BACKGROUND
Generally, if Disney Channel choose to make a sequel to one of their Disney Channel Original Movies, this sequel would make its way to screens within a year or two of the original. This happened with most of their franchises, like High School Musical, Descendants, and ZOMBIES, although their spin-offs or reboots did not quite fit this timeline.
Waiting eight years to make a sequel to the 10th official DCOM which premiered in the 1990s is an odd decision. But this was the case with Johnny Tsunami (1999), a sports movie that looked at the worlds of snowboarding and surfing, set in Vermont and Hawaii.
What was Disney Channel thinking? That’s not to say that Johnny Tsunami wasn’t popular because it was, or at least it is still remembered even today, over two decades on. However, you have to consider the age of the Disney Channel viewers who would’ve watched Johnny Tsunami on its premiere date and would be considered to be the film’s fans. Many of them would’ve been early teens, or a little bit younger, to match the age of the main characters, so add eight years to, let’s say, the age of 11 and you’re assuming that these young adults are going to be switching Disney Channel back on to watch a sequel to their childhood favourite television movie. What are the odds of that?
All I know about Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board is that it came to Disney Channel in the same year that we were getting High School Musical 2 (2007). That was the film event of the year, not Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, which was a sequel to a film I’d never watched and barely even heard of. I simply did not care, and actually did not appreciate the amount of advertising that Disney Channel was pushing on their viewers for this film.
Disney Channel had worked out by the mid-2000s, thanks to High School Musical (2006), that their best chance of success with their original movies was to go down the musical route, and pepper in a couple of non-musicals around them, but ensuring these were fronted by some of their most famous actors at the time, people like Selena Gomez or Corbin Bleu. Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board simply did not suit Disney Channel’s new movie formula by not fitting either of these criteria.
All this just set Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board up to fail with Disney Channel’s new audience, and probably did not introduce many to its predecessor or to its new choice of sport: dirtboarding. Hardly as exotic or cool as snowboarding or surfing, is it?
PLOT
Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board begins with a brief recap of the original film. Thirteen-year-old Johnny was forced to move away from his surfing life in Hawaii with his grandpa, legendary surfer Johnny Tsunami, to go to Vermont with his parents, where he later took up snowboarding. We then see Johnny standing at the top of a mountain, looking about four years older, snowboard attached to his feet, ready to slide down, however, he falls, toppling down into the sea below, where he starts surfing, before wiping out.
This turns out to have all been a dream, as Johnny wakes up in the back of the car, where his parents are driving them back to Hawaii for Johnny Tsunami’s upcoming wedding. Johnny’s parents tell Johnny that they’ll be heading into the city for a couple of days, leaving Johnny to go to his grandpa’s house alone. Johnny gets a ride there with his friend Sam. Johnny met Sam in Vermont when he first moved there, but Sam later moved to Iceland for his father’s work, as Sam’s father is in the US military. They recently transferred to Hawaii.
Johnny arrives at his grandfather’s house but he’s not home. Johnny goes to his old room, and finds it full of someone else’s stuff. Weird. Johnny heads to the beach to find his grandpa. There, he sees a young boy shouting at Johnny Tsunami and storming off, after a surfing lesson doesn’t go to plan. Johnny assumes his grandpa must be teaching kids how to surf now. Johnny goes over to his grandpa and they catch up, with Johnny Tsunami showing off his new shorter hair style.
At dinner that evening, Johnny is introduced to his grandfather’s wife-to-be Carla. She has a son called Chris, making him technically Johnny’s uncle. She explains that the house she is renting is too small for both her and Chris, so Chris is staying at Johnny Tsunami’s house, and that is why there is stuff in his old room. At that moment, Chris arrives, but he has no interest in sitting with them for dinner. Chris turns out to be the kid Johnny saw surfing with his grandpa earlier. Johnny is shocked to find his uncle is so young. Chris heads to his room and refuses to talk to him.
The next day, Johnny Tsunami shows Johnny a retail space that he is doing up with Carla so they can open a surf shop together. This was Carla’s father shop, and when he passed away, it was left to her, so she wants to reopen it. As Carla and Johnny Tsunami set about working on the store, Johnny is told to keep an eye on Chris so they can keep working. Johnny sees Chris hanging out with a group of older dirtboarders, or mountainboarders, basically like off-road skateboarding. This group is called the Dirt Devils and Chris desperately wants to be a part of their team. Johnny introduces himself to some of the group, like Val, the only girl member; Jared, the team captain; and Troy, the owner of the Dirt Devils board store. Johnny is invited in to tour the store and given a board by Troy, so he can head out with the others. Chris and Johnny go with the Dirt Devils to a restricted area.
Johnny tries to keep up with the group but finds dirtboarding a little bit different to snowboarding, ending up face planting in the dirt! Chris complains that he isn’t a member of the Dirt Devils yet and asks what he can do. Jared and his friends tell Chris he’d have to impress Troy by doing some impressive stunt to get on the team. Chris says he’s willing to do that, and goes to the edge of a steep slope. Johnny tries to warn Chris about doing this, but he’s all ready to go. Luckily, the police arrive before Chris can risk his life and the Dirt Devils scatter, leaving Johnny and Chris to be taken home by the police.
