Disney's Friends for Change (also referred to as Friends for Change: Project Green) is a pro-social "

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

" initiative that started in the summer of 2009.

History

29 Disney stars featured in a year-long TV and radio campaign encouraging young fans to take action on environmental issues in 4 key areas: climate, waste, water, and habitat.

Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), she starred in the Disney Channel short series ...

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), a ...

, and the

Jonas Brothers The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band formed in 2005 comprising brothers Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in Wyckoff, New Jersey, the Jonas Brothers moved to Little Falls, New Jersey, in 2005, where they wrote thei ...

were among the original stars in the 30 second to 2 minute

public service announcements A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...

airing on

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

and

Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...

. As part of the initiative, kids were encouraged to pledge online to adopt environmentally-friendly habits such as recycling through the Disney Channel website. They also had the ability to choose how Disney would invest one million dollars in various environmental programs. The initiative was presented instead of the 2009 and 2010

Disney Channel Games ''Disney Channel Games'' are a '' Battle of the Network Stars''-based annual television series that aired on the Disney Channel during the summer from 2006 to 2008. Phill Lewis was the co-host of the 2006 and 2007 editions and Brian Stepanek h ...

. The first Disney's Friends for Change Games premiered June 24, 2011 on Disney Channel, replacing the

. A special 30 minute program called "Lights, Camera, Take Action! Backstage with Disney's Friends for Change" that was shown on Disney Channel directly after '' Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie,'' was hosted by Tiffany Thornton and directed by Michael Blum and Tracy Pion. It showcased behind-the-scenes footage during the making of the project. When a show ends and the stars begin to transition their way out of Disney Channel, they leave the initiative as well. This is the case for the ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...

'' and '' Jonas'' stars, among the other stars that have left. , there were 36 Disney Channel stars participating in the initiative, and 22 former Disney Channel stars who have left the initiative.

Friends for Change Games

The first ''Disney's Friends for Change Games'' was announced for the summer of 2011, replacing the ''

'', and premiered on June 24, 2011.

Participants

Below is a list of past and present stars participating in the initiative.

Former

Donations

Send It On

Make a Wave

"Make a Wave" is a song sung by

and

Joe Jonas Joseph Adam Jonas (born August 15, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He rose to fame as a member of the pop rock band the Jonas Brothers, alongside his brothers Kevin Jonas, Kevin and Nick Jonas, Nick. The group released their ...

for Disney's Friends for Change, a charity group formed by Disney for their "Friends for Change" campaign. The song was written by Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody, the same team that penned

Jordin Sparks Jordin Sparks (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the American Idol (season 6), sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. He ...

' song " This Is My Now" for ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

''. "Make a Wave" was introduced and performed at

Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. ...

in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It was also featured in the 2009

Disneynature Disneynature is an independent film studio that specializes in the production of nature documentary films for Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. Disneynature was founded on April ...

film ''

Oceans The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and ...

''.

Background

The song debuted on February 26 on

, reaching as high as number 4 on the Top 30 Countdown, while the music video had its world premiere on Disney Channel on March 14 and launched online the following day at Disney.com. "Make a Wave" was available beginning March 15 on iTunes, with all proceeds benefiting environmental charities through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. ''Oceans'' hit theaters April 22, 2010 (Earth Day). It peaked at number 84 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Music video

The music video premiered on Disney Channel on March 14 and launched online the following day at Disney.com. It was directed by Michael Blum and Tracy Pion, and was filmed at Point Dume in Malibu. The video features Joe and Demi enjoying the beach and performing the song, intercut with footage from the film ''

''.

Chart performance

The song peaked at number 84 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was a success on

's Top 30 Countdown.

Track listings

*U.S. / Digital Download #"Make a Wave" (Digital Download) – 4:01 #"Make a Wave" (Instrumental) – 3:48

Charts

Awards

We Can Change the World

"We Can Change the World" is a song sung by

Bridgit Mendler Bridgit Claire Mendler (born December 18, 1992) is an American entrepreneur and former actress and singer-songwriter. She first became known as a Child actor, child actress and continued acting into adulthood, which overlapped with a musical car ...

for the ''Disney's Friends for Change'' campaign and specifically, for the first '' Disney's Friends for Change Games''. The song was written by

Joacim Persson Joacim Bo Persson (born April 17, 1971) is a Swedish songwriter, producer, music publisher, entrepreneur and one of the founders of Auddly, a venture between Niclas Molinder, Max Martin and Björn Ulvaeus (ABBA). With Molinder, he is also part ...

and Mendler herself.

Background

The song premiered on

on June 10. With its release, Disney donated $250,000 to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. The song was made available for download on the ''Friends for Change'' website and on iTunes on June 11. All proceeds went to environmental charities, similar to the other songs released for the initiative.

Music video

The music video premiered on Disney Channel on June 10. It was directed by Art Spigel, director of the ''Disney Channel Games'', and was filmed on-location at Disney Golden Oak Ranch in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The song features Mendler happily singing in a park with a camera in her hand and into a microphone. Kids from all over the world eventually join her in singing the anthem. Some of the kids include international Disney Channel stars Valeria Baroni, Jorge Blanco, Olavo Cavalheiro, Nicole Ishida, Murtuza Kutianawala and Eve Ottino.

Track listings

*U.S. / Digital download #"We Can Change the World" – 3:19 *U.K. / Digital download #"We Can Change the World" – 3:19 #"We Can Change the World (Instrumental)" – 3:19

Release history

Rise

"Rise" is a song sung by

McClain Sisters Thriii (pronounced "three") is an American girl group that was formed in 2005 by the sisters China Anne McClain, Sierra McClain, and Lauryn McClain. The group was also known as 3mcclaingirls in 2005–2009, McClain Sisters in 2010–2014 and ju ...

for the ''Disney's Friends for Change'' campaign for the second '' Disney's Friends for Change Games''. It was also used in the end credits of the

film, ''

Chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

''. The song was written by the McClains.

Background

The song premiered on iTunes on March 23, 2012.

Music video

The music video premiered on

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

March 26, 2012.

Track listings

*U.S. / Digital Download #"Rise" (Digital Download) – 4:11

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Disney Channel Hollywood Records singles Walt Disney Records singles Environmental organizations based in the United States 2009 establishments in the United States