Welcome to DisneyChannelEARS, a website and blog about Disney Channel live-action Production news, including information on TV shows, Disney Channel Original Movies and On-Air Presentations.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Disney Channel Upfront 2012 (March 2012) Press Release

via Disney Channel press release:


The new projects announced today and upcoming programming events presented to sponsors are:

DISNEY CHANNEL

WANDER OVER YONDER” — Emmy-winning producer Craig McCracken, among the most sought-after talent in TV animation, is the creator/executive producer of Disney Channel’s upcoming “Wander Over Yonder,” an animated comedy series about best friends and epic enemies, set in surreal places across the universe. Wander is an overly-optimistic intergalactic traveler who, along with his loyal but bullish steed, Sylvia, goes from planet to planet helping people to live free and have fun, all against the evil reign of Lord Hater and his army of Watchdogs. The voice cast includes Jack McBrayer (“30 Rock,” “Phineas and Ferb”), Keith Ferguson (“Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends”) and Tom Kenny (“SpongeBob SquarePants”). McCracken created the Emmy-winning series “The Powerpuff Girls” and produced a feature film based on it. He also created the hit series “Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends,” which also won him an Emmy Award. Prior to creating his own shows, McCracken directed “Dexter’s Laboratory” and worked on a variety of shows for Hanna-Barbera. “Wander Over Yonder” is a production of Disney Television Animation.

TEEN BEACH MUSICAL” — School’s out, surf’s up and Disney Channel is taking a dip into the teen beach party movie genre with this modern break into song and dance comedy in which surfer girl McKenzie and her boyfriend, Brady, literally go into a classic surf movie musical where it’s bikers versus surfers — and they’re in for trouble if they don’t back down. While they hatch a plan to get back home to present day, the duo try to blend in as everyone around them spontaneously breaks into song and dance. But when they interfere with the plot of the movie, their fate may be changed forever. It is scheduled to premiere in summer 2013 on Disney Channel. Starring are Ross Lynch (“Austin & Ally”), Maia Mitchell (Australia’s “Trapped,” “Castaway”), Garrett Clayton, Grace Phipps (“The Nine Lives of Chloe King”), John DeLuca, Chrissie Fit (“General Hospital”), Kevin Chamberlin (“Jessie,” Broadway’s “The Addams Family”) and Steve Valentine (“Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie,” Disney XD’s “I’m In The Band”). The soundtrack is influenced by surf rock, Motown R&B, rockabilly and comedic pop. “Teen Beach Musical” was written by Vince Marcello and Mark Landry (“Zombie Prom”) and Robert Horn (“Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure”) and is directed by Jeffrey Hornaday (“Geek Charming,” choreographer of “A Chorus Line,” “Flashdance”) and choreographed by Chris Scott (“Lemonade Mouth”). David Buelow (“Bring It On: Fight to the Finish”) is the executive producer and Robert F. Phillips (“Teen Spirit”) is the producer. “Teen Beach Musical” is a production of Rainforest Productions, LLC.

GIRL VS. MONSTER” (working title) – In a Halloween themed movie to premiere during Disney Channel’s second annual month-long Monstober event, Olivia Holt (Disney XD’s “Kickin’ It”) stars as 15-year-old Skylar Lewis, a savvy teenager who discovers her family’s closely-guarded secret — she’s a fifth generation monster hunter. But Skylar doesn’t realize there is one immortal monster, Deimata, who wants to unravel her family’s secret. In order for Skylar and her friends to stop Deimata and her army of monsters, they’ll need to face their biggest fears and overcome them together. The script was written by Annie DeYoung, Ron McGee and Geoff Rodkey. The director is Stuart Gillard and the executive producer is Sheri Singer.

CODE 9” – In this unscripted practical joke show for kids and families, a hidden camera, a sense of humor and the help of Hollywood’s top special effects artists and designers is all a family needs to pull off a fun prank with their unsuspecting mom or dad. The entire group works together to plan and execute the entertaining prank with one family member going deep undercover with special prosthetic make-up, costumes and other disguises to help pull the whole prank off. Hosted by Wes Dening (“In the Qube”), the series is scheduled to premiere in summer 2012. The executive producers are Mark Herwick (“Launch My Line”), Douglas Ross, Kathleen French, Gregory Stewart and Alex Baskin (each of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”). “Code 9″ is a production of Evolution Media.

LET IT SHINE” – The premiere of this music-filled Disney Channel Original Movie will be presented FRIDAY, JUNE 15 (8:00 p.m., ET/PT). A modern day story inspired by the ghostwritten love letters of Cyrano de Bergerac, the story is set in the world of hip-hop, rap and gospel music and expresses the importance of staying true to oneself. Starring are Tyler James Williams (“Everybody Hates Chris”), Coco Jones (Radio Disney “N.B.T.”), Trevor Jackson, Brandon Mychal Smith (Disney Channel’s “So Random!”), Nicole Sullivan, Courtney B. Vance and Dawnn Lewis. It was written by Eric Daniel and Don D. Scott and directed by Paul Hoen. The soundtrack will be released on Walt Disney Records.

