Disney Channel Goes Hebrew
Star Power: Miley Cyrus and other Disney Channel stars will be on the tube this fall in Israel.
Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who have long been roaming the desert, are slated to finally reach the Holy Land this September. The Disney Channel, which originated in 1983 in the United States and became a cornerstone of children’s television programming, will launch an Israeli counterpart this fall, the Jerusalem Post reported on June 29.
Star Power: Miley Cyrus and other Disney Channel stars will be on the tube this fall in Israel.
In addition to its usual lineup of programming, which will be dubbed into Hebrew, the Israeli edition of the channel will include new shows with Israeli actors. The channel joins a long list of American children shows that have made the jump to Israeli TV – Big Bird and the “Sesame Street” gang first arrived in the 1980s, Barney and his colorful cast of dinosaurs dropped in during the late 1990s, as did the “Teletubbies” who came via their Tubbytronic Superdome.
While Disney is no stranger to Israel (its animated feature films such as “Aladdin” and “Lion King” have long appeared in Israeli movie theaters) it has not always had the smoothest of relations when it comes to the Middle East. A millennium exhibit at Disney World included a section entitled “Jerusalem: The Capital of Israel,” which led to an Arab boycott of Disney. In 2007, Hamas used a Mickey Mouse look-alike character in an anti-Israel children’s campaign, causing another uproar.
Disney will be counting on international superstar Hannah Montana (played by Miley Cyrus) to bring her brand of peace and stability to the Middle East with her colorful pop songs.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
