Reviews - Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire

888 reviews for:

Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire

Ashley Spencer

3.99 AVERAGE

bookswithbethx's review

4.5

informative reflective sad medium-paced

I was so pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this book. It very much focused on the 2000s era of the Disney Channel, which is the era I grew up in, and I found it extremely interesting. I learnt a lot about the business model of Disney Channel at the time, why they made the decisions they did with certain shows, and the impact the shows had on the actors both growing up and in the future. I felt like it stsrted quite slowly and then ended very abruptly. I would happily read a sequel following the shows post 2010 (despite me having grown out of Disney Channel by then) and what lead to the downfall of the Channel despite their incredible highs during the 2000s.

Content Warnings

lbartos's review

5.0

challenging informative medium-paced

kaileycsmith's review

4.0

dark emotional funny informative reflective fast-paced

nathannie's review

2.5

informative medium-paced

bujoxbooked's review

5.0

emotional funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

As a millennial who LOVED EVERYTHING during this era Disney Channel I was soooooo excited to read this! I really enjoyed how the book was organized in explaining the succession of the shows/DCOMs to show how the channel grew. The book consisted of parts of interviews from show runners, upper management, and quotes from interviews/books that the "stars" shared elsewhere. I don't think I really knew/realized that Even Stevens was their first big show. Disney was all about making money and people second.

-The fact that Demi was in rehab so they just made a new show to get rid of her was crazy to read!

-Also, actually reading about the drama with Raven and the lack of Black directors and writers. Like being a Black person, even as a kid hearing my Mom talk about it, is one thing but reading it and hearing what was happening back then like wow.And not really realizing that Raven didn't get a DCOM too! because I was so focused on the Cheetah Girls series

"Raven would now have That’s So Raven to follow suit, making her one of the first Black female stars to ever have her name in a comedy series title."

Just idk such an interesting and joy (and pain) of nostalgia read! It was so interesting to hear how the Disney Channel world worked behind the scenes!