Disney Channel Original Movies - General Discussion

[twoods]

Late to the show but finally caught How To Build A Better Boy last night on Netflix and didn't think it was bad. I wish they fleshed out that Jarod kid more because I liked that he was a smart Jock who liked the main girl before she got popular. Will try to see Cloud 9 tonight.

Still love High School Musical and Camp Rock. I'm too old to watch this crap but I don't care!

[Magog]

 

 

Teen Beach 2

I'm going to admit that I'm excited.

 

You won't have to wait too long to watch it. It will start airing on June 26th.

 

I'm more excited about Teen Beach Movie 2 than the Descendants DCOM. Hell, I'm more excited about the upcoming Jessie spin-off Bunk'd (Zuri, Emma, & (sadly) Ravi being in it) than the Descendants. I can't seem to warm up to Dove Cameron. There is just something about her that I don't like, but I can't think of what that is. I just wish that Disney Channel would just stop trying to make Dove Cameron happen. I already find Sabrina Carpenter more talented & prettier than Dove Cameron. 

Edited May 7, 2015 by Magog

[methodwriter85]

I felt the same way about Bella Thorne, but Bella is basically aging in Lindsay Lohan years and she already seems done with Disney.

Edited May 7, 2015 by methodwriter85

[twoods]

Maybe I should give Teen Beach Movie a chance since you guys liked it. I caught Cloud 9 on netflix yesterday and it wasn't half bad. The main girl's constant duck lips annoyed but the male lead was so likable.

[ellenr33]

Dude I can't get enough of the music in High School Musical. Breaking Free is seriously my jam. 

[Magog]

The Descendants will finally air on Disney Channel on July 31st & after that will be the new show called Bunk'D. I'm still not excited about Descendants & just about every one on that DCOM annoys me deeply. I hope that Teen Beach Musical 2 becomes more popular than Descendants. 

[Yeldarbe]

Re watching teen beach movie with the girl. It's cute and I really appreciate the fact that they made the boy the one obsessed with the silly movie.

[methodwriter85]

I am gay, but WOW, Maia Mitchell is friggin' hot. It's easy to forget that when she's usually playing such a sadsack character, but she looked truly breathtaking at that dance. Also, Ross Lynch continues being adorable. I kind of wish he'd give up the shaggy hair but eh.

 

Also, the "twist" ending means they could basically do a part 3 with Brady and Mack having no idea what's going on.

[WildFlower87]

Yikes, Teen Beach 2 didn't do as well with 5.8 million viewers, while the first did 8.4 million viewers. Personally, I didn't care for the sequel and liked the first movie a lot better.

 

Is it just me, or was there less promotion and hype for the sequel compared to the first, which I remember Disney advertising and promoting the hell of it.

[methodwriter85]

It's funny if Disney decides not to do a Part 3, because they CLEARLY set things up (and wiped out the first movie in the process) for a Part 3.

[Aliconehead]

While I did not like Teen Beach 2 as much as I liked Teen Beach, I do think there was some really catchy songs in this one.  I hope there is a third movie, mainly because I REALLY want to know what "Laila Queen of the Beach" is about.

[Magog]

 

 

Yikes, Teen Beach 2 didn't do as well with 5.8 million viewers, while the first did 8.4 million viewers. Personally, I didn't care for the sequel and liked the first movie a lot better.

Is it just me, or was there less promotion and hype for the sequel compared to the first, which I remember Disney advertising and promoting the hell of it.

 

It got plenty of promoting on Disney Channel. I thought it would get more than 5.8 Million viewers. Sadly, the Descendants is getting a bit more promotion than Teen Beach Musical 2. Lately, I can't go a day without seeing that Dove Cameron on the commercials. Her type is a dime-a-dozen on Disney Channel. I still can't find anything likable about Dove Cameron & I also find BoBo Stewart is even more revolting. I don't know why he is even in this movie. I will be very irritated if this DCOM reached High School Musical type popularity.

