- [Kevin] On November 15th, 1926, the National Broadcasting Company hit the airwaves for the first time. At this point, broadcast networks were
still relatively new, and while impressive, the process was not without its issues. NBC's programming was
broadcast from New York City, transmitted via telephone
wire to 19 affiliate stations, and then sent via radio
into the homes of listeners. A major difficulty was communication between the network headquarters
and the affiliate stations. Some networks utilized
two lines between parties, a telephone line that
transmitted the programming and a telegraph line that transmitted memos between employees. NBC did not have the latter, so when it came time for
the affiliate stations to manually switch between programs, they were often unsure
when the programming block was going to end, resulting
in a clumsy operation that affected the listening experience. Almost immediately after its debut, NBC was looking for a
way to solve this issue. Rather than spend time and money running telegraph
lines to all of its affiliates, NBC needed to send the
message that programming was going to conclude through
the programming itself. This message needed to be clear enough that the affiliate stations
would know to make the switch, but not disruptive to those
listening to the programming. An NBC announcer, Phillips Carlin, had previously been the announcer of "The B.F. Goodrich
Silvertown Orchestra" program, which was introduced
by a series of chimes. Carlin suggested that a short
series of notes be played at the end of programming, signaling to the affiliate
stations to make switches while offering a pleasant
melody to listeners. The original NBC melody
consisted of seven notes, which would be played by the announcer at the end of the program. This sequence proved too
complicated for many announcers, and after a few years of experimenting, the melody would be simplified
to just three notes, G-E-C. (gentle chiming music) While not the first musical
network identifier put in place, the NBC chimes was the first
to be recognized nationwide and was the first iconic sound signature in the United States. As more radio and, eventually,
television networks entered the media landscape
throughout the 20th century, many would try to create
sound signatures of their own. Most often, the branding
would only last a few years before being refreshed, and the sound signatures
with the most longevity would often not be themes representing the network as a whole, but rather a specific programming block, such as a theme for news or sports. (rousing orchestral music) Still, there were a few network themes that became permanent. The NBC chimes are still used today, 90 years after being introduced. (gentle chiming music) In 1984, Nickelodeon debuted a theme sung by jazz musician Eugene Pitt and produced by roots
musician Tom Pomposello ♪ Nick, Nick, Nick, Nick,
Ni, Nick, Nick, Nick ♪ ♪ Nickelodeon ♪ - [Kevin] This sound signature
remains the network's theme and has been remixed countless times in the 40 years since being introduced. (bright upbeat music) In 1993, HBO debuted the HBO static angel. The branding was created by a team led by HBO's head of
production, Bruce Richmond, and the logo and short music cue still appear with HBO original programming nearly three decades later. (gentle choir music) The NBC chimes, the Nickelodeon mnemonic, and the HBO static angel are
all iconic sound signatures, recognizable to generations of viewers. However, there is another network theme that fits this description, a theme that has been
playing for two decades and has achieved an iconic
status for generations as well. This is the Disney Channel theme. The theme comprises four notes. Four notes that debuted
in the early 2000s. Four notes that dominated
through the network's rise and peak in popularity. Four notes that are still being
used on the channel today. The Disney Channel theme was created by... The Disney Channel theme was created by... The Disney Channel theme was created by... (tense suspenseful music) I have no idea. We should be good. Can you hear me okay? - [Andrew] I can hear you great. - [Kevin] Okay, great. Andrew Barth Feldman, Sis, Damien Haas. You are a star on stage and screen, and you have appeared in a
Disney television production. - That's right. - [Kevin] You are a star of stage- - I am.
- And screen. - [Sis] Am. - [Kevin] You are a Disney Channel fan. - Some would say. - [Kevin] Say you have
been on Disney Channel. - I have been on Disney Channel, yes. - [Kevin] I invited you here
to ask you one question, so here we go. (majestic contemporary orchestral music) (majestic contemporary
orchestral music continues) So this is my question. Do you know The Disney Channel theme? - I feel like I do. (laughs) - [Kevin] Do you know the
Disney Channel theme song? - It makes me think like
a Hillary Duff, like, "Hi, I'm Hillary Duff, "and you're watching the Disney Channel." And then it'd be like... (Damien sighs) - I mean, it's, "Hi, you're
watching Disney Channel." That's the theme. But- - [Kevin] Not the theme. That is some theme, and
the theme is in there. - It is there? There is one? - [Kevin] Yes, there is a theme. - Oh, my God. ♪ Dun, dun, dun, dun ♪ - [Kevin] That's right. You got it. - I know. - Is it like ♪ Wah-ba-ba-ba ♪ or something like that? - [Kevin] That is really close. - Okay. Yeah.
- It's actually. (lively upbeat music) - Yeah, of course! Of course, of course, of
course, of course, of course! - [Kevin] Isn't it weird that we don't know who wrote that theme? - No. - [Kevin] (laughs) Okay. - (laughs) We don't know who
wrote the Nickelodeon theme. - [Kevin] Yes, we do. - I don't. - [Kevin] But you could
know if you wanted. - Sure, and I'm sure we could know if we wanted to know who wrote the- - But we can't. Nobody knows. So what I'm going to try to do is a legitimate investigation. - Okay. - [Kevin] Where I try to figure
out who wrote this theme. - Great. - I'm catching you at such a crazy time in this journey that you're on, I can't wait to see where it goes. (upbeat music) (mysterious eerie music) - [Kevin] I've always been fascinated with television programming, specifically programming breaks. The content before, after,
and in between shows. Not the commercials, but the bumpers, network identifications, and
interstitial programming. It is a fascinating liminal space, full of subtle reassurances. "Here is where you are, here
is what you've been watching, "and here's what's next. "Don't leave. Don't go anywhere. "Don't worry. We'll be right back." At the peak of television's popularity, these breaks even acted as
extensions of the main content, to the point that, absent of
this material, context is lost. You can watch an episode of "Full House" or "Family Matters" on DVD, but without the TGIF
branding and interstitials, there's a key component
to the viewing experience that is missing. You can watch "All that" or "Clarissa Explains
It All" on streaming, but it is a fundamentally
different experience removed from the SNICK branding. There is no channel where this symbiosis is more apparent than Disney Channel. Unlike its rivals, Cartoon
Network and Nickelodeon, Disney Channel does not have
traditional commercial breaks with content produced by
third-party advertisers. Instead, the channel uses this time in a variety of creative ways. This programming, which has been watched by millions of people
for over two decades, is surrounded and accented
by four simple notes. But how do you trace back their origins? Where do you even begin? (alarm blaring) (alarm clock beeping) (alarm clock button thuds) (tense mysterious music) (tense mysterious music continues) (tense mysterious music continues) (Kevin yawns) (Kevin sighs) (CD player lid clunking) (CD player lid clicks) (soft thoughtful music) All right, let's establish our timeline. On April 18th, 1983, The Disney Channel debuted
in the United States. As we've discussed a lot on DefunctTV, The Disney Channel was originally
a premium cable service, following the successful model created by HBO a decade earlier. Subscribers of The Disney Channel were treated to reruns of
classic Disney films, shows, and shorts, along with a
selection of original programming and some cool bumpers. The main The Disney Channel
logo featured Mickey silhouette in front of a television with scanlines. This would often be accompanied
by a Mickey-shaped satellite that became an icon of the
channel in its early years. The channel did not have a
dedicated theme when it debuted, so various instrumentals
of "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" were used in the bumpers. (lively upbeat music) - [Announcer] The Disney Channel. - [Kevin] In 1986, just
three years after debuting, The Disney Channel was
given its first big refresh. While the logo stayed the same, the tone of the channel
was changed significantly, transitioning from its original
dramatic cinematic approach to one that was more
lighthearted and Disney. This came with a new series
of channel identifications that featured the disembodied
hands of Mickey Mouse performing some sort of task or activity that resulted in the creation
of The Disney Channel logo. These bumpers were brilliantly
shot, visually stunning, and also, a bit unsettling. There's something disturbing about only seeing Mickey's
hands in puppet form and never hearing his voice. In one of these bumpers,
Mickey goes into a photo booth, and you think, "Surely,
this will be the one "where we see his face." But no, the photos just come
out smudged and blurred, scary stuff. This bumper is also terrifying, but it's definitely on purpose this time. Mickey is having a nightmare in which his hand is
being chased by a ghost, and then The Disney Channel logo itself. The hand then runs down a hallway
made of the other bumpers, and all of those bumper's hands begin to attack this bumper's hand. And one of the attacking bumpers is the bumper we are watching. The bumper ends with
Mickey's alarm waking him up, which is a total cliche. But otherwise, the bumper
bumper is the best bumper. It bumps. Many of the musical cues in
these channel IDs are similar, but The Disney Channel still
