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
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.
Appearances by hosts after leaving the show
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
Part of the Seven Network's output deal and long-running relationship with Disney in the late 1980s was to adopt a local program to feature new animated series such as DuckTales mixed with local studio segments. This was part of an international franchise of programs in the global market to be named Disney Club, the Australian version being located in Brisbane. The producers of this version convinced Disney to allow them to use the Saturday Disney title to avert confusion with The Mickey Mouse Club, a title which seemed dated. The original set was designed to reflect Queensland architecture and make the viewers feel like they were visiting a friend's house on a Saturday morning. The set has since changed several times, the most recent set being introduced in February 2007. Saturday Disney was originally filmed at BTQ-7 from 1990 until 1997, when it moved to its new production base at ATN-7 in Sydney. It was originally produced by Buena Vista Television in conjunction with Seven.
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.