Disney XD is an American digital cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is also a sister channel division of Disney Channel. Disney XD mostly airs action-oriented children's animated television series, with some live-action programming and movies aimed at male viewers aged 6 to 14.

Disney XD airs original Disney XD content, such as Zeke and Luther, Kickin' It, I'm in the Band, and Pair of Kings and some of Disney Channel's most popular programming, including recent and archived original series, such as The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Phineas and Ferb, as well as some made-for-TV movies.

It is offered with Spanish language audio, either via a separate channel as part of a Spanish language network package sold by cable and satellite providers or a separate audio track with the SAP option, depending on the system. The channel also offers a video-on-demand service to digital cable and IPTV subscribers, offering free programming.

Programming[link]

Disney XD broadcasts original series such as Pair of Kings, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, Kickin' It, Rated A For Awesome, Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge, Kid vs. Kat Mr. Young, Lab Rats, Ultimate Spider-Man, and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, and Motorcity. Repeats of former Disney XD original series include Jimmy Two-Shoes and I'm in the Band, and Zeke and Luther. Reruns of Disney Channel original series includes American Dragon: Jake Long, The Emperor's New School, Cars Toons, Fish Hooks, The Legend of Tarzan, Phineas and Ferb, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, it's sequel series The Suite Life on Deck, Wizards of Waverly Place, and So Random!. Acquired programing from other networks includes Fantastic Four, Gargoyles, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, My Babysitter's a Vampire, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Spider-Man Unlimited, X-Men, and X-Men Evolution. Future original series includes Tron: Uprising, BoBoiBoy, and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H..

A notable aspect of Disney XD's original series is that they tend to feature predominately male casts, and as such, its original programs feature very few females as main characters (with most live-action originals typically featuring only one female in its main cast) in comparison to Disney Channel's original programs, which tend to feature an equal or nearly equal amount of main characters of either gender. New episodes of live-action original series are usually aired on Monday nights, while new episodes of animated original series air on Saturday mornings. In addition, Disney XD airs movies, but unlike Disney Channel, movies are typically not aired in prime time; instead, films generally air at 5 pm ET with double features airing a few times a week. The channel's first (and so far only) made-for-TV movie, Skyrunners, premiered on November 27, 2009.

In addition to full-length live-action and animated original series, the channel also debuts short series similar to those seen on Disney Channel during commercial breaks, such as Moises Rules, The Next X, and its spin-off The Next Winter X. These shows often follow other network shows and last about two to three minutes or sometimes fifteen minutes, with the exception of a few short-form series. Often, these shows are televised in the last two minutes of the program, with the exception of the Disney XD Shortstop, or following the ending of a movie. ESPN's SportsCenter provides youth-oriented sports updates periodically between shows. Edited segments of ABC's Wipeout are also broadcast.

Programming blocks[link]

Marvel Universe[link]

On April 1, 2012, Disney XD launched a dedicated Marvel block called Marvel Universe, with the premiere of Ultimate Spider-Man, followed by the return of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

The Marvel Universe block is the latest manifestation of Disney's 2009 acquisition of Marvel. In addition to Ultimate Spider-Man and the return of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes the block also new short-form animation series and live-action interstitials.

Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America are among the characters featured in the Marvel Universe programming.

"Iconic Marvel heroes and villains and stories with core values of accomplishment, discovery and growth make Marvel Universe a perfect complement to Disney XD and a destination for parents and kids to experience together," Disney Channels Worldwide topper Gary Marsh said.