lacked a distinct theme. However, an original song was created to promote the channel, and they did not hold back on the energy. ♪ The Disney Channel is one big family ♪ - [Kevin] This rather long musical number culminated in families
and Disney characters singing "Disney's our channel," and among the choir was everyone's favorite Disney character. ♪ Our channel ♪ ♪ Disney's our channel ♪ - [Kevin] This song often ended with one of the most violent logo reveals in the history of television. (explosion blasting) A few years later in the early '90s, more channel IDs in the
POV style were created, except rather than puppetry,
these new ones used claymation, and instead of featuring Mickey's hands, this batch was from the
perspective of Donald. In 1995, The Disney
Channel began to phase out the scanline portion of its logo, opting to just use the text
to represent the channel. This would not last long, though
as two years later in 1997, the channel would have its
most significant change yet, transitioning from a premium cable service to a basic cable channel. Disney would drop the "The"
in the channel's name, becoming simply Disney Channel. A new logo was created with
a Mickey-shaped television that various characters
would be composited into. This refresh also gave Disney Channel its most distinct musical theme yet. (bright upbeat music) These branding changes were just part of a massive transition
for Disney Channel. Up to this point, most of The Disney Channel's
original programming was 27 minutes, but after
the switch to basic cable, the channel would transition
to television standard 22-minute programs. This meant that Disney
Channel's 27-minute programming would be phased out and
replaced with new content, and also, that, for every
30 minutes of airtime, the channel would need eight
minutes of programming breaks. Disney Channel assured
its longtime viewers that they would not be filling
this time with commercials, which was somewhat true. Disney Channel would take
on very few sponsorships from outside companies, instead, opting to advertise
the countless products being sold throughout the Disney Company. This turned Disney Channel
into a synergy machine, seamlessly promoting its
films, TV shows, products, and theme parks. However, it would be a disservice to call these tie-ins simply commercials, as they were formatted in such a way that they could be viewed
as original programming. For instance, within a year of the
transition to basic cable, Disney Channel began airing a program called "Movie Surfers." "Movie Surfers" gave
viewers an inside look at the newest Disney feature film, with child actors serving
as entertainment reporters. Ideas such as these were brilliant and a sign of what was to come. But at this point in the late '90s, Disney Channel was still very
much in a period of transition and experimentation, and
not every idea stuck. Coming out of the switch to basic cable, Disney Channel created three
distinct programming blocks. First, Playhouse Disney was
created as a morning block, with programming aimed at preschoolers. Second, Vault Disney was
created to air classic films, television programs, and shorts. Vault Disney would air at night and throughout the early morning. Finally, over a year after the rebrand, a third programming block was
introduced to Disney Channel, an afternoon block aimed
at tweens and teens named Zoog Disney. Zoog Disney had its own
theme, its own characters, and even its own world. The Zoogs were a group of robots that lived inside of the bits and bites between the
television and computer screen. ♪ Zoog, in the Zeether and your TV set ♪ - [Kevin] Their entire backstory is explained in their theme song, including the odd detail
that they've been alive since the birth of fire. ♪ We've been here since
the birth of fire ♪ - [Kevin] And since it
was released in 1998, each character was introduced in a rap. ♪ My name's Joe, I'm a Zoog ♪ ♪ Got a place just for you ♪ - [Kevin] The Zoog
Disney programming block was an attempt to appeal to the tweens and teens of the late '90s that were becoming more
and more interested in this thing called the interweb. It also served the dual purpose of promoting the tie-in website. The lineup for Zoog Disney
was initially pretty sparse, with Disney needing to syndicate shows such as "Growing Pains" while it built its own tween programming. Though Disney really
only needed to syndicate the seventh season of "Growing Pains" because this was the one that featured a young Leonardo DiCaprio, which allowed the channel to brand an entire week of
programming as Leonardo Week. - [Announcers] Oh, Leo! - [Leo] Uh, yeah. - [Kevin] In 2000, Disney
Channel introduced a new variant of the 1997 logo, removing
the characters in the middle and giving it a more modern hip look. The Zoogs were also given a CG redesign with more human-looking characters. And Disney Channel even
created Zoog video games and action figures. A new sound signature was also
circulated around this time, but it was less of a musical mnemonic and more two melodic shouts. (lively upbeat music) ♪ Yeah ♪
(vocalist yelling) - [Kevin] With the premieres
of "Even Stevens" in 2000 and "Lizzie McGuire" in 2001, Disney Channel was on its
way to establishing itself as a major competitor in
the preteen demographic, which at the time was
dominated by Nickelodeon. By 2002, Disney Channel was
ready for another refresh. The three programming block model might have helped with the
transition from premium cable, but it was no longer needed. The block with the most
successful branding, Playhouse Disney, would remain. The Vault Disney block
would be retired entirely, as Disney Channel was going
all in on tween programming. The Zoog Disney branding
would also be dropped, while most of its content would remain. "Movie Surfers" would continue
to produce more episodes and more interstitial programs in a similar vein were created. The previous movie block
branding, Zoog Movie, would become Disney Channel Movie, with a brand new song that would become iconic
for viewers of the channel. ♪ Let's watch a Disney Channel movie ♪ - [Kevin] Perhaps most significantly, the rebranding would bring a new logo and a new channel theme. (bright upbeat music) These additions first appeared
at some point in late 2002. (upbeat electro-pop music) So I figure the first step in finding out who wrote the Disney Channel theme is finding when the theme first appeared. The Disney Channel Wiki
has said this came about sometime in September of 2002, so let's watch some ads
from September of 2002. - [Announcer] Kids like you
express themselves every day on Disney Channel. - It does help to talk about September 11, 'cause you know you get out- (computer keyboard taps) (Kevin sighs) - And you get to be heard. - It was such a traumatic event that, I mean, how could you forget? - If you had heard me last year, that's all I would've been talking about. - It's definitely a healing process. - [Announcer] Disney
Channel, express yourself. - [Kevin] Oh, thank God. I really thought that was going to be the first appearance of the theme. This segment, this
Express Yourself segment, I feel like I've seen
something like this before where the teen stars of the
channel do these sit-downs, but usually, it's about friends or the homework they pretend to do, but it's not about 9/11, usually. So after a bit more research, I found a lot more of these 9/11 PSAs, most of which were from right after the September 11th attacks in 2001, and these have been recirculated recently. About a year ago, there
was a bunch of news stories looking back on these PSAs, but none of those look back on the ones that were a year later, which visually are a lot less patriotic, which makes the transition
into talking about 9/11 far more jarring. Anyways.
(computer keyboard taps) - [Announcer] When you give,
you get back a lot more. Check out Disney Adventures
magazine for all the details. - You can make a difference. Kids can make a big difference. - [Kevin] So this is still the old logo, and I haven't heard the new theme yet, but I also haven't seen
any Zoog Disney branding. So in the timeline here, it seems this is after
Zoog Disney was retired, but before the new assets
went into circulation. I'll watch a few more from
this batch just to make sure. - [Announcer] Kids like you
express themselves every day, on Disney Channel. - One of the positive
sides of September 11th. (computer keyboard taps) - [Kevin] All right,
that's enough of that. I don't think the theme is in
the batch, so let's move on. One comment does say, "It's awesome you got a September
2002 Disney Channel airing "from before the retool/logo change." So that makes me optimistic
that the Wiki is right and that September 2002 is
when we get the new logo. Not sure if that's when the
theme's gonna show up though. Also, huge thank you to archivists that upload programming breaks. These are specifically
from Southpaw Frizzell. I view it as legitimately
important historical work. These are time capsules that
could have easily been lost. (lively upbeat music) ♪ Yeah ♪
(vocalist yelling) - [Kevin] That's the old theme. So this is still before the retool. Gosh, darn it. See if there's any of those
Express Yourself ads in here. - I think that kids should just be friends with their
friends for who they are, and not worry about where they came from or who their parents are. - I agree.
- Treat someone differently just because of what
someone else has done. - A lot of my friends,
they're treated differently because of the whole
September 11 situation. - [Kevin] Oh, my gosh! I thought this was gonna be a normal one. "This was before Disney
Channel's logo changed "a few days later on October
7th, 2002 by CA Square." And then Evan's Media Archive says, "Nope. "They changed it on September 30th, 2002." There's no way somebody uploaded something from September 30th, 2002 is there? Oh, my gosh. - [Cartoon Character] Like this. - [Kevin] This is September 30th, 2002, and that's the new Playhouse
Disney logo down there. We're so close. - [Announcer] "Boy Meets World." - [Kevin] Wait. - [Announcer] After
that, it's a twin thing. - Wait.
