The last time we met, we ruined, or rather altered the childhood of all of our Nickelodeon kids, and this time we’re coming for the Disney Channel kids. Let’s take a look at some facts that won’t change how awesome your childhood was, but will definitely change your perspective about things. Let’s get started!
Were you a huge fan of one Miss Hannah Montana? Well, the Walt Disney Company faced a lawsuit at one point accusing them of stealing the idea from writer/producer Morris Taylor Sheffield. According to Sheffield, he had pitched a show centered around a young man named Roland Dillard, who is secretly a pop star named Rock Ryder. Disney passed on the show originally, then a few years later Hannah Montanna premiered and became a huge hit.
If you were like us, you never missed an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place, maybe for the fashion, maybe for the plot, who can really say? But did you know that Joe Jonas auditioned for the role of Justin Russo? To be honest, we can’t see it. (https://nelsonjsalon.com)
This next fact ruined us. Were you a cheetah girl? A cheeta sista, if you will? Personally, we knew every word to every song, knew exactly what color of matching velour tracksuit we required, and after hours of recess rehearsal, we knew every dance step. Apparently, at one time ABC was in talks of a Cheetah Girls series, unfortunately, due to Raven’s success on That’s so Raven the network dropped the idea.
Little did we know or even notice for that matter, but Disney Channel had a very strict 65-episode rule in the 90s and 00s. What this meant was that regardless of how popular or successful a show was, there were to be no more than 65 episodes. If you were a fan of Lizzie McGuire or Even Stevens, this is why both of those shows abruptly stopped after their 65th episode. This rule was discontinued in 2004.
We could probably still quote every line to Lizzie McGuire and we think the show was cast perfectly. But despite Hilary Duff getting the role of Lizzie McGuire the network was convinced Duff couldn’t act and insisted on hiring an acting and dialogue coach for her. Excuse us, but did no one see Casper Meets Wendy?
We aren’t done with Lizzie McGuire just yet, there were talks of both a second Lizzie McGuire movie and spin-off show following Lizzie to high school. Unfortunately due to financial disagreements between Hilary Duff’s team and the network, we never got what we truly deserved.
