BACKGROUND
Some Disney Channel musicals are left to rock alone. No sequel, no problem – we still love them. Then again, sometimes Disney like to push their musicals beyond just the one movie.
ZOMBIES is one of those musical franchises that was felt to be popular enough, entertaining enough, and worthy enough of getting a sequel, which came to the channel two years after the first movie was released; a typical gap between sequels.
However, just because it makes business sense to develop and release a sequel, it doesn’t always mean that the story warranted a further film. I’m not blaming solely Disney Channel or Disney in general for that; it’s just how it goes sometimes, whether I like it or not.
Anyway, it could be argued that perhaps ZOMBIES didn’t need a sequel. It seemed like at the end of the first film, the humans and the zombies were able to co-exist, and everything ended happily between them. The plot was wrapped up nicely and it wouldn’t have been entirely obvious where Disney Channel would go with a ZOMBIES sequel.
But a sequel there was going to be, so where would it go now? At first glance, it would seem that ZOMBIES 2 was just going to be like the first movie, but instead of the zombies causing problems, a new creature species was going to arrive in their town of Seabrook. And that species turned out to be… werewolves. Hmm, random.
To be fair, these werewolves are actually pretty cool and I don’t have a problem with them being there, other than, like I said, it was kind of a random choice, especially as it turns out they’ve apparently been living in the Forbidden Forest around the town for years – and yet, they were never referenced in the first film.
On the other hand, the werewolves add a whole new dimension to the ZOMBIES franchise, and they aren’t there just because they want to go to high school. In actual fact, their addition to the movie is a bit more poignant, as it can be seen as a reference to the dangers of colonialism. The werewolves were native to Seabrook, before human settlers came to their land and started taking their resources. Now, where have I heard that before?
It’s an interesting spin on the franchise’s inclusion and integration concept and much deeper than I was expecting. I like ZOMBIES 2 more than the original for this very reason, and there are a few moments that bring a tear to my eye. The music and overall production value were also bigger and better. It’s clear ZOMBIES 2 was trying to outdo its predecessor.
PLOT
Similarly to the original ZOMBIES movie, ZOMBIES 2 begins with another animated sequence, giving us a bit more backstory into the characters’ hometown of Seabrook.
Many years ago, the settlers who founded Seabrook found monsters in the forest. The settlers fought off these mounters and found a power source, which they hid in order to harness its energy. The residents of Seabrook lived happily for years, forgetting all about monsters – until the day of the lime soda incident at the Seabrook Power Plant when some of Seabrook’s humans became zombies.
But the days of zombie apocalypses, and even restricting zombie rights, are behind Seabrook now as the humans and zombies learnt to live in harmony together. Now, the anti-monster laws that were in place back then have been abolished and humans and zombies can go anywhere in the town, with whoever they want, as explained by teenage zombie Zed. His football coach at school has even opened a froyo cart in the off-season, complete with flavours loved by humans and zombies alike. Zed goes on to say that there are plans to demolish the old power station, and his father is on the demolition crew. The aim is for a new cheer building to be built in its place, although Zed’s zombie friend Eliza is campaigning against the demolition, not wanting a piece of zombie history to be erased.
Meanwhile, Addison, Zed’s human girlfriend, is at Cheer Camp with her friend Bree, and Zed’s zombie friend, Bonzo, because zombies are now allowed on the cheer squad. However, their Cheer Captain, Bucky, despite seeming more open to the inclusion of zombies at the end of the first film, has apparently still not warmed to them, and decides to split the cheerleaders into two teams: the A-Team, and the Z-Team. The A-Team consists of veteran cheerleaders and Bucky loyalists, like the Aceys, Lacey and Stacey, with new member Jacey – real name Kevin – replacing Tracey from the first film. The Z-Team is full of newbies and zombies, with Bucky giving Addison the “privilege” of leading them in a race to win the Cheer Cup. Against all odds, Addison leads her team to victory and she leaves Cheer Camp on a high, and desperate to get back to Zed, who she has been attempting to write to all summer, however the Aceys shredded both of their letters and returned them to Addison in the form of pom-poms…Mean.
On the bus back home, being driven by a guy in a shrimp costume, also known as mascot Shrimpy, which I wouldn’t mention except for the fact that this is incredibly unsafe, Addison and others excitedly discuss Prawn, Seabrook’s version of Prom, because their team is known as the Mighty Shrimp. Not because Seabrook recently flooded and now everyone acts like crustaceans. You’re going to have to just go with this Prawn thing because it gets mentioned a lot! Addison wants to go to Prawn with Zed, and Bree wants to go with Bonzo, but both are waiting to be asked.
Luckily for Addison, Zed is setting up an elaborate “Prawn-posal”, with help from little sister Zoe, but for some reason, he decides to set this up across the road so Addison will be able to see it on the bus. It turns out Zed didn’t get his timings right though and as he stands on a ladder, hanging up some banners, he is hit by the bus. Zed stays on top of the bus for a little while before being thrown off, and the bus crashes into the Forbidden Forest, which, I’m just guessing here, is forbidden to enter. Addison, wanting to prove her leadership skills to Bucky, who is looking to replace himself as Cheer Captain because he’s running for Class President at school this year, orders everyone to keep calm and stay on the bus. Addison, however, chooses to leave the bus to check if Zed is ok. On walking into the forest though, she hears strange noises and finds herself surrounded by werewolves! Zed and others arrive and Addison tells them what she saw. They report back to Seabrook with the news. Seabrook declare an emergency meeting at City Hall, where the mayor, also Addison’s mother, announces that all anti-monster laws are effective once again, meaning, amongst other things, that the zombies will now not be allowed to attend Prawn. Bummer…
Later, we discover that a werewolf in disguise has been scouting out Seabrook and he, Wyatt, returns to his pack in the forest with news. We see that the wolves are all wearing glowing necklaces which are powered by something called the moonstone. Wyatt believes that Addison must be the Great Alpha with the white hair who will lead the wolves to the moonstone, allowing them to recharge their necklaces, since without that, the wolves will become ill and die. Wyatt’s sister, Willa, and leader of the pack, isn’t convinced that Addison is in fact the Great Alpha, but is willing to explore this more. They find a patch off Addison’s cheerleading uniform on a nearby tree and discover she is from Seabrook High. They go there in the dark of night and hide in the school, ready to talk to Addison the next day.