- "Sister, Sister." - [Announcer] On Disney Channel. - [Kevin] That was it. That was the four-note mnemonic. We found it. So the new logo and four-note theme debuted the week of September 30th, 2002, but we're still missing a
key feature of the rebrand. I don't see any of the wand IDs. I don't see them drawing anything. The Disney Channel channel identification, or wand IDs, as they are
most often referred to, are a series of bumpers that
feature a star of the channel stating their name and the
program in which they appear, before uttering the classic line. - You're watching Disney Channel. - [Kevin] It's almost unnecessary
to describe these bumpers because they are by far the most iconic and recognizable aspect of Disney Channel that exists outside of the programming, and they're one of the most
famous channel identifications in the history of television. For broadcast networks, channel IDs such as these
are actually mandatory. Stations must air an
identification during sign-on and sign-off, as well as
every hour on the hour. - [Announcer] This is station KMBC, channel nine, Kansas City. - [Kevin] This is because
broadcast television uses public airwaves and is subject to the
identification standards set by the Federal
Communications Commission. Cable channels, on the
other hand, are private, and instead of using
airwaves, cable uses cables and satellites. So while cable channels,
such as Disney Channel, don't legally have to air
channel identifications, there are still many
reasons why programmers might create these types of bumpers. For children's television, the FCC mandates that
there's a clear separation between the programming
and the commercials. This is due to the fact that
children have child brains that can't always tell
when "Max & Ruby" has ended and a commercial for Floam has begun. This is what initially
led to some of the most famous bumpers in children's television, including the famous "After
these messages" bumpers from ABC. A channel identification
after the commercials and before the programming can also qualify as a reasonable
separation of the two. Another common use for channel
IDs and bumpers in general is that they provide a buffer before and after the commercial block. This way, if the beginning or
end of the commercial block is cut off due to a glitch or an error, it will only cut into the
bumper and not the commercial. This prevents the channel from losing any revenue
from its advertisers. Another more obvious
reason for a channel ID is the benefit to the viewer. While today it is almost
entirely irrelevant, before the advent of modern
television interfaces, viewers often had no way
of knowing what network they were watching as they
surfed through channels, so having someone say it out loud was actually pretty helpful. Perhaps the most important
aspect of a channel ID though is branding, and this is the true genius of
the Disney Channel wand IDs. In the course of just a few seconds, the channel was able to
present one of their stars, one of their programs, the channel's name, and the channel's logo
as one unified product. After comparing this to the chaos and randomness of Zoog Disney, it is no wonder why these idents were so successful in
rebranding the channel, which is why it's so surprising that there are no wand IDs from late 2002, or I should say almost no wand IDs. (intense upbeat music) Who is this kid? This nobody was the first person to draw the Disney Channel logo. He's also really good. He is a pro. Look at those circles. It seems that this kid, whose bumper aired throughout late 2002, was the first person to appear
in a wand identification, even if only technically. The first batch of wand
IDs with the channel stars would not air until June of 2003, eight months after the rebrand. Prior to their debut,
Disney Channel would rely on a different set of channel IDs that were far more elaborate in scope and used an impressive amount of visual effects for the time. Each bumper featured children
using their imaginations to make an ordinary situation magical, before returning back to reality as the Disney Channel logo was revealed. Like the other bumpers from this refresh, these idents also ended
with the four-note theme. (lively upbeat music)
(children laughing) Watching these back to back, it's interesting to note how
different the music cues are. They all have different
tones, instrumentation, and progressions. Often, the only common element
is the final four notes, which also varies slightly
in key and rhythm. (lively upbeat music) These imagination IDs would
continue to air on the channel, albeit less often, after the
introduction of the wand IDs. The initial batch of wand IDs featured such stars as Hillary
Duff for "Lizzie McGuire," Raven-Symone for "That's So Raven," and America Ferrera for the
Disney Channel original movie "Gotta Kick It Up!" This batch also included
two animated wand IDs, one for Animated Lizzie, and another for Kim Possible,
Ron Stoppable, and Rufus. It is hard to properly explain just how popular these bumpers were. It seemed that every child
that watched the channel desperately wanted to do one. - Me and my friend had
glow sticks one day, and on the commercials, you can see where they have those little
glow sticks and they're going. And me and my friend like to play around. So like, "I'm Selena. We're
watching Disney Channel." We like to draw it all the time. - [Kevin] They never had you do a wand ID, despite you being on the channel? - No, and I could talk about my disappointment with that all day. That's all I wanted to do. That was all I wanted to do. Because if I ever flipped the channel, odds are I would see like, "What's up? "I'm Juggy Brodelteen "and you're watching the Disney Channel," and do the little do-do-do-dutes. The closest I ever got was they had my zombie character host, like, "It's Disney Halloween
special week," and you know. - [Kevin] Oh, so you had a bumper? - I had a bumper, but it was with my
character that was a zombie and was co-hosted by someone
who did all the talking. So we never did the Mickey. It was just always like, you know, "Coming up next is whatever." And I'd be like (yelling). And they'd be like, "That's
right. It is a new episode." (Kevin laughs) - [Kevin] These bumpers
have remained relevant with Disney Channel fans, old and new In 2019, the DisneyNOW
app debuted a feature that allowed users to
make their own wand IDs. And at the 2022 D23 Disney fan convention, there was even a photo op where
you could pretend to do one. The wand IDs have even
found a broader legacy outside of just those
that watch the channel, reaching the true indicator
of cultural notability, memes. The original batch
constantly circulates online, with fans editing the footage to display the stars'
drawings more realistically, showcasing just how bad
these actors are at drawing what appears to be a fairly simple logo. Returning to the initial batch that was aired on the channel, the clever editing around these
awful drawings is evident. I think the worst one has
to be Spencer Breslin, who even in the edited version
is still noticeably off. But to be fair, he probably
had other things on his mind. - If you had heard me last year, that's all I would've been talking about - [Kevin] I had seen these
edited versions a few times, but I just thought of something
while revisiting them. Where did this footage come from? These are obviously outtakes and not taken from the original idents. Sure enough, I was able to
find a few of these outtakes, and there are a few things
that stood out to me. First, this line from Hillary Duff. - Oh, it's mouse ears? - [Director] Yeah, it's
mouse ears. There you go. - [Kevin] It seems that the stars were not sure what they were
even supposed to be drawing, which makes you wonder what
instructions they were given. Most likely they were told
they were drawing the new logo, and this was just her noticing that they were mouse
ears for the first time. Hillary Duff is one of the
first to ever see the new logo and the first to ever do a wand ID, and she has no point of reference for what the final version will look like and has no concept of just how iconic these bumpers will become. This is the burden of the trailblazer and the solitude of the trendsetter. - They made us do it, like, 900 times. (laughs) I think had lost all
personality at that point. Plus, I was, like, a
pubescent teen. (laughs) I was like, "What are they
making me do? This is invisible." - [Kevin] Another thing I
noticed is that these outfits are the same ones used in the Express Yourself bumeper/9/11 PSAs. This either means that the channel had a wardrobe for the stars whenever they were
appearing as themselves, or that these were filmed
on the same day or days. Both are likely. Finally, and most
importantly, I noticed this. (majestic orchestral music) That is a slate. It is used for sound synchronization
and shot organization. Clapper boards typically feature
the scene, shot, and take, as well as the name of the
director of photography and the director. It's difficult to make out, but the top name is labeled "DIR" and the bottom is labeled "CAM." This means that someone named G. Owen directed at least the production of the first batch of wand IDs. Despite not airing until June of 2003, it is safe to assume that these wand IDs were actually shot with the
Express Yourself segments in 2002. The actors' clothes are the
same, they look the same age, and they were all part of
the same massive refresh. The Disney Channel Wiki
claims that the wand IDs were filmed along with
the Express Yourself ads, specifically in August of 2002. If true, this makes perfect
sense within the timeline. The channel probably set October as the month the refresh would kick in. As we discovered, many of these changes actually debuted on September 30th, but that was the Monday of
the first week of October, so this still tracks. The only part of the August shot that was time-sensitive was the 9/11 PSAs, which were designed to
debut before the refresh during the one-year anniversary of the attacks that September. The post-production of these segments was likely expedited to meet the deadline, and the channel made
sure that these all ended with the old logo. This is almost too perfect. These 9/11 PSAs were designed to only air in September of 2002, as all of the stars are referencing the one-year anniversary specifically. These would never air again, so only these would retain the old logo and would never need an updated version. The other Express Yourself ads were definitely shot at the same time, were designed to air at