At Johnny Tsunami’s house, the police tell Johnny Tsunami and Carla that Chris and Johnny were caught trespassing, with this being Chris’s second warning. If he does this again, he could end up in front of a judge facing a harsher punishment. Johnny Tsunami and Carla talk to the boys about the incident. Johnny Tsunami reiterates that punishment isn’t really his thing but knowing the seriousness of this, he and Chris’s mother have agreed to take Chris’s dirtboard away. Chris is furious. Johnny apologises to his grandpa for the trouble they’ve caused. Johnny’s grandpa then tells Johnny that Carla needs to get the surf shop open soon or they risk losing a lot of money. He asks Johnny to keep Chris out of trouble until Saturday so they can simply concentrate on the store. Johnny says he’ll do it.
Johnny and Sam take Chris to the surf store the next morning so they can help get the shop stocked and in order. He goes to ask Johnny Tsunami what they need to be doing, but when he goes to find him, he sees his grandpa in a suit and heading to a meeting. He’s never seen his grandpa look like that before! Johnny returns to the store and shortly after that, his parents arrive. They tell Johnny and Sam to leave them to it and to go and have some fun. They plan to go surfing but as they head outside, they see Chris getting into a van with the Dirt Devils. Johnny knows they’ll have to follow them.
Eventually, they arrive at the dockyard, where a course has been set up. Johnny reminds Chris that he’s been banned from dirtboarding by his mother, with Chris saying this is just skateboarding. What a loophole. Johnny sees that Troy is teasing Chris with the potential of getting on to the Dirt Devils team, making Chris do anything to make that happen. Johnny doesn’t like that at all. So, Sam tells Johnny that they should get involved. They both do the course, with their snowboarding skills apparently helping them, and the Dirt Devils are impressed. This upsets Chris who leaves the dockyard, with Johnny and Sam having to find him and take him back home. At home, Chris runs to his room, upset. Chris is very annoyed at Johnny for getting the Dirt Devils to like him better. Johnny can’t get Chris to see sense, and tells his grandfather that he simply can’t deal with Chris anymore. His grandfather says he’ll look after Chris tomorrow to give Johnny a break.
The following day, Val, from the Dirt Devils, sees Johnny tying a surfboard to his car, and tells him all about her bad experience of surfing when she lived in California. Johnny offers to teach her how to surf. They spend the day together, surfing, with Val giving Johnny her number by the end of it. Johnny wonders if he can get Val to help him with Chris.
Johnny tells Sam that he is determined to get on with Chris, so they come up with a plan. They wake Chris up with really loud music and film it, using the video to blackmail Chris into spending the day with them, saying that if he doesn’t, then they’ll show the embarrassing video to the Dirt Devils. Chris begrudgingly agrees to go with them. They go to Val’s house, seeing that she lives in a huge house, thanks to her property/business owner father. Val shows them her dirt bike collection, that she got as a Sweet 16 gift. Johnny tells Chris that he has been allowed to go dirtboarding again, so the four head out on the bikes to go and board together. Johnny and Sam see that Chris is actually a really good boarder, and he teaches the other two how to do some impressive tricks. At the end of the day, they meet Val’s father, and Johnny sees this is the person his grandpa was meeting with the other day.
Back at the shop, Carla speaks to Johnny’s mother about how difficult Chris is being this week with the wedding coming up, but she is pleased to see that the surf shop is nearly ready. Johnny Tsunami also shows everyone that he has ordered a few things for dirtboarding, to try and get Chris on side. Troy from the Dirt Devils hears that Johnny Tsunami’s new store might be in direct competition with his by supplying some of the same gear. Troy tells Jared to spy on them, to see what they’re selling. Jared goes into the shop and takes an invoice, proving that Johnny Tsunami has been buying dirtboarding equipment. He is almost rumbled by Carla; however, she assumes Jared is just looking for Chris. She tells Jared he isn’t here, and he leaves, bringing the evidence he found to Troy.
Troy goes to the store himself, and brings this up with Johnny Tsunami. Johnny Tsunami tries to say the dirtboarding stuff will only be a small proportion of what they sell, but reminding Troy that a little healthy competition is fine. Troy says it definitely isn’t and warns Chris to stay aware from the Dirt Devils from now on. This only makes Chris even angrier with Johnny Tsunami, blaming him for ruining his chances of joining the team. Carla says Chris should move out of Johnny Tsunami’s house for a bit, to give everyone some space.
