30th October 2026 by The Disney Purist

Twitches Too (2007)

BACKGROUND

The Halloweentown film series had proven itself to be a popular, successful franchise for Disney Channel, continuing with it by making four films in the space of eight years.

But the fourth film, Return to Halloweentown (2006), had angered some fans by recasting its main character of Marnie Piper, having them ignore or try to forget this film even existed. So, what would Disney channel do now for their new Halloween programming?

It was definitely the case that new Halloween DCOM premieres had done well in their release years, in terms of viewing figures, so it made sense to go on with that trend. As Twitches had done well in 2005, making a sequel to that would seem the best option. They had even added an alternate ending to the DVD release of Twitches, giving a hint as to what the viewers might expect from a second Twitches film.

Twitches Too was a worthwhile sequel due to the fact that many of the cast and crew were happy and excited to return to make this new film. This meant that most of the actors were already comfortable in their roles, allowing them to explore their characters further and push the original story forward. It was interesting to see Alex and Camryn adjusting to their new lives, knowing that they are witches and technically princesses of Coventry, and yet are still living on Earth with Camryn’s adoptive parents, so they are essentially living two different lives simultaneously, juggling college with their responsibilities in their kingdom.

Some say that Twitches Too is an even better film than the original Twitches, which says a lot seeing as the first film is loved by so many people already. However, for me, I did not agree. Having said that, when I watched Twitches and Twitches Too for the first time, I remember thinking the second movie was better.

I don’t know what changed but all I can say is I did not enjoy Twitches Too this time around. For one thing, the story was not much different from the first. The original film’s villain Thantos even returned and there were too many side plots and random characters added in that had very little to do with the main story. The final battle sequence did partially make up for that though, as that was one of few moments I enjoyed in Twitches Too.

When it comes to either Twitches film though, I could take them or leave them. They just aren’t for me sadly, although if pushed to watch one again, I would likely choose to see the first one over the second one. Personally, Twitches Too just seemed unnecessary.

PLOT

Twitches Too begins with a recap of the events of Twitches. It reminds the audience that the kingdom of Coventry was once being suffocated by the Darkness. The twin daughters of Coventry’s king and queen, Aron and Miranda, were born in the midst of this battle between the Darkness and the Forces of Light. Two servants, Ileana and Karsh, took the girls to Earth to protect them, being separated and raised with adoptive families. 21 years later, the girls, Alex and Camryn, met, embracing their magical powers and their heritage to defeat the evil Thantos and the Darkness. However, it remains to be seen whether Thantos was defeated.

Later, in Coventry, Alex and Camryn’s mother, Miranda, fears that something is wrong in her kingdom. As she searches for something in a book in Aron’s study, she says to his portrait that she misses him so much. Aron is believed to have died at the hands of Thantos on the night his daughters were born. Miranda then goes into a secret passageway in the castle, where she feels like she is being followed, hearing a voice speak her name and seeing a shadow. Miranda gets through the tunnel and seals the door.

On Earth, Camryn is still living with her parents Emily and David, but we also learn that Alex is living here too. It would seem that Camryn is getting a bit annoyed with Alex, due to her obsession over attending college for the first time. As Camryn sees that everyone is finished with breakfast, she decides to use her magic to load the dishwasher. Although she can open the dishwasher with her magic, her spell causes plates of food to fly about the kitchen. It turns out Camryn’s practising may not be going so well, especially as she’s already crashed her car with her magic, something her father is only just hearing about!

Suddenly, Camryn has a feeling that something is wrong and rushes up to her sister’s bedroom where she is sleeping. A shadow appears to come and grab at her, but Camryn uses her magic to stop it, inadvertently throwing Alex and her bed up against the wall! Camryn tries to explain to Alex what happened, but doesn’t actually know what she saw…As payback, Alex uses her magic to turn Camryn entirely blue. Camryn hits back by giving Alex a tail. The girls continue to argue, as Camryn’s parents come to see what is going on. David then finds himself being spooked by a strange shadow on the wall…

Alex comes down for breakfast, and thanks Camryn’s parents for letting her stay with them and for helping her get into college. Camryn thinks that Alex is deliberately trying to make her look bad in front of her parents by being so sweet and perfect in front of them. As Camryn’s parents once again try to stop a potential argument forming between Alex and Camryn, they see that their protectors Ileana and Karsh have appeared, using a portal that lands them in the family’s pool. Alex and Camryn are left to talk to Ileana and Karsh, where they tell the girls that they are getting married. The girls are excited to hear that. They are also told that Miranda wants to see them in Coventry right away, with Karsh and Ileana interested to see that Camryn has drawn a door with Aron’s crest on it and Alex having dreams about him regularly recently. Alex refuses to go to Coventry now, heading to college instead, saying she’ll get there later. Camryn goes to Coventry with Ileana and Karsh.

Reunited with Miranda again in Coventry, Miranda tells Camryn that she has some concerns still, despite Camryn being reassured that they have defeated the Darkness. Camryn doesn’t want to hear about this though, deciding it is time that she embraced being a princess of Coventry. Miranda states that Camryn needs to learn how to control her magic first, stating that Ileana will help teach her, once Camryn gets that princess dress she craves. Miranda then tells Ileana and Karsh that something evil is moving in the Shadowlands, believing that Thantos is trying to regain his human form. The two are told to secure the castle, before helping to search every inch of the grounds.

Back on Earth, Alex is finally living her dream of going to college, attending Waverly University, the same college where Camryn has been studying art, though she says she is doing independent study this semester. Alex is soon approached by a guy who seems to think he knows her. Alex asks for directions to her lecture, and realises that this guy must think she is Camryn. He says he’ll catch up with her later. Alex tries to tell him she isn’t Camryn. Camryn’s best friend Beth comes up to Alex and says that the guy is Marcus Warburton, Camryn’s ex-boyfriend, having only broken up with him two weeks ago. Beth immediately texts Camryn to let her know about Alex’s interaction with him.

In Coventry, Camryn is enjoying her new, poofy princess dress. In the room, she sees some magic books and decides to try out some magic. Whilst levitating a vase, the vase shoots across the room, being caught by a guy called Demitri. Camryn is given the vase back but drops it. Demitri gives Camryn some advice for her magic, telling her not to think too hard and helps her fix it magically. Camryn is immediately smitten with this guy, believing him to be a prince. As she leaves, Demitri’s friend warns him about getting too close to the princess, especially as he is a servant in the kitchens like him and has no magic.

Back with Alex, Marcus comes up to Alex again, having been told by Beth that Alex is not Camryn after all. Alex says it’s already happened a lot today, learning how popular her sister is with the boys. Marcus tries to ask Alex out as well, but she doesn’t think that would be such a good idea, walking away. A shadow passes through Marcus, making him insist that Alex let him walk her home, to keep her safe.

Back at the castle, Camryn has tried to use her magic and it has gone wrong again, finding herself trapped in the wall she attempted to walk through. She calls to Ileana and Karsh to help get her out. They successfully do so, warning Camryn not to try any more magic until they get back. Camryn is suspicious that something is wrong. Ileana is about to tell her that there is a dark force looming, but Karsh quickly jumps in, saying they are just busy planning their wedding right now. Camryn doesn’t believe them. Bored and unable to do magic, Camryn wanders the halls of the castle, trying to figure out what to do. She passes a doorway that randomly opens. She goes through the door, heading up a winding staircase. Demitri’s servant friend follows her, but he is attacked by a shadow on the stairs. Camryn gets to the top of a tower, seeing a well ahead of her. She hears something drop behind her, and picks up a ring with their father’s crest on it.

Camryn returns home, to speak with Alex, who has heard someone calling her by her birth name of Artemis. Alex also learns from Mrs. Norseng, the family’s housekeeper, that Marcus, having walked Alex home, has been standing on the street outside, staring at the house ever since. Weirdo… Camryn hears about this and is annoyed to hear that Marcus has asked Alex out already. But there’s no time to talk about that, telling Alex that she met a new guy anyway, called Demitri. Alex tells Camryn to show her what she claims to have found. Camryn shows Alex the ring. This makes Alex believe that Aron is actually still alive, having written that he is trapped in the Shadowlands and needs help. Alex and Camryn want to go to Miranda to tell her this now, but all their closet doors close and a shadow whirls around the room. Ileana and Karsh appear, telling them Thantos is back.

The four go back to Coventry, with the girls demanding to know how Thantos can possibly be back, having thought they had defeated him and the Darkness with the power of love. Miranda states that apparently part of Thantos was left behind and has been clinging to life in the Shadowlands ever since. She had felt a dark presence over the last few days, now knowing it to be Thantos as a servant was attacked in the North Tower, the place where Camryn found the ring. The girls are told the servant is ok, but his shadow is not, leading them to realise that shadows exist on their own in this world. This is where Thantos is hiding. Camryn realises that this shadow must’ve been what she saw trying to attack Alex that morning. Miranda is concerned that Thantos is able to go between dimensions so easily.

In order to fully defeat Thantos, Miranda tells Alex and Camryn that in two days, the Sun and the Moon will be in perfect alignment, due to the solar eclipse. Miranda orders Karsh and Ileana to have the girls ready to perform the Vanquishing Spell on that date. Alex fears that this spell will destroy their father’s shadow, but Miranda simply says that Aron is gone, despite the evidence they seem to have with the ring and Alex’s journalling. Miranda thinks this is Thantos tricking them, and tells them to trust her that this is the right thing to do. Ileana and Karsh begin to train the girls to perform the Vanquishing Spell, reminding them that the most important thing for this spell is for the girls to be equally involved in it. They begin by reciting the first part of the spell – but it backfires, burning Ileana and Karsh, who say there was too much Sun due to Alex not wanting to participate in the spell.

Camryn convinces Alex to trust their mother, and they try to practise the spell again, however, Camryn is distracted by the arrival of Demitri and runs out of the room, chasing him outside. Here, Camryn learns that Demitri is a servant working in the kitchen, after hearing Ileana and Karsh order food from him. Embarrassed, Demitri returns to work, and Camryn refuses to talk to him. Alex goes after him instead, telling him not to be ashamed of his job as it does not define him. She says Camryn still likes him and will come round eventually. Demitri asks to borrow some of Alex’s magic, to do something special for Camryn. Alex finds this suspicious, and traps Demitri in a teapot. Ileana and Karsh come running to help, with Alex saying he must be Thantos as he asked to borrow her magic. Alex learns that actually only a select few people in Coventry have access to magic. After Aron’s death, Miranda ordered that only those trusted to control magic could have it. Alex finds that incredibly unfair, and storms back home. But the good news is Demitri is not Thantos!

Back at home, Alex has returned to college, as has Camryn who is trying to find her. Beth goes straight up to Camryn, letting her know that Alex and Marcus are sitting in the cafeteria together. They are just studying, but Camryn can’t help being jealous and uses her magic to turn into Alex. She confronts Marcus after Alex has left, demanding to know what he thinks of Camryn. Marcus says Camryn is fun, but a little vapid and shallow. Alex turns around to see Camryn looking like her and decides two can play at that game, coming over to them looking like Camryn. She really plays up Camryn’s ditziness to get back at her sister. Marcus is very confused and leaves the sisters to talk it out with each other. Alex wonders why Camryn doesn’t trust her not to go after Marcus, with Camryn revealing that Marcus actually broke up with her, not the other way around like she said. Alex says Camryn isn’t self-centred and that Marcus said they broke up because they didn’t have enough in common. The two then discuss the real issue, that Alex doesn’t want to go back to Coventry as she thinks their father is still alive but Miranda doesn’t believe her. They go back over what they’ve recently seen of Aron and the crest, looking at Camryn’s drawing of the door. They need to get back to Coventry to find where this door was. Camryn insists on using her car to magically transport them to Coventry. It’s a bit of strange ride but they get there!

Alex locates the place in the castle where this door would’ve been. They walk through the wall and find themselves in a tunnel, realising the door was bricked up but don’t know why. They rush through this tunnel after discovering they are being chased by a shadow, turning up in Aron’s study, where Miranda also is. Miranda sees the drawing and once again states that this is just Thantos trying to deceive them. The girls ask to know more about their father. Miranda says she met Aron at the Winter Festival. At the end of the night, Aron promised to get her any gift she wanted as a reminder of their time together. She asked for a star from the North Sky and he got it for her. Miranda says she’s never told anyone that story before…Miranda has the girls return home, believing they’re safer on Earth. Alex tries to convince Miranda that it is Aron communicating with them, not Thantos.

Back at Camryn’s house, Camryn’s parents are annoyed that the girls have been out all day without even a call, glad they are safe but concerned that something is wrong. Camryn remembers they left the car in Coventry and her and Alex go back for it. They come back with the car and set about getting ready for bed, discussing the theory that both Aron and Thantos could be alive in the Shadowlands. Alex wrote that Aron was weak but managed to escape Thantos, living in the Shadowlands to watch over his daughters. She goes back to Aron’s study alone to get more proof he is alive. Meanwhile, Mrs. Norseng is attacked by a shadow in the kitchen. She later comes to Camryn’s door, loudly offering her snickerdoodles. The shadow leaves Mrs. Norseng and goes into the bedroom.

In Aron’s study in Coventry, Alex wonders where to find proof that their father is alive, ending up falling asleep. She wakes up, feeling that someone else is in the room with her. She speaks to it, saying that if it is Thantos, she is not afraid, but that if it is her father, she needs a sign. A star is then drawn on the window. Alex thinks this is definitive evidence that Aron is still here, because Aron gave Miranda a star on the night they met. Miranda refuses to engage with Alex, telling her not to say another word about it. She knows Aron may still be out there, but they still have to do the spell to stop Thantos regaining his power. Alex accuses Miranda of not caring about anything except the kingdom and storms off. Miranda asks Ileana and Karsh to find Camryn, to get her to convince Alex to do the spell.

Camryn is told by Ileana and Karsh that as a princess she has to act, and has to do the right thing. She goes to the college to speak to Alex, who doesn’t want to talk to her. Eventually, Alex realises that they do need to get back to Coventry to work things out. They make a door appear in the middle of the university campus and transport back to Coventry. Marcus and Beth see this argument play out and then see a door fly up into the sky….

Camryn and Alex search for clues that Aron is still alive in the study. They can’t find anything, so Camryn says they have to go now as the eclipse is about to start and they need to do the Vanquishing Spell. Just as they are about to leave, a spellbook lands on the desk, flipping to a page with the Freedom Spell on it, which will free those in the shadows. Alex sees that only the last line of the spells are different. This is Camryn’s line so Alex tries to convince her to change the spell at the last minute. Camryn isn’t sure what to do now.

Ileana and Karsh take the girls to the main hall of the castle. They are positioned for the spell to take place. The solar eclipse is almost complete. Other Coventry citizens, Ileana, Karsh, and Miranda watch Alex and Camryn perform the spell from the balcony above. At the proper moment, the girls hold hands and are lifted into the air. They begin the spell and their amulets combine. Alex thinks that Camryn is going to change the last line of the spell to perform the Freedom Spell instead of the Vanquishing Spell, however, at the last minute, Camryn states the final line of the Vanquishing Spell, upsetting Alex. The spell is complete and bursts of light fly around Coventry, searching for shadows to destroy them.

Alex runs to the study to save their father’s shadow. The spellbook flips more pages as she enters the room, showing her the Transfer Spell, which will transfer her magic to her father. A shadowy hand appears to her. Alex holds onto it and transfers her magic. The spell is complete, just as Camryn shows up. Here, they see that the shadow was not Aron and was in fact Thantos; he has now regained his human form. Thantos goes to Earth to find his brother and finally end him. Camryn knows Aron will be at their home, and they head back.

On entering their bedroom, they hear a scream. Camryn’s parents were attacked, as Thantos wanted their shadows. They held him off, but Mrs. Norseng was not so lucky. The girls see she has been pinned up against the wall by Thantos, who lets her leave if she leaves her shadow behind. She runs off, saying she quits. It is revealed that Aron was hiding in Mrs. Norseng’s shadow. Alex and Camryn see that Thantos and Aron have left Earth and use Camryn’s car to return to the castle. But on their return, they discover that Thantos has locked down the castle, leaving Ileana, Karsh, and Miranda outside. Demitri comes to the rescue, saying there is a door into the castle from the kitchen. He also tells Alex and Camryn that Miranda gave back the citizens their magic.

Thantos has Aron trapped on the North Tower, attacking him with magic. Miranda, Ileana, Karsh, Alex, and Camryn run to the tower to help, using magic on Thantos to stop his attacks. Thantos quickly pushes Ileana and Karsh off the tower, who hold on to stop themselves falling to their deaths. Miranda confronts Thantos, saying she won’t allow him to do this, but he says when the eclipse is complete, Aron will be gone. Thantos tries to control Alex and Camryn, and Miranda uses her own magic to stop him, leaving the girls suspended in midair. Meanwhile, Aron is dying. Seeing this, Thantos once again attacks Aron. Miranda puts herself between Aron and Thantos. Alex and Camryn realise they can do the Transfer Spell again, on their father this time, holding hands with each other, him, and Miranda, allowing Aron to regain his human form just in time. Thantos is hit by bolts of light, momentarily halting him. He then tries to attack Aron one last time, but Aron uses magic to push Thantos into the North Tower’s well. Thantos is gone. Alex, Camryn, Miranda, and Aron enjoy a brief family reunion, before realising that Ileana and Karsh need rescuing!

The film ends with Ileana and Karsh’s wedding, attended by not only the magical citizens of Coventry but also Alex and Camryn’s human friends Beth and Marcus, and Mrs. Norseng, who has decided to start a book club with Karsh’s mother, who was turned into a donkey by one of Ileana’s spells years before! Alex and Camryn go to sit with their birth parents, adoptive parents, and Ileana and Karsh, celebrating the day. They end the story by chanting their favourite phrase: “Go, Twitches! Go, Twitches” with the whole table.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Twitches Too sees Alex and Camryn getting used to their duties and responsibilities as princesses of Coventry, whilst also balancing their normal lives back on Earth. Alex is now living with Camryn’s parents, Emily and David, as she is attending Waverly University, which is close by and the same school that Camryn goes to. Alex would rather be focusing on her studies rather than the goings-on in Coventry, whilst Camryn just wants to finally be a princess. Meanwhile, their birth mother, Miranda, knows that Thantos is trying to return from the Shadowlands as he was not properly defeated. Alex wholeheartedly believes that their father, Aron, is alive in the shadows, trying to convince Camryn of the same thing, however, Camryn wants to help her mother and their kingdom. The Vanquishing Spell is performed, but fearing for their father, Alex goes to help him, transferring her magic to him so he can regain human form. Except Miranda was right and this was simply Thantos tricking the girls to have him return instead. But Alex was also right as Aron was still alive, watching over them in the shadows on Earth. Thantos attempts to use Alex’s magic to finally kill his brother once and for all, but the power of their collective family magic allows them to revive Aron. Thantos is defeated by Aron, leading to Alex and Camryn reuniting with their birth parents.

Tia and Tamera Mowry returned to reprise their roles of Alex and Camryn, as did various other cast members. Some of these include Kristen Wilson back to play Miranda and Patrick Fabian returning as Thantos. Camryn’s adoptive parents Emily and David Barnes are also returning characters, so Karen Holness and Arnold Pinnock came back for this sequel.

Aron DuBaer is the twins’ father. In the first Twitches film, it was believed that Aron had died, having been killed at the hands of his own brother, Thantos, however, in this sequel, the certainty of Aron’s death is debated. Alex and Camryn start to see visions of Aron, or at least their father’s crest, making them think that Aron is alive, living in the Shadowlands, like Thantos. Miranda, who perhaps does believe this, at least to a point, doesn’t want to risk bringing back Thantos from the Shadowlands, and says the Vanquishing Spell will simply have to destroy everything in the shadows; she understandably wants to protect her daughters and her people from Thantos returning. It turns out that the girls were right though and Aron did survive the attack by Thantos on the night they were born all those years ago, and has seemingly been hiding out in the shadows on Earth to watch over them. But it was also correct that Thantos was returning, and he immediately went after his brother to end him once and for all. Luckily, Aron’s daughters performed the Transfer Spell, allowing him to regain human form, defeat his brother, and return to his loving family.

Aron in Twitches Too was technically recast, because the character was played by actor David Ingram in the first film. However, in Twitches, Aron did not speak and was not really seen, only appearing in scenes showing his twin daughters being protected from the Darkness; he took them to a hall and gave them his magic. In the sequel, although Aron does not appear as a human for too much of the film, he does have more of a role to play. Aron was played by Kevin Jubinville in Twitches Too. Prior to working on Twitches Too, Jubinville had been cast in the recurring role of Captain Stephen Doss in the medical drama Doc (2001-04), which starred Billy Ray Cyrus. He then went on to play Principal “The Shep” Sheppard in Seasons 8 and 9 of Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001-15).

Ileana and Karsh are also characters that returned in this sequel. For the most part, the two continue their roles as the girls’ protectors, being told to teach them how to control their magic sufficiently, and training them to perform the Vanquishing Spell in just a couple of days. They are basically in charge of ensuring Alex and Camryn show up in Coventry at the right time, to either confer with their mother Miranda, or to perform the spell. The couple are also busy planning their wedding in Twitches Too, with this wedding being the final moment in the story. They are quite an awkward couple but they seem happy together!

Pat Kelly reprised his role as Karsh here; however, Ileana was another recast. This was apparently due to the fact that Jennifer Robertson, who played Ileana in Twitches, was pregnant at the time of filming Twitches Too so was unavailable. The role went to Leslie Seiler, another Canadian actress. Around the time of Twitches Too, in 2007, Seiler was also working on the Canadian sketch comedy series Comedy Inc. (2003-07). She later played the part of Jaime in the comedy series 24 Hour Rental (2014).

Camryn’s best friend Beth is another character who reappeared in the sequel. In the first film, Beth was shopping with Camryn on the day she met Alex, and then turned up again at Camryn’s birthday party. She didn’t seem to realise the intensity of Camryn’s day, and believed that Camryn dancing with a boy at that party would fix all of Camryn’s problems – it didn’t. In Twitches Too, Beth’s main focus is on figuring out why Alex is getting close to Camryn’s ex-boyfriend Marcus. She interrogates both of them, and keeps Camryn updated with the details, probably because she wants to be a loyal friend to Camryn, but potentially because she likes to gossip! Towards the end of the story, Beth, alongside Marcus, thinks she sees a door fly into the sky, but both of them pretend not to have seen it, not wanting to believe it. They both must have been told about Camryn and Alex’s magical lives shortly after this moment though, as they later attend Karsh and Ileana’s wedding in Coventry.

After playing the part of Beth in Twitches, Jackie Rosenbaum came back to play her character again in Twitches Too. Before her role in Twitches, Rosenbaum had played Caitie Roth in the Canadian drama series In a Heartbeat (2000-01), which also aired on Disney Channel in the US, and voiced the part of Talia in the animated children’s series Girlstuff/Boystuff (2002-03). She was later cast as the voice of Scarlett Vance in the Canadian animated series Delilah & Julius (2005-08).

Camryn’s ex Marcus Warburton first meets Alex on their college campus, assuming she must be Camryn, as he hadn’t met her twin before. Alex is confused but soon twigs that Marcus, as well as others at college, clearly think she is Camryn. Eventually, Marcus is told by Beth that Alex is Camryn’s identical twin sister. He becomes close to Alex, trying to ask her out on a date, but Alex wants to keep a distance between them since he is her sister’s ex-boyfriend after all. Alex has been told by Camryn that she dumped him, however, Marcus clarifies that he broke up with her, because they didn’t have much in common. Alex doesn’t end up going out with Marcus during the course of Twitches Too, although he does attend Karsh and Ileana’s wedding, so must know about Camryn and Alex’s magic, and Camryn has her own love interest, so this potentially opens up a route to Alex and Marcus becoming a couple. Another thing I want to mention about Marcus is that he seems to be hit by a shadow at one point in the story, becoming highly protective of Alex for the rest of the day, to the point where he is watching her house from the street and won’t leave. This plot point was then dropped and not referenced again, which is strange. Was this Thantos or Aron controlling Marcus? I guess it wasn’t important enough to tell us!

Nathaniel Stephenson was cast as Marcus, having previously starred as Robbie McGrath in the teen series Radio Free Roscoe (2003-05), which aired on Family Channel in Canada. Stephenson had also been cast in the recurring role of Emmett in teen fantasy series Dark Oracle (2004-06) around this time. After Twitches Too, Stephenson appeared as Griffin Pierce-Taylor in Season 7 of Degrassi: The Next Generation. He went on to voice Jasper in the children’s animated series Pearlie (2009-11) as well.

As Marcus is Alex’s love interest in Twitches Too, it wouldn’t be fair to leave Camryn out so she has her own love interest, Demitri. Camryn meets Demitri whilst she attempts to practise her magic, accidentally breaking a vase in the process. Demitri helps her to fix it and after this moment Camryn simply deduces that Demitri must be a prince with magic. Demitri doesn’t want to correct her, liking the fact that he has managed to catch the attention of one of the princesses of Coventry, I suppose! It is not long before Demitri is rumbled though, as he is soon discovered to be a servant working in the castle kitchens. This embarrasses both Camryn and Demitri, with Demitri feeling bad for not telling Camryn who he really was when they first met. They keep their distance for a while, until Demitri ends up saving the day by finding a way for Camryn, Alex, Miranda, Ileana, and Karsh to get back into the castle after Thantos locks them all out, by using a door in the kitchens. We also see that Demitri, along with other citizens of Coventry, were given their magic back, after Miranda took it away from the majority of those in her kingdom on the night her husband died and her daughters were born, fearing it was not being controlled properly. Demitri is a guest at Ileana and Karsh’s wedding, but he and Camryn do not have a conversation to clear the air. I can only assume they would do after her and Alex’s lives have calmed down again.

Demitri was played by Christian Gallinger, who had played the role of French exchange student Phillipe in the DCOM Cow Belles (2006). After this, Gallinger was cast as Beau Beecham in Season 1 of drama series The Best Years (2007-09).

Another new character in Twitches Too is Mrs. Norseng, Camryn’s family housekeeper. She is apparently a different one from the one seen in Twitches, who freaks out when the Darkness comes to Camryn’s family home; she was played by Kathryn Haggis. Mrs. Norseng tries her best to keep the house in good order and the girls in line but she does struggle given the fact Camryn in particular wants to use her magic all the time, which more often than not leads to spells going wrong and messing up parts of the house, like when Camryn attempts to clear the family’s breakfast things, but her magic instead causes all the plates to fly around the kitchen, which Mrs. Norseng, no doubt, had to clean up. She also finds herself being unwittingly involved in the feud between Thantos and Aron, as Aron hides inside Mrs. Norseng’s shadow. Thantos threatens Mrs. Norseng because of this, causing her to run off screaming, saying to the family that she quits! But she must calm down quickly, as Mrs. Norseng is seen at Ileana and Karsh’s wedding, and even starts a book club with Karsh’s mother, who is in fact a donkey.

