Playhouse Disney Originals

Background

Playhouse Disney was launched on May 8, 1997 as Disney Channel's answer to Nick Jr. However, this network never used its own real on-screen logo until 2000; just the normal Disney Channel logo of the time. On February 14, 2011, Playhouse Disney was relaunched as Disney Junior, and gained a 24-hour channel replacing SOAPnet, a soap opera channel, on most providers since March 22, 2012, although SOAPnet still survived on some providers as an automated network until its end on January 1, 2014.

Contents

1st Logo (January 11, 2000-April 9, 2001)	2nd Logo (April 16, 2001-October 2002)	3rd Logo (December 2002-January 7, 2008)	4th Logo (August 2007-February 13, 2011)

1st Logo (January 11, 2000-April 9, 2001)

Logo: On a grassy hill background with clouds and a sun, we see the words "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" from the 2000 Disney Channel Originals logo. The words then zoom in, and the 1999-2002 Playhouse Disney logo zooms in, sans the word "CHANNEL". We see different character(s) depending on the show waving at us, inside a Mickey Mouse TV screen.

Variants: Here are the different characters that appear inside the logo:

Rolie Polie Olie: Olie and Spot. Also uses the long version, with the flowers growing at the beginning.
PB&J Otter: Peanut Otter.
The Book of Pooh: Pooh, holding a pot of honey.
Out of the Box: Tony and Vivian. Again, also uses the long version.
Sometimes, the word "CHANNEL" is below the logo, the logo zooms in closer to the screen and the 'playhouse' text has a deeper shadow effect.
On the Rolie Polie Olie and Out of the Box variants, there's a long version with the flowers growing at the beginning and "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" being missing, having the logo be on-screen the whole time.

Technique: Computer animation, sometimes combined with live-action.

Music/Sounds: A whimsical jingle with a synth voice.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On the long version, we hear a beautiful-sounding jingle instead.
On the Disney+ print of The Book of Pooh episode "Don Pooh-xote/Beastly Burden", none (presumably as a bad plaster).

Availability:

Seen on season 3 of Rolie Polie Olie, reruns of PB&J Otter, The Book of Pooh and Out of the Box (the latter two of which are on Disney+, though the latter doesn't have this logo). The logo was removed on post-2001 prints of these shows or plastered by the next two logos and the Disney Junior logo. The aforementioned shows also haven't aired since the mid-2000s and barely received any home video releases; even then, the releases are long out of print and the shows haven't been reissued since.
The Olie and Spot variant can be found on the VHS release of Rolie Polie Olie: A Rolie Polie Christmas.
The Pooh variant is still intact on the DVD release of The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart and also on Disney+ prints.

2nd Logo (April 16, 2001-October 2002)

Logo: On a pattern background, the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH" appears with the copyright stamp under it. Then, the text and stamp fades-out to make room for the Playhouse Disney logo (which is a Disney Channel logo from the era with "playhouse" inside a yellow customized shape with a green outline above it), containing different character(s) depending on the show waving at us, inside a Mickey Mouse TV screen. Also, the pattern (and the logo) varies.

Variants: Here are the different characters that appear inside the logo:

Rolie Polie Olie: Olie and Spot, on a turquoise blue background with lime green, bean-like shapes on the top and bottom and an aqua blue, house/acorn like shape in the middle.
PB&J Otter: Peanut Otter, on a magenta background with orange, flower-like shapes on the corners and a dark magenta flower in the middle.
The Book of Pooh: Pooh, on a dark orange background with green, flower-like shapes on the corners and a yellow flower in the middle.
Stanley: Stanley and Dennis, with the same background as The Book of Pooh.
Out of the Box: Tony and Vivian, with the same background as Rolie Polie Olie, but the background is green with orange, bean-like shapes on the top and bottom and a lime green, house/acorn like shape in the middle.

Technique: Traditional animation, combined with depending on what techniques used for the characters in the variants. This was done by Beehive in New York.

Music/Sounds: A 7-note whimsical flute/trumpet jingle, which faintly begins with whatever sounds like a classic Sesame Street tune, used as Playhouse Disney's jingle at the time, which depends on the variant.

Music/Sounds Variants:

PB&J Otter has a bongo beat and a 5-note jingle.
On Rolie Polie Olie, the show's closing theme plays over it.

Availability:

Seen on pre-2003 Playhouse Disney shows like The Book of Pooh, Stanley, Out of the Box, and other old shows of the "Mickey Mouse Screen" era, but has been plastered by the next logo or the Disney Junior logo on nearly every new print of these series.
Also preserved on the Stanley episode "Dolphin Talk" at the end of Stanley: Spring Fever.
This doesn't appear on the DVD release of Rolie Polie Olie: The Great Defender of Fun, which uses the 2000 Disney Channel Originals logo instead.
Surprisingly, the logo is intact on Disney+ prints of the third season of Out of the Box, and on Disney+ prints of later season 2 episodes as well as early Channel 5 "Milkshake" UK airings of all episodes of The Book of Pooh.
It made a surprise appearance on CITV UK airings of the aforementioned The Book of Pooh, which strangely replaced the 2000-2001 Playhouse Disney logo.