GRAVITY FALLS” – Premiering in June, this clever, unexpected approach to animated comedy is helmed by its creator, executive-producer/director Alex Hirsch, a 2007 Cal Arts graduate. His college short, “Off the Wall,” garnered attention from notable animation blogs Drawn! and Cartoon Brew, as well as Cold Hard Flash. He subsequently worked as a writer/storyboard artist on “The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack” and developed Disney Channel’s “Fish Hooks.” He is also the voice of Clamantha on that series. His ingenious new series “Gravity Falls” follows twin brother and sister Dipper and Mabel, whose summer plans are ruined when their parents ship them off to spend the summer with their Great Uncle Stan in the very strange town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. The voice cast is: Jason Ritter (“Parenthood”), Kristen Schaal (“Flight of the Conchords,” “Toy Story 3″) and Alex Hirsch. It is a production of Disney Television Animation.

MAKE YOUR MARK” — Bigger in 2012, with new extensions across multiple Disney platforms, the second annual “Make Your Mark,” a talent competition especially for kids and tweens, begins in July with user generated content on DisneyChannel.com. The multi-platform TV, online and radio initiative culminates with a special event telecast in October. Last year’s “Make Your Mark: ‘Shake It Up’ Edition” delivered an average of 12 million Total Viewers in two telecasts and was #1 among Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 for both programming nights. More than 30,000 dance videos were submitted online, resulting in more than 42 million video starts in four months.

GOOD LUCK CHARLIE” – The third season introduces a joyful new story arc as the Duncans prepare for the arrival of a baby brother or sister. The bundle of joy arrives in June 2012 during a one-hour special episode. 25 million votes at DisneyChannel.com were tallied worldwide to determine the baby’s name. If it’s a boy, he will be Noah, Jonah, Toby, Bobby Jr. or Bo, and if a girl, she will be Sydney, Erika, Mallory, Talia or Jenny. For 2011, the series ranked as TV’s #2 series among Kids and Tweens, and the Disney Channel Original Movie it inspired was cable TV’s #1 live-action movie of 2011 in Total Viewers (8.3 million) and the #2 scripted telecast across all TV among Kids 6-11 (4.0 million). Starring are Bridgit Mendler, Leigh-Allyn Baker, Bradley Steven Perry, Mia Talerico, Eric Allan Kramer and Jason Dolley. “Good Luck Charlie” was created by Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen and is executive-produced by Baker, Vaupen and Dan Staley. It is from It’s A Laugh Productions, Inc.

SUMMER ADVENTURE WEEKEND” — In July, Disney Channels presents its most expansive programming initiative yet, a “Summer Adventure Weekend,” with new, vacation adventure-themed episodes of every series on Disney Channel and Disney XD to be presented across three days. Themed episodes of Disney Channel’s “Gravity Falls,” “Fish Hooks,” “Jessie,” “A.N.T. Farm,” “Good Luck Charlie,” “Austin & Ally” and “Shake It Up” will be presented on Disney Channel, and Disney XD will feature themed episodes of “Kick Buttowski – Suburban Daredevil,” “Lab Rats,” “Kickin’ It,” “Pair of Kings” and “Mr. Young.”
The “Summer Adventure Weekend” includes the first of an epic “PHINEAS AND FERB” two-part episode. In the episode, entitled “Where’s Perry?,” the Flynn-Fletchers are off on an African safari, leaving Perry at home to deal with Doofenshmirtz and his most evil plot yet: to take over the OWCA. But when Doofenshmirtz accidentally zaps Carl the intern with his Ultimate-Evil-Inator ray, Carl takes over the OWCA (Organization Without a Cool Acronym) and imprisons Doof and Monogram. Agent P steps in but gets zapped with one of Doof’s many rays and in the cliffhanger of all cliffhangers, disappears. The mystery of Perry’s whereabouts will be continued in August. The voice cast includes Vincent Martella, Thomas Sangster, Ashley Tisdale, Mitchel Musso, Caroline Rhea, Richard O’Brien, Dee Bradley Baker and Alyson Stoner. Created and executive-produced by Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, the series is a production of Disney Television Animation. For three years running, the Emmy-winning “Phineas and Ferb” has ranked as the #1 animated series among Tweens and the Disney Channel Original Movie it inspired, “Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension,” was TV’s #1 scripted telecast among Kids 6-11 (4.7 million) and Tweens 9-14 (3.6 million) and cable’s #1 scripted telecast in Total Viewers (10.7 million) for 2011.

SHAKE IT UP: MADE IN JAPAN” — A 90-minute song and dance-filled event, set to premiere in August, follows best friends Rocky and CeCe as they travel to Tokyo to star in an interactive dance video game. While there, Rocky plans to explore Japan, but CeCe wants to seize the chance to become global dance superstars, their longtime dream. Meanwhile, there’s a Mission Impossible-style race against time to save the world from The Rocky and Cece computer virus. The Blue Man Group guest stars. Starring are Bella Thorne, Zendaya, Adam Irigoyen, Davis Cleveland, Kenton Duty, Roshon Fegan, Caroline Sunshine and R. Brandon Johnson. The series is executive-produced by Rob Lotterstein and Jeff Strauss and is a production of It’s a Laugh Productions, Inc.