Disney Junior

[Ian]

Anyone else have kids who are super excited that today's the debut of the new Disney Junior block on Disney Channel?

DS has been dying to watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates ever since he saw the first commercial for it.

Last night when he saw a commercial for it while we were watching Toy Story and it said it was coming "tomorrow" he almost freaked out. "Disney Junior is coming tomorrow, Daddy!! Is Jake and the Neverland Pirates going to be on???"

He's also pretty excited that Little Einsteins are back. I think he's been getting bored with the endless cycle of MMCH, Handy Manny, and Oso.

[magicofdisney]

The only one even slightly interested in the younger Disney shows is my 5yo (the youngest of my 4). Let me tell you, TV viewing is so completely different when your oldest is 5 versus the youngest being 5.

We saw the Pirate preview and he's undecided. I thought it looked pretty cool, however, he too has become bored with the current offerings. I hope these changes create new momentum for Disney TV in our home.

[AgentP]

My kids are super excited about it! My daughter (4) has been counting the days until Jake and the Neverland Pirates since she saw the commercial last week. Last night she went to bed early saying, "I have to get some sleep so I don't miss the Neverland Pirates tomorrow." I'm actually really surprised that they are this excited about it because I didn't mention it at all. Disney sure knows how to market to preschoolers!

[baby minnie's mommy]

My 2yr old was excited about the Neverland Pirates commercials, too. The first show this morning was ok. Love the music. Looks like they're trying to mimic Dora's "stars" with the "gold dabloons" however.

Unfortunately it looks like Little Einsteins is still demoted to the 4 & 4:30 am time slots. That's what happened to JoJo before she left completely. In my opinion, Little Einsteins was one of the best preschool shows ever made, and it's running life has been way too short. Dora the Explorer has been running forever. Why does Disney have to toss aside perfectly good shows? Couldn't they recycle the better ones after a break? My older child loved Little Einsteins, and now her little brother is old enough to watch them, but he has to have them recorded since they come on so early.

[Ian]

Unfortunately it looks like Little Einsteins is still demoted to the 4 & 4:30 am time slots. That's what happened to JoJo before she left completely. In my opinion, Little Einsteins was one of the best preschool shows ever made, and it's running life has been way too short. Dora the Explorer has been running forever. Why does Disney have to toss aside perfectly good shows? Couldn't they recycle the better ones after a break? My older child loved Little Einsteins, and now her little brother is old enough to watch them, but he has to have them recorded since they come on so early.

Yeah ... I wish I knew the answer to that, because there are tons of older Disney Channel shows that DS8 grew up watching that I just know DS would love.

Stuff like Stanley and Higgleytown Heroes and The Koala Brothers and Johnny & the Sprites ... it's kind of a mish-mosh now, if you ask me. I wish I understood better what makes them churn through shows so quickly. From all accounts, all of those were really popular shows and certainly JoJo was. I don't know why she's gone.

[Imagineer1981]

My question is what happened to it being its own dedicated channel. I would love to be able to let my kids watch Disney Junior all day and be able to turn off Dora and Nick Jr. It was originally supposed to replace Soap channel and be a stand alone...why did it change, oh why. A rethemed Playhouse Disney just isn't as cool

[Melanie]

It was originally supposed to replace Soap channel and be a stand alone...why did it change, oh why.

That is in the cards for January 2012. Here's an older article outlining the changes.

Disney Junior To Replace SOAPnet in 2012

Goodbye SOAPnet, hello Disney Junior. Disney/ABC Television Group just announced that it will launch Disney Junior, a new 24-hour basic cable/satellite channel dedicated to preschool-age children in 2012. The new channel will replace SOAPnet, now available in 75 million homes, which will end its 12-year run at that time.

Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney/ABC Television Group, addressed the decision to drop SOAPnet. "The decision to ultimately transition SOAPnet to accomplish this was not arrived at lightly," she said. "SOAPnet was created in 2000 to give daytime viewers the ability to watch time-shifted soaps, before multiplatform viewing and DVRs were part of our vocabulary. But today, as technology and our businesses evolve, it makes more sense to align this distribution with a preschool channel that builds on the core strengths of our company." Additionally, soaps, once a staple of daytime programming, have been steadily losing ground, with three, CBS' Guiding Light and As The World Turns and NBC's Passions canceled in the past couple of years.

The 24-hour Disney Junior schedule will feature 200 new episodes annually of new series, including Jake and the Never Land Pirates; current shows, including Mickey MouseClubhouse, Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, Imagination Movers and Jungle Junction, as well as Disney features, including 101 Dalmatians, Aladdin and Little Mermaid. The Disney Junior brand will first be introduced on Disney Channel's daily programming block for preschoolers, where it will replace the current Playhouse Disney brand.

Sweeney called the launch of Disney Junior in the U.S. "the next step in our global preschool strategy, which began 10 years ago with the premiere of our first dedicated preschool channel in the UK." Outside the U.S., the 22 Playhouse Disney channels and blocks will be rebranded Disney Junior beginning in 2011.

by Nellie Andreeva

[Lacy]

I agree that Disney did a great job advertising this to the preschool crowd. My 2 year old was super excited for Disney Junior without us ever mentioning it. For now I just let him watch MMCH and Handy Manny. Every once and a while he watches Oso. I'm on the fence if we should start watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Anyone watched it yet? How is it and would it be appropriate for a 2 year old?

