Saturday Disney
Saturday Disney is a long-running Australian children's television program which aired on the Seven Network in Australia for over 26 years, with the first episode going to air on 27 January 1990. The show was a television block which aired on Saturday mornings, consisting mainly of Disney television series dispersed between hosted content. The original presenters were Jeniene Mapp, James Sherry and Sofie Formica, and the final presenters were Nathan Morgan, Candice Dixon and Teigan Nash. Many hosts have gone on to achieve successful careers in Australian television.
On 5 September 2009, the show celebrated its 1,000th episode. Saturday Disney aired its final episode on 24 September 2016.
Hosts
| Role | Name | First show | Last show |
| Host | Sofie Formica | 27 January 1990 | October 1992 |
| Host | Lisa Barry | October 1992 | October 1997 |
| Host | Melanie Symons | October 1997 | 19 October 2002 |
| Host | Shae Brewster | 19 October 2002 | 27 July 2013 |
| Host | Teigan Nash | 27 July 2013 | 24 September 2016 |
| Host | Jeniene Mapp | 27 January 1990 | October 1996 |
| Host | Shelley Craft | October 1996 | 6 July 2002 |
| Host | Sara Groen | 6 July 2002 | 28 January 2006 |
| Host | Sally Stanton | 21 January 2006 | 7 May 2011 |
| Host | Candice Dixon | 7 May 2011 | 24 September 2016 |
| Host | James Sherry | 27 January 1990 | 29 January 1994 |
| Host | Marc Buhaj | 5 February 1994 | 27 February 1999 |
| Host | Tim McDonald | 6 March 1999 | 29 January 2000 |
| Host | Daniel Widdowson | 5 February 2000 | 27 January 2007 |
| Host | Jack Yabsley | 20 January 2007 | 26 February 2011 |
| Host | Nathan Morgan | 26 February 2011 | 24 September 2016 |
;Notes
- Saturday Disney had three hosts at any one time, always consisting of two females and one male.
- The presenters were also credited as segment producers, and they wrote and researched their own stories.
- The only exception of having more than three hosts on air at one time was whenever a co-host was leaving and their replacement was introduced on screen, either a number of weeks beforehand, or during the final episode of the co-host who was leaving.
- Shae Brewster was the longest-serving presenter in the history of the show. She hosted the show for three months short of eleven years.
- Both Shelley Craft and Melanie Symons returned to the show as guests after their departures. Craft returned on 26 October 2002 to talk about her new hosting role on Perfect Match and via satellite on 29 October 2005 for the 800th episode. Symons returned on 2 August 2003 to promote Australia's Best Backyards.
- Several hosts have appeared after their departure through old footage. On the 999th episode on 29 August 2009, footage of every previous presenter who had been on the show was aired, looking back at the show's then 19-year history.
- Sally Stanton was interviewed by Teigan Nash on 2 May 2015 at the Cinderella red carpet event. Stanton was reporting for Event TV.
- Melanie Symons, Daniel Widdowson, Shae Brewster, Sally Stanton and Jack Yabsley featured as guests in the final episode which aired 24 September 2016. James Sherry also appeared via a video message.
History
On 5 September 2009, the show celebrated its 1,000th episode. The episode was filmed on location at Disneyland to celebrate. A week prior to this, footage of every previous host who had been on the show was aired, looking back at the show's then 19-year history.
Shae Brewster hosted her final episode on 27 July 2013, becoming the longest-serving host in the history of the program. She presented the show for three months short of eleven years, first joining in 2002.
The final episodes of Saturday Disney were filmed on 26 August 2016. TV Tonight reported that the show would be ending before the news was confirmed by a spokesperson for Seven. The final episode aired on 24 September 2016 and featured guest appearances by former presenters Melanie Symons, Daniel Widdowson, Shae Brewster, Sally Stanton and Jack Yabsley. James Sherry also appeared via a video message. David Knox of TV Tonight reported the cancellation of the program was the result of a "change in direction" under a new executive producer in charge of children's programming for Seven.
Format
As a main feature, Saturday Disney originally included three Disney programs dispersed throughout the course of a two-hour episode. From 2012 to 2016, Saturday Disney featured five programs over the course of a three-hour episode. The programs shown regularly rotated around the schedule, and were a mixture of animated cartoons and live action comedies, which were more common after the premiere of Hannah Montana in 2007. There were three hosts of Saturday Disney, who lived in the 'Disney House' and introduced the programs along with performing other activities such as cooking, craft, science segments, interviews and special appearances by guests, usually celebrities, and occasionally live animals. Occasionally, the show was shot entirely on location, where the hosts explored certain cities such as Coffs Harbour or places such as Disneyland for the episode's entirety.Feature stories produced by and starring the hosts were also included, which were usually articles about places, activities and events, interviews with celebrities or red carpet events. This format has been likened to magazine-style edu-tainment shows. In some stories, the hosts adapted certain characters used as a substitute for themselves presenting the article. Another type of the stories were recurring mini-series with the hosts acting as characters, which air occasionally. Some recurring series from the past included Hazard Man, The Transfreezers, Tell Tale Trio and the Secret Agents. A Page in Time, introduced a style of serialised drama, depicting three children returning to 1850s. More recent series such as Danger Island, Race Around the Island and The Assistant took on the reality genre, parodying American series Survivor, The Amazing Race, and The Apprentice respectively.
A Double Dog Dare was featured in every episode, where each host took turns to complete ridiculous, embarrassing or challenging tasks which upon failure may have resulted in the loser eating unusual foods as punishment. Ingredients were also regularly mixed in a blender. Ideas for dares and punishments were often sent in by viewers. This popular segment was a prominent feature of the show for many years.
Each week there was also a chosen Letter of the Week, which could be letters, drawings, or art sent in by viewers. Winners usually received many prizes, and the artwork was displayed around the set. Throughout the course of the program, emails from viewers were also read out.
Time slot
The program's time slot since the show's inception in 1990 was always every Saturday from 7:00am until 9:00am on Seven unless there were interruptions by sporting or news events. Further Disney programming would continue to air after Saturday Disney.From 4 September 1993 to 25 August 2001, Saturday Disney aired for an extra half-hour until 9:30am to include cartoons such as The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and The Little Mermaid, or C classified programming such as Crash Zone, Squiggle Vision and Science Court. However, the extra programme would be listed separately on TV guides and feature minimal hosted content.
On 4 July 2009, the show moved to the earlier time slot of 6:30am to 8:30am. However, the show returned to the previous time of 7:00am to 9:00am on 31 October 2009.
It was announced on 8 February 2010, that beginning 13 February 2010, the show would be moved to the later time slot of 9:00am to 11:00am, to make way for Weekend Sunrise.
It was announced on 17 March 2012 that, beginning 31 March 2012, the show would be moved to 7TWO and return to the original 7:00am to 9:00am time slot with a new look and logo, to make way for The Morning Show. On 12 May 2012, the regular length of Saturday Disney was extended to three hours with a time slot of 7:00am to 10:00am.
On 1 September 2012, Saturday Disney moved to the new time slot of 6:00am to 7:00am on Seven, then from 7:00am to 9:00am on 7TWO, the three hours now airing across both channels.
On 19 March 2016, the program's secondary channel changed from 7TWO to 7flix, airing from 6:00am to 7:00am on Seven, then from 7:00am to 9:00am on 7flix. The program remained in this slot until its final episode.