By: Kara S.
Ok, so maybe this
isn’t the end-all, be-all list of which Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM),
and maybe it doesn’t even include every DCOM ever made, since, as of the summer
of 2016, there are over 100 different movies. But all of the DCOMs are
fantastic nonetheless, and there are quite a few unknown ones that are pretty
great, so I’ve decided I want to share a few of my favorites with you. So I
present to you:
My
Top 20 Favorite Disney Channel Movies
First on my list
at number 20 is Johnny Tsunami, which came out in 1999. Johnny is a
surfer who lives in Hawaii, but his dad’s job moves them to Vermont. Johnny’s
friend, Sam, teaches him how to snowboard, but the school he goes to looks down
upon snowboarding because they ski. He also forms a crush on a girl at his
school, and he teaches her how to snowboard, but she almost gets hurt. Johnny
and Sam catch a plane to Hawaii to go back to what’s familiar to Johnny,
surfing. They end up coming back to Vermont with Johnny’s grandfather. Johnny
makes a bet with the kids at his school, and if he wins, the skiers have to
share the slope with the snowboarders.
Number 19 is Stuck
in the Suburbs, released in 2004. Brittany live in the suburbs, but is
tired of the monotony. A new girl, Natasha, moves to her school from traveling
the world and is different, which makes Brittany’s old friends not like her,
but Brittany becomes friends with her anyway. A celebrity singer, Jordan, comes
to town to film a music video, and Brittany and Natasha go to watch and run
into Jordan and his assistant, Eddie. Jordan and Brittany accidentally pick up
each other’s phones. They then help Jordan change his image since he doesn’t
like how his record label is branding him. Brittany and Natasha get Jordan to
host a concert to try to save a landmark in their town.
At number 18 is Zenon:
Girl of the 21st Century, released in 1999. Zenon lives in a space shuttle,
but she gets in trouble with the commander, so her parents punish her by
sending her to live on Earth with her aunt. On Earth, she has troubles fitting
in, but she ends ups becoming friends with Andrew and Greg. She finds out of an
evil businessman's plan to destroy the spaceship, but when she tries to tell
the commander, he ignores her. Andrew and Greg help Zenon by creating a
antivirus. Zenon and her aunt have to find a way to get on a spaceship to load
the antivirus and save the spaceship. Zenon: the Zequel is about Zenon trying
to save the spaceship from being put out of commission and Zenon: Z3 is about
Zenon trying to save Earth from an angry goddess.
Read It and
Weep is
number 17 on my list and was released in 2006. Jamie writes in her journal on
her laptop about a girl named Is and her life, which is similar to Jamie’s own
life. In her English class, she has to write an story, but she accidentally
turns in her journal instead of her assignment. Her journal goes on to win a
writing contest and becomes published, which make Jamie become famous, but her
popularity goes south when her friends and classmates learn that the stories in
her journal are based on her real life.
Another fantastic
Disney Channel movie is Frenemies, which came out in 2012 and is number
16 on my list. It follows three different loosely-connected stories, all about
how important friendships are. Jake and his dog, Murray, are best friends, but
Julianne wants to get rid of Murray and get all of Jake’s attention so that he
will do their science project. Avalon and Halley are best friends who run a
website, Geekly Chic, together, but are put against each other when a major
newspaper offers to buy Geekly Chic, but will only keep one girl to work on the
staff. Savannah and Emma meet in the mall and look just like each other, so
they trade places because they each believe that the other’s life is better,
but they become mad at each other after they go on dates with the other girl’s
boyfriend.
Number 15 is Girl
vs. Monster, released in 2012. Skylar is a fearless girl before her
monster, Deimata, is released and she finds out she is a fifth-generation
monster hunter. Skylar and her friends, Henry and Sadie, have to now trap her
monster along with others and keep her friends and family safe and save the
Halloween party.
Wendy Wu:
Homecoming Warrior came out in 2006 and is number 14 on my list. Wendy is running for
homecoming queen, but her life becomes crazy when a Buddhist monk, Shen, tells
her she is the reincarnation of a powerful female warrior. Shen tells Wendy
that has to defeat an evil spirit before it destroys the world, but she doesn’t
believe him.
Camp Rock is my 13th favorite DCOM and
was released in 2008. Mitchie convinces her parents to let her go to Camp Rock,
a summer camp all about music, but her mom has to be the cook so that Mitchie
can go and she has to help in the kitchen. Mitchie tries to hide this detail,
and she makes friends with the popular girls. She also forms a crush on Shane,
who is part of the famous band Connect 3 and is stuck at camp because of his
spoiled behavior. Her secret is spilled, and Shane thinks she had been lying to
him about everything. Camp Rock 2 is about Camp Rock’s rivalry with the
new camp across the lake, Camp Star.
Another awesome
DCOM and number 12 is Let It Shine, which came out in 2012. Cyrus is a
youth choir director at a church where is dad is the pastor, but he is also
secretly a rapper named Truth and a busboy at a club. He and his best friend,
Kris, enter a songwriting contest hosted by a childhood friend and famous
singer, Roxy. A mixup says that Kris won, but it was actually Cyrus, but the
boys keep the act going for Roxy. Roxy and Kris try to become a couple, but he
keeps blowing her off, and she feels like she can talk to Cyrus better.
Meanwhile, this secret is pulling Kris and Cyrus apart.
