History

The channel launched on 29 September 2000 as Playhouse Disney, on the same day as the now defunct sister channel, Toon Disney.

Presenters were added to the channel in September 2009. The presenters work on the channel between 6pm and 8pm.

The Playhouse Disney brand, which existed as 22 channels or blocks in 156 countries and territories, rebranded as Disney Junior

Disney Junior

Disney Junior is a current program block on Disney Channel and an upcoming American basic cable and satellite television network intended to replace SOAPnet in February 2012. It began airing on February 14, 2011, replacing Playhouse Disney....

 in 2011. In the UK and Ireland, Disney Junior began on 7 May 2011, with its first show as Handy Manny

Handy Manny

Handy Manny is a Disney animated children's television program that premiered on September 16, 2006. The program was originally part of the Playhouse Disney daily block intended for preschoolers...

. At the same time the channel started broadcasting in widescreen format.

Logos and Identity

When Playhouse Disney UK was launched, it also has the same logostyle as Disney Channel UK, with 2D idents featuring lines and circles. The idents are also carried to Disney Channel UK.

Here is the list of the Playhouse Disney idents used in 2000:

• Balloon
  Balloon
  A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
  
  
• Car
  Čar
  Čar is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the town has a population of 296 people.-References:...
  
  
• Space
  Space
  Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
  
  
• Yarn
  Yarn
  Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
  
  
• Squeeze
  Squeeze
  Squeeze are a British band that came to prominence in the United Kingdom during the New Wave period of the late 1970s, and continued recording successfully in the 1980s and 1990s. They are known in the UK for their hit songs "Cool for Cats", "Up the Junction", "Tempted", "Labelled With Love",...
  
  
• Band
  Band
  - Clothing, jewelry, and accessories :* Bands , two pieces of cloth fitted around the neck as part of formal clothing for clergy, academics and lawyers* Bandolier or bandoleer, an ammunition belt* Belt * Wedding ring or wedding band...
  
  
• Flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  
• Nest
  Nest
  A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...
  
  

In September 2007, the channel logo in the external promotionals (programme press releases, promos for terrestrial TV) were changed to include the inscription "Channel" as in all Playhouse Disney Europe channels, but in the channel itself the logo was not changed. This move probably is to differentiate the channel from the US block Playhouse Disney, all mornings on Disney Channel

Disney Channel

Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...

 USA.

Disney Junior +

A one hour timeshift

Timeshift channel

A timeshift channel is a television channel carrying a time-delayed rebroadcast of its "parent" channel's output. This channel runs alongside their parent: the term "timeshift" does not refer to a network broadcasting at a later time to reflect a local timezone unless the parent is also available...

 service of the channel named Disney Junior +, launched on 30 October 2007 as Playhouse Disney +, replacing the now defunct channel ABC1. It launched on the same day that the Disney Channels were reshuffled on Sky, involving Disney Cinemagic and Disney Cinemagic +1 moving down the EPG, to enable Playhouse Disney to move up the EPG to allow Playhouse Disney + to launch next to it on Sky 611 and 612 respectively. Playhouse Disney + was initially a 25 minute timeshift service until 11 April 2011 when it became a 1 hour timeshift service.

Disney Channel Hour

Disney Junior also airs as an hour-long block on Disney Channel, Monday to Friday at - It shows three programmes, usually Handy Manny

Handy Manny

Handy Manny is a Disney animated children's television program that premiered on September 16, 2006. The program was originally part of the Playhouse Disney daily block intended for preschoolers...

, Special Agent Oso

Special Agent Oso

Special Agent Oso is a current Disney Channel series created by Ford Riley. The program was originally part of the Playhouse Disney block intended for preschoolers...

, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is a children's television series, that premiered in prime time on Disney Channel on May 5, 2006. The program was originally part of the Playhouse Disney daily block intended for preschoolers...

, My Friends Tigger & Pooh

My Friends Tigger & Pooh

My Friends Tigger & Pooh is a computer animated television series, inspired by Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne. The television series features Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends, including two new characters: a brave 6-year-old red-headed girl named Darby and her dog Buster...

or Imagination Movers

Imagination Movers

Imagination Movers is a child-centered rock band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2003. The lineup includes Rich Collins, Scott Durbin, Dave Poche, and Scott "Smitty" Smith. Members of the group were longtime friends and neighbors....

.

Playhouse Disney Live Tour

A live tour was scheduled to take place during 2008. It was shown in several cities across the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. In the UK, the tour included Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, and Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

.

External links

• Official site