Thanks, Will. Here's one from the Orlando Sentinel. I don't want to go on too much, but needless to say, I find the comments of Disney pinhead, er, executive Richard Ross completely idiotic, contradictory, and laughable. Apparently this guy is unaware that the programming is adjusted for the different timezones such as the west coast. What this guy is REALLY saying is that the parent co. doesn't give a **** (use your imagination to fill in the word of your choice!) about the older viewers (or younger ones with taste). They say they are a "family" channel but I guess WE aren't considered part of that family. Heaven forbid some Zooger who thinks words that end with an "S" end with "Z" instead should wake up in the middle of the night when they are supposed to be in bed and find something good on that otherwise waste of a once great channel.
What a classy way for the channel to finish out the year of Walt's Birthday Celebration. And those clueless executives with vacuums for souls and burnt out lightbulbs for brains wonder why many kids today don't know Walt was a real person?
As they say on Zorro, "Baboso, idioso, stupido!"
Disney puts classics back in vault
By Richard Verrier | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted September 3, 2002
LOS ANGELES -- For Disney Channel executives, the
decision seemed a no-brainer: replace vintage Disney
television shows that run in the dead of night with
newer, hipper fare targeted at a younger, more
lucrative audience.
But the seemingly mundane programming change to
replace the so-called "Vault Disney" classics with
youthful comedies such as Lizzie McGuire and Kim
Possible has created an uproar among older, die-hard
Disney fans, who see the move as the latest affront to
the company's heritage. Internet chat rooms devoted to
Disney fans are abuzz with the pending demise of
Vault Disney. Some are penning protest letters to
management relating their connection to childhood
heroes like Zorro.
One fan has even started a petition in hopes of
reversing the decision.
"I'm dumbfounded," said Glendale schoolteacher Sue
Schuck, 54, who vows to sell her Disney stock in
protest. "We baby boomers pay for the cable, the
admission to Disneyland and the Disney products. We
watched these shows. They are part of our childhood."
Disney said the decision is simply economics. Older
shows like Spin and Marty and Davy Crockett just don't
resonate with the younger audiences that have formed
the backbone of the Disney Channel's growth over the
past decade, as it moved from a mostly premium,
subscriber-fee cable service to a much more widely
distributed cable network.
The dispute underscores the problem the Burbank
entertainment giant faces as it tries to shore up its
sagging bottom line: how to keep its brand relevant to
younger kids without offending the baby boomers who
cling to a very different, often nostalgic vision of the
Disney of their childhood.
Such tensions have flared up across Disney's
businesses in recent years.
Fans loudly protested a few years ago when the
company shut down Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at the Magic
Kingdom in Orlando, one of the original Walt Disney
World attractions. Baby boomers also complained more
recently about the newly redesigned Disney Stores,
saying they cater too heavily to children. Even as
Disney spent millions celebrating the 100th anniversary
of Walt Disney's birthday last year, some longtime
devotees thought the company didn't pay enough
homage to the company's founder.
"They are trying to walk this tightrope of keeping their
classic Disney going and appealing to a younger market
and staying contemporary," said Janet Wasko, a
professor of communications studies at the University
of Oregon and author of two books on Disney. "That's a
difficult task for them because there is such emotional
attachment to Disney products and characters. People
just don't react the same when other companies
change their product lines, but Disney is different."
Keeping current is a major goal of the Disney Channel,
which in six years has grown from 14 million to more
than 80 million households.
In contrast to the struggling ABC Network, the channel
has been an important moneymaker and marketing outlet
for the parent company, generating $250 million in
operating income this year, according to some
estimates.
Its success stems mainly from a combination of
live-action movies and original series, such as Lizzie
McGuire and Even Stevens, that target teens and
pre-teens, a demographic coveted by advertisers and
retailers. The channel's latest creation for kids, the
animated drama Kim Possible, tied with market leader
Nickelodeon among 6-to-11 years olds after making its
debut in June, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The channel launched "Vault Disney" four years ago as
an umbrella for Disney classic television shows from
the 1950s and '60s. To make room for the newer
entertainment, "Vault Disney" programs were pushed
further into the evening and early mornings hours.
Ratings dwindled as viewers got tired of seeing the
same shows over and over and Disney focused its
energies on developing new programs.
By next Monday, the four-hour block will be replaced
altogether with reruns of prime-time shows. Until then,
the channel is running Davy Crockett and Zorro
marathons so fans can watch the final episodes.
Disney Channel executives say they are canceling
"Vault Disney" to create consistent programming on a
24-hour basis for kids, whether they're in Hawaii or
New York.
"The Disney Channel is a service for kids and their
families; it's not a general entertainment service for
everybody," said Richard Ross, the Disney Channel's
president of entertainment. "We can't be all things for all
people."
The channel is better off diverting money it spends to
carry old shows into developing new programs that will
generate higher ratings, such as Kim Possible, Ross
said.
But he denies the channel is turning its back on its
heritage. "This is not a slam on the Vault programming,"
he said.
Ross notes that the channel next Monday debuts a new
series called Mickey's House of Mouse with 65
episodes. Some "Vault Disney" titles are still available on video and DVD, with several
more to be released next year, he adds.
Disney is, in fact, under heavy pressure from rivals such as Viacom Inc., Nickelodeon
and AOL Time Warner's Cartoon Network to ensure that its programs stay current,
especially as kids programming increasingly shifts from network television to cable TV.
Even so, fans complain that removing such beloved classics is short-sighted.
Arlen Miller of Orlando, who buys and sells Disney merchandise for a living, is equally
baffled.
"I'm furious about this," said Miller, 49, a lifelong fan of Zorro, the 1950s television
series starring the wildly popular Guy Williams as a masked avenger. "The Disney
Channel is not just for 13 to 17 year olds.
"They are forgetting the foundation that they were created on."
Richard Verrier can be reached at 1-800-528-4637, Ext. 77936 or
richard.verrier@latimes.com.
Copyright ? 2002, Orlando Sentinel
:-[ :'(