3rd Logo (December 2002-January 7, 2008)

Original version
Original version (slightly zoomed in)
Common version
16:9 version

Logo: On a green background filled with dark green flowers and yellow stars (like a variant of the previous logo), a yellow Mickey Mouse head with a purple outline flies from the top-right of the screen. Over the Mickey head, we see the text "playhouse Disney" with " Disney" in its corporate logo font. Suddenly, a blue banner (ala the WB logo) flies up underneath the company name, reading "OrIGInaL" in the same font as the Disney Channel Originals logo at the time.

Variants:

Originally, the word "CHANNEL" was below the word "Disney".
- On German prints of some of the episodes of Stanley, the original variant is slightly zoomed in.
There is a shortened version which starts with the banner flying up.
On Disney+ prints of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the two blue bars from the next logo and 2007 Disney Channel Originals logo are seen.
On early HD prints of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the logo is just stretched.
The logo is usually followed by Disney Enterprises logo/copyright tag.

Technique: 2D animation; like the last logo, this was done by Beehive in New York.

Music/Sounds: A flute/bass/accordion arrangement of the Playhouse Disney jingle, with cartoony sound effects and stars twinkling at the end. On other shows, the ending theme finishes over it.

Music/Sounds Variants:

On American prints of The Koala Brothers, this logo has a high-pitched jingle (via +1 key with 70.87 in cents).
On The Koala Brothers' Outback Christmas, none.
On Johnny and the Sprites, the music is sped-up a bit.

Availability:

The "Playhouse Disney Channel" variant is extinct, as it was only seen on reruns of their shows from December 2002 until presumably in May 2003 when it got replaced with the second version; however, some episodes of Stanley from that era used this version when it last aired on Disney Junior Canada. It was also intact on a 2004 airing of PB&J Otter episode "Invitation to the Snooties/Too Hot for Fishcicles", and on early 2003 prints of Rolie Polie Olie.
The second version is much more common as it was kept on older VHS tapes and DVDs of pre-2007 Playhouse Disney shows such as Stanley, JoJo's Circus, Higglytown Heroes, Rolie Polie Olie, The Koala Brothers and Charlie and Lola (the latter three used this logo only on US prints).
Also seen on the first season of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Handy Manny. Although both shows used the ending theme played over this logo, the 2002 Disney Channel logo was used on My Friends Tigger and Pooh (instead of this one).
On Disney Junior, this was found in split-screen credits of Rolie Polie Olie, most likely due to a processing error. This also made a brief appearance on an episode of Little Einsteins before the Disney Junior logo was shown, likely due to an editing error.
This was used in tandem with the next logo from 2007 to 2008.
This might've last appeared on the first four episodes of Handy Manny's second season and Higglytown Heroes (which kept this logo until its cancellation in 2008). Surprisingly, it was seen on all Disney+ prints, followed by the 1998 Buena Vista International Television logo.
In Canada, the CBC Originals logo somewhat plasters this logo on Canadian prints of Rolie Polie Olie.

4th Logo (August 2007-February 13, 2011)

4:3
16:9 logo
A 16:9 variant with absent bars
Stretched

Logo: On a sunny blue sky background with grass, a tree, a smiling sun, and a yellow bird with a red outline on a tree, we see the similar Mickey Mouse head from before. This time, it's wobbling. Like before, inside the head is "playhouse Disney" with " Disney" in the corporate logo font (just like before). Underneath the "Playhouse Disney" text is a yellow ribbon with a purple outline reading "Original".

Variants:

On Bunnytown, the copyright information on a black background appears after this logo.
On 16:9 shows, the blue bars from the 2007 Disney Channel Originals logo (specifically the widescreen variant) are seen. The bars were also seen on the 2002 Playhouse Disney Originals logo.
A fully animated variant exists, where the sun is in its position, and the camera pans down from just the grass to the bird in the tree and the logo. The logo only wobbles a little in this version.
A rare true 16:9 version of the logo exists, without the blue bars and the Mickey Mouse head, tree and sun having adjusted positions to match the wider aspect ratio.
A stretched version exists.

Technique: Computer animation, designed by Mary Snyder and animated by Ca-Square in New York.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show or a catchy, sunshiny guitar/drum theme composed by the Imagination Movers, which was adapted from the network's bumper theme during the era.

Music/Sounds Variants:

Sometimes, none.
A version with a high-pitched jingle exists.
Sometimes, the theme is shortened.

Availability:

It appeared on Jungle Junction, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Special Agent Oso and Imagination Movers, among others.
This doesn't appear on Disney Junior, which tends to plaster over old logos with the Disney Junior Originals logo. Surprisingly, it also appears on select Disney+ prints of these shows.
Also found on 2007-2010 Playhouse Disney DVDs and post-2010 Disney Junior DVDs of older Playhouse Disney programming, such as the 2013 DVD release of Little Einsteins: Incredible Shrinking Adventure.
The full 16:9 version with absent bars is extinct. Seen only on a June 23, 2018 Disney Junior Germany airing of Handy Manny but surprisingly Disney never plastered the logo; unknown if any other shows used this variant but it was also seen on a Disney+ print of the Handy Manny episode "Skateboard Park / Cowboy Manny".
The shortened version of the 16:9 logo is near extinction; it did, however, surprisingly appear on all Prime Video prints of the first two seasons of Timmy Time.

Playhouse Disney Originals

Disney Junior Originals

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