These Disney Channel Original Movies Are Worth a Rewatch on Disney+

For any kid who grew up since the late 90’s, there was nothing more magical than a new Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) coming on TV.

There are a few basic things that we wanted to get out of the way before we give your our a list of our favorites. We will only be talking about official DCOM’s which are Disney Channel made-for-TV movies that came out after 1997. The first official one was Under Wraps. Also we will avoid the movies that inspired TV series or were inspired by TV series.

Here are some of our favorite DCOM’s that you can rewatch now on Disney+.

Brink!

The late 90’s and early 2000’s were prime time for extreme sports. From skateboarding to surfing, all the cool kids were doing it. In the 1998’s Brink! we get a look at a group of friends who are obsessed with inline skating. In the film we see what happens when one of them joins a corporately sponsored team instead of staying with his ragtag crew.

Halloweentown

The Halloweentown series of films are weird and wonderful. Halloweentown follows the Cromwell family, who for years weren’t allowed to celebrate Halloween. Then they find out that their grandma and all the women in the family are witches and come from a mystical realm called Halloweentown. With four films in the series the mythology of Halloweentown is fully realized and definitely worth rewatching even when it isn’t October quite yet.

Zenon: Girl of the 21st century

In the year 2049, Zenon Kar is just your normal everyday 13 year old girl living on a space station, until one day she gets in trouble and is sent to live with her aunt on Earth. While on Earth Zenon struggles to fit in, like any girl from space would. In the main film it really follows her on Earth, but in the two sequel films we get to see more of everyday space life. After rewatching it you’ll find yourself saying “zetus lapetus” and humming Supernova Girl.

Smart House

Before Y2K everyone was terrified that technology would go nuts and attack us all (or something like that). Smart House really tapped into that fear and showed us what a highly intelligent tech-packed house would be like if it gained a personality of its own. A boy and his family win a “smart house” in a contest, and due to his meddling with its programming, it starts to act like a mother to him and his sister and fall in love with his father. Things fall apart when his father falls for the house’s inventor. Make sure to unplug your Alexa before rewatching this one so she doesn’t get any ideas.

Johnny Tsunami

The classic fish out of water story gets a new spin when Johnny Kapahala goes from highly talented surfer to newb snowboarder. When Johnny’s dad gets a new job they have to move from sunny Hawai’i to snowy, mountainous Vermont. It takes Johnny a little bit of time to learn that handling a snowboard is different from a surfboard (with one you steer with the font of the board and the other uses the back). They even made a sequel eight years later with Johnny all grown up.

Horse Sense

From Blossom to Brotherly Love and Boy Meets World to Recess, the Lawrence Brothers ruled television in the 90’s. In Horse Sense we get to see Joey Lawrence as a spoiled jerk who learns to get closer to his cousin played by Andrew Lawrence, his actual brother. They head out to a horse farm in Montana and of course there are tons of city guys not fitting in in the country moments. The film even got a sequel called Jumping Ship that follows the cousins onto an island with murderous pirates. And we get an appearance by the third Lawrence Brother, Matthew, as ship captain.

The Color of Friendship

DCOM’s weren’t just monsters, extreme sports, and Lawrence Brothers; some of them were based on real-life events, and some even taught us things. The Color of Friendship takes place in 1977 and follows a white South African girl who comes as an exchange student to live with a Black family in the U.S.. The film talks about apartheid in South Africa and racism in general. During the film, the girl from South Africa learns of her own racial blindness and has her eyes opened to the struggle  of the people around her at home. 

Mom’s Got a Date With a Vampire

Okay, so the title of this one pretty much explains the plot of the movie. It may sound like a book from the Bailey School Kids series, but it is much more than that. It uses the classic vampire myth and adds a 2000’s spin on it. A single mom, played by Caroline Rhea, goes on a date with a mysterious man named Dimitri. The kids immediately don’t trust him and are out to prove that he is more than what he appears.

Phantom of the Megaplex

Like the title hints, this DCOM was inspired by the Phantom of the Opera novel. With a big movie premiere set to happen at the Megaplex, a strange phantom has been haunting the theater. The premiere is in jeopardy of being sabotaged by the phantom and all that stands in his way is a 17-year-old theater manager and his team. If you like classic monster movie references and the occasional jump scare, give this one a rewatch.

Motocrossed

Motocrossed is another in the  series of extreme sport movies that came to Disney Channel during this era. We follow a girl who loves motocross, but is denied entry into the major races because she “just a girl.” When her brother is injured, she takes his place and pretends to be him. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, we watch as she gets better at motocross racing and proves she deserves a place in the sport. If Shakespeare had more motocross in it, we would’ve paid more attention in high school English.

The Luck of the Irish

If you missed the gem that is The Luck of the Irish, stop reading right now and open up Disney+. The Luck of the Irish follows a boy who loses a coin that is a family heirloom, and he finds out that it was his family’s luck. With the luck lost, he, his mother, and his grandfather are reverting to their natural leprechaun states. Yep, they were leprechauns the whole time. In order to win his family’s luck back, he challenges an evil leprechaun who stole the luck to a series of games culminating in a basketball game where a team of adults take on a team of kids.

Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off

Long before there were junior versions of every cooking show there was one major piece of TV entertainment that got kids into cooking. Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off was a DCOM that followed a baseball-playing kid who discovers a new love of cooking. Inspired by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, Eddie creates some unique recipes including one for a purple sauce. Eddie ultimately enters a million dollar cook-off at which Bobby Flay is a judge.

The Cheetah Girls

Raven-Symoné ruled Disney Channel with That’s So Raven, Kim Possible, and The Cheetah Girls. Based on a book series of the same name, The Cheetah Girls follows a group of four girls who start a musical group. It follows the four as they try to balance everyday life with their dreams of fame. Throughout the movies in the series we get all kinds of catchy tunes.

We highly recommend you carve out some time to take a trip down memory lane with these classic Disney Channel Original Movies. One thing you’ll notice is that teenagers seem to have a lot of problems, whether they are leprechauns, future pop stars, surfers, or girls from space. Who hasn’t been there, right? 😉

What is your favorite Disney Channel Original Movie? Let us know in the comments.

 

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