10 Disney Channel Original Movies that are Seriously Worth a Watch on Disney+

The Disney+ streaming service has only been out for about 2.5 months now, but it feels like it’s been forever. We’ve able to enjoy brand new original content and to re-watch some of our favorite Disney content and some that we forget all about.

There a ton of movies and shows to watch on the platform, and Disney has plenty more already on the way. Today, we’re looking at a very specific type of movie: the Disney Channel Original Movie, also known as the DCOM.

For those of us who grew watching Disney Channel as kids, these were a big event, and Disney+ has allowed us to go back and watch our favorites. Here we’ve picked out 10 Disney Channel Original Movies that we think you should definitely go watch in your free time.

Halloweentown

We’re starting all the way at the beginning with one of the OG DCOMs. Halloweentown has done something no other DCOM did by having not one, not two, but three sequels.

It’s the oldest movie on the list, premiering in 1998, but the acting is solid, with standout performances from Kimberly Brown as Marnie, Robin Thomas as Kalabar, and the always wonderful Debbie Reynolds as Aggie Cromwell. The film finds the right mix of fun and spooky, perfect for a Halloween movie you can watch with your family.

Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century

When you hear the title of this movie, do you immediately go “Zoom, zoom, zoom…” or is that just us? The first in the Zenon trilogy (did you know it’s also based on a book series?) gets funnier to watch every year we move closer to the imagined future of 2049.

The slang is infinitely quotable (zetus lapetus!), the costumes are creative and vibrant (pointing toward an optimistic future), and Stuart Pankin is hilarious as Commander Edward Plank. This film also spawned a couple sequels, so you can have a Zenon triple feature!

The Color of Friendship

A lot of the movies on this list are fun and wacky, and you’re usually laughing the whole time. The Color of Friendship is not one of those movies. It touches on deep issues of racism, tolerance, standing up against oppression, and probably one of the hardest things a person can do: admitting you were wrong.

It’s about breaking down barriers and finding the commonalities that exist between all of us, and it’s handled in a very mature way for a Disney Channel movie, never talking down to the audience. This movie’s lessons are still as important today as they were then.

The Other Me

It’s a common premise: what would happen if you cloned yourself and everyone thought the clone was you, but here it’s played for laughs instead of the usual dour approach. The film acts like a comedy of errors when Will and “Twoie” switch places.

The Luck of the Irish

Imagine Teen Wolf, but with leprechauns instead of werewolves, and you’ve got The Luck of the Irish. The movie follows Kyle Johnson trying to learn more about his family heritage. After he loses his lucky coin, his family’s luck runs out, and he begins to turn into a leprechaun, as you do.

It’s a funny but heartfelt look at legacy and the importance of family. It’s also great to see Timothy Omundson here as a villain before he became a big television star.

Cadet Kelly

What happens when you take two big Disney Channel stars whose shows are in their prime and put them in a movie together? You get Cadet Kelly. The movie tells the story of an eighth-grader (Hilary Duff) who is forced to go to military school and doesn’t get along with her superiors (Christy Carlson Romano). Hilarity ensues.

Most of the comedy revolves around the battle of pranks between Duff and Romano’s characters, like painting a blanket in hair, but this movie has side plots revolving around what makes a family that are just as important. Gary Cole does a great job as the militant stepfather who comes to understand his stepdaughter, and it’s cool seeing a young Shawn Ashmore when he was really taking off.

Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama

Kim Possible was a force of a television show in the 2000s. It had great characters, smooth animation, and a catchy theme song (call me, beep me if you wanna’ reach me!). This movie was originally intended as the capstone to the series, and so it plays on everything that came before.

Christy Carlson Romano and Will Friedle do an incredible job as Kim and Ron respectively, and the story neatly ties up their relationship in a satisfying way. This one comes with a little bit of homework if you haven’t seen the show, but it’s worth it.

High School Musical

Not many DCOMs can say they started a genuine phenomenon.  For this reason alone, High School Musical could make the list, but it’s also a pretty good movie on top of that.

If you’ve never seen the first High School Musical, imagine Romeo and Juliet with singing and a happy ending. Set in a high school instead of fair Verona. Speaking of singing, those songs are just too catchy! “Breaking Free” is going to be stuck in our head for hours.

Descendants

Kenny Ortega must have the magic touch, spawning both High School Musical and the Descendants franchises. This movie starts with an interesting premise: what if all of the famous Disney characters we know all lived in one universe and had children?

Ortega brings all of the skills he sharpened on High School Musical and puts them to good use here, with standout choreography and a likable cast. For a movie where the Disney villains had children, there’s not a whole lot of interaction between the kids and their parents, but this is still an interesting “what if” tale, and it’s cool to see versions of all our favorite characters interacting with each other.

Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off

Wait, hear us out before you head to the comments section. Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off is silly, yes, but so are most of the other movies on this list. If you haven’t seen this gem of a movie, Eddie is a baseball player who discovers that he has a passion for cooking, but has to hide it from his father who just wants him to play baseball.

The movie shows the power of creativity when Eddie starts concocting various recipes in the kitchen and doing what he really loves. Sure, there might be one too many food fights, but at the end of the day this movie teaches us that we should do what we love always and it has one of the most heartfelt climaxes we’ve seen from a Disney movie. Also, they got Bobby Flay somehow to be in the movie, and that deserves a watch.

There you have it, ten Disney Channel Original Movies that we think you need to check out on Disney+. We’re so happy that we get to take a walk down memory lane with this streaming service.

What did you think of our picks? What would you put on your list? Let us know down in the comments below!

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