If you’ve been a kid at any point in the last four decades, or had kids in any of that time, then there’s probably a good chance that your television has found itself locked on Disney Channel for long periods. Disney’s cable home celebrates its 40th birthday this week, and as part of the celebration the channel dropped a little birthday video that reimagines 40 years of Disney Channel characters in the style of the adorable Chibi Tiny Tales shorts.
The birthday video sees Phineas and Ferb get the idea that what they’re going to do today is bake a birthday cake. Numerous Disney characters, of both the live-action and animated varieties, decide to help out and we watch the wild experience that is the creation of the birthday cake. See how many characters you can name on one viewing.
Disney Channel has gone through a lot of changes over the last 40 years, and that means it contains an eclectic mix of programming and thus an equally eclectic mix of characters. Of course, since so much of Disney is animation focused, many of these characters are from animated series, both past and present. Recent monster hits like Gravity Falls are, of course, represented here.
But there are decades of other series to enjoy. Those of us who are a bit older grew up watching the shows of the Disney Afternoon, like Gummi Bears, Chip & Dale’s Rescue Rangers, and the original Ducktales. Those shows also spent years running on Disney Channel, and they’re here as well.
Of course, for a lot of people, Disney Channel is where they watched live-action series and a near-endless run of Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs). It's where High School Musical launched a series of Disney Channel musical movies. It’s also where Disney launched a lot of pop music careers, like Miley Cyrus via Hannah Montana, and the Jonas Brothers. And if you’ve ever wondered what they would look like in adorable Chibi form, now we know.
In the end, the birthday cake is made and all the characters are here to celebrate Disney Channel’s 40th birthday. The video ends with a very familiar four-note refrain, which according to one of the creators, was specifically added following the excellent Defunctland documentary about the origin of the Disney Channel theme.
Also hey @Defunctland because your doc on the Disney Channel jingle made me cry we got it into our short. https://t.co/snVx0mill5April 3, 2023
It’s unclear how many more birthdays Disney Channel will even have. With so much focus on streaming, and Disney+ being a leader in that field, it's not hard to imagine a day when Disney Channel might go off the air. But even if that day comes, there are a lot of great characters and wonderful stories the channel has brought us that fans will never forget.
