Disney Channel Circle of Stars

15 years before Disney formed the a cappella group DCapella, who specializes in Disney covers, Disney created what I like to call a "once every few years" singing group who also specialized in Disney covers and would later have original material almost 20 years later. This group is officially known today as the Disney Channel Stars (I know; very original), but they were also known as the Disney Channel All Stars, Disney's Circle of Stars, while being better known as the Disney Channel Circle of Stars. Hmm... I wonder where the latter two names came from...

Unfortunately, there's never really been any actual facts about how or why the Disney Channel Stars were even put together to begin with. That could be because they were not meant to be a very active singing group. But I am going to try my best to give you the basics of what I think started the Disney Channel Stars singing group, and then speak of the songs they have recorded together since 2003.

SO TAKE WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SAY ABOUT THEIR "HISTORY" WITH A GRAIN OF SALT!

Remember DisneyMania?

It's my belief that the story of the Disney Channel Stars begins with a compilation cover album that Walt Disney Records released on September 17, 2002. Entitled DisneyMania, this album would be the first of seven official volumes of the DisneyMania series. 

This is perhaps the coolest album that
Disney has ever put together.
Not just in the series, but of ALL TIME!

It was a very unique record at the time, as the singers who participated were to record their own versions of their favorite Disney songs. It was also the most unique of the entire series of albums, because it featured some of 2002's hottest artists (half of which you would never expect to hear on anything associated with Disney), including Baha Men, Usher, Ashanti (alongside her sister Kenashia), S Club 7, Ronan Keating, NSYNC, and the queen herself Anastacia. Also featured were the more tween-friendly artists Jump5, No Secrets, A-TEENS, Hilary Duff, and (of all people) Aaron Carter.

Although DisneyMania peaked at #52 on the Billboard 200, the record was still considered a hit and was certified Gold in February 2003. While it probably wasn't as mainstream as it seemed, the non-Disney artists made it very mainstream-friendly in my mind. 

Now let's be honest: most of us, even as children, would have never imagined some of these icons being on a Disney album for a multitude of reasons, but I'm glad they were, simply because I didn't watch Disney Channel yet, so I didn't know who Hilary Duff was. Sadly, the idea of bringing in artists who are not associated with Disney would slowly decrease by the seventh and final volume, DisneyMania 7 (2010). But to be fair, I would think that it's cheaper to just focus more on singers and rappers who are actually signed to Walt Disney Records or Hollywood Records. And for the most part, that's what Disney ended up doing, no only with later installments in the DisneyMania series, but also with Disney Channel.

So what does DisneyMania have to do with the Disney Channel Stars? Well, given that the whole idea of the DisneyMania project was to have every artist record a cover of a Disney song of their choice, and Disney Channel was becoming even bigger by this point thanks to its various sitcoms, it was only a matter of time before Disney Channel and DisneyMania came together somehow. Plus, Hilary Duff was the most recent Disney Channel actress on a recent Disney Channel show to be featured on the album. NSYNC's Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera (who's version of Reflection (Mulan) is also on DisneyMania for some reason despite being released in 1998) had already moved on from the Disney Channel by 2002.

The Real Deal...

In 2003, Disney came up with the idea of creating a supergroup of the latest actors from the latest of Disney Channel original shows and movies. Eventually, the group was put together, and at first they were known as the Disney Channel Circle of Stars. Figured out where the name comes from yet? However in Hungary, they were actually referred to as the Disney Channel All Stars instead. The original hook was that the group would record a pop-oriented cover of a Disney song to help promote a special edition DVD release of a Disney movie, from which the original song came. The DVD-promotion thingy was only the case with their first two covers: "Circle of Life" (The Lion King) in 2003 and "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" (Cinderella) in 2005. 

Both songs were also recorded to be a part of the DisneyMania franchise. "Circle of Life" appeared on DisneyMania 2, which was released on January 27, 2004. And two years later, "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" made its way into DisneyMania 4, which came out on April 4, 2006, during which this supergroup was now being referred to as simply the Disney Channel Stars. Admittedly, that name is less of a mouthful unlike its previous name, but not as memorable to many. 

After that, it seemed like the group and its gimmick were officially done. During the next decade, the Disney Channel would bring in fresh faces to our screens, from Roshon Fegan to Zendaya Coleman. So ideally, there would be fresh faces for the group, right? But by 2010, the DisneyMania series was no more, and there wouldn't be another song for the seemingly defunct Disney Channel Stars for that long period of time.

[NOTE: That is, of course, unless you count the song that Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers did called "Send It On" for the Friends for Change PSA in 2009. I don't count that for one reason, and one reason only: they were credited as "Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez," not as "Disney Channel Stars." Heck, even Disney never considered "Send It On" to be a song for the Disney Channel Stars either. But the music is freaking beautiful! The lyrics, on the other hand, are super cheesy, but the vocals are great.]

Then to my shock, Disney brought the group back in 2014. On July 20th of that year, the newly christened Disney's Circle of Stars (figured it out yet?) returned with a cover of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" from the 2013 film Frozen. Christmas in July. This version of the supergroup was more of a choir, as there were a lot more people this time around (23 to be exact); most of whom were only singing the backing vocals. By the way, even though the name "Disney's Circle of Stars" didn't last, the omission of the term "channel" should have given away that some of the actors actually came from sister network Disney XD, whether or not they were also on the Disney Channel. Whether or not this was intentional, I Stan the variety!