 

I thought Teen Beach Musical 2 was OK & somewhat enjoyable. It was nothing like Camp Rock 2, which is a good thing.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Magog

[Misslindsey]

I thought Teen Beach 2 was fine. I enjoyed it better than most DCOM's and I enjoy the cast. I do think playing the movie so many times over the weekend might cut down on ratings a bit.

 

I am not to sure if I really want to watch The Descendants. I do like Dove Cameron better than most Disney channel actors (No one annoys me more on Disney than Debbie Ryan), but then again I am a very sporadic watcher of Liv and Maddie . I am just not too sure about the movie.

[SmithW6079]

I didn't mind terribly that "Teen Beach 2" was the story of Lela's awakening and empowerment at the expense of the other characters, but I hated that they turned Tanner into a fey moron. Now, some of that may have been due to Garrett Clayton camping it up to the nth degree. He and Ross Lynch had more chemistry with each other than with their "girlfriends." At least he had his cool high school hallway walk.

IMDB has Garrett at 6'2", but there's no way that's true. He was clearly shorter than Ross Lynch, who's supposed to be 6'.

Why did Brady have to apologize for liking surfing and designing surfboards? His interests were portrayed as somehow "less" than Mac's. I'm really tired of the trend that to build up girls means tearing down boys.

Still, I liked it. It had catchy songs and good dance numbers.

"Descendants" looks awful. I hate retconning of evil characters, plus I'm not a fan of Dove Cameron or the actor who played Luke on "Jessie." (He was a little sleaze bag there.)

Edited July 11, 2015 by SmithW6079

[Dejana]

Due to some eleventh hour babysitting of the nieces, I found myself watching Teen Beach 2 with them yesterday. I liked it and found it far less obnoxious than most Disney sitcoms (those promos for the "prison" episode of Zendaya's latest show...was there a bet in the writers' room to see if they could get away with an Orange is the New Black homage?). I told them about a bit about the real West Side Story and how in the old Beach Party movies, the actual stars didn't film the surfing scenes in the water (they didn't get it so I showed them a Youtube clip to explain during a break) and Lela and Tanner not getting wet was a nod to that. Somehow, we got to talking about how kissing wasn't allowed in the first High School Musical because TPTB didn't think that was "wholesome" enough, but the complaints made them change their minds for future Disney Channel movies. My nieces just couldn't believe something like that happened less than ten years ago!

 

Anyway, I was surprised that they actually did alter the timeline and made the couple start from scratch. I didn't get the sense that we were supposed to think Brady making the surfboards was actually less worthwhile than Mack being so academic, just that he was insecure that his big invention wouldn't really work and he felt like a flake in comparison to her. At first, I was rooting for Mack to end up with that other guy Brady was jealous of, but figured that wouldn't be a very Disney ending. Tanner seemed too stupid to live, but the actor was clearly having a great time channeling Link from Hairspray.

Edited July 12, 2015 by Dejana

[methodwriter85]

 

I didn't mind terribly that "Teen Beach 2" was the story of Lela's awakening and empowerment at the expense of the other characters, but I hated that they turned Tanner into a fey moron. Now, some of that may have been due to Garrett Clayton camping it up to the nth degree. He and Ross Lynch had more chemistry with each other than with their "girlfriends." At least he had his cool high school hallway walk.

 

I remember thinking all throughout Teen Beach 1 that Ross Lynch pinged my gaydar. He doesn't as much outside of this franchise, but yeah.

 

Mack and Lela had WAY more chemistry with each other as well. I was seriously feeling the LesYay between the two, and I'm not even geared towards that.

 

Also, Garrett Clayton really seemed to have a ball with this. It's a shame Hairspray isn't prime for a reboot just yet because he really does channel Zac Efron's Link pretty well, as the poster said upthread.

[SmithW6079]

I remember thinking all throughout Teen Beach 1 that Ross Lynch pinged my gaydar. He doesn't as much outside of this franchise, but yeah.

Have you every watched him on "Austin & Ally"? He and Calum Worthy lay on the Hoyay pretty thickly.

[methodwriter85]

I've watched it a coupe of times but not enough to really pick up on the vibe.