any time and in perpetuity, all end with the new
logo, and, for the record, have a very different
tone than the 9/11 ones. - Ooh, I love shoes! - [Announcer] Express yourself. - Assuming G. Owen directed the wand IDs from pre to post-production, then they must know who wrote the music, and therefore, the theme. This is the most solid lead I have, but there is just one problem, I don't know their first name. And searching for G. Owen, or any variation of, did
not return solid results. I assume that the voice in
the outtakes is the director, and it sounds masculine, so I looked for Gregory,
Gary, George, Gerald, Gabriel, Gavin, Grant, Gerry, before eventually trying
Glenda, Gabby, Grace, Gretel, Gwen, and
Gertrude before giving up. I still feel like this
is a key to the puzzle, I just cannot find the answer right now, so I'm going to have to go
in a different direction. - [Kevin] Thank you for calling
the Defunctland tip line. If you have any leads on
who might have written the Disney Channel theme, please leave a message after the beep. - [Caller 1] Hey. Hey, Kevin. Yeah, I actually know who wrote the Disney Channel theme song. It was this guy. It was Joe. Yeah, it was Joe Mama. Joe Mama wrote the Disney
Channel theme song. So, yeah, hope that helps. - [Caller 2] Hey, I've got a tip. Why don't you start calling
those YouTube videos documentaries, you pretentious- - [Caller 3] Yo, Kevin. What's up, man? Hey, I heard you were researching
the Disney Channel theme. Have you ever heard of the
Mighty Mighty Bosstones? - [Kevin] The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are a ska band that was
formed in Boston, Masachusetts in 1983. The band was originally started
by blah, blah, blah, blah. All you need to know is that in 1997 the band released the hit single
The Impression That I Get. This is by far the most popular Mighty Mighty Bosstones song. And for our purposes, it's relevance is found
in the repeated horn riff heard throughout the track. Let me know if you hear anything familiar. (upbeat ska music) Yes, The Impression That I Get by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones seemingly features what would become the Disney Channel theme five years later. The riff does include the same notes, and the rhythm is similar, but this is only the
first half of this riff. The reason that I mention
this is not because I think the composer of the theme stole from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. It is also not because I think the theme was written by a Bosstonian. I mention this because
there's almost no information on the Disney Channel theme online. And everywhere I seem to go, if there's discussion on these four notes, someone will bring up this song. So while I don't think this
is part of the mystery, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones
have made the board. Although I am going to
put them way over here. With that out of the way, let's see if we can find
some more promising leads. There are two major music
licensing organizations that composers and artists join, and that's ASCAP and BMI, and they have a shared database. So if you want to license something, all you have to do is
go to this search engine and search for the song and
it'll tell you who owns it, who wrote it, who has the
ability to license it. Now, I'm not sure that the
composer that wrote the theme would've submitted to ASCAP and BMI, as Disney Channel owns it 100%, but it's the best lead I have right now. So let's search. You can search by title,
you can search by composer, you can search by publisher. But I'm just gonna type in Disney Channel and see what happens. Whoa. There are four pages. There are so many compositions. There are 77 results. I thought we'd have no results. Now I'm thinking we have too many. Okay, let's see what they give us. Arnheiter Theodore Linkfield. That's a great name. It just says Disney Channel. It doesn't tell you anything. It doesn't say the year. The composition is just
titled Disney Channel. Okay, here's another one
called Disney Channel. We have at least publishers this time. Disney Luft Raus. Is that German? Air out. Air out. Like Disney Channel, is that what like a bumper's called? Like an air out? Okay, that's German Disney Channel. Okay, this is Japanese Disney Channel, Japan Central Music Limited. It's not Disney Channel 10th anniversary, because that would've been
'93 or something like that. David Norland is credited for writing at least
half of these results. I mean, look at how many he made. But how do we verify
that he wrote the theme? Because these don't give much away. Okay, so these alternate titles are actually what the announcer is saying. So, "And now back to." Yeah, so it says, "And now back to." Right here. Sweet Niblets, Hannah Montana. I bet you I can find the
one that says Sweet Niblets. And if it ends with the theme, David Norland wrote the theme. Okay, we got this. Let's do it. - [Announcer] Rock stardom? No biggie. New boy crushes? Whoa! Stop the presses! Catch the drama of Hannah
Montana on Disney Channel- - [Kevin] We're waiting for Sweet Niblets. - [Announcer] Hannah Miley? Oh, I know. Hang out with Hannah and
Miley on Hannah Montana right here on Disney Channel. Stick around, Hannah Montana will be right
back on Disney Channel. Let's get back to Hannah Montana. - [Kevin] Say sweet niblets. - [Announcer] Hannah Montana's next, part of Disney Channel's Summer of Stars. Don't go away, Hannah
Montana will be right back. (Kevin groaning) On Disney Channel's Summer of Stars. Hannah Montana. Hannah Montana. Hannah Montana. Hannah Montana, all part of That So Sweet
Life, Hannah Montana. Hannah Montana. Hannah Montana. Sweet niblets! Hannah Montana- - [Kevin] Yes, we got it. But is the theme there? - [Announcer] Hannah
Montana will be right back on Disney Channel. - It is. It's there. Sweet niblets. Hannah
Montana, Disney promo. David Richard Christopher Norland. Now I just gotta figure out how to get in touch with this guy. His website does not mention
working for Disney Channel. I'm 95% sure this is the David Norland that wrote for Disney Channel, and I found a way to contact him. I really hope he responds. (upbeat music) Good news, David Norland responded. Bad news, he did not write
the Disney Channel theme. He started writing for
the channel in 2007, so the mnemonic predated his involvement. However, I still asked if he would be willing to do an interview. Because he wrote many instrumentals using the four note theme, and he very well might know who wrote it. Another reason I'd love to speak with him is because he started writing
for the channel in 2007. When I saw that year, two
words immediately came to mind. Ribbon era. A common practice among those
who study and teach history is to separate long spans of time and large amounts of
information into smaller, more digestible eras. But how does one go about
breaking apart history? Sometimes it's more obvious than others. For instance, the history of China is most often told through its dynasties, and it is very clear when
each dynasty begins and ends. Disney's film history has
also famously been separated into eras such as the
Golden Age, Silver Age, and the most well known,
the Disney Renaissance. While most breakdowns of
the Disney animation eras explain the historical
reason for the change, I find that these eras are
separated less by history and more by the quality of the films. Sometimes there is a historical
reason for a dip in quality, such as the wartime era. But by the time you get
to the post renaissance, the general reasoning
for the distinction is these are the less good ones. Except for the one that you love. That's my favorite too. So what about Disney Channel? How is its history separated by the fans that study it like the
great epic that it is? Is it separated by TV shows,
or what about the D-Coms? Surprisingly, the general
consensus among fans is that Disney Channel history should be separated by the bumpers. This is not a-historical, as each change in bumper design typically coincided with other significant changes to the channel in terms of branding and strategy. Still, the nomenclature
is most often related to the style of the bumpers. The era from 1983 to 1997 is typically labeled Early Beginnings, because most Disney Channel
fans consider the channel's 1997 rebranding as the
true start to the channel as they know it. 1997 to 2002 is an obvious era, and is sometimes labeled
The Three Block Era, The Zoog Disney Era, or The Mickey TV Era. 2002 to 2007 is often
referred to as The Bounce Era for the way the logo
bounces around the screen during the bumpers. In 2007, the channel was
given another refresh, retaining many elements
from The Bounce Era with the main difference
being updated music cues and bumpers that featured
a ribbon twirling around the screen before
forming the Disney Channel logo. This era is thus referred
to as The Ribbon Era. In 2010, the bumpers were
refreshed once again. Now placing the classic logo
inside of a rounded square. This was just after Disney Channel began the switch to high definition, allowing viewers to watch
in a 16 by 9 aspect ratio. The original digital
on-screen channel graphic, that little watermark in
the corner of the screen referred to as a network bug, was designed with the four by
three aspect ratio in mind. And probably looked a bit awkward moved out to the far corner while still being attached to the bottom. The same could be said for pretty much all of the bumpers since 2002. as the classic logo hugs
the left side of the screen in a way that would leave
far too much empty space in a wide screen format. The new rounded square
look was a compromise, maintaining the design of the old logo, but placing it in a square that could be centered on the screen or placed equidistant from the corner. I imagine this entire era of television was annoying for those making bumpers, because consumers were still
making the transition to HD and channels were simul-casting in standard definition
and high definition. This meant that you would need to make your bumper in 16 by 9, but none of the critical elements could be pushed to the side. This resulted in a product that, when viewed in wide
screen, feels too centered. Because rather than
this box being the area for all of your titles, you actually had to put them in this box. This also made the wand IDs
look a bit awkward in this era when broadcast in HD, but we did get to see the
dog with a blog wand ID, and he drew that logo way
better than those kids. Good boy.