The next day, Carla tells Johnny and his family that Chris has gone missing. At the same time, they learn that Val has been kicked out of the Dirt Devils by Troy, for fraternising with the “competition”. She tells Johnny they were heading to a boarding event, which she has a ticket for, but was not allowed in the van with the others. She says Chris had a ticket too, so Sam and Johnny drive her to the event, believing Chris would be there. They look around but can’t see him. Johnny Tsunami calls Johnny. As Johnny is about to say they’ve had no luck finding Chris, Johnny hears and sees Chris arguing with Jared. They go over to him, and hear that Chris wants to challenge Jared to a race, so he can join the group, which Troy has now arranged potential sponsorship for. Jared says Chris can do a jump tomorrow, at 3pm, to prove his worth to the Dirt Devils. Johnny tries to talk Chris out of the jump, but he won’t listen. Chris is still angry and unwilling to accept his new family. Johnny basically tells Chris to stop being a brat, and just wish for his mother to be happy. It doesn’t work.
It is soon tomorrow and the family set up for the wedding rehearsal dinner. Chris promises Carla that he’ll be good today, and Johnny has said to Chris he won’t be doing the jump because he needs to focus on this dinner. Johnny is asked by his mother to go into town to buy some things, and Chris offers to come too. Johnny is a little suspicious but lets Chris come with him. When they arrive in town, Chris says he needs to go to the toilet, but sneaks away with his dirtboard, heading off to do the jump. Johnny waits in line at the store, wondering where Chris is. He goes to investigate and sees that Chris has run off. Johnny goes to get in his car to follow him, but finds he has a flat tyre, something Chris has caused. He calls Val to get him to take them to the jump, assuming Chris has gone there.
Sure enough, Chris is at the jump with Jared and some of the other Dirt Devils. Johnny and Val try to call to him to stop him doing the dangerous jump. Chris doesn’t listen, and ends up falling afterwards, hurting his arm. Val goes for help. Later, Johnny is told off by his father for not looking after Chris. The rehearsal dinner has had to be cancelled whilst Carla and Johnny Tsunami take Chris to the hospital. He returns with a fractured arm. The police then arrive, telling them that the surf shop, which was meant to open the next day, has been totally trashed. At the scene, they see that Jared has been caught with the boards and wheels from the store and has been arrested. Troy comes over and pretends not to know what went on. He also tells Chris that he heard about the jump and is letting him be a Dirt Devil at last. Johnny says that Chris won’t be joining, making Chris lash out at everyone again. Back at home, Chris overhears his mother talking to Johnny Tsunami. She says staying in Hawaii was a mistake and that Chris is not happy here, thinking it would be best if they just moved back to Philadelphia.
The next day, Johnny meets up with his grandpa, who is rightly upset that his fiancée is thinking of moving back home, effectively ending their relationship. Johnny says they can fix the situation, and calls Val, knowing Chris will listen to Val, as he has a bit of a crush on her. She tells Chris not to be a loser like Jared and the other Dirt Devils, and to accept that Johnny is the best big brother figure he’ll ever have, so to stop ruining things for everyone in the family. Chris makes amends with Johnny and says that he should’ve listened to him earlier, but doesn’t know how to fix things now. Johnny has a few ideas.
Johnny Tsunami gets a call from Johnny, telling him and Carla to go to the shop. They see that Johnny, Chris, Sam, and Val have fixed up the shop so it is ready to open. Chris then tells his mum they should stay in Hawaii. The shop has its grand opening and is a huge success. Across the street, they all see Troy arguing with Val’s father about a business contract. It turns out Troy wanted Val’s father to buy his store so he could return to California. This meant that he had no intention of letting Chris be a Dirt Devil, or even had any plans to help the team. It was all lies. Val had told her father not to trust Troy, and that is why the deal fell through. Troy vows revenge on Johnny Tsunami and the family, so Johnny challenges Troy to a race. If Troy wins, their new store will no longer sell boards, and if Johnny wins, then they can sell whatever they want. Val’s dad says he’ll set up the course.
A little while later, the course is set up, intending to be a permanent location where boarders can go, and Chris gives Johnny some tips on the course. The rules of the race are revealed: that they will each have to do three tricks and finish first to win. The race is given the go-ahead, and Johnny and Troy race, each taking the lead at different points. Troy even slides into Johnny to knock him down and makes him fall behind. But at the last trick, Troy falls, giving Johnny the chance to finish first – and he does, although he ends up crashing into the hay bales cushioning the finish line! Troy is arrested at the end of the race, as Jared admitted that Troy had told him to trash the store, knowing that the store would be empty as Chris had told them that the family would be at the rehearsal dinner that night.
As the family are about to leave the course, Carla and Johnny Tsunami decide to stick to their original plan and get married that day. The ceremony is beautiful and the family, even Chris, have started to get along. The film ends with Johnny and Johnny Tsunami surfing together. They return to the beach to find Chris watching them, continuing to say that surfing is “no big deal”! They walk down the beach together, teasing each other.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Johnny Kapahala, now 17 years old, continues to be his relaxed self, not sweating the small stuff. Johnny is glad to be back in Hawaii, even if it is in slightly odd circumstances. Sure, Johnny is happy to see his grandpa getting married, but it is a bit weird that Johnny has to basically babysit his grandpa’s fiancée’s twelve-year-old son Chris, who is bratty and moody, not liking Johnny at all to begin with. Johnny tries to keep his family together, whilst dealing with Chris’s outbursts and disregard for his own safety. Johnny tries everything to get Chris to warm to him and keep him safe, but to no avail. Luckily, when Chris starts to realise the error of his ways, Johnny is on hand to help him make amends with Johnny’s grandfather, by helping to fix up the damaged store, and paving the way for Chris to apologise to his mother for his behaviour. Johnny also sets up the final race, allowing for his win to keep Troy out of their business and away from them, hopefully forever. Brandon Baker was back after an eight-year absence to reprise his role as Johnny Kapahala.