[twoods]

May have to give Teen Beach 2 a chance. Saw a clip during "Another Cinderella Story" (no judging) of Gotta Be Me, and that song was very catchy.

[Spartan Girl]

I may hate-watch Descendants, just for the hell of it. But God, they made all of them look like the bad guys from Power Rangers.

[childeroland]

If the rest of it is even half as bad as the clip they just released, definitely.

[SilverShadow]

Descendents is out early on the Watch Disney Channel app. Thoughts in Spoilerbox. No specific plot spoilers, but I do discuss how I feel about certain actors and characters:

 

I knew going in the movie was more or less created because Disney wanted some of that sweet sweet Monster High/Ever After High/My Little Pony Equestria Girls money and that tongue was going to be firmly in cheek. As basically "High School Musical" with nods to Disney it was mostly pretty enjoyable if you're in a crack!watching mood. Loved all the villain kids. Ben, the Belle and Beast spawn was super rough in his early scenes but somewhat learned to act by the end. I was annoyed that aside from him, Dopey's son, and kind of Mulan's kid, the other named "Good Guy" kids were mostly one dimensional jerks with a quick redemption at the end. Meh.

Of the adult actors Chenowith was surprisingly good as Maleficient. She brought a lot of gleeful wickedness to it that I was totally on board for. Making The Evil Queen sort of Princeton Mom-ish (She wants her daughter to find a rich prince and is all about looks) kind of worked. Cruella was barely in the movie, and Jafar was painful. Nothing like the movie character, and kind of a racist stereotype. Belle and Beast were very fun with her being all reasonable Mom and him being kind of this dorktastic giant of a man.


I kinda dug the kids costumes. The plot was paint by the numbers and the songs were nicely choreographed but hella autotuned. I wouldn't necessarily watch again without copious amounts of alcohol and friends to share in mocking commentary, but I do kinda wanna see what they would do in a sequel.

Edited July 26, 2015 by SilverShadow

[Spartan Girl]

The sad thing is that Kristen Chenowith's Maleficent is way more evil than the Angelina Jolie one.

For some reason, I can tolerate this movie so far unless they break out into song. And I usually love musicals.

[grandemocha]

I'm just gonna say it: the kid playing Ben seems way gay to me. His interest in Mal is just so not believable, I saw more chemistry between him and Carlos. Like even Zac Efron was believable as Troy being interested in Gabriella.

 

Major major lip-syncing issues. I'll assume some of these kids who were chosen absolutely cannot sing which is why their voices are dubbed during the musical numbers.

Edited August 1, 2015 by grandemocha

[Spartan Girl]

I'm just gonna say it: the kid playing Ben seems way gay to me. His interest in Mal is just so not believable, I saw more chemistry between him and Carlos. Like even Zac Efron was believable as Troy being interested in Gabriella.

This. So much this. It's so contrived.

And I have to ask: where the hell did the evil kids come from?? Were they just conjured by magic? If they were, just say it, Disney

The guy playing Jay is hot, I will concede that.

BUT HOW DARE THEY BUTCHER BE OUR GUEST WITH THAT SHITTY RAP VERSION!?

Edited August 1, 2015 by Spartan Girl

[aradia22]

I completely forgot this was airing yesterday. 

[childeroland]

6.6 millions viewers.

http://variety.com/2015/tv/ratings/descendants-ratings-disney-channel-1201554266/

[Spartan Girl]

The thing that bugged me the most was how completely unbothered Ben was that Mal gave him a love potion. What was Disney trying to say here: that it's okay to roofie someone as long as they had real feelings for you?!

Edited August 1, 2015 by Spartan Girl

[SmithW6079]

The thing that bugged me the most was how completely unbothered Ben was that Mal gave him a love potion. What was Zdisney trying to say here: that it's okay to roofie someone as long as they had real feelings for you?!

No, that when a girl does it, it's OK.

[twoods]

Descendants wasn't half bad. It kept my attention more than Teen Beach Movie. Dove's constant lip puckering was getting on my nerves, but the other kids were good. I wonder what the second movie will be about.