Jayne Eastwood was cast as Mrs. Norseng. Before Twitches Too, Eastwood had played Norma in Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Mrs. White in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), going on to reprise this role in the 2016 and 2023 sequels. She also played Mrs. Borusewicz in the film adaptation of Chicago (2002). Around the time of Twitches Too, Eastwood was playing Maxine Bingly in the Canadian comedy series Billable Hours (2006-08). For Disney, Eastwood may be recognisable for her role as Judy, the Denny’s waitress, in The Santa Clause (1994) and later appeared as Ms. Elson in Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars (2010), which is not technically a DCOM but did air on Disney Channel. More recently, she was cast as Ruthie in the Netflix film Work It (2020) which starred Sabrina Carpenter.

The final character to mention is actually Karsh’s mother. She was apparently turned into a donkey by Ileana after one of her spells went awry, something that Karsh has still not forgiven her for! Mrs. Karsh was credited as being played by Chico the Donkey.

MUSIC

Whereas Twitches had two main noticeable songs in the film, Twitches Too only has one.

The main song heard in Twitches Too is “So Bring It On”, performed by the Cheetah Girls, consisting of band members Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan, and Kiely Williams. “So Bring It On” was released as a single on 25^th August 2007, and is a track on their TCG album, released on 25^th September 2007. It was written by Shelly Peiken, David Norland, Leah Haywood, and Luther Rabb. This song appears in Twitches Too during the scene of Alex going to Waverly University campus for the first time.

But there is also a song playing at the end of Twitches Too, shortly after Ileana and Karsh’s wedding ceremony has ended and the party is getting started. I haven’t been able to work out what this song is, despite a few audible lyrics, and it was not credited. Online, it states that this song is “You Can Be Anything”, performed by Jessa, and written by Michèle Vice-Maslin, Larry Treadwell, and Jessica Frith. But I cannot confirm this as I cannot find this song to listen to. It was reportedly written specifically for Twitches Too.

The score of Twitches Too was composed by John Van Tongeren, who returned to Disney after composing the music for Twitches. I wouldn’t normally comment on the score for Disney Channel movies, since I like to know what track titles are, and usually DCOM scores are not released on an official soundtrack, however, I did note that some parts of Twitches Too’s score did appear to sound quite similar to some of the music in the Harry Potter films, particularly in the scene where Ileana and Karsh are trying to train Alex and Camryn to complete the Vanquishing Spell, when the spellbook is flying around the room.

PRODUCTION

For any major Twitches fans who had watched the DVD bonus features, they were likely aware that the deleted alternate ending had shown that an idea for a sequel was in place for Twitches at the time of filming, showing that Thantos was not fully defeated and could return.

Perhaps this alternate ending was removed from the final cut of the film so as not to give away any clues for what a sequel to Twitches might involve – or it could be that Disney did not want to leave the first film on a cliffhanger with a sequel not guaranteed.

There was no need for concern though, because Twitches was going to get a sequel, to be released during the 2007 Halloween season. It is unclear exactly how far after the events of Twitches its sequel Twitches Too is set, but it doesn’t seem to be too much later.

The sequel was confirmed as being in production in April 2007, with filming taking place until May 2007. Much of the same cast were returning, as I’ve already mentioned, but many of the crew also came back to work on Twitches Too. This included director Stuart Gillard and screenwriter Dan Berendsen, who penned the screenplay for Twitches Too on his own, having co-written Twitches with Melissa Gould. Characters from the original T*Witches book series, of which there are ten books, published between 2001 and 2004, were obviously used, however, new and original plot points were included in Twitches Too which did not appear in any of the books. It has been said that only the first novel, The Power of Two, was used as source material anyway, and even the story of that was barely used in the first film. The book series were written by H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld.

Filming also returned to Toronto, Canada, with the same filming location, Casa Loma, being used as the exterior of Coventry castle. Coventry castle features even more in Twitches Too than it did in Twitches, therefore, new sets of the castle interior are shown to viewers, such as the North Tower, where the battle between Thantos and the royal family take place; Aron’s study; and the conservatory where the girls practise the Vanquishing Spell. We also see the grounds and gardens of the castle, such as in scenes where Miranda discusses the threat of Thantos returning with her daughters, and when Ileana and Karsh get married. The filming location for these moments was the Parkwood Estate in Oshawa, Ontario. Parkwood Estate was officially designated a National Historic Site in 1989.

Aside from Coventry, much of the story of Twitches Too is contained within either Camryn’s house or the Waverly University campus. In Twitches, we clearly saw the exterior of Camryn’s home, which was a huge mansion. In Twitches Too, although most of the interior sets seem to be the same, when we see an outside shot of Camryn’s house, it is no longer that same mansion. I don’t know if the exterior shot is of a real house or was CGI.

For Waverly University, I wondered if Disney would’ve used an actual university campus to film these specific scenes of Alex and Camryn on campus. I don’t believe that was the case and areas of Toronto city centre seem to have been used instead. I think that the Metro Hall and Metro Centre buildings are in the background of most of these university scenes, meaning they must take place in the plaza in front named David Pecaut Square.

As well as filming locations and sets making up the world of Twitches and Twitches Too, special effects are a major part of these Disney Channel Original Movies, considering they do have many sequences with magic. Green screen once again built up the world of Coventry, and there were many more moments of the girls performing magic in Twitches Too and this meant lots of humour was created through spells going wrong, by the use of special effects and CGI. This time, there was a small amount of stunt work as well, particularly during the final battle between Alex and Camryn, and Thantos. Thantos suspends the girls in midair, meaning this was created with the actors in harnesses. If Tia and Tamera Mowry had already been excited at the idea of making a DCOM with magic when they signed on for Twitches, I’m sure there was just as much fun to be had whilst making Twitches Too.

There are a couple of throwbacks to the first Twitches film that exist within Twitches Too, giving the fans something to spot. One of these is that, although Tia filled in for Tamera for a birthday party scene in Twitches, basically swapping their roles, this actually happened deliberately in Twitches Too, as Camryn morphs into Alex to try and get information from Marcus on what he thinks about Camryn. Alex then morphs into Camryn just to get back at her. Another is that in the first Twitches film, a man crashes his bike after getting distracted by seeing Camryn and Alex magically switch outfits whilst in Camryn’s car. In Twitches Too, two men crash their bikes after seeing Alex and Camryn change back into themselves after swapping identities to mess with each other.

RECEPTION

Twitches Too premiered on Disney Channel in the US on 12^th October 2007. It premiered as part of the channel’s Hauntober Fest programming block for that year, specifically during Witches and Wizards night, which saw Twitches Too and the first-ever episode of Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12) air. It is unclear exactly when Twitches Too reached other international channels, although it does seem that it came to Disney Channel in the UK in November 2007, but may’ve been weeks or months later elsewhere.

Twitches Too was viewed by 6.96 million viewers on its premiere, which is ever so slightly less than the 7 million who had turned in to watch the US premiere of Twitches two years before. Twitches Too was the most-watched programme on basic cable that night, with Wizards of Waverly Place being the most-watched series episode on basic cable that night as well. More than one third of all kids aged between 6-11 and tweens aged 9-14 in the US were watching Twitches Too on this night[1].

But viewership was down on the 2006 Halloween DCOM premiere Return to Halloweentown, which was watched by 7.5 million on its premiere. Twitches Too was also not the most-watched DCOM premiere of 2007, whereas the first Twitches film was in 2005. To be fair, the 2007 summer premiere of High School Musical 2 was a very hard act to follow, as it was watched by a record-breaking 17.2 million. However, Jump In!, which premiered in January 2007, was seen by 8.2 million, making Twitches Too the third most-viewed DCOM premiere in 2007, with Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board the only other release that year.

Both Twitches and Twitches Too received similar ratings, so this was not the case where the sequel was seen to be as infinitely worse or infinitely better than its original. I have seen audiences saying that they thought Twitches Too was slightly better than Twitches in fact, but there have been others saying that Twitches was just ahead of Twitches Too.

For positive reviews, the return of Tia and Tamera Mowry to lead the sequel meant that their acting talent and dynamic continued to shine through on screen. Some said that Twitches Too successfully added to and explored the kingdom of Coventry and its magical secrets. Others enjoyed seeing more magic in this sequel, and the ending was also good. Much like with Twitches, the ending of Twitches Too did redeem the film somewhat for me.

On the negative side though, some said the plot was simply predictable and obvious. I will admit that it was quite obvious that Alex was going to have freed Thantos and not Aron when she did that Transfer Spell, but Aron’s return was a bit of a surprise to me. I thought it was just going to be Thantos tricking the girls into thinking Aron was still alive when he was not. Some viewers said that the characters seemed too different to how they had behaved in the first. It’s not clear exactly what characters these reviewers were specifically mentioning, however, in my opinion, I felt that it was odd to have Alex being super focused on college when she hadn’t mentioned going at all in the first film, and that Camryn did seem quite ditzy in this film, by being obsessed with dressing up like a princess and being terrible at magic. I thought at the end of Twitches she had had a breakthrough and wasn’t going to be like that anymore. I thought Miranda was also quite harsh to her daughters in this film, and also kind of demanding of them, despite the fact that not much time seems to have passed between the events of Twitches and Twitches Too, so in actuality, she still doesn’t know Alex or Camryn all that well. There were also comments on the sub-par special effects, which I partly disagree with, feeling they matched a standard television movie budget.

There were also comments around plot holes and unexplained moments. For example, there was little explanation of exactly what the Shadowlands are, and how both Aron and Thantos could’ve ended up there. I also personally disliked many of the jokes in Twitches Too that came about through magic spells going wrong, or the girls using magic as payback on each other. It just felt like the humour of the film was being forced through those moments. I also didn’t like the back and forth between Earth and Coventry, already not liking it happening so much in Twitches, and feeling like it happened even more in Twitches Too.

LEGACY

Twitches Too ended up being the final film in the series, so only two Twitches films were made by Disney Channel, although perhaps not intentionally.

Although Twitches Too finishes with a happy family reunion at Ileana and Karsh’s wedding, there was actually an alternate ending that was filmed and later released as a DVD bonus feature. Here, the viewers learn Miranda has a long-lost evil twin sister called Minerva. She appears after Alex, Camryn, Miranda, and Aron are having a moment of family bonding after the wedding. Minerva appears to be back for revenge for something, stating that one of the twins takes after her and that it won’t be so easy to get rid of her this time[2]. This would’ve been the perfect set-up to a third Twitches film, and would’ve taken the story in a new direction, however, for whatever reason, this sequel idea did not progress further.

Following this, there was not a Halloween or October DCOM premiere again until 2012, when Girl vs. Monster was released, on 12^th October 2012, exactly five years after the premiere of Twitches Too. Since 2012, Halloween DCOMs have been even more sporadic, with Invisible Sister premiering in 2015 and the remake of Under Wraps airing in 2021. A sequel followed the next year. This is a shift from the late 90s and early 00s, when Disney Channel appeared to pride themselves on releasing a new Halloween DCOM most years.

However, all is not lost for Halloween on Disney Channel, or Disney+ for that matter, as the Twitches franchise could always return with a third film. Tia and Tamera have spoken for years about having a personal interest in making a Twitches 3, but they do understand the pressure of getting a reboot or a late sequel right for the fans, not wanting to disappoint them or ruin the franchise by making a bad movie. They are waiting for the story to be perfect, signalling that perhaps it could focus on Alex and Camryn’s children. With the advancements in CGI, the special effects would, hopefully, be better now as well[3].

Twitches Too celebrated its 15^th anniversary in October 2022, leading to some fans and independent sellers releasing some unofficial limited-edition memorabilia and products to mark the occasion. This included handmade replicas of Camryn’s Sun necklace, Alex’s Moon necklace, and Miranda’s combined Sun and Moon necklace.

Although loved by loyal fans, Twitches Too rarely makes lists ranking the best Disney Channel Original Movies. In one ranking of all 105 DCOMs released up to 2020, Twitches Too only reached No. 83, with its predecessor featuring much higher at No. 33[4].

FINAL THOUGHTS

With Disney Channel anything is possible, and even film franchises that we thought were definitely over and done with have since made a comeback in recent years.

Who would’ve ever thought that sixteen years after Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010) that we would get a Camp Rock 3? I would never have guessed that almost twenty years after the premiere of The Cheetah Girls: One World in 2008 that we would be getting a fourth Cheetah Girls film in 2027. To top it all off, it looks like a fifth Halloweentown film is even in early development, this being announced in October 2026, so this new movie will come out over twenty years after Return to Halloweentown did in 2006.

That means a Twitches 3 is probably more likely than we think. It would appear that Tia and Tamera are on board to return, so perhaps it is only a matter of time. It may be Twitches 3 that we are discussing being in development by Halloween 2027.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: John Dempsey, ‘Audience ‘Twitch’ for Disney’, Variety.com, 15^th October 2007.

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol. 9: Halloween Edition (2020), ‘Twitches (2005)’, pp. 217-18.

[3] Credit: Alexandra Hurtado, ‘Exclusive: Tamera Mowry reveals why there hasn’t been a ‘Twitches 3’ or ‘Sister, Sister’ reboot’, HelloMagazine.com, 30^th October 2025.

[4] Credit: Rebecca Alter, ‘All 105 Disney Channel Original Movies, Ranked’, Vulture.com, 4^th May 2020.

23rd October 202630th October 2026 by The Disney Purist

Twitches (2005)

BACKGROUND

Although I’m not at all interested in Halloween, I do have a small selection of films I watch around that time of year. But it’s hard for me to describe what I look for in a Halloween film.

Anything scary is a no-go. That means even those “family-friendly” ones like Hocus Pocus (1993) and Girl vs. Monster (2012) are too scary for me. I find the whole concept of ghosts to be quite terrifying though and yet, I like Tower of Terror (1997) and The Haunted Mansion (2003). I even like Corpse Bride (2005), and that has its moments with the undead.

I also love the Harry Potter films, so you’d assume I’m ok with movies about magic. Well, if that is the case, then why don’t I like Twitches?

The answer: I have no idea. But I also don’t like the Halloweentown films, and they are also about magic. Maybe it’s something to do with Disney Channel’s Halloween films. I guess I avoided them during my childhood because of my dislike of Halloween, and seeing them as an adult on Disney+ is not the same. You don’t get that level of nostalgia drawing you back in every year, and making you remember all the things you liked about it.

I don’t, however, think that Twitches, or the Halloweentown films for that matter, are bad. I am well aware that many viewers, especially those in the US, rewatch them every year, alongside various others, both Disney and non-Disney, both family-friendly, and not-so-family-friendly. It’s a tradition for them to be watched, so they can’t be awful.

Twitches follows two women, Alex and Camryn, who are twin witches, separated at birth. They reunite with each other unexpectedly on their 21^st birthday, and must use their newfound powers to defeat the Darkness that is taking over their kingdom of Coventry.

For me, I find that Twitches skips back and forth between the magical realm of Coventry – which, being British, is already amusing that this is the name for the kingdom – and the real world too much that the story starts to get confusing or boring. I do like seeing Tia and Tamera Mowry on screen though, having not seen them in much since Sister, Sister, and I thought they did a good job with their characters. I also very much like the moment where the two main characters, Alex and Camryn, come together to fight the big villain, Thantos. It even makes me cry a little bit.

But that’s not enough for me to claim that Twitches is a masterpiece. That’s just my opinion. I’m not about to take anyone’s love of Twitches away from them because Twitches was released at just the right time, close to prime DCOM era, to become a classic for others.

PLOT

Twitches begins with a prologue talking about the magical kingdom of Coventry, where the Darkness has managed to rage, overpowering the Forces of Light. The twin daughters of the Sun and the Moon were born one Halloween, allowing hope that the Darkness might be able to be destroyed, since a prophecy states that only these twins will be able to restore Coventry’s Light. However, the Darkness was still coming, even on the day of their birth.

The twin girls named Apolla and Artemis, each with an amulet around their neck, one of the Sun and one of the Moon, are rescued by two of Coventry’s most loyal subjects, Ileana and Karsh. Each takes one child and goes through a portal, taking them to Earth, but they are separated, and do not know of the other’s existence. The girls are later adopted.

The story jumps forward to 21 years later, where the two girls are now all grown up and celebrating their birthdays. Apolla was adopted by a wealthy family, who named her Camryn. She loves the sunlight, and loves to draw. Her parents come in to Camryn’s room with a birthday cake, and notice that she has recently drawn an image of a girl who looks just her, but with a Moon amulet around her neck instead of Camryn’s Sun necklace.

We then see that this girl is very much real. This is Artemis, now known as Alex. Alex has grown up with a very different life, and is currently staying at her best friend Lucinda’s house, with Lucinda’s mother and little sister. Alex is greeted with her own birthday breakfast, having stayed up late journalling. Unlike Camryn who is up when the Sun is up, Alex is up when the Moon is up. Alex remembers she needs to go and find a job today. Fun.

Back with Camryn, she is playing tennis with her father, whilst her mother asks her about her birthday party plans for the evening. Camryn is hoping that something exciting might happen to her today, now that she is 21. She gets a call to go shopping with her friend.

Alex walks with Lucinda to work, needing to go into town to search for a job. They both get on the bus together, where a strange man tells her that she has a lot of power within her. This is Karsh, only Alex doesn’t know it. Alex also does not know that Camryn has passed her bus in her fancy car, only noticing the car and not the driver. Alex heads off in the direction of some stores, as does Camryn, wanting to shop with her friend Beth. Outside a store, a strange woman tells Camryn she is ready. This is Ileana, only Camryn doesn’t know it. Camryn heads into this store alone for its sale; Beth goes elsewhere.

Ileana and Karsh meet up and start discussing whether to interfere in the girls’ lives, in order to have them meet. Karsh starts making signs magically appear in the store’s windows, stating that they are hiring and desperately need someone. Alex runs inside, where an assistant hands her the dress “she” was looking for. The dress is taken out of her hand by Camryn, but they don’t properly see each other. Alex tries to sell herself to the store manager, wanting a job, but the manager is put off by Alex’s lack of fashion sense and distaste at the store’s prices. Alex tries a new tactic, complimenting the woman’s shoes, and is given a trial period at the store, first being directed to clear up the dressing room.

At the dressing room, Alex grabs a pile of clothes and literally bumps into Camryn. As the clothes fall, the girls finally look at each other – and realise they look pretty much exactly the same! They scream, but Camryn is excited, knowing that something big was going to happen today. Camryn realises they must be twins, separated at birth. Alex rushes out of the shop, not wanting anything to do with this. Camryn grabs her hand out on the street, and they see that time has stopped. When they let go of each other’s hands, they notice all the mannequins’ clothes have ripped off in the store window.

In Coventry, Alex and Camryn’s birth mother, Miranda, gets a feeling that her daughters are alive, having feared they died when the Darkness first came. She runs to Thantos and states her belief, but he thinks she is just acting crazy. She proves she is not by showing that her necklace, made up of a Sun and a Moon, is lighting up for the first time. Miranda says she must go and find them, but Thantos decides he should go instead.

Back on Earth, the store manager accuses Camryn of stealing, having run out of the store in the dress she was trying on, and demands immediate payment. Luckily, Camryn has it. Alex is promptly fired too. Alex walks away, with Camryn running after her again. Beth joins them, and screams at seeing Alex. Beth is excited that Camryn has a long-lost twin. Camryn says she needs to go and bond with her new sister, and sends Beth away.

Alex is taken to Camryn’s car, realising that is the car she was admiring on the bus. Camryn tries to reaffirm to Alex that this is a good thing, before worrying that Alex didn’t know she was adopted. Alex confirms she knew she was adopted, and her adoptive mother died just a few months ago. Camryn holds her hand to comfort her, causing the car to go haywire. Camryn decides to drive Alex to her house to discuss this further. Before they get there, Camryn persuades Alex to try their magic powers again, grabbing her hand and having them switch outfits. They quickly switch back and continue on to Camryn’s house.

The word “house” is a bit of an understatement though. Alex can’t believe Camryn actually lives in a huge mansion. Camryn calls for her parents, but Alex tells her they shouldn’t tell her parents. Luckily, they aren’t at home, so only Camryn’s housekeeper sees Alex. In Camryn’s room, Camryn wants to learn more about Alex, and tell Alex more about her. She tries to find her photo albums, thinking they are in a dresser. Camryn manages to use her magic to make a drawer open, wanting Alex’s help to make it more powerful. The drawer ends up shooting out and across the room, smashing into pieces. Maybe that’s too much power! Alex notices Camryn’s drawings, and sees the picture Camryn drew of her. Camryn says sometimes she just sees things. Alex’s attention is then diverted to another woman that Camryn drew, who feels familiar to Alex as well. Camryn asks Alex to check her other closet for these photo albums. Alex opens the door – but there’s no closet inside…

Alex and Camryn walk through the closet, discovering it has become a portal, taking them to a strange land. They see that they are on the grounds of a huge castle, both feeling like they’ve been here before. A voice calls out to Camryn to say she has been here before, in her dreams. They follow the voice and see Ileana, who says Camryn has the Gift of Sight. Karsh appears next to Ileana. The girls are told that Ileana and Karsh have been their protectors their whole lives, as they were servants to their father. Karsh and Ileana also say that Alex and Camryn’s father, Aron, died on the day they were born, asking the two servants to look after his daughters. During this conversation, the two learn that they are in the kingdom of Coventry. Alex remembers writing about this place, but never thought it was actually real. They are told that they are being protected from the Darkness. Camryn asks if their mother is alive, and they are told she is. Karsh and Ileana get serious now, telling the girls that the future of Coventry is in their hands. Alex walks away, knowing how the story ends and wanting no part of it. Camryn goes after her. As she leaves, Ileana wonders if she should’ve said that the girls are both marked for death…. Um, what?

Alex and Camryn return to Earth through the portal, and find they cannot return to Coventry that same way. Alex spots that Camryn’s drawings all seem to be of Coventry, just like Alex’s writings are. Alex tells Camryn that she wrote that their father died trying to protect them from the Darkness, so she fears what else might be true if that was. Alex wants to forget all this ever happened today, but Camryn convinces her that they need to stick together to get through whatever might come. As Camryn’s house is prepared for her big birthday party, it is shown that the Darkness is seeping through the walls, however, Camryn and Alex are unaware of this. Camryn’s housekeeper sees plants on fire and goes to get Camryn’s mother. The Darkness then gets into Camryn’s room, but the girls have left.

Back in Coventry, Miranda wants her girls found now, not liking Thantos’s delay in doing this. Miranda plans to find them herself, but Thantos warns her that if she leaves, her people will be defenceless against the Darkness. She is asked by Thantos to be patient. Until the girls start using their magic more, it won’t be easy to find them. Thantos worries this is all actually a trap, to lure Miranda away from Coventry, wondering if the twins are working with the Darkness. Miranda tells Thantos to find them, but accepting she should stay put.

Camryn and Alex find themselves at Alex’s home now, as Alex wants to show Camryn everything she wrote about Coventry, to see if everything they’ve learnt so far matches up. Midway through, Camryn gets a call from her mother, and is about to tell her about Alex and everything else that happened when Alex quickly stops her, not thinking this is the best time to be upfront about their day. Camryn hears that some of her party plans haven’t gone to plan, thanks to the Darkness burning up their flower arrangements, and says she’ll be bringing a new friend to her party later. Ileana and Karsh turn up at Alex’s home now, but the girls have already left – again – before they can talk to them.

Camryn and Alex continue to talk about their past and what Alex wrote in her journal, not loving their real names of Apolla and Artemis! Alex confirms what they’ve been told about the Darkness, stating that it was bad in their kingdom before they were born, with only their parents, Miranda and Aron, able to keep it at bay. As Miranda was giving birth, Aron, leader of the Forces of Light, was made to fight alone. He knew that his daughters would need to be saved, giving all of his power to Apolla and Artemis, to protect them. The Darkness came for the girls, but as it tried to touch them, their magic forced it to retreat. As they discuss what happened to them afterwards, including that their mother later married their uncle and may be trapped in Coventry in need of rescuing, it is clear they are being watched…

Alex takes Camryn to the café where her best friend Lucinda works. Lucinda tells Alex she should look to apply for a job here. Alex then says that Lucinda should join her later in going to Camryn’s party in the posh part of town. Lucinda gets back to work, leaving Alex and Camryn to figure out if the spells Alex wrote when she was little actually work. Camryn tries one out. Instead of making an object disappear, her magic makes a glass shatter. The two then hear a guy talking loudly on the phone at a table nearby. Alex and Camryn make up their own spell to use on him, causing his drink to splash up in his face! On seeing that their magic works, they both decide to call themselves “twitches”, as in twin witches. Ileana and Karsh also happen to be in the café, and find that their earlier spell rebounded onto Karsh. The girls continue their magical training around town, like stopping time so a paint pot doesn’t fall on them, and putting dresses on a group of catcalling men. Again, the spells rebound onto Karsh for some reason…Karsh begins to get frustrated, seeing that the girls are messing around whilst the Darkness is getting stronger.

The twins return to Alex’s house. Ileana and Karsh follow them, knowing that the Darkness is already here for the girls. Inside, Camryn starts to have real confidence in their powers, when the Darkness comes in through the window, making the girls fear for their lives. Alex drags Camryn upstairs, pulling her free of the Darkness’s grip, as it grabs her leg on the stairs. Their combined magic forces it back. The Darkness continues to destroy the house and follow the girls. Alex and Camryn go into a room and slam the door behind them.

Once again, the two arrive in Coventry through another portal that they happened to create themselves. They demand answers from Ileana and Karsh about the Darkness. They admit that the Darkness will be back for them, but Camryn is angry and frustrated about this, not wanting to face the Darkness. This time, Camryn runs off with Alex chasing her. Alex tells Camryn that they were supposed to stick together, and that they should help their mother and finish what they have been chosen to do. Camryn doesn’t want to do this anymore, wanting to go back to her cushy life and her fancy party. They both return home.

Camryn jumps in her car and drives home. She warns Alex to be careful if she is still determined to defeat the Darkness and find their mother without her. At home, Camryn is so happy to be reunited with her parents and gets ready for her party. She also pulls down most of her drawings of Coventry, which were burnt by the Darkness earlier on anyway.

Later that night, Camryn’s party is in full swing, with Ileana and Karsh gatecrashing to check on Camryn. Camryn arrives in her princess costume, with Beth wanting to know where Alex is, having told most of their friendship group about her already. Camryn says that Alex isn’t coming, as they didn’t get on that well, worrying that she is too vapid and shallow. Alex has had a very different upbringing after all. Beth tells Camryn she needs to flirt with someone to take her mind off Alex, and sets her up dancing with a guy.

At Alex’s house, or technically Lucinda’s, Lucinda’s mother and little sister go out trick-or-treating, leaving Alex and Lucinda to talk. Lucinda wants to get to Camryn’s party, but Alex tells her she isn’t going anymore. Lucinda asks Alex what is going on, since her and Camryn seemed to be getting on well earlier on. Alex says that Camryn wasn’t as trustworthy as she’d hoped, realising that she can only count her herself. Lucinda is hurt by this, knowing she has always been there for Alex. Alex is too annoyed to continue talking, and shuts herself in the bathroom, in order to open a new portal to Coventry. She succeeds.

