Truly, Disney Channel Original Movies are unique creations that have over two decades of history. These television films cover almost every topic or occasion, especially music and lots of basketball, sometimes together! Most of the movies feature a lead character in middle or high school who is presented with a specific challenge in the midst of growing up.
As much as fans love these movies, their plot details can be a little unusual. Enjoy a refresher on these zany movies. Then, feel free to check them out on Disney+!
Camp Rock
Even certain fans of Camp Rock’s (2008) soundtrack can admit that this musical movie requires some suspension of disbelief. Mitchie (Demi Lovato) is an aspiring singer/songwriter who gets the chance to go to a music camp when her mother is hired as the caterer. The whole plot of the movie revolves around Mitchie lying about her identity so that she can fit in (before realizing that who she is actually pretty cool).
Of course, the teen is discovered by the mean girl, and all the lies unravel. Mitchie is magically still able to perform in the Final Jam and gain the admiration of Joe Jonas, who plays a fictionalized version of himself named Shane.
The Cheetah Girls: One World
The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008) is sometimes less liked than the first two Cheetah movies for one reason: it doesn’t have the talents of Raven as Galleria. Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda go on a big audition and think they’re going to be in a Hollywood movie.
They mistake Bollywood for Hollywood, though, so they’re going to India. That’s quite a twist! The music and dance numbers in this film are still a lot of fun.
Pixel Perfect
Raviv Ullman is known fondly for his role as Phil on Disney Channel’s Phil of the Future, but he was also in a 2004 DCOM. Pixel Perfect centers on best friends Roscoe and Samantha. Roscoe (Ullman) wants to help Sam find the perfect lead singer for her band. After no luck with auditions, Roscoe uses his technological capabilities to create a hologram to join the band. The hologram, Loretta Modern, finds her way into Roscoe’s heart and makes Sam intensely jealous.
When Sam falls off the stage and loses consciousness, Loretta ends up inside Sam’s brain. The hologram plot was also used in Smart House, but this AI brain infiltration in Pixel Perfect is a lot to think about.
Radio Rebel
Radio Rebel (2012) got some press in 2020 when fans started poking fun at Debby Ryan’s way of acting like a shy girl. Ryan plays Tara, a high school student who gets incredibly nervous talking to others.
Tara has a secret life as a radio show host in which she is known as Radio Rebel. The teen uses her platform to revolutionize the school, and once again, the mean girl tries to ruin everything. Hey, with all the podcasts out there these days, anything is possible.
You Lucky Dog
You Lucky Dog (1998) is Kirk Cameron’s one and only DCOM, and he plays a defunct dog therapist named Jack. Jack’s usual mind-reading powers have dwindled, but he still knows exactly what a dog named Lucky is thinking. In a strange twist of events, Lucky is set to become the heir of a large inheritance.
Jack, the dog therapist, gets to become Lucky’s trustee, but disgruntled family members step in to try to take back what they think is rightly their cut. This is the second DCOM ever, so it’s fun to relive a little slice of history.
Hatching Pete
In Hatching Pete (2009), Jason Dolley and Mitchel Musso play best pals in high school. Pete (Dolley) is a more soft-spoken guy, and Cleatus (Musso) is the school mascot.
When Cleatus realizes that he is allergic to the giant chicken suit, Pete agrees to play the mascot, and that switch-up becomes a more permanent arrangement. Also starring Tiffany Thornton and Josie Loren, the movie’s humor comes from the fact that everyone thinks Cleatus is still the guy in the suit when it is really Pete.
Return To Halloweentown
Speaking of Halloween, Return to Halloweentown (2006) is one of the most talked-about Halloween films Disney Channel made. The plot takes Marnie Piper to college at Witch University, but every fan knows that Marnie is no longer played by Kimberly J. Brown here. Even though that fact is contentious, Sara Paxton does a great job.
The storyline also invents new villains that aren’t quite as convincing as Kalabar, and viewers have mixed feelings about Marnie dating Lucas Grabeel’s character, Ethan.
Girl Vs. Monster
Spooky Disney Channel Original Movie Girl vs. Monster (2012) centers on Skylar (Olivia Holt), the daughter of monster hunters. She is mainly focused on singing, and she has no idea about the monsters until she accidentally unleashes one.
Olivia Holt is great opposite Luke Benward, but the special effects aren’t the most believable, and the movie isn’t as scary in comparison to other Disney Channel Halloween fare.
Stepsister From Planet Weird
Stepsister from Planet Weird (2000) stars Courtnee Draper as Megan Larson and Tamara Hope as Ariel Cola. Megan and Ariel are about to become stepsisters, but there’s one small caveat: Ariel and her dad are aliens.
Disney Channel movies can get away with such fantastical elements, but those aren’t for everyone. The film is a favorite for some longtime DCOM fans, but it’s really far-fetched and doesn’t necessarily have that rewatchable quality that other films from its era have.
Teen Beach 2
In 2013, Disney Channel dipped into the 1960s beach party genre with Teen Beach Movie. The first was a creative idea, putting two twenty-first century teens into a 1960s film called Wet Side Story (a parody title of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story). The main characters, Brady (Ross Lynch) and Mack (Maia Mitchell), return for Teen Beach 2 (2015) and realize that Mack’s necklace is still stuck inside the old movie.
This time, the 1960s movie’s characters leave the screen and get a taste of Mack and Brady’s world. Though the plot might not be as celebrated as that of the first movie, the music is catchy and the characters are still a blast.
