Sleep is overrated.

OK, maybe not. I like sleep just fine, and as a limited resource, I'd love to have more of it. But after having trouble falling asleep the other night, I've determined that I'm missing too much fantastic Disney television by sleeping the night away. You see, though I've known about Vault Disney on the Disney Channel for some time now, I've never really been able to bring myself to stay up and enjoy all of its wonders.

I'm often in bed by 11 in order to wake up and drive to work in the morning. And after a long day at work and doing chores at home after work, 11 o'clock is a welcome time for me. But the other night, I just couldn't fall asleep. There weren't enough sheep to count that would knock me out, so I decided to watch TV instead. Flipping through some channels, I decided to settle in on the Disney Channel when I saw Annette Funicello singing "Lonely Guitar" on Zorro. Zorro has long been a favorite of mine and seeing it in glorious black-and-white made me quite happy.

After Zorro saved the day, I decided to try to sleep again so I set the sleep timer on the TV and climbed under the covers and tried to sleep. But I couldn't. I was too excited about what I had just seen and was too excited about what I could hear was now playing on Vault Disney - Spin and Marty. I never fully got into the series since you could usually only catch about 10 minutes of it during Mickey Mouse Club episodes. But the Disney Channel put about three episodes together in a half-hour block. And who can't resist the "aw shucks" nature of this show? Spin was trying to embarrass Marty but when Marty showed he could hold his own, Spin had to congratulate him on his success. Who wrote this cheese? I love it.

And the cheese continued with an episode of Walt Disney Presents. Tonight's episode? Ballad of Hector, the Stowaway Dog, a 1964 TV movie starring a very cute and talented Airedale. I couldn't take my eyes off of this dog doing his heroic tricks and proving to be a worthy shipmate while some unscrupulous circus trainer was plotting to kidnap him. I won't ruin the ending for you since the TV timer clicked off and I decided that I really, really needed to get some sleep since it was nearly two in the morning. But the fact that I couldn't turn off the Disney Channel after midnight when I rarely take the time to watch it at any other time of day makes me wonder why they don't show this great stuff at times when people are actually awake?

Vault Disney airs each night from midnight to 6 a.m. (11 p.m. to 5 a.m. central time zone) and features programming including Walt Disney Presents, Zorro, The Mickey Mouse Club, Disney Classic Movies and the Ink and Paint Club, a collection of vintage Disney animation themed to a particular subject. This is the stuff that the Disney Channel was based on nearly 20 years ago when the company first launched the subscription cable channel.

Growing up, we didn't have a lot of extra money for non-necessities but my mom did a great job of providing us what she could. I remember when she gave my sister and I a choice between subscribing to the Disney Channel and getting or doing something else. The fact that I can't remember what the other option was shows that I feel we made the right choice in picking the Disney Channel. We used to love receiving the Disney Channel Magazine, which had a full programming schedule and tons of fun Disney stuff - such as a column by Disney archivist Dave Smith, stories about people who would be appearing on the Disney Channel that month and coloring and activity pages.

My favorite programming block would become the Disney Drive-In, with shows very similar to Vault Disney. But what was great about Disney Drive-In was that it was on during the day on the weekends, available during the times when I was most available to sit down and enjoy these shows. And though I had been taping specials off the Disney Channel already, I finally wised up and began collecting the movies that they featured during these magical weekends. What was great about it was that I could watch the show or movie and then have a video tape of the show to watch at some future date.

A few years ago, Disney decided that it made more sense to switch from a subscription-based channel to one of the "basic cable" channels that viewers received for free (although many cable operators balked at suddenly having to pay for a channel they used to make their customers pay for). The Disney Channel's subscription numbers had fallen way behind that of rival Nickelodeon, whose children's programming had become the No. 1 rated programming for the rugrat set. By being on the same number of systems and available in the same number of homes, Disney was hoping that it could reclaim the title of leader in children's entertainment. But in doing so, the channel that I had grown and loved became no more.

The most recent incarnation of the Disney Channel is a station for "tweens," children above the toddler group but not yet teenagers. We now have intermissions during programming where movies and shows used to run without breaks (it has been suggested that these breaks allow the "tweens" the chance to use the restroom and not miss anything). Everything is "Zoog this" and "Zoog that." And a lot of the "vintage" Disney programming has been relegated to after hours so that the same "Original Disney Channel Movie" can be played in the 7-to-9 p.m. timeslot every night for two weeks straight. If we are lucky, there might be 5 minutes between programming so that we can see the "Disney version" of today's hottest videos by today's hottest teenage performers.

Now before I sound like some old fogey complaining about how it used to be in my day, let me say that the Disney Channel is still better family entertainment than most other stuff on TV. This past "Zoog Weekend," I enjoyed some of the original movies that they seem to like to repeat over and over and over again. And repeats of quality shows like "Boy Meets World," "Brotherly Love" and "Smart Guy" are actually still fun to watch. It's just that I don't understand how a company with such a huge library to choose from is content to show the same limited material while relegating some great material to the hours when only insomniacs are watching.

Disney is rumored to be in the running to buy the Fox Family Channel from Fox and Saban Entertainment. This could be a great acquisition and would fit in nicely with the Disney Channel and Toon Disney (another disappointing cable channel). I would love to see Disney get back to "family" programming and not just focus on one segment of the family - the tweens. There's room in the cable spectrum to feature classic Disney programming with current, trendy shows and specials - a lineup that parents and children can enjoy together. Disney needs to learn how to fully utilize all aspects of its vertical empire and provide better synergies within its business units. As the leaders in family entertainment, they have all the tools they need to successfully do this.

I don't hate the current Disney Channel. I just don't give much thought to it. I would gladly pay for the Disney Channel of old, the one with Disney programming and the one without annoying breaks every 10 minutes. But since that isn't going to happen, I will have to find the unexpected gems in the current broadcast schedule and remember to set my VCR for the times when I should be sleeping like a baby.

In My Humble Opinion,
Matt

Posted May 30, 2001

E-mail Matt at matt@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

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