Disney Channel Original Movies - General Discussion

[methodwriter85]

Does anyone else think it's funny that they can now annouce Right on Track as starring an Oscar winner? Not that they would, because kids aren't going to be interested, but the fact that a Disney Original Movie can now boast of starring an Oscar winner is pretty funny. They haven't been able to do that since Jodie Foster.

[twoods]

This weekend Disney is airing all their original movies this weekend, even their older ones. I've DVRed Twitches, Motorcrossed, Genius, and other goodies. 

[maraleia]

I'm recording all the Zenon movies and The Color of Friendship because I love all four of them so, so much.

[Aliconehead]

This weekend I watched the original Adventures in Babysitting since I will be out of the country for the premier of the new one. I am now hoping there is a cameo from one of the originals.  Maybe as one of the parents. I would love if there was a credits scene with Sabrina's character returning home from the night and making a comment about how hard babysitting is, then the camera pans the Elisabeth Shue responding with "yea, no kidding, I tried to warn you". 

[KaveDweller]

21 hours ago, Aliconehead said:

This weekend I watched the original Adventures in Babysitting since I will be out of the country for the premier of the new one. I am now hoping there is a cameo from one of the originals.  Maybe as one of the parents. I would love if there was a credits scene with Sabrina's character returning home from the night and making a comment about how hard babysitting is, then the camera pans the Elisabeth Shue responding with "yea, no kidding, I tried to warn you". 

Awe, I would love that. I was obsessed with the original when I was a kid, so I guess I'll have to watch the new one. I usually don't do Disney movies though.

[Aliconehead]

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/descendants-2-sequel-disney-channel-uma-ursula-china-anne-mcclain-1201792959/

[Slade347]

Adventures in Babysitting is available to see on Disney on Demand for those who have that service though their cable systems. Given the warm place in my heart the original has, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the remake. The two leads are very appealing, which definitely helps.

[Magog]

Is anyone going to watch the next DCOM (The Swap) tonight? Basically, it looks kind of similar to Freaky Friday, but they exchanged bodies by texting. Peyton List (Emma from Jessie & Bunkd) & Jacob Bertrand (I should know who this guy is, but he is kind of a nobody)  will be in this movie. 

Disney Channel - The Swap preview #1

 

Disney Channel - The Swap preview #2

Hopefully, it will be better than the Adventures in Babysitting remake. That movie sucked & there wasn't anybody likable in that DCOM. I also don't like that Disney Channel is lately shoving Sofia Carlson down my throat. I find her to be your basic Disney Channel person (very boring) & she is nothing special. 

[WildFlower87]

On 10/7/2016 at 9:58 AM, Magog said:

Hopefully, it will be better than the Adventures in Babysitting remake. That movie sucked & there wasn't anybody likable in that DCOM. I also don't like that Disney Channel is lately shoving Sofia Carlson down my throat. I find her to be your basic Disney Channel person (very boring) & she is nothing special. 

Adventures in Babysitting remake was horrible and was a flop. Sabrina Carpenter deserved a better DCOM. 

Totally agree about Sofia Carson, she's bland and nothing special. Stop shoving her down our throats Disney!

[Magog]

Is anybody looking to finally watching Descendants 2 tonight? Disney Channel has been promoting this thing constantly for the last 6 months. With all this non-stop promoting of Descendants 2, it have better reach High School Musical 2 type ratings (17 millions viewers). Maybe it will surprise me & be as charming as the High School Musical Movies, not just something put up by Disney Channel just to sell stuff & shove no talent losers (Sofia Carlson) down our throats.

[Spartan Girl]

Freeform, Lifetime, and ABC are all playing it at the same time is Disney. Ridiculous.

One of the things I hated about the original was that ghastly "Be Our Guest" rap. The one in the live action B&B was far better than that.

[Aliconehead]

I have to say I enjoyed the music more this time. Last time they seemed more like breaks in the action. This movie the music moved the storyline along like it supposed to in a musical.  

Storyline wasnt bad. I enjoyed it. 

[twoods]

Sofia's baby voice and duck lips continue to piss me off so hope that it's dialed down for the movie. Going to watch it with my daughter tomorrow and pretending that I'm going to keep her company instead of actually wanting to watch it.

