See some of the revelations about Disney Channel present in the book ‘Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire’
Last Monday, the 2nd, Disney announced the end of the Disney Channel channel in Brazil. From February 2025, Disney Channel, alongside Star Channel, FX, Nat Geo, Cinecanal and Baby TV, will no longer be available in Brazilian lands.
As reported by F5, from Folha de S. Paulo, despite the films and series being a huge success among fans, Ibope numbers have been low in recent years, resulting in the decision. In a statement, Disney declared the choice is a response to “transformations in the local media landscape”.
“In response to the transformations in the local media and entertainment landscape, and to ensure that we continue to evolve and meet the needs of our consumers with agility and innovation, we have decided to discontinue the operation of some linear channels in Brazil from February 28, 2025 “, explains the statement. “This decision includes the closure of Star Channel, Cinecanal, FX, National Geographic, Disney Channel and Baby TV, without impacting our sports channels.”
Disney Channel Behind the Scenes
For years, Disney Channel has been responsible for marking the lives of thousands of children and young people around the world, impacting an entire generation thanks to productions such as “Hannah Montana”, “Camp Rock”, “High School Musical”, “Bewitched from Waverly Place”, “That’s So Raven” and more.
In 2024, the journalist and writer Ashley Spencer released the book “Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire”, responsible for presenting behind the scenes at Disney Channel, especially during its heyday in the 2000s.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Ashley commented a little more about the subjects covered in the work, such as the comparison between Disney and Nickelodeon. During the conversation, the author comments that the House of Mickey Mouse also had “extreme pressures”, mainly related to turning artists into models, however, it would never have had worrying allegations like those from the SpongeBob broadcaster presented in the documentary “Quiet on Set”.
“Disney had extreme pressures beyond what Nickelodeon had, because the Disney brand is so unique in legacy, tradition and expectations. What being a model on Disney Channel entails is beyond. I don’t even know of another company that you can compare to Disney. My book was not an investigation of an individual. There are no existing public allegations of this level against anyone at Disney Channel,” says Spencer.
Ashley also comments that, unlike Nick, Disney had no problem discarding and firing employees, and never found itself stuck with a single screenwriter for creating successful series — as happened with Dan Schneider on Nickelodeon, creator of “Drake & Josh”, “iCarly”, “Zoey 101”, “Brilhante Victoria” and “Sam & Cat”. According to the journalist, for the Walt Disney company’s channel, “if someone was an obstacle in that system, well, they are disposable. Because no one could be bigger than the brand.”
“I don’t think you could have had a Dan Schneider on the Disney Channel. Even these people who were running very successful sitcoms who were [famosas] until the end, often, that was the last sitcom they made [no Disney Channel]. They were not brought back.”
Another point commented by Spencer were some of the channel’s biggest controversies in the 2000s, including a photo shoot of Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) for Vanity Fair itself and the leak of intimate photos of Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical).
The author highlights in the interview that “we never really saw the behind-the-scenes of any of these events. They were obviously putting out PR statements at the time,” and highlights his belief that Disney may have handled the Disney photo shoot situation cautiously. Mileybecause she is “just a child”.
Ashley says that, when the images were released, Rich Rossthe then-president of entertainment at Disney Channel, and Anne Sweeneythen head of the Disney/ABC Television Group, took a flight directly to Nashville, where his family Cyrus lived, to speak personally to the artist’s parents that the situation was not correct.
Regarding the leaks Vanessa, Spencer says that, today, executives see their handling of the situation as a way of “we don’t want something like this to happen to you again”, despite believing that the “statement at the time was very reprimanding”, mainly because this type of leak it was “somewhat uncharted territory for the network and for internet celebrities in general.”
The book also comments a little more about conflicts that happened behind the scenes of the recordings, such as the clash between Miley Cyrus and Emily Osment in “Hannah Montana.”
Ashley comments to Vanity Fair that these situations happened, because “these are not people who enter shows as best friends. In addition to Selena and Demiwho were friends before [de ‘Programa de Proteção para Princesas’]. So maybe they develop a friendship because they’re around each other all day, but they usually don’t.”
“Emily and Miley Cyrus are very different people and you can’t expect that just because they’re going to play friends that they have to be friends,” he concludes.
Check out the full interview here.
Source: Recreio
