliest memories of cable TV are of the Disney Channel. If you ask me, they’re some of the most fun and creative bumpers ever. I remember seeing that underwater one where Mickey draws the station’s logo in the fog on the window, and I used to try to do that and wondered why I could never get it right. I was a naive kid.
This next clip is one example of the kinds of things they used to air.
I’m assuming this one is probably from around 1992, though the graphic itself was used long before then. And that music sent the memories flooding back to me. Imagine if all music on TV was calm and laid-back like that nowadays. Maybe people would be able to chill out for five seconds.
One of the things that irritates me the most about the Disney Channel of today is the way they interrupt their shows to show…promos. For their other shows. (Shameless, relentless self-promotion has really ruined a lot of networks these days, but that’s another topic.) Not to mention that Disney Channel’s identity and on-air look is really ADD and irritating and appeals to nobody over the age of 13. It’s a far cry from the creative bumpers and soothing music of the past.
Edited to add an amusing postscript:
Because I’m a big dork, I was looking around at some more old Disney Channel videos, and found this. It’s the logo circa 1997, when the network changed gears. They stopped using it around 2003. Note that the commenters are calling it “old” and reminiscing about it as I do the first logo. So my guess is that the majority of users on Youtube are like 14 fucking years old. (That would explain some of the ridiculously stupid comments you see on there.) Anyway, when I see not-so-old things being called “old”, it makes me want to laugh and punch some 14-year-old in the face. Preferably at the same time. No, I don’t hate teenagers at all.
7 responses to “Disney Channel Memories 1: Station IDs n’ Stuff”
Andrew
May 18th, 2008 at 22:24
Yup, I remember most of this stuff you mentioned too. We taped some movies (including the original cut of Star Wars A New Hope) off Disney circa 1989 and they were using that calming station ID.
And yeah, it made me feel very old to go to YouTube and hear people reminiscing about the logo they were using long after I stopped watching the channel. :0
ArgentShade
May 19th, 2008 at 08:11
I remember the silvery logo. My family was poor so we didn’t have Disney forever. There was a period of time when Dad was making more money than we needed and I remember he bought HBO and Disney and I loved watching stuff on there. It is a shame though how…I don’t know…whored out the whole tv world is but we could rant about this for hours. I never thought I would wish for the 80’s again but this post make me wish things were as wholesome as they were back then somedays. I enjoyed the post though!
terrorclaws
May 19th, 2008 at 21:39
Thank you! It is my pet peeve to have people say stuff is old thats from less than 10 years ago. I was born in 78, am not yet 30, and these people make me feel freaking ancient.
DJ D
May 28th, 2008 at 21:25
Great couple of posts there. I really enjoyed reading that. And I agree, Disney was so much better back when they, oh I don’t know, played Disney movies, instead of spending all their time grooming the next acting/singing tween sensation of the week.
I’ve recently heard 80’s music referred to as oldies by some of my younger cousins. I want to sit them all down and force them to watch Brat Pack movies all day. It’s sad to me that these kids love the American Pie movies but have never even heard of Porky’s. They think I’m a fossil because my age no longer has the word “teen” on the end of it and as of last Nov, it now starts with a 3. Guess I can’t be trusted now.
Pastorale
June 20th, 2008 at 18:46
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation 🙂 Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Pastorale!
starwenn
July 18th, 2008 at 23:15
Oh my god, these brought back so many memories, especially the sign-off one. My mom and stepdad had premium cable on and off since at least ’84-85, so yes, we’ve always had The Disney Channel. In fact, after I read this a while back, I went back and looked up some of those old promos. They got really creative with those Mickey hands, didn’t they? My favorite was always the Mickey-shaped record – shame it couldn’t actually play.
Mom may still have videos with some of these logs at home. I KNOW our original copy of “Star Wars: A New Hope” taped in 1989 has the silvery/purple logo, as does “A Disney Channel Christmas,” which we’ve watched every holiday season since 1988. (I hope that tape still works. It was starting to look more than a little ragged the last time I watched it in 2005…)
online Casinos
July 23rd, 2013 at 12:08
Thanks a lot for sharing this with all folks you actually understand what you’re speaking about! Bookmarked. Please also discuss with my site =). We can have a hyperlink trade contract among us
1 Trackbacks / Pingbacks
Disney » Blog Archive » Disney Channel Memories 1: Station IDs n’ Stuff May 15th, 2008 at 20:50
[…] Annette wrote an interesting post today on Disney Channel Memories 1: Station IDs n’ StuffHere’s a quick excerptI’ve had a hard time lately deciding what to write about next. I thought about reviewing a couple of movies, since I haven’t done that in a while. But I didn’t really feel like doing a full-fledged review of either of the movies I had … […]