Growing up, we would run home from school, grab a capri sun and a snak pak pudding and plop down in front of the TV and watch rerun after rerun of Lizzie McGuire, That’s So Raven, Even Stevens and Phil of the Future, to name a few, until a new episode premiered.
The Disney Channel was a way of life for kids growing up in the early 2000s. We idolized the main characters on the show and in real life. On top of all of that, our parents approved of the sitcoms and the actors who starred on them. Ten years later, we are all adults, the actors who played or favorite characters are married with children, and all that is left are beautiful memories.
The shows that are currently running on the Disney Channel cannot even touch the ones we grew up watching. The viewers don’t even remotely have the same emotional attachment that we had to the shows, the actors and actresses are not nearly as popular as Hiliary Duff, Miley Cyrus or Raven Symoné were. It’s so sad to see. The Disney Channel was a source of comfort to us all growing up.
Friday’s were strictly dedicated to all things Disney, especially the 3rd Friday of the month when a new Disney Channel Original Movie usually aired, in addition to some of our favorite shows.
Their “original movies” now cannot even come close to the ones that came out when we were young: Johnny Tsunami, Halloweentown, Quints, Zenon, The Cheetah Girls, The Thirteenth Year, and Smart House are just some of the Disney Channel Original Movies that defined our childhood. Zenon is still one of my favorite movies of all time…and I’m going to be 20!
Each one has a life lesson or a moral attached to them. Back then, one would premiere every month, and it would easily be the highlight of our little eight year old self’s life. Now, Disney is lucky if they even get one out every three months.
It’s a shame to see something that meant so much to our childhood is deteriorating so badly. I would give anything to be back to my elementary school days and have my only worry be if my mom was going to let my friends sleep over to watch the premiere of Disney’s latest original movie and new episodes of our favorite shows!