There are very few things in life that I consider myself an expert in, but one of them is Disney Channel Original Movies – aka DCOMS.
No really, I LOVE DCOMS. So much so that I’ve already decided my next birthday party theme will be a DCOM dress-up party (costumes mandatory, duh).
Sure, they only have three genres (sport, magic and music) and the acting probably isn’t as good as Disney’s actual movies, but the DCOMS were the Netflix Originals before Netflix Originals. Your favourite actors from Hannah Montana, The Suite Life or Even Stevens finally copped their own feature-length films and, if you’re like me, watching them usually resulted in you being OBSESSED with a weird sport you’d never heard of for a week or two because you saw Brenda Song playing it in a movie.
Before we had hundreds of films on Netflix, Stan, Disney+ and Amazon Prime to occupy our time with, we had to sit down in front of the family TV and watch whatever Disney decided would be the Disney Channel Original Movie of the week. Thankfully, this means I’m pretty well versed in everything they’ve ever produced, and have taken it upon myself to rank them from the Freaky Friday remake to god-tier.
110. Freaky Friday (2018)
I’m sorry but Disney absolutely aced it with the original Freaky Friday, and maybe I’m just salty because I’m not a huge fan of any reboot, but this just didn’t do it for me.
109. Kim Possible
All I wanted as a child was a live-action Kim Possible, and Disney didn’t release it until I was far too old to properly enjoy it. It’s a no from me, but I imagine this film revived the excellence that is Kim Possible for the younger generation.
108. The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar
I love all of the Lion King spin-offs (The Lion King 1 1/2 is a god-tier film), but unfortunately I think this one strays a little too far from the original story for my enjoyment.
107. Tangled Before Ever After
Disney Channel Original Movie spin-offs of top-tier Disney films are great and all, but I just don’t think they hold up against the good shit (the OG DCOMS).
106. Under Wraps
105. You Lucky Dog
104. Horse Sense
I just hate horses, so this film ranks low purely because it’s about horses. Sorry, Disney.
103. Jumping Ship
102. Tru Confessions
101. Phantom of the Megaplex
100. Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board
I’m not quite sure why we needed a Johnny Tsunami sequel, but we have one.
99. Frenemies
98. Adventures in Babysitting
97. Zombies 2
96. Zombies
95. Zapped
94. The Swap
This is basically just Freaky Friday, but I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just watch the original Freaky Friday. Always choose the Lindsay Lohan option.
93. Bad Hair Day
92. The Thirteenth Year
91. Ready to Run
90. Genius
89. The Jennie Project
88. Cloud 9
87. Girl Vs. Monster
Fighting monsters in a cropped hot pink jacket is my *only* mood.
86. Starstruck
85. Avalon High
84. Den Brother
83. Alley Cats Strike!
Bowling! As a DCOM! Who’da thunk it?
82. Double Teamed
This movie truly had me thinking my 5ft ass could play basketball.
81. The Poof Point
80. Quints
79. You Wish!
78. A Ring of Endless Light
77. Miracle in Lane 2
76. Up, Up and Away
The costume designer of this film deserves a raise.
75. The Other Me
74. Going to the Mat
73. Right on Track
72. The Scream Team
A real-life representation of my sleep paralysis demon, tbh.
71. Jett Jackson: The Movie
70. Hounded
69. Can of Worms
68. The Ultimate Christmas Present
67. Motocrossed
If you thought Disney couldn’t turn motocross into a DCOM, think again.
66. Brink!
65. Don’t Look Under the Bed
64. Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas
63. Tiger Cruise
62. Descendants 3
61. Buffalo Dreams
Bikes suck.
60. The Luck of the Irish
59. Life Is Ruff
58. Disney’s Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama
The original Kim Possible movie. A gift to the world. A classic. 10/10.
57. Invisible Sister
56. How to Build a Better Boy
55. Geek Charming
54. Cheetah Girls One World
53. Let It Shine
52. Teen Beach 2
51. Rip Girls
Still crying about the fact that I’m not a pro surfer. 🙁
50. Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off
49. Northern Lights
48. Descendants 2
47. Descendants
This is one of the few newer DCOMS that I still rate quite highly. It doesn’t carry the same nostalgia, but it’s still a pretty great movie.