[Ian]

Unless you're super-protective over what your child watches, I'd say it's fine. DS4 watches it and he really likes it. It's a pretty typical Disney show aimed at the under 5 set.

I'm kind of excited to see that news about SoapNet ... I remember it now that I see it again, but I forgot that was the ultimate goal.

Now let's just hope that some of the old Disney Channel programming makes its way on to new channel! BRING BACK PB&J OTTER!!

[baby minnie's mommy]

My 2yr old loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates. I consider it very age appropriate for him. It involves counting and problem solving, and they invite the kids to "help" do the activities. The cannon they have pours out water, to wash Captain Hook away.
It's a show I enjoy watching with my son, with fun music and scenery. My kids seem to especially enjoy shows where several kids work together to solve problems, such as Little Einsteins and now this show.

As far as SoapNet, I've been really excited about that. When DD gets home from Kindergarten there's not much on Disney for her. While I sometimes let her watch the preteen/tween shows, I don't like it to be a regular thing for her to watch. She's growing up too fast as it is! Phineas and Ferb is an exception for us, though. We've seen almost every episode!
So anyway, she winds up watching Nick Jr. or another channel for her cartoon break after school.

[magicofdisney]

We also miss House of Mouse, TailSpin, Rescue Rangers, Ducktales, and Timon and Pumba. I hope they block a time frame for these older shows as well. Since DVRs are more common place, they could offer these older shows in the overnight schedule (kind of like Nick at Night). Whatever they do, it's nice to see positive changes going forth.

[baby minnie's mommy]

We also miss House of Mouse, TailSpin, Rescue Rangers, Ducktales, and Timon and Pumba. I hope they block a time frame for these older shows as well. Since DVRs are more common place, they could offer these older shows in the overnight schedule (kind of like Nick at Night). Whatever they do, it's nice to see positive changes going forth.

I miss those, too. There currently seems to be a major gap between the preschool shows and the tween shows.

And I vote to get rid of Fishhooks.

[Ian]

And I vote to get rid of Fishhooks.

You know I'm right there with you, but I have o say both my older kids (8 and 4) love this show!

I don't get it at all.

[Imagineer1981]

You know I'm right there with you, but I have o say both my older kids (8 and 4) love this show!

I don't get it at all.

I hate that show, its so bad. I am with you Ian, bring back PB&J Otter and I agree with others, like Tale Spin, Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers. I think they could remake some of those shows too to be more preschool oriented, but man Dark Wing and Duck Tales ruled!!! Glad to see I it is still going to be its own channel in 2012

[Ian]

Well I can 100% attest that Duck Tales is still very popular with today's generation, because we have it on DVD and it's one of my kids' favorites!

[BrerGnat]

My younger son watched Jake and the Neverland Pirates the other day. It didn't really capture his interest. From what I saw, it seemed a bit too much like Dora the Explorer (the WORST preschool show on t.v., IMO).

What I noticed about it was, there was a LOT of talking! My son has an auditory processing problem, along with a speech delay. This show just sort of went over his head. There was too much dialogue, weird accents (Capt. Smee), fast talking, etc. Too much for him to keep up with. I can't imagine that many 2-3 year olds can get much enjoyment out of that show. Perhaps it's meant for the older set (4-6 year olds?).

However, I felt the animation/artwork of Jake and the Neverland Pirates was really good! Visually, it's a beautiful show.

[Ian]

Here's kind of a goofy Disney Junior question, but I noticed it and wanted to see if anyone else had ...

There's a "commercial" that runs on Disney Junior where they have all these Mickey heads that parade around. Each Mickey head has characters from one of the Disney Junior shows on it ... MMCH, Little Einsteins, Oso, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Handy Manny, Chuggington, Jungle Junction, and Higgleytown Heroes!

It's really odd ... there are no other cancelled/off the air shows on there. Just HH. Do you think this means they might be bringing it back?

[DizNee143]

my daughter eis only 15 months..so she'll watch anything that catches her eye at the moment lol..
i personally miss playhouse disney...this disney junior stuff hasnt won me over yet..and i think its going to take a while to do so!

im with some of you with Fishhooks..cant stand that show! but i also cant stand Timmy Time..i cant stand when my daughter will wake up some times and we are stuck watching that show..uck!

i love all the other shows though! my daughter loves MMCH..she sees that and screams mickey mickey..

[mamasun]

As you can see from my picture, my family loved Bear in the Big Blue House, Stanley, PB and J Otter. I wish they would show reruns of those shows! They were truly fun for the whole family to watch.

[BrerGnat]

Here's kind of a goofy Disney Junior question, but I noticed it and wanted to see if anyone else had ...

There's a "commercial" that runs on Disney Junior where they have all these Mickey heads that parade around. Each Mickey head has characters from one of the Disney Junior shows on it ... MMCH, Little Einsteins, Oso, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Handy Manny, Chuggington, Jungle Junction, and Higgleytown Heroes!

It's really odd ... there are no other cancelled/off the air shows on there. Just HH. Do you think this means they might be bringing it back?

I saw that too! I hope so. My kids really liked that show. I thought it was unique and actually fairly educational. And, I loved trying to guess who the celebrity guest voice was.