In this FandomWire Video Essay, we explore the lost art of Disney Channel Original Movies.
Check out the video below:
Subscribe & hit the Notification Bell so you never miss a video!
The Golden Age of Disney Channel Original Movies
THIS… is a lost art. If you’re a Disney kid of a certain age, it’s virtually impossible not to recall the once-iconic Disney Channel Original Movies (or D-COMS) with fond memories. Back when event television was a thing, there were perhaps no greater playground conversations than those swirling around the newest Disney Channel Original Movies. From Under Wraps to The Luck of the Irish to everything in between, our imaginations were taken Up, Up, and Away to unforeseen heights—the rotating roster of cherry-picked movie options meant there was always another exciting story just around the corner. So, what made those movies so special, and why do they still resonate with audiences all these years later?
When did Disney Channel Original Movies reach peak perfection? Somewhere between Troy Bolton belting out “Bet On It” in High School Musical 2 and the Jonas Brothers crooning “Play My Music” in Camp Rock is probably a good guess. According to Variety, the former set a record that is still yet to be topped to this day—not only is the High School Musical sequel the most-watched TV movie ever for kids 6-11, it also has the overall best ratings for any television film. There are some late-but-great entries to the oeuvre, like Teen Beach Movie and Descendants, but something about those timeless DCOMs of the 90s and 2000s feels practically erased. Modern Disney Channel is more concerned with simplistic charm and cheesy jokes to be bothered with trying to make timeless, often ridiculous childhood treasures. Where else can you see impossible ankle-breaking sports maneuvers executed perfectly, half-man half-mermaids, a vicious purse monster, aluminum foil kryptonite, parents aging backward in time experiments gone wrong, aliens afraid of the wind, and literal dog psychics? If you’re watching a film that checks any of these boxes, chances are, it’s a DCOM!
What was it about these special events that felt so unique, progressive, and downright entertaining? Between the outlandishly over-the-top storylines, immaculate music choices, and an obscene variety of life lessons, Disney Channel covered all its bases. Let’s explore the makeup of Disney Channel Original Movies and dissect everything that made them work. Now, getcha head in the game, and come dive into the deepest depths of Disney Channel royalty…
If you’re enjoying the content, be sure to give us a like, and don’t forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss a video.
TIER 1: THE OUTLANDISH STORYLINES
Basic fairy tales, forgettable cutesy characters, and cookie-cutter setup and resolution are very much not classic Disney Channel Original Movies formulas. Rather, what set them apart was just how preposterous and ridiculous they were, with minimal care for realism and more focus on the outlandish storylines. Nothing else on TV allowed this type of creative freedom or expression. For an inkling of what the creatives could get away with in this era, look no further than Smart House: a film way ahead of its time where artificial intelligence quite literally takes over a home won in a contest. Smart tech that can analyze blood and DNA? No, thank you! Meta mini-masterpiece The Phantom of the Megaplex, a riff on Phantom of the Opera set instead in a movie theater, ties in old-school movie monsters while rattling off endless cinema references—on a network geared towards children!
For once, executives seemed unafraid to push the boundaries on what was acceptable. In the 90s, an all-black cast starring in a TV movie was virtually unheard of, but Up, Up, And Away brought black superheroes to one of the most-watched channels in America. Don’t Look Under the Bed was so scary it was rarely shown after its initial broadcast. A mix of Drop Dead Fred and Little Monsters, the creepy and haunting visuals were enough to give any kid some pretty vivid nightmares. A PG rating was a big deal at the time for Disney Channel Original Movies, and Disney Channel did not make a proper horror film ever again. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, director Kenneth Johnson shares that there was not only major pushback for the “scary” content; an onscreen kiss between a black man and a white woman was particularly scandalous. Johnson had to fight for the kiss to stay intact. 1999 audiences apparently could handle a giant horrifyingly-designed boogeyman with razor-sharp teeth, but not an interracial kiss.
These movies are not structured as adult fare, relying instead on kid logic and zany outrageousness to bolster them. For the most part, think of these features as high concepts without the budget. Certainly, there are many exceptions to the rule, but often the most memorable are the kind that transport us to a fantastical, overexaggerated world, as only Disney can accomplish. Look no further than arguably the greatest film franchise born from the brand in holiday staple, Halloweentown. Over the course of four movies, Marnie and her family rediscover their birthright as powerful Cromwell witches, conquering their many enemies—and high school. The charming Debbie Reynolds stands in as the greatest grandma of all time, and the very concept of the human world vs. the world of Halloweentown is one that speaks to us at any age. Recasting Kimberly J. Brown for 2005’s Return to Halloweentown is inexcusable, but the magic, both literal and metaphorical, behind the original trilogy of films cannot be overstated.
Hilariously enough, some ridiculously questionable TV-CGI aside, these movies really pushed the envelope creatively. There was nothing else like this on television, nor has there really been anything comparable since. Disney created a blueprint for a type of movie that didn’t feel possible initially. For any child of the 90s, these were foundational… for just a brisk hour and a half, anything was possible.