At school the next day, Zed has a plan to get the zombies back in to Prawn: by running against Bucky for Class President, so he can change the rule. Eliza thinks they should just crash the Prawn, but Zed, ever the peacekeeper, wants to play by the rules. At a school assembly, the two candidates for Class President announce themselves, but the festivities are rudely interrupted by the arrival of the werewolves, scaring everyone. They seem to want Addison so Zed orders the football team to form a wall to protect her. The wolves get ready to attack, until Wyatt tells everyone to calm down, as they just want to talk. The wolves lie and say they just want to be part of the school, like the zombies are. Everyone calms down and the wolves are allowed to attend high school, just like that.
Zed begins campaigning for Class President, and it turns out Zed thinks he needs the “wolf vote” to win, as the school is split down the middle. Zed tries to help the wolves fit in at Seabrook by telling them to follow how the zombies behave. The wolves pretend to try and fit in, but really, they just want to talk to Addison. Their opportunity comes when Addison is leading a cheer practice in a bid to become Cheer Captain. The wolves plan to just watch practice but Addison convinces them to join in. Zed sees Addison hugging Wyatt through the door and instantly becomes jealous. The two argue. Addison tells Zed she likes the unity of the pride and wishes she could feel like she belongs somewhere too, as the humans of Seabrook still haven’t fully accepted her for her white hair. We also see another of the wolves, Wynter, begin to cough uncontrollably and almost collapse. The moment passes, but the wolves know they need to work out if Addison is the Great Alpha sooner rather than later.
That night, the wolves wait for Addison outside her house. They say they need to talk to her at their den in the forest. Addison goes with them and learns of the wolves’ illness and their loss of power. They show Addison a vision of the Great Alpha, who, she has to admit, does kind of look like her. The wolves make over Addison to look like the Great Alpha, but as they do, Zed, Eliza, Bonzo, and Bree burst in to the den. They’ve been looking all over town for Addison and can’t believe she’d turn up here willingly. Zed takes off his Z-Band and goes into full zombie mode in a bid to protect Addison from them. She quickly retrieves the band and puts it back on him. Bree then pipes up and says she thought Addison was in trouble as she texted “HELP”. It turns out Addison just wanted help with homework. As Addison and the others are about to leave, the wolves tell Addison that if she really is the Great Alpha, then putting on a moonstone necklace will prove it, by turning her into a wolf. Addison asks for a day to consider this, as it’ll change her whole life if she really is a wolf. The den is then shaken by the demolition crew testing charges at the power station across town. Addison wonders if the moonstone could be the town’s secret energy source that powers the station, and says they have to stop the demolition or else it could be destroyed forever.
The next day, everyone, including Addison’s parents, are shocked by her new “wolf look”. The cheerleaders go so far as to tell Addison she can no longer be a cheerleader if she looks like that, but Addison doesn’t care, believing she really is part of the wolf pack. Addison tells Zed she wants to put on the necklace with the wolves, but Zed, fearing she’ll no longer be part of his life if she becomes a wolf, steals the necklace and heads to his Class President debate. At the debate, Zed discovers that Bucky has been deliberating playing up the zombie angle so Zed doesn’t get elected. But the debate goes well and Zed starts to win some voters back – until his Z-Band malfunctions, thanks to being in close proximity to the moonstone necklace, and Zed starts to destroy the room. Eliza tells him to remove the moonstone from his band and he returns to normal, but the damage is already done: Zed has lost the election and probably lost Addison too.
Addison catches up with the wolves who are planning to stop the power station demolition at 5pm. Addison wants to help and tells them she’s ready to put on the necklace, but she discovers she’s lost it. Willa is angry at Addison for that as it shows she doesn’t actually care about the pack. Willa and the wolves leave and go to the power station without her. At the demolition, the wolves trigger a security alarm and are arrested for trespassing. This sets off an alarm at the school. Addison rallies the others and says they all need to go to the power station to help the wolves.
At the power station, all the high schoolers come out to protest against the demolition of the power station. They explain that the wolves are fighting for their lives as they need the moonstone. Zed manages to convince his father to delay the demolition, and the wolves are freed. Zed also returns the moonstone necklace to Addison and admits he stole it from her. Addison is angry with Zed for doing that, and puts on the necklace in front of the wolves. She is excited for her transformation – but nothing happens. She wasn’t the Great Alpha after all…. To make things worse, the demolition malfunctions and the power station detonates. The town manages to flee just in time. The wolves’ necklaces instantly lose power and they collapse, becoming dangerously weak. They don’t have much time.
As the humans ready themselves for Prawn that evening, Zed sees the wolves all struggling and convinces both wolves and zombies to crash Prawn. As Bucky is about to pull the monster alarm at school to stop them, Willa threatens to attack him. Bucky lets them go inside! There, Zed apologises to Addison for what he did, and explains he was scared of losing her. Addison accepts his apology. Suddenly, there is a huge earthquake, and the ground splits apart, revealing a huge chasm along a fault line. The group decide to follow the fault line, believing it will take them to the moonstone. Sure enough, they find the moonstone buried underground at the power station site. The wolves instantly recharge their necklaces on it, but it needs to be moved. Everyone comes together to try and move it, but they become trapped by a boulder. Zed removes his Z-Band so he can lift up the boulder and allow everyone else through with the moonstone. The moonstone is safely freed from the cave. However, just as everything seems rosy again, rocks begin falling and Zed disappears in a cloud of dust and rubble. The others hold their breath and wait to see what has happened to Zed. And Zed just calmly walks back to them, with his Z-Band back on!
Now, it’s time to get back to Prawn. At Prawn, as the group celebrate, Willa gives Addison a moonstone necklace to thank her for all her help. Bucky also decides to make Addison Cheer Captain now that he is Class President. Addison and Zed have their first kiss, and have their picture taken to go up on the Wall of Fame at school, being the first ever zombie-human couple to be on there.