Chris is the typical “problem child” in Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, the cause of the family’s conflict and strife. In some ways, you have to feel a bit sorry for Chris, because he has been forced to move to Hawaii without being consulted or asked for his opinion. But then again, he is rude to the people trying to help him, like Johnny Tsunami, who attempts to teach him how to surf and lets him stay at his home, hoping they’d bond, and Johnny, who just wants to be his friend and doesn’t want to see him get hurt doing crazy stunts to impress a group of boarders. Chris also barely speaks to his mother in this film, seeming to be very angry with her for putting him in this situation, with her marriage to Johnny Tsunami only confirming that this is the way things are going to be from now on. Chris doesn’t seem to care about anyone’s happiness but his own, with his only goal to be a Dirt Devil, something that frequently gets him into trouble, and even gets him injured. Eventually, after a lecture from Val, Chris learns that he has been acting badly and makes it up to everyone.
Chris was played by former Disney Channel star Jake T. Austin. He made a return to the Disney Channel shortly after the premiere of Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, with his starring role as Max Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12), alongside Selena Gomez and David Henrie. The new series came to the channel in October 2007, with Austin also reprising his role in its movie Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009) during the series’ run. During his time at Disney, Austin was also cast as Bruce in Hotel for Dogs (2009), later going on to voice Fernando in the animated movie Rio (2011) and its 2014 sequel. He also appeared as Jesus Foster in the first two seasons of The Fosters (2013-18) and competed in Season 23 of Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) in 2016.
To help with Chris, Johnny also has his long-time friend Sam, who he originally met in Vermont, saying goodbye to him at the end of the original film as Sam headed to Iceland with his father. Sam is now living in Hawaii. Sam is on hand to help Johnny with Chris, as the two first take Sam’s car to follow Chris to the dockyard where he has gone with the Dirt Devils, despite being told not to go dirtboarding after the trespassing incident. Sam and Johnny then show Chris up by actually being good skateboarders. Sam later spends the day with them and Val, to encourage Chris to accept Johnny as a member of his family. Just like in Johnny Tsunami, Sam is there to help Johnny with whatever he needs.
Sam Sterling might not be a new character to these two films, however, Lee Thompson Young did not return to play the role, instead being replaced with Jonathan “Lil J” McDaniel, in what may be considered a strange move, since the two actors don’t look much alike at all. It might’ve been better to simply have made Sam a new character, a childhood friend of Johnny’s from Hawaii or something. Anyway, McDaniel may have been familiar to Disney Channel viewers at the time as he had recently been cast in the recurring role of Devon Carter, Raven’s boyfriend, in That’s So Raven (2003-07), returning to the role for the spin-off series Raven’s Home (2017-23). McDaniel also later played German Vega in the sports drama series Hit the Floor (2013-18).
Val is Johnny’s love interest in Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board. We originally meet Val as a member of the Dirt Devils, where Johnny seems to show an instant liking to her. She is kind to everyone, even Johnny, despite the Dirt Devils being quite reserved about outsiders, and clearly cares about Chris’s welfare, whereas the boys in the group seem to just think it’s funny that he tags around with them and will do reckless things just to be in the group. Val later spends the day surfing with Johnny, where they become close. Johnny enlists Val’s help with Chris a few times in the film, such as planning the dirtboarding day for Chris with her; getting her to help him stop Chris doing the dangerous jump, although this doesn’t work out; and asking her to speak to Chris to get him to convince his mother to stay in Hawaii. Like Sam, Val is loyal to Johnny and is on hand to help him in any way she can.
Rose McIver was cast as Val. McIver has since gone on to have a very successful acting career, after her role here and her earlier role as Hannah in the DCOM Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003). McIver was cast in the recurring role of Tinker Bell in the ABC series Once Upon a Time (2011-18) and went on to star as Liv Moore in the series iZombie (2015-19). McIver also starred in the Netflix Christmas movie trilogy A Christmas Prince (2017-19) as Amber Moore. Currently, McIver is playing the lead role of Sam Arondekar in the US version of the British sitcom Ghosts (2021-present).
The main Dirt Devils kid that we see in Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board is Jared, the leader of the group. Jared suggests the stupid stunts that Chris should do to get in the group. Despite being quite obnoxious when surrounded by his friends, he is actually easily led by others, like Troy, who tells him to spy on Carla and Johnny Tsunami’s new store, and gets him to commit criminal damage for him. Clearly, Jared was scared after being arrested, as most kids would be, and comes clean to the police, saying that Troy had told him to do it, and he is released. I sure hope Jared learnt his lesson.
