Playhouse Disney

Playhouse Disney is a former American pay television channel which was owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit of The Walt Disney Company's Disney-ABC Television Group.

Its programming was targeted at children aged 2-6, featuring a mix of live-action and animated series.

History
Prior to Playhouse Disney's launch, Disney Channel had aired a line-up of preschool-targeted programs (which were mixed alongside animated series aimed at older children) during the morning hours since its debut in April 1983. On April 6, 1997, Disney Channel underwent a relaunch that signified the beginning of its full conversion into a commercial-free basic cable channel, and its morning program block now utilised a similar graphics package for its promotions as that used for the channel's afternoon children's programs. After Disney Channel's preschool block premiered three new original series in 1998 (PB&J Otter, Rolie Polie Olie, and Out of the Box), the block rebranded as Playhouse Disney on February 1, 1999.

One of the Playhouse Disney block's most popular series was Bear in the Big Blue House, an educational live-action series from Jim Henson Productions that debuted in October 1997, focusing on the adventures of Bear (performed by Noel MacNeal); the series was named by TV Guide as one of the "top 10 new shows for kids" that year. For the first three years of its run, the Playhouse Disney block originally aired each weekday from 8:30am to 2:30pm Eastern Time, and weekends from 6:00 to 10:00am Eastern Time. Following each program, which usually ran 23 minutes (most of which, with the exception of movies, aired without promotional interruption), the remainder of the time period was filled by either short segments and music videos (the latter of which were originally aired under the banner "Feet Beat") or an episode of an acquired short series.

On April 16, 2001, Playhouse Disney introduced a new on-air graphics package produced by motion graphics company Beehive; actress Allyce Beasley began serving as the U.S. block's promo announcer at this time, a capacity she would hold until March 30, 2007. Radio Disney cross-promoted the block by rebranding its "Mickey and Minnie's Tune Time" block as "Playhouse Disney", and in 2002, the TV block's "Feet Beat" interstitials were renamed "B.B.'s Music Time" to promote the Radio Disney block. On June 25, 2001, Disney-ABC Cable Networks Group (now Disney-ABC Television Group) announced plans to launch Playhouse Disney Channel, a companion digital cable and satellite channel that would have served the same target audience as the Disney Channel block; plans for the network were later scrapped, although Disney-ABC International Television would launch dedicated Playhouse Disney Channels in international markets (including Canada and Latin America) between 2002 and 2007. The Walt Disney Company acquired the broadcast rights to The Wiggles as part of their purchase of the Fox Family Channel in 2001; The Wiggles moved to Playhouse Disney in June 2002 and became one of the block's most watched shows during its run.

Like Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney was a commercial-free service, but it did show short "promotional spots" (structured as short-form segments for Disney products targeted at the block's demographics) along with, beginning in 2002, underwriter sponsorships (with companies such as McDonald's) within breaks between programs (preschool-targeted programs that aired between 3:00 and 7:00am Central Time outside of the Playhouse Disney banner, included the promotional shorts for Disney entertainment products that were seen during Disney Channel's afternoon and nighttime schedule). On October 7, 2002, Playhouse Disney changed its logo to reflect Disney Channel's on-air rebranding. As part of the block's effort to phase out its older interstitial material, it introduced a mascot in September named Clay (voiced by Debi Derryberry), an anthropomorphic clay figure who often used the catchphrases "It's true!" and "Are you with me?".

On March 31, 2007, Clay was replaced by two anthropomorphic monkey puppets as the block's hosts, Ooh and Aah (who served as the main characters for one of the short series featured on the Playhouse Disney line-up, Ooh, Aah & You). Beginning in 2007, Disney Channel began truncating the weekday block to four hours (from 5:00 to 9:00am Eastern Time) during the summer months, in order to air episodes of Disney Channel original series during the late morning and early afternoon hours; however, the weekend schedule continued to air as a seven-hour block. By this point, the Playhouse Disney block had expanded to air from 4:00am to 2:00pm Eastern Time on weekdays, and 4:00 to 9:00am Eastern Time on weekends, each running a different schedule.

Disney Junior
On May 26, 2010, Disney-ABC Television Group announced the launch of Disney Junior, a relaunching of Playhouse Disney that would serve as the brand for the Disney Channel block and a new standalone digital cable and satellite channel in the United States, as well as the new brand for the existing Playhouse Disney-branded cable channels and program blocks outside the US. The Playhouse Disney block ended its 14-year run on February 13, 2011, with the last program to air being an episode of the short series Handy Manny's School for Tools at 1:55pm Eastern Time.

The Disney Junior block debuted on February 14, 2011, with Little Einsteins as its first program. Several former Playhouse Disney series were carried over to the relaunched block including Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Special Agent Oso, Imagination Movers, Handy Manny, and Little Einsteins. With the relaunch of the block, the block's mascots Ooh and Aah were retired and several of its older programs were entirely discontinued (however, Ooh and Aah & You was later carried on the Disney Junior cable channel).

The 24-hour cable channel debuted on March 23, 2012 with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode "Mickey's Big Surprise" as its first program, mainly featuring a mix of original series and programs held over from the Playhouse Disney library (which largely aired as part of the channel's overnight schedule until mid-2014). Disney Junior took over the channel space held by the Disney-owned soap opera-focused channel Soapnet, largely due to that channel's existing subscriber reach (being carried in 75 million households with pay television). An automated Soapnet feed remained in operation for providers that did not yet reach agreements to carry the Disney Junior channel or providers that were required to continue carrying Soapnet in addition to Disney Junior until Soapnet fully ceased operations on December 31, 2013.

Programming
See Also: List of Programs Broadcast by Playhouse Disney

International Versions
In September 1999, the Playhouse Disney brand was extended internationally with the launch of a self-branded block on Disney Channel in the United Kingdom. On September 29, 2000, Disney Television International expanded the block with the launch of a channel in the country alongside the launch of Toon Disney and Disney Channel +1 on the Sky Digital platform. On April 4, 2009, Egmont Group launched a companion Playhouse Disney magazine in the United Kingdom that focused on the channel's four most popular shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, My Friends Tigger & Pooh, Handy Manny and Little Einsteins. Each issue included "to do" pages and suggested activities for parents and children based on an educational theme. The channel was replaced by Disney Junior on May 7, 2011.

On November 30, 2007, Astral Media launched a Canadian version of Playhouse Disney Channel under a brand licensing agreement with Disney-ABC Television Group; the channel operated as a multiplex channel of Family Channel, which had long maintained a programming distribution agreement with Disney Channel for the domestic rights to the U.S. channel's series until January 2016.