Drake Bell voices the lead character of "Ultimate Spider-Man" and is joined in the voice cast by Chi McBride, JK Simmons, Clark Gregg, Steven Weber, and Marvel legend Stan Lee. The show puts Peter Parker on a team with four other teenage superheroes. Marvel Animation is producing with a team including chief creative officer Joe Quesada, Paul Dini, Brian Michael Bendis and Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steven T. Seagle of Man of Action Studios. Marvel Universe is set to compete with Cartoon Network's DC Nation, and also ment to replace the Jetix, a block that ended with Toon Disney. ^{[1] [2]}

Disney XD HD[link]

Disney XD HD logo since 2009

Disney XD HD is the branding used for the high-definition feed of the network. It is offered on some cable providers, as well as both satellite providers and telco IPTV providers in the Disney/ABC television networks preferred HD picture format of 720p. The high-definition feed airs a limited amount of programming in high definition, mainly Disney XD's original programming as well as certain films and some episodes of Disney Channel series produced after 2009.

International channels[link]

Disney XD, similarly born of a merger between Jetix and Toon Disney, is also available on cable systems in Canada, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latin America, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain and United Kingdom.^[3]

Latin America[link]

As Jetix, the channel aired mostly animated series, including the Jetix Animation Concepts and Disney Channel Original Series. Some live-action series like Power Rangers or local Casi Ángeles were also aired. Third-party movies and series were also aired. The Fox Kids World Cup was renamed Jetix Kids World Cup and later just Jetix Cup and became smaller, with only Latin American countries playing. Eventually, Jetix started airing old series from Disney Channel, series that had been dropped or canceled from that channel. Those series include Phil of the Future, Dave the Barbarian, Even Stevens and some others. By 2008, most of the Jetix programming included The Fairly OddParents, Pucca, Dinosaur King, and Power Rangers. Those series took most of the schedule of the channel. The channel also premiered a Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock.

Late in 2008, Disney Channel Worldwide stated that Jetix Latin America, would become Disney XD in 2009.^[4] The Jetix Cup was renamed Disney Soccer Cup to fit with the Disney XD re-branding.

Finally, Disney and ESPN Media Networks announced on May 2009 that Jetix would become Disney XD on July 3, 2009.^[5] The last series premiering on the channel were Monster Buster Club and Quantum Ray. The promos of Disney XD showed different subjects of the new channel (like guitars, skates, video games or even shoes) appearing in front of the Jetix character on its own city.

United Kingdom and Ireland[link]

A one-hour timeshift of Disney XD is also available. Disney XD +1 is available on Sky, Virgin Media, and TalkTalk TV in the UK and in the Republic of Ireland on Sky and Magnet Networks.

Beach Soccer was a joint initiative between England Beach Soccer and Disney XD, holding Beach Soccer Roadshows across the UK.^[6] An artificial beach was built in each of the five locations, and beach soccer tournaments were held in Southampton, Nottingham, Minehead and Stockport, culminating in a beach soccer final in Oxford Street, London on Saturday August 29, 2009. Leading the programme was the England National Beach Soccer squad themselves, who were on hand to teach skills and drills and oversee the day’s coaching sessions.

British skateboarder Pete King skated his way across the UK to help get kids out and skateboarding as part of the launch of Disney XD.^[7] From Land’s End to John O’Groats, Pete King kick-flipped and tail-slided through the UK executing daredevil tricks whilst conducting master classes for kids looking to become the next British skateboarding stars. King’s challenge was part of a series of challenges which Disney XD set for UK personalities to help inspire kids to try new activities. Viewers were able to watch the highlights of King’s journey on Disney XD in October 2009. Also, two shows have been premiered in the UK before the US, called Football Funnies and Goalmouth

Netherlands and Flanders[link]

Disney XD broadcasting is available in the Netherlands on Flanders as a 12 hours channel on all TV operators, the other half of the day is the Dutch TV channel Veronica broadcast. However there is a Digital 24-hour version that is available on the operators/channels UPC, Ziggo and Telenet.

Other[link]

The channel is available in India, France, Monaco, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Japan, Switzerland, Denmark, Morocco, Madagascar, Réunion, Mauritius and Caribbean Sea (Antilles, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique). The old address of the Jetix website now redirects to the Disney XD website.

