How many times did you beg your parents to stay up and finish the rest of the movie playing on Disney Channel that night? Too many times to count in my experience. I have summed up my top five picks for Disney Channel Original Movies.
5. "Halloweentown"
What's better than Debbie Reynolds being the magical grandmother you always wanted? Probably the fact that there is a "fictional" town that celebrates Halloween all year round. A town full of skeleton taxi drivers, a creepy, mom-dating mayor, a handsome goblin, and ghosts that sweat. I definitely wished on my birthday candles for "Halloweentown" to be a real place. Grandma Aggie has got a sweet setup with her gated home and a fierce cauldron. What more could you want in this classic Disney TV movie where grandchildren and grandma come together to fight the forces of evil?
4. "Smart House"
Don't want to clean up? That's fine, just throw everything on the floor and the house will take care of it: literally every person's dream. "Smart House" is a story of a family who wins a technologically smart home, that eventually develops a mind of its own. I think 6-year-old Christopher was most enamored how the walls inside the house could change backgrounds, so it could look like a beach. It was all fun and games until Pat, the overbearing house's alter ego, a 1950s housewife and "mother," goes rogue.
3. "Cadet Kelly"
Hillary Duff and Cristy Carlson Romano, in the same movie? Absolutely. Watch as "8th grader" Hillary Duff, portrays a "free-spirited girl" whose mother marries the headmaster of a military boarding school. Cadet Captain Jennifer Stone (Romano) is extremely hard on Kelly (Duff), but the hard exterior is soon shed when the two adversaries' rivalry blossom into a beautiful friendship. Also, it was filmed in Canada, so what's not to love?
2. "Camp Rock"
Every time I hear someone say "This is me" I must suffix their statement with "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now," because of the cult Disney Channel classic TV movie: "Camp Rock." This 2008 phenomenon was released to teenage acclaim and skyrocketed newcomer Demi Lovato, as Mitchie Torres. Also featuring the Jonas Brothers, this marshmallow-roasting movie made even the most hermit-like of children want to go to camp.
1. "High School Musical"
Rounding out our final Disney Channel Original Movie list is the one, the only, High School Musical. Breaking copious amounts of records when it was released in 2006, it became the most successful "DCOM" Disney ever produced. I would summarize the plot, but if you don't know this story, I'm worried for you. Before "Glee," this was the mainstream media that really popularized musical theatre. The story of Gabriella, Troy, Sharpay, and Ryan will live on in the hearts of youth for centuries to come.
I never knew who these kids were, but I wanted to be them more than ever. I hope you enjoyed my top five Disney Channel Original Movies. Share and comment if you have any that I've missed or funny moments from the top five I discussed.