But that’s not all. Just when you thought the movie was over, we see Addison asleep at home, and a glowing blue comet falls to Earth through her window. Addison briefly wakes up, and we discover that her hair is glowing blue! So, her hair does mean something!
CHARACTERS & CAST
Many cast members returned to reprise their roles from ZOMBIES.
This includes Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly who return as Zed and Addison. In ZOMBIES 2, Zed and Addison seem to be comfortable in their relationship, with Seabrook now accepting them as a couple since anti-monster laws are not being enforced anymore. They’re going to Prawn together and everything seems to be great. But they didn’t count on the wolves coming to the town. The wolves create friction between the two, as Zed first becomes jealous of Addison and her friendship with wolf Wyatt, and then when Addison starts to be welcomed into the wolf pack. Despite Addison wanting to find a family she belongs with, since her white hair means she can’t be just a boring human, Zed doesn’t understand that, and tries to stop her from getting close to the wolves. In the end, though, Addison isn’t a wolf and the two make up at Prawn, before helping their new friends with their quest to retrieve the moonstone, so they can be healthy once more.
Zed and Addison’s friends Eliza, Bonzo, and Bree also return to the sequel. This time, Bree and Bonzo are in a blossoming romance, this being another human-zombie couple, showing that progress has been made. Although this also means that with the monsters banned from Prawn, the two are struggling with the idea that they can’t go to the dance together either, just like Zed and Addison. Meanwhile, Eliza is also back to her rebellious self, protesting against the demolition of the power station, which seems to go down in her list of causes after the anti-monster laws are reenacted. Then, Eliza’s main cause is to help Zed become Class President, since he’s too square to crash Prawn like she wants, which is a much simpler option than trying to beat out Bucky to be Class President. I don’t think even if Zed had become Class President, it would’ve been that simple to get the zombies re-invited to Prawn. School councils seem to be more for show than real action.
To be honest, I don’t feel like we got to see very much of Eliza, Bonzo, or Bree in ZOMBIES 2, which is a shame, since they are each funny and interesting in their own ways. It seems like they got pushed aside, to allow for new characters to take the spotlight. That’s fair enough, but I still think there could’ve been a storyline written for these three. Kylee Russell, James Godfrey, and Carla Jeffrey returned to Disney to reprise these roles.
This wasn’t even the only group that didn’t get as much screen time as they had in ZOMBIES. Bucky and the Aceys didn’t appear too much either, other than at the beginning with the Cheer Camp stuff and then again at the Class President debate. Trevor Tordjman, who returned to play Bucky, has so much energy and star power that this was a real disappointment to me when watching ZOMBIES 2. He’s mean but funny at the same time, but we only really saw any of that in two or three scenes. I’m not as big a fan of the Aceys, especially after seeing them shred Zed and Addison’s letters – that’s cruel even for them – but again, them bouncing off Bucky’s personality was a highlight of ZOMBIES.
Lacey and Stacey were back in the Aceys trio, with actresses Emilia McCarthy and Jasmine Renée Thomas reprising their roles, but Mickeey Nguyen was not back as Tracey. Instead, a new Acey was added, this being Jacey, who reminds everyone that his name is actually Kevin. Bucky didn’t like that. Did Jacey not get the memo? When you change your name to be an Acey, that’s your identity forever. You can forget all about being Kevin! Anyway, Noah Zulfikar was cast as Jacey, or Kevin, having previously appeared as Kingston in the Canadian teen drama series The Next Step (2013-25) from Season 5 of the show, which aired in 2017. Trevor Tordjman played James in this same show.
Now on to the new characters who took the spotlight away from some of the originals. That might sound bitter but it’s not supposed to be, because I actually liked the werewolves’ addition to the ZOMBIES franchise. Meg Donnelly compared the addition of these new cast members as like attending a new school where everyone already knows each other, however, she said that the new cast were welcomed by everyone and they all became close really fast[1].
The leader of the wolf pack is Willa. She is a strong leader, and very outspoken. She wants to find the moonstone because the fate of the pack really does rest with her as their leader, but she is distrusting of Wyatt’s idea that Addison must be the Great Alpha because of her white hair. She doesn’t like Addison’s peppy optimism and doesn’t think she could possibly be their Alpha, at least initially. It’s quite clear as Willa spends more time with Addison that she starts to be hopeful that Addison is the solution to their problems, but when it turns out she isn’t, Willa can’t help but be disappointed. Luckily, neither the humans nor the zombies give up on the wolves, and together, they find the moonstone, allowing the wolves to return to full health. Also, now, they are welcome in Seabrook.
Chandler Kinney was cast as Willa. Prior to her role in ZOMBIES 2, Kinney had been cast as Catherine Dillman in Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street (2014-16) for Amazon Prime. She went on to play Riana Murtagh in the Fox series Lethal Weapon (2016-19).
Next, we have Wyatt, Willa’s brother, who seems to have tunnel vision, focusing solely on Addison as being their saviour. But this shows how much he cares about the pack and wants to be proactive. Instead of just sitting around watching the other wolves become weaker, he’d rather be out there pursuing one course of action even if it turns out to be the wrong one. Wyatt is also an adversary of Zed, as he develops a fairly close relationship with Addison quite early on, leading to Zed to believe that Wyatt is trying to steal his girl. Come on, Zed. The wolves have much bigger issues in their lives than messing with your love life.
Wyatt was played by Pearce Joza, who had been cast in the recurring role of Logan on the Nickelodeon series Legendary Dudas (2016) prior to his role in the ZOMBIES franchise. He also starred as Spyder in the Disney Channel and Disney XD science-fiction series Mech-X4 (2016-18) around the same time.
The other wolf pack member we focus on in ZOMBIES 2 is Wynter. Wynter is passionate, if a bit eccentric[2]! She has some odd suggestions, such as wanting to track Addison down with their “key sense of smell”, which is a bit creepy; and trying to prove that she can deal with her wolf allergy to silver by grabbing one of the school’s trophies, before it burns her hand and she has to let it go! She also eats Bree’s homework at one point, leading to the classic joke: “that dog ate my homework”. Except that’s really quite offensive to call a wolf a dog, surely. It is very Twilight Saga though.