TIER 2: THE MUSIC
Just as integral in the formula as their bonkers concepts is the music present in so many of these productions. As any cinema lover will agree, a movie’s music can make or break any given scene. For Disney, this often meant inserting at least one major random number to leave us humming or singing along in excitement. What would Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century be without “Supernova Girl” or Alley Cats Strike without “Alley Cats Strike?” The answer is, of course, a far less exciting product—music is that secret ingredient pushing many of these features over the edge into excellence.
While sadly, in the move to Disney Plus, many of these needle drops have been replaced by no-name knock-offs, their original samplings within the movies left a nostalgic scar so deep it feels wrong to even watch the scene without the original track in place. Their excision is egregious collateral damage in the shift to streaming. The Other Me’s cafeteria scene that once featured N’Sync’s “Bringing Da Noise” now feels barren and tonally off. However, many of the originals can still be found on YouTube.
Disney Channel’s first full-on musical was 2003’s The Cheetah Girls, but it wasn’t until 2006 when creatives decided not to “stick to the status quo” and cooked up a monstrous hit that would change the course of these little TV movies forevermore. High School Musical was a big gamble that somehow managed to capture the hearts of millions of people. Not only did it birth two megastars in the form of Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, but High School Musical brought the Disney Channel back into the recess conversation in a major way. In 2006, “We’re All in This Together” and “Breaking Free” were everywhere. This became the music of a new generation of Disney fanatics, ones who had not necessarily grown up loving all of those classics. The huge success saw a sudden pivot towards movie musicals, many of which were largely forgotten. By the time 2008’s High School Musical 3 became the first ever Disney Channel series to hit the big screen, and forever after, the market was quite literally flooded with musical imitators.
Few could match the brilliance of High School Musical, though many have come close—Descendants, which found the children of banished Disney villains attending Auradon Prep in the kingdom proper, and ultra-meta trapped-in-a-musical Teen Beach Movie, both hatched franchises, and memorable earworm-y tunes. Camp Rock signaled the Jonas Brothers era that would lord over the Disney Channel for years to come. One thing is certain: the channel has never been the same since that little musical movie burst out onto the scene.
TIER 3: LIFE LESSONS
Not every entry was high-concept, but all had merit or a message to portray. Once a month, valuable life lessons filtered through the preposterousness of these setups. In The Color of Friendship—one of the few based on true events—two girls from decidedly different backgrounds learn about tolerance. Disney’s take on apartheid laser-focused on being accepting of all races and that we are all equal. This layered look at racial tensions provides viewers of any age and race with hopeful and realistic commentary. Brink!, a Soul-skating movie that became the blueprint for Disney sports flicks, is sure to impart the timeless wisdom to stay true to yourself and what you love. Don’t sacrifice your soul for a sponsorship or ad deal! It probably helps that the movie has a So Weird reunion too, and shone a light on the rise in skater subculture of the decade. Even Disney can have their own G-rated version of Kids!
Another more grounded entry, Tru Confessions, attacks the stigma we have towards those with disabilities. Shia LaBeouf, in one of his earliest onscreen roles as a developmentally-stunted teen cataloged by his videographer sister, will make you ugly-cry. A Ring of Endless Light balances dolphin-telepathy with a grandfather succumbing to leukemia, somehow marking a direct halfway point between tragedy and insanity. Wouldn’t you know it, though: even the most loony flavor of Disney Channel Original Movies will typically carry morally distinct messaging just underneath the surface.
The Luck of the Irish begs the viewer to embrace their heritage and be true to themselves, lest they succumb to it. Smart House draws a similar conclusion about technology and our relationship to artificial intelligence. The one we keep coming back to time and time again, though, is Halloweentown—a horror-adjacent film that implores the viewer that being different is okay and also manages to carry two other timeless truths: You’re never too old to need your family and never judge a book by its cover. These movies taught us creative expression, dealing with loss and grief, and changes in perspectives—more than that, they defined our childhood.
CONCLUSION
Not all of them were winners: Rip Girls, The Jennie Project, and Ready to Run represent a rare early-2000s trifecta of misfires. The less said about the late 2000s and beyond, the better. In Disney’s golden years, the flops were few and far between. Learning life lessons from cheesy made-for-TV movies may sound laughable, and yet that is exactly what was happening. Whether tuning in just for a laugh or for comfort food, Disney Channel Original Movies became the ultimate destination for childhood couch entertainment. Later titles like Netflix’s Julie and the Phantoms or Hulu’s Darby and the Dead have come closer to capturing the timeless quality of your standard Disney Channel Original Movies than what the channel currently shows today.
Mourning any piece of media for its seemingly forgotten qualities may sound like an exercise in futility, and yet, these movies are worthy of celebrating just as much as mainstream princess romances or animated musicals. What they brought to the table was a sense of community, a warm place where slowly becoming a leprechaun or finding out you actually belong to a legendary family of witches didn’t seem so far away. The wide breadth of topics meant that every person was eventually represented. Somewhere along the way, we lost that shared event-watching togetherness—is it too much to ask to be transported back to 1999?
What are some of your favorite Disney Channel Original Movies? Do you miss the feel-good vibes? Why have we so egregiously neglected this lost art form? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Be sure to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to never miss a video. Classic Disney Channel is forever!
Follow us for more entertainment coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