[paulvdb]

Animated Short-Form Series 'Descendants Wicked World' to Premiere Friday, September 18 on Disney Channel

"Descendants Wicked World," an animated short-form series set in the Auradon and Isle of the Lost worlds of Disney's hit movie "Descendants," is set to premiere FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 on Disney Channel and its digital platforms, including WATCH Disney Channel. The series will introduce new characters. Providing the voices of the animated characters are the movie's stars: Dove Cameron as Mal, Sofia Carson as Evie, Cameron Boyce as Carlos, Booboo Stewart as Jay, Mitchell Hope as Ben, Brenna D'Amico as Jane, Sarah Jeffery as Audrey and Dianne Doan as Lonnie.

[twoods]

My 5 year old wanted to see Descendants so I ignored her- at least now with the cartoon she can watch it. Don't know how I feel about Dove's giggling and breathlessness in a cartoon character.

[aradia22]

Is this the first time Disney is doing an animated sequel DCOM?

[SilverShadow]

Not if you count the Jake and the Neverland Pirates films. Really it's just a bridge into the series. Disney does that a lot. Return of Jafar started as a pilot for the Aladdin series way back when, but then they decided to put it on video, it made all the money, and a tradition was born.

[paulvdb]

Disney press release: Disney Channel's 'Descendants' is the Number 5 Cable Movie of All Time in Live +7 Total Viewers Ratings

[ellenr33]

Doug has the best dancing skills out of everyone! Nerd can bust a move!

[Aliconehead]

Doug was also one of the dancers in Zapped, so I figured he was going to dance.  Personally my eyes were drawn to Sophia Carson in the last number.  You could tell she had dance training

[Magog]

I finally got around to seeing The Descendants & even though I kind of liked the movie, I still would take all 3 High School Musical movies over this. 

 

Despite the DCOM being somewhat enjoyable, I still don't like Dove Cameron. Her presence in the movie was nothing special. Even that loser Bobo Stewart was more interesting than her. It also doesn't help that her singing isn't something to get excited about & she was kind of full of herself throughout the movie. I think that Sabrina Carpenter would of fit better in the Descendants. 

 

Overall, if & when Disney Channel decide to do a Descendants 2 movie, I don't want to hear Dove Cameron sing a note. 

 

Here is the first promo of Invisible Sister that will air on Disney Channel in October. Riley Matthews (Rowan Blanchard) & some girl from Mighty Med (Paris Berelc) will be on it. I'm not sure yet whether I should be excited about this. Paris Berelc is kind of "meh" to me & I'm certain that Rowland Blanchard's character in this DCOM will be as similar as Riley Matthews.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tQOXLfLLD8

Edited August 20, 2015 by Magog

[Magog]

Here is the official trailer of Invisible Sister. It will air next Friday on Disney Channel. BTW, Ravi (Karan Barr) will also be in this DCOM. He also sounds normal for a change. We need to see more of that from him.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICLzKs7wMR0

Edited October 2, 2015 by Magog

[Aliconehead]

I really liked Invisible Sister.  It was an Old School style DCOM.  No singing and dancing, just a kid screws up something and has to fix it which helps them understand a family member.  I thought Rowan was very good and talented.  Paris did not annoy as much as she does on Mighty Med.  I liked that the old sister was not mean and really just wanted to be close to her sister.  And the younger sister felt the same way but did not realize that her sister wanted to be close.  I also appreciated that there was no classic mean girl trope going on. Glad that Karan got the girl in the end

[paulvdb]

Descendants sequel officially announced.

[grandemocha]

Just saw Invisible Sister with Rowan Blanchard and wow did I really enjoy it :) I liked it much more than Descendants and the two lead actresses were actually quite convincing as sisters. Honestly, it made me wish that the actress who played Rowan's sister in this movie was also cast as her sibling on GMW.

[Magog]

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the first airing of High School Musical & Disney Channel will be airing High School Musical tonight. Most of the cast will be there for the reunion.

