The announcement was a shock for an entire generation – of which I am part –, fed with carefully oiled choreographies, songs that sound like anthems and gripping plots. After twenty-seven years, Disney Channel stopped broadcasting in France since 1is January 2025. Let it be said: the quality of films and series has deteriorated significantly for some time.
But, for many, Disney Channel was synonymous with memories and iconic moments. Who has never dreamed of having a pink locker like Sharpay Evans In High School Musicalor running through the city of Barcelona singing the essential “Strut” as in the Cheetah Girls? I plead guilty.
These television series contributed to the success of the channel and the brand. But the one who ensured it from the very beginning is special and celebrates her 22nd birthday on January 17: That’s so Ravenor Raven phenomenon in French. Without her, none of the hits mentioned could have existed. It’s very simple: there is a before and an after Ravenin the history of the Mickey channel, but also in that of the small screen.
Goodbye “the sixty-five episode rule”
The heroine Raven Baxter, played by Raven-Symoné, is a black teenager with a highly developed sense of style. She has two best friends, Chelsea and Eddy. She lives with both her parents and her little brother Cory, who has a passion more than overflowing for the money. In short, a pretty normal life. With one exception: like her grandmother, Raven is able to see the future. We follow the young woman trying to extricate herself from incredible situations, into which she put herself alone to prevent her visions from coming true.
The scenario is rather simple: it only relies on an extraordinary detail and on the comic force of its main actress Raven-Symoné, born to be a star. Upon its release in 2003, the series, which for the first time in the history of the channel was filmed using several cameras, was an unmissable hit. Disney Channel has never seen such audiences. Raven phenomenon is twice nominated for Emmy Awards.
Raven-Symoné, 18 years old at the time of its release, is elevated to the rank of star: everything she touches turns to gold. In 2004, the album That’s so Raven which brings together four titles (including the heady theme song where we hear the voice of the young woman) reached 500,000 sales. In 2006, the various products derived from the series brought in more than 400 million dollars for the brand. “We forget the impact of this series, says Liv Facey, British journalist specializing in pop culture. Nobody recognizes its revolutionary aspect.”
Raven phenomenon achieves the feat of thwarting what we call, in Disney Channel jargon, “the sixty-five episode rule”. “The channel assumed that it was impossible for a series to exceed this number, explains Liv Facey. Once this level was reached, it was simply deleted. Except that That’s so Raven dodges this prediction for the first time. “We don’t realize it, but it’s huge for the time. Many of the series among spectators’ favorites were moved away from the small screen before this fateful milestone.she continues.
This is the case, for example, of Lizzie McGuireanother must-have from the chain worn by Hilary Duff, which only lasted two short seasons. That’s so Ravenit is renewed four times and thus becomes the series with the longest longevity, until the arrival of Wizards of Waverly Place in 2007. «Raven phenomenon laid the foundations for the brand’s next projects. She pushed Disney Channel to create differently, to rethink its formats”explains Liv Facey.
A special character for a special series
That’s so Raven reached these heights by being a series that features a black family. In the media landscape of the time (and still today), it is rare enough to be mentioned – especially on a wide-reaching channel like Disney Channel. Raven-Symoné is the youngest black woman to have a television show named after her.
“It was special to see a black woman take this place, especially since in France, we were sorely lacking in this representation”confides Morning Fierceblack actress and content creator on Afro-descendant issues. At the time of the broadcast of Raven phenomenonshe is very young. A detail, not so trivial in his eyes, still marks it today. “I remember his mother’s hairstyle: she wore braids, with her natural hair. It shook me up.”
“Most of the time, shows centered around black characters focus on their trauma. This is not the case with Raven phenomenon.»