Wynter was played by singer and social media personality Ariel Martin, who also goes by the name Baby Ariel. On screen, Martin appeared as Dru in Season 2 of the YouTube web series Chicken Girls (2017-23), and its spin-off series Baby Doll Records (2018). Also prior to her role in ZOMBIES 2, Martin was cast as Kenzie Messina in the television movie Bixler High Private Eye (2019) for Nickelodeon. She also won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Muser in both 2016 and 2017.
MUSIC
The soundtrack for ZOMBIES 2 consists of almost double the original songs that existed in ZOMBIES. This time, there are nine original songs, with eight of these appearing in the film, and a customary reprise of Zed and Addison’s love song, “Someday”.
Going in film order, the first song we hear is “We Got This”. This song details a bit of a recap into the lives of the humans and zombies at Seabrook, such as discussing the newly integrated Seabrook Cheer Squad, and the zombies discuss the planned demolition of the power plant and their increased freedoms, like going to Prawn. Although Zed and the zombies are perhaps talking about important topics in their parts of the song, I love this song mostly for the Cheer Camp sequences, especially that obstacle course – it has a zipwire; that makes it awesome, and is likely the predominant reason why this is my favourite song in the film! “We Got This” is performed by the main cast, excluding the wolves who we haven’t met at this point, and was written by Mitch Allan, Chantry Johnson, and Michelle Zarlenga.
Following that is “We Own the Night”, the introduction to the werewolves as they head to Seabrook High School in the dead of night. This song details their determination and focus on their desire to find the Great Alpha, who Wyatt believes is Addison, and find the moonstone so they can live peacefully again. This song is pretty cool and a good opening song for the werewolves. “We Own the Night” was performed by Pearce Joza, Chandler Kinney, and Ariel Martin, as Wyatt, Willa, and Wynter respectively, and the number was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, and Adam Schmalzholz. Due to the popularity of this song, Disney officially released a video of a mashup between “We Own the Night” and Descendants 3’s “Night Falls”.
This same writing team also wrote the next song in the movie, “Like the Zombies Do”. In “Like the Zombies Do”, Zed is trying to help the wolves integrate in Seabrook life by behaving “like the zombies do”, because he hopes if he does this, then the wolves will vote for him for Class President. It takes a while to convince the wolves, but in the end, they pretend to do this, so they can get closer to Addison without looking suspicious. This song sounds very much like the song “Uptown Funk”, or at least the beginning of it does. To be honest, this is one of the songs in ZOMBIES 2 that I’m not a big fan of, but I can see what they were trying to do, and it gave Milo Manheim an opportunity to show off his singing abilities as the lead performer of this song, who mentioned this song as being his favourite song in the movie. Kinney, Joza, and Kylee Russell also perform parts of this song.
A little while later, we hear the “break-up song” “Gotta Find Where I Belong”, written by Josh Cumbee and Jordan Powers, and performed by Manheim and Meg Donnelly as Zed and Addison. This was Donnelly’s favourite song in the movie, as it was a bit more of a challenge since this was the first song of its kind in the ZOMBIES movies. I do like this song, probably because it is a little bit like “Gotta Go My Own Way” from High School Musical 2 (2007), albeit a little bit quieter and less dramatic. The only issue I have with this song is the background performers, who start moving robotically in random parts of the number before moving on and walking away. This looks a bit weird to me, but I guess it was meant to show how at odds Addison feels with the other Seabrook humans, who live in a perfect world and all look and act the same.
The next song is another one for the wolves, “Call to the Wild”, also written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, and Adam Schmalholz. It was performed by Donnelly, Joza, Kinney, and Martin. This shows Addison being welcomed into the wolves’ den and letting her in on the fact she may be their Great Alpha. It’s a very catchy song and once again proves just how cool the wolves are. I also like the addition of tinikling, which is a traditional Philippine folk dance using bamboo poles to dance in and around, in this sequence. I had only ever heard of tinikling from an episode of the ABC sitcom The Middle (2009-18), where Sue Heck performs a tinikling routine to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” for P.E. credit, but it always looked fun to me.
Following that is a song clearly inspired by Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton as this is a rap battle. The song “I’m Winning” is performed by Milo Manheim and Trevor Tordjman, predominately, as Zed and Bucky as they battle for their classmates votes for Class President at the debate. Bucky is deliberately trying to bait Zed into showing the “true side” of zombies, whilst Zed is trying to prove he is a much better leader than self-obsessed Bucky. When I first watched ZOMBIES 2, I didn’t initially like “I’m Winning”, but I actually quite like it now. It’s not my favourite, but it’s quite funny. I especially like when Bucky says zombies eat brains, and Zed retorts that Bucky doesn’t have a brain so he’s safe. “I’m Winning” was written by Ali Dee Theodore, Ricardo Belfort, Doug Davis, Sarai Howard, Anthony Mirabella, Susan Paroff, James K. Petrie, and Jodie Shihadeh.
Close to the end of the movie we hear “Flesh & Bone”, which is one of the most liked songs from the ZOMBIES franchise amongst fans. At first, to me, it seemed a bit cheesy, but as the song progressed, and things start to look a bit nasty, with the wolves being arrested, and then Addison arrives with every from school, I actually started to well up. I think it’s the united front that gets me emotional, but it’s a pretty powerful song with a great chorus. “Flesh & Bone” was performed by the main cast, and was written by Tova Litvin and Doug Rockwell. In interviews, some of the ZOMBIES cast have said that although “Flesh & Bone” was a difficult number to perform, as it is quite high intensity in terms of the dancing, they loved it because it was great to see everyone together in a musical number[3]. “Flesh & Bone” was so popular that it was used as part of the short-form series Broken Karaoke for Disney Channel, where animated Disney Channel characters sing song parodies. This specific short saw the Green family, Cricket, Tilly, Gramma, and Bill, from the animated Disney series Big City Greens (2018-present) parody the song “Flesh & Bone” with a song called “Stuck at Home”. This was off the back of “Flesh & Bone” becoming a viral sensation[4]. Disney also released a mashup video of “Flesh & Bone” and “Someday” from ZOMBIES because of this.
