Revisiting Your Favorite Disney Channel Original Hits
Let’s watch a Disney Channel movie…we want to watch a Disney Channel movie! Who remembers that song?! This was the tune that played before every movie on Disney Channel back in the day. It was always paired with a video of kids jumping on film strips in the clouds. From the 90’s to the 00’s, Disney Channel had many hit television shows and movies. When you can’t be in the Disney parks, there’s not much better than watching your favorite Disney Channel hit!
Every kid knew that Disney Channel played a different movie nightly at 8pm. People would be on their couch at 7:50pm with a bowl of popcorn just waiting for the Disney Channel movie to start. If they had to miss the movie for some reason, the movie was probably being taped. Many millennials would consider the Disney Channel original movies from the 90’s to the 00’s to be classics.
Although you may remember the Even Stevens Movie and Stuck in the Suburbs (ahhh, we loved Jordan Cahill!), there are probably a few hits that you’ve since forgotten about! Let’s take a few minutes to reminisce.
Halloweentown
Most of the older Disney Channel original movies are no longer played regularly on the television network. Luckily, every year when October rolls around, Disney Channel brings back some classic holiday favorites – one in specific that you may remember: Halloweentown.
After being one of Disney Channel’s biggest hits, the beloved Halloweentown movie was turned into a film franchise that featured the films Halloweentown (1998), Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001), Halloweentown High (2004), and Return to Halloweentown (2006).
The movie focuses on two middle school aged siblings, Marnie and Dylan Piper, who are introduced to Halloweentown by their magical grandmother, Aggie Cromwell. Be sure to catch Halloweentown this October when they bring it back to Disney Channel!
The Zenon Trilogy
Zetus Lapetus! Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century first came out 19 years ago! The hit movie about Zenon Kar, the supernova girl, starred spunky teenager Kirsten Storms and is set in 2049. Zenon and her best friend Nebula (Raven Symone) live inside an orbiting space station and are known for their funky catch phrases and futuristic fashion.
The first film was a major hit, therefore two more films came about, making the series a trilogy. Zenon: The Zequel aired in 2001, while Zenon: Z3 came out shortly after in 2004. Although we haven’t seen Kristen Storms appear in many movies since then, this Disney Channel original movie definitely gave Raven Symone a huge start to her career as an actress. Who knows, maybe we will all live in space stations like Zenon in 2049! That would be totally tubular!
The Lizzie McGuire Movie
The Lizzie McGuire Movie was probably the Disney Channel hit of the decade. Millennials will forever be quoting, “Sing to me Paolo,” or “You shine like the light from the sun.” In 2003, the song “This is What Dreams are Made Of,” from The Lizzie McGuire Movie was played on radio stations throughout the entire country.
This movie was once available for streaming on Netflix, and we hope for that day to soon return so we can all enjoy our favorite, relatable teenage girl/pop star, Lizzie McGuire again. Oh, and we can’t forget about Ethan Craft.
Smart House
The movie Smart House came out in 1999 and was truly ahead of its time. The Cooper family wins a contest to movie into a brand new, techified home. Everything you can imagine in the home is brought to life by a machine in the walls named Pat, until one day things stop going the right way.
It is basically all your biggest fears – an Alexa gone wrong type situation. What could be considered their version of Alexa, named Pat, was spying on the family and controlling what they could and couldn’t do. This movie can occasionally be found during late night Disney Channel, from 2-3am when the world is asleep.
High School Musical
High School Musical – the movie that unexpectedly took the world by storm in 2006. The world was introduced to Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens for the first time in this low budget movie and it’s crazy to see how far they’ve come! The movie follows Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez through their high school years.
From championship basketball games, to prom, to East High’s Spring musical, song and dance follow these teenagers everywhere throughout this hit. High School Musical turned into a major franchise which included High School Musical 2, and the only Disney Channel film to be released in theaters, High School Musical 3: Senior Year.
These films are easy to find on DVD and streaming platforms. Some versions of the movie even include lyrics, so make sure to sing along! We can all dream that High School Musical will come out with a fourth movie to the franchise: The College Years.
What’s Your Favorite?
What is your favorite Disney Channel movie? Are there any movies you’d like a sequel to? How do you feel about the direction Disney Channel movies are going these days? Let us know in the comments below!