[In2You]

10 hours ago, twoods said:

Sofia's baby voice and duck lips continue to piss me off so hope that it's dialed down for the movie. Going to watch it with my daughter tomorrow and pretending that I'm going to keep her company instead of actually wanting to watch it.

Her voice really annoyed me in this one. Granted I missed the first half hour but while the music was better this time around I did not like how the story flowed.

[Spartan Girl]

Story-wise, it was dumber than the first. And why must they have Hook's kid be another Jack Sparrow impression?! It's getting old, Disney!

[twoods]

I agree that the music was definitely better but it was choppy. I did like the end dance sequence when they were getting wet- the cast looked like they were having a blast.

[In2You]

5 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Story-wise, it was dumber than the first. And why must they have Hook's kid be another Jack Sparrow impression?! It's getting old, Disney!

Yeah I wasn't feeling the story. They seemed to concentrate more on the dance numbers and fight sequences opposed to the storyline this time. but the end dance scene was fun. China Anne McClain really impressed me in this.

That bright ass lip stick was really distracting on Dove. Especially with that horrible bleach hair. 

Harry Hook and his Jack Sparrow impression felt unneeded. I thought they'd do much more with him. 

The movie had 13 million viewers. It was playing across 6 networks last night

http://deadline.com/2017/07/disney-descendants-2-premiere-ratings-big-brother-1202133665/

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, In2You said:

China Anne McClain really impressed me in this.

She was the standout for me. Great voice, strong presence.

The story was really silly but I did like Ben seeing how his choice affected the ones he didn't choose because while his selecting 4 kids to come to Auradon was great for them, the rest of them must have been wondering why they didn't get picked.

As bad as the story was, I still enjoyed watching it. They all just seem to be having a great time and that is infectious for me.

[In2You]

Mal was kinda whiny and all about her in this movie. At least Evie was looking out for those other kids living on the Isle in terrible conditions turning to crime. 

[mortonsalt]

4 hours ago, In2You said:

Mal was kinda whiny and all about her in this movie. At least Evie was looking out for those other kids living on the Isle in terrible conditions turning to crime. 

Yes, I think Cameron Dove is the stronger singer and actress than Sofia Carson, but I found Mal to be too whiny until the end when her heart was broken then I finally felt sympathy towards her. Evie got on my nerves a lot during the first movie, but this time, it surprised me that she was actually one of the best characters. 

[In2You]

9 hours ago, mortonsalt said:

Yes, I think Cameron Dove is the stronger singer and actress than Sofia Carson, but I found Mal to be too whiny until the end when her heart was broken then I finally felt sympathy towards her. Evie got on my nerves a lot during the first movie, but this time, it surprised me that she was actually one of the best characters. 

Evie had way less this movie so that helped. 

I was waiting for Mal to apologize for being a bully towards Uma when they were kids but  that never happened.

Edited July 25, 2017 by In2You

[Bean421]

8 hours ago, In2You said:

Evie had way less this movie so that helped. 

I was waiting for no to apologi for being a bully towards Uma when they were kids but  that never happened.

Me too! I was like get your revenge girl. It helps that China was great vocally. I also just couldn't get behind all the pressure for a teenage relationship. 

[Mabinogia]

23 hours ago, mortonsalt said:

Yes, I think Cameron Dove is the stronger singer and actress than Sofia Carson, but I found Mal to be too whiny until the end when her heart was broken then I finally felt sympathy towards her. Evie got on my nerves a lot during the first movie, but this time, it surprised me that she was actually one of the best characters. 

I felt the same. Dove is a great actress and I loved Mal in the first movie, and yeah, when Ben was under the spell, she really sold how devastated Mal was. I didn't care for Evie in the first movie, but I loved how she has grown and thinks of others, and I love her relationship with Dopey's son (can't remember his name).

I liked Uma. Could be because the actress was good and her voice was amazing. But also, I get how she felt, being left behind. Why did Mal get to be "saved" but not her? Why was Mal more worthy than her? It sucks to see someone else always getting everything you want. I get that. I would like to imagine that she will take Ben up on his offer to repair the rift between the Isle and Auradon. Most of the "bad" kids there are only bad because of the environment they grew up in. It is also a great concept for future movies because each movie could bring a new wave of kids with new troubles and issues adjusting. Slightly repetitive but with enough variety the could make it work.