See also[link]

	United States portal
	Television portal
	Animation portal

• Disney Channel
• Toon Disney
• Jetix
• List of Disney XD TV channels

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

The Walt Disney Company

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: DIS Dow Jones Industrial Average Component S&P 500 Component
Industry	Mass media
Founded	Los Angeles, California, U.S.[1] (October 16, 1923)
Founder(s)	Walt and Roy Disney
Headquarters	Walt Disney Studios 500 S. Buena Vista Street Burbank, California, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Bob Iger (Chairman and CEO)
Products	Television, radio, publishing, movies, theme parks and Internet
Services	Licensing
Revenue	US$ 40.893 billion (2011)[2]
Operating income	US$ 08.043 billion (2011)[2]
Net income	US$ 04.807 billion (2011)[2]
Total assets	US$ 72.124 billion (2011)[2]
Total equity	US$ 37.385 billion (2011)[2]
Employees	156,000 (2011)[2]
Divisions	Divisions The Walt Disney Studios Disney Music Group Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Disney Interactive Media Group Disney Consumer Products
Subsidiaries	Subsidiaries Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Theatrical Walt Disney India Ltd. Pixar Animation Studios Marvel Entertainment, LLC The Muppets Studio ABC Inc. ESPN Inc. (80%) A+E Networks (42.5%) Radio Disney Hulu (27%) UTV Software Communications
Website	Disney.com

The Walt Disney Studios, the headquarters of The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), commonly referred to as Disney, is an American multinational diversified mass media company headquartered in Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, California, United States. It is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue.^[3] Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into live-action film production, television, and travel. Taking on its current name in 1986, The Walt Disney Company expanded its existing operations and also started divisions focused upon theatre, radio, music, publishing, and online media. In addition, it has created new divisions of the company in order to market more mature content than it typically associates with its flagship family-oriented brands.

The company is best known for the products of its film studio, the Walt Disney Studios, and today one of the largest and best-known studios in Hollywood. Disney also owns and operates the ABC broadcast television network; cable television networks such as Disney Channel, ESPN, A+E Networks, and ABC Family; publishing, merchandising, and theatre divisions; and owns and licenses 14 theme parks around the world. It also has a successful music division. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6, 1991. An early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, Mickey Mouse, is the official mascot of The Walt Disney Company.

Corporate history[link]

1923–1928: The silent era[link]

In early 1923, Kansas City, Missouri animator Walt Disney created a short film entitled Alice's Wonderland, which featured child actress Virginia Davis interacting with animated characters. Film distributor Margaret J. Winkler contacted Disney with plans to distribute a whole series of Alice Comedies based upon Alice's Wonderland. The contract signed, Walt and his brother Roy Disney moved to Los Angeles. On October 16, 1923, they officially set up shop in their uncle Robert Disney's garage, marking the beginning of the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio.^[4] Within a few months, the company moved into the back of a realty office in downtown Los Angeles, where production continued on the Alice Comedies until 1927.^[5] In 1926, the studio moved to a newly constructed studio facility on Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles.^[5]

After the demise of the Alice comedies, Disney developed an all-cartoon series starring his first original character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, which was distributed by Winkler Pictures through Universal Pictures. Disney only completed 26 Oswald shorts before losing the contract in February 1928, when Winkler's husband Charles Mintz took over their distribution company. Mintz hired away all of Disney's animators except Ub Iwerks to start his own animation studio.^[4]

1928–1934: Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies[link]

In 1928, to recover from the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created Mickey Mouse. Disney's first sound film Steamboat Willie, a cartoon starring Mickey, was released on November 18, 1928. It was the third Mickey Mouse cartoon, behind Plane Crazy and The Gallopin' Gaucho, although it was the first cartoon featuring Mickey to find a distributor and enter public release. Steamboat Willie was an immediate smash hit, and its initial success was attributed not just to Mickey's appeal as a character but to the fact that it was the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound.^[6] Disney used Pat Powers' Cinephone system, created by Powers using Lee De Forest's Phonofilm system. Steamboat Willie premiered at B. S. Moss's Colony Theater in New York City,^[7] now The Broadway Theatre. Plane Crazy and The Galloping Gaucho were then retrofitted with synchronized sound tracks and re-released successfully in 1929.