At Prawn, we actually get two songs. The first is “Someday (Reprise)”, which Zed and Addison sing as Zed apologies for stealing Addison’s moonstone necklace and for generally not being supportive or understanding of her dream to find where she belongs. They are just about to kiss, when the ground splits open and they have to find the moonstone. “Someday” was written by Dustin Burnett and Paula Winger. It’s a sweet version of the song, and I know it’s Zed and Addison’s “love theme”, but I feel like we’ve heard this song so many different ways in just the first two movies!
The finale number is a big celebratory song at Prawn called “One For All”, where everyone is dancing together: zombies, wolves, and humans alike. Once again, like at the end of ZOMBIES, this song shows a more united Seabrook. We also see Addison becoming the official Cheer Captain, and getting a moonstone necklace from the wolves as a token of gratitude from them, and it ends with Zed and Addison’s first kiss. Although I don’t dislike any song in the movie, this is my least favourite song within ZOMBIES 2. “One For All” was performed by the entire cast, and was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, and Adam Schmalholz.
The actual final song on the ZOMBIES 2 soundtrack to mention is “The New Kid in Town”, performed by Ariel Martin, or Baby Ariel, and written by Jack Kugell, Hanna Jones, Matt Wong, and Paulina Cerrilla. This appears as the movie’s End Credits song, as well as appearing as a bonus track on the ZOMBIES 2 soundtrack. This song has nothing to do with ZOMBIES 2, although some of the cast appear in the official music video, and the “new kid in town” seems to be a werewolf. It’s quite amusing that they chose Booboo Stewart to be this guy, because he played a werewolf, Seth, in the Twilight Saga movie franchise. Stewart also played Jay, Jafar’s son, in the Descendants films. To be honest, this song isn’t for me.
The ZOMBIES 2 soundtrack was released on 14th February 2020, the day of the movie’s premiere. It reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Top Soundtracks chart and the US Billboard Kid Albums charts. It hit No. 44 on the US Billboard 200 chart. In comparison to the ZOMBIES soundtrack, ZOMBIES topped the Kid Albums chart on its release, but only reached No. 55 in the US Billboard 200. It is also worth noting that specific songs from ZOMBIES 2, like “Flesh & Bone” and “Like the Zombies Do”, did incredibly well online.
George S. Clinton and Amit May Cohen are credited as the composers of the score for ZOMBIES 2. The score of ZOMBIES 2 was later released in November 2020, in the album Music from ZOMBIES (Original Score), which also includes the score from ZOMBIES.
PRODUCTION
The original ZOMBIES was based on an unaired pilot for a Disney Channel television series, titled Zombies & Cheerleaders. Little information is known about this pilot, other than it followed a zombie and a cheerleader as they fall in love whilst at high school[5].Disney Channel later decided to use this pilot as inspiration for ZOMBIES, and writers of the Zombies & Cheerleaders pilot episode, David Light and Joseph Raso, were tasked with reworking their material to fit the Disney Channel musical format.
Light and Raso returned to write ZOMBIES 2. The writing duo stated that the inclusion of the werewolves was to give a new challenge for the people of Seabrook, in order to challenge the town’s progress. However, to ensure this sequel was not just a rehash of the original – a trap many sequels fall into, unwittingly or not – the werewolf characters were made to be quite different from the zombies. Zombies wanted to integrate at high school, to feel like they finally belong in Seabrook. The wolves on the other hand aren’t interested in being at school and don’t want to play by the same rules as the zombies. They only pretend to integrate so they can get to Addison, and potentially the moonstone. Light and Raso were aware that zombies and werewolves are popular concepts for movies and television series, but their movies are different because they make their zombie and werewolves characters not scary, to appeal to children who otherwise would be unwilling to watch screen projects with those scarier characters. The writers were honoured to be back for a sequel, and were overwhelmed by the support they received for ZOMBIES. They were glad that the movie allowed for conversations to be opened up, particularly around difficult topics like fighting for freedom, and standing up for your beliefs[6].
Director Paul Hoen also returned to the world of Disney Channel’s ZOMBIES to lead the production of ZOMBIES 2. Hoen has directed numerous DCOMs over the years, including Let It Shine (2012); Cloud 9 (2014); Invisible Sister (2015); and Jump In! (2007).
Production for ZOMBIES 2 began in Spring 2019, after being announced in February 2019. ZOMBIES was cable television’s No.1 rated telecast among kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14 in 2018, gaining 12.8 million viewers over 10 showings of the movie, so naturally a sequel made sense in that respect[7].
Once again, production returned to Ontario, Canada for filming. Some of the locations from the first movie were used again in the sequel. Sugar Beach in Toronto was also seen in the sequel after appearing in the first movie, being used for the opening shot of ZOMBIES 2, when Zed is climbing out of the sand during a day at the beach with his family and friends. Cherry Beach in Toronto was another location, making up the outside of Seabrook High in both the first two movies[8].
There were a couple of other filming locations that were unique to ZOMBIES 2. Apparently, there was use of the Rockwood Conservation Area in Ontario, which was presumably used for their shots of the Forbidden Forest, where the werewolves reside. Another location was supposedly the North Building at the University of Toronto Mississauga. The song “I’m Winning” seems to have been filmed inside this building, so must’ve been used as the location for Seabrook High’s auditorium. The University of Toronto Mississauga was also used to film numerous scenes within another 2020 Disney movie, Secret Society of Second-Born Royals.
With an expanding Seabrook, new sets were needed, and this area was headed by production designer Mark Hofeling, who also returned to work on this ZOMBIES sequel.