However, the series was not planned to have a non-white heroine. When he is pitched to Disney Channel executives, the main character is white. Moreover, Raven-Symoné was included in the casting to audition for the role of Chelsea, the sidekick – the sidekick who serves as a foil – funny and pert. This corresponds more to the stereotypes present on television: the main character is white and his second, black. A first test episode is filmed with young Raven as number two. Impressed by his talent and his appetite for comedy, the producers decided to rewrite everything and make him the figurehead. They go even further: to stick to reality, the character is named Raven, like her actress.
If this series is special, it’s because its leader is. His character is revolutionary and changes drastically from what we saw on television at the time. Even though a thousand adventures happen to her every second, Raven is always happy. It radiates what we call across the Atlantic, in «black studies», the «black joy» (the “black joy”). This movement “consists of finding a positive energy in oneself and in others that constitutes a safe and calming place”as Elaine Nichols, curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, explains, in an article.
“Most of the time, shows centered around black characters focus on their trauma or sadness, as if they can’t be anything other than that. This is not the case with Raven phenomenon, analysis Liv Facey. She always ends up overcoming the difficulties she encounters before the end of the episode. It clearly shows that the black joy always wins.”
“Looking at Raven, I saw myself”
Where the genius lies is surely in the subjects that the series tackles. Under the guise of laughter (and we laugh a lot), Raven phenomenon shines with the important issues it tackles, sometimes for the first time in the channel’s history. “An episode that had a great impact on me was the one where Raven is refused a job because she is black. I wasn’t really aware of racism at that time. It opened a discussion at home”remembers Safya Fierce.
In another episode, constantly cited by fans of the series, Raven finds herself excluded from a fashion showbecause she is considered too big by the editor-in-chief of a magazine. She doesn’t give in and decides to attend anyway, telling him: “In case you haven’t noticed, people come in all shapes and colors…” “What I like about That’s So Ravenis that we try to tell stories in a way that the younger generation can understand them”says Raven-Symoné in an interview for Entertainment Weekly in 2023.
“Raven educated an entire generation of black and racialized women. Me, understood”adds Liv Facey. This is also the case for Safya. “Looking at Raven, I saw myself. Obviously, at the time I didn’t understand it, but it’s powerful, it’s an opportunity. It saved me, it allowed me to dream bigger”she confides. Today, in her adult life, the actress takes the advice provided by the series with her. “I think that unconsciously, I internalized a lot of his humor in what I do today in my creations”she adds.
Many testimonies echo this sentiment. “We realize the number of people of color not represented on television who were thirsty and who simply wanted to drink from this glass”maintains Rondell Sheridan, who plays Raven’s father, au site Essence Girls United en mai 2024. Among these people, future stars of the channel, like Zendaya (Agent K.C., Shake It Up) or China Anne McClain (Section Genius, Descendants). All quote Raven as an example, as their reference series, the one which showed them that it was possible. “The phenomenal success of the series has allowed the various channels to understand that black women can lead shows with massive audiences”analyzes the pop culture specialist.
Comic storylines featuring black female characters have multiplied since then, one of the most popular being Abbott Elementary on ABC. Liv Facey establishes causal link between tidal wave Raven phenomenon and the flowering of this type of series in our time. “I’m not saying that they wouldn’t have existed without Raven. I’m just saying that without her it would be a lot harder to tell some of these stories. We continue to talk about it today, which shows the strength of this series in our popular imagination.”
Raven-Symoné is a darling for viewers, nostalgic for this golden era of Disney Channel. His mark on Mickey’s channel doesn’t stop there. At the same time, she shines in the saga Cheetah Girls, another behemoth. The actress is so adored that in 2017, Raven phenomenon is one of the rare series to benefit from a spin-off, Raven’s home. The San Francisco psychic is all grown up: she has two children with her high school sweetheart, Devon. As for the audiences, it’s still a hit.
Finally, when in season 2, Raven asks her best friend Chelsea “Who would watch a show about a sighted teenager?” before looking at the camera, slight smirk on his lips, the answer is obvious: a lot of people.
Source: www.slate.fr