Alex finds herself inside the castle this time, instead of outside it, and sees her mother, Miranda, for the first time. Miranda sees Alex there and knows it is her daughter Artemis. The two have a tearful reunion. Miranda wonders where Apolla is, but understands that Apolla would want to be with her family right now. Alex tells Miranda about her adoptive mother, and says Ileana and Karsh have been watching over them all this time. Miranda is pleased to know they survived. Miranda reiterates that the Darkness is getting stronger, but with the return of Aron’s daughters to Coventry, the Light will be restored to the land. Alex feels the pressure on her shoulders, as she is expected to do this alone without Camryn.

Back at the party, Camryn finds herself not really in the party mood. She wants some time on her own. Camryn’s parents see something is wrong, so Camryn’s mother gets the details from Beth, learning all about Alex. She goes to speak to Camryn about it, thinking it’s great that she has a long-lost twin sister. She asks why Alex is not here, causing Camryn to explain that Alex wanted to find their birth mother, but she did not. Camryn’s mother tells Camryn she could’ve gone to find her too, knowing that she won’t be replaced and would not feel upset. This causes Camryn to reveal everything about Coventry and her magic too. It turns out Camryn used to have nightmares about the Darkness when she was little, drawing disturbing pictures of the Darkness with a face coming out of it. Camryn goes to find this drawing she did years before, finally discovering it. She must get to Coventry now.

In the castle, Alex is introduced to Thantos, who tells her and Miranda that the Darkness is coming closer. Thantos reiterates they need Apolla here, because, alone, she cannot be protected from the Darkness, knowing it will still be on Earth, looking for her.

Sure enough, on Earth, the Darkness has once again come for Camryn, taking over her house and ruining her party. She runs into Lucinda, who asks Camryn to speak to Alex soon to make up. But there are more pressing issues, as Ileana tells Camryn she needs to get to Coventry now, as the Darkness won’t stop until it gets her. Karsh says he’s opened a portal in Camryn’s bedroom, and plans to hold off the Darkness for as long as possible. The Darkness claims both Ileana and Karsh before Camryn can get through the portal. All looks lost for Camryn as the Darkness approaches, but Camryn’s mother opens the bedroom door, causing the Darkness to retreat momentarily. Camryn finally goes through the portal.

In Coventry’s castle, Thantos returns, saying that Apolla is being controlled by the Darkness and they must shut down the castle. Miranda and Alex say that Apolla, or Camryn, is actually already here, showing that he is lying. Miranda also now knows, from Camryn’s picture, that Thantos is the one controlling the Darkness. He denies it, but Miranda demands answers from him, using her magic to tie him to chair. It soon becomes clear that Thantos is in fact controlling the Darkness, as he has scars on his palms resembling the girls’ amulets. Thantos admits he killed Aron, his own brother, and has been using Miranda and her powers for all these years. He then causes the Darkness to enter the room. Miranda’s powers are not strong enough to hold it back, as the Light of Coventry is going out. Miranda is taken by Thantos, leaving the girls alone to save the kingdom.

They watch as the Darkness swirls around them. Alex and Camryn hold each other’s hands, and try to think only of the light. They fear the worse as they are too scared to concentrate and focus properly. They realise that they need to think about love, not light, to defeat the Darkness. Love is infinite, and they start reeling off all the people they love, including their adoptive parents, their friends, Miranda, Ileana, Karsh – and each other. With that, a stream of Light forces the Darkness to disintegrate, freeing all of Coventry from its grasp. Miranda is returned to the castle, as are Karsh and Ileana.

The group go back to Earth together, and eat cake with Camryn’s parents where Karsh and Ileana argue about whether or not to stay on Earth. Miranda says that Camryn is a special girl as she gets to know Camryn’s parents. Camryn and Alex then sit and chant their favourite catchphrase, “Go Twitches”, knowing they did something amazing today.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Camryn Barnes, or Apolla, is one of the twin sisters born on Halloween night in Coventry. She is named after the god of the Sun and wears a Sun amulet around her neck. Camryn and her sister were taken to Earth to save them from the Darkness in Coventry, leading to them being separated and being adopted by different families. Camryn ends up having quite a privileged life in a huge mansion with doting, devoted parents. She is creative, artistic, and is told she has the Gift of Sight. She expects something great to happen on her 21^st birthday, and is very excited to meet her long-lost twin sister on this day. She initially seems the most upbeat about having magic, about having a whole other life in Coventry, and is the one to tell Alex to stick with her and work this all out together. However, she begins to crack under the pressure after being attacked by the Darkness and doesn’t want the responsibility of saving her family’s kingdom anymore, causing her to flee and return to the easy life she’s always had. In the end, Camryn starts to feel guilty for leaving Alex alone, and wants to help to defeat the Darkness, especially as she has a major clue about who is controlling the Darkness. Camryn’s drawing leads to all Thantos’s plans tumbling down, as she and Alex work together to defeat the Darkness, with the power of love.

Alex Fielding, or Artemis, named after the god of the Moon, is the more realistic and pragmatic of the twin sisters, potentially down to her more normal upbringing. She has had hardships in life as she has not grown up surrounded by lots of money and her mother recently died, causing her to be a bit pessimistic about life. Alex’s artistic talent boils down to her writing, constantly journalling at all hours of the night. With Alex’s stories about Coventry, the girls are able to learn about what happened to their father and their mother in the years they’ve been on Earth, as these stories were in fact real. Alex is said to have the Gift of Knowing. At the beginning of Twitches, Alex is the one to reject her magical powers, with Camryn having to encourage her to work with her, but by the end of the movie, it is Alex who is determined to defeat the Darkness and save their mother, even if that means doing so without Camryn. But it is shown that the girls are stronger together during their battle with Thantos and the Darkness, learning that they need each other by their side.

Camryn and Alex were played by twin sisters Tamera and Tia Mowry. The sisters had previously been cast in the sitcom Sister, Sister (1994-99), playing Tamera Campbell and Tia Landry. They both won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and three Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards for Favorite Female TV Star for this show. Like Twitches, Sister, Sister revolves around the twins finding out they were separated at birth. Together, the two also worked on the television movie Seventeen Again (2000), alongside brother Tahj Mowry, with Tamera being cast as Young Cat Donovan and Tia as Sydney Donovan. They later had their own reality show, Tia & Tamera (2011-13).

Separately, Tamera was cast as Dr. Kayla Thornton in Seasons 5 and 6 of the drama series Strong Medicine (2000-06), and went on to be a co-host on talk show The Real (2013-22) up until Season 6, winning a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host with her fellow co-hosts in 2018. She has since starred in numerous Hallmark television movies, including as Emma in A Christmas Miracle (2019); Cheryl Jenkins in Christmas Comes Twice (2020); and Gethsemane Brown in the Haunted Harmony Mysteries franchise. Tamera was also Seashell in Season 5 of The Masked Singer (2019-present) in 2021.

Tia Mowry went on to play Dr. Melanie Barnett-Davis in The Game (2006-15) from Season 1 until Season 5, and was cast as Stephanie Phillips in the sitcom Instant Mom (2013-15). Later, she starred as Cocoa McKellan in the Netflix series Family Reunion (2019-22). Recently, she was cast as Natasha Burton in the Netflix Christmas film My Secret Santa (2025), having already starred in Hallmark’s A Gingerbread Romance (2018) as Taylor Scott.

Miranda DuBaer is the mother of Apolla and Artemis, however, she did not know their fates after their birth, knowing her husband, Aron, the girls’ father, had died that night due to the Darkness coming. 21 years later, she believes that her daughters are actually alive, and wants them found. However, she has been using her magic all that time to keep the Darkness away from Coventry, essentially remaining trapped in the castle for all these years, only having her new husband, Aron’s brother, Thantos, to support her. She tries to convince Thantos to find her girls, but he seems reluctant to do so. Finally, she is reunited with Artemis, or Alex, after she creates a portal to Coventry, wanting to see her mother and help her. Miranda is later reunited with Apolla, or Camryn, too, clearly overjoyed to see her daughters again, although also devasted at being used and lied to for years by Thantos. Miranda helps the twins find their real power and the strength to overcome the Darkness. She vows to be a part of their lives now, even getting to know Camryn’s adoptive parents.

Kristen Wilson was cast as Miranda, having previously played Lisa Dolittle in Dr. Dolittle (1998) with Eddie Murphy. She later reprised this role for the 2001 and 2006 sequel films. Also prior to Twitches, Wilson had been cast as Press Secretary Kendall Truman in Season 3 of the CBS police drama The District (2000-04).

We are led to believe that Thantos DuBaer is “one of the good guys” when we first meet him. He was said to have fought alongside his brother on the night he died, and is heartbroken by his brother’s death. He has since married Miranda and seems to adore her. They have spent years working together to keep the Darkness away from Coventry, by using Miranda’s magic. When Miranda tells him that the girls are alive, Thantos doesn’t want to believe her, but he is eventually persuaded to check on them, becoming concerned for their safety as the Darkness comes to Earth to find them. It soon becomes clear that Thantos is not as he seems, trying to convince Miranda that this must all be a trap, with the girls being controlled by the Darkness to keep her from saving Coventry. He says Apolla has been controlled by the Darkness later on, but this was a lie as Apolla is already at the castle by this point. With Camryn’s drawing, Thantos is shown to be a fraud, controlling the Darkness, planning to take over Coventry. Despite being found out, Thantos shows no intention of stopping his plans and captures Miranda, leaving Alex and Camryn to defeat him themselves. He is eventually thwarted by the twins’ love for their families and each other.

Patrick Fabian was cast as Thantos. Prior to Twitches, Fabian was known for various television roles. He had played the recurring character of Professor Lasky in Saved by the Bell: The College Years (1993-94), before being cast as Gavin Price in fantasy drama Joan of Arcadia (2003-05) and as Hank Landry in Veronica Mars (2004-07). After Twitches, Fabian played Ted Price in the HBO series Big Love (2006-11), before landing a main role in the series Better Call Saul (2015-22), where he played Howard Hamlin, earning himself a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor on Television in 2022. He also appeared in another Disney Channel Original Movie years later, as Richard Morgan in Cloud 9 (2014), which starred Dove Cameron. More recently, Fabian has appeared as Eric, Morgan’s assistant, in the Sky and HBO series War (2026-present), starring Dominic West and Sienna Miller. He is also set to play Howard in the musical comedy film The Debut (2026), written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg, and Kevin McNeil in the Apple TV heist series 12 12 12.

Karsh and Ileana are the twins’ protectors. Karsh is Alex’s protector, whilst Ileana is Camryn’s protector. They were servants of the girls’ father Aron. They took them to Earth after the Darkness came to Coventry and have been watching over them for years, ensuring they meet at the proper moment, their 21^st birthday. Karsh is the cautious one, who is concerned about everyone’s future, with the Darkness getting stronger by the minute. Ileana, on the other hand, is very upbeat and positive, not thinking too far ahead and just wanting to live in the moment. We learn later on in Twitches that Karsh and Ileana are actually in an on-off relationship with each other, with the two even discussing living on Earth together.

Pat Kelly was cast as Karsh, going on to write and star in the Canadian satirical show Good Morning World (2007) with Peter Oldring after appearing in Twitches. He later played Beverly Todd in the series The Crucible (2011). In recent years, Kelly has seemingly turned to podcasting, becoming the co-host and co-creator of the This Sounds Serious (2018-20) podcast with Oldring. He also produced the comedic podcasts Dexter Guff is Smarter Than You (2017-19) and Dark Air with Terry Carnation (2021-22).

Jennifer Robertson was cast as Ileana. Prior to Twitches, Robertson was part of the Canadian sketch comedy series Comedy Inc. (2003-07), going on to be cast as Angela Montclaire in the Canadian teen sitcom Wingin’ It (2010-12). She was later cast as Jocelyn in the critically-acclaimed comedy series Schitt’s Creek (2015-20). In more recent years, Robertson played Lisa in the festive film Single All the Way (2021) for Netflix, and Nancy in Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between (2022) also for Netflix. Robertson is also known for her role as Ellen Baker in the Netflix series Ginny & Georgia (2021-present).

Now to Camryn’s family, David and Emily Barnes, Camryn’s adoptive father and mother. Both are loving parents to Camryn, letting her live a wonderful upbringing, complete with a huge mansion, extravagant parties, and even a tennis court in the back garden. David is a clumsy and slightly embarrassing father, whereas Emily is level-headed and calm, wanting to fix all her daughter’s problems. David and Emily don’t have much idea about the day that Camryn has had until the night of her party. At the party, they can see that Camryn is not quite right, with Emily going to speak to her. Here, Emily learns all about Camryn’s twin, the kingdom of Coventry, the Darkness, and her magical powers, which come as quite a surprise to Emily, who thought they were all part of Camryn’s childhood nightmares. In the end, both David and Emily understand their daughter’s magical family, to some extent, even allowing Miranda into their home, wanting to know their daughter’s birth mother as well.

David Barnes was played by Arnold Pinnock, who went on to be cast in the recurring role of Walt Forbes in the science-fiction series Travelers (2016-18). He later played Tony Parker in the related sitcoms The Parkers Andersons and Amelia Parker (2021). Pinnock was also cast as Officer Stevens in the Netflix Christmas film The Knight Before Christmas (2019), More recently, Pinnock played Nick Daniels in Season 3 of Canadian anthology series Plan B (2023-present). Randomly, I know Pinnock from a minor role in the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie New York Minute (2004). He played one of the beauticians in the salon.

Karen Holness was cast as Emily Barnes. In series, she was cast as Ms. Diona in the Nickelodeon series Make It Pop (2015-19), and later played Tara Reagan from Season 3 of Superman & Lois (2021-24). She also appeared in the recurring role of Blythe Ann Workman in Seasons 6 and 7 of The 100 (2014-20). Outside of this, Holness has been cast in various Hallmark Christmas films, including as Misty in The Christmas Train (2017); as Cassidy in Christmas at the Plaza (2019); and as Jennifer Townsend in A Royal Montana Christmas (2025). She also played Katie in their Chronicle Mysteries film series in 2019.

Alex’s mother died, so she has been living with her best friend Lucinda and her family. Lucinda is Alex’s loyal best friend, letting Alex stay until she sorts things out. Lucinda and Alex have known each other for a long time so it is only natural that when Camryn comes along, Lucinda is a bit jealous of their close relationship, despite only knowing each other for a day. Alex spends most of her birthday with Camryn, but when Camryn decides she doesn’t want the responsibility of saving Coventry, it is down to Lucinda to try and help Alex celebrate her birthday. However, Alex is too distracted and stupidly makes it seem like she can’t trust anyone, even Lucinda, upsetting her. Lucinda just wanted to have a nice night going to Camryn’s party! She goes anyway, trying to find Alex, but only sees Camryn. She tells Camryn that she ought to make up with Alex soon, as their sisterly bond will always last.

Lucinda was played by Jessica Greco. In recent years, Greco was cast in the recurring role of Torri Fuller in the Netflix drama series Tiny Pretty Things, and also played Jessica AD in the web series Tokens (2019-23).

MUSIC

The music in Twitches is limited to either its musical score or a couple of contemporary songs used as background music and montage sequences.

There are only two songs that I can confirm were used in Twitches. One of these is the song “We Got the Beat”, written by Charlotte Caffey, and performed by the female rock band the Go-Go’s, of which Caffey was a member. “We Got the Beat” was the band’s debut single, released in 1980, and was re-recorded for their debut album Beauty and the Beat, released the following year. It reached No. 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at the time. In Twitches, “We Got the Beat” was used during the montage of Alex and Camryn practising their magic together around town, showing this as a positive moment of bonding for them.

The other is “Rush”, written by Aly Michalka, AJ Michalka, Dan James, and Leah Haywood, performed by the pop duo Aly & AJ. Aly & AJ signed with Disney’s record label Hollywood Records in 2004, with their song “Rush” a track on their debut studio album Into the Rush, released in 2005. The duo left Disney in the late 2000s, having made the DCOM Cow Belles (2006) together, starring as Taylor and Courtney Callum, and their song “On the Ride” was used in the film. Aly Michalka also starred as Keely Teslow in the Disney Channel series Phil of the Future (2004-06). “Rush” is heard during the scene of Camryn going home to her party, having told Alex she wants nothing to do with the future of Coventry. The song continues as both twins question their choices ahead of Camryn’s birthday party.

Outside of that, although other music is heard, it is unclear what songs were used as none were officially credited. Some sites have listed the track “Time to Turn” by Nautilus as being used in the movie. It is an instrumental track so I am not sure where it was used, as it could’ve made up part of the score. Or it may not have been used in the film at all and may’ve been picked up by some music app because it sounds similar to the Twitches score.

Two other songs are heard in Twitches although only briefly. One appears after the prologue where we are told it is 21 years later and see Camryn drawing in her room, but I have been unable to figure out what this song is. Another is heard as Camryn pulls up to her house with Alex, after the twins have discovered each other. The annoying thing is I feel like I’ve heard this song before in another movie, potentially a Disney Channel one, but I cannot find it online. I guess I’ll have to wait until I happen to watch whatever movie it might have been in to work it out. Generic party music is also used for the birthday party scenes.

The score for Twitches was composed by John Van Tongeren. Van Tongeren had also been the composer on the Disney Channel musical The Cheetah Girls (2003) prior to Twitches. He went on to work on the music for the DCOMs Princess Protection Program (2009); Den Brother (2010); and The Suite Life Movie (2011).

PRODUCTION

The first-ever Halloween-themed DCOM was Under Wraps, released in 1997, coincidentally also being the first Disney Channel Original Movie, using that specific label.

This was closely followed by the first Halloweentown movie in 1998. Subsequent standalone spooky DCOMs came along in the years after, as well as three more instalments in the Halloweentown franchise, these being Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001); Halloweentown High (2004); and Return to Halloweentown (2006).

Halloween is, apparently, a time for celebration, particularly for younger age groups, so naturally, it makes sense that Disney Channel would want to be involved, by making Halloween episodes of their best series and creating magical new DCOMs.

To fill the void left between the third and fourth Halloweentown films being released, Disney Channel released Twitches, making it their Halloween movie for 2005. Source material was used to make this film, loosely basing it on the first book in the series T*Witches. This series was written by H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld, with ten books being published in total. The final one was published in 2004, titled Destiny’s Twins. However, Twitches is only based on the series’ first book The Power of Two, published in 2001.

Having said that, the film Twitches is very different to the book. Firstly, the twins turn 21 years old at the start of the film whereas the book series focuses on the girls as teenagers. I must say I was quite surprised to see that a Disney Channel movie was going to follow women of that age, because they mostly focus on teenagers who are high school age or ones even younger. I suppose the characters of Alex/Artemis and Camryn/Apolla were aged up to more closely match the real ages of Tia and Tamera Mowry, who were 27 in 2005. Also to match the actresses, the characters are Black in the film, whereas the characters were white in the book series, which is shown on the books’ cover art.

The overall idea of the girls having quite different upbringings with their respective adoptive families was represented in the movies, although the place were they first meet is very different, as the girls find each other at an amusement park, where Alex is working and Camryn is visiting for the day. It would also seem their adoptive families have an idea that the girls have magical powers in the books, but in the films, it comes as more of a surprise, despite the fact the girls have referenced the land of Coventry and had strange nightmares or visions about it over the years. Another big difference between the film and book series is that Karsh is meant to be much older than Ileana, and therefore they were never in a relationship. In the films, Karsh and Ileana are about the same age and are in a self-described on-off relationship. The plot of the book is quite different to the film as well, to the point where fans of the books said Disney Channel basically just took character and place names and built their own story around them. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the phrase “loosely based on” becomes all the more important to emphasise with this in mind.

The writers in charge of adapting the first T*Witches book were Melissa Gould and Dan Berendsen. Both had had some experience working with Disney Channel prior to writing Twitches. For example, Gould wrote some episodes of their series Lizzie McGuire (2001-04) and then went on to be a writer on the Discovery Kids teen sitcom Darcy’s Wild Life (2004-06), having previously worked on Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990-2000).

Dan Berendsen had previously worked on the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-2003), as well as writing two of its movies, Sabrina Goes to Rome (1998) and Sabrina Down Under (1999) before becoming a longstanding screenwriter of Disney Channel Original Movies. Before Twitches, some of Berendsen’s writing credits included Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003); Stuck in the Suburbs (2004); and Halloweentown High (2004). After Twitches, Berendsen went on to write the screenplay for Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009), showing that he had much experience writing stories about magic. He was also involved in writing some Disney Channel musicals too, such as The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008); and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010).

To go alongside this writing team who had already proven themselves at Disney, Stuart Gillard was chosen to be the director of Twitches. Gillard also had much experience directing Disney Channel Original Movies. Some of his earlier directing credits on DCOMs included The Scream Team (2002); Full-Court Miracle (2003); and Going to the Mat (2004). After working on Twitches, Gillard continued to be involved with Disney Channel for a time, directing further movies like Hatching Pete (2009); Avalon High (2010); and a further Halloween DCOM Girl vs. Monster. Away from Disney Channel, Gillard has also directed episodes of drama series, including 90210 (2008-13) and Beauty and the Beast (2012-16)

Twitches was filmed in Ontario, Canada, with filming beginning in June 2005. One of the filming locations used was Casa Loma, a grand palatial castle located in midtown Toronto. It was used for the exterior scenes of Coventry’s castle. Casa Loma was built in 1914 by financier Sir Henry Pellatt, taking three years and $3.5 million to build. It has since become a major tourist attraction and hospitality venue in the city of Toronto[1].

Another main filming location used in Twitches was a mansion in Bridle Path, Toronto. This area is known for its luxurious homes. One of these houses was used as the location of Camryn’s house, which is seen on a few occasions in the film. It also happens to be the same house that is seen in Mean Girls (2004) as Regina George’s house.

It would seem that Tia and Tamera Mowry were a big draw for those who watched Twitches, because they were, and still are, one of the most well-known twins in the entertainment industry, so it made sense to cast them. Plus, reruns of their sitcom Sister, Sister had aired on Disney Channel making them somewhat associated to Disney, rightly or wrongly, since Sister, Sister was not made as a Disney Channel show.

Originally, Tia was supposed to play Camryn and Tamera was supposed to play Alex in Twitches, but the two wanted to switch the roles, requesting this prior to filming beginning[2]. It didn’t make much difference initially anyway since the crew had a hard time telling the two sisters apart! Their resemblance to each other came in useful during one specific scene in Twitches though, as Tamera has since explained that Tia had to play Camryn during part of the birthday party sequence, because Tamera had a scheduling conflict for a couple of days as she was working on the series Strong Medicine at the time. Tia easily filled in for Tamera, although hardcore fans were quick to spot the switch[3].

Another interesting fact about Twitches is that Tia and Tamera stated that they improvised their characters’ “Go Twitches” chant, which the girls say a few times in the movie. They were happy to see that this chant has since stuck with fans. They were also glad to be working on a film that involved magic and therefore special effects[4]. Some of these effects included creating the animation for the Darkness, which appears as a large black cloud; the animation for the twins’ magic; as well as using green screen and CGI to build the fictional, magical kingdom of Coventry.

There is also an alternate ending to Twitches that was not used in the final edit of the film, only being available as a DVD bonus feature. In this deleted ending, having defeated Thantos, Alex and Camryn plan to go back to Earth and to their lives, however, they discover that the portal back home from Coventry won’t open, even with magic. They also discover that Miranda’s amulet has gone, and that Thantos was not actually defeated. This would’ve set up a sequel nicely, but I guess they wanted to end Twitches on a happier note instead!

RECEPTION

Twitches premiered on Disney Channel in the US on 14^th October 2005 as part of the channel’s newly created programming block Hauntober Fest. It is unclear when it reached other Disney Channels internationally, as there wasn’t such a need to quickly release DCOMs globally, so it could have been months later that other countries saw it.

But it’s really the viewing figures on its US premiere that count, as that is where any DCOM would get its biggest audience. For Twitches, the movie was watched by 7 million viewers on its premiere night. This made Twitches easily the most-viewed DCOM of 2005, with The Proud Family Movie seemingly having the next most viewers with 4.8 million. Twitches also just edged out the 2004 Halloween DCOM release of Halloweentown High, which was watched by 6.1 million people.

Twitches was not seen by enough viewers on its premiere to be in the Top 10 list of most-watched DCOM premieres, however, it was said that across four later showings of the film over that same week, 21.5 million people ending up seeing Twitches, making it the week’s most popular cable program, which is definitely something to shout about[5].

It was loved by viewers in part due to its representation of Black women as the two stars of the film. This showed that Black girls could be magical too. It was said to be highly entertaining, with Tia and Tamera Mowry’s acting being a highlight. Twitches has also been remembered many years later due to the fact it can be rewatched every year for Halloween. This makes it a memorable DCOM, whereas, sadly, a fair few non-musical DCOMs, and even some musical ones, are forgotten when they don’t immediately capture their audience.

However, on the negative side, some said that the special effects were not good, even for the 2000s. I’d disagree and say that for a television movie, the effects looked exactly as I’d expect them to look. Some also disliked the predictable story and found Twitches to be just average. Others stated that the reason they did not like Twitches is because they had been fans of the books and found that the Twitches film had very little to do with the books. It would seem that names of characters and places were taken, but the characters were nothing like they’d been in the book. This was confusing for some fans.

In terms of awards, Twitches was only recognised for its acting, as Jennifer Robertson, who played Ileana, won a Canadian Comedy Award in the category Film – Best Performance by a Female for her performance in Twitches.

LEGACY

Twitches continued in Disney Channel’s traditional of celebrating Halloween.

It bridged the gap between the third and fourth Halloweentown films, with this franchise ending in 2006. So, it then made sense for Disney to make a second Twitches film. After all, the first film had been watched by 7 million viewers, one of the most-watched DCOMs at the time, so it made sense to capitalise on interest and make a sequel.

Twitches Too was released in October 2007. Tia and Tamera Mowry returned to play their characters Alex/Artemis and Camryn/Apolla. Many other cast members also came back to reprise their roles, including Kristen Wilson as Miranda, Pat Kelly as Karsh, and Karen Holness and Arnold Pinnock as Camryn’s adoptive parents. This film sought to explore more about the twins’ mysterious father, Aron, and had them battle a returning enemy.

As well as this sequel, Twitches is simply remembered as being a good Halloween film for all the family to watch. For example, Twitches has been included on lists of family-friendly Halloween movies in recent years, from sites such as The Hollywood Reporter[6]. This encourages those who perhaps haven’t seen Twitches before to give it a try, as well as reminding those that have already watched it to watch it again for the “spooky season”.

Tia and Tamera Mowry are frequently asked about their experience filming Twitches in interviews, with both saying that they loved working on this film and are proud of the fan reaction to it. On top of that, 2025 saw Twitches celebrate its 20^th anniversary, leading to many fans writing about their love of this film, wanting to share that with others.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Twitches was released on Disney Channel in the mid-2000s, as High School Musical was about to really show that Disney Channel movies were worth watching, and could be highly accomplished and highly anticipated, despite a lower budget.