[Aliconehead]

One of the things I would like to see is, we have seen the isle kids becoming good, what about an Auradon kid becoming bad.  There was hints of this in the first on with Chad being a user and tool, but nothing came.  I think it wold add something if they explored this a little

[paulvdb]

Another thing that was never really mentioned is the moral issues with the Isle. The fairy tale heroes basically not only sent all the villains to a prison island, but their entire families. And all their as yet unborn children and later generations were also sentenced to grow up in prison and spend their entire lives there. From the first movie at least I never got the idea that there were any plans to ever free those innocent children. So if Ben hadn't come up with the idea to bring some Isle kids to Auradon all the (innocent) future generations of the villains' descendants would have had to spend their entire lives in prison for crimes that their ancestors committed.

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, Aliconehead said:

One of the things I would like to see is, we have seen the isle kids becoming good, what about an Auradon kid becoming bad.  There was hints of this in the first on with Chad being a user and tool, but nothing came.  I think it wold add something if they explored this a little

I could see Chad and Audrey hooking up and becoming some kind of evil power couple. It would be a good direction to take the story since there would be the question "did the Isle kids arrival corrupt our poor sweet innocent children" when it's pretty obvious that not all the "good" Auradon kids are all that good.

[Scott]

2 hours ago, paulvdb said:

So if Ben hadn't come up with the idea to bring some Isle kids to Auradon all the (innocent) future generations of the villains' descendants would have had to spend their entire lives in prison for crimes that their ancestors committed.

Maybe there are kangaroos there, too.

[In2You]

8 hours ago, paulvdb said:

Another thing that was never really mentioned is the moral issues with the Isle. The fairy tale heroes basically not only sent all the villains to a prison island, but their entire families. And all their as yet unborn children and later generations were also sentenced to grow up in prison and spend their entire lives there. From the first movie at least I never got the idea that there were any plans to ever free those innocent children. So if Ben hadn't come up with the idea to bring some Isle kids to Auradon all the (innocent) future generations of the villains' descendants would have had to spend their entire lives in prison for crimes that their ancestors committed.

I was questioning too this dystopian style society they have where you have all the villains and their innocent family members living in poverty under and invisible dome. I assume they'll continue to let a few more kids out and then the final movie is when they'll decide to break the barrier for good.

[Mabinogia]

Imagine being born and raised in a penal colony. Of course you're going to grow up to be a criminal. I know it's a cute Disney musical but it's really freaking depressing if you think too much about it. I can't say I don't understand why characters like Uma would be so pissed off.

[In2You]

8 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

Imagine being born and raised in a penal colony. Of course you're going to grow up to be a criminal. I know it's a cute Disney musical but it's really freaking depressing if you think too much about it. I can't say I don't understand why characters like Uma would be so pissed off.

Belle and Beast are quite cruel. They brought some of these villains back to life so they and their children could suffer on the Isle.

[Boofish]

Gaston's kid telling Ben to tell his mom his dad said HI is probably the single greatest and funniest line ever uttered in a DCOM.

[In2You]

I rewatched Descendants and Ben and Mal had alot of chemistry in the first movie and barely any in the second. 

[Spartan Girl]

Disney Channel is doing a TV remake of Hocus Pocus

JFC

[shoregirl]

5 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Disney Channel is doing a TV remake of Hocus Pocus

JFC

Why?!?!?!? Seriously why is this even necessary? Just air the original during Halloween.   

[chitowngirl]

Isn't there a sequel coming out this year with Bette, Kathy and Sarah Jessica?

[aradia22]

There are five options I can think of immediately. 

Option 1: Basic remake (possibly changing the characters but having the news characters do all the same things from the original movie )

Option 2: Go to the past... in this case Salem? (Either investigating the three sisters' personal lives or actually letting them face off with Thackery and the townspeople... but that seems like it would be unsatisfying because there's no tension in defeating the witches because you know they start the first movie being "killed" and then come back when the candle is lit. So you already know they're going to lose. And even that isn't satisfying because you know they need to be defeated again.)

Option 3: Future/present (Could be like option 1 but doesn't have to be. Likely involves a grown up version of the little girl from the first movie.)