Although we got to see some of Zombietown in the original movie, this was mostly limited to seeing just a few zombie residences. In ZOMBIES 2, Zombietown was expanded so viewers could see the businesses popping up around Seabrook which were being owned and operated by zombies. This is probably because zombies were not allowed to run businesses in the original movie, because of those anti-monster laws. This ever-increasing Zombietown demonstrates the increased freedoms the zombies have been experiencing since we last saw them at the end of ZOMBIES. These streets are still decorated with bright colours and makeshift furniture and ornaments, as the houses were in ZOMBIES.
In comparison, Seabrook hasn’t really changed all that much. The school is still sleek and pristine, repping the school colours of pink and green. The Cheer Camp also features these colours heavily, from the school bus through to the obstacle course itself. The school prom, or “Prawn”, is decorated with the signature pastels of pink and blue that we saw in the first movie. Many of the human residents still wear these signature colours too, showing that although Seabrook claim to be inclusive and have integrated zombies into their lives, they actually haven’t changed all that much themselves.
Then, we have the addition of the werewolves in ZOMBIES 2, who live very differently from both the humans and the zombies. They live in a den in the forest, not in houses on typical streets, so this was an additional challenge for designing sets. The wolves’ den is complete with a wooden roof, carved rocks and stones, as well as ornamentation that is themed to the moon and stars, very much matching the werewolf culture. The den is meant to look rustic, showcasing how it was built sustainably with nature in mind.
The final thing in production and sets I’d like to mention is the fault line and cavern holding the moonstone. A whole set had to be built of both of these. The ground had to look precarious and like it could all collapse at any second, but obviously be safe enough for the cast and crew to travel through in order to film the necessary sequences. The pink, glowing moonstone sits in the centre of a crumbling cavern. The behind-the-scenes footage and photos of this set are really cool, and I didn’t really consider the work that would’ve been needed to construct it as I was watching ZOMBIES 2[9].
Alongside this, some alterations to costumes from the first movie were required to match the evolving town of Seabrook, as well as the new costuming for the werewolves.
The zombies in ZOMBIES 2 now don’t have to wear their government-approved clothing. I will be perfectly honest and say this was not something I noticed, but looking back at footage from both movies, I can now see that Zed is in grey jeans, and Eliza is wearing a corduroy skirt in the sequel. I think the reason I didn’t notice is because the zombies are still wearing the darker colours they wore in the first film, like reds, greens, and blacks, obviously to differentiate themselves from the humans by showcasing the best zombie fashion trends.
The werewolves had to choose some other colour palette that wasn’t dark colours or bright pastels, because this new group had to have their own costuming style. This is why purples and golds – but no silver; wolves are allergic to silver – feature in the werewolves’ outfit, as well as to reflect regalness, since the werewolves are a very proud pack. They also wear some burnt oranges and blacks. Each wolf has their own markings too, and they had to consider how many the characters would have[10]. Just like the zombies, the werewolves customised their outfits too, with Wyatt wearing more leather and suede, Willa having a band around her leg to signal herself as the leader of the pack, and Wynter wearing a faux fur wristband. Each of their moonstone necklaces are slightly different from each other too[11].
The humans’ costumes haven’t changed much between movies, although the Seabrook Cheer Squad outfits are slightly different. The girls’ skirts and guys’ tracksuit bottoms are now white instead of pink, and they no longer wear long-sleeved tops. But at the heart of Seabrook still live a collection of humans who love their pastel blues and pinks, as we see by their prom outfits. Bree turns up in a light pink dress, and Addison in a light blue one, for example, whereas the zombies show up in their signature reds and greens, and the wolves in their golds and purples.
For the hair and makeup, it was a slight complaint of some of the cast members playing zombies that they spent over an hour, sometimes two hours, sometimes more, with the team getting ready for their day of filming since their skin had to be spray-painted to make it as pale as possible. Well, it seems that this time was able to be reduced to around 45 minutes to one hour, so I’m sure that made that section of the cast happy. However, this then meant that those playing the werewolves took longer, as their makeup routine was newer to the crew. Ariel Martin and Chandler Kinney stated that they took about three hours in hair and makeup every day, with specific attention being given to their unique wolf markings no doubt. Pearce Joza said that he did a makeup test at one point that took around seven hours! This time did eventually reduce as production went on[12]. But all three said they completely appreciated all the effort that was put into their costume, hair, and makeup, with Martin going so far as to say she felt powerful when she had her costume on[13].
The costume designer on ZOMBIES 2 was Trysha Bakker, who won a CAFTCAD (The Canadian Alliance for Film and Television Costume Arts and Design) Award for Best Costume Design in Film Sci-Fi/Fantasy for her work here. Bakker went on to work on the costumes for ZOMBIES 3 (2022), as well as the DCOM Spin (2021). Julia Valente returned to the set of ZOMBIES 2 after working on ZOMBIES as the makeup department head.
Again, the music of ZOMBIES 2 goes hand-in-hand with its choreography. Jennifer Weber, known for projects such as working on the musical & Juliet, and Off-Broadway’s KPOP, was tasked with choreographing for ZOMBIES 2. Weber had seen the first movie and loved its message of acceptance, so was glad to have the opportunity to choreograph the sequel. There were many different dance styles used in this movie, from commercial hip-hop, to breaking, street dance, and of course, the traditional cheerleading routines that are seen mostly in the opening song “We Got This”. Weber and her team collaborated with cheer coaches and choreographers Patrick Mislan and Megan MacLennan on these routines, and professional cheerleaders were on hand for the high tosses and the pyramids, as they were on ZOMBIES[14]. After auditioning dancers in Toronto for the film and to find crew to develop the choreography, work on drafting the nine musical numbers took roughly three weeks. This was followed by four weeks of rehearsal with cast before filming took place, which was a similar amount of rehearsal time as the cast had on the first ZOMBIES[15].
RECEPTION
ZOMBIES 2 premiered on 14th February 2020, which just so happened to be Valentine’s Day, a perfect day to see the next instalment of Addison and Zed’s love story.