[RedFire2000]

http://www.eonline.com/news/745490/high-school-musical-4-is-casting-ryan-and-sharpay-s-cousin-meet-the-new-wildcats

 

High School Musical 4 is happening.... Disney has officially began a casting search. Here's the scoop on the brand new characters:

 

Erin is a badass soccer player who strives for excellence—and the only girl on the boys' team. She starts falling for the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, but isn't sure whether to follow her heart.

 

Derek, the aforementioned bad boy who falls for Erin, is tough on the surface but a soft-hearted family guy at his core. He's an excellent soccer player and incredible dancer who teaches dance classes to little girls at his family's studio.

 

Campbell is Troy Bolton 2.0—super hot soccer captain and theater star who also happens to be Sharpay and Ryan Evans' cousin. He decides that he wants to date Erin, and isn't too happy when she wants to be with Derek instead.

 

Nathalie is East High's biggest fan, a loyal, outgoing cheerleader and big-hearted BFF to Erin.

 

Tamara is East High's former queen bee, a cheer squad member attempting to climb back up the social ladder and reclaim all the attention for herself.

 

 

Also, Kenny Ortega will NOT be back to direct or choreograph the 4th movie.

 

 

 

 

[aradia22]

They're really pushing the soccer thing, huh? Also, why does the high school musical franchise keep implying that the people who should get the leads are the ones who don't want it and haven't spent their lives taking lessons and training and practicing?

[methodwriter85]

This is going to be like season 4 of Glee all over again, isn't it?

 

Anyway...from Disney Channel movie star to Oscar winner in 13 years...congratulations, Brie Larson!

 

(Her only other company in that is Jodie Foster, isn't it?)

 

I didn't see Right on Track, but I always kind of figured it was trying to piggy back off of the success of Motorcrossed.

 

Her Disney Radio hit is stuck in my head right now. She's like Avril Lavigne meets Michelle Branch meets Hilary Duff.

Edited March 3, 2016 by methodwriter85

[Magog]

 

High School Musical 4 is happening.... Disney has officially began a casting search. Here's the scoop on the brand new characters:

 

I don't know how I feel about this, but I know a lot of people are not happy about it. This was trending on Twitter a couple of days ago.

 

https://twitter.com/rdmasnominees  (Scroll down to March 2nd)

 

The next DCOM that will air in the Summer is called Adventures in Babysitting. It is a remake of the 80's classic starring Elizabeth Shue. I seen the preview of it & even though I like Sabrina Carpenter, this DCOM is going to be very bad. It'll also star some nobody from the Descendants (Sofia Carson). Even Elizabeth Shue & the other cast from that 80's movie will not be happy about this.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nIuu8TYBxE  Adventures in Babysitting (Disney Channel)

Edited March 4, 2016 by Magog

[SmithW6079]

Erin is a badass soccer player who strives for excellence—and the only girl on the boys' team. She starts falling for the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks, but isn't sure whether to follow her heart.

Derek, the aforementioned bad boy who falls for Erin, is tough on the surface but a soft-hearted family guy at his core. He's an excellent soccer player and incredible dancer who teaches dance classes to little girls at his family's studio.

Strong is the feminist orthodoxy BS in this.

[Just Here]

Disney Channel is running a marathon of over 50 original movies this Memorial Day weekend (Friday, May 27th to Monday, May 30th). Deadline.com has the schedule. Additional original movies will air in June.

 

Here's the schedule, direct from ABC's press release.

The “100th DCOM Celebration” schedule is as follows:

 

FRIDAY, May 27:
10:00 a.m. – “Disney’s Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama”
11:20 a.m. – “Read It and Weep”
12:55 p.m. – “Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior”
2:40 p.m. – “Jump In!”
4:15 p.m. – “Lemonade Mouth”
6:15 p.m. – “Zapped”
8:00 p.m. – “High School Musical 2″
9:55 p.m. – “The Cheetah Girls 2″
11:45 p.m. – “Zenon the Zequel”
1:25 a.m. – “Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge”
2:55 a.m. – “Twitches Too”
4:25 a.m. – “Alley Cats Strike!”

