I have to admit something: I've seen maybe three, tops, Disney Channel original movies. You can blame my parents, who didn't shell out for the Disney Channel even though I (repeatedly!) asked. Even when I had to just nod along in conversations with friends about their favorite of the made-for-TV movies, the absence of Disney hadn't affected my life that significantly. Then, Disney+ came out, and it felt like everyone in my vicinity lost. Their. Minds. All over social media, my friends and acquaintances were opening up Disney's vault and basking in almost 500 movies and 7,500 TV episodes, most notably enjoying the previously hard-to-find DCOMs of their youth.
Let's say you're like me and looking for a way to dive in for the first time, or you forgot about these titles and are looking for a refresher before sinking into the nostalgia. To diehard fans who are here to argue with these choices, I plead the fifth! I asked those in my life with a longtime affinity for Disney for contributions and rounded up all the titles I've been told you can't go wrong with. Ahead are the best DCOMs that have been unleashed from the Disney vault, what I think they're about based on their posters, and what actually went down on screen while I was busy watching Nickelodeon.
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you subscribe to something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
Don’t Look Under The Bed
(1999)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: A horrifying monster is lurking under a bed...or above it, where everyone is looking instead.
What It’s Actually About: Frances McCausland notices strange things and pranks going on in her town that she’s accused of doing. An older boy claims he’s an imaginary friend and can help her fix things because the Boogeyman is framing her.
- Ashley ChervinskiPhoto: Courtesy Disney Channel.
Read It And Weep
(2006)
What I Think It’s About Based On The Poster: One of the Panabaker sisters is a Sabrina-style teenage witch, and the other is…weeping about it in her journal?
What It’s Actually About: A girl goes from an ordinary student to a “media darling” after her private journal is accidentally submitted in a writing contest and becomes a best-seller.
- Ashley ChervinskiPhoto: Courtesy Disney Channel.
Princess Protection Program
(2009)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: Demi Lovato loves to wear her Belle costume and Selena Gomez doesn’t have the heart to tell her she looks ridiculous.
What It's Actually About: Rosalinda, a South American princess, meets Carter after Carter’s father, an agent in the Princess Protection Program, rescues Rosalinda from a military takeover. The two come up with a plan to take down the dictator and return Rosalinda to power.
What I Think It’s About Based On The Poster: Johnny Tsunami clearly prefers riding snow over waves (and probably has very cold feet).
What It’s Actually About: A teen surfing sensation is forced to leave Hawaii after his dad’s job is relocated to a resort town in Vermont, where he’s caught in a battle between skiers and snowboarders.
- Ashley ChervinskiPhoto: Courtesy Disney Channel.
Luck Of The Irish (2001)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: Honey I Shrunk The Kids, but they all have Irish accents.
What It's Actually About: A boy named Kyle realizes the luck he's had his whole life isn't a coincidence. He's part leprechaun, but his charm gets stolen. Now he must catch and defeat the thief before he uses the charm to control all the leprechauns in the world.
Stuck In The Suburbs (2004)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: Brenda Song and Danielle Panabaker do not have a map and they really need one! There are so many houses in this neighborhood.
What It's Actually About: A teen living in a quiet suburb gets the jolt of excitement she needed when her phone gets switched with a famous pop star who is in town for a music video.
Twitches (2005)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: Tia and Tamera Mowry are witches, and I can't imagine I'm wrong about this one.
What It's Actually About: I wasn't! These two witches were separated at birth and now must band together to save their biological mother from the magical world they were originally born in.
Camp Rock (2008)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: As someone who has been known from time to time to sing "This Is Me" at karaoke, I'm not totally unfamiliar with this particular Demi Lovato vehicle which is...a tour diary of her and the Jonas Brothers?
What It's Actually About: Lovato plays a kitchen worker at a camp for musically gifted teens, but when a teen pop star hears her singing voice accidentally, he takes her under his wing.
Halloweentown (1998)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: A ripoff of the 1993 movie Hocus Pocus, which I'll admit I also only saw just recently.
What It's Actually About: A teen witch must start her training before her 13th birthday or she'll lose her powers forever, which would be extra bad because an evil force is taking over their town.
The Cheetah Girls (2003)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: This is another one that was a bit too ubiquitous for me to miss out on totally. They're a group of friends and they sing, and the cheetah part comes in in perhaps a Cruella De Vil type way?
What It's Actually About: A girl group is determined to be the first freshmen to win the talent show at their performing arts high school. This journey puts them in contact with a producer, who ends up making them superstars.
Cadet Kelly (2002)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: I have been informed by my friends that this is "the gayest of them all," and it appears to be a movie about femininity and gender presentation.
What It's Actually About: A girl who loves fashion is horrified when she learns she must attend a military academy. So perhaps not as progressive as I had hoped.
High School Musical (2006)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: Now this one I know, love, and cherish, and I won't do you or it the disservice of pretending otherwise.
What It's Actually About: When a popular jock and shy new girl get cast opposite each other in the High School Musical, the whole community must adapt to this new, musical world in which popularity doesn't matter.
The Thirteenth Year (1999)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: There's some kind of curse in this boy's family that has them growing fins as soon as they turn 13, and they have a certain amount of time to complete a task or they're stuck with the fins forever. I mean, I've seen a movie before.
What It's Actually About: That was not far off! A boy learns his birth mother is actually a mermaid when he himself grows fins.
Zenon: Girl Of The 21st Century (1999)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: Two e-girls discovering hacking.
What It's Actually About: A mischievous teen girl gets into trouble on her family's space station and is sent to earth as punishment.
Get A Clue (2002)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: Lindsay Lohan doing her best Almost Famous.
What It's Actually About: A rich 12-year-old gossip columnist must play detective when her teacher goes missing.
Wish Upon A Star (1996)
What I Think It's About Based On The Poster: Freaky Friday meets Sabrina The Teenage Witch.
What It's Actually About: Two sisters wake up in each other's places and learn to appreciate their differences. So, yes, it's that, but it stars Katherine Heigl.
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