Disney continued to produce cartoons with Mickey Mouse and other characters, and began the Silly Symphonies series, which was advertised as "Mickey Mouse Presents a Walt Disney Silly Symphony". In 1932, Disney signed an exclusive contract with Technicolor (through the end of 1935) to produce cartoons in color, beginning with Flowers and Trees (1932). Disney released cartoons through Powers' Celebrity Pictures (1928–1930), Columbia Pictures (1930–1932), and United Artists (1932–1937). The popularity of the Mickey Mouse series and the Silly Symphony series allowed Disney to plan for his first feature-length animation.

[edit] 1934–1945: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and World War II

Deciding to push the boundaries of animation even further, Disney began production of his first feature-length animated film in 1934. Taking three years to complete, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, based upon the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale, premiered in December 1937 and became highest-grossing film of that time by 1939.^[8] Snow White was released through RKO Radio Pictures, which had assumed distribution of Disney's product in July 1937,^[9] after United Artists attempted to attain future television rights to the Disney shorts.^[10]

Using the profits from Snow White, Disney financed the construction of a new 51-acre (210,000 m²) studio complex in Burbank, California. The new Walt Disney Studios, in which the company is headquartered to this day, was completed and open for business by the end of 1939. The following year, Walt Disney Productions had its initial public offering.

The studio continued releasing animated shorts and features, such as Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942). After World War II began, box-office profits declined. When the United States entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor, many of Disney's animators were drafted into the armed forces. The U.S. and Canadian governments commissioned the studio to produce training and propaganda films. By 1942 90% of its 550 employees were working on war-related films.^[11] Films such as the feature Victory Through Air Power and the short Education for Death (both 1943) were meant to increase public support for the war effort. Even the studio's characters joined the effort, as Donald Duck appeared in a number of comical propaganda shorts, including the Academy Award-winning Der Fuehrer's Face (1943).

1946–1954: Post-war and television[link]

With limited staff and little operating capital during and after the war, Disney's feature films during much of the 1940s were "package films," or collections of shorts, such as The Three Caballeros (1944) and Melody Time (1948), which performed poorly at the box-office. At the same time, the studio began producing live-action films and documentaries. Song of the South (1946) and So Dear to My Heart (1948) featured animated segments, while the True-Life Adventures series, which included such films as Seal Island (1948) and The Vanishing Prairie (1954), were also popular and won numerous awards.

The release of Cinderella in 1950 proved that feature-length animation could still succeed in the marketplace. Other releases of the period included Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953), both in production before the war began, and Disney's first all-live action feature, Treasure Island (1950). Other early all-live-action Disney films included The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), The Sword and the Rose (1953), and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Disney ended its distribution contract with RKO in 1953, forming its own distribution arm, Buena Vista Distribution.^[9]

In December 1950, Walt Disney Productions and The Coca-Cola Company teamed up for Disney's first venture into television, the NBC television network special An Hour in Wonderland. In October 1954, the ABC network launched Disney's first regular television series, Disneyland, which would go on to become one of the longest-running primetime series of all time.^[12] Disneyland allowed Disney a platform to introduce new projects and broadcast older ones, and ABC became Disney's partner in the financing and development of Disney's next venture, located in the middle of an orange grove near Anaheim, California. It was the first phase of a long corporate relationship which, although no one could have anticipated it at the time, would culminate four decades later in the Disney company's acquisition of the ABC network, its owned and operated stations, and its numerous cable and publishing ventures.