46. Let It Shine
45. P.U.N.K.S.
44. Zenon: Z3
43. Now You See It
42. Go Figure
This movie truly had me thinking I’d be an ice-skating queen.
41. Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension
40. Return to Halloweentown
39. The Suite Life Movie
38. Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie
I’ve recently been re-watching the old Disney Channel shows and honestly, Wizards of Waverly Place was one of the few that actually had really good acting. This movie would still slap, even if it wasn’t a DCOM.
37. Lemonade Mouth
36. Halloweentown High
35. Gotta Kick It Up!
34. Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire
AKA – Aunt Hilda from Sabrina The Teenage Witch, the spin-off.
33. Hatching Pete
32. Teen Beach Movie
31. Stepsister from Planet Weird
30. Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam
Camp Rock will always be god-tier, and Disney just nails sequels. Also, Joe Jonas is hot. Send tweet.
29. The Colour of Friendship
28. Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge
27. Full-Court Miracle
26. Dadnapped
25. Read It and Weep
24. The Proud Family Movie
Early 00s Disney Channel shows-turned-movies are just a recipe for success. This film was just a feature-length episode of The Proud Family and I have zero complaints.
23. Zenon: The Zequel
22. Minutemen
21. Princess Protection Program
20. Radio Rebel
19. Stuck in the Suburbs
18. Cow Belles
Aly and AJ Michalka simply did not get the credit the deserved for this film, or their careers in general. ICONS.
17. Twitches Too
16. Pixel Perfect
15. The Even Stevens Movie
Shia LaBeouf is the GOAT and I don’t care what anyone says, a feature-length Even Stevens is always a great idea. Give us a reboot, Disney.
14. Get A Clue
13. Smart House
How we thought 2020 would be.
12. Johnny Tsunami
11. Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior
Brenda Song (who is weirdly dating Macaulay Culkin now) is god’s gift to humanity. I love her more than I will ever be able to describe and Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior is just another example of her being a badass.
10. Jump In!
I don’t actually remember much about this movie, but Corbin Bleu skipping is always a winner, and Push It To The Limit was an absolute banger of a track.
9. High School Musical
The OG HSM is still god-tier, and although it barely makes the top 10, it is still a cinematic masterpiece. I’m sorry, but there are just too many good DCOMS.
8. Twitches
I mean it when I say, I would die for Tia and Tamera Mowry.
7. Cadet Kelly
Hilary Duff could do Cadet Kelly but a real army cadet could *never* do Lizzie McGuire.
6. Halloweentown
If you’re not kicking off spooky season by watching Halloweentown, you’re doing it wrong.
5. Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century
Raven Symone and Kirsten Storms in SPACE!!! We love to see it. Zenon is a classic.
4. Camp Rock
Demi Lovato, The Jonas Brothers, need I say more?
3. Cheetah Girls 2
Cheetah Girls 2 is another example of Disney slaying the sequel game so hard that films are almost better than the originals. This film has all the music, friendship and good vibes of the original, but it takes place in Spain. We simply can’t help but stan international superstars.
Cheetah Girls 2 truly had my tone-deaf ass thinking I’d be travelling the world with my girl band and having international romances with hot Spanish dudes.
2. Cheetah Girls
The Cheetah Girls comes in at a close second for me, but only lost out to High School Musical 2 because nothing can compete with the artistry that is the Bet On It music video. But this film fucking SLAPS.
You’ve got Raven Symone, Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan and Keily Williams strutting their stuff, wearing a tonne of cheetah print and just being badass bitches. Love them, love the film, 5 stars!
1. High School Musical 2
I’m just gonna come right out and say it: High School Musical 2 is the greatest Disney Channel Original Movie of all time. It is one of the few sequels that is better than the original, which is a tough task when you’re competing with High School Musical, but Disney managed to pull it off.
The casting, the soundtrack, the choreography, the storyline, this film is a cinematic masterpiece and it deserves a fucking Oscar.
If this has sent you down a spiral of wanting to watch your favourite DCOMs from the early 00s, you’re in luck because most of them are available for your binge-watching pleasure on Disney+.