Twitches followed in Halloweentown’s footsteps as well, showing that Disney Channel was still capable of making new magical stories to delight the kids, tweens, and teens of the 2000s, so they had something to look forward to around Halloween. And Twitches still remains a much-loved Halloween movie, being watched every year by people all around the world. This is still the case over two decades later.

That’s the good thing about Halloween films. Much in the same way as Christmas films, they are never forgotten as they become a traditional thing to watch in the run-up to the holiday, with every family having their own favourites.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Casa Loma, ‘About I History’, CasaLoma.ca, no date.

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol. 9: Halloween Edition (2020), ‘Twitches (2005)’, pp. 217-218.

[3] Credit: Martha Sorren, ’14 things you probably didn’t know about ‘Twitches’’, BusinessInsider.com, 26^th October 2023.

[4] Credit: Laya Neelakandan, ‘Tamera Mowry-Housley reveals she and Tia improvised this memorable ‘Twitches’ scene’, Today.com, 17^th October 2022.

[5] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol. 9: Halloween Edition (2020), ‘Twitches (2005)’, pp. 217-218.

[6] Credit: Christy Piña, Shawn Kotzen, Lisa De Los Reyes, Carly Thomas, ‘Family Frights: 40 Kid-Friendly Scary Films for Halloween’, HollywoodReporter.com, 6^th October 2026.

16th October 2026 by The Disney Purist

Let It Shine (2012)

BACKGROUND

Before I started working on this blog and chose to review various Disney Channel Original Movies, I had thought that I was aware of pretty much every DCOM musical that has existed.

I’d watched the biggest Disney Channel musicals, like all the High School Musical films, the Cheetah Girls trilogy, and both Camp Rocks, the ones that everyone knows about and still talk about. I’d also watched some of the lesser-known ones, like StarStruck (2010).

Around 2011 though, I decided I was too old to be watching Disney Channel and moved away from it. By the time Disney+ had come out, I found myself catching up with the DCOM musicals that I had missed, like Descendants and ZOMBIES, though.

However, I discovered that there was a gap in my Disney Channel musical knowledge that spanned from 2011 to 2015. I’d remembered seeing Lemonade Mouth (2011) heavily advertised as I was starting to move away from Disney Channel and chose not to watch it. I had some awareness of what was out afterwards, like the Teen Beach films and Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011) – and I eventually made myself watch them in order to write reviews of them – but I was completely unaware of one musical: Let It Shine.

Let It Shine was released in 2012, so the timeframe explains why I had not seen it advertised – because I wasn’t watching Disney Channel at the time. But why I hadn’t known it had even existed until very recently, I have no idea. I can only assume that it is because Let It Shine did not become one of the hugely iconic and popular DCOMs. It has a group of very dedicated fans, but it did not reach mainstream DCOM fame like High School Musical.

The reason it is so beloved by its fans though is because it is relatively unique, both in terms of its story and its musical genre. After making musicals that felt very safe, or very similar to High School Musical, Disney Channel decided to take some risks with their musicals in the early 2010s. Lemonade Mouth was inspired by the 80s film The Breakfast Club (1985) for example, and has some rock infused into its soundtrack. Teen Beach Movie in 2013 was inspired by 60s musical movies like Beach Blanket Bingo (1965).

Let It Shine was released in the middle of these two films, and was inspired by the French play Cyrano de Bergerac. Bit of a random story basis, but what really spoke to the young people of the day was not its plotline, although it was modernised well. It was the musical genres of rap, hip-hop, and even gospel, that make this film really stand out.

PLOT

Let It Shine begins at a Sunday morning church service, where the church choir are in the middle of singing a hymn. However, the choir, and the choir director, teenage Cyrus DeBarge, decide to liven up the hymn, by putting their own spin on it, adding in more of a contemporary feel to it, with rap lyrics. The congregation love it, even if the pastor does not.

The pastor, Jacob, his wife, Gail, and their son return home after church – and we learn that the pastor’s son is Cyrus. He is given a lecture about his responsibilities as the choir director, being told that rap does not belong in a house of worship and is not to be included in the choir’s singing ever again. This is non-negotiable.

That evening, Cyrus chooses to sneak out to an underground rap club, called the Off the Street club, where he works as a busboy, being able to watch all the rap battles that take place there. Cyrus meets up with his friend Kris, who is chatting up a group of girls, something that Cyrus doesn’t have the confidence to do. A rap battle begins between rappers Da Boss and Lord of Da Bling, with Da Bling winning. Da Bling is cocky and arrogant, believing him to be the best rapper that ever existed.

After the battle, Cyrus is tripped up whilst carrying a tray of food and drinks, accidentally spilling it on Da Bling. Cyrus calls Da Bling out on his lacklustre rap lyrics, as Da Bling attempts to insult him, leading to Da Bling getting up on stage and challenging Cyrus to a battle. Cyrus doesn’t have the confidence to go up against Da Bling and walks away.

Kris and Cyrus head home together after this and discuss his confidence issues. Kris says if he made some changes to his appearance, he’d feel so much better about himself. Wow, thanks for the pep talk! Inside, Kris and Cyrus turn on the TV to watch a music show. They see their childhood friend, now famous singer Roxie, on the show, who is promoting a new music video. She also announces a competition that she is running, inviting amateur artists to submit songs. The winner will get their song produced by Roxie’s record company and made as a music video. They will be announced on live TV. Inspired by this competition, Cyrus spends days writing his song for the contest, knowing that his friend Kris is also going to submit a song. Cyrus’s song is his sole focus for the next few days, but he successfully submits “Don’t Run Away”, submitting it under the pseudonym Truth.

Having spent many hours on this song, Cyrus then ends up oversleeping and running late for church. On arriving, he hears his father giving a sermon about the young people of today, and how they are too tired to come to church on Sunday mornings. He goes on to say the youth dress poorly, and that they spend too much time at the rap clubs on Saturday nights, meaning they don’t want to go to church the next morning. Cyrus sits there awkwardly, knowing he goes to that rap club downtown and hides it from his father.

Meanwhile, Roxie is listening to songs for her contest, coming across the song by Truth. She likes the song, and sees the photograph submitted alongside it, realising she knows both the boys in it. Yes, for some reason, Cyrus chose to send a picture of both him and Kris to go alongside his song. Couldn’t he have just cut Kris out of it? Roxie goes to show her manager, Lyla, and notices she is hiding a magazine from her. Roxie has had some negative press recently, around her style and singing abilities. They change the subject by stating that Truth is the winner of Roxie’s contest. Looking at the photo, they assume Kris must be Truth, either because he seems to be the most confident or because he is the first boy in the photo. See, Cyrus, I said you should’ve cut him out!

Roxie then arrives at the Off the Street club to announce Truth as the winner. Kris is approached, and told he is the winner, although the name “Truth” is not mentioned. Cyrus can’t believe Kris’s song would’ve beaten his, and is devastated. Roxie comes over to Kris and Cyrus, saying Kris looks great and that Cyrus looks exactly the same as he did in Third Grade. Nice. Cyrus attempts to complement Roxie, but makes it really awkward… Roxie focuses back on Kris, saying that it seemed his song was about her, and that she loved it. Roxie goes up on stage to perform for the adoring crowd.

After her song, Roxie announces Truth as the official winner of the contest, confusing Kris, who has never heard that name before. Cyrus tells Kris he is Truth, realising they must’ve gotten mixed up about who was who because he sent in a photo of both him and Kris to go along with his song entry. Kris says they’ll need to sort this out quickly, but then Da Bling arrives, trying to show up Kris, or Truth, for his rapping. Da Bling starts on Roxie next, with Lyla deciding it’s time to leave now. The club owner Levi comes over, amazed at Kris’s abilities. Cyrus tells Levi it was his song that actually won, and goes out to tell Roxie the truth. However, outside, he sees Roxie and Kris hugging and posing for photos. Roxie even kisses Kris on the cheek. Kris comes over to Cyrus and says Roxie is the girl for him, wanting to be the deep, sensitive man she thinks he is. He begs Cyrus for his help in winning her over, with Cyrus admitting they ought to just let Kris pretend to be Truth if that is the case and he really wants to be with her. Before Roxie leaves, she invites Kris to the studio to re-record his song tomorrow. Kris says Cyrus will be coming along too, as his DJ.

The next day, at the recording studio, Kris realises that Cyrus will need to actually record the song somehow, otherwise they’ll be rumbled. Cyrus takes Kris into an elevator, and tries to get him to rap like him. Funnily enough, these few seconds of rap training don’t help. They are interrupted by Lyla anyway, who says they are running late, as are Roxie and the sound engineer. This gives Cyrus and Kris the perfect opportunity to begin recording the song in the studio on their own, after Lyla is sufficiently convinced that Cyrus knows how to be a sound engineer in a real studio. But she warns them not to break anything.

The two get to work, having Kris lip sync as Cyrus stands in the background actually performing the song. Roxie comes by, and Cyrus quickly ducks out of view. Roxie greets Kris, saying she heard him performing and thought he sounded great. Roxie once again asks if Kris wrote his song about her. Kris plays it cool, asking what she thinks. She thinks that the song is going to blow up, and that they’ll have to record a song together. She asks him to freestyle rap in front of her, but his rap is shallow and pretty bad. Cyrus overhears this, and speaks into the microphone, so only Kris can hear what he is saying through his headphones. Cyrus gives Kris the perfect rap lyrics to charm Roxie. Roxie’s phone rings and she leaves the room. Kris tells Cyrus all the plans Roxie has for him, making Cyrus jealous. Roxie then comes back, and Cyrus is the one she sees in the room, but she only sees his silhouette and doesn’t twig it’s not Kris. Cyrus raps for her, in the darkness, as Kris stays hidden. Roxie comes into the booth, so the two boys quickly switch places. Cyrus shows up in the studio, surprising Roxie who didn’t even know he was here. Ouch.

Cyrus shows up late to choir practice the next day, seeing his mother leading the choir instead. He tells his mother he’s here now so she can leave. Two of the singers ask Cyrus if they can spice up the song again, like they did last time. However, Cyrus senses his father behind him and quickly says they won’t be doing that ever again.

Back at the studio, Roxie sees Cyrus working on something and asks what it is. He says he’s working on a duet for her and Kris. She likes what she’s hearing so far. After their session, Lyla says Kris needs to change up his look ready for his big debut. She says the rap Grand Slam contest are looking for a headline act, and they want Roxie. She seems uncertain about performing there; however, Cyrus reassures her that she’ll be great.

Cyrus later goes to the rap club and apologises to Levi for missing work the other night. He says things have just been crazy lately. Levi has already guessed it’s got something to do with Roxie. Cyrus admits he hasn’t told Roxie that he is actually Truth, wanting to be a good friend to Kris. Levi says this is just an excuse for Cyrus to never admit his true feelings so that he doesn’t have to risk being rejected. He has been hiding in the shadows from everyone, like his father and Da Bling, and shouldn’t be doing that anymore. Levi encourages Cyrus to be more true to himself. With this in mind, Cyrus starts to practice rapping on the rap club stage whilst the club is empty.

The next day, Roxie arrives at the club to meet Kris, and sees Cyrus rapping on the stage. He quickly stops what he’s doing and claims he was just lip syncing to one of Kris’s old tracks. Roxie says she was here to meet Kris, but he isn’t going to make it now. Cyrus offers to grab a bite to eat with her instead. As they head off, Cyrus tells Roxie not to listen to the negative press around her, and asks if she’s got some new music in the pipeline, knowing she has always had a big voice from her time singing at church as a child. The two go on to have dinner, and they discuss their love of music in general. Surprisingly, Roxie finds she has quite a lot in common with Cyrus. They continue their evening together, and stumble across a rap battle in progress, between rappers Phantom and Revelation. Revelation ends up winning. Da Bling then goes up to try and defeat Revelation, seeing Roxie and Cyrus watching. Da Bling again bothers both of them, saying he’ll be the only real artist performing at the Grand Slam soon. They walk away from Da Bling, and talk about Cyrus’s parents and the church instead.

On Sunday morning, Cyrus is surprised but happy to see Roxie at the church. He encourages Roxie to sing the opening song. It’s clear she loved performing it; however, the good feeling soon dissipates as Pastor Jacob starts his sermon, talking about “hip-hop-crisy”, and how certain people seem to only go to God when it is convenient. This was clearly all a shot at Roxie, for her new pop star image, and she walks out embarrassed. That evening, Gail tells her husband that he will be sleeping on the couch tonight after what he said at church that day. He tries to defend himself by saying that Roxie is what is wrong with music today, but his wife simply says all he did was pick on a young girl in front of everyone. Pastor Jacob tells Gail there will be no further discussion, and she agrees, walking inside.

The next morning, Cyrus sees his father waking up after spending a night on the sofa. He heads out for the day, telling his father he has to run some errands. Gail then comes in and says she read in the paper that Roxie will be at the rap club today for the filming of a new music video, so it’s the perfect time for Jacob to apologise to her…

At the club, Kris arrives excited for his music video, as does Roxie. Roxie invites Kris to go to a museum exhibition with her later, but Kris says he had plans to go to a movie marathon tonight. Inside, Lyla tells Kris that he is going to be able to perform with Roxie at the Grand Slam, however, he will have to rap live and cannot lip sync. He doesn’t seem to realise the issue that could be, until Cyrus takes him aside. Kris tells Cyrus to figure it out, knowing that whatever happens, he’s getting famous and all the girls will love him soon. Cyrus is confused, thinking he likes Roxie, but Kris says he wants more than just one girl.

Kris is then distracted by filming his high-budget music video for Truth’s song. He is told that his lip syncing is a little bit off and they’ll need to fix that. Cyrus asks Roxie how things are going with Kris, to which she says she doesn’t know if she is even good enough for Kris. This comes as a shock to Cyrus who knows Kris is faking being Truth, and can’t believe what he is hearing. Their conversation is paused by the arrival of Cyrus’s father. Cyrus’s father apologises to Roxie for what he said the other day, and she accepts his apology. He sees Cyrus and asks what he is doing at the club, learning that Cyrus has been secretly working there. He demands that Cyrus come home with him right now, but Cyrus refuses. He is told by his father they’ll deal with this later. Back at home, Jacob learns Gail already knew about Cyrus’s secret job.

Cyrus finally comes home, and is confronted by his father, who tells Cyrus he will not be returning to the rap club, and will only focus on the church choir. Cyrus’s mother tells Jacob that Cyrus is talented and it shouldn’t matter what genre of music he likes. Cyrus commits to his father’s punishment, but can’t ignore all the publicity surrounding Kris. He also randomly learns that Da Bling is a taxi driver. Meanwhile, Jacob reads his son’s songs.

One morning, Roxie comes to Cyrus’s house to see him, wanting to talk to him about Kris. She says things aren’t going so well between her and Kris, not understanding how he can write such amazing love songs, but is nothing like that in person, struggling to find a deeper connection when they just talk. Roxie and Cyrus head into a record store, and talk about their favourite songs and music again. Cyrus says Roxie should take inspiration from this, and record some new music. Roxie doesn’t believe her record label would like that. The two lean in to kiss, before Roxie says Kris is taking her to a jazz museum, so she has to go.

That night, Cyrus turns up at the rap club, and sees Kris flirting with a group of girls, having just taken Roxie on that date. The two begin arguing. Cyrus does not like Kris messing around with Roxie’s feelings. Kris hits back by saying Cyrus needs to get his plan in place ready for their Grand Slam performance tomorrow. Cyrus tells Kris he will never be a good rapper, with Kris stating Cyrus is too scared to ever do anything with his talent. A fight ensues, which is soon broken up by Levi. Cyrus leaves, saying Kris is on his own tomorrow. Later, Cyrus comes home, angry at Kris, but also feeling guilty. He admits to his mother that Kris is not Truth, and that he is, knowing he can’t leave Kris to fend for himself tomorrow.

Cyrus is about to head out to the Grand Slam the next morning, telling his father it is important and he is going. Jacob tells Cyrus he knows where he is going, and that he actually likes Cyrus’s songs, despite them being rap songs, because they have good messages related to good Christian values. Jacob admits he has been too hard on his son. They all decide to go to the Grand Slam together.

Roxie is getting ready for her performance at the venue; however, she tells Lyla that she hates the gimmicky costume she’s been put in. She wants to go back to using her own voice and having her own style, regardless of what the business might want – and tonight is the night to make those changes. Kris is also getting ready for the show, but he is incredibly nervous, thinking Cyrus has abandoned him. Cyrus comes backstage to reassure him he will help him get through the show today. Kris admits everything Cyrus said was right, and that he should never have pretended to be Truth, but only did it because he was jealous. Kris knows Cyrus should be with Roxie and they agree they need to make this right tonight.

The Grand Slam is introduced by the host, stating that the final two rappers are ready to face off against each other tonight. The final rappers are Revelation and Lord of Da Bling. But first, there will be a performance from Roxie and Truth. Cyrus sees Roxie backstage with her new, more natural look, and says she should just be herself tonight.

Roxie begins her song, which Lyla loves. She asks Kris if he is ready to go on, but Cyrus gets ready instead, confusing her. Roxie introduces Truth – and Cyrus turns out to be the one standing there. Roxie is stunned, not understanding what Kris and Cyrus’s plan was, feeling betrayed and misled by the two guys. Cyrus attempts to rap an apology to her, but Roxie doesn’t want to hear it. She leaves the stage after finishing up the song. Cyrus chases after her backstage, trying to talk to her. Roxie refuses to forgive either of them. She is told she needs to present the trophy to the winning rapper. She says Truth should do it instead.

Cyrus goes up on stage to deliver the trophy to Da Bling who was the big winner. Da Bling jokes about how the busboy at the club just presented him with his trophy, not even shining it up properly for him. Da Bling continues his insults, winding Cyrus up to the point where he challenges him to a rap battle in front of everyone, right here, right now. Da Bling continues with his usual comments about how weak and shaken Cyrus is, and has always been. It seems that Da Bling is winning the battle, however, Cyrus delivers the blow, stating that he knows Da Bling is just a cab driver, and has kept up a fake image to look like he’s a rich somebody, revealing the truth to the crowd. Cyrus is declared the real winner.

After the show, Kris goes to Roxie, who is about to head off in her limo. He reiterates how sorry he and Cyrus are, with Cyrus only doing what he did because Kris wanted him to; it wasn’t Cyrus’s idea to trick her. Anyway, Roxie was the one to assume that someone who looks like Cyrus could never be a big star rapper. She can’t deny that… Kris tells Roxie that she is meant to be with Cyrus because he is the real man she’s been looking for.

Shortly after, Kris comes over to Cyrus and his family outside church, wanting to join them today. They are all stopped by the arrival of a limo. Roxie comes out of the car, and shows that she wants to start over with Cyrus. Roxie joins Cyrus in performing with the church choir at the service that day, pepping up everyone in the room, including Cyrus’s dad.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Cyrus DeBarge is a quiet, shy teenager, seriously lacking in confidence and self-esteem. He has a real love for music, especially rap, and enjoys writing songs and lyrics in his spare time. He even works at a rap club as a busboy, where he gets to silently judge all the would-be and wannabe rappers who battle there, knowing he is better than all of them, but not having the belief to go up and battle himself. Cyrus compares himself to his confident best friend Kris, who doesn’t have a problem speaking his mind, wanting to be more like him. He also struggles to cope with his father’s expectations of him, and balancing that with his hopes for the church choir. When the rap contest comes around, Cyrus knows this is the perfect opportunity to show what he can do, and it might even give him the chance to reconnect with a childhood friend, Roxie, who he has always liked. Cyrus doesn’t believe in himself though, and submits the song under the name Truth, along with a photo of him and Kris, leading to Roxie to simply assume Kris must be Truth and not Cyrus. Cyrus doesn’t enjoy seeing Kris take credit for his work, or like seeing him get close to the girl he likes because of that work, however, Cyrus is an incredibly loyal friend to Kris, wanting to help him win over Roxie. In the end, Cyrus gets fed up with Kris taking him and Roxie for granted, but just can’t bring himself to leave him to look embarrassed at the Grand Slam performance, so he shows up, wanting to help. But Kris wants Cyrus to finally get the credit he deserves and reveal himself as Truth. The big reveal doesn’t go as planned though and he winds up hurting the girl he loves. Thankfully, Roxie sees sense and realises Cyrus is the perfect guy for her. Cyrus’s father also starts to see that Cyrus has a musical gift, and it doesn’t matter what type of music he writes, knowing his son will always be true to himself and his values.

Cyrus DeBarge was played by Tyler James Williams. Prior to Let It Shine, he was known for portraying comedian Chris Rock in the semi-autobiographical sitcom Everybody Hates Chris (2005-09). He went on to star as Jake Harrison in the rom-com The Wedding Year (2019) with Sarah Hyland, as well as playing Lester Young in The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021). In television, Tyler James Williams was cast in the recurring role of Noah in Season 5 of The Walking Dead (2010-22), before landing the role of Gregory Eddie in the ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary (2021-present), created by co-star Quinta Brunson.

Roxanne Andrews, mostly known as Roxie, is Cyrus and Kris’s love interest. She was a childhood friend of theirs, having grown up in Atlanta with them, before moving away. She went on to become a famous singer, however, she has had some negative comments levelled at her for her bright, fancy fashion style and for her synthesised vocals in her music. Roxie is being managed by Lyla, who knows what is best for her if she wants to do well in the business, even if Roxie isn’t so sure about it sometimes. Roxie is distracted by the contest, as well as her feelings for Kris throughout much of the story, having assumed that Kris is Truth after looking at the picture of him and Cyrus that was sent in along with the song, showing that she is just as image-focused as everyone else. Roxie becomes closer to Cyrus as the story goes on, but she never sees him as a potential boyfriend, choosing to stick with Kris even though she knows he is not as deep as “his” rap lyrics are. By the time of the Grand Slam, Roxie has become focused on her future as a singer, and refuses to go along with what Lyla thinks is best for her anymore, leading to an amazing performance that the crowd loved. Roxie is rightly upset to find that Cyrus and Kris had been lying to her about their true identities though. She refuses to listen to their apologies, just wanting to go home. Kris ends up talking some sense into her, saying it was his idea to be Truth, not Cyrus’s, wanting her and Cyrus to be together. Roxie decides he is right and goes to Cyrus’s family’s church service, starting over again with Cyrus.

Coco Jones was chosen to play Roxie, having found fame as a contestant in Radio Disney’s The Next Big Thing singing contest, in its third season around 2010 and 2011. She later signed with Hollywood Records, which is Disney’s record label, and released the EP Made Of in March 2012, no doubt to coincide with her role in Let It Shine. She also had a recurring role as Coco Blue in the Disney Channel show So Random! (2011-12), the short-lived spin-off of Sonny with a Chance (2009-11), going on to play Kelsey in another Disney show, Good Luck Charlie (2010-14), for its third and fourth seasons. Jones was later dropped by Disney around 2014; however, she did not stop releasing music or acting after this. In music, her most recent album is Why Not More?, which was released in 2025, and she won a Grammy award for Best R&B performance for her song “ICU”. She also won BET and NAACP Image awards for Best New Artist in 2023. She was then an advisor on Season 27 of The Voice (2011-present) for Team Legend. She recently starred as Hilary Banks in the Peacock series Bel-Air (2022-25), based on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-96).

Kris McDuffy is Cyrus’s girl-obsessed friend, who’d like to think he could be the next rap star, despite not having all that much talent for it. Kris is amazed and excited to find he won Roxie’s contest, but on hearing the name “Truth”, he realises he actually didn’t; Cyrus did. He plans to tell Roxie about the misunderstanding, but on seeing that this famous, pretty girl likes him, Kris decides it would be best if he and Cyrus kept up the ruse that Kris is Truth. Kris loves the fame and attention being Truth gets him, especially from all the girls, and doesn’t seem to understand that his best friend is not happy seeing him turn into this self-obsessed person, taking credit for the work that Cyrus did. Cyrus gets fed up with Kris and plans to let Kris flounder on stage at the Grand Slam by himself, making Kris incredibly nervous, knowing that he will be quickly found at as a fraud. After Cyrus comes to the Grand Slam to help him, despite their fight, Kris knows he has not been fair to his friend and wants Cyrus to go out as Truth. When the reveal backfires and Roxie ends up annoyed and hurt, Kris is the one to make things right there, by telling Roxie how great a person Cyrus is.

Trevor Jackson was cast as Kris. Prior to Let It Shine, Jackson was cast as Kevin Blake in Seasons 4 and 5 of the Syfy series Eureka (2006-12), going on to more mainstream fame later on in his career by starring as Aaron Jackson in the Freeform series Grown-ish (2018-24), this being a spin-off of the popular ABC series Black-ish (2014-22). Currently, Jackson plays Dr. Wes Bryant in Grey’s Anatomy (2005-present), a role he has held since Season 22. Jackson is also a singer, with his most recent album being The Love Language.

Lord of Da Bling is Cyrus’s biggest rap competition, easily beating anyone he comes across in rap battles. He is a talented and accomplished rapper, however, his attitude and persona, thinking he is better than everyone else, being built up by his entourage, means that he loses all respect. Da Bling is constantly in Cyrus’s face at the rap club, referring to him as “Urkel” and laughing at him for just being a busboy. He also criticises Roxie and her singing talents at points during the film. Da Bling is not a nice guy, but luckily, when Cyrus mans up and gets on stage to battle Da Bling, it soon comes out that he is not this super rich, super important rapper, but is a taxi driver, clearly rapping during his time off. The persona he built up around himself is completely fake, and Cyrus breaks it down in just a few solid rap lyrics. Da Bling does not win the Grand Slam trophy, with it being decided that Cyrus was the worthy winner. Da Bling storms off stage, humiliated. To be fair, I get Cyrus wanting to tell everyone he is a phony and wanting to bring him down, but I don’t think it’s nice to laugh at him for being a taxi driver. It’s just a job.

Brandon Mychal Smith was cast as Lord of Da Bling, having already made a name for himself on Disney Channel thanks to his roles as Stubby in the DCOM musical StarStruck (2010), and as a cast member in Sonny with a Chance (2009-11) and its spin-off So Random! (2011-12), playing Nico Harris. Prior to that, he also had roles in other Disney Channel and Nickelodeon series, including Phil of the Future (2004-06) and Unfabulous (2004-07). In more recent years, Brandon Mychal Smith was a series regular in the Hulu miniseries Four Weddings and a Funeral (2019), cast as Craig Thompson, and voiced Michelangelo in the animated series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018-20). He also played Leo in the movie Sick Girl (2023), which starred Nina Dobrev, and recently played Darryl “DG” Grant in the FX series The Drop: A Snowfall Saga (2026-present).