 

SATURDAY, MAY 28:
6:25 a.m. – “You Wish!”
8:05 a.m. – “The Proud Family Movie”
9:50 a.m. – “Quints”
11:25 a.m. – “Horse Sense”
1:10 p.m. – “Cow Belles”
2:50 p.m. – “Twitches”
4:30 p.m. – “The Even Stevens Movie”
6:15 p.m. – “Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie”
8:00 p.m. – “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam”
9:50 p.m. – “Princess Protection Program”
11:30 p.m. – “The Cheetah Girls: One World”
1:05 a.m. – “Zenon: Z3″
2:40 a.m. – “Halloweentown High”
4:20 a.m. – “The Thirteenth Year”

 

SUNDAY, MAY 29:
6:00 a.m. – “Right On Track”
7:45 a.m. – “Full-Court Miracle”
9:35 a.m. – “Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off”
11:20 a.m. – “Brink!”
1:10 p.m. – “Double Teamed”
2:55 p.m. – “Rip Girls”
4:35 p.m. – “Motocrossed”
6:20 p.m. – “Cloud 9″
8:00 p.m. – “Teen Beach 2″
9:55 p.m. – “Bad Hair Day”
11:40 p.m. – “How to Build a Better Boy”
1:20 a.m. – “Pixel Perfect”
2:55 a.m. – “The Other Me”
4:30 a.m. – “Genius”

 

MONDAY, MAY 30:
10:00 a.m. – “Stuck in the Suburbs”
11:30 a.m. – “Halloweentown”
1:05 p.m. – “Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century
2:55 p.m. – “Smart House”
4:25 p.m. – “High School Musical”
6:15 p.m. – “Camp Rock”
8:00 p.m. – “Descendants”
10:05 p.m. – “Teen Beach Movie”
11:55 p.m. – “Cadet Kelly”
1:50 a.m. – “The Cheetah Girls”
3:35 a.m. – “Johnny Tsunami”

 

TUESDAY, MAY 31 THROUGH JUNE: Each day, additional DCOMs will be presented at various times.

 

 

 

Also, per that Deadline link, another DCOM has been announced, "The Swap," based on the novel by Megan Shull:

Disney Channel regulars Peyton List and Jacob Bertrand have been set to topline The Swap, a body-switching comedy that will be the newest edition to the Disney Channel Original Movie franchise. The comedy is based on the YA book by Megan Shull and production kicked off this week. A fall premiere on the network is being eyed....

 

The pic ... revolves around a rhythmic gymnast (List) with a pending make-it-or-break-it competition and the youngest son (Bertrand) in a hockey family, who’s vying for a varsity spot on his school team. Their paths unexpectedly cross, and a simple text results in them actually swapping bodies.

 

Here's the summary for the novel, from its publisher's website:

About the Book

 

This smart and funny twist on Freaky Friday is perfect for fans of Wendy Mass, Jerry Spinelli, and Jon Scieszka.

 

With one random wish, Jack and Ellie are living life in each other’s shoes. He’s her. And she’s him. ELLIE assumed popular guys didn’t worry about body image, being perfect, or talking to girls, but acting like you’re cool with everything is tougher than it looks. JACK thought girls had it easy—no fights with bullies, no demanding dads, no power plays—but facing mean girls at sleepovers and getting grilled about your period is way harder than taking a hit to the face at sports practice.

 

Now they’re dealing with each other’s middle school dramas—locker room teasing, cliques, video game battles, bra shopping, and a slew of hilariously awkward moments—until they hopefully switch back! Told in both Jack’s and Ellie’s voices, The Swap offers a fresh and honest take on tween friendship, all while exploring more serious themes of family, loss, empathy, and what it really means to be yourself. And as Jon Scieszka says, it’s “seriously, truly, fearlessly funny!”

 

 

[aradia22]

Thanks for the update. It's a bit weird they're airing some of the sequels before the originals but oh well. Reading through that list brings back so many memories. I may have to DVR Pixel Perfect and The Cheetah Girls and probably the Descendants because I still haven't seen it. I can't remember if I ever watched Twitches Too. It's also fun to look at the list and see which actors still have a career post-DCOM.