A month ago I saw this post on Buzzfeed about there being a DCOM marathon on Disney leading up to the 100th DCOM that’ll be airing this summer. My first two reactions were “Yay! All of my favorite DCOMs are going to be airing!” and the other was “There’s been 99 DCOMs?!” I’m not sure about y’all, but I grew up on those movies. I’m looking forward to reliving some of those childhood memories by rewatching some of my favorites this summer. Now remember, there’s a distinct difference between a DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie) and a ‘Wonderful World of Disney’ movie. DCOMs only aired on the Disney channel and WWoD movies usually aired on ABC on Saturday nights. DCOMs were movies like ‘The Cheetah Girls’, ‘High School Musical 1 & 2’, ‘The Color of Friendship’, ‘Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century’ and some WWoD movies were ‘Cinderella’ with Brandy and Whitney Houston and ‘Model Behavior’ with Justin Timberlake. Yes, I’m just as sad as y’all are that they won’t be airing ‘Model Behavior’ during this marathon.
I can honestly say I’ve seen about 80% of these movies, but instead of ranking all of them I think I’m just gonna give y’all my favorite 20. It’s so hard to rank them so I’m not even going to do that. Instead I want to take y’all on a trip down memory lane and hopefully you remember to set your DVRs for some of these classics.
The Cheetah Girls – This movie was so over the top and it was before Raven flipped out and said the crazy stuff she said, before Adrienne dated a Kardashian but after she and Kiely were in 3LW. So many good songs and an overall girl power type movie.
The Cheetah Girls 2 – The same as above, but with songs like “Strut” and “Amigas Cheetahs”.
High School Musical 2 – Zac Efron was SO orange in this movie and the storyline was even more cheesy than the first one, but the music in this one really good. “I don’t dance”, “Bet on it” and “Everyday” were on my playlists for months after that movie premiered. Oh and this movie actually came out at the beginning of my sophomore year of undergrad so I had a floor party with my residents and watched the premiere with pizza and soda.
Twitches – Tia and Tamara essentially reprise their roles from ‘Sister Sister’, but this time as witches. They’re twin sisters separated at birth who have to unite to save their world.
The Thirteenth Year – Mermaids and Uncle Joey? What more can you ask for?
The Jett Jackson Movie – I was a HUGE fan of the show (and Lee Thompson Young) so this movie was a definite for this list. I’m not sure if y’all watched the show but the movie was the alternate universe of that. So good!
Cadet Kelly – An Ashmore twin, Christy Carlson Romano, and Hilary Duff in a military inspired movie? Sign me up!
Even Stevens Movie – This movie was very ‘Survivor’-esque but with all the characters from the show. A must watch.
Gotta Kick it Up! – Three words: Si se puede!
The Poof Point – Tahj Mowry, Dawnn Lewis and Mark Curry? Yes please! Tahj and his sister activate his parents’ machine, causing them to age in reverse but only mentally.
The Luck of the Irish – Ryan Merriman was the cutie that kept getting casted in DCOMs and there were no arguments from me. Hey boo!
Smart House – Another Ryan Merriman film, but this one also had Katey Segal and was directed by LeVar Burton. Yes, that LeVar Burton! Plus I can’t lie, I wanted that house when this movie came out.
Motorcrossed – Another one of their girl power movies! This was ‘She’s the Man’ before it came out. Plus there was an *NSYNC reference.
The Color of Friendship – This was the first DCOM that I saw hit a heavier topic. It’s one of the older ones and touched on racism at a time when no one was really breaking down for kids.
Horse Sense – The Lawrence brothers were also a staple in DCOMs for a while and this was one of theirs.
Stuck in the Suburbs – What would happen if swapped phones with your favorite pop star? This movie tells you!
Quints – The original ’19 Kids and Counting’ only better and without any legal issues.
Starstruck – This movie was the real life version of so many fan fictions I read when I was younger.
Zenon the Zequel – I would list the whole trilogy, but this was the best one on honestly.
Kim Possible: So the Drama – Do I even need to explain this one.
I thought of at least a dozen more while working on this list, so I know there are quite a few I’m missing. Comment below or email me your favorites!