Cyrus’s parents are his strict pastor father Jacob and his kind mother Gail. Jacob is very against the ways of the youth of the day, commenting on their bad fashion sense, their unholy musical tastes, and their lack of faith. Jacob wants Cyrus to stay on the straight and narrow so tries to control his interests, despite Cyrus loving rap music and wanting to make it as a rapper one day. Jacob has made Cyrus the choir director to focus on music with good values, and is incredibly annoyed to find Cyrus trying to put in more modern lyrics into the church choir’s music, telling him in no uncertain terms to never do that again. Jacob even goes so far as to embarrass Roxie during a church sermon, by once again dismissing the interests of young people. Jacob sees the errors of his ways, thanks to his wife, who tells Jacob to apologise to Roxie in person, and to try and understand his son’s love of music by reading his songs. Jacob eventually figures out that Cyrus’s rap songs do have good messages and meanings within them, allowing him to continue with what he loves. His parents even attend the Grand Slam together to see their son perform, wanting to be there to support him and show how proud they are of him.

Pastor Jacob DeBarge was played by Courtney B. Vance. On stage, Vance was nominated for Tony awards for his performances in plays such as Fences, where he played Cory on Broadway from 1987 to 1988, and Six Degrees of Separation, playing Paul in the Broadway show from 1990 to 1992. Vance later won a Tony for his role as James “Hap” Hairston in the 2013 Broadway production of Lucky Guy. In film, Vance is known for such roles being the narrator of Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs (2018) and for playing Cobra Bubbles in Disney’s 2025 live-action remake Lilo & Stitch. In television, Vance was cast as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver in Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001-11) from 2001 to 2006, and later portrayed Johnnie Cochran in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016) miniseries, winning him a Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Limited Series, and an NAACP Image Award.

Gail DeBarge was played by Dawnn Lewis, who began her career by playing Jaleesa Vinson-Taylor in the sitcom A Different World (1987-93), before being cast in the role of Robin Dumars in Season 1 of Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper (1992-97). More recently, she was cast in the recurring roles of Mama Leone in Season 4 of iZombie (2015-19) and Marcia Langdon in Season 4 of Veronica Mars, part of its revival for Hulu in 2019. She was later cast as Prime Minister Angela Honig in Season 3 of Young Rock (2021-23). Lewis also has a history of voice acting, including voicing the characters LaBarbara Conrad in Futurama (1999-present) and Bernice Hibbert in The Simpsons (1989-present) since 2021. She also provided the voice of The Chief / Tamara Fraser in Carmen Sandiego (2019-21).

Lyla is Roxie’s manager, shielding Roxie from negative press and guiding her through her journey as a rising star. Because Roxie is young and fairly inexperienced, she leans quite heavily on Lyla and has accepted the route her career has gone in, such as releasing songs with synthesised vocals, and wearing bright, extravagant costumes for her live performances and interviews. Lyla says she knows what the business requires and what the record label wants, clearly wanting to make Roxie as big a star as possible. She is also on hand to deal with Kris and Cyrus, and their competition win. By the end of Let It Shine, Roxie is tired of keeping up an image that is not true to herself, with the final straw being a crazy outfit that Lyla insists Roxie must wear for her Grand Slam performance. Roxie dismisses Lyla’s idea, saying she’ll be fine with her own choices from now on. Lyla still continues to be Roxie’s manager at the end of the film, but with more awareness of what Roxie wants now.

Nicole Sullivan was cast as Lyla, having already had some history with Disney and Disney Channel before this. Nicole Sullivan was chosen to voice Franny in Meet the Robinsons (2007) for Disney Animation, having already voiced Shego in Disney Channel’s Kim Possible (2002-07). Sullivan is also known for her role as Holly Shumpert in The King of Queens (1998-2007). More recently, Sullivan was cast in the recurring role of Janine in the sitcom Black-ish (2014-22), and has voiced the character Kara Danvers / Supergirl in the Cartoon Network series DC Super Hero Girls (2019-21).

Finally, we have Levi, the owner of the Off the Street rap club. He has hired Cyrus to work at the club as a busboy and is shown to be supportive of him, giving Cyrus advice about Roxie and about his rapping, not wanting Cyrus to waste his talents by only watching others. Levi is essentially the voice of reason in Let It Shine, allowing Cyrus to work things out for himself and encourage him to do what is right, not only for himself, but for everyone else too. It’s no coincidence, surely, that Levi happens to be the one who let slip that Cyrus has been working at the club. This allows all Cyrus and his father’s grievances to be aired in the open, so they can move past them and move forward.

Levi was played by Alex Désert. Before Let It Shine, Désert had been cast as Julio Mendez in the superhero series The Flash (1990-91) and as Jake Malinak in the CBS sitcom Becker (1998-2004), starring Ted Danson in the titular role. More recently, Désert has taken over the roles of Carl and Officer Lou from Hank Azaria in The Simpsons, voicing the characters since 2020. He also had a recurring role as Edgar Chapman in the Amazon Prime series A League of Their Own (2022).

Finally, I will just mention a cameo appearance by the singing duo of Chloe and Halle Bailey, also known as Chloe x Halle. They appear in Let It Shine as members of the church choir. Around this time, the two had won Season 5 of Radio Disney’s The Next Big Thing. They have since had various nominations at award ceremonies like the Grammys and the MTV Music Video awards for their music together, releasing albums such as The Kids Are Alright in 2018 and Ungodly Hour in 2020. They both appeared in the series Grown-ish as well, with Chloe playing Jazlyn Forster, and Halle playing Skyler Forster. Halle also went on to star as Ariel in Disney’s 2023 live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.

MUSIC

Let It Shine’s soundtrack consists of a wide variety of musical genres, including gospel, hip-hop and R&B music, as well as featuring plenty of rap.

The first song in Let It Shine is “Make A Joyful Noise” or just “Joyful Noise”. It is used in the opening sequence, and sees the choir singing during the church service. The tempo soon speeds up though, as Cyrus, the choir director, has found ways to modernise the song, with the addition of some rap lyrics, making the congregation sit up and listen, but annoying his father, who is also the pastor, in the process! “Joyful Noise” was written by Jay L’Oreal, Dapo Torimiro, and Glorious Foreman. It was performed by the Let It Shine choir singers.

This is followed by the first of many rap battles that exist within Let It Shine. “Tonight’s the Night” is performed at the Off the Street club, and it consists of rappers Lord of Da Bling and Da Boss facing off against each other, with Da Bling winning. Cyrus watches as this rap battle takes place, saying he could beat both of them, if only he had the confidence to stand up and try. “Tonight’s the Night” was written by Toby Gad, Lindy Robbins, David Banner, and J-Doe. It was performed by Brandon Mychal Smith as Lord of Da Bling; Spencer Lee seemingly providing the vocals for Da Boss, although Algee Smith played the character on screen, going on to be cast as Chris McKay in Seasons 1 and 2 of the HBO drama Euphoria (2019-26); and Tyler James Williams as Cyrus.

After that night, Cyrus and his friend Kris go home to see singer Roxie announcing a competition, wanting people’s original songs, with the winner going on to re-record their song in a real studio and getting the chance to film a music video for it. Cyrus sees this as his opportunity to finally be noticed for his musical talents, and spends days writing and recording the song “Don’t Run Away”. It is essentially a love song written for Roxie. I actually quite like this song, and it’s a good thing too because “Don’t Run Away” reappears when Cyrus and Kris are re-recording the song at Roxie’s studio, and when Kris is filming the music video for it. “Don’t Run Away” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q. It was performed by Tyler James Williams, with the boy band IM5 credited as a featured artist.

When Cyrus’s, or Truth’s, song is announced as the winner at the club, and Kris is assumed to be Truth, Roxie appears to congratulate the winner in person. She then proceeds to perform the song “What I Said” to the clubgoers. This is an upbeat pop, hip-hop song, showcasing that Roxie is the latest singing sensation to come on to the music scene. “What I Said” was written by Lambert Waldrip, Justin A. Mobley, Anya Vasilenko, Tocarra Phillips, and Steven Jones, and was performed by Coco Jones as Roxie.

At the studio to record Cyrus’s song, Kris lip syncs in the booth whilst Cyrus actually raps. Roxie shows up wanting to talk to Kris. At some point, she sees someone in the booth and believes it to be Kris, but it is Cyrus. He says he wants to sing her something, and he sings “You Belong to Me”, putting all his feelings out there, even though Roxie thinks it’s Kris singing this song to her. “You Belong to Me” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q, and was performed by Tyler James Williams.

Following on from that, after Cyrus gets some advice from Levi, the Off the Street club owner, he decides to practise his stage presence by rapping on the stage of the empty club. This montage of scenes is accompanied by the song “Guardian Angel”. He is later caught by Roxie performing this song, but Cyrus claims he was just lip syncing to one of Kris’s tracks. She doesn’t question it any further, only saying he must be brilliant at lip syncing! “Guardian Angel” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q. It was performed by Tyler James Williams and Coco Jones.

Shortly after this, as Cyrus and Roxie spend the evening together, since Kris was unavailable, the two stumble upon a rap battle in the park. This rap battle is between rappers Revelation and Phantom. They perform “Around the Block”, with Revelation being named the winner of this rap battle. This rap song was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q. It was performed by Hans Daniels as Phantom, and Courtney Gray as Revelation.

During that evening, Cyrus and Roxie talk about Cyrus’s family and the church, with Roxie saying she should attend a service soon. She does just that, and at that service, Cyrus encourages Roxie to sing. Roxie clearly enjoys performing this song, and it really is like a homecoming for her, going back to her church choir roots instead of the pop and hip-hop songs she’s been singing as a professional. This gospel song Roxie sings is “Good to Be Home”. It was written by Adam Watts and Andy Dodd, and performed by Coco Jones.

A chain of events happens after this moment, which eventually lead to Cyrus’s father finding out about his job at the rap club. Cyrus is told to stay away from the club and focus on church. In the meantime, Cyrus sees Kris getting more and more famous off his song and his Truth persona. This montage is accompanied by the song “Who I’m Gonna Be”, which matches both Roxie and Cyrus journeys in wanting to figure out who they are and where they are going; Roxie doesn’t want to be a manufactured pop star anymore, and Cyrus wants to finally get credit for his songs. “Who I’m Gonna Be” was also written by Adam Watts and Andy Dodd, and performed by Coco Jones.

Towards the end of the film, we get the final showdown at the Grand Slam competition. Here, all the lies and misunderstandings are uncovered, and the truth is finally revealed. Firstly, Cyrus comes clean to Roxie about being Truth, and not Kris. He chooses to do this in public, in front of the crowd during Roxie and Truth’s duet, which comes as a shock to Roxie as she expects Kris to come on stage, but Cyrus appears instead. Roxie ends the song feeling incredibly hurt and confused about this, wondering why they wanted to trick her and what they achieved by doing that. This duet is “Me and You”, and it ended up being my favourite song in the soundtrack, and probably my favourite moment in the film too. “Me and You” was written by Toby Gad, Lindy Robbins, and Adam Hicks, and was performed by Coco Jones and Tyler James Williams.

The second half of this showdown comes in the form of a rap battle between Cyrus and Lord of Da Bling. Cyrus has found the courage to stand up for himself and calls out Da Bling, stating that he is not the best rapper around, no matter what he might think, and telling the whole crowd that Da Bling is not the rich, popular guy he claims to be. “Moment of Truth” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q, and was performed by Brandon Mychal Smith and Tyler James Williams.

The finale number of Let It Shine is the song “Let It Shine”, taking place in the church. It is quite a nice song to tie up the events of the movie and end it on a high note, with the characters not wanting to hide away from what they want anymore. “Let It Shine” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q, who used the traditional gospel song “This Little Light of Mine” within the song’s chorus. “Let It Shine” was performed by Tyler James Williams and Coco Jones, with the Let It Shine church choir providing the backing vocals.

The only other song to appear in the Let It Shine soundtrack is the song “Self Defeat”, which was used in a deleted scene included in the Extended Edition version of this film. This rap battle was meant to take place just after Cyrus spills food on Lord of Da Bling at the club, on the night Da Bling beats Da Boss in a rap battle. In the original version of the film, Cyrus tells Da Bling that his rapping is not great, which leads Da Bling to challenge him to a rap battle. Cyrus simply walks away. In this deleted scene, Cyrus goes up against Da Bling with this song “Self Defeat”. I can see why this scene was cut, because it makes no sense for Cyrus to do this. He’s meant to be shy and uncertain at this point in the film. It might’ve made sense as a dream sequence or a daydream though, having Cyrus imagine what he’d say to Da Bling. “Self Defeat” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Thomas Armato Sturges, Jon Vella, and In-Q, and it was performed by Tyler James Williams

The soundtrack for Let It Shine was released on 12^th June 2012, just a few days before its official premiere date on Disney Channel. It reportedly peaked at No. 12 in the US Billboard 200 chart, and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Kid Albums chart, as well as No. 2 on the Billboard Top Soundtracks chart.

The composer of the score on Let It Shine was Richard Gibbs. He had previously worked on the music for some Disney live-actions films, like First Kid (1996) and That Darn Cat (1997). He was also the composer on their direct-to-video sequel 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure (2003). Around this time, Gibbs worked on the music for other family-friendly films such as Dr. Dolittle (1998) and Like Mike (2002). He is also known for composing the music on the series Battlestar Galactica (2003-09) with Bear McCreary. After Let It Shine, Gibbs composed the score for the DCOM Adventures in Babysitting (2016).

PRODUCTION

Disney Channel has created a variety of DCOMs based on original stories, but have also used books and other forms of literature as inspiration for a selection of their other movies.

In terms of musicals, The Cheetah Girls (2003) was originally based on a book series by Deborah Gregory, and Lemonade Mouth was inspired by a young adult novel written by Mark Peter Hughes. Let It Shine was inspired by the French play Cyrano de Bergerac, written by Edmond Rostand in 1897. It is based on the 17^th Century French novelist of the same name, known for having a large nose, which is generally exaggerated in adaptations of this play. The story of Cyrano de Bergerac follows Cyrano, a gifted poet, who is secretly in love with a woman named Roxane. He is ashamed of his appearance, because of his large nose, so he is unable to tell Roxane of his love for her. Instead, she falls for a man called Christian, and Cyrano decides to write love letters to Roxane on his behalf, as he is not as good with his words as Cyrano is. Years later, Roxane discovers that Cyrano was the one writing to her, and she realises she loves him, just as he dies[1]. Cheery stuff…

There have been numerous stage productions of Cyrano de Bergerac over the years. Famous actors such as Derek Jacobi, Kevin Kline, James McAvoy, and Adrian Lester have portrayed the titular character in these. But there have been various adaptations and references to Cyrano de Bergerac on screen too, introducing the story to a wider audience.

For example, Steve Martin starred as Charlie “C.D.” Bales in the film Roxanne (1987), based on Cyrano de Bergerac; Daryl Hannah played Roxanne, and Rick Rossovich played Chris, Roxanne’s other love interest. Roxanne is a romantic comedy film and a contemporary adaptation of the original play. The screenplay for it was written by Steve Martin. Roxanne received mostly positive reviews from audiences and critics alike. It also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for Steve Martin, who went on to win the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for the film’s screenplay.

Other more contemporary references to Cyrano de Bergerac include the Season 7 episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-2003), “Getting to Nose You”, where Sabrina conjures her own “Cyrano” in order to find out how her boyfriend Aaron feels about her. It wasn’t the best episode of the show, and it does little to actually explain the original play to its, likely, young audience. When I first watched this episode, I just found it funny seeing Sabrina with a big nose… Futurama even parodied this story in its Season 2 episode “Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?”. Another modern retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac can be seen in the Netflix teen comedy Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018).

The 1950 film Cyrano de Bergerac was the first English film version of the play, and saw José Ferrer take on the titular role, going on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance. In 2022, it was selected to be part of the National Film Registry in the US. Gérard Depardieu later played Cyrano de Bergerac in the 1990 French film version. Most recently, Peter Dinklage starred as Cyrano in the 2021 musical Cyrano, and this time, Cyrano did not have a comically large nose. Haley Bennett was cast as Roxanne, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. played Christian. Cyrano was nominated for various awards, including the Academy Award for Best Costume Design; the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film; and the Golden Globe for both Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Peter Dinklage. Cyrano received highly positive reviews as well. I have seen this musical, and I think it’s a good adaptation of the story, plus some of the songs are excellent. I listen to “Every Letter” pretty often.

Anyway, back to Disney Channel. Eric Daniel and Don D. Scott were tasked with adapting Cyrano de Bergerac to fit a modern story, suitable for its young audience. The story was obviously set in present day, and takes place in Atlanta, Georgia. Their version of Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrus DeBarge, does not have any extraordinary facial features, and is instead just the more average-looking best friend. His friend Kris is taller and more confident so he stands out, whereas Cyrus blends into the background. Rap music also takes the place of the traditional poetry from the original story.

Let It Shine was directed by Paul Hoen, a highly respected and trusted director who has worked on a large number of Disney Channel Original Movies. Some of these include other musicals, such as The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008); Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010); and the ZOMBIES movie franchise. His non-musical directing extends to The Luck of the Irish (2001), Read It and Weep (2006), Jump In! (2007) and Invisible Sister (2015).

Let It Shine was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia in late 2011. Some of the locations used were Glover Park and Marietta Square in Atlanta. These appear to have been used for the scenes of Roxie and Cyrus spending time together, when Roxie wants to open up to Cyrus about Kris and why they aren’t connecting as well as she’d hoped. The Strand theatre was used as the location for the Grand Slam performance[2].

A large interior set was built for the Grand Slam, which had to accommodate a huge crowd scene. A stage was set up in the centre to allow for full focus on the performances, the rap battle between Cyrus and Lord of Da Bling, and the duet between Roxie and Truth, a.k.a. Cyrus. Another set built for Let It Shine was the Off the Street rap club. This set was used for a few different scenes, and it was clearly meant to look quite gritty, with its exposed brick walls, makeshift stage, and its overall industrial vibe[3]. It shows that this is not a place for polished performers; they won’t fit the vibe here. The production designer on Let It Shine was Mark Hofeling, who has worked on such DCOMs as the High School Musical trilogy, and the ZOMBIES and Descendants films.

RECEPTION

After being shown privately in Atlanta, Georgia at The Coca-Cola World Studio on 18^th May 2012, Let It Shine premiered on Disney Channel in the US on 15^th June 2012. The premiere of Let It Shine was followed by the first-ever episode of Disney Channel’s animated series Gravity Falls (2012-16). Let It Shine later filtered out internationally through the rest of 2012.

The US television premiere of Let It Shine was watched by 5.7 million viewers, with even a reported 1.2 million adults aged between 18 and 49 tuning in[4]. This is a decent figure for a Disney Channel Original Movie in terms of viewership of an average DCOM, yet it is not great when compared to viewing figures for Disney Channel’s musicals. For example, most musicals at a minimum were viewed by at least 6 million viewers by this time, with High School Musical 2 (2007) being a major highlight, with its record-breaking viewership of 17.2 million viewers. Let It Shine did not do well when compared to Lemonade Mouth, which was a similarly risky and different type of musical to come from Disney Channel, as Lemonade Mouth drew in 7.1 million viewers on its premiere, and Teen Beach Movie, just one year later in 2013, had 8.4 million viewers watch on its premiere night.

Let It Shine was, however, the best-performing DCOM of 2012, by some margin. Earlier in the year, Frenemies and Radio Rebel had debuted, bringing in just 4.2 and 4.3 million viewers respectively. For Halloween in 2012, Girl vs. Monster was released, which was watched by a little under 5 million on its debut in October.

But viewing figures aren’t everything, and even a DCOM that would seem quite underappreciated in its viewership can turn out to be a cult classic. In this case, Let It Shine was welcomed for its majority Black cast and for infusing Black culture into Disney Channel. This has been a rarity for Disney Channel and Disney in general, so it was a chance to showcase other talents and actually represent a wider proportion of their audience. This is a key reason why some absolutely love Let It Shine. In addition, people say that the music is brilliant, and Let It Shine was a more unique musical to come from Disney Channel, when compared to the likes of High School Musical and Camp Rock. Although those more iconic DCOM musicals remain incredibly popular with a selection of people, others found them to be too corny and unrealistic. The young cast were also highlighted for their acting performances in Let It Shine. This positive response to Let It Shine is reflected in its 84% Rotten Tomatoes score, which is pretty high for a DCOM.

On the other hand, not everyone enjoyed Let It Shine, with the usual comments of the DCOM being cringey and predictable. Besides that, some felt the message to kids, tweens, and teens to “be yourself” is incredibly overdone. Others said that Let It Shine had too similar a story to that of Footloose (1984) and even Eminem’s 8 Mile (2002).

For me, although I liked a few songs within Let It Shine, the movie was not to my taste. It’s nothing to do with the acting quality; it’s more to do with its story basis. I simply do not enjoy the story of Cyrano de Bergerac, probably because I don’t like stories about mistaken identity. It’s easy to open your mouth and fix these misunderstandings, so to have a whole story about something that could be sorted out in a minute is annoying and pointless. I’m also not a big fan of rap, so that didn’t help either.

In terms of awards, Let It Shine and its director Paul Hoen were recognised at the Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs beating out competition from fellow DCOM Girl vs. Monster and Nickelodeon’s Big Time Movie. Let It Shine also won the Humanitas Prize for Children’s Live-Action Television and the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Long Form Musical in Television.

For its acting, Trevor Jackson was nominated for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries, Special or Pilot – Leading Young Actor at the Young Artist Awards, and Tyler James Williams was nominated at the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Youth (Series, Special, Television Movie or Limited Series). At the Black Reel Awards, Trevor Jackson was nominated for Best Actor in a TV Movie or Limited Series, with Courtney B. Vance winning his category of Best Supporting Actor in a TV Movie or Limited Series. Let It Shine was also nominated here for Best Television Miniseries or Movie, and Outstanding Screenplay in a TV Movie or Limited Series.

LEGACY

Let It Shine did not reach the same heights as many other Disney Channel musicals.

It is unclear why exactly that is, but it is not unusual for the standalone musicals to only be remembered by a small selection of Disney Channel fans. This includes others like StarStruck and Lemonade Mouth. Frankly, the Disney Channel musicals that got three or more movies in their franchises are the ones that stand out, whether they deserved to have that many films or not. It’s just how it is.

And yet, it is worth noting that, according to Coco Jones, a sequel to Let It Shine was actually written for Disney Channel and early discussions about it were going on. For some reason, Let It Shine 2 did not progress further. That could’ve been a decision made by Disney after seeing that Let It Shine had not taken off in the same way that High School Musical and others like it had done. Regardless, it was still a disappointment for the cast members who had believed this sequel was in the works and were ready to film it[5].

Really, it is the movie’s fans and its cast keeping Let It Shine alive in each other’s memories. Coco Jones and Tyler James Williams are asked about their involvement in Let It Shine in interviews sometimes, and Brandon Mychal Smith celebrated the film’s 10^th anniversary in 2022 on social media, thanking Disney for making this important movie.

The soundtrack of Let It Shine will, of course, live on as well, with the best songs from the movie being mentioned and talked about on social media. There also continues to be speculation online about whether Let It Shine will be revived in some way by Disney Channel, either with a sequel or a series. Personally, I doubt that will happen.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Let It Shine was made during a time when Disney Channel wanted to take their musical movies in a slightly different direction.

Lemonade Mouth before it and Teen Beach Movie after it are clear examples of Disney Channel not wanting to follow exactly the same formula as they had done in their earlier musicals, with their pop-centric tunes, and prim and proper teen experiences.

Let It Shine highlighted a completely different style of music that most Disney Channel viewers were probably not used to or even aware of: rap music. This makes Let It Shine unique and different, alongside its desire to represent Black culture, which, let’s face it, was rarely front and centre of any Disney Channel project at the time.

With these differences though, it did mean that Let It Shine was somewhat of a risk to Disney Channel and it did not pay off with record-breaking viewing figures, nor did it apparently warrant the creation of a new musical franchise for the channel.

Yet that does not mean that Let It Shine was a failure, as it captured the hearts of many who grew up watching Disney Channel at this time and wanted something more from their DCOMs. I think my era of 2000s Disney Channel was simply not particularly progressive when compared to the 2010s era.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Louisa Baldwin, ‘Everything you need to know about Cyrano de Bergerac at the Noel Coward Theatre’, WestEndTheatre.com, 24^th June 2026.

[2] Credit: Melissa Kory, ‘’Let It Shine’ on the Square’, Patch.com, 11^th November 2011.

[3] Credit: Mark Hofeling, ‘Let It Shine’, MarkHofeling.com, no date.

[4] Credit: Russ Weakland, ‘Disney Channel’s ‘Let It Shine’ Is An Overwhelming Success’, HollywoodLife.com, 18^th June 2012.

[5] Credit: Coco Jones, ‘What Really Happened I Coco Jones’, Coco Jones Official YouTube Channel, 12^th September 2020.

9th October 2026 by The Disney Purist

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

BACKGROUND

I have a confession to make: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince made me a bad friend.

That sounds like an odd statement, so let me explain. Having just watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) on DVD, I developed a crush on Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in these films. It’s a little bit strange that I began to notice him during the fifth movie, because Draco is only in that film for a couple of minutes. After watching, I wondered when the sixth film would be out. At this time, I wasn’t all that interested in the Harry Potter movies, and, with my dad and sister, we were only watching them on DVD. But that was about to change, because now I was definitely going to keep up with them.

I found out that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was going to be in cinemas just a few days later and the best part was I discovered that the sixth story was going to focus more on Draco Malfoy. What great timing! I was excited and I saw the film first with my sister at our local cinema. We had a good time, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and that should’ve been that. But there was still so much left of summer and I couldn’t shake the obsession.

A friend then told me that she was going to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the cinema with her mum. I asked if I could tag along. My friend didn’t seem bothered; she was just amused I had another celebrity crush because I had a lot at that time.

But the worst thing I did as a friend was when I watched it for a third time. I had gone with a different friend to see a live music event in a town nearby. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing this outdoor concert so I researched the cinema’s times before going and saw that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would be on at the perfect time. I sat at this event for maybe half an hour – and then left to watch the film. My friend was not on her own, she had met up with other friends she knew that I didn’t, so I wasn’t a completely awful person. I returned after the film was over to see the concert was done. I could tell my friend was a bit upset with me for ditching her. I then decided to run an errand before we got the bus home. My friend went on ahead because she couldn’t miss her last bus home since we lived in different towns. I was sure I’d make it to the bus on time, but I arrived at the bus station only to see the bus pull away, two minutes early. I had to wait on my own for an hour for the next one. What’s that thing they say about karma?

Anyway, I still feel guilty about that day and after that experience, I vowed never to become that obsessed with a film ever again…

PLOT

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince begins with a flashback, going back to see Harry Potter and Dumbledore leaving the Ministry of Magic, having just fought Lord Voldemort in the building. This was one of the final scenes of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. After denying it for so long, the Ministry has had to finally accept that the Dark Lord is back, so naturally, the press is very interested in this story. Harry is led away from the Ministry by Dumbledore as cameras flash in their faces.