(dog barking) In 2014, the rounded square era ended. And Disney Channel fans lost the logo that had been a staple of
the channel since 2002. The new logo removed
the iconic Mickey ears, instead choosing to put ears
on the dot of the I in Disney. The wand IDs remained with
some major alterations. Instead of holding a giant glowing stick, the stars now held a wizard's wand. Instead of drawing the classic logo, the stars only drew the ears on the eye. And instead of being
on a white background, the stars were placed in
front of a generic location. In 2017, this changed
to a colored background. and in 2018, the white
background returned, as did the glow stick. These newer eras of Disney Channel had been separated into
the glass or family era, the social media era, and most recently the item age, because there's items in the bumpers. We can work on that
name. There's still time. So this leads to the obvious
question, which era is best? The answer is whichever
era you watched as a kid. But if you looked at just pure popularity, then the Disney Channel peaked during The Ribbon Era in 2007. This was helped in large
part by the premier of High School Musical 2, which was watched by 17.24 million people. This broke the record, not only for the most watched premier of a Disney channel original movie, but also the record for the most watched program premiere on cable ever. That's all of cable ever. It broke the record set the previous year by a Monday night football game, which itself broke a
record set by the Al Gore Ross Perot debate over NAFTA in 1993. It is obvious why High School Musical 2 was able to achieve this feat. The debate over NAFTA was an
intense and important argument between two powerful political rivals, and Monday night football
is consistently popular as it broadcasts the intensity
and suspense of athletics. High School Musical 2 was able to combine these two ratings winners by showcasing both the drama of sports as
well as a tantalizing debate. Rather than the pros and cons to controversial trade legislation, with Perot on the side of anti NAFTA and Gore on the side of pro NAFTA, High School Musical 2 showcases a debate as to whether high schooler Chad Danforth can or cannot dance. With Chad squarely on
the side of anti-dance, or as he says, "I don't dance." And with theater kid Ryan Evans firmly on the side of pro dance, or in his words, "I know you can." This back and forth captured America in a way that neither the NAFTA debate or Monday night football
could do on their own. When Chad replies to Ryan's assertion that he knows that he can dance, Chad, like a bull whip,
retorts, "Not a chance." 17 million people watched this premiere. If you clicked on this video,
you were probably one of them. It impacted some more than others. In 2007, Disney Channel had an average of 2.694 million viewers, which at the time was the largest audience in the history of cable. This was the peak in the
channel's popularity. As more television viewers,
especially children, moved away from cable and to the internet, Disney channel's viewership
fell dramatically. And in 2021, the channel saw an average of only 233,000 viewers, a 90% loss from its peak in 2007. 2007, the year that the Disney
Channel peaked in viewership, the year that Disney Channel
entered The Ribbon Era, the year that Disney Channel hired a new composer to write
music for their bumpers. A composer that just
agreed to an interview. - Hi, my name's David Norland. I'm a composer. I worked on the Disney
Channel bumpers and IDs from around 2007 to around 2014. I've never been anything but a musician. I was educated classically
up to the age of 11 or 12, and I discovered the electric guitar and took a hard left turn. I started doing work for
various animation companies and production companies. I guess through word of mouth, I got a call from this guy one day who was at the time the creative director for a channel that doesn't exist anymore. It's a channel called SoapNet. - SoapNet.
- SoapNet. - SoapNet. - The new way to watch soaps. - He got me into do the music, and we developed this relationship, and he moved on from there to become the creative director for Disney Channel. And when he went there in 2007, the very first thing he did was this big rebrand and
he hired me to do that, which was great. I'd made records for
Disney artists before, and it was at a time when pop music, like in its purest, sugariest form, was really having another heyday. And suddenly Disney
was sort of dominating. I guess what I was trying to do is to channel what I'd done
for them in pop records and what was happening
pop wise at the time into the bumpers. So that it was really
consistent with everything that Disney was doing at that point. - [Kevin] What goes into
a composition like that? What are you trying to do
psychologically when writing, and what do you want the
effect of it to have? - First of all, you have
to ask the question, what is a bumper for? We've got the commercial break coming up, or whatever the break
is in the programming, and we do not want people to go away. I'm trying to create, and I think the people
making the visuals as well, is just a sense of ongoing excitement that this is not the end. That there's more to come and it's gonna be even more exciting. The actual four note mnemonic, the (vocalizing) predated me. I inherited that when I was brought on board. In a musical sense, I've got to have made
something that rhythmically and melodically leads to the mnemonic as the logical culmination of it. - [Kevin] So with those four notes, did you compose all in the same key? Is it the same four notes? Or is it the same steps? - It's the same steps. It's the same intervals. So whether it's bum, bum, bum, bum. Or it's bum, bum, bum, bum. It's still, and so I composed
in a lot of different keys. They're not particularly exotic keys. They're the kinds of
keys that you would find pop music written in. I wonder if I, I mean, I could sit at the piano
and illustrate this. Yeah, you can go bum, bum, bum, bum. Well, probably to me, I would automatically think of that as bum, bum, bum, bum. Right? So F-G-C. 4-5-1. But you could also do
it the other way around. You could do bum, bum, bum, bum. Right? And do it 5-4-1. Or you could do bum, bum, bum, bum. So you could do an E dominant seventh, to an F to a C. Or you could do bum, bum, bum, bum. Which is a little more kind
of jazzy and old school, and kind music hall. The basic rhythm is bum,
bum, bum, bum. Right? But I think that I probably messed the rhythm around a little, moved it around a little bit
in some circumstances as well. And probably went bump, bump, bum, bum. Which is just, rhythmically, a slightly different way of voicing it. It's still the same intervals, but it says something ever so slightly different rhythmically. (theme tune playing) - [Kevin] I wanna ask you about some of the compositions specifically. I'll tell you my favorite. It was this wild, like, (vocalizing). - That one was originally scored to one, which had a particular
ribbon movement around it. And the string runs reflected
precisely the ribbon movement. - [Kevin] You were hired to do this. Do they say to you, "Hey,
we're keeping this mnemonic. "Go nuts, but have it end with this." - Actually, it would've been
an informal conversation between me and Ron the executive, and that conversation
probably would've been. "Yeah, yeah. "You know what the mnemonic is, don't you? "Yeah, just make sure, you know, "obviously everything's
got to end with that." I don't even know that he
would've even had to have said everything's got to end with that, because I would've known that. Seems very unlikely that it
would even have been considered that they would change the mnemonic. It's such a successful piece of branding. - [Kevin] They don't hand you sheet music with four notes on it? - I don't think they did, no. I think at a certain point,
with the Disney Junior one which I had actually written, I think I did have to submit
a piece of sheet music with these four notes on a stave. But I never received that
for the Disney Channel thing. It was all very much just, well, you know what the mnemonic is, isn't it? And I have no idea who
originally came up with it. As to your quest to find out who was the originator of it, I mean, you know, I'd be quite
interested to know as well. Because in this sort of
very narrow specialist realm of making music, you know, you have to figure that that's
one of the more successful things of all time in that realm. - [Kevin] I was obviously disappointed that David did not know who
wrote the Disney Channel theme. But while I was researching the history of the eras of the channel, I stumbled across the
strongest lead I've had yet. Everyone knows Wikipedia, but there are countless
other online encyclopedias that are created by fans. And these often skew
more niche and specific. While researching the different eras, I stumbled across the
Audiovisual Identity Database. It is bumper Wikipedia. And it is the most detailed source for Disney Channel idents that I've found. The people that contributed
