The Disney Channel Animated Universe is the Shared Universe that most of the earliest animated Disney Channel Original series resided in, as well as certain shows from One Saturday Morning and ABC Kids. Six series were established through various Crossovers (mostly episodes of Lilo & Stitch: The Series where characters from another show visit Kauai) to exist in the same universe. Although each of the shows take place in generally the same time period, they each have very different premises. With the end of the Western parts of the Lilo & Stitch franchise (it continued with the East Asian spin-offs Stitch! and Stitch & Ai, both of which removed Lilo Pelekai as a main character), the universe seems to have been put to rest, as its first series was the main place characters from the other shows crossed over to. However, since the 2022 release of a Disney+ continuation of The Proud Family—one of the shows that crossed over with Lilo & Stitch: The Series—called The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, there is hope that the DCAU universe would be revived.
See also the Disney Channel Live-Action Universe for the live-action shows' equivalent.
Not to be confused with the DC Comics Animated Universe.
Series confirmed to be in the Disney Channel Animated Universe include:
- Fillmore!note
- Lilo & Stitch franchise
- Kim Possible
- American Dragon: Jake Long
- The Proud Family and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder
- Recess
Series unconfirmed to be in the Disney Channel Animated Universe include:
- Teamo Supremo
- The Weekenders
- Stitch! and Stitch & Ai: Yes, both shows are part of the Lilo & Stitch franchise and both continue from Leroy & Stitch, albeit in separate timelines. However, while the former anime had Stitch's "cousins" return, and the latter Chinese series had people who worked on Lilo & Stitch: The Series as part of its production crew, neither show directly referenced the franchise's first TV series and none of the other previously-seen experiments besides Stitch himself appeared in the Chinese series. Combined with the fact that Disney in the United States hardly acknowledges the existence of either series due to their controversial nature with the fans, and it's hard to say whether or not they count.
- Any Disney Channel/XD cartoon produced after Lilo & Stitch's conclusion that isn't excluded below, and any shows they happen to cross with including Marvel Universe showsnote .
Series that are confirmed to not be in the Disney Channel Animated Universe include:
- Shows set in a different time period
- Shows that include talking animals or Funny Animalsnote
- The Disney Afternoon
- Brandy & Mr. Whiskers
- The Buzz on Maggie
- House of Mouse
- Teacher's Pet
- DuckTales (2017) (which essentially creates an Ultimate Universe of all the old Disney Afternoon shows)
- Gargoyles (very much its' own universe; a crossover with Atlantis: The Lost Empire was planned, but got scrapped when the planned Team Atlantis show was canned during production)
- Playhouse Disney/Disney Junior series (though Special Agent Oso and Handy Manny are confirmed to be in the same universe as each other, as they had a Crossover, as well as Doc McStuffins: Toy Hospital and Winnie-the-Pooh.)
- Disney's Doug, as it was previously on Nickelodeon.
- Nightmare Ned (only because Disney refuses to acknowledge its existence).
- Pepper Ann, which did cross over with House of Mouse.
- Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, which is a TV show in the Toy Story universe and presumably occurs in another galaxy.
- TRON: Uprising, which takes place in the TRON universe.
- Star Wars Rebels and Resistance, which, similar to TRON: Uprising, exist in the Star Wars canon.
- The Descendants animated shorts, which again exists in the canon of that particular DCOM.
- Any Disney Channel/XD cartoons post-Lilo & Stitch that have any of the above.
- Separate from the above shared setting, it's strongly implied that Gravity Falls, The Owl House, and Amphibia take place in the same universe, or at least the same multiverse.note