Number 11 is Jump
In! It was released in 2007 and follows Izzy. He is a younger undefeated
boxer who is training to compete in the Golden Gloves competition. His friend,
Mary, is on a double Dutch team, but one of their members just quit. Izzy
doesn’t think double Dutch is hard, and he shows Mary and her friends his
skills, and they try to recruit him for their double Dutch team. He agrees to
join, but it has to be kept a secret. Izzy starts to miss boxing practices, and
his dad becomes upset with him. Izzy has to decide if he wants to do double
Dutch and let down his dad, or boxing and let down his friends.
At number 10 is a
popular DCOM, High School Musical, released in 2006. It’s about
Gabriella, the smart girl who just moved to East High, and Troy, the star basketball
player. They find their way to the school musical, which upsets Sharpay and
Ryan, along with their friends, Chad and Taylor, and the basketball coach who
is also Troy’s dad.
Another one of my
favorites is Radio Rebel, taking the number nine spot. It was released
in 2012 and is about Tara, a shy girl who is actually the hidden voice behind a
popular radio show. Her radio show gets moved to a real radio station and
becomes even bigger, much to the dismay of her principal, who cancels prom
unless Radio Rebel reveals her true identity.
Number eight is Lemonade
Mouth, released in 2011. Four kids, Olivia, Mo, Charlie, and Stella,
receive detentions and serve them together in the music room, where they start
playing instruments together. The music teacher urges them to form a band,
Lemonade Mouth, together, and they write and play songs about their lives and
the experiences they’re going through. The principal is determined to shut down
Lemonade Mouth, but they want to perform at a competition hosted by a radio
station.
Cloud 9 was released in 2014 and is
number seven. It’s about Kayla, a snowboarder and the regional girl’s halfpipe
champion. She gets kicked off her team and finds out she isn’t as good as she
thought she was. She has to get a job at the dog day care, where Will works,
and she convinces him to come back to snowboarding and coach her to be better.
She forms a new snowboarding team, which competes against her old team, and she
tries out a trick that Will had invented but no one had successfully executed
in public.
Released in 2002
and number six on my list is Cadet Kelly. Free-spirited Kelly gets moved
from her friends and her artsy school to a military academy where her new
stepdad is the commandant. She has troubles conforming to the rules, but she
finds a few friends to try to help her get through the school year and get on
the show rifle drill team, which counts on her in their regional championships.
Number five, Teen
Beach Movie, came out in 2013. Mack and Brady love surfing together, but
Mack has to go to boarding school. When she is riding her last wave before she
departs, she falls of her surfboard and Brady rides out to save her. When they
swim back to shore, they are actually on the set of Brady’s favorite movie, Wet
Side Story. There, they meet Lela and Tanner and their motorcycle and surfing
gangs respectively, who are rivals and fight over the beach. Mack and Brady end
up changing the plot of the movie: Lela and Tanner were supposed to fall in
love, but Lela falls in love with Brady and Tanner falls in love with Mack.
Mack and Brady have to try to get the movie back on track so that they can get
back to present day. In Teen Beach 2, Lela and Tanner come to Mack and
Brady’s world, and they have to get back before their movie disappears, but
they love the present world.
At number four is
Descendants, which came out in 2015. It’s focused around the kids of
Disney princesses, princes, and villains. The main characters are Mal, daughter
of Maleficent; Ben, son of Belle and the beast; Evie, daughter of the Evil
Queen; Audrey, daughter of Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip; Jay, son of
Jafar; Jane, daughter of Fairy Godmother; and Carlos, son of Cruella De Vil.
Ben is about to be crowned king of the Auradon, the kingdom his parents created
to unite all of the prince and princess’s kingdoms, and his first official
proclamation is to give the villain’s kids a second chance and bring them to Auradon
from the Isle of the Lost, where all of the villains were banished to. Mal,
Evie, Jay, and Carlos go to Auradon as part of the proclamation, and Maleficent
wants them to steal Fairy Godmother’s wand so that they can escape the Isle.
While they are there, though, they begin to like being good, so they have to
decide if they will steal the wand for their parents or stay in Auradon. Descendants
2 came out in 2017 and followed the same characters, plus Uma, daughter of Ursula, as the original
kids save Auradon from Uma and her pirate crew.
Princess
Protection Program takes the number three spot. Released in 2009, it’s about Princess
Rosalinda having to flee her country right before she is about to be crowned
queen. She stays with Carter and her dad and has to learn how to blend in with
regular Americans. Carter starts out being annoyed by her, but slowly likes her
and is determined to protect her from returning back to her country.
Another fantastic
movie, and my second favorite DCOM, is Starstruck, released in 2010.
It’s about Jessica’s family trip to Hollywood, California to visit her
grandparents, but it takes an unexpected turn when Jessica’s sister drags her
to a party so that she can try to find her celebrity crush, Christopher Wilde.
Jessica and Christopher run into each other, but Jessica could not want
anything less to do with Christopher, which baffles him. They run into each
other a few more times, and he shows her all of his favorite places around
Hollywood. They start to like each other, but Christopher wants to shelter
Jessica from the celebrity life, and she feels like she is ashamed to be with
her. He later shows up at her school dance, trying to get her back.
At the number one
slot is Rip Girls, which is hands-down my favorite Disney Channel movie,
even though so few people know about it. It was released in 2000, and it’s
about a girl, Sydney, who goes to Hawaii with her dad and stepmom to look at
her mom’s house and decide if she should keep it or sell it. Along the way, she
meets new friends and falls in love with Hawaii and surfing, while learning
about her mother.
So, those are my
favorites! What are yours?
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