to this database left no stone unturned. They even go as far as to list the fonts that Disney Channel
started using at this time. Not only that, but they also have an entire section dedicated to the music from this era. They describe it as several drum beats, which segue into a ska punk theme with electric guitars and a horn section. The last four notes of which become Disney Channel's signature jingle. And then you see this. Composed by Tonal Sound
and Elias Associates. I don't know how they know this, I don't know if it's right, but this is the most
solid lead I've had yet. All right, let's find Tonal
Sound Elias Associates. Here's Elias. Audio identity. A pioneer in the discipline
of audio branding. All right, they have a reel. Let's watch the reel. (static noises) (upbeat music) Oh, the MTV Moon Man, that's famous. ♪ Liberty Liberty ♪ And that annoying Liberty one. ♪ Yahoo ♪ They made Yahoo? And Intel. And Honda. ♪ We are farmers ♪ Man, you've got to be kidding me. (static noises) I didn't see Disney Channel, but I just saw pretty
much everything else. That is every sound I have ever heard. Okay, here's an article about them. Elias Music is known as the
leader in sonic branding and for its ability to
bring stories to life through the power of music. Mercedes-Benz, Nike, American
Express, Liberty Mutual, Honda, Google, Farmers Insurance, Apple. There is probably a better than not chance that whoever wrote the
Disney Channel theme worked for a Elias. Elias just happens to be the most popular music company for jingles
and sonic branding in the world. This company has to have at least 10, maybe 20 composers at a time. Maybe a hundred composers. Well, it's not a good sign when I Google Elias Music Disney Channel jingle, and the first thing to come
up with any sort of relevance is the Audiovisual Identity Database. What is Elias Tonal? Again, first relevant result, the Audiovisual Identity Database, where we found the information
in the first place. (tense music) Okay, here we go. Alex Lasarenko, a composer,
founded Tonal Sound in New York City in 2002. And one of Tonal's clients
was the Disney Channel. And here's a link to their website. Okay, Tonal Sound does not exist anymore. Let's search for Tonal
Sound, Alex Lasarenko. Oh no, I think that's an obituary. Yeah, he passed away two years ago. man. Alex Lasarenko was my creative
director for over 10 years during our shared time at Elias Arts. So it seems that Alex Lasarenko
moved from Elias to Tonal in 2002 when the Disney Channel
stuff was being written, which might be why both
companies are credited here. And I just keep seeing the tonalsound.com. Gosh darn it. Oh wait, the Wayback Machine. (electronic music) We don't have anything from 2002, but we do have stuff from 2003. Look at this old website. Andy Solomon, Eric
Perlmutter, Michelle King. Andy Solomon is the VP of
operations at DEFINITION 6, and he worked for Elias
Arts and Tonal Sound. Andy's a producer. Let's
look for Eric Perlmutter. Type in Eric Perlmutter, Disney Channel. Oh my God. Disney Channel movie open
intro 2002 old version. It can't be. (explosive music) It is! Oh my gosh. And this is Eric's company. He's crediting himself for writing it. This doesn't mean he wrote the theme, but the fact that we know
that he at least wrote, "Let's watch a Disney Channel movie." That's a win. I needed that. So our initial lead from the
Audiovisual Identity Database was Elias Associates and Tonal Sound. Through our research, we
found that Alex Lasarenko was a creative director at both. Started at Elias and then founded Tonal. We also found that he has
unfortunately passed away. We know this because another
composer, Fritz Doddy, wrote a tribute to Alex in which he claims that both Alex and him worked
at Elias at the same time. This means that Fritz is
also on the suspect list. Through the archive Tonal website, we found mention of Andy
Solomon and Eric Perlmutter. Andy was a producer, but Eric was definitely a composer. Because through Eric's own website, we learned that he wrote the classic, "Let's watch a Disney Channel movie." Opening song. After digesting all of this evidence, I am now confident that Eric Perlmutter, while working at Tonal Sound, wrote the Disney Channel theme in 2002. Did you write the Disney Channel theme? - I didn't, no. - [Kevin] Do you know who
wrote the Disney Channel theme? - No, I don't. I still don't. - [Kevin] Okay. What did
you do for Disney Channel? - So, for the Disney Channel, I wrote a whole bunch of little bumpers, and then I actually did the
music for Disney Channel movie, which was sort of separate
from all that identity stuff. And yeah, it turns out
that people loved that. ♪ Let's watch the Disney Channel movie ♪ - [Kevin] Were you given the lyrics, or did you write those lyrics? - Let's start a Disney Channel movie. Is there any other lyrics? Well, let's watch. Let's watch a Disney Channel movie. We're gonna watch. And that's it. That's it. I don't where I found the lyrics. - [Kevin] They just came to you? - The skills to put that into the
world, but yeah, it happened. - [Kevin] Wait, so you
didn't write the theme, but you wrote with the theme? - Yes. So we would have the theme. Mostly for those, we just
had so much fun with them that I think it was easy in that respect, because they're so short. There's not really much
time to make a statement. So the challenge was always find the essence of that
five second little bit. 'Cause you don't have
long to tell a story, but you still need to tell that story of, I'm trying to think of
one where the girl's jumping on her bed and
it's a pillow fight, and feathers are flying everywhere. And it's over. Like you don't even have time to sort of set up an idea before it's done. - I just sent you a
compilation of these idents. Did you write any of these? - Let's see. (pop rock music) Okay, I did that. I did this one with the freezer. Ah, this is me. The bug. Yeah, I did this one too. Pillow flight. Ah, I did this one with the dog. - [Kevin] How'd you get
the dog to bark like that? - (laughing) That was me. (imitating dog barking) - [Kevin] Wait, no, really? - Yeah. Oh yeah. That was one of the most- - [Kevin] So that wasn't, I thought you just pitch corrected a dog. - Nope. That was- - [Kevin] That was you? - Me barking. I think it's a misconception oftentimes with people who hear composer, and you think about a guy
with a feathered pencil writing, you know, sheet
music out of his mind. But most of the time it's
just somebody on a keyboard coming up and recording in
real time as they're creating, and putting it all
together at the same time. But when it came to these notes, it was pretty straight ahead. - [Kevin] And what was the
name of the music house you did these with? - Elias Associates or Elias Arts. - [Kevin] So from my research, it seems like Elias is
a really big company. Probably the biggest music house for jingles and sound signatures. Is that right? - Absolutely. That was my understanding that they were the country's biggest, probably the world's biggest music house bi-coastal at the time. - [Kevin] So that's probably why I'm having a difficult time trying to find who wrote that theme. - Yes. - [Kevin] It could have been probably dozens of people at the time. - Yes. And I think the company
tried to harness this idea of there are no individuals here. A little bit of a nameless face. You weren't sort of allowed to be known. - [Kevin] Okay, thanks
so much for doing this. My last question, did
you work with a G Owen? - I didn't, no. - [Kevin] Okay. (somber music) I'm actually having a lot of
trouble finding who wrote this. - When you create for
Disney, it's Disney's. So Disney wrote the the
Disney Channel thing. (keys typing) - Now you know, 'cause
it's Mike's Super Short Show ♪ Disney 365 ♪ ♪ Disney 411 ♪ (somber music continues) (music stops) (ominous music building) (Kevin sighing) (notification alert) - So I just got a
response from Fritz Doddy. He also did not write the theme. He said if anybody were to know, it would be Alex Lasarenko. We unfortunately cannot ask him. It's been a few weeks now of no progress, so I think it's time to admit
that the trail has gone cold. I've reached out to as many
relevant people as I can find, most of whom did not respond. And those that did told me that they did not write the theme and have no idea who did. There is one more thing I can try. A last resort. And that is releasing the video. I've always known this was my break glass in case of emergency. If I stop the video here and release it, someone out there watching
must know who wrote this theme, or know someone who knows, or at the very least know who G Owen is. I know it's anti-climactic,
but I'm out of options. This is officially a cold case, which means there's only
one thing left to do. It's really not surprising
that I've come up short. Bumpers, idents, interstitials. They are designed to be seamless, they are not meant to stand out. Why would their creators be any different? Maybe I'm just making excuses. From the moment I started