Andrew James Allen was cast as Jared. Shortly after Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, he was cast as Samuel Heckler in the movie The Lovely Bones (2009), with his character being the boyfriend of Lindsey Salmon, who was played by Rose McIver. Andrew James Allen was cast in the recurring role of Pontius Pilate in The Chosen (2017-present).
Troy is the owner of the Dirt Devils store, and acts like the manager of the Dirt Devils boarding team, as he convinces the kids that he is trying to get sponsorship for them. Like Jared, he seems to find it amusing that a twelve-year-old kid is so desperate to be on the boarding team that he follows them around everywhere. not seeming to think he has any responsibility for Chris’s safety. It later becomes clear that Troy fears any competition with his own store, resorting to desperate measures to get Johnny Tsunami to shut down his store, like asking a teenager to go and do his dirty work for him! Despite all that, it turns out Troy was trying to sell his store anyway, so he could quietly move back to California without anyone knowing, so why he’d care about this new store if that was the case, I don’t know. The deal doesn’t go through anyway, and he vows revenge on Johnny Tsunami and his family. He then agrees to a race with Johnny, but although he tries to cheat, he does not win, allowing Johnny Tsunami and his family to sell whatever they want in the store. He gets arrested anyway, and we don’t find out the fate of him or his store. I doubt it was good!
Troy was played by Phil Brown. Recently, he played Sam Tucker in the New Zealand teen drama Mystic (2020-22), and Mark McCrae in New Zealand crime drama One Lane Bridge (2020-22). He also appeared as Charles Stringer in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).
Carla is the final new character to appear in this film, as Chris’s mother, and Johnny Tsunami’s future wife. She has chosen to make a new life in Hawaii, having moved from Philadelphia, and wants to open up a surf shop here. Sadly, Chris, has struggled to adjust to this upheaval in his life, and has made things difficult for her. Carla wants to make things work in Hawaii, but when Chris starts to act up even more, she feels she has no choice but to move back to Philadelphia to keep Chris happy, even if it means she won’t be as happy. Thankfully, Chris convinces his mother they should stay in Hawaii and he gives his blessing for his mother to marry Johnny Tsunami as planned.
Carla was played by Robyn Lively. Prior to her role here, she played Jessica Andrews in The Karate Kid Part III (1989) and was cast as Louise Miller in Teen Witch (1989). She had also been cast in the recurring role of Michele Faber in Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-93) around this time. More recently, Lively appeared in the recurring role of Marlene Harris from Season 3 of the Fox series 9-1-1: Lone Star (2020-25).
As well as these new characters, some characters from Johnny Tsunami also make a reappearance in this sequel. The most obvious of which is Johnny Tsunami himself, Johnny’s grandpa. He has gone through a bit of a change in the years between the two stories though, as he adjusts to becoming a stepfather to Chris, a husband, and a business owner, quite different from the Johnny Tsunami in the original movie who had no responsibilities at all, and just lived a chilled life on the beach. He is no longer a “surf bum” as his son, Johnny’s father, so eloquently put it in the first film; he is now fully committed to having a steady life with his family. Johnny Tsunami has attempted to bond with Chris, however, his love of surfing is not shared with Chris making this difficult, as well as Chris’s overall attitude to him being a barrier to that. In the end, Chris comes to accept that Johnny Tsunami makes his mother happy and is actually a cool guy, and they reach some sort of relationship. It might not be a father-son dynamic, but it’s enough for them to get along. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa was back to reprise his role as Johnny Tsunami here.
Johnny’s parents, Melanie and Pete, also make a return for Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board. As most of the story focuses on the kids, they don’t have a huge amount of screen time on this occasion, being around to help set up the store with Johnny Tsunami and Carla, and to be on hand to listen to their difficulties with Chris, as well as help to organise the wedding and the rehearsal dinner. They mostly just leave Johnny to it, and let him go off surfing and boarding, enjoying his time back in Hawaii. Clearly, Pete has become less risk-averse, and less of a helicopter parent after the original film, although I’m sure Johnny might’ve appreciated it if he hadn’t been left to deal with Chris on his own the whole time! Mary Page Keller and Yuji Okumoto returned to play Melanie and Pete.
MUSIC
Johnny Tsunami used a variety of rock music in its soundtrack, something that was a departure from the typical music within a Disney Channel Original Movie. Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board is more similar to the usual musical style of DCOMs, by featuring pop music.
One band whose music appears in Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board will be very familiar to Disney fans and that is the Jonas Brothers. The Jonas Brothers formed in 2005, consisting of real-life brothers Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas, and began to be linked to Disney and Disney Channel around 2006, signing with Disney’s record label Hollywood Records in 2007. This led to them covering famous Disney songs, and performing the song “Kids of the Future” for the Disney Animation film Meet the Robinsons (2007), going on to star in such Disney Channel projects as the Camp Rock films, and their own series, Jonas (2009-10).
For Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, the Jonas Brothers performed the song “Hold On”. This song was one of the tracks in their album Jonas Brothers, released in August 2007, with “Hold On” having been released as a single in May that same year. It debuted at No. 92 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the movie, this song plays as Johnny, Chris, Sam, and Val have a day out dirtboarding together. I remember hearing “Hold On” a lot on Disney Channel around this time, so I’m assuming it was being played to promote Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, but I had no idea it was linked to this film.
This sequence of the group dirtboarding in the film was preceded with a scene of the four driving there on Val’s bikes. The song playing here was “Our Time Now”, performed by the pop band the Plain White T’s and was written by Tom Higgenson, Mia Koo, and Mike Daly. Another Plain White T’s song used in Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board is “You and Me”, and it was written by Tom Higgenson, the band’s frontman. This song is playing as Sam and Johnny take on the Dirt Devils’ board course at the dockyard, inadvertently annoying Chris in the process, as they get praise from the Dirt Devils for their skills.
The Plain White T’s are an American pop band, who formed in 1997. They had signed with Hollywood Records around 2006, which explains why they were featured in this film’s soundtrack. Their most well-known single is “Hey There Delilah”, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 2007, later being nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 2008. It performed well in numerous other countries’ weekly pop charts too including Ireland, Germany, Australia, and the UK. The Plain White T’s left Disney’s recording label around 2015 after experiencing creative disputes with them.
There are also two other songs that are obviously heard in Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board. The first is “Sun and Shadow” by the alternative rock band Wideawake. This is playing as Johnny gets a ride to Johnny Tsunami’s house with Sam at the start of the movie, and he enjoys the sights and sounds of Hawaii, having been away in Vermont for a while.
During the montage of Johnny and Val spending the day surfing together, “No Sleep ‘Til Summertime” is playing. It was performed by T-Squad and written by Vitamin C, Michael Kotch, and David Derby. T-Squad was a pop band signed to Disney, who performed the song “Vertical” for the Disney Channel film Jump In! (2007) as well. One of the band’s members was Booboo Stewart who later found fame playing Seth Clearwater in The Twilight Saga film franchise and as Jay in the Descendants series for Disney Channel.
Another song that appears in the film seems to be the traditional Hawaiian song “Hi’ilawe” which plays as Johnny Tsunami and Carla get married, later continuing into the scene of Johnny and his grandpa surfing together at the very end of the film. Outside of that, although some background music is playing in both Carla and Johnny Tsunami’s store and the Dirt Devils shop, it is not really audible and was not credited. There is also music playing during the mountainboarding event that Chris runs off to, but apart from hearing the words “Soul Power”, or something like that, I couldn’t track down what the song actually was, or whether it was created for the film just as accompaniment.
Nathan Wang was credited as the composer for Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board. Wang had previously composed the music for other DCOMs including Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006), Geek Charming (2011), and Christmas…Again? (2021). Some of his non-Disney projects include working on the music for movies like the teen comedy She’s the Man (2006); the Hallmark festive film Annie Claus is Coming to Town (2011); and the comedy-drama One True Loves (2023).
PRODUCTION
If you look at a list of Disney Channel Original Movies, you can see how their movies evolved over time. The more simplistic ideals of their earlier movies had become bigger budget, more music-centric films by the mid-2000s. This was the direction the channel was going in even before High School Musical exploded in popularity.
Disney Channel then seemed to randomly pivot to make a sequel to one of their 90s sports films, Johnny Tsunami. So, why was Johnny Kapahala back, as the trailer put it, to “surf the turf”? Honestly, I have no idea. One reason I can think of is that they were either trying to capitalise on nostalgia, in which case they were probably both too early and too late, missing out on Johnny Tsunami’s original fans, and not waiting long enough to try and reach a completely new generation that hadn’t been spoilt by musical-after-musical. The only other thing I can think of is that Disney were trying to targeting boys with Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, because, let’s face it, Disney Channel has made more films aimed at girls, based around prom and boys, with strong female characters leading these stories. In that way, I can understand the reasoning for Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board being made.
Returning to write the screenplay for this sequel were Douglas Sloan and Ann Austen, previously credited as Ann Knapp, providing continuity between the two films. Two further writers were credited with writing Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board: Max Enscoe and Annie DeYoung. Enscoe and DeYoung had previously co-written another DCOM sequel, this being Return to Halloweentown (2006), with Juliet and Keith Giglio, as well as the television movie The Triumph (2006), starring Matthew Perry. DeYoung went on to co-write other DCOMs, including Girl vs. Monster (2012); StarStruck (2010); 16 Wishes (2010); and Princess Protection Program (2009).
Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board was directed by Eric Bross. Bross had earlier directed the film Restaurant (1998), which starred Adrien Brody, and the miniseries Traffic (2004) before taking this role with Disney. He went on to direct further television movies including The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010), for Nickelodeon; A Country Christmas Story (2013) for Lifetime; and Rome in Love (2019) for Hallmark.
