The Dragon's Den - Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series

The Ducks have been around since the fall of 1996. Ever wondered how it all began? Whether you're an old hand amongst the fandom, or a newbie, you'll appreciate this look back at the history of the series:

Sometime in 1993-1995:
Disney CEO Michael Eisner comes up with the general idea for an animated series about the Mighty Ducks hockey team. Treating it as his brainchild, Disney TV Animation assembles a cast and crew for the show as pre-production work begins.

Fall 1996:
After a campaign of secretive commercials, Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series premieres. One of the few cartoons from any animation company to get a prime-time debut, the Ducks kicked things off with a one-hour special showing of "The First Face-Off" parts 1 and 2. The special featured Corey Matthews from Boy Meets World, as well as Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The quartet toured the actual Anaheim Pond as the episodes aired, and at the end received an autographed hockey stick from Wildwing himself!

Fall 1996 - Fall 1997:
Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series runs a full season schedule, with different sets of 13 episodes shown on ABC and WB networks in the US. A total of 26 episodes are eventually aired on both networks as they switch sets. The show is merchandised to the max, in addition to a toy promotion at McDonalds and a one and a half hour movie release of "The First Face-Off" series and "Puck Hard". The show is aired in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It is also dubbed into German and Chinese for airings in those countries. A fan community grows rapidly thanks to the Internet, with several fans putting up web pages and starting up message boards to discuss the show. David Wise, the show's head writer, uses these boards and pages to thank fans for their support of the show.

Late Fall 1997:
For the first time in the show's history, things start to take a dismal turn. Thanks to pressure from the fans, Disney decides to put the show into syndication rather than retire it permanently from the airwaves. Thanks to odd time slots and reruns, show ratings decline.

Summer 1998:
After a season of new episodes and a season in syndication, MD:TAS disappears from network television in the US. It now airs only on the Toon Disney network. Rumors persist about new episodes, with details on the re-hiring of voice actors and an emphasis on better quality animation. If those rumors were true, we have yet to see the products of them. Merchandise is no longer produced by Disney, and is soon to vanish from stores.

Fall 1999 - Present:
MD:TAS halts its run on the Family Channel in Canada, and disappears from airwaves worldwide. Now restricted to airing only on Toon Disney, the show's fate looks increasingly grim. Fans launch several major campaigns to get the Ducks back on the air, with little response from Disney. However, the fan community for the show continues to expand, as communication via the Internet remains a strong way for fans to band together. We all wait and watch for Disney to make its next move...

Veteran's Day 2003:
The first ever Mighty Ducks marathon premieres on Toon Disney. The run lasts for 11 hours, showing all 26 Ducks episodes as well as a pair of reruns at the end of the loop.