Option 4: Totally new witches (Again, could be similar to option 1 but changing the witches instead of the human characters.)

Option 5: Maleficent... this is more outside the box thinking but finding a way to do a sympathetic twist on the witches like a Angelina Jolie Maleficent. Probably would be an option 2, go to the past choice. 

[paulvdb]

15 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Isn't there a sequel coming out this year with Bette, Kathy and Sarah Jessica?

I never watched the original and haven't followed news about it but according to the linked article

Quote

Two years ago, Midler threw cold water on the notion of a Hocus Pocus sequel anyway, writing on Facebook that the idea of Hocus Pocus 2 was an “unequivocal no.”

[aradia22]

Quote

Actresses Heidi Blickenstaff ("The Little Mermaid" and "Something Rotten!" on Broadway and the stage production of "Freaky Friday") and Cozi Zuehlsdorff ("Dolphin Tale," "Liv and Maddie") will STAR in an update of the American classic "Freaky Friday," a Disney Channel musical comedy set to begin production this fall for a 2018 debut as part of the Disney Channel Original Movie franchise.

So I guess there goes all hope of this coming to Broadway. It should be interesting since the composers for this one are actually legit. Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey of Next to Normal and If/Then. Still, this is the first time I've heard of something going from the stage to a DCOM.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Heidi-Blickenstaff-and-Cozi-Zuehlsdorff-to-Body-Swap-in-FREAKY-FRIDAY-on-Disney-Channel-20170929

[In2You]

Why are they doing yet another Freaky Friday remake? 

[STFUFrank]

I watched both Descendents movies recently and they were cute. My only issues with them were this: Why couldn't some of the kids have better names? Meaning: Mal - daughter of Maleficent, Evie - daughter of the Evil Queen etc. Really? They couldn't have names that made them more independent of whoever their parents were. Also, did they need to wear similar colors? And while I'm at it did Hook's son need the hook for a hand? I guess what I'm saying is I liked the premise of it but wish they were more of their own people rather than completely defined by their villain parents. (Speaking of where were the mothers/fathers? Who was Mal's father? Or Evie's father? Who was Harry's mother? Etc.) I'm probably thinking too much over this but those details really annoyed me.

[paulvdb]

18 hours ago, In2You said:

Why are they doing yet another Freaky Friday remake? 

And why does it have to be a musical? What's with Disney Channel's need to make all their movies musicals? I liked Descendants and its sequel but I think they could have been better if they had dropped the musical aspect and spent more effort on the story.

[In2You]

1 hour ago, paulvdb said:

And why does it have to be a musical? What's with Disney Channel's need to make all their movies musicals? I liked Descendants and its sequel but I think they could have been better if they had dropped the musical aspect and spent more effort on the story.

I hated almost every song in the first movie and liked the music alot more in the 2nd movie but they rushed the ending and threw away some of the character development to focus on the splashy music numbers. You shouldn't have to read the tie in books to get a better sense of the characters.

[Mabinogia]

57 minutes ago, In2You said:

I hated almost every song in the first movie

I did like Rotten to the Core, though it cracks me up imaging all these evil kids who steal and cheat and lie getting together to coordinate that silly dance. Same for the song in the second movie when they are showing Ben how to act evil. All I could think was "evil people would have come up with a less dorky dance".

I do think Descendants would have been better as a non-musical. I also see no reason to make Freaky Friday a musical. But Disney struck gold with those High School Musical movies, so now they keep trying to find that level of success again. 

[In2You]

27 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I did like Rotten to the Core, though it cracks me up imaging all these evil kids who steal and cheat and lie getting together to coordinate that silly dance. Same for the song in the second movie when they are showing Ben how to act evil. All I could think was "evil people would have come up with a less dorky dance".

I do think Descendants would have been better as a non-musical. I also see no reason to make Freaky Friday a musical. But Disney struck gold with those High School Musical movies, so now they keep trying to find that level of success again. 

I liked Rotten to the Core but Ben's song gave me second hand embarrassment as did that Be Our Guest pop rap. And nothing says Evil like a big non maniacal sounding Broadway style showtune

[Mabinogia]

OMG that was hands down my least favorite song of them all. Adore K-Chen and she has a killer voice but yeah, seeing my beloved Maleficent doing a Broadway number drove a dagger straight through my heart.  