1955–1965: Disneyland[link]

In 1954, Walt Disney used his Disneyland series to unveil what would become Disneyland, an idea conceived out of a desire for a place where parents and children could both have fun at the same time. On July 18, 1955, Walt Disney opened Disneyland to the general public. On July 17, 1955, Disneyland was previewed with a live television broadcast hosted by Art Linkletter and Ronald Reagan. After a shaky start, Disneyland continued to grow and attract visitors from across the country and around the world. A major expansion in 1959 included the addition of America's first monorail system.

For the 1964 New York World's Fair, Disney prepared four separate attractions for various sponsors, each of which would find its way to Disneyland in one form or another. During this time, Walt Disney was also secretly scouting out new sites for a second Disney theme park. In November 1965, "Disney World" was announced, with plans for theme parks, hotels, and even a model city on thousands of acres of land purchased outside of Orlando, Florida.

Disney continued to focus its talents on television throughout the 1950s. Its weekday afternoon children's television program The Mickey Mouse Club, featuring its roster of young "Mouseketeers", premiered in 1955 to great success, as did the Davy Crockett miniseries, starring Fess Parker and broadcast on the Disneyland anthology show. Two years later, the Zorro series would prove just as popular, running for two seasons on ABC, as well as separate episodes on the Disneyland series. Despite such success, Walt Disney Productions invested little into television ventures in the 1960s, with the exception of the long-running anthology series, later known as The Wonderful World of Disney.

Disney's film studios stayed busy as well, averaging five or six releases per year during this period. While the production of shorts slowed significantly during the 1950s and 1960s, the studio released a number of popular animated features, like Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), which introduced a new xerography process to transfer the drawings to animation cels. Disney's live-action releases were spread across a number of genres, including historical fiction (Johnny Tremain, 1957), adaptations of children's books (Pollyanna, 1960) and modern-day comedies (The Shaggy Dog, 1959). Disney's most successful film of the 1960s was a live action/animated musical adaptation of Mary Poppins, which received five Academy Awards, including Best Actress Julie Andrews.

1966–1971: The deaths of Walt and Roy Disney and the opening of Walt Disney World[link]

On December 15, 1966, Walt Disney died of complications relating to lung cancer, and Roy Disney took over as chairman, CEO, and president of the company. One of his first acts was to rename Disney World as "Walt Disney World" in honor of his brother and his vision.

In 1967, the last two films Walt actively supervised were released, the animated feature The Jungle Book and the musical The Happiest Millionaire. The studio released a number of comedies in the late 1960s, including The Love Bug (1968) and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), which starred another young Disney discovery, Kurt Russell. The 1970s opened with the release of Disney's first "post-Walt" animated feature, The Aristocats, followed by a return to fantasy musicals in 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

On October 1, 1971, Walt Disney World opened to the public, with Roy Disney dedicating the facility in person later that month. On December 20, 1971, Roy Disney died of a stroke, leaving the company under control of Donn Tatum, Card Walker, and Walt's son-in-law Ron Miller, each trained by Walt and Roy.^[13]

1972–1984: Theatrical malaise and new leadership[link]

While Walt Disney Productions continued releasing family-friendly films throughout the 1970s, such as Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) and Freaky Friday (1976), the films did not fare as well at the box office as earlier material. However, the animation studio saw success with Robin Hood (1973), The Rescuers (1977), and The Fox and the Hound (1981).

Inspired by the popularity of Star Wars, the Disney studio produced the science-fiction adventure The Black Hole in 1979. The Black Hole was one of the first Disney releases to carry a PG rating, the first being Take Down, also released in 1979. In 1980, Disney has joined venture with Paramount Pictures on the production of the 1980 film adaptation of Popeye, which was a critical failure, yet a moderate box office success. Disney joined with Paramount again in the 1981 fantasy epic Dragonslayer, which was more mature than anything Disney was ever involved with at the time, though it was a box office failure. The releases of these and other PG-rated Disney films such as the boldly innovative Tron (1982) led Disney CEO Ron Miller to create Touchstone Pictures as a brand for Disney to release more adult-oriented material. Touchstone's first release was the comedy Splash (1984), which was a box office success.