Disney Channel--could they rerun old movies and shows?

I recall the Disney Channel once showed 1950s stuff in the late night
hours. I caught it once and some of it was
interesting--adventure/action shows and westerns shorts.

Right now all they do is rerun the daytime stuff overnight. I doubt
that attracts very much interest.

Wouldn't it make sense for them to rerun their old stuff (they own it,
right?) like old Haley Mills movies, and other films and TV shows from
the 1950s and 1960s? I'm curious to see the original Parent Trap. I

Nichole...

I miss the old stuff being on there too (and I was a kid during
most of the years that they showed it - I loved the old Nick@Nite
shows as a kid as well). But as someone else mentioned Parent Trap is
often shown on Hallmark channel - in fact a quick search shows it
coming up on March 25th. I think Family Channel also likes to run it
and the '98 version back-to-back (or maybe that's still Hallmark, I
could be confused). It is also available on DVD - a DVD by itself, and
a DVD that also has Parent Trap 2 - the sequel, not the remake - on
it. I saw "That Darn Cat" on another channel recently as well. So,

LindaY...

ANIM8Rfsk...

Now hold on there little missy. Kim Possible, junk? Kimmy is the best
thing to come out of Disney since that little rat Katzenberg ruined the
animation department.

Taylor...

It's no Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers. :-p

For a while Encore Westerns was showing the Disney Western movies. I
was able to get SAVAGE SAM and DONOVAN'S KID that way. They used to own
HIGH FLYING SPY, too.

while it doesn't make sense that Disney isn't showing them directly,
some of the movies can be found at least.

- Nichole

recall Disney had a TV show, hosted by Walt Disney himself (a heck of a
lot better host than Eisner).

Jude Cormier...

A lot of the old Disney movies show up on the Hallmark Channel.

I wonder if they can't show some of that stuff because perhaps it won't
pass muster with today's censors and standards. For example, maybe
they're afraid kids were attempt stuff they did on the action/adventure
shows, or maybe the role of women in their 1950s stuff isn't ok by
today's standards.

Taylor...

Disney Channel and Nickelodeon have SUCKED since the early-'90s when
their corporate money machine took over.

hancock4...

Disney has always been a "corporate money machine". The only
difference is that in the past they hid it better.

There's a biography of Roy Disney, Walt's brother. He was just as
involved in running the company as Walt was, only Roy took care of the
business side of things and kept a very low profile. Disney was a
business, the TV show pushed the movies and merchandising and visits to
Disneyland and vice versa.

Walt Disney himself had a very kindly appearance and worked great as
the narrator of the old Disney TV show (IIRC it was on Sunday nights on
NBC). They had a cartoon character named Jiminy Cricket whose voice
was also very kindly and reassuring, and the character used to make

Nancy1...

Jiminy Cricket was a main character in the 1940 cartoon movie,
"Pinocchio."

Bill Steele...

And the kindly, reassuring voice belonged to the late Cliff "Ukelele
Ike" Edwards, who can be seen now and then on TCM and the westerns
channel. The high moment of his career, at least in retrospect, would be
as the first singer of "When You Wish Upon a Star," which went on to
become the Disney theme song.

appearances, along with a sweet tiny fairy cartoon. Everyone had a
warm childhood memory about them and went "ahhhhhhh" whenever they
appeared.

The company went through some hard times. "ET" was often called the
"best Disney movie they didn't make", that is, ET should've been made
by the Disney studio but wasn't. Some changes were inevitable.

JennP...

I don't know about standards and censors, but I think they probably don't do
it because they don't think that kids would like it. They really should
reconsider though because my ds' three favorite movies are Mary Poppins,
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the original Herbie the Love Bug. IIRC, those
are all Disney movies.

Jude Cormier...

CCBB is an MGM/Sony property.

bklyntv...

I would guess that's the case, & I might be inclined to agree, kids
these days would be unlikely to be entertained by the very old stuff.

It DOES sound like a smart plan for late night for the channel, a sort
of Nick@Night idea, rerun the old stuff for nostalgic adults.

I sure for the most part, the stuff is owned wholly by Disney and would
cost little or nothing for them to run.