This new sequel had crew on board, so just where would they filmed this new movie set primarily in Oahu, Hawaii? Obviously, the answer is New Zealand. Disney Channel has chosen a variety of locations for their movies, with many being filmed in Canada, others being filmed in the US, and some making the move all the way to Australia or New Zealand. Other Disney Channel movies to have been filmed in New Zealand in the 2000s include Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off, You Wish! (2003), and Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior. More recently, the ZOMBIES franchise ditched Canada in favour of New Zealand for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires (2025). Basically, it’s not uncommon.
What is odd is that Disney Channel had previously gone to Hawaii to film the portions of Johnny Tsunami that were set in Hawaii – so why could they not return there? It was probably due to budgetary or tax reasons, but I wouldn’t know; I’m not a film producer. Choosing New Zealand, specifically Auckland, instead of Hawaii may have irked viewers but for whatever reason this was the decision. It seems that the crew felt New Zealand looked similar to Hawaii in terms of its landscapes and vegetation, so I guess they were just thinking nobody would notice. Filming for Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board took place in early 2007[1]. With the set being based in New Zealand, this did create more jobs in the area, with many members of the crew being from New Zealand. Two members of the cast were also from the area, like Rose McIver, who played Val, and Phil Brown, who played Troy.
The biggest challenge for everyone working on Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board was obviously the dirtboarding sequences. The entire cast had to learn how to dirtboard, or mountainboard, something that cannot be easy if you have never skateboarded before. As well as the usual safety gear, like helmets, knee pads, and elbow pads, the cast were offered additional equipment like butt pads and ankle pads to ensure they cushioned every fall! Stunt doubles were used for the big stunts and jumps, with Brown’s stunt rider apparently having to change his stance to “goofy” to match Brown’s to ensure continuity[2].
Akoni Kama was credited as the dirtboard consultant on this film. As well as doing various stunts and tricks for it, Kama designed the race course for the final sequence with Leon Robbins. They made sure it included lots of difficult sections, like “berms” (raised banks), a wallride, and “rollers” (a series of small hills), to make the final race a really difficult and tense moment[3]. Kama also appears as himself in the movie.
RECEPTION
Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board premiered on Disney Channel in the US on 8th June 2007, the perfect time to release a movie set in sunny Hawaii, right?
Well, apparently not. Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board reportedly only had viewing figures of around 1.8 million during its premiere night, a very low figure to have been recorded for a Disney Channel Original Movie premiere at that time. It is possible that DCOMs that premiered in the late 1990s and early 2000s had similar viewing figures but these were not widely known, so I couldn’t say if Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board was the lowest viewed since the first official DCOM in 1997 or not.
Not wanting to degrade Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board even further, but three other Disney Channel movies also premiered in 2007. Twitches Too got the attention of just under 7 million viewers, with Jump In! getting just over 8 million. High School Musical 2, released just two months after Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board had a record-breaking 17.2 million viewers tune in to its premiere, a record that has never been broken. From the mid-2000s moving into the mid-2010s, a Disney Channel movie would have an average of around 5 million viewers, with some exceeding this by a fair margin. It would not be until 2018, when a new adaptation of Freaky Friday premiered on the channel, that a lower viewing figure was confirmed, this being 1.6 million. 2018 really signalled a decline of viewership figures for Disney Channel movies, which has continued to this day, probably due to the rise in social media and streaming services. These have since replaced the need to watch cable television as a priority, and now Disney+ exists, many DCOMs are placed on the service globally a day or two after its official US Disney Channel premiere.
But enough about that. Viewing figures are only half the story when it comes to getting an overall view of how a film was perceived. Actually, I am surprised at how many people did enjoy Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board. Granted, even the positive reviews weren’t exactly brimming with praise, but many of them stated that they felt this Johnny Tsunami sequel was a decent addition to the Disney Channel film catalogue. Specifically, there were comments that mentioned the chemistry between Brandon Baker and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, something that was very much positively reflected on in reviews of Johnny Tsunami. The action shots of the dirtboarding sequences were also seen to be cool and appropriate for the film, with many appreciating the attempt to introduce a new sport to the franchise which is potentially less globally talked about. In recent years, Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board has also been found by fans of Wizards of Waverly Place and fans of Jake T. Austin who wanted to see him in this early Disney Channel role.