this investigation, I had an ending in mind. I thought it would be under
more triumphant circumstances, but I hope it still plays well in defeat. And if I'm being honest, I
just really want to do this. So please indulge me. I'm Kevin Perjerer, and you're watching Disney Channel. (sorrowful music) Huh? That doesn't look right. Okay, let's try this again. Dang it. No, that's Zoo Pals. Okay. I feel bad for making
fun of those kids earlier. I also cannot draw the logo. Yes, it's funny to see how off they were, but they look tired and
confused in those outtakes. I can't believe Disney
would even release those. Oh my God. I know how to find the composer. (ominous music) Okay, so I just had a revelation. Who released the footage of
the kids doing the wand IDs? Because these are not funny bloopers. This is not a gag reel that
would be included on a DVD. I don't know when Disney
would've released this in any official capacity. So I'm thinking that someone else did. That someone would need to
have access to the footage. So maybe it was someone internally, but more likely it was some company that worked on the project. Okay, this is a news organization
that released the footage. Hillary Duff and Raven
awkwardly do wand IDs in unearthed Disney
Channel promo BTS footage. This article does not mention
where they got the footage, it just mentions that it
was unearthed somehow. So this Buzzfeed article
credits a Twitter account for uploading them, but then it also embeds YouTube links that are no longer available. Here's a Pop Crush article. Update, the playlist has been
removed from public viewing. Who uploaded the playlist? What if I YouTube the playlist? Nothing? What if I Google the playlist, nothing. What if I just do this? We're getting somewhere. Oh my gosh. Last month, Atlanta edit
boutique Guillotine Post released some exclusive
throwback videos on YouTube from some post production work they did on the iconic Disney
Channel wand IDs in 2002. Here's Guillotine Post. They don't credit themselves for doing any Disney Channel stuff. Guillotine is a digital
boutique in Midtown Atlanta. Oh my god. Glen Owen. No, no, no. Go back. Glen Owen. That's G Owen. That has to be G Owen. State Line Films. Glen Owen worked for Disney Channel. What is this? It's one of the 9/11 PSAs. The editor worked for director Glen Owen. That is G Owen. For Andrea Taylor at Disney Channel. Here's Andrea Taylor, Senior Vice President
On-Air, Disney Channel, Toon Disney and SoapNet. The new way to watch soaps. January 2000 to January 2003. Overhauled the network's image as a channel for sweet six year old girls into a powerhouse that
was cool for all kids. Responsible for all aspects of
on air-promotion, packaging, stunting, marketing,
advertising, sales tape, synergy projects, online activity and short form programming. Everything, except the shows. That's what this video's about. She has to know who wrote the theme. I really hope she responds to her inbox. - [Kevin] So my first question is, what did you do at Disney Channel? - [Andrea] My job was to create
personalities for networks, change them around or make them different, and then go on to the next one. When I went to Lifetime, it
was not a network for women. It was a lot of variety of program, including medical programming, and when the head of
programming and my group said, we're gonna call this
Television for Women, the head of ad sales said, "Oh my God, we're gonna
lose so much money, this is terrible." My job was to say, okay,
here's what you gotta do. - [Glen] Early in my career, I've been the associate creative director for sports promotion at TNT, and Andrea was the
creative director there, and so when she started working at Disney, she continued to use me to direct and produce their promotional work. She used Patrick McDonough a lot. He was amazing. - [Andrea] Patrick is great. I mean, he's designed so many networks. - [Patrick] I had been
working mostly in sports. Andrea Taylor, who we did a
redesign for Comedy Central, she then went to TNT, we
did a redesign for TNT. Andrea went to Disney, that's how we started to get
involved with the Disney brand and the Disney Channel
movies, the wand IDs. - [Andrea] I was recruited
from TNT to go to Disney to turn it from a network
that was two things. They had a younger section that was like "Bear in
the Big Blue House", and then there was
six-year-old girly stuff. The goal was to turn it
into a tween sensation. We knew that that's where
Disney Channel could fit in and win and be amazing. It meant changing the programming, but that would take a little longer, but as you know, Disney
didn't have commercials, so you had 40 minutes
an hour of programming, and then I had 20 minutes an hour to fill. - [Kevin] And a lot of that was really clever synergy programming. Were you told by someone higher up what you needed to promote? - [Andrea] There was a meeting every week where there was a big,
humongous conference room table where everyone would announce
what they were doing that week to cross promote. I wish I had video from these meetings. When "The Lizzie McGuire
Movie" was coming out, there was a meeting
where someone would go, "We're making napkins." And the next group would go,
"We've got the lunch boxes." And this started at least a
year before the movie came out. I started selling you
stuff about "Finding Nemo" a year and a half before "Nemo" came out. I think we called them Fishy Facts, and it was all stuff to get
kids interested in fish, so that when it came out, you liked fish. - [Kevin] And these kids
were like, this is perfect, because I'm already into
fish coincidentally. - [Andrea] Uh-huh. - [Kevin] But it was not a coincidence. - No.
- Okay, that's a little sinister. What is a network personality? - It's the feeling that you get that relates to that
channel or that brand, and whether that's
based on pacing or tempo or instrumentation or color
or typography, animation, so all these different
elements come together to create this vibe, feeling, essence. - [Andrea] The psychology
of branding a network, it's the same as creating
a fan for anything. You want you to be their first choice when they're going to look at stuff, like, oh, that's my channel. The competition was Nickelodeon
and Cartoon Network. So Cartoon Network was
much more in your face, looked at more for boys,
'cause it was more loud. The philosophy at Nickelodeon
was us versus them, kids versus the rest of the world, whereas Disney was
never an us versus them. Parents always felt better about Disney. - [Kevin] What do you
remember about Zoog Disney? - [Andrea] Zoog was a weird thing. That was like a foray
into the online world and the gaming world and creating sort of this
existential world for kids. Technology wasn't necessarily
where we needed it to be. It turned into a different thing. - [Kevin] Do you remember Zoog? - Oh yeah. Oh, we did Zoog. I think we did the Zoog. - [Kevin] There was a
Zoog programming block. Do you remember Zoog Movie? - Yeah, I think, did we do Zoog? We did Zoog Movie. - Yes, you did, because it's the same kids
jumping on that trampoline. - Exactly (laughs). I don't even know. I think Disney Channel Movie came first, and then all of a sudden, I don't know, Andrea probably called
and said, all right, they want me to do this Zoog Movie, but it should be just like this. Yeah, (laughs) I forgot all about it. - [Andrea] We always would say,
like the jumping movie open, those kids are probably all parents and decrepit old people now at this point. We worked on what we called the promises. I'm trying to remember what they were. One was Express Yourself. But when I was growing
up, we had magazines that told you what these stars loved, which, you know, I'm
sure somebody else wrote, and I thought that was
great, let's do that for now. I had them talk about
their own personal lives, so that kids would feel comfortable and feel like they could relate to the people on the channel. It looked like these kids
all lived in the same house and they all knew each other or they all did things together. - Yes.
- Believe me, none of these kids lived together, none of these kids did anything. Like, a few of them did stuff
together, but not that many. The only times they ever
really got together was when I said, okay,
there's gonna be a shoot, you're all gonna be here,
you're all gonna do this, and here's what you're gonna say. They would watch "Lizzie McGuire", and they didn't watch Tom
Cruise and think he was amazing. They did think that she was
more of a big thing to them, so the fact that they could get an insight into what all these stars felt about their mother or their
brother was a bigger deal. That was their only path to that info. - [Kevin] And the weirdest
thing that happened was, then they became the most
famous people in the world. - I know.
- Was that weird to see? Were you like, whoops? - [Andrea] I know, it's pretty funny. (Kevin laughs) - [Kevin] What was the vibe? I mean, it was poppy? Could you describe it, for Disney Channel?
- Fun. - [Kevin] Fun. - Fun.