Back in present day London, the non-magical citizens have even started to realise that something bad is going on, as they notice curious, strange storm clouds suddenly rolling in, watching from their office windows and on the streets. The Dark Mark appears in the sky, and Death Eaters fly out of it, heading straight to Diagon Alley. On breaking into Diagon Alley, they dive into Ollivander’s wand shop and promptly kidnap Ollivander himself. On their way out of London, the Death Eaters decide their work is not yet done, and they decide to collapse the Millennium Bridge, causing Muggles to flee and fear for their lives.

We then see Harry, sat at a train station café, reading the latest news in the Daily Prophet, including articles about himself, Lucius Malfoy’s trial, and the bridge incident. A waitress comes over to Harry, and asks who Harry Potter is. Harry doesn’t say he is Harry Potter, but instead, simply says he’s a “bit of a tosser”. She mentions that she thought a picture moved on his paper once and goes back to work. Harry turns around to ask her something, and she responds saying that she gets off work soon, obviously expecting Harry to want to see her later. How presumptuous. Maybe he was just after a refill of his coffee!

Anyway, there is no romance in the air for Harry, as a train noisily rolls past, and he sees Dumbledore on the platform opposite, obviously looking for Harry. Harry goes over to Dumbledore, who tells Harry he has been reckless over the summer. Well, seeing your godfather murdered right in front of you, and finding yourself being possessed by Voldemort all in one night might affect your emotional state… Dumbledore tells Harry he needs to come with him, as he needs Harry’s help. They transport over to a small village via apparition, like teleportation, which shocks Harry, as he has never apparated before.

Dumbledore walks Harry through the streets of Budleigh Babberton and they enter a house, which has been left an absolute mess. The only thing in tact is a stripy armchair in the middle of the room. Harry sees a drop of blood fall on his head. Dumbledore tastes it and then approaches the armchair. Having a wand pointed at it causes the armchair to transform into its real human state. The human pretending to be an armchair is Professor Horace Slughorn, a former Potions teacher at Hogwarts. It turns out Slughorn has been hiding from Death Eaters who have been trying to recruit him for the “other side” – and this isn’t even his house; it’s owned by Muggles who are away on holiday. Dumbledore kindly uses magic to get the house back in order; this is one of the most satisfying film sequences ever to watch.

Dumbledore excuses himself, leaving Harry and Slughorn to talk alone. Slughorn tells Harry he taught his mother, Lily, and that she was one of his favourites. He shows Harry his “collection” of famous former pupils, like a famous Quidditch player and an editor at the Daily Prophet, as well as mentioning that he taught most of the Black family, apart from Sirius Black, Harry’s godfather. He missed out on Sirius but did teach his younger brother Regulus. Dumbledore tells Harry it is time to leave, which confuses Slughorn who was expecting Dumbledore to ask him to come back to Hogwarts to be the Potions teacher. Dumbledore believes it’s a lost cause, and the two walk away. However, before they leave, Slughorn comes out of the house and says he’ll come back if he can have a bigger office.

As Dumbledore and Harry leave the village, Dumbledore tells Harry that Slughorn will want to “collect” him too this year. He also apologises for having Harry miss out on an evening with that girl, before sending him to the Weasley family home, the Burrow, for the rest of summer. Ginny is the first to notice that Harry’s belongings, including owl Hedwig, have turned up there but the Weasleys were unaware they were getting another visitor. Harry walks in and is warmly welcomed regardless. That evening, he, Ron, and Hermione, who is also at the Burrow, catch each other up on what has been going on this summer. It turns out Hermione’s Muggle parents can sense something bad is happening right now, and Ron’s mother didn’t want Ron or Ginny going back to Hogwarts, fearing Dumbledore is too old to lead the Wizarding World through this crisis. She has since allowed them to return.

Meanwhile, Bellatrix Lestrange is heading to Professor Snape’s home with her sister, and Draco Malfoy’s mother, Narcissa. She doesn’t think Snape can be trusted, but Narcissa needs advice. Snape doesn’t believe this is a good idea either, but he lets Narcissa know that he has been informed that Draco has been given a task to complete by the Dark Lord. Narcissa fears for her son, knowing what will happen to him should he not succeed. Bellatrix challenges Snape, telling him if he wants to prove himself loyal to the Dark Lord, there needs to be an Unbreakable Vow between him and Narcissa. He vows to protect and help Draco with his mission, completing it should Draco not be able to do so.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione later go to Diagon Alley, where they see that many of the shops have either closed down or are in a poor state, like Ollivander’s. The only shop still doing well is Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, a new store that has been opened by Ron’s brothers, Fred and George, full of jokes, tricks, and treats. It is incredibly popular, and Harry takes in interest in the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. They soon spot Draco and his mother going down Knockturn Alley, which they know to be dodgy. The three follow them, watching as they head inside the shop Borgin and Burkes. They try to see what is going on from a nearby rooftop, but the blinds are soon shut and they can see nothing.

On the train to Hogwarts, the trio discuss this strange event more. Harry thinks what they saw was an initiation ceremony for Draco, believing he is now a Death Eater, just like his father. He also knows he saw Draco looking at a cabinet, but doesn’t know the significance. Hermione and Ron don’t agree with Harry at all. Harry decides to leave their carriage to “get some air”. He actually takes his Invisibility Cloak and the Darkness Powder and heads to Draco’s carriage. He uses the powder to create a distraction and hides on the luggage rack so he can eavesdrop. Draco seems tetchy and unsettled with his friends, Blaise and Pansy, not wanting to go back to Hogwarts, knowing his future lies elsewhere. He notices some strange movement on the luggage rack though, so as the others disembark the train, Draco uses Petrificus Totalus, revealing Harry who is now unable to move. Draco kicks Harry in the face, and puts the cloak over him, telling him to enjoy the ride back to London. However, luckily, Luna Lovegood is still on the train and uses a strange set of glasses to locate Harry, thanks to all the “wrackspurts” around his head. Wrackspurts apparently make people’s brains go fuzzy. Luna and Harry head to Hogwarts together.

At the entrance gates, they see that Professor Flitwick is doing extra security checks on everyone arriving, showing the seriousness of the time they are living through. Draco is being inspected for his walking stick, with Snape coming over to vouch for him and let him leave. Luna then offers to fix Harry’s nose, which Draco broke by kicking him. He agrees, but he enters the Great Hall still bleeding, sitting with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. They tell him that he missed a speech by the Sorting Hat telling them to brave in these dark times. Dumbledore then gives his usual speech, informing the students that Professor Slughorn is their new Potions teacher, with Snape moving over to Defence Against the Dark Arts, a job he’s wanted for years. Dreams really do come true. Dumbledore tells the students about the increased security, and how they need to be careful of their choices and actions in life.

The next day, Harry and Ron laugh at the new First Year students who are lost and uncertain as they walk through the corridors of Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall sees them laughing and calls Harry over. She tells him that Harry should be in Potions class, as Slughorn is accepting students with lower grades than Snape would’ve done. He says he’ll go straight there, and is told to take Ron with him. In class, Slughorn tells the two to get textbooks from the cupboard and then join the class. They see only one new book left and fight over it. Ron wins, so Harry is left with the tatty, old copy. They watch as Slughorn explains the purposes of various potions, including a love potion which makes all the girls in class suddenly very interested in the lesson, before lifting up a tiny vial of something called Felix Felicis, also known as Liquid Luck. He says this is a prize for whoever can make the best draught of another potion called Living Death. The students get to work. Everyone struggles with the task, even Hermione, who unravels more and more as the class goes on, except for Harry. Harry’s textbook has notes all over it, telling him exactly how to make the perfect Living Death. Slughorn is very impressed and hands over the Liquid Luck to Harry.

Later, Harry is called to Dumbledore’s office. Dumbledore begins by making small talk with Harry, asking him if he is in a relationship with Hermione. Uh, that’s quite inappropriate, Headmaster. Let’s stick to business. Moving on, Dumbledore leads Harry over to the Pensieve to view one of Dumbledore’s memories. Harry watches as Dumbledore meets Tom Riddle at an orphanage many years ago, when Tom was about 11 years old. Tom never has visitors so Dumbledore’s arrival is strange, and he is made aware of incidents between Tom and other children, “nasty things”. Dumbledore tells Tom about Hogwarts, where he will be able to go to school to control his magical abilities, but he warns Tom that bad behaviour, like stealing, will not be tolerated there. Harry comes out of the memory, and Dumbledore says he didn’t know that Tom would become one of the darkest wizards of all time after this meeting. He also reveals that Tom Riddle was close to one teacher during his time at Hogwarts. Unsurprisingly, this teacher was Slughorn, who has something important that Dumbledore needs. Harry agrees to get close to Slughorn to help the cause. Whilst all this is going on, Draco begins to carry out his own tasks for the Dark Lord. He starts in the Room of Requirement, where he finds and attempts to fix a cabinet.

The following day, Harry and Ginny run try-outs for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Ron has decided to try out for Keeper, but a more athletic boy called Cormac McLaggen seems to have more of a chance of getting it. The two are tied after multiple saves, with Hermione breaking the deadlock by using the Confundus Charm on Cormac to have him miss a save, not liking his arrogance or his intense fascination with her. Ron is selected as the team’s keeper. After the try-outs, Ron is basking in his success, as Harry obsesses over his Potions book. Hermione is annoyed that Harry is essentially cheating through classes and demands to know who owned that book. Ginny manages to take the book from Harry and says the book has an inscription saying it is the property of the Half-Blood Prince.

Hermione continues to gripe about this book later on, and tells Harry and Ron she tried researching the name, but found nothing. They walk into Hogsmeade and hear that Slughorn is going to The Three Broomsticks pub. Harry tells the other two they should go and get Butterbeers there. At the pub, Harry sees Draco acting strangely but has to focus on Slughorn, telling the other two Dumbledore has asked him to get to know him. As Harry waits for Slughorn to approach their table, Ron sees Ginny in the corner with Dean Thomas, and they start kissing. He wants to leave, but Harry says they can’t. Slughorn finally comes over, a little worse for wear, and invites Harry and Hermione to a dinner party he is organising for his best students; Ron is left out. The three leave the pub shortly after, with Hermione feeling a little merry herself! But she soon sobers up, as fellow Gryffindor Katie Bell is seemingly hexed right in front of them. She is dragged up into the air and thrown to the ground. Hagrid rushes over and carries Katie back to school. Harry inspects the package Katie had in her hands. Back at school, Professor McGonagall questions Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Katie’s friend Leanne. Leanne says Katie didn’t have the package when they arrived at the pub, but that she received it whilst they were there and said it had to be delivered to Dumbledore urgently. She is told she can go. McGonagall then wonders why Harry, Ron, and Hermione are always at the centre of the trouble. Ron says he wonders the same thing sometimes! Professor Snape confirms the necklace was hexed. Harry assumes Katie was cursed and accuses Draco Malfoy of cursing her. McGonagall and Snape see no evidence for this. That evening, Harry sees Draco disappear on the Marauder’s Map and wonders what that means. Ron asks what Dean likes about his sister, with Harry saying it could be her skin. Weirdo.

Then it is time for Slughorn’s dinner party, where he asks about his guests and their parents’ lives. Some other guests include Cormac, Blaise, and Marcus Belby, whose uncle is apparently quite famous, but Marcus’ family don’t speak to him much. Well, you’re no use to Slughorn then! Slughorn moves on to ask about Hermione’s parents. She tells Slughorn her parents are dentists, which impresses nobody. Ginny arrives late to the party as the group are tucking into their profiteroles. Hermione whispers to Harry that her eyes are red, so she must’ve been crying, probably from arguing with Dean. As the party wraps up, Harry finds himself alone with Slughorn, after seeing an hourglass whose sand runs depending on the conversation being had. Harry fears he is boring Slughorn as the sand is running slowly, but Slughorn tells him not to worry, but that many of his classmates won’t be making his shelf of most treasured former pupils. Harry asks if Voldemort, or Tom Riddle, made the shelf, and asks for more details about what he was like. Slughorn reiterates that Tom Riddle was just a quiet, talented student, and there was no hint of the dark wizard he would become.

The next morning, it is time for Ron’s first Quidditch match as the Gryffindor Keeper and he is rightly nervous. Sitting down for breakfast, Ron looks very scared and uncertain. Luna Lovegood, sitting nearby, wonders if Harry put a tonic in Ron’s drink to calm the nerves, as she was sure she saw him putting something in Ron’s cup. Harry then appears to put the Liquid Luck vial back in his pocket, making Hermione believe he has used his Liquid Luck on Ron, which would be immoral as that would lead to magic affecting the result of a sports match. Ron is fine with that though and gladly finishes his drink, now ready for the match. Sure enough, Ron has a great game and Gryffindor win. As celebrations take place in the Common Room, Ron smugly stands there and accepts all the praise. Hermione scolds Harry for using the Liquid Luck, however, Harry shows her the vial still full of liquid; Harry did not use it, but the placebo effect was enough to help Ron. Hermione now feels able to join in the celebrations, however, just at that moment, Gryffindor Lavender Brown launches herself at Ron and snogs him in front of everyone, devastating Hermione, who was just beginning to accept her feelings for him. She walks away in tears, with Harry following. They compare what it must be like for each of them to like someone who is already with someone else. Hermione likes Ron, but he is now with Lavender, and Harry likes Ginny, but she is currently with Dean. Ron and Lavender then burst into the room. Hermione shows her clear distaste for this new relationship through a Bird-Conjuring Charm, with the birds trying to attack Ron.

Harry tries to get his two friends to make up, but Ron is dead set on continuing things with Lavender, and Hermione has had to make other arrangements for Slughorn’s upcoming Christmas party. Harry hoped they’d go together, instead of the people they wanted to, annoying Hermione, who didn’t think of that; her date is being left as a “surprise”. Hermione tells Harry he needs to take someone good to the party, and points out Romilda Vane, who is trying to smuggle Harry a love potion, only being interested in Harry because he is “The Chosen One”. Harry responds that he is the Chosen One, with Hermione hitting him with a book as punishment for his arrogance. Harry says he’ll ask someone cool to the party.

Harry arrives to Slughorn’s Christmas party with Luna, so maybe not someone cool, but at least someone he knows! Hermione has taken Cormac McLaggen to the party, thinking it would annoy Ron. She failed to realise that Ron isn’t even at this party, because it’s only for Slughorn’s favourite students, so I doubt he even noticed! And Hermione is having a terrible time as Cormac is getting very handsy with her… She manages to escape him at one point, leaving him with Harry. He says Hermione talks too much and must be playing hard to get. Harry is called away by Professor Snape, who tells him that Dumbledore will be travelling over the Christmas holidays. Snape says nothing further. Draco Malfoy then becomes the centre of attention, as caretaker Filch says he saw Draco lurking around here, despite not being invited to the party. Draco says he was gate-crashing. Snape offers to see him out. Harry follows to listen in on their conversation. Snape warns Draco to take his advice, as he has made an Unbreakable Vow for him. Hmm. Interesting.

On the train back home for Christmas, Harry tells Ron what he heard Snape and Draco talking about, including the Unbreakable Vow. Their conversation is interrupted by Lavender, drawing a heart on their train carriage door. Ron is starting to think Lavender is a bit too clingy and obsessive now… Anyway, back to Snape. Ron informs Harry that you can’t break an Unbreakable Vow. No duh. Continuing that if someone does, then they will die.

Harry spends Christmas at the Burrow with the Weasleys as well as some members of the Order of the Phoenix, like Lupin and Tonks. Lupin tells Harry that he should trust Snape because Dumbledore does, but Harry isn’t so sure about that. Harry has a discussion with Mr. Weasley about Dumbledore, who lets Harry know that Dumbledore travelling this winter is news to the Ministry, but he has some information about Draco Malfoy and the cabinet that Harry saw him looking at in Borgin and Burkes. That cabinet was a Vanishing Cabinet, which were popular during Voldemort’s rise to power the first time. It allowed witches and wizards to transport themselves elsewhere and go into hiding should he or his followers come looking for them. During Christmas Day, Harry and Ginny gradually become closer, but their moments together keep being interrupted, first by Ron with his mince pies, and then by Death Eaters Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback turning up in a ring of fire. Bellatrix taunts Harry by saying she killed Sirius Black, leading him into the fields of reeds around the Burrow. Ginny follows after him, in her pyjamas and dressing gown. The two engage in a battle with the Death Eaters, before Mr. Weasley, Tonks, and Lupin come to help them. Bellatrix and Fenrir go back to the Burrow and hit it with fireballs, causing it to go up in flames. The group rush back to see the rest of the Weasley family watching their home burn.

After Christmas and back at school, Harry is once again shown a memory about Tom Riddle by Professor Dumbledore. It shows Slughorn talking to Tom Riddle. Tom asks him about a bit of rare magic that he read about, but the word is muffled and inaudible. Slughorn proceeds to tell Tom to get out of his office and to never speak of it again. Out of the memory, Dumbledore tells Harry that this memory has been tampered with by Slughorn, and he needs the real one to know what they were talking about, as this could bring about the downfall of Voldemort in present day. To get this memory, Harry goes to Slughorn after one of his classes and begins to re-enact the same conversation he just saw, only he does not know what the magic is called. He simply asks if there are some types of magic that they aren’t taught. Slughorn says there are both light and dark types of magic in the world, and it’s always best to choose the light. Harry asks if he said the same to Tom Riddle when he asked the same sort of question. Slughorn figures out the ruse, and starts to avoid Harry.

Back in his dormitory, Harry sees Ron has eaten a box of chocolates meant for him, sent by Romilda Vane. They have clearly been laced with a love potion because Ron is now in love with Romilda despite having never met her. Not knowing what to do, and seeing this as a way to get back to Slughorn, Harry takes Ron to Slughorn’s office to get him an antidote. Ron recovers after drinking it but now feels odd and unlike himself, so Slughorn pours them all a drink to get Ron to feel better. However, Ron drinks first and collapses to the ground, seemingly choking from being poisoned. Slughorn freezes in shock, leaving Harry to try and save him. Luckily, Ron comes round, saying these girls are going to kill him someday. Ron is taken to the hospital wing, where he is resting. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny stay with him, as Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, and Slughorn try to figure out what happened. It turns out the bottle Slughorn poured from was intended as a gift for Dumbledore. Lavender bursts into the room, and wonders why Hermione would be here. Lavender reassures Ron that she is here, but, unconscious, Ron mumbles the word “Hermione”, causing Lavender to run off in tears. The others leave Hermione and Ron alone. Meanwhile, Draco has managed to successfully mend the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, making a passage to Hogwarts from the cabinet in Borgin and Burkes. However, the pressure of this mission all seems to be getting to him.

Ron is soon released from the hospital and learns that he and Lavender broke up, but he doesn’t know what he said to lead to it. He doesn’t care that they broke up, but Lavender is clearly devastated by it. The three then see Katie Bell return to normal school life after being cursed and hexed. Harry goes over to Katie to get information from her; however, she cannot remember who cursed her. Draco walks into the room at that point, and seeing Katie and Harry, turns away and leaves. He goes to the bathroom and begins to cry. Harry follows him and accuses him of hexing Katie. The two battle, destroying the bathroom. Harry then uses the spell Sectumsempra which he learnt from his Potions book, on Draco. He is seriously wounded. Snape comes in to the bathroom and begins to heal him. Due to this event, Harry is told by his friends he must give up the textbook. Ginny takes Harry to the Room of Requirement to hide it, so he will never be able to find it. Ginny tells Harry to close his eyes whilst she hides it. On her return, the two kiss.

That evening, Harry and Ron run into Slughorn, who awkwardly avoids passing them in the corridor, turning around and walking the other way. Harry realises he’s going to need some luck to get that memory from Slughorn and drinks the Liquid Luck potion. Harry ignores the plan he made with Hermione and Ron, and instead chooses to go to Hagrid’s. On the way, he passes Slughorn taking Tentacula leaves from the greenhouses. He spots Harry and tells him he can’t go wandering around the grounds on his own this late at night. Harry says Slughorn can always come with him. The two discover Hagrid in front of a deceased Aragog, the huge spider Harry and Ron came face-to-face with a few years before. Slughorn asks if he can take some venom from Aragog as it is incredibly rare. Hagrid allows it. Slughorn then says a few words in his memory. The trio return to Hagrid’s hut, where Slughorn and Hagrid have a few drinks and have a bit of a sing-song. Hagrid reminisces about his times with Aragog, leading Slughorn to say he was given a fish once by Harry’s mother Lily, and noticed it had simply vanished one day, the same day Lily was murdered. Slughorn finally accepts he needs to hand over his real memory of Tom Riddle.

On receiving the memory, Harry goes straight to Dumbledore’s office to the Pensieve. They view the memory and learn the two were discussing Horcruxes, magic that allows part of a witch or wizard’s soul to remain in an object after murdering someone; it allows someone to never die. Tom Riddle plans to have seven of these. Dumbledore tells Harry this is just as he suspected, having already found Tom Riddle’s diary and his mother’s ring were both Horcruxes. Harry learns the key to destroying Voldemort is to destroy each Horcrux – and Dumbledore thinks he knows where a third one might be. Harry readies himself to go with Dumbledore to find this next Horcrux, inadvertently hearing a conversation between him and Snape, with Snape saying how he doesn’t want to do this anymore – whatever that means. Dumbledore apparates with Harry to a cave in the middle of the sea.

On entering the cave, Dumbledore uses his blood to allow passage further in, telling Harry he must obey all his commands. They cannot see much in the dark cave, but figure out with a Lumos spell that they need to get over to the other side to find the Horcrux. They find a boat and sail over there. They get onto a platform of crystals, surrounded by water, and see a bowl of potion. Dumbledore figures the potion will have to be drunk in its entirety to get the Horcrux. Dumbledore drinks a bit and starts to feel unwell. Harry has to force him to finish it all, collecting a locket at the end of it. Dumbledore asks for water. Harry tries to conjure some, but is unable to, so he goes to the edge of the platform to get water, however, he is grabbed by a creature, a skeletal corpse-like thing called an Inferi, with a whole group of them trying to get to him and Dumbledore. Harry is dragged into the water by one. Luckily, Dumbledore recovers enough to be able to take his wand and cast fireballs throughout the cave, destroying the Inferi. Harry and Dumbledore are able to leave the cave.

The two return to Hogwarts’ Astronomy Tower, where Harry is told to find Snape, however, they both hear noises. Harry is told to hide underneath the tower, and not say a word or be seen, regardless of what happens. Dumbledore is approached by Draco, who instantly disarms Dumbledore. Dumbledore tries to dissuade Draco from killing him, knowing this was what he’d been asked by Voldemort to do, and as he does so, Bellatrix and other Death Eaters arrive in the tower. Dumbledore learns that Draco fixed the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, allowing them to enter the school from Borgin and Burkes. Underneath the tower, Harry sees Snape, and believes that Snape will stop this. Draco seems unable to carry out this task, so Snape steps in front. He kills Dumbledore instead, with the force of the spell launching Dumbledore off the Astronomy Tower. The Death Eaters, including Snape and Draco, walk out of Hogwarts, with Bellatrix destroying as much property as she can, including Hagrid’s hut. Harry follows and demands to know why Snape betrayed Dumbledore, but he refuses to engage. Harry attempts to use Sectumsempra on Snape but the spell is blocked. Snape reveals that is his spell as he is the Half-Blood Prince. Harry returns to the castle, where all the teachers and students mourn the death of their Headmaster, pointing their wands into the sky, dispelling the Dark Mark that has appeared.

The next day, once the dust has settled, Harry goes to Dumbledore’s office, feeling lost. Professor McGonagall attempts to console him, but Harry doesn’t want to talk. She says Harry meant a great deal to Dumbledore before he walks away from her. Back at the Astronomy Tower, Harry tells Hermione that he feels guilty for not doing anything to save Dumbledore. To make it even worse, the locket Horcrux they found was fake. Hermione reads the note inside, saying someone named R.A.B. stole the real one, in the hope of destroying it. Harry says he needs to finish the mission that Dumbledore started, by finding the remaining Horcruxes, so he won’t be returning to Hogwarts next year. Hermione says she and Ron will help him, and they will work together to find them.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sees Harry finally getting an idea of how to destroy Voldemort, thanks to Dumbledore’s persistence and assistance. Harry spends much of this film with either Dumbledore or Professor Slughorn, wanting to get as much information as possible to figure out how to rid the world of Voldemort once and for all, meaning he does not spend as much time with Ron and Hermione, who provide some help, but have their own problems going on. Hermione is upset with Ron for dating Lavender, when she likes him, and she has her own admirer in Cormac McLaggen bothering her in the first part of this story. Eventually, Ron tires of Lavender and the two start talking again, but they refuse to admit their real feelings – unlike Harry who gets a kiss from his love interest, Ginny. Meanwhile, some of the Death Eaters have returned to help kill Dumbledore, with this being Draco’s task, although Snape ends up completing it as Draco cannot. There are less scenes taking place in lessons, and less frivolity between the students, so the story really focuses on these characters I’ve mentioned, however, many characters returned to reprise their roles in this sixth film, if only in minor roles, with some new character additions also being made.

One of these new characters is a new Hogwarts Professor, except this time it is not a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, but a Potions teacher. The hiring of Professor Horace Slughorn in Potions has led Professor Snape to be moved over to Defence Against the Dark Arts like he had always wanted. Professor Slughorn was a Potions teacher at Hogwarts years before, during the time that Tom Riddle was at school, before he became Lord Voldemort. That is why Dumbledore has had him return – because he has information that should help bring about the downfall of Voldemort, since he was close to Tom during his time at Hogwarts. Slughorn likes to focus on his most brilliant students, the ones he feels are the most talented and will go far in life; Tom Riddle must’ve been one of those, until his dark side came to the surface. Now, Slughorn is looking to “collect” Harry as one of his current favourite students, with Lily, Harry’s mother, having been one before. Slughorn is a friendly teacher, although he does have a tendency to write students off if they prove to not be worthy or talented, such as having Neville Longbottom be a waiter at his Christmas party after not making it into “The Slug Club”. However, Slughorn is clearly ashamed about his dealings with Tom Riddle, leading him to learn about Horcruxes and therefore return to power. Slughorn didn’t mean to do this, but would rather hide his secret than try to fix the mistakes he’s made. In the end, Harry has to guilt-trip Slughorn into providing him and Dumbledore with his memory of Tom and the Horcrux discussion.