In 2015, the group went back to their third name Disney Channel Stars. And as of right now, that is their official name, indicating that none of the newest members come from Disney XD. Damn... The next song, released on December 18, 2015, marked a departure from the tradition of only covering Disney songs. Instead, they covered a Christmas song, and their version was literally a jingle for the  Disney Channel: "Jingle Bell Rock". The song wasn't bad; it was fine. But by then, the whole cover thing was starting to get pretty stale. It didn't help that this specific cover had to be one of MANY frequently covered Christmas songs. It was time to move on. 

Then for the first time ever, the Disney Channel Stars would get their very first original song: "Legendary". Released on October 18, 2018, the track was featured on an episode of Raven's Home, and is an empowering anthem that celebrates girls and women working together. It is a very well-done song, and a great first original for the Disney Channel Stars. Oh, and it's the first to feature rapping! Overall, the song was a really good start to a possibly new direction for the Disney Channel Stars, especially now that an a cappella group had been formed by Disney Music Group around this time, under the name DCappella. They are what I like to call "the official Disney cover group".  

Aren't Kelly Taylor and Joe Santoni
just the dreamiest DCappella members
you've ever seen?!

Back to the Disney Channel Stars, their next and latest song released in November 28, 2020. It was a Christmas song, but thankfully an original and not a cover. "Put the Happy in the Holidays" is an uplifting up-tempo holiday song that literally put a smile on my face the first time I heard it! And it was truly a song that needed to be made, given how tragic a year 2020 was. To date, this is also the Disney Channel Stars' happiest song. "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" was close, but "Put the Happy in the Holidays" really put the much-needed high energy in the Disney Channel Stars, who usually had a serious, moody (and sometimes depressing) tone in their music.

If this group continues, it will be interesting to see what's next in store. Hopefully another original song? Because right now, DCappella is THE cover group for all things Disney. We'll just have to wait and see.

In retrospect...

I don't think the Disney Channel Stars were really meant to last. But they couldn't have come at a better time than the early 2000s; a time when Disney Channel had already had a handful of successful original shows and movies by 2003. At that point, it seemed to be a rule that if you were going to be a main cast member on a Disney Channel series, you had to know how to sing, and you would probably be signed to either Walt Disney Records or Hollywood Records or both. Obviously, that's not true for every actor that's been on a Disney Channel series during the past two decades, but who didn't believe that assumption? We'll wait.

That said, not everyone who was a member the Disney Channel Stars is a recording artist. As a matter of fact, some of them have not recorded another song since (or even before) their stint in the group, because they're not singers at all (their words; not mine). For those people, it was probably just a one-time thing. The fact that the group even exists on and off  to this day kind of begs the question: were all of the members obligated to sing in the group as long as they were still on the Disney Channel, or was their participation voluntary? I guess we'll never know, because like I said, there's not a lot of ACTUAL information. But hey, get your money while you still can. I certainly wish I had this group's bravery, but I cannot sing at all. 

And so concludes my uh... sort of history (if you will) on the Disney Channel Stars. I'm sure most of you reading this grew up with the "post-Zoog" era of the Disney Channel and had no idea that this supergroup still existed to this day. They may not be the group that you would have preferred based on when you started watching the Disney Channel as a kid, but that's what happens when a singing group is built around the latest actors from the latest of Disney Channel original shows and movies. It's like school, or the boyband Menudo: people come and people go.

Hope to see y'all next time, and until then, here are the music videos of all the songs the Disney Channel Stars have performed so far, including the names of every member for each lineup.

Prepare to feel old!

Circle of Life (2003)

(Orlando Brown, Hilary Duff, Tahj Mowry, Kyla Pratt, Christy Carlson Romano, Raven-Symoné, A.J. Trauth and Annelise van der Pol)

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes (2005)

(Orlando Brown, Amy Bruckner, Aly Michalka, Kyla Pratt, Brenda Song, Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse, Raven-Symoné, Ashley Tisdale, Raviv Ullman and Annelise van der Pol)

Do You Want to Build a Snowman? (2014)

(Leigh-Allyn Baker, Kelli Berglund, Rowan Blanchard, Joey Bragg, Karan Brar, Sabrina Carpenter, Kevin Chamberlin, Peyton Clark, Piper Curda, Jordan Fisher, Sarah Gilman, Olivia Holt, Leo Howard, Skai Jackson, Peyton List, Blake Michael, Austin North, Bradley Steven Perry, Grace Phipps, Jake Short, Dylan Riley Snyder, Tenzing Norgay Trainor and Tyrell Jackson Williams)

Jingle Bell Rock (2015)

(Nathan Arenas, Karan Brar, Sabrina Carpenter, Sofia Carson, Gus Kamp, Nina Lu, Miranda May and Kevin G. Quinn)

Legendary (2018)

(Meg Donnelly, Madison Hu, Sky Katz, DeVore Ledridge, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Kayla Maisonet, Jenna Ortega, Sophie Pollono, Dara Renee', Navia Robinson, Olivia Rodrigo, Sofia Rosinsky, Kylee Russell, Olivia Sanabia, Ruby Rose Turner, Sofia Wylie and Cozi Zuehlsdorff)

Put the Happy in the Holidays (2020)

(Meg Donnelly, Issac Ryan Brown, Chandler Kinney, Trevor Tordjman, Ruth Righi, Navia Robinson and Sky Katz)

Hi, I'm Jordan Brown and you're watching Disney Channel!