(From left) Ng, Gilby and Tan at the media announcement of Disney XD.

By SHAMALA VELU

You can be sure of some wonderful entertainment when the brand new kid's channel, Disney XD, commences Sept 15.

The joint venture between Walt Disney Company South-East Asia with Astro is particularly targeted for boys between the ages of six and 14.

Jennifer Ng, executive director, marketing and creative for Disney Channels South-East Asia said Disney XD caters to older children who enjoy a mix of live action and animated programming.

“Although there are other channels for children on Astro, this 24-hour service features a mix of original Disney XD series, action/adventure movies, animation, anime, sports entertainment and local content that boys of this age group will enjoy,” she said.

According to managing director of The Walt Disney Company, South-East Asia, Robert Gilby, Disney XD will be the “TV home” of the new Marvel series featuring superheroes such as Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America.

“With Astro's support, we have created a made-for-Malaysia network packed full of action, adventure and comedy, with stories and characters that will capture the aspirations and dreams of millions of viewers across the country,” he said.

He added that Malaysia is an important and growing market with a large audience that has a huge appetite for great stories and characters.

It is not surprising that Malaysia is the first of South-East Asian countries to launch the Disney XD.

Among the other programmes Disney XD will also feature are Ultimate Spider-Man, Motorcity, Ninja Warrior, Voltron Force, Tron Uprising, Redakai, Iron Man Armored Adventures and Kickin' It.

Henry Tan, chief operating officer of Astro said Disney XD is available in both standard definition (SD, channel 615) and high definition (HD, channel 637) to all Astro customers and offers languages in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Tamil.