Orrin Scott: Archiving Animation with Home Media - The Disney Channel Physical Home Media Releases

I became familiar with the Disney Channel after it had rebranded itself in 1997 and became a part of basic cable packages available in my hometown. Though the channel has been around since April 18th, 1983, as a premium channel it wasn’t until that shift to basic cable occurred that original programming became a focus as well. A lot of the early Disney original animation programming I am quite familiar with and have fond memories of viewing as a youngster. The Proud Family and Gravity Falls being two of my favorite. Today there’s three Disney channels including Disney XD and Disney Junior. The focus for this series will be the Disney Channel after it’s rebranding, running to the present day.

Sources:

https://d23.com/this-day/disney-channel-begins-broadcasting/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_broadcast_by_Disney_Channel

The Proud Family (2001) ran for two seasons and a movie. It was the first original programming to air on the rebranded Disney Channel. While the made for television movie has been released on DVD, the two seasons have not seen a home media release on any media format. Announced earlier this year, The Proud Family has been revived and will premiere its third season on Disney+ at an unannounced date in the future.

Sources:

https://evanrocks.fandom.com/wiki/The_Proud_Family_Movie/Home_media

https://deadline.com/2020/02/proud-family-revival-disney-plus-original-cast-llouder-and-prouder-1202869445/

The Proud Family Logo:

https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/The_Proud_Family

Kim Possible (2002) had a stellar cast and ran four seasons with two made for television films. The first two seasons had a release on DVD exclusively through the Disney Movie Club. Of the episode compilations and bonus episodes on the two movie releases, only the third season’s “Showdown at the Crooked D” and “Gorilla Fist” and season four’s “Gorilla” has been released on DVD. The aforementioned made for TV movies, A Sitch in Time and So the Drama, have also been released on DVD and VHS.

Sources:

https://kimpossible.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_home_video_releases

Kim Possible Logo

https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Kim_Possible

Lilo & Stitch: The Series (2003) is a sequel to the 2002 movie, Lilo and Stitch, and ran for two seasons and two movies. The first movie, Stitch! The Movie, is considered the pilot to the television series. The second movie, Leroy & Stitch, serves as the series finale. There were four episodes featuring crossovers with Recess, Kim Possible, The Proud Family, and American Dragon: Jake Long. Only the two films and three episodes, Season 1, Episode 3 and Episode 4, "Clip" and "Mr. Stenchy" respectively, and the final episode Season 2, Episode 26, "Link", were released on DVD. Two further episodes, "Slushy" and "Poxy", were released in low resolution on the Game Boy Advance video series.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilo_%26_Stitch:_The_Series#Home_media

Lilo & Stitch: The Series Logo

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Lilo_%26_Stitch:_The_Series

Dave the Barbarian (2004) ran for a single season and has an earworm of a theme song. Unfortunately, no episodes of the series have been released on any home media.

Sources:

Dave the Barbarian Logo

https://iep.fandom.com/wiki/Dave_the_Barbarian

Brandy and Mr. Whiskers (2004) ran for two seasons. Like Lilo & Stitch, it has not had any home media releases, but has seen a singular episode, Season 1, Episode 4, "To the Moon Whiskers", released on Game Boy Advance video.