Jim Broadbent was cast as Professor Slughorn, despite not having much resemblance to the character, as per his physical description in the books. In the books, Slughorn is described as being a very large, stout man, with a big moustache. Broadbent does not look like that; however, this did not bother fans of the series, who loved Broadbent’s depiction of the character, including his great comic delivery and portrayal of Slughorn’s eccentricities[1]. Broadbent is known for various film and television roles. Some of his more comedic roles have included playing Pod Clock in The Borrowers (1997); being cast as Colin Jones, Bridget’s dad in the Bridget Jones’s Diary film series; appearing as Inspector Frank Butterman in Hot Fuzz (2007); and starring as Kempton Bunton in The Duke (2020). He also has played Santa Claus a couple of times, voicing the character Malcolm Claus in the animated film Arthur Christmas (2011), and acting as the character in Get Santa (2014). Broadbent is also known for his role as Samuel Gruber in the Paddington films. Outside of that, Broadbent played Dean Charles Stanforth in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) and portrayed Denis Thatcher in the Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady (2011). He has won numerous awards throughout his career, such as a BAFTA for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! (2001); a BAFTA and Golden Globe win for his title role in the television film Longford (2006); and an Oscar and a Golden Globe win for Best Supporting actor for his role as John Bayley in Iris (2001). More recently, Broadbent was cast in the title role for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2023) and as Peter Schneider in Jay Kelly (2025). Reportedly, Bob Hoskins was initially considered for the part of Horace Slughorn. Hoskins was known for such roles as Smee in Hook (1991), and Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

Following on from that, we have some new villain roles that had to be filled in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We’ve already met Voldemort in a few different forms so far in this series, like teenage Tom Riddle being played by Christian Coulson in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and Ralph Fiennes first appearing as the revived Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Years later, we needed Tom Riddle to return as a student at Hogwarts, getting a glimpse of his cockiness and self-assuredness, as well as his penchant for dark magic, through a past memory of Slughorn’s. Coulson, despite allegedly being happy to return, was considered too old to reprise his role, so a new actor had to be found. Frank Dillane was chosen to portray this character in this film.

After Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dillane went on to play Nick Clark in the spin-off television series Fear the Walking Dead (2015-23) in its first four seasons and played Henry Coffin in In the Heart of the Sea (2015). Later, Dillane played Charles Devereux in the Disney+ series Renegade Nell (2024) and was cast as Boise Hannington in the ITV drama series Joan (2025) starring Sophie Turner. More recently, Dillane starred as Mike in the drama film Urchin (2025), winning the Best Actor award at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, with the film premiering in the Un Certain Regard section. He also played John Willoughby in the 2026 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (2026).

We also see an eleven-year-old Tom Riddle, who has been isolated at Wool’s Orphanage, being kept away from other children due to his strange demeanour and behaviour. He is led to believe he is mad, but Dumbledore visits him with a lifeline: to come to Hogwarts and learn to control his magical gifts, as long as he learns to behave. Hero Fiennes Tiffin was cast as young Tom Riddle, giving a chilling, haunted quality to this kid we know will grow up to become one of the most evil wizards of all time. In recent years, Fiennes Tiffin has gone on to star as Hardin Scott in the After film series and was cast as Charlie in the Amazon Prime film Picture This (2025). He is set to play Rhodes in the upcoming survival film Above the Below (2026) with Idris Elba. In series, Fiennes Tiffin currently portrays the character of Sherlock Holmes in the Amazon Prime series Young Sherlock (2026-present), alongside his uncle Joseph Fiennes, who played Silas Holmes in the series. Another of Fiennes Tiffin’s uncles is Ralph Fiennes, who was already playing Voldemort in the Harry Potter series by this point.

Further new characters on Voldemort’s side in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince are Narcissa Malfoy, Draco’s mother and Lucius’ wife, and Fenrir Greyback. Narcissa Malfoy doesn’t play a huge role in this film, other than to go to Snape for help after finding out that her son has been recruited as a Death Eater by Voldemort and given the task of murdering Dumbledore. Narcissa is rightly scared and concerned for her son, knowing what will happen to him should he fail. Narcissa brings along her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, to help plead her case, although Bellatrix doesn’t know what Narcissa is fussing about, thinking they should feel honoured. Bellatrix isn’t sure that Snape can be trusted, so she uses this meeting to force his loyalty, having him make an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa to help Draco succeed. Fenrir Greyback is first shown in this film kidnapping Ollivander. He returns to join Bellatrix in taunting Harry Potter and the others at the Weasley home, helping to destroy the Burrow. Fenrir comes back again, to be present at the Astronomy Tower to see Snape kill Dumbledore. He provides the muscle for Voldemort, I guess!

Narcissa Malfoy was played by Helen McCrory, who was originally meant to play Bellatrix Lestrange in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix but had to drop out. I’m glad they found a good role for her in later films instead to make up for it. In film, McCrory portrayed Cherie Blair in The Queen (2006), and voiced Mrs. Bean in Wes Anderson’s film Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) prior to and around the time of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. After this, she was cast as Jehanne D’Alcy in Hugo (2011) and appeared as Clair Dowar MP in the Bond film Skyfall (2012). In television, McCrory was known for her role as Polly Gray in the first five seasons of Peaky Blinders (2013-22) and played Evelyn Poole in Penny Dreadful (2014-16). She also provided the voice of Stelmaria in the first two series of His Dark Materials (2019-22). McCrory sadly passed away in 2021 at the age of 52.

Fenrir Greyback was played by Dave Legeno, who was a mixed martial artist as well as an actor. Some of his roles included being cast as John in Snatch (2000) and Guidobaldo da Montefeltro in the series Borgia (2011-14). Legeno died in 2014 at the age of 50, with the films Sword of Vengeance (2015), where he played Osgar; and Last Knights (2015), where he played Olaf, being released after his death.

Now for the students that feature either for the first time or more prominently in the Harry Potter series in this sixth film. First up is Lavender Brown. She is shown to have a crush on Ron as early as their trip to Diagon Alley, as she says “hi” to Ron, despite him barely even noticing her. She watches as he takes part in the try-outs for the Quidditch team in the freezing cold, cheering him on, and then takes her chance after he helps the team win their first match, by kissing him in front of everyone. Ron initially loves all the attention that Lavender gives him, but soon finds her to be too clingy and odd, never leaving him alone and seemingly falling in love with him very quickly. But Ron doesn’t know how to turn her down, so Ron kind of strings her along for a while. This makes it even more upsetting for Lavender when Ron mutters Hermione’s name in his sleep at the hospital and doesn’t even break up with her properly. He’s lucky she didn’t go out to get revenge on him because she seems unhinged enough to do something like that!

Jessie Cave was cast as Gryffindor student Lavender Brown, beating out thousands of girls who had auditioned for the part. It was her natural chemistry with Rupert Grint that was said to have got her the role. After the Harry Potter series had ended, Cave went on to play Annie Maddocks in the E4 drama series Glue (2014), before being cast as Heather in the Sky One comedy series Trollied (2011-18) from Series 5. More recently, she played Rosie in the ITV sitcom Buffering (2021-23), which starred and was co-written by comedian Iain Stirling. In film, Cave appeared as Biddy in the 2012 film adaptation of Great Expectations and was cast as Zoe in the historical drama film Pride (2014). She has also written and performed comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, such as her shows Bookworm in 2012 and Sunrise in 2018. Cave published her first novel titled Sunset in 2021.

We first see Cormac McLaggen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as he is trying out to be Gryffindor’s Keeper in Quidditch, against Ron. Cormac seems to be the most likely one of the two to be selected, and his arrogance and over-confidence comes across well. Cormac also says he is interested in Hermione, wanting Ron to help him get close to her; Ron doesn’t want to get involved with all that! Hermione isn’t interested in Cormac anyway, because, although Cormac is quite handsome, he is vain and smug. Hermione dislikes Cormac so much, she uses a spell on him during Quidditch try-outs to ensure Ron gets to be Keeper. Hermione tries to avoid Cormac at all costs, however, after Ron starts dating Lavender, her jealousy starts to rule her head, and she ends up taking Cormac to Slughorn’s Christmas party, essentially using him and ditching him when he keeps her under the mistletoe for too long. After this party, we don’t see much more of Cormac in this film. He either got the hint that Hermione doesn’t like him or felt she wasn’t worth chasing anymore!

Cormac McLaggen was played by Freddie Stroma. Stroma returned to reprise his role in the final two Harry Potter films. After the series ended, he went on to be cast as Luke in Pitch Perfect (2012) and as Ben Thornton-Wild in The Inbetweeners 2 (2014). He also played Adam Cromwell in the first season of the drama series UnReal (2015-18), and was cast as Ron Ebsen in Second Act (2018), which starred Jennifer Lopez. More recently, Stroma starred as Adrian Chase / Vigilante in the HBO Max series Peacemaker (2022-25).

There are a variety of other Gryffindor students who are involved in the story of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince too. Two are Romilda Vane and Dean Thomas. Romilda Vane does not appear much in this film, first appearing in Potions class with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, when Harry gets that old textbook, and is seen sitting in the library, looking at Harry, as Hermione tells him Romilda is looking to smuggle him a love potion, wanting to be with the “Chosen One”. That is all we see of Romilda in this film; however, her actions are fairly important because it transpires that she does actually attempt to give Harry a love potion, in the form of chocolates. Ron ends up eating them and falling in love with Romilda instead, giving Harry the perfect excuse to talk to Slughorn again, opening up pathways to get Slughorn to hand over his memory of Tom Riddle.

Romilda Vane was played by Anna Shaffer. Shaffer had no spoken lines in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I feel is quite unfair, seeing as Romilda is definitely trying to make an impact on that love triangle between Harry, Ginny, and Dean, so it’s not like she’s trying to fade into the background. Shaffer reprised her role as Romilda in the following two Harry Potter films, going on to have a regular role in the British soap Hollyoaks (1995-present) from 2011 until 2018. She later played Triss Merigold in the fantasy drama series The Witcher (2019-27) for Netflix.

Dean Thomas has been in and around Harry and Ron’s friendship group throughout their time at Hogwarts, across all six years. He is part of that group, along with Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan, that have classes with Harry and Ron, and chill out with them in the Gryffindor Common Room, but don’t get involved in all the action very often. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dean has slightly more of a role as he is part of this same love triangle – or square? – with Romilda, Harry, and Ginny, since he is dating Ginny at the beginning of the film. The two are also seen kissing in The Three Broomsticks pub. But the couple apparently argued often, with Hermione saying that must’ve been why Ginny was late to Slughorn’s dinner party. Dean has never seemed very confrontational, so this surprised me, but no more than the pairing of Dean and Ginny did; it just all seemed odd.

Alfred Enoch was cast as Dean Thomas, playing the character since the very first movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001). Shortly after the Harry Potter series had ended, Enoch went on to play Wes Gibbins in the legal drama How to Get Away with Murder (2014-20). Continuing his work in series, Enoch was cast as Pete Thomas in the first series of the Channel 4 mini-series The Couple Next Door (2023-present) opposite Eleanor Tomlinson, going on to play Mr. Lidderdale in the BBC One mini-series Miss Austen (2025), which starred Keeley Hawes. Enoch also starred as Adam in the British rom-com This Is Christmas (2022). Recently, Enoch played DS Isaac Fagbenle in the Netflix series Run Away (2026) based on the novel by Harlan Coben, and starred alongside Gal Gadot and Damian Lewis in the Prime Video action thriller The Runner (2026), being cast as Ted. On stage, Enoch played the lead role in Pericles for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2024, returning to star as in the title role of Henry V in 2026 at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Katie Bell is also a Gryffindor student, and part of the Quidditch team. Her main role in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is to be cursed by Draco Malfoy at The Three Broomsticks, so that she will deliver a hexed necklace to Dumbledore, meaning Draco can succeed in killing him, without being connected to it easily. Katie inadvertently touches the necklace herself and is hexed, remaining in hospital for a long portion of the school year. On her return to normal school life, she has no idea who cursed her, although Harry knows it was Draco. Katie’s friend, Leanne, witnesses these events and is quizzed on them by Professor McGonagall but can give no further information, other than the fact Katie didn’t have the necklace when they arrived at the pub and wanted to go quickly once she did.

Katie Bell was played by Georgina Leonidas. Prior to her role in this film, Leonidas had played Molly in the British children’s show The Basil Brush Show (2002-07). Leanne was played by Isabella Laughland, who went on to be cast as Beth in the teen drama Now Is Good (2012), which starred Dakota Fanning, and as Kay in the horror film Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018). She later played Deb in the Paramount+ series The Road Trip (2024) and was cast as Becky in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2025). Both actresses continued to play their characters Katie and Leanne until the end of the Harry Potter series.

Following on from that are two of Draco’s group. He had normally been flanked by his henchmen Crabbe and Goyle, and yet in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, we see Draco mostly talking to Blaise and Pansy Parkinson, both Slytherins, of course. Draco only really talks to these two on the train to Hogwarts, as he distances and isolates himself throughout the course of the school year. Pansy has popped up time and again around Draco, seemingly being a potential love interest for him, in earlier Harry Potter films, whereas Blaise first appears in this film. Blaise is also a part of “The Slug Club”, so we see him at the dinner party and at Slughorn’s Christmas party too.

Pansy Parkinson was played by Scarlett Byrne in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, continuing with the role to the end of the film series. Pansy had previously appeared in other Harry Potter films, but was played by different actresses, such as Genevieve Gaunt playing the role in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004). Following the conclusion of Harry Potter, Byrne was cast in the recurring role of Nora Hildegard in Season 7 of The Vampire Diaries (2009-17), having received a main role in Season 4 of the science-fiction series Falling Skies (2011-15), as Lexi Glass-Mason, the year before. Louis Cordice was cast as Blaise Zabini, appearing in the role in the final two Harry Potter films.

There are a couple of other characters and actors that I would like to mention, although their roles in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince are quite minor. The first is Marcus Belby, who attempts to be a part of “The Slug Club”, but after failing to give much information on his famous uncle to Professor Slughorn, he finds he did not make it into this exclusive club, and according to Neville, has been left to hand out towels in the bathroom at the Christmas party. What a terrible demotion. Marcus Belby was played by Rob Knox. Allegedly, Knox was set to reprise his character in the following Harry Potter film, however, he was tragically stabbed to death before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was even released. Knox died at the age of 18 in May 2008.

The other is the waitress in the café, who flirts with Harry, but finds she has been stood up by him in favour of a trip with Professor Dumbledore. That’s so typical of Harry! She was played by Elarica Gallacher, who has since gone on to be cast as Juliette Durand in series 1 of A Discovery of Witches (2018-22) for Sky, and voiced Drolta Tzuentes in the animated Netflix series Castlevania: Nocturne (2023-25).

Finally, there are a couple of cameo appearances by people who may look familiar, particularly to British viewers. One is from TV presenter Ben Shephard, who can be seen in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment within the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes shop scene; he plays a wizard father with his kids, and can be seen as Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave the shop. Ben Shephard had been presenting the behind-the-scenes documentaries Behind the Magic for the last few Harry Potter films, so that is likely why he was offered the role as the documentary followed him getting ready for his big moment on screen[2]. Shephard is known for presenting shows like the daytime show This Morning (1988-present) from the 2000s, returning as a permanent host in 2024, and presenting the game show Tipping Point (2012-present). He co-hosted Ninja Warrior UK (2015-22) and later participated as Conkers in Series 7 of The Masked Singer UK (2020-present) in 2026, coming in second place.

The other is the cameo appearance of actor Paul Ritter as Eldred Worple, an attendee of Slughorn’s Christmas party, who is briefly visible in the background of the scene but has no lines. Ritter starred as Martin Goodman in the sitcom Friday Night Dinner (2011-20), as well as playing Dr. Billy Cartwright in ITV’s crime drama Vera (2011-25). Some more dramatic roles of his included portraying Bentley Purchase in the war drama Operation Mincemeat (2022) and Jeremy Hutchinson in the BBC mini-series The Trial of Christine Keeler (2019-20). Ritter passed away in 2021 at the age of 54.

MUSIC

Having already composed the score for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Nicholas Hooper was well prepared to work on the music for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

As with all Harry Potter films, John Williams’ iconic instrumental track “Hedwig’s Theme” is used in this sixth film. The opening track uses a few notes of this theme, before moving into other motifs that will be used later in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It is used more obviously during the track “Ginny”, which is playing as Harry arrives at the Burrow after his visit to see Slughorn with Dumbledore.

You’ll also notice a few tracks that first appeared in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix being used in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. As these tracks appeared in an earlier film, they are not listed on the official soundtrack for the sixth film.

The first “borrowed” track to be heard is “Fireworks”. “Fireworks” was used in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the scene of Fred and George Weasley crashing an exam to throw fireworks at Dolores Umbridge and ruin the calm order of the day, as well as destroying her huge number of glass-encased rules. This shows Fred and George choosing to leave school to start their own business. And they did start their own business in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as they opened their own store, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, in order to sell all the products they were already selling to students at Hogwarts. Due to the link between these two scenes from the two different movies, it makes sense to link them with the music as well. What is odd though is that a specific track was written for this moment called “Wizard Wheezes”, but it was not used; it is on the official soundtrack. I’m personally glad they chose to use “Fireworks” for this scene, as I find “Wizard Wheezes” too loud and chaotic with its jazzy, big band feel.

The other recycled musical track was “Dumbledore’s Army”, playing during the Gryffindor Quidditch try-outs. I actually associate this piece more with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince than with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I guess I’ve just watched and paid attention to the sixth film more than I have the fifth! “Dumbledore’s Army” was still an important track in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix though, as the building up of Dumbledore’s Army, the group of students that Harry helps train to defend themselves against dark forces, is a main plot point in that story.

I like both “Dumbledore’s Army” and “Fireworks” alongside various other pieces within the score of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. One of these is “Living Death”, used for the sequence of Harry and his classmates in Potions class trying to make the perfect draught of the potion Living Death. Harry is doing well, thanks to the old textbook, whereas everyone around him is struggling and not able to complete the task. I like how upbeat the track is, whilst seeing others, like Hermione, crumbling as the class goes on and they still can’t get understand why they can’t make this potion. It’s a comical scene. The victorious and triumph nature of “Ron’s Victory”, after Ron successfully helps Gryffindor win in his first Quidditch match is another highlight of the soundtrack.

On the more emotional and sadder side, I quite like “Harry & Hermione”, which is playing after Hermione sees Ron kissing Lavender and she is heartbroken by it, knowing she likes Ron. Harry tries to comfort her, knowing he feels the same when he sees Ginny with Dean. “Dumbledore’s Farewell” is, of course, the saddest moment in the film, as we see the students and staff at Hogwarts mourn the loss of their beloved headteacher. It brings tears to my eyes, just because of the collective grief, and the fact that despite this tragedy, they point their wands to the sky in an act of defiance against the evil of Voldemort and his followers. It’s a very touching scene, and shows that what Harry will soon face will not be easy.

There are also a few songs heard within Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, although not all are on the soundtrack. The song “Big Beat Repeat” written and performed by Josh Powell is playing as Ron and the other Gryffindors celebrate his heroic day out on the Quidditch pitch in his first game as Keeper. It is mostly drowned out by the students chanting “Weasley, Weasley”, so it’s not all that audible or noticeable. Later, Slughorn and Hagrid sing briefly after they have held a funeral for Aragog, Hagrid’s giant spider friend. It is a fictional drinking song called “Odo the Hero”, which makes it perfect for this scene, as Hagrid is drowning his sorrows after the shock, with Slughorn helping him get through this tough time by having a drink or two as well. The song was written by J.K. Rowling for the book, and is performed by Robbie Coltrane and Jim Broadbent. These songs are not on the soundtrack.

One that is on the soundtrack is titled “In Noctem”. It is a haunting choral piece, being performed by the Hogwarts Choir as Professor Flitwick conducts them. It was supposed to be a foreboding piece of music accompanying the sequence of the students and staff at Hogwarts noticing the sky getting darker and the clouds coming in, signalling that something bad is about to happen, likely with Voldemort and the Death Eaters at the centre of it. This happens shortly before Dumbledore is murdered. This track was part of a deleted scene, so it was cut from the final version of the film. It’s a shame too, because this music and this scene I think would’ve worked well in the film and would’ve added to the atmosphere[3]. “In Noctem” is played during the End Credits though.

The soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, consisting of the original score, was released on 14^th July 2009, just a day before the movie premiered. It was said to have debuted at No. 29 on the US Billboard Top 200, making it the highest charting soundtrack of the six soundtracks in the franchise released to this point[4].

Nicholas Hooper was nominated at the Grammy Awards for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for his work on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. He lost to Michael Giacchino’s emotional score for Pixar’s Up.

PRODUCTION

Filming any Harry Potter movie was a challenging and stressful experience for all involved.

Although some of the main cast members did feel overwhelmed by the level of fame that hit them all at some point during the course of the movies coming out, they were committed to continue their journeys as these beloved characters, knowing that fans would be disappointed or even angry to see such major roles recast partway through.

This, however, was not the same for the directors of the Harry Potter movies, as these had changed consistently throughout the first half of the Harry Potter film series. Christopher Columbus had managed to direct two in a row, before citing exhaustion as a reason for passing the baton over to someone else to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The fourth film was then directed by someone new as well.

But after David Yates came on to direct Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he would do the unthinkable and unimaginable – sign on to direct the sixth Harry Potter film, equalling Columbus’ record by directing two Harry Potter films in a row. Wow. Instead of being tired and drained after working on the fifth film, Yates was enthusiastic to keep working on further films, especially as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would allow him to work on a story that was less tense and more playful than the fifth film.

The screenwriter on the Harry Potter films had been quite consistent though. Steve Kloves had successfully adapted each of the first four books to make the screen adaptations, however, he decided to step back from the Harry Potter franchise and let someone else write Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The break turned out to be the perfect way for Kloves to reset, having stated that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had been particularly challenging to adapt, and was ready to delve into the more mature and darker themes of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

As with all the Harry Potter films, the books they were based on had to be condensed in order to fit a standard runtime for a full-length feature film. This meant compromises and omissions, which have been less bothersome for fans in some cases, and more of a problem in others. For Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, there appeared to be too many cuts and changes from the original story to satisfy the most avid Harry Potter readers.

The most glaring exclusion was information, seen via the Pensieve as memories, about Tom Riddle’s past and his Horcruxes. The book has information about Tom Riddle’s family, like the Pure Blood Gaunt family, and the fact his mother, Merope Gaunt, bewitched the Muggle Tom Riddle, his father, into marrying her. There was also a moment in the book where an older Tom Riddle asked former Hogwarts Headmaster Professor Dippet, who is briefly mentioned in the second Harry Potter film, for a job in the Defence Against the Dark Arts department. This was an excuse so as to find objects he would later use as Horcruxes. A further chapter would’ve had Harry see two more memories, showing Riddle murdering people and stealing items, including Salazar Slytherin’s locket, the one Dumbledore and Harry go to the cave to find, in order to create Horcruxes. As someone who has not read the books, although this information does sound interesting, connecting items to individual victims, this wasn’t something that I felt needed explaining in the films. I also did not mind that Harry ended up figuring out much of this on his own, or with the help of Hermione and Ron, in the final two films, instead of being given the facts by Dumbledore in the sixth story. I would have liked to see more background into Tom Riddle though, as I did find myself online searching for answers to questions that came up whilst watching the final two films, which could’ve been answered in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. But I understand the need to keep the plot clean and uncluttered for a feature film.

Something else that wasn’t necessarily required to be explained in the film but might’ve been nice to understand was the meaning behind Snape’s nickname of the “Half-Blood Prince”. Those who have not read the books but have watched the films would be able to deduce that the “half-blood” part of the name simply means that Snape has one magical and one non-magical parent. Not surprising or particularly unique. However, for me, I thought that Snape was calling himself a prince. Of what, I didn’t know, but I’d just assumed because he was a bit of a loner at school, he was trying to make himself feel better about himself by giving himself a royal title to try and escape his real life. Well, had I read the book, I would’ve learnt that the “prince” part of that nickname just refers to Snape’s mother’s maiden name of Prince, so it was not meant to be pretentious at all! He did this in order to distance himself from his abusive Muggle father.

Other moments missing from the film that were in the book include a battle happening at Hogwarts as Harry and Dumbledore return from their cave exploration. The Death Eaters that Draco smuggled in via the Vanishing Cabinets begin to attack the teachers, students, and the Order of the Phoenix members who are trying to protect the school. It was decided that this battle sequence would be cut from the movie to avoid repetition, as the final story has a huge battle at Hogwarts to end the storyline. I personally like the ending of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, with its quiet menace, and it allows for the final film to have a real cinematic fight that we hadn’t seen on screen before.

Speaking of this moment in the story, this battle would’ve led to the scene of Dumbledore’s murder in the Astronomy Tower. In the movie, Harry obeys Dumbledore by hiding underneath the tower, looking up at the action from under the floorboards. When Snape arrives and motions for Harry to stay quiet and not do anything, he simply trusts that Snape is there to help Dumbledore and would not end up murdering him. I’m fine with all of this; to me, it makes perfect sense. But others did not agree and wanted this scene to match the book. In the book, Harry is frozen under his Invisibility Cloak by Dumbledore to stop him from interfering. This makes watching Dumbledore’s murder worse for Harry as he knows what is coming, but can’t do anything to stop it. I think some didn’t understand why Harry would be so passive if he wasn’t forced to be, but I think it shows Snape’s betrayal of Dumbledore more obviously, which sets things up for what is to come in the final two books.

Some readers also felt that the scene of Dumbledore finding Harry at the train station, taking him away from his potential date with a waitress to go and find Slughorn, was better in the book, as this scene is completely different there. In the book, Dumbledore picks Harry up from the Dursleys’ house, and basically calls them out on their poor treatment of Harry. The Dursleys actually don’t show up nearly as much as you’d expect them to in the films after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, so it might’ve been nice to have seen some more from them – but I do like the scene with the waitress; it’s funny and it makes sense that Harry would avoid spending time at the Dursleys by sitting in a train station.

Other more minor omissions relate to characters that were either not used, replaced by others, or had their storylines changed slightly. Firstly, the opening of the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince book sees Cornelius Fudge talking to the Muggle Prime Minister about Lord Voldemort and the danger that is coming. This is also where the new Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour is revealed. In the film series, Scrimgeour does not appear until the seventh film. Secondly, Tonks was meant to find Harry petrified and unable to move on the Hogwarts Express, after being attacked by Draco for eavesdropping. Tonks does not see Harry get off the train and goes to find him. Personally, I think Luna finding Harry makes more sense; she’s probably still on there picking up discarded editions of The Quibbler to pass out to students again, and the Wrackspurt-finding glasses just add to her character. Moaning Myrtle is present for the fight between Harry and Draco in the bathroom, where Harry almost kills Draco, having built up some sort of friendship with Draco during the year. After appearing in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and briefly in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Moaning Myrtle did not appear in another Harry Potter film.

Finally, Tonks and Lupin appear to be a couple in the film of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as they go to the Burrow together for Christmas with the Weasleys and leave together. This is quite a shock to those who have not read the books, as we barely even see them together in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the story where they would’ve met. In the books, this romance is more fleshed out, with Lupin questioning whether he deserves love at all, given his self-hatred due to being a werewolf, eventually accepting Tonks’ love[5]. This isn’t touched on during the films at all, with only brief hints of their relationship timeline coming out during the main storylines. It’s not important to Harry’s journey though, so I can see why there aren’t too many details about this relationship.

Something that might have non-readers a little bit confused is that we are not told in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film how Fred and George got the money to open their shop on Diagon Alley. It hadn’t really occurred to me to question this when I first watched it, assuming that they’d made enough money from selling their products at Hogwarts to be able to do this, or they managed to get a bank loan. In actual fact, the books explain that Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes came to be because Harry gave Fred and George his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament. Harry didn’t want the prize money due to the trauma that he experienced. This happens at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Filming for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince took place from September 2007 until May 2008. The cast and crew returned to a variety of filming locations that they’d already visited before alongside some new locations.

