7.6 /10 1 Votes
6.9/10 TV No. of seasons 27 First episode date 27 January 1990 Number of seasons 27 | 8.1/10 IMDb Genre Children's show Original language(s) English No. of episodes 1,366 Final episode date 24 September 2016 Number of episodes 1,366 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Cheez TV, Toasted TV, Kids' WB Australia, Australia's Funniest Home Vid, The Great Outdoors | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday disney australia july 1990
Saturday Disney was a long running Australian children's television program which aired on the Seven Network in Australia for over 26 years, with the first episode going to air on 27 January 1990. The show was a television block which aired on Saturday mornings, consisting mainly of Disney television series dispersed between hosted content. The original presenters were Jeniene Mapp, James Sherry and Sofie Formica, and the final presenters were Nathan Morgan, Candice Dixon and Teigan Nash. Many hosts have gone on to achieve successful careers in Australian television.
Contents
Saturday Disney was originally filmed at BTQ-7 from 1990 until 1999 when it moved to Seven's Sydney station, ATN-7.
On 5 September 2009, the show celebrated its 1,000th episode.
Saturday Disney aired its final episode on 24 September 2016.
Hosts
Original Replacement Final
History
Part of the Seven Network's output deal and long running relationship with Disney in the late 1980s was to adopt a local program to feature new animated series such as DuckTales mixed with local studio segments. This was part of an international franchise of programs in the global market to be named The Disney Club, the Australian version to be located in Brisbane. The producers of this version convinced Disney to allow them to use the Saturday Disney title to avert confusion with The Mickey Mouse Club, a title which seemed dated. The original set was designed to reflect Queensland architecture and make the viewers feel like they were visiting a friend's house on a Saturday morning. The set has since changed several times, the current set being introduced in February 2007. Saturday Disney was originally filmed at BTQ-7 from 1990 until 1999 when it moved to its current production base at ATN-7 in Sydney. It was originally produced by Buena Vista Television in conjunction with Seven.
On 5 September 2009, the show celebrated its 1,000th episode. The episode was filmed on location at Disneyland to celebrate. A week prior to this, footage of every previous host who had been on the show was aired, looking back at the show's then 19-year history.
Former presenter Shae Brewster hosted her final episode on 27 July 2013, becoming the longest serving host in the history of the program. She presented the show for three months short of eleven years, first joining in 2002.
The final episodes of Saturday Disney were filmed on 26 August 2016. TV Tonight later reported that the show would be ending, before the news was confirmed by a spokesperson for Seven. The final episode aired on 24 September 2016, and featured guest appearances by former presenters Melanie Symons, Daniel Widdowson, Shae Brewster, Sally Stanton and Jack Yabsley. James Sherry also appeared via a video message. David Knox of TV Tonight reported the cancellation of the program was the result of a "change in direction" under a new executive producer in charge of children’s programming for Seven.
Format
As a main feature, Saturday Disney originally included three Disney programs dispersed throughout the course of a two-hour episode. From 2012 to 2016, Saturday Disney featured five programs over the course of a three-hour episode. The programs shown regularly rotated around the schedule, and were a mixture of animated cartoons and live action comedies, which were more common after the premiere of Hannah Montana in 2007. There were three hosts of Saturday Disney, who lived in the 'Disney House' and introduced the programs along with performing other activities such as cooking, craft, science segments, interviews and special appearances by guests, usually celebrities, and occasionally live animals. Occasionally, the show was shot entirely on location, where the hosts explored certain cities such as Coffs Harbour or places such as Disneyland for the episode's entirety.
Feature stories produced by and starring the hosts were also included, which were usually articles about places, activities and events, interviews with celebrities or red carpet events. This format has been likened to magazine-style edu-tainment shows. In some stories, the hosts adapted certain characters used as a substitute for themselves presenting the article. Another type of the stories were recurring mini-series with the hosts acting as characters, which air occasionally. Some recurring series from the past included Hazard Man (1990s), The Transfreezers (2000–2001), Tell Tale Trio (2002–2004) and the Secret Agents (2010–2011). A Page in Time (2006), introduced a style of serialised drama, depicting three children returning to 1850s. More recent series such as Danger Island (2009), Race Around the Island (2010) and The Assistant (2014) took on the reality genre, parodying American series Survivor, The Amazing Race, and The Apprentice respectively.
A Double Dog Dare was featured in every episode, where each host took turns (one each week) to complete ridiculous, embarrassing or challenging tasks which may have resulted in eating unusual food punishments upon failure, regularly ingredients mixed in a blender. Ideas for dares and punishments were regularly sent in by viewers. This popular segment was a prominent feature of the show for many years.
Each week there was also a chosen Letter of the Week, which could be letters, drawings, or art sent in by viewers. Winners usually received many prizes, and the artwork was displayed around the set. Throughout the course of the program, emails from viewers were also read out.
Time slot
The program's time slot since the show's inception in 1990 was always every Saturday from 7:00 am until 9:00 am on Seven unless there were interruptions by sporting or news events. Further Disney programming would continue to air after Saturday Disney.
On 4 July 2009, the show moved to the earlier time slot of 6:30 am to 8:30 am. However, the show returned to the previous time of 7:00 am to 9:00 am on 31 October 2009.
It was announced on 8 February 2010, that beginning 13 February 2010, the show would be moved to the later time slot of 9:00 am to 11:00 am, to make way for Weekend Sunrise.
It was announced on 17 March 2012, that beginning 31 March 2012, the show would be moved to 7TWO and return to the original 7:00 am to 9:00 am time slot with a new look and logo, to make way for The Morning Show. On 12 May 2012, the regular length of Saturday Disney was extended to three hours with a time slot of 7:00 am to 10:00 am.
On 1 September 2012, Saturday Disney moved to the new time slot of 6:00 am to 7:00 am on Seven, then from 7:00 am to 9:00 am on 7TWO, the three hours now airing across both channels.
On 19 March 2016, the program's secondary channel changed from 7TWO to 7flix, airing from 6:00 am to 7:00 am on Seven, then from 7:00 am to 9:00 am on 7flix. The program remained in this slot until its final episode.
Reception
At the time of its final episode, Saturday Disney was the twentieth longest running program in Australia, and the fifth longest running children's program in Australia.
Viewership
In 2005, Saturday Disney had an average of 196,000 viewers (in the 0-14 age group) and was the number one rating children's program on commercial television for people aged 0 to 14.
Saturday Disney was the fifth highest rating children's program on free television in 2006, averaging 274,425 viewers over 48 broadcasts. In 2008, the program's yearly average viewing audience was 395,000 (combined metro and regional cities), ranking as the eighth most watched children's program. Saturday Disney ranked as the fourth highest rating children's program in 2009, averaging 368,000 viewers across both metro and regional cities over 48 weeks.
The final episode on 24 September 2016 was watched by 41,000 on Seven (6:00 am to 7:00 am) and 24,000 on 7flix (7:00 am to 9:00 am).
Awards
On 18 March 2012, Saturday Disney was announced as a nominee for the 2012 Most Outstanding Children's Program Logie Award. The ceremony took place on 15 April 2012, and the award was presented by former Saturday Disney host Shelley Craft with Sam Moran. The nomination package featured footage from the episode which aired 13 August 2011, in which the hosts visited the Northern Territory. ABC3's My Place won the award.
Programming
1990s
2000s
2010s