[Aliconehead]

I have said it before, the problem with the music in the first one is that it did not move the story line along, they were just musical interludes. There was no reason for the song. The second, the songs actually moved the story along. The song taught Ben how to act, showed Mal and Evie relationship, etc. Which made it better. 

I agree both would have been better with out the musical aspect. There is no need for every movie to be a musical except Disney wants to make money on the cross promotion soundtrack 

[In2You]

17 hours ago, Aliconehead said:

I have said it before, the problem with the music in the first one is that it did not move the story line along, they were just musical interludes. There was no reason for the song. The second, the songs actually moved the story along. The song taught Ben how to act, showed Mal and Evie relationship, etc. Which made it better. 

I agree both would have been better with out the musical aspect. There is no need for every movie to be a musical except Disney wants to make money on the cross promotion soundtrack 

The soundtrack of D2 is way better. What's My Name is still stuck in my head.  I feel like they rushed the ending for that water splashing end number though. And I've noticed quite a few people say it's like they wrote the songs first then wrote the movie to fit around the songs.

[Magog]

Quote

I do think Descendants would have been better as a non-musical. I also see no reason to make Freaky Friday a musical. But Disney struck gold with those High School Musical movies, so now they keep trying to find that level of success again. 

Disney Channel can keep trying to do those types of DCOM's from now to forever & they will never have the success or be as phenomenal like the High School Musical movies. With all that constant hype & promotion that Descendants 2 got on Disney Channel on a daily basis, I would of expect it to reach close to the 17 Million viewers that High School Musical 2 got. It got only 5.3 viewers on Disney Channel alone & I'm certain that even if it did air on 5 different networks, it still didn't equal the amount of viewers of High School Musical 2. 

As for the movie, other than Uma (Who I really enjoy & was more likable than Mal), Harry (son of Captain Hook) & that geeky girl (who was very pretty) who was basically an outcast, the rest of the cast was pretty much "meh" to me. Mal was very annoying & very full of herself. Evie was a nuisance as usual. It was somewhat watchable (compare to the 1st movie), but it was still miles behind High School Musical 1, 2, & 3.

Here is the first promo of yet another High School Musical wannabe that will air on Disney Channel. It will air next year.

Z-O-M-B-I-E-S

[In2You]

7 hours ago, Magog said:

Disney Channel can keep trying to do those types of DCOM's from now to forever & they will never have the success or be as phenomenal like the High School Musical movies. With all that constant hype & promotion that Descendants 2 got on Disney Channel on a daily basis, I would of expect it to reach close to the 17 Million viewers that High School Musical 2 got. It got only 5.3 viewers on Disney Channel alone & I'm certain that even if it did air on 5 different networks, it still didn't equal the amount of viewers of High School Musical 2. 

As for the movie, other than Uma (Who I really enjoy & was more likable than Mal), Harry (son of Captain Hook) & that geeky girl (who was very pretty) who was basically an outcast, the rest of the cast was pretty much "meh" to me. Mal was very annoying & very full of herself. Evie was a nuisance as usual. It was somewhat watchable (compare to the 1st movie), but it was still miles behind High School Musical 1, 2, & 3.

Here is the first promo of yet another High School Musical wannabe that will air on Disney Channel. It will air next year.

Z-O-M-B-I-E-S

D2 got 21 million viewers with delayed viewing. 13 million without delayed viewing. Uma and Harry definately made the movie and when they do D3(cuz we all know its come) they should probably shift the focus over to them and reduce Mal and Ben's story. Besides what else is there to tell now that they are each other's true loves? We don't need to see Mal conflicted about their wedding. They kinda through Jay and Carlos crumbs in this one and Lonnie's storyline was a brief recap of her mother's on a much smaller scale. Chad and Gil were kinda after thoughts for extra laughs. 

[Mabinogia]

If they do D3 I agree, focus more on Uma, maybe on the new group of kids coming over from the Isle, Uma, Harry, Dizzy, etc. Have Mal, Carlos, Jai and Evie try to help them adjust with Uma and the newbies accusing them of selling out or whatever. 

I found the actress who played Uma very captivating and I think she could fall into the lead roll well. She's got a great voice too.