Disney Television Animation facts for kids
Logo used since January 2014
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Disney Television Animation's headquarters in Glendale, California.
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Trade name
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Disney Channel Animation |
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Formerly
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| Founded | December 5, 1984 |
| Founder | Gary Krisel |
| Headquarters | 811 Sonora Avenue Glendale, California 91201 |
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Number of locations
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3 |
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Key people
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Meredith Roberts (SVP, GM) |
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| Parent | Walt Disney Television (1984–2003) Disney Branded Television (2003–present) |
Disney Television Animation (DTVA), also known as Disney TVA, is an American company that makes animated TV shows. It is part of Disney Branded Television, which is a big part of The Walt Disney Company. This studio creates and produces many popular animated series, movies, and short films. You can watch these on Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Jr., and Disney+. The studio started in 1984.
Contents
How Disney Animation Started on TV
Early TV Shows
The Walt Disney Company began making TV shows way back in 1950. Their first shows were Christmas specials like One Hour in Wonderland. They also had a long-running show called The Wonderful World of Disney. Other early shows included The Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro.
For a long time, Disney did not make its own original animated TV series. Walt Disney thought it would be too expensive. Most of their early TV animation was short clips. These clips helped connect existing cartoon shorts on The Wonderful World of Disney.
Creating a New Animation Studio
In 1984, Michael Eisner became the new CEO of The Walt Disney Company. He wanted Disney to grow in new ways. So, he decided to create a special division just for animated TV shows. This new group would make shows for different TV channels and for syndication.
The Walt Disney Television Animation department officially began in November 1984. Gary Krisel was its first president. Making animated TV shows was seen as a big risk back then. Most TV cartoons were made with very small budgets. However, Disney decided to invest more money in making high-quality animation. This risk paid off! Their shows became very popular and made a lot of money. They also set a new standard for TV animation.
First Animated Series
The first animated shows from the new studio aired in 1985. These were Adventures of the Gummi Bears and The Wuzzles. Both shows featured talking animals. A third show, Fluppy Dogs, was a TV movie pilot in 1986. It was about colorful alien dogs. However, it did not become a full series.
In 1987, Disney launched a very successful show called DuckTales. This was the first of their popular syndicated animated shows. Even though they could not use main characters like Mickey Mouse, they could use characters like Scrooge McDuck and Huey, Dewey and Louie. DuckTales was so popular that it led to a movie, DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, and two spin-off shows: Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack.
Disney's Animation on Broadcast TV
The Disney Afternoon Block
The success of DuckTales led to more high-quality animated TV series. These included The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1988 and Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers in 1989.
In 1990, Disney created The Disney Afternoon. This was a two-hour block of half-hour cartoons that aired every weekday. DuckTales was one of the main shows in this block.
To help make all these cartoons, Disney opened animation studios in other countries. These included Disney Animation Australia (1988), Walt Disney Animation France (1989), and Disney Animation Japan (1989). Walt Disney Animation Canada opened in 1996. These studios later started making direct-to-video movies.
Disney Shows on ABC and UPN
In 1997, The Disney Afternoon block changed. Many of its shows moved to Disney Channel. On September 13, 1997, Disney's ABC network launched Disney's One Saturday Morning. This block featured new shows like 101 Dalmatians, Recess, and Pepper Ann.
In 1998, Disney also made a deal to create a children's block for UPN called Disney's One Too. This block aired many of the same shows as One Saturday Morning.
In 2002, One Saturday Morning became ABC Kids. One Too became Animation Weekdays. However, in 2003, Disney stopped the Animation Weekdays block on UPN. Many new episodes of shows started airing on Toon Disney instead.
Disney Animation Moves to Disney Channel
In 2003, Disney changed how its animation units worked. All of Disney Television Animation moved to Disney Channels Worldwide. This meant the studio would now focus on making shows for Disney Channel. Kim Possible was one of the first cartoons produced for Disney Channel after this change.
Disney Television Animation also worked with Jetix Europe to create shows for Jetix channels around the world. These shows included Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! and Yin Yang Yo!.