In preparation for the premiere date, some of the cast had been out and about promoting the film. For example, Kylee Russell and Trevor Tordjman went to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort to host the halftime show at the Pop Warner Super Bowl and National Cheer and Dance Championships. Here, they presented the halftime show which featured a performance by a cheerleading squad, dressed as both cheerleaders and zombies, to the song “BAMM” from ZOMBIES. There was even a dance battle between the “poms” and the “zoms”. Tordjman and Russell also gave a brief explanation of the plot of ZOMBIES 2, promising more music, more dancing, and more drama in the sequel in this promotional video[16]. This was very similar to when Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly presented the debut of a ZOMBIES-themed cheerleading routine at the grand opening of The Arena at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in 2018.
There was also ZOMBIES 2: The Collab, a collaboration between Disney Channel and various influencers and reality personalities. This was a short sketch which saw these influencers and reality stars performing as the ZOMBIES 2 characters, as Addison, Zed, and all the other Seabrook high schoolers see the werewolves arrive in their cafeteria, with Addison quickly introducing herself to them. I’m not particularly “on trend” with who was popular then. I’m not younger enough and I don’t care enough to know, but I did spot plenty of stars from Dance Moms (2011-19) in this video, like Mackenzie Ziegler as Addison; Kendall Vertes as a zombie; Chloe Lukasiak as a werewolf; and Nia Sioux as Willa[17].
On its release, ZOMBIES 2 once again received mixed reviews, although it does hold a 100% Critics’ Score on Rotten Tomatoes. Amongst fans, some said that ZOMBIES 2 was even better than original. I am one of those people. The music was generally considered better than the songs within the first movie, probably in part because there were double the number of original songs in ZOMBIES 2 than its predecessor, and the chemistry between the two leads continued to be praised. Other still positive but less glowing responses said ZOMBIES 2 was good for kids, or good in general, but nothing like High School Musical. Nothing will ever match up to those films so it’s best if we just all agree to stop comparing all Disney Channel musicals to them.
But then again, those who did not like ZOMBIES decided to watch the sequel and make the same points once again about why they didn’t like ZOMBIES 2, for example, because it’s “cringey” and “doesn’t make sense”. This is simply down to preference and I can’t make many comments on that. If you didn’t like the first ZOMBIES, you shouldn’t have chosen to watch the sequel, because it’s quite clear you’re going to get more of the same. Don’t watch sequels just to continue moaning about a movie franchise. Find something new to moan about instead!
Outside of that, there are a couple of negative comments that are worth pointing out. One is that ZOMBIES 2 shoehorns werewolves into the plot just to set up the same conflict that we saw in the original ZOMBIES film. I understand this point; it is quite a random addition, and something I spoke about in my introduction. I personally didn’t mind because I liked the werewolves as characters. There were also unanswered questions, such as: if Addison wasn’t the Great Alpha, then who is? And how did the wolves get to the moonstone without the Alpha? The biggest one is all about why Addison’s hair is the way it is, with the explanation to this being set up at the end of ZOMBIES 2, to tease a ZOMBIES 3. This irritated some viewers, not necessarily because they didn’t want yet another sequel, although that was also a complaint, but because ZOMBIES 2 had set up for Addison to become a wolf – and then she didn’t. This made ZOMBIES 2 seem pointless and like it was just filler in an overall trilogy. There were further comments that there were too many side plots, like Zed wanting to be Class President, and Addison wanting to be Cheer Captain, which ultimately didn’t deliver much, and meant that precious screentime was taken away from getting to properly meet the wolves, or catch up with other characters from the first ZOMBIES. I also agree with this comment in part, though I felt like we got to follow the plight of the wolves quite closely, even with the side plots.
There was also still no getting away from the comparisons between ZOMBIES and the Descendants trilogy, which in a way got worse, because Descendants 3 had come out in August 2019, just a few months before ZOMBIES 2 did, and felt like a fitting ending to the trilogy, not to mention that it was the last Disney movie fans were ever going to see with Cameron Boyce, who sadly passed away in July 2019.
ZOMBIES 2 allegedly reached nearly 5 million viewers on its premiere night, beating out the viewership of the first movie, and becoming the highest rating for Disney Channel since the premiere of Descendants 3[18]. However, I have also seen the figure 2.5 million online for the ZOMBIES 2 premiere viewership, so it’s unclear if 5 million viewers actually watched ZOMBIES 2 across its first 24 hours or something similar, instead of solely on its premiere. Who knows? Viewer numbers aren’t always easy to verify.
As well as its award for costuming, ZOMBIES 2 was also nominated for Best Editing for Lisa Binkley, at the Canadian Cinema Editors Awards and the Leo Awards.
LEGACY
Following on from ZOMBIES 2’s initial success, for the Halloween season, a series of animated shorts premiered on Disney Channel in October 2020.
This series was titled Zombies: Addison’s Moonstone Mystery, with production of this being announced shortly after the ZOMBIES 2 premiere. In this series, set after the events of ZOMBIES 2, there were eight roughly five-minute short videos, which saw Addison, Zed, and the others trying to discover what new girl, Vanna, is hiding about herself. This series was met with positive reviews, so a second animated series of six shorts titled Zombies: Addison’s Monster Mystery aired a year later in October 2021. It followed the group trying to save Seabrook High’s Halloween Fall Ball from a “Monster Shrimpy”. The main cast of Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Eliza Russell, Pearce Joza, Ariel Martin, and Chandler Kinney returned to voice their characters from ZOMBIES 2 in these series. Songs from the movie as well as some original songs apparently featured in the animated shorts.
There was also a live-action and animated series titled Zombies 2: Wolf Tales which aired in March 2020, just after ZOMBIES 2 aired. It is meant to take place I suppose during the events of the song “Call of the Wild”, since it sees Addison trying to ask the wolves questions about their history and about the moonstone in their den after she has had her makeover to look like the Great Alpha. But instead of answering Addison’s questions, the pack tell random stories that are of no use to her! Meg Donnelly, Pearce Joza, Chandler Kinney, and Ariel Martin reprise their characters of Addison, Wyatt, Willa, and Wynter respectively in this very short series, where each episode is only about a minute long.