(Kevin chuckles) Fun, fun, fun, and kind of magic. I mean, it makes me
think about the scenario of the kids in the cafeteria line. Grays and neutrals and drab, to in comes the Disney logo, and it's glitter and candy
and pink and everything, delicious and syrupy. They were just these
fun, funny little stories that were incredibly complicated and time-consuming to produce. - [Andrea] Eleo Hensleigh
and I had come up with the wand idea, because
we loved Tinkerbell. The wand thing came during lunch, or, 'cause we had the Disney Channel logo, so that's where the wand came from. It was very hard for the stars to understand what the hell we were doing, 'cause, remember, they were
literally holding a stick. - [G.] So some were way, way off, and you'd have to do it again, and then I would always
say, okay, one more, which was a lie, we'd do 10 more. Very good, one more. - Ooh, none of that. - [G.] They got tired
of me fast, I'm sure. Just another annoying thing we're having them do on their day off. - [Kevin] Were the wand IDs
shot around the same production of some of the Express Yourself? - [G.] It would be like a lazy Susan. We would do the interview, then we'd have different B-roll sets. We'd have that B-roll set
where we have the strands of different colored plastic, so we would bounce them around and get B-roll on these different sets, and that would be one of the stops through their little promo journey. - [Kevin] Okay, so all
these iconic, classic, recognizable things for generations of children were in the same room. - [G.] Correct. - [Kevin] Not only were
they shot at the same time or the same production,
they were probably shot within 30 minutes of each other. - [G.] A hundred percent. - [Kevin] So the big
question I've been asking throughout all of this research, and the question that I really
hope you have an answer to, is, who wrote the Disney Channel theme? That four-note mnemonic
that started appearing when you were redesigning the channel. Do you have any idea who
could have written that? - [Andrea] I worked with
a guy, Alex Lasarenko, who is not alive anymore. He worked at a company called Tonal. He created that sound. I had worked with him for a long time. I'd worked with him at TNT, I'd worked with him at Comedy Central. - [Kevin] So that four-note mnemonic, that was definitely Alex Lasarenko. - [Andrea] Yeah, it was Alex. - [Kevin] Do you remember anything from the production when
he was writing the theme? - [Andrea] He probably did
it in like a day or two. It's like he just, things came to him. He was amazing. I mean, he probably wouldn't
have said he wrote it in a day. He probably would've said, oh, I struggled over it for months. - [Kevin] Do you know anyone
else that would've known Alex, or that would've been around for the production of
these tracks specifically? - [Andrea] You know what,
I could probably get you to the producer. I'm trying to think of the name. Now I can't remember his name
who was the producer on it. - [Kevin] Andy Solomon? - [Andrea] Andy Solomon,
that's who produced it. - Hi, I'm Andy Solomon, VP of
operations for Definition 6, formerly for Elias Arts and Tonal. - [Kevin] So when you started at Elias, is that when you met Alex? - Yeah, right away when
I started at Elias, I started as a producer, so he was the creative
director on all the jobs. - [Kevin] I assumed it wasn't Alex, because he was always
listed as creative director, executive owner eventually, with Tonal. Through talking to people, he was also composing regularly. - Oh, absolutely. He is like a classically trained musician, done a million different things, but had a knack for memorable melodies. It was almost like you could
say the words to his melody, whether it was Disney Channel. Again, I forget, we did
work for Encore years ago, and it was two notes, and we'd always go ♪ Encore ♪ And that was the melody, so, half joking, but I also think that was
part of his process as well. - [Kevin] Do you know anyone else that I could speak to about Alex? - His sister Lisa. Do you know Lisa Lasarenko? - [Lisa] If you ever spent time around Alex, you would notice, even when he was just
casually sitting still, his right hand was almost like he had an invisible pen
in his hand writing music. His right hand was always writing. I think in his mind,
he was always thinking of things in a musical perspective. - [Kevin] I notice towards
the end of his life, he was credited alongside a David Little. Do you have his information? - My name's David Little. I worked at Tonal for, I
would estimate, 12 years. I continued to work with Alex after that. I've never seen anybody that
can do something as complex. Almost seems like effortless for him. He would just turn around and just knock out an amazing piece, and be like, all right, what's next? - He's an amazing musician, and he was also, in this business world, in the music for television and
film and stuff, he was fast. - [Lisa] He could literally write music in a couple hours and be done with it. I mean, it really came to him super fast. - [Kevin] The thing that I'm
struggling with most right now is lack of photos of
Alex, I've found only one. Do you have any? Do you know of any? - I knew him for probably
close to 20 years or whatever, and I have zero photos of him. He was one of those guys, he was like, if a camera came out, he
was like, I'm outta here. - [Kevin] So Andrea Taylor told me that the theme was
written by Alex Lasarenko. - What, how not surprised am I about that? A genius composer and a good friend. He's no longer with us, but
he was really the ringleader of all of our composers at Elias. It's tough when you have
a boss who's a genius and who's just an absolute music prodigy, and you're just a dumb
rock bass player trying to live in the same,
breathe the same air as him. As a young person, it was
incredibly intimidating, but hugely inspiring,
and he was a great leader and boss as well. - He was wonderful. Loving, funny, so talented,
so incredibly talented that it just was like nothing to him. And being in his presence, especially while he was
working, I can remember, I feel like I'm getting
really emotional right now, but those sessions where you would just
show up at his studio, and Alex would be sitting at the piano and just kind of go off. - [Andrea] For TNT, we conducted
orchestras to do things, and it was just amazing to watch him work. And then for this, here
he is doing pop music. Like, the same head, the same head! (elegant music) (machine rumbling faintly) (machine rumbling faintly) - I love what I do. I get to make videos for a living, on subjects that I'm passionate about, that people watch. I am so lucky, and I am eternally grateful for every second that
I am able to do this, but I'd be lying if there
wasn't a small part of me that hates that this is called a video, and not a documentary or a film, and that I am referred to as a YouTuber or a content creator, and not a filmmaker or a
documentarian or an artist. Because the truth is that I could do this, make videos on this platform
every day until I die, and I would be happy every day, but that small part of me, that selfish, arrogant, pretentious, miserable part of me would not be happy if that were my legacy when I'm gone. Because living my dream
looks a lot different than I imagined as a kid,
or even 10 years ago. I didn't know Alex Lasarenko, and unfortunately, I never will. I made this video two years too late, and I missed my chance to interview him. I can't ask him what it was like composing for commercials and networks, I can't ask him how he came up with the Disney Channel theme, but I think the first question
that I would ask would be, are you okay with this? Do you even want to be credited
with writing this theme? Because this was his most popular work. He composed for other networks and shows and commercials and films, some of which some people may recognize, but nothing comes close
to these four notes. How could you compete with something that has been playing nonstop for millions of people for 20 years? And according to everyone
I've spoken with, he probably wrote it in a day, and he might not have thought
about it again after that. It was just another job. Alex is well remembered by his friends and family and coworkers, but on a broader public
and cultural scale, he does not have a well-defined legacy. There's the tribute
that Fritz Doddy wrote, the IMDB page, the archived
website, and one single photo. But when I release this video and credit him for composing this theme, it will likely become the
thing that he is known for, and I'm hesitant to do that. I'm hesitant to condemn someone else to the fate that I fear for myself. And worse, in this case,
it's just four notes. There is an obvious solution to this, and that is to expose you to some of Alex's other work while
I have your attention, to give you a broader sense of his talents and artistry outside of
this four-note mnemonic. I could play a few clips
from his other compositions, I could link to some of his work and encourage you to go
listen to it on your own, but I don't have to, because you've already
listened to his music. In fact, you are
listening to it right now, and you have been, the whole
time, since the beginning. You've been listening to the music of the late Alex Lasarenko. (grand triumphant music) (grand triumphant music continues) (grand triumphant music continues) (grand triumphant music continues) (grand triumphant music continues) Do you ever think about your
legacy as an artist at all? - I have lots of thoughts on this subject. I asked my wife, "There's a gentleman
who's got in touch with me who's interested in the
Disney work that I did, and is that what I would like to go on the record speaking about, when I have these other parts
of my work and all of this?" And then I thought, well,
I brought to it everything that I bring to everything that I do. Perhaps there's a sort of a
grandiosity in the artist, in all of, probably in every artist, that wants to be the
person who is remembered as the great, the serious,
the world-changing. Maybe humility is accepting that we're not gonna be in charge of how we're seen by posterity, and actually, it doesn't matter, and that the work will speak for itself. Aliens coming from outer space without our preconceptions
of what makes great art or what our preconceptions
of what our best work is may have a completely different idea of what's valuable in
terms of human creativity. A four-note mnemonic that, in its beautiful, minimal simplicity, completely encaptures an
entire world of feeling and associations for millions
of people across generations and around the world, I think that's a pretty
outstanding legacy. - [Lisa] He was just good at
understanding the big picture of a lot of things, so when he wrote the music,
I think he knew in his mind that something as simple
as that four-note mnemonic could have a shelf life
of 20 years, I really do. (machine rumbling faintly) (keys clicking) (mouse scroller clicking) (mouse button clicks) (machine rumbling faintly) (machine rumbling faintly) (machine rumbling faintly) (machine rumbling faintly) (grand music) - [Kevin] I have always been fascinated with programming breaks,
bumpers, network identifications and interstitial programming. Their existence is so
practical, often necessary, and yet there is so much creativity and artistry put into them. It's confounding. (stirring music) (televisions shatter) (bright music) There is a part of me
that wants to believe that the truest art, the most
worthy, the most important, is the art which is created
purely out of love for the form, the art that takes the longest to create, and the art that has the most to say; that the music played in
concert halls must be better than the music written for commercials; that the films that play in
theaters must be more important than those uploaded to the internet; that the programming must have more merit than the programming breaks, but I've never fully believed this. In truth, I am more drawn
to the unsung artists, those whose work often goes overlooked. Whenever I have the opportunity
to speak to these people, there is no shortage of passion, intent, or pride in what they do. It doesn't matter if it was just a job, or if they completed it in a day. It doesn't matter what
platform it ended up on, or what they are referred to as. These are artists. They brought everything they had to whatever they were
doing, and it showed. (gentle music) (hand patting) (chimes tinkle)
(cheerful stirring music) In the end, the production of the work is only half of the process, and maybe all that matters is that someone, somewhere, got something from whatever you created. And in the case of the
Disney Channel mnemonic, that is indisputable. In the minds of thousands
if not millions of people, this music evokes feelings
and memories often long lost. This sound has the ability
to bring back anything from the feel of carpet
to the color of walls. It could return one's
mind to a happy childhood, or represent a safe reprieve
from a difficult one. It could be a symbol of a relationship with a sibling or a parent or a friend. It could even inspire future
artists, all from a sound. Any one of us, artist or otherwise, would be fortunate, blessed even, to be remembered for a single note, so what a monumental achievement it is to be remembered for four. (piano plays the four note mnemonic) (soulful jazzy music) (soulful jazzy music continues) (soulful jazzy music continues) (soulful jazzy music continues) (soulful jazzy music continues) (soulful jazzy music continues) (soulful jazzy music continues) (soulful jazzy music continues) (soulful jazzy music continues)