Throughout the 2000s, Disney continued to make many new animated shows for Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney. Some of these were Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and The Emperor's New School. Disney Channel also started trying new animation styles, like Adobe Flash animation, to save money. The Buzz on Maggie was one of the first shows to use Flash animation.
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The success of Kim Possible showed that Disney Channel cartoons could be very popular. This led to shows like Phineas and Ferb, which became one of Disney's longest-running animated series.
In 2009, Toon Disney and Jetix channels were rebranded as Disney XD. In 2011, the ABC Kids block also ended. The animation studio was then renamed simply Disney Television Animation (DTVA). Playhouse Disney became Disney Jr. in 2011.
Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil was the first original animated show for Disney XD. Other Disney XD cartoons included Motorcity and Gravity Falls. By 2014, most animated shows like Gravity Falls and Wander Over Yonder moved to Disney XD. Only a few shows like Mickey Mouse and Tangled: The Series stayed on the main Disney Channel.
Recent Animation Growth and New Shows
Since 2017, Disney Television Animation has seen a big growth in new shows. They have also created reboots and spin-offs of classic Disney stories.
New Shows and Reboots
In 2016, Disney XD ordered Big City Greens. Disney also announced Milo Murphy's Law and Big Hero 6: The Series. A new version of DuckTales was announced in 2015. This was the studio's first big reboot.
However, Disney later decided to stop making original shows just for Disney XD. Many shows like Star vs. the Forces of Evil and the new DuckTales moved their premieres to Disney Channel.
In 2018, the studio greenlit two new shows: Amphibia and The Owl House. Big City Greens also moved to Disney Channel.
Collaborations and Adaptations
Since 2017, the studio has worked with Walt Disney Imagineering. They help create character designs and animation for attractions at Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World, and on Disney Cruise Line. These include Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway and DuckTales: World Showcase Adventure.
Many shows from the studio have also been made into live-action movies or series. For example, a Kim Possible live-action movie came out in 2019. Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers became a live-action and animation mix film on Disney+ in 2022. A live-action series based on Gargoyles was also reported to be in development in October 2023.
Expanding to Disney+
In early 2019, the studio started making short animated clips for Disney Jr. and Disney Channel. These included Mickey Mornings and Chibi Tiny Tales. Since 2020, they have also made shorts to promote live-action movies and theme park rides.
In 2019, Disney greenlit The Ghost and Molly McGee and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. They also worked on Monsters At Work, a spin-off of the Monsters Inc. movies, and Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe for Disney+.
In February 2020, the studio announced The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. This was a revival of the original 2001 series for Disney+. In November 2020, a new Darkwing Duck reboot was announced for Disney+. The studio also debuted The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, a new series based on the 2013 Mickey Mouse shorts.
In 2021, the studio ordered many new original series. These included Kiff, Hailey's On It!, and Primos for Disney Channel. For Disney Jr., they ordered Alice's Wonderland Bakery and Firebuds. They also announced holiday movies like Mickey's Tale of Two Witches.
In January 2022, the studio began making Big City Greens The Movie: Spacecation. In June 2022, they greenlit Zombies: The Re-Animated Series, based on the Disney Channel Original Movie franchise.
In November 2022, the studio released its first stop-motion project, a Christmas special called Mickey Saves Christmas. Another stop-motion special, Mickey And Friends Trick Or Treats, debuted in October 2023.
In January 2023, the studio announced that Phineas And Ferb would get two new seasons for Disney Channel and Disney+. In August 2023, the studio announced Mickey Mouse Clubhouse+, a new version of the popular preschool show.
In June 2024, it was announced that the studio would revive the Prep & Landing series with a new holiday special. The studio is also exploring new types of content, including gaming and web-based shows.
In September 2024, Kiff received two special episodes. In November 2024, the studio announced a new Christmas special for Disney Jr. called Mickey and The Very Many Christmases.
Filmography
See also
In Spanish: Disney Television Animation para niños
- Disney General Entertainment Content, the main group for Disney's TV and streaming.
- Walt Disney Animation Japan, a former studio related to DTVA.
- Disneytoon Studios
- Jetix Animation Concepts, a former partnership with Jetix Europe.
- 20th Television Animation