However, there were still some negative reviews for the film, including a similar negative criticism which was levelled at Johnny Tsunami. Johnny Tsunami was set in Vermont, but was actually filmed in Utah, with this being noticed by some viewers. Well, this was also the case for Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, but this time Hawaii had been substituted with New Zealand, something that some viewers spotted easily and were annoyed by. I can’t say that I noticed, but then again, I have not been to either place. There were some issues with the characters too, with one being the recasting of Sam, which didn’t feel right to fans of the original film. It would’ve been very easy for Disney to simply create a new character here, especially since the backstory between Sam and Johnny wasn’t a part of the story. Chris was also felt not to be a redeeming character, simply coming across as a brat for most of the film, and getting about ten minutes at the end to try and prove that he’d turned himself around. I wouldn’t say I liked Chris as a character particularly, but I can’t agree that he wasn’t redeeming; he is just a kid after all, and kids act out irrationally just because of their age. Cut him some slack. There were even comments about the age gap between Johnny’s grandpa and his new partner. This might seem a little strange, or even comical, to children watching, mostly because Johnny now has an uncle who is younger than him, a joke that is repeated over and over again, but any adult commenting on age gaps needs to be less judgemental. I liked Johnny Tsunami and Carla’s relationship and felt it seemed quite natural. Finally, when it comes to making a sequel to any film, the die-hard fans of the original will always hate the sequel. That was the case with here.
Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board won two awards for its writing. One was the Humanitas Prize in the Children’s Live-Action category, which Johnny Tsunami had been nominated for back in 2000 but didn’t win. In this case, the prize went to Ann Austen, Douglas Sloan, Max Enscoe and Annie DeYoung, the screenwriters. They were up against fellow DCOM Minutemen (2008). The writers also won the Writers Guild of America award for Children’s Script – Long Form or Special, up against Cartoon Network’s The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It, which starred Disney Channel star Emily Osment.
LEGACY
Shortly after the release of Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, Disney Channel released their mini-series The Disney Channel Games for its second year, airing on the channel over the course of Summer 2007. Here, Disney Channel stars from across the world, but with more representation from the US, were split into four teams and competed across different events for charity. The Disney Channel Games were filmed at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. It only had one other run in 2008 before being cancelled. I bet many recent Disney Channel stars are disappointed they couldn’t take part in this; it looked like a lot of fun.
For the 2007 edition of The Disney Channel Games, two cast members from Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board joined others from the likes of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-08), Hannah Montana (2006-11), and the High School Musical franchise. These were Brandon Baker, who was placed in the Green Team, under the leadership of Dylan Sprouse, and Jake T. Austin, who was placed in the Blue Team, with Corbin Bleu as team captain. The Green Team ended up winning the competition that year. Baker and Austin’s participation would’ve gone some way to promoting Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, although it started a week or so after the initial premiere, so wouldn’t have been able to boost its official viewing figures from the premiere. I do vaguely remember watching some of the series, but as I hadn’t seen Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board by that point, I only wanted to see the actors that I already knew, like Corbin Bleu, the Cheetah Girls, Jason Dolley, and Miley Cyrus. The 2007 Disney Channel Games were hosted by Phill Lewis and Brian Stepanek, who played Mr. Moseby and Arwin, respectively, in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
Apart from that, nothing much has come from Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, with only dedicated Disney Channel fans really remembering or mentioning it, although the original film, Johnny Tsunami, is talked about more often. It doesn’t tend to make lists of the best Disney Channel Original Movies ever, being ranked at No. 74 on Vulture’s ranking of the 105 Disney Channel Original Movies that had been released at the time. Their criticism included that it was not considered to be as good as the original; was seen to have been released too long after the original; and featured a less interesting sport[4].
Disney Channel had made plenty of sports movies by the early 2000s, but the success of High School Musical in 2006 proved that musicals were the way to go. This made Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board one of Disney Channel’s last sports films for a while – it had followed on from Corbin Bleu’s Jump In!, which featured boxing and Double Dutch. The next sports film would not come until 2014 with the snowboarding comedy Cloud 9. There was another gap until Disney Channel premiered Back of the Net in 2019, this being about football, or soccer – but it is not technically a Disney Channel Original Movie.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Johnny Tsunami was released at the perfect time. Disney Channel viewers had been shown to be responding to sports films back in 1999, and it focused on snowboarding, which had become an Olympic sport only the year before. It also followed the struggles of adapting to a new school and new home after a big move, as well as rivalries between schools, both things children and teens can relate to.
Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, however, arrived on screen at exactly the wrong time. It had been proved that Disney Channel audiences wanted musicals and big-name stars. They were turning away from sports movies, a fact only confirmed by the fact they haven’t made many more since Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board’s premiere back in 2007.
It simply wasn’t the right time. Fans of Johnny Tsunami had grown up and moved on from Disney Channel, and although some viewers at the time seem to have very much enjoyed Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board, it has been forgotten or ignored by many more.
Although I appreciate Disney Channel’s attempt to bring a sequel to a new generation, in my opinion, it just didn’t work and Johnny Tsunami should’ve been left alone. If Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board did anything for me, it told me that actually the original wasn’t that bad!
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Joanna Hunkin, ‘Waitakeres stand in for Hawaii in Disney film’, NZHerald.co.nz, 16th February 2007.
[2] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board DCOM Extra #1’, dedicated2disney YouTube Channel, 19th May 2007.
[3] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board DCOM Extra #2’, dedicated2disney YouTube Channel, 19th May 2007.
[4] Credit: Rebecca Alter, ‘All 105 Disney Channel Original Movies, Ranked’, Vulture.com, 4th May 2020.
The Disney Purist 