Disney News: This is Disturbing

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

07 May 2007 05:13 AM

This news story came across my desk late last night and I have to say - I could hardly believe it when I read it. You may have heard this in the news too, the Disney Channel, a channel we put our faith in to provide our children, particularly our young children, with content that is as far from objectionable as you can get.

Last Tuesday morning, at 9:30 a.m., toddlers and other young children tuning in to watch an episode of "Handy Manny" discovered a film depicting hardcore pornography. According to Comcast, the cable company that experienced the interruption of their regular Disney Channel broadcast have called the interruption:

an isolated issue in a local New Jersey facility

I Can Hardly Imagine

My daughter, at age 6, knows who Handy Manny is. She doesn't go out of her way to watch the show, but I can't imagine how I would feel if I walked in to the living room, expecting her to be watching 'safe' and 'children' friendly programming only to find pornography featured on the screen.

The investigation is ongoing and the Disney Company itself got involved, looking for assurances that such an interruption will not happen again. Disney supports families, but their television channels are targeted specifically at our children and they need to protect those interests both in the name of their reputation and their market share.

Whether the incident was isolated or not, I'll be double-checking the content of the Disney channel when I turn it on for the time-being.

Handy Manny

Handy Manny is a cartoon featuring a bilingual handyman and his talking tools. He fixes things and offers lessons in life and more. Handy Manny is in his own way, the Disney answer to Dora the Explorer and for the most part, despite the simplistic premise, it's very entertaining for young children.

Were you affected by the interrupted broadcast?

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Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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mcmama (51978) 07 May 2007 06:06 AM

I have cablevision, and am not aware of this happening in this part of NJ. This is probably not so much a problem with Disney channel as it is with the cable provider fouling things up. But since disney protects its property so well, they likely have grounds for legal action - and the threat of that will clean up the cable provider's mess real quick.

Andrea Hermitt (5512) 07 May 2007 07:33 AM

I wrote an article about this last week (elsewhere). What bothered me MOST is that so many people thought that parents had NO reason to be upset, only that it was a good opportunity to explain sex. ... and some of these people had kids!

Heather Long (16954) 07 May 2007 08:01 AM

No reason to be upset? Uh...who wants to explain graphic sex to their toddler? I get the idea of looking for a silver lining, but a faux paus like that doesn't respond well to spin, no matter who is spinning it.

YolandaCrisostomo (53) 15 May 2007 01:24 PM

Aloha,

I'm new here and entered this blog because one of my dreams is to take my children to Disneyland. And yes, I love the Disney Channel as well. Children are so innocent and it seems that these criminals are always trying to find ways to corrupt our children!