Celebrating 40 years of The Disney Channel!

Attention all Disney Channel fans! Get ready to celebrate because 2023 marks a very special occasion - Disney Channel's 40th anniversary! Yes that's right, it's been four decades since the Mouse House first launched its iconic channel, bringing us some of the most memorable TV shows and movies of all time. 

Since then, the Disney Channel has skyrocketed and has created hundreds of live-action, animated series and Disney Channel Original Movies that are now considered classics. Yes we feel old! 

Whether you grew up with Lizzie McGuire, High School Musical, or The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, there's no denying the impact that Disney Channel has had on pop culture. 

Disney Channel has also become a step into fame for a lot of famous faces that we now know and love, including Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Hilary Duff, Zendaya, Olivia Rodrigo, and The Jonas Brothers.

Thanks to Disney+, many of our favourite Disney shows have been given a second life thanks to new viewers and older fans wanting to relive their childhood (like us!).

In celebration of Disney Channel's 40th Anniversary, we thought it would be great to talk all things Disney Channel, in particular our favourite shows over the years.

So, let's take a trip down memory lane and celebrate 40 years of Disney magic!

Kim Possible (2002 - 2007)

Call her, beep her, if you want to reach her.

Oh boy, let me tell you about this show! The action scenes were out of this world, the characters were unforgettable, and the stakes were sky-high! Our little minds couldn't handle it, we were running wild with excitement! Kim Possible gave us a worthy, strong and smart female hero who was adored and idolised by everyone.

Kim Possible goes across many different genres - including action, teen comedy, and drama making it appeal to a wide variety of audiences, both young and adult.

Hannah Montana (2006-2011) 

She had the best of both worlds and we absolutely love her!

Before Miley Cyrus was swinging around on a wrecking ball, she was acting out a double life on screen as pop star Hannah Montana and normal teen Miley Stewart. 

There's no denying that this show was a key part of her success and we have the Disney Channel to thank for that! Hannah Montana was more than just a TV show. When Miley hung up her wig and the show ended, I think we can speak on behalf of a lot of people who grew up in the 2000s, that as viewers we felt like we had lost our friends.

From its cameos to absolute HITS, Hannah Montana will forever remain one of the most iconic Disney Channel shows and we'd be lying if we said we didn't still listen to the Hannah Montana albums. Now playing 'He Could Be The One' from Season 3.

Even Stevens (2000-2003) 

Before battling Deceptions in Transformers, Shia LaBeouf battled with his siblings in Even Stevens. Even Stevens was one of Disney Channel's earliest original series and set the bar for the popular high school set comedies that made Disney Channel so beloved in the early to mid 2000s. Led by Shia LaBeouf as the immature prankster, the show was never afraid to go all out for its constant string of gags and jokes.

Lizzie McGuire (2001-2004)

Lizzie McGuire is our girl! If you were lucky enough to have Disney Channel on your Virgin/Sky bow growing up, then no doubt you spent your afternoons (like us) watching Lizzie and her BFFs Miranda and Gordo navigate through the trails and tribulations of being in middle school (secondary school for us brits).

We all know how tough being a tween can be, so we could always relate to Lizzie as she took on the challenges of middle school life. We loved Hilary Duff playing the role of an awkward but self-assured character and she provided a relatable voice for every kid, tween, and young teenager watching in the 2000s. In our opinion, the series finished too early for its own good and definitely needs to make a comeback!

Oh and The Lizzie McGuire Movie is one of the greatest Disney movies of all time. SING TO ME PAOLO!

That's So Raven (2003-2007)

If you could gaze into the future, what would you want to see?

Imagine being able to gaze into the future? Well Raven Baxter could! How cool was she?! Not only was she the coolest, but she was hilarious! Her friendship with Eddie and Chelsea also made this show an absolute hit and we loved watching them navigate through life and finding their way out of the messes that they unintentionally got themselves into. That's So Raven provided us with lots of laughs but also taught us good life lessons along the way too.

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (2005-2008)

Ever wondered what it would be like to live in a hotel?! Well Zack and Cody gave us that insight we never knew we needed. Set in the Tipton Hotel, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody followed the twin brothers on their many misadventures and scrapes around the luxury hotel that they called home. 

From its humour to interactions with other members of the cast, The Suite Life was such a fun show and made us want to move into a hotel!

Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-2012)

Everything is not as it seems, especially when it comes to the Russo family.

Back then sandwich shops were cool because we were convinced that every sandwich shop had a portal to a wizard's lair just like the one in Wizards of Waverly Place. This show also led us to becoming completely obsessed with Selena Gomez and can you blame us?!

Oh and who remembers the crazy funky hat song? If you know, you know.

Phineas and Ferb (2007-2015)

There's 104 days of summer vacation and Phineas and Ferb knew exactly how to spend it.

Of course we had to include one of, if not the most iconic Disney Channel animated series! Not only did Phineas and Ferb have the catchiest theme song (yes we still know all of the words), what they got up to was always so epic! Yes every episode is virtually the same, but we were always entertained! We were always so excited to see what the stepbrothers were going to get up to and intrigued to see whether or not Candace would successfully rat them out to their mom. Oh and we loved Perry the Platypus. The best platypus spy ever!

The Proud Family (2001-2005)

From the iconic theme song (thank you, Destiny's Child) to the sound of Oscar yelling out "Trudy" every single episode, The Proud Family was a warm tale of a family sticking together despite all their frustrations and focused on important topics. The diversity and representation is something that not many cartoons have been able to give us for a long long time but The Proud Family did that. The modern/hip humour and nature resonated with audiences like never before so for that reason this show will remain iconic for the foreseeable future.

What is your favourite Disney Channel TV show? Let us know in the comments below, we'd love to know your favourites!