Outside of these specific ZOMBIES 2-related shows, the ZOMBIES 2 cast made other appearances in Disney projects. One of these is the Disney Holiday Magic Quest series, with two of these being made in 2020 and 2021. These both aired on Disney Channel before being added to Disney+.
The Disney Holiday Magic Quest in 2020 was hosted by former Disney Channel star Raven-Symoné, and saw Milo Manheim and Kylee Russell go up against Ariel Martin and Pearce Joza as they competed in challenges across a night at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World Resort in order to stop Maleficent and the Evil Queen from stealing the “holiday magic” and to raise money for the charity Toys for Tots. Meg Donnelly and Ariel Martin’s family also appeared on video calls to help with the teams’ challenges. This all culminated in a final showdown on an obstacle course in front of Cinderella Castle.
The Disney Holiday Magic Quest in 2021 was hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown, and saw Milo Manheim and Kylee Russell return to compete in challenges across the night at Walt Disney World, but their opposition this time were Meg Donnelly and Trevor Tordjman. In this special, they had to retrieve the star from atop the Holiday Tree which Maleficent divided into three pieces and hid throughout Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Toys for Tots were once again the charity the stars were raising money for. Video calls from Ariel Martin and Trevor Tordjman’s family featured this time in two challenges. This Disney Holiday Magic Quest also seemed to be partly promotional for the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary celebration. These TV specials a little bit cheesy, for adults at least, but I’m all for seeing celebrities running around Walt Disney World, or any Disney Park for that matter, so I liked them.
Meg Donnelly also made another Disney appearance, at the Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade in 2021, performing “Jingle Bell Rock” this time. Her introduction briefly mentioned that Donnelly would be starring in the upcoming ZOMBIES 3. That’s right. Arguably the most important thing to come after ZOMBIES 2 was the March 2021 official announcement that ZOMBIES 3 was coming. We could already assume that ZOMBIES 3 would look further into why Addison has white hair, since we saw it glowing blue at the end of ZOMBIES 2. We would just have to wait and see what else ZOMBIES 3 had in store for us.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Personally, I have a history of liking sequels more than the original movie. There are obviously exceptions to that, but definitely in the DCOM musical world, I tend to prefer a movie’s second film to its first.
I don’t really know why that is, but perhaps it has something to do with the concept of the movie feeling more solid in its second outing, or just because the cast are more comfortable in their characters and can up their performances. It could simply be that Disney Channel trust in the original movie’s popularity, and want to please fans by making their second movie bigger and better in all aspects, particularly the music.
ZOMBIES 2 is not an exception to this for me. I like the music of ZOMBIES 2 so much more; I think the werewolves are a great addition to Seabrook; and it feels like the cast are happy in their roles. It’s a great film that fans of the original should have been proud of.
Now, my track record of liking the third movie in a trilogy is mixed. I’ll be honest, I did not like ZOMBIES 3 when I first watched it in 2022. I’ll have to see if it can sway my opinion after rewatching.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Zach Johnson, ‘Everything You Need to Know About ZOMBIES 2’, D23.com, 10th February 2020.
[2] Credit: Zach Johnson, ‘Awoo! Meet the Werewolves in Disney Channel’s ZOMBIES 2’, D23.com, 11th February 2020.
[3] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘Puppy Q&A Challenges with Meg, Milo, and Ariel! I Compilation I ZOMBIES 2 I Disney Channel’, Disney Channel Music YouTube Channel, 27th April 2020.
[4] Credit: Avery Thompson, ‘‘Big City Greens’ Crew Parodies ‘Zombies 2’ Hit ‘Flesh & Bone’ For ‘Broken Karaoke’ – Watch Sneak Peek’, HollywoodLife.com, 17th June 2020.
[5] Credit: IMDB, ‘Zombies and Cheerleaders’, IMDB.com, date unknown.
[6] Credit: Paul Perrello, ‘“ZOMBIES 2” Prowls Onto Disney Channel’, LaughingPlace.com, 14th February 2020.
[7] Credit: Bruce Haring, ‘Disney’s ‘Zombies 2’ Sequel Heads Into Production With Returning Stars, Directors, Writers’, Deadline.com, 11th February 2019.
[8] Credit: Varun Patel, ‘Where Was Disney’s ‘Zombies’ Shot?’, TheCinemaholic.com, 14th February 2020.
[9] Credit: Mark Hofeling, ‘DISNEY’S Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 2’, MarkHofeling.com, date unknown.
[10] Credit: Zoe Hewitt, ‘How Disney Channel’s ‘Zombies 2’ Production Team Made Monsters Kid-Friendly;’, Yahoo.com, 21st February 2020.
[11] Credit: Stacey Grant, ’11 Shocking Zombies 2 Secrets from Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, & Ariel Martin’, Seventeen.com, 18th February 2020.
[12] Credit: J-14, ‘ZOMBIES 2 Cast Shares Funny Behind-the-Scenes Memories’, J-14 Magazine YouTube Channel, 12th February 2020.
[13] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘Puppy Q&A Challenges with Meg, Milo, and Ariel! I Compilation I ZOMBIES 2 I Disney Channel’, Disney Channel Music YouTube Channel, 27th April 2020.
[14] Credit: Ruthie Fierberg, ‘Watch: Inside the Cheerleading-Meets-Hip-Hop Choreography of Disney Channel’s Zombies 2’, Playbill.com, 13th February 2020.
[15] Credit: Cadence Neenan, ‘Choreographer Jennifer Weber Shares What It Was Like on Set for “ZOMBIES 2”’, DanceSpirit.com, 11th February 2020.
[16] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘ZOMBIES Pop Warner Super Bowl! I ZOMBIES 2 I Disney Channel’, Disney Channel Music YouTube Channel, 12th January 2020.
[17] Credit: Mackenzie Ziegler, ‘ZOMBIES 2: The Collab’, kenzie YouTube Channel, 2nd February 2020.
[18] Credit: Sarah Jae Lieber, ‘RATINGS: ZOMBIES 2 Delivers 1.9 Million Kids and Nearly 5 Million Total Viewers for Disney Channel’, BroadwayWorld.com, 2nd March 2020.
The Disney Purist 