Relive the classic competition that brought together Disney’s biggest stars to help important charities
Have you ever imagined all the stars of your favorite Disney series and movies together in one place, participating in a huge gymkhana with various super fun activities, competing to help charities? It may seem a little complicated to gather this large number of stars, but this really happened between the years 2006 to 2008.
The competition was called the Disney Channel Games, and was inspired by a series of American competitions called Battle of the Network Stars, which also brought together several television stars in various sporting events. The presenters of the program were the actors of the series Zack & Cody: Twins in Action, Phil Lewis (Mr. Moseby) and Brian Stepanek (Arwin Hawkhauser).
In Disney’s version, all the big names of the channel’s biggest productions got to participate at least once in the games. Among them, we have the casts of Camp Rock, High School Musical, Zack & Cody, That’s So Raven, Wizards of Waverly Place, The Cheetah Girls, Hannah Montana, Cory at the White House, in addition to Zapping Zone presenters from around the world. world.
And did you know that Brazil already had its representatives at Disney Channel Games? Two presenters from Zapping Zone Brasil traveled to Disney’s Wide World of Sports, in Orlando, to participate exclusively in the competition: Robson Nunes and Rafael Baronesi competed in the years 2007 and 2008, respectively.
Despite the great success of the program, the competition had to be canceled in 2009 due to scheduling incompatibilities with many of the actors. However, a Disney spokesperson stated that the company would still be “focusing on launching a new pro-social initiative with the stars of Disney Channel and Disney XD”.
Friends Changing the World
Thus, Disney’s Friends for Change (in Brazil, Amigos Transformando o Mundo) was born, an initiative launched in the summer of 2009 that also brought together Disney’s biggest stars to discuss important environmental issues.
The campaign, in addition to encouraging children to preserve planet Earth, also had a very important act. In it, the little ones had the chance to decide how Disney would invest 1 million dollars to help with environmental programs. In the end, the money was distributed as follows:
- $100,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which protects arctic wildlife from the effects of climate change;
- $50,000 to the San Bernardino National Forest Association, which encouraged children to plant trees in the SBNFA’s Forest;
- $50,000 to Birdlife International and the Haribon Foundation, which protects endangered tropical forests in the Philippines;
- $25,000 to CHF International, which seeks to reduce pollution and deforestation by shipping efficient fuel to Rwanda;
- $25,000 to the institution ECOLIFE Foundation International, which fought and helped to end deforestation in the Oyamel forest in Mexico;
- $10,000 to the Arbor Day Foundation, which replants trees in fire-damaged forests in the state of Florida, in the United States.
As with Disney Channel Games, Amigos Transformando o Mundo also had representatives from Brazil in the campaign. They were Thays Gorga, Daniel Bianchin and Bruno Hederall presenters of Zapping Zone.
In addition, the initiative was also known for releasing some songs to publicize the project. Among them, we have: Send It On, with Demi Lovato, Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez; Make a Wave, by Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas; A Voz, sung by the Brazilian cast of the series Quando Toca o Sino with the participation of Yasmin Maia, from the Zapping Zone; We Can Change the World, featuring Bridget Mendler Good Luck Charlie; Rise, of The McClain Sisters; and Roam, with Caroline Sunshine and Tinka Hessenheffer from No Rhythm.
Source: Recreio