One of these returning locations was Gloucester Cathedral, used to depict the hallways and corridors of Hogwarts Castle in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Now the team were back, as they filmed scenes in the Lavatorium, specifically the moment where Harry overhears Snape and Draco discussing the Unbreakable Vow after Slughorn’s Christmas Party, and the West Corridor, for the moment where Professor McGonagall sends Ron and Harry to Potions class, to stop them laughing at the lost and overwhelmed First Year students[6]. They also returned to Oxford, to the Duke Humfrey’s Library in the Bodleian Library as the location for Hogwarts’ library. In this scene in the library, Harry and Hermione are talking about dates to the Christmas Party.

A new location used was Lacock village in Wiltshire, which was used as the setting of the Muggle village Budleigh Babberton, where Slughorn has been hiding, trying to avoid being recruited by the Death Eaters[7]. Lacock Abbey had previously been used as a location for the first two Harry Potter films. This time though the village’s streets were being used for filming for three nights in October 2007. It was almost unanimously approved by villagers and the National Trust for the Harry Potter film crew to return to the area[8].

Other locations used for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince include Surbiton train station being used as the train station where Harry is at the start of the film, where he attempts to flirt with the waitress before seeing Dumbledore on the opposite platform. Also, filming took place in Norway, but only to get a snowy background for the sequence of the Hogwarts Express taking the students back home for Christmas.

Another location worth mentioning is the Millennium Bridge, as it has a featured role in the opening sequence of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The Millennium Bridge began construction in 1998 and first opened in June 2000, hence the name, although it then closed for repairs shortly after opening, and reopened in 2002. The bridge connects the City of London to the Bankside area. The Millennium Bridge was likely chosen for this sequence due to how recognisable it is. However, as this bridge was not even built during the timeline of the original books, the Brockdale Bridge, a fictional bridge created by J.K. Rowling, was destroyed instead. In the book, Muggles actually died during the collapse of the bridge. The film isn’t quite so bad, as, although Muggles are clearly fearing for their lives as they race to get across the Millennium Bridge, no-one dies. Some fans of the books dislike the fact the Millennium Bridge was used in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film as it completely disrupts the books’ original timeline, not thinking these films are set in the time that they were filmed. I would counter that by saying there are many elements of the Harry Potter films which would suggest they were set in the times that they were filmed, like outfit choices, hairstyles, and background music. I never felt that these films took place in the 1990s, so I don’t have a problem with the use of the Millennium Bridge here.

As well as real-life locations, Harry Potter films are known for their impressive sets. One of these was using a set they had of a stock London street with dilapidated Georgian architecture. Wool’s Orphanage, the home of young Tom Riddle, was then built at the end of this street. For inspiration, the team had researched buildings such as those from Victorian times, wanting to have the orphanage look like a workhouse from that era, needing it to be bleak, dark, and miserable. Visual effects were used to extend the street.

Another set that was used was that of Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley had originally been filmed at Leadenhall Market in London for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, before it was decided to create the alley at Leavesden Studios. The Diagon Alley in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince lacks a lot of the magic and wonder when compared to the street we see in the earlier films, because now, many shops have either shut or been ransacked by Death Eaters, like Ollivander’s, with its owner also missing. The only shop doing well and bringing all the light and colour to Diagon Alley is the bright orange Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes. James and Oliver Phelps, who played Fred and George Weasley, were very excited to see the shop come to life, although they did find the mechanical man on the shopfront, meant to be a recreation of one of their characters, to be quite creepy. But they did like all the products that the design team had created to fill the store. It took 15 people about a year to design all the products on the shelves, some created for the film whereas others were written about in the books, with reportedly 40,000 packages and boxes created for this purpose. It apparently took five days to shoot this one sequence at the shop[9].

The Weasley home of the Burrow was once again seen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on a couple of occasions, having first appeared in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, as a homely, eccentric, higgledy-piggledy house in the middle of a marsh. The set was already at the Leavesden studios, with an actual controlled 420-foot ring of fire being used to film the scene of the Death Eaters attacking the Burrow, and having Ginny and Harry chase them into a field of reeds. Additional effects, like rolling fireballs, were added in post-production, whilst shots of the reeds were filmed in the reed beds at Abbotsbury in Dorset, to use as the surrounding background for the scene. This whole sequence of the Burrow being attacked and burnt was not even a scene in the original book. It was included in the film so as to show that nowhere in the Wizarding World was safe from random attacks. It also adds in an additional, highly cinematic action sequence, especially since that battle at Hogwarts does not exist in the film.

A final interesting set to mention is that of the cave where Dumbledore and Harry find the locket. The exterior of the cave is said to have been the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland. The production team ended up going to a quartz cave in Switzerland and a salt cave near Frankfurt in Germany to get inspiration for the interior of the cave, settling on making it a cave of crystals, having to test how crystals would react to the moving, changing light that occurs from Lumos charms. A full-scale portion of the cave wall was built as a template for the visual effects team to use as a guide.

Since this cave is meant to be around 2000 feet long, it was decided that CG would have to be used to create most of it, with a small crystal platform built for Daniel Radcliffe and Michael Gambon to use for their acting scenes. The platform was surrounded by green screen, and it was apparently quite slippery for the actors to walk on.

Further digital visual effects were then required to create the creatures that attack Dumbledore and Harry within the cave. These water gremlin creatures are named the Inferi, and they are supposed to be corpses being used as guardians through the use of dark magic. The Inferi had to not look too much like zombies, and instead were basically based around emaciated and skeletal versions of the human body. The aim was to make them appear as human as possible whilst also looking ominous and scary. Facial and motion capture from actors helped to add the necessary expressions and motions to these creatures. The same tank that was used in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire swam for the second Triwizard Tournament task was used again here. The cave sequence was one of the most complex and challenging to complete on a Harry Potter movie, but they succeeded in making something that is quite scary to watch.

As well as a large proportion of visual effects, the use of practical effects was still being heavily promoted on the sets of Harry Potter films, even as technology was advancing. It was decided that Aragog, who is deceased in the only scene we see of him in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, would again be a real-life model. Aragog was an animatronic puppet model in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, his first appearance in the stories. This model was made with the translucent material polyurethane, and was airbrushed with paint and flocked with hair to look like the spider. It took many weeks to complete the models, with two being needed, in order to fit in with the forced perspective that is involved in many of Hagrid’s scenes, to make him appear like a giant. It would’ve been expensive to create Aragog in CGI anyway, so the team in Creature Effects were glad they fought to make the model, especially as it is also good reference for the actors[10].

Some other practical effects included Jim Broadbent being sat on a plank of wood that sprang up, for the moment of Slughorn turning from a chair into a human. Broadbent was asked to act out this transformation as best as possible with the digital animation being placed over the top of this shot. In the Potions lab, bottles of gas were disguised as the cauldrons so as to make flames come out of them, plus 1000 gallons of warm water were used in the bathroom fight scene, with pipes bursting, and mirrors being blown up with compressed air, to avoid glass shatters. Dryers and pumps would then need to be brought out in order to reset the scene for the next take.

Quidditch made a return to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince too, after being omitted from the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film. This time, Rupert Grint got to do some green screen work and stunt training for his scenes as Ron, trying out to be the Gryffindor team’s Keeper, and then playing in a match. As well as the bicycle seat mount and the actors acting out their Quidditch movements in front of a green screen, it would seem that the actors also worked on a trampoline too, with a harness to start off with, and then with their broomsticks, whilst having a soft version of a Quaffle thrown at their face, to simulate their saves. Other contraptions were used by the stunt team, like a “Russian Swing”, to allow for some interesting falls and dives to be filmed and used in the film[11].

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was the sixth film in the series, and some of these actors had been working on the films for about eight years by this point. However, there was never a quiet day on the set of Harry Potter, with many characters having breakthroughs at different points in the film series.

Tom Felton had not actually been seen on screen all that much in the Harry Potter films up to the point of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, despite being one of Harry’s earliest antagonists. That all changed on this sixth film, as Draco was recruited to become a Death Eater, following in his father’s footsteps, and given the monumental task of killing Professor Dumbledore. This film gave Felton a chance to really get his teeth into his role as Draco, getting a more interesting journey than just being a standard, stereotypical school bully. Felton did well to portray Draco Malfoy as a sympathetic character, struggling to cope with this added pressure. I particularly like the Astronomy Tower sequence where we see Draco falter under the pressure, and start to question his new role as a Death Eater, but feeling helpless to change it now; it’s too late for that. Jason Isaacs, who played Felton’s on-screen father, Lucius Malfoy, stated how impressed he was with Felton’s portrayal of Draco in this film, seeing it as a major turning point for him and his character[12]. Felton did apparently struggle in this scene though, for a completely different reason. After the death of Dumbledore, Snape leads all the Death Eaters out of Hogwarts. During this scene, Felton accidentally stepped on Snape’s cloak, and Alan Rickman, who played Snape, became quite irritated by this, because the cloak was attached around his neck. He told Felton in no uncertain terms to stop stepping on his cloak. Felton was not even the only actor in the scene to do this[13]. I’m sure Rickman forgot all about it the next day!

In comparison to all this darkness and isolation that Draco is feeling, Ron and Harry have their own problems, romantic ones. Rupert Grint found himself at the centre of filming his first on-screen kissing scene as Ron, much how Daniel Radcliffe had to kiss Katie Leung in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. There had been plenty of teasing of Radcliffe around this time, but actually, both Leung and Radcliffe said it was as comfortable as possible, and it was made easier by the fact only the two of them were in that scene at that time. Grint ended up having to have his on-screen kiss in the middle of a packed scene of the cast and extras. He said this made the kiss more difficult for him, whereas Jessie Cave, who played Lavender Brown, said the rehearsal with just them was more awkward than kissing in front of a crowd! Daniel Radcliffe did not avoid a second on-screen kiss in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and this time it was with Bonnie Wright, a member of the Harry Potter cast since the very first film. This was said to have been quite awkward for Radcliffe and Wright, as they had not expected their characters to ever be in a relationship with each other, and they’d known each other since they were children.

The rest of the cast also got to have some relatively new experiences during the filming of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, including shooting a night scene as a group. The difficulty was that some of the young actors were quite excited to be filming at night, but this scene was Dumbledore’s death, so they were supposed to look sad. Evanna Lynch, who played Luna, even believed that her character’s tears must have been added in during post-production as she didn’t remember crying, only that David Yates was getting quite agitated, trying to get everyone to look sad!

Helena Bonham Carter was finally able to cast some “real” magic for a change as well. She had said that the actors can feel kind of ridiculous, waving bits of wood around and nothing actually happening, so when she was told she’d get to blow up Hagrid’s Hut, she was pretty pleased to move her wand and see it do something for a change! The wave of Bellatrix’s wand was used as the cue for the team to blow up the hut[14].

It is extraordinary to note as well that Dame Maggie Smith, who played Professor McGonagall, was undergoing treatment for cancer whilst filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, persevering through all the side effects to give us a performance that was just as stellar as it had been in every movie before[15].

RECEPTION

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was originally supposed to be released in November 2008; however, it was delayed, with this news being reported around August 2008.

The reasoning for this was said to be, according to the president of Warner Bros., that the studio wanted the film to be a major summer blockbuster so would now release it in July 2009. It was stressed that the film was not behind schedule, and was ready, but they wanted to make the most of its release by waiting until the summer. The Writers’ Strike of 2007-08 was also blamed as it caused a delay in other movies being ready to film. This meant a two-year gap between the fifth and sixth films though[16]. It has also been speculated that Warner Bros.’ success with The Dark Knight in 2008 had meant they wanted to keep a “guaranteed” financial hit until the following year, in order to have strong revenue in 2009.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince finally reached cinemas on 15^th July 2009 in most countries, with some waiting a week or two more, after having held three premieres of the movie in the week beforehand. There was a premiere in Tokyo on 6^th July; one in London on 7^th July, where it rained heavily, and one in New York City on 8^th July 2009. Some had wondered whether the delayed release date, and the fact that this was the first film in the franchise to be released after all the books had been published, would cause the financial figures to drop from the previous film. That proved not to be the case.

Despite this film being one of the most expensive films ever made, with a reported budget of $250 million, Warner Bros. had much success with its release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as it ended its run at No. 2 in the Worldwide Box Office, bringing in around $934 million. I doubt the movie would’ve made any more or any less had it kept to its original release date of November 2008, because fans are fans; they will come to see the film regardless of the time of year. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, despite these impressive figures, was still way behind the movie at No. 1 in the Worldwide Box Office, and that was James Cameron’s Avatar, released in December 2009, making over $2.7 billion during its first theatrical release, breaking many box-office records in the process.

Other big films of 2009 finished their theatrical runs behind Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Some of its competition included Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, released in June 2009, which made $836 million and ended in fourth position at the Worldwide Box Office; Pixar’s Up, released in May 2009, making $735 million and hitting No. 6 on the list; and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the third film in the franchise, which was just behind Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in third position with $886 million. The Twilight Saga’s second film New Moon finished the year at No. 7 with $709 million. It came out in November 2009, no doubt in order to avoid direct competition with Harry Potter.

However, positive financial results do not mean that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was not criticised. In fact, many fans of the books were annoyed at how much of the original book’s story had been left out of the movie adaptation, with the choice to focus on the teenage romances, and not on the flashbacks to Voldemort’s past, being considered the wrong decision. I can only assume the reason we did see quite a lot of romantic moments was probably to balance out the darker topics, and to have more of a rom-com-feel to this film ahead of the difficult moments that were to come. For others, the pacing was not great here, with it being too slow in places and too quick in others. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was also said to be too confusing for those who had not read the books. As someone who has not read the books, although I will admit I have had to look up a few facts about Voldemort’s family life, I don’t feel the lack of details affected my enjoyment or understanding of this film’s story. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is seen as a step towards the big finale and nothing else by some.

That doesn’t mean everyone disliked Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince though, because I certainly liked it a lot and still do. I like the mix of genres in this film, being able to have some moments of comedy in between the more emotional and darker moments. There are a lot of plot twists in this film, particularly the death of a major character like Dumbledore being one that I personally did not see coming. Many also praised the performances of Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter for their characters once again, but some of the younger actors were also highlighted, such as Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who were seen to have more opportunities within this film to grow as actors. Others also said that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince felt very cinematic and set up the final two films well.

In terms of awards, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Achievement in Cinematography, but the winner was Avatar. At the BAFTAs, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was nominated for Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects, but Avatar won in both these categories. At the Saturn Awards, Harry Potter also lost out to Avatar in Best Production Design and Best Special Effects. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was also nominated here for Best Fantasy Film and Best Costume, but this time lost out to the superhero film Watchmen (2009) on both occasions. At the Satellite Awards, despite the sixth Harry Potter film being nominated, Fantastic Mr. Fox won Best Animated or Mixed Media Film.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince also received nominations for its acting. At the People’s Choice Awards, the film was nominated for Favorite Movie and for Favorite On-Screen Team for the trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. Twilight won both these categories and beat out Harry Potter for Favorite Franchise here too. At the Teen Choice Awards, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was nominated for Choice Movie: Fantasy, with Emma Watson being nominated for Choice Movie Actress: Fantasy, but Harry Potter lost to The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Kristen Stewart. But it does seem that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince won the Teen Choice Award in Summer 2009 for Choice Summer Movie: Action. Why it appears to have been nominated in two different years, I don’t know. Evanna Lynch was recognised for her performance as Luna Lovegood by being nominated at the Young Artist Awards, for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress, but she did not win, unfortunately.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince did get some other wins too though. At the MTV Movie Awards, Tom Felton won the award for Best Villain for his role as Draco Malfoy in this film. The film was also nominated for Best Movie, but lost out to The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart beat out Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson for Best Male and Best Female Performance respectively. At the Scream Awards, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince lost to Twilight in Best Fantasy Movie; Emma Watson lost to Kristen Stewart in Best Fantasy Actress; Daniel Radcliffe lost to Robert Pattinson in Best Fantasy Actor; Evanna Lynch lost to Jennifer Carpenter in Dexter (2006-11) for Best Supporting Actress; Rupert Grint lost to Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in Best Supporting Actor; and Helena Bonham Carter lost to Alexander Skarsgård in True Blood (2008-14) for Best Villain. Best Sequel ended up going to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, instead of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as did the award for Best F/X. But the cast did win the award for Best Ensemble here, and the team won an award for the scene of the Death Eaters attacking London at the start of the film.

Outside of this, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince won the UK National Movie Award for Family Film, and seemingly won Best Movie at the UK SFX Awards. At the Art Directors Guild Awards, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince appears to have been nominated for Excellence in Production Design, but seems to have lost to Avatar.

LEGACY

By the time Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had been released in July 2009, there were no more Harry Potter books being published. The final novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, had been published two years before, in July 2007, shortly after the premiere of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. J.K. Rowling was working on other novels by this time, completely unrelated to Harry Potter.

However, there were still exciting opportunities available to expand the franchise after the final book had been published, and after Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out. There was, of course, the standard video game based on the plot of this film, available on most major gaming devices, but there was something much more interesting coming.

There had been talks of a “Harry Potter theme park” for some time, with discussions going back to around 2003 or 2004 that something was in the works. There were said to have been conversations about building Harry Potter attractions at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, but these talks ended up going nowhere. However, in May 2007, it was confirmed that Universal and Warner Bros. were working together to create The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, to become part of Universal Orlando Resort’s theme park Islands of Adventure. This was potentially the best expansion of the franchise that fans could hope for, as they were being promised a really immersive theme park land to explore.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter finally opened to the public on 18^th June 2010, taking over part of the Islands of Adventure Park known as The Lost Continent. This was great timing as Universal could capitalise on the additional buzz surrounding the final two movies, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 due to be released in November 2010, and the second part less than a year after that. Fans were wondering and debating how the best moments from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows would play out on screen.

Cast members from the Harry Potter films were on hand to open up the land to the thousands of people waiting to be one of the first people to see it, with the cast having had some time to explore it on their own beforehand. These cast members were Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Michael Gambon, Warwick Davis, Bonnie Wright, Matthew Lewis, Tom Felton, and James and Oliver Phelps. There was even a small stage constructed so that the cast could give a short speech, signalling the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, complete with a train conductor for the Hogwarts Express as the “opening act”; a white sheet hanging to block the view until the proper moment; and the cast’s arrival as the Hogwarts Express “pulled in” to the station. As a note, although the Hogwarts Express train is now an attraction in itself, it was not a moving train when The Wizarding World of Harry Potter first opened; it was just a static engine available for photo ops and to add to the ambience[17].

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was a challenging project for the Harry Potter films’ creative team, specifically production designer, Stuart Craig, who had to ensure that the theme park land was recreating Hogsmeade Village as it had been seen in the Harry Potter films, as well as the specific shops and restaurants that were seen in the films and mentioned in the books. This included The Three Broomsticks, which is used in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; Honeydukes, the sweet shop; the Hogshead Pub; and Zonko’s Joke Shop. The Owlery was also recreated, allowing guests to send letters to those back home with a Hogsmeade postmark, as was Ollivander’s wand shop, which is technically meant to be in Diagon Alley, but is such an iconic part of the Harry Potter stories that it was built in the Hogsmeade area. Ollivander’s is not only a shop either; it is an interactive experience, where selected guests will find that the wand really does choose the wizard[18].

Outside of this, three attractions were created for the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010. There was a small family coaster titled Flight of the Hippogriff, which remains there to this day. It has an animatronic figure of Buckbeak that guests pass during their ride. This ride was actually just a retheme of The Lost Continent attraction The Flying Unicorn. Another was Dragon Challenge, which, again, was a retheme of the rollercoaster Dueling Dragons. Dueling Dragons consisted of two intertwined coaster tracks that would “duel” at various points during the ride. It became Dragon Challenge with some retheming of the queue, so that it matched the dragon challenge in the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and the tracks were renamed from Fire and Ice to Chinese Fireball and Hungarian Horntail. Dragon Challenge closed in 2017 to make way for an entirely new Harry Potter attraction, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which opened in June 2019 to much acclaim.

The other attraction is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, housed within the recreation of Hogwarts Castle, meaning the queue takes place inside Hogwarts, allowing guests to walk through different parts of the castle, including classrooms seen in the films. The ride itself is a motion simulator that takes fans through moments from the Harry Potter films, encountering familiar faces and creatures along the way. It is meant to make guests feel like they are flying on a broomstick. Cast members filmed scenes especially for this ride.

I remember going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter a few weeks after it first opened. I didn’t like thrill rides, so my mum and I went on Flight of the Hippogriff, whilst my dad and sister went on the other two rides. We ended up waiting around for them by the stage where small shows take place throughout the day, including the Frog Choir and the Triwizard Spirit Rally. We definitely remember seeing the Frog Choir. Other than that, we just remember how busy it was. It was not easy to walk through the area, let alone explore it. We didn’t even get in any shops because there were queues to enter those, so my experience there was slightly disappointing, although the land itself does look amazing and is very immersive. I have since been on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and it was certainly thrilling, one of the most unique theme park rides I’ve been on. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter continues to be a very popular area within Islands of Adventure.

Expansions of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter later opened in other Universal theme parks and at Universal Orlando. One of these was the Diagon Alley area that opened at the Universal Studios Park at Universal Orlando in 2014. From Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, guests can go into a recreation of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and travel down Knockturn Alley to visit Borgin and Burkes.

Back in the UK, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London has sets that also showcase moments from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Some of these are Diagon Alley, with Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes; the Potions Classroom; and Dumbledore’s Office, complete with the memory cabinet and the Pensieve.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince marks another transition in the film series.

This story gives Harry a roadmap to destroying Lord Voldemort once and for all, and as he knows he will have to continue Dumbledore’s hunt for Horcruxes in order to do that, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the last film to feature a “normal” school year as Harry, Ron, and Hermione go off on their travels together.

Yes, sadly the darkness has come – and that means no more magical lessons, no more dinner scenes in the Great Hall, and no more harmless flirting. This is serious now.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is my second favourite Harry Potter film. The fact that Draco Malfoy got more of a featured role here was a major factor in me liking this film, but I also enjoy the comedy in this one and the fact it still revolves around another school year at Hogwarts; I like the structure.

But that doesn’t mean I don’t like the thrilling finale. It’s just nice to have a bit of a chance to reflect on Harry’s journey up to this point before the chaos and turmoil begin.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Maximum Movie Mode: Focus Points’, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[2] Credit: ITV, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Behind the Magic (2009), Special Features YouTube Channel, 9^th April 2024.

[3] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Additional Footage’, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[4] Credit: Rhino Entertainment, ‘Rhino Announces The Last 4 Harry Potter Original Motion Picture Soundtracks Out August 15 on “LP Clear Vinyl’, ShoreFire.com, 9^th July 2025.

[5] Credit: Jack Otway, ‘Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince: 10 Changes From The Book To The Movie’, ScreenRant.com, 29^th January 2020.

[6] Credit: BBC News, ‘Harry Potter 20^th anniversary: The UK film locations’, BBC.co.uk, 20^th November 2021.

[7] Credit: National Trust, ‘Explore Harry Potter filming locations’, NationalTrust.org.uk, date unknown.

[8] Credit: BBC, ‘Potter at Lacock this week?’, BBC.co.uk, 17^th September 2007.

[9] Credit: ITV, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Behind the Magic (2009), Special Features YouTube Channel, 9^th April 2024.

[10] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Maximum Movie Mode: Focus Points’, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[11] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘Close-Up with the Cast of Harry Potter’, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

[12] Credit: HBO Max, Harry Potter 20^th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022).

[13] Credit: Tom Murray, ‘Harry Potter star Tom Felton recalls Alan Rickman’s terse words after he repeatedly stepped on his cloak’, Independent.co.uk, 9^th October 2022.

[14] Credit: Adam Markovitz, ‘Harry Potter: Casting the Spell’, EW.com, 1^st July 2011.

[15] Credit: The Telegraph, ‘Dame Maggie Smith reveals Harry Potter breast cancer treatment struggle’, Telegraph.co.uk, 5^th October 2009.

[16] Credit: BBC News, ‘Potter film release date delayed’, News.BBC.co.uk, 15^th August 2008.

[17] Credit: Inside the Magic, ‘Grand opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with Daniel Radcliffe & other movie stars’, Inside the Magic Official YouTube Channel, 18^th June 2010.

[18] Credit: Warner Bros., ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Sneak Peek’, from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) 11-Disc Blu-Ray Set (2011).

25th September 2026 by The Disney Purist

Jump In! (2007)

BACKGROUND

It is true of most Disney Channel Original Movies released from 2006 that all of them can connect back to High School Musical (2006) in some way – and Jump In! is no different.

Although we didn’t have too many DCOMs featuring the High School Musical cast, with a couple of exceptions being Olesya Rulin and Lucas Grabeel featuring in Halloweentown High (2004), prior to the first film even coming out, and Grabeel reprising his role in Return to Halloweentown (2006), it was mostly Ashley Tisdale repping High School Musical on Disney Channel with her lead role in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-08).

That is until 2007. Zac Efron must’ve been busy, uninterested, or was hogging the limelight too much, so it was up to Corbin Bleu to front a new DCOM, moving up from the sidekick of Chad Danforth in High School Musical to leading man, Izzy Daniels, in Jump In!

I guess Disney Channel wanted to capitalise on High School Musical’s popularity by having one of its stars front and centre in their own Disney Channel movie, and they chose Corbin Bleu, who, despite not being Zac Efron, was still just as popular with the franchise’s young fans. I know I personally was not upset that it was Bleu and not Efron starring in a new DCOM, for example. However, despite this, and despite watching Jump In! on its premiere in the UK, I can’t say that Jump In! has ever been a DCOM that I have loved.

Jump In! sees a teenager trying to balance his father’s dreams for him, of becoming a winning boxer, with his own talents for competitive Double Dutch, that two rope skipping game that I didn’t even know had a name until this film! It’s actually quite a similar premise to fellow Disney Channel movies Eddie’s Million-Dollar Cook-Off (2003) and even High School Musical, as all three films challenge gender stereotypes and what activities are “for boys” and which are “for girls”. The Double Dutch sequences are also very impressive, and the music in Jump In! is good too. So, why is it that I don’t like it?

Well, I think the thing is that Jump In! does focus on some quite serious topics, like parental expectations; coping with the loss of a family member; and it isn’t set in a middle-class suburban setting. Because of this, I don’t find Jump In! particularly relatable or funny. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and it’s not that I don’t like Jump In!, it’s just that there are other DCOMs I’d rather be watching. There is still plenty to like in Jump In!, and viewers really did like this film. Sure, it never became a massive hit like High School Musical, but it is a DCOM that got more than just mediocre or average reviews for once.

PLOT

Jump In! begins with a narrator telling the audience that this story takes place in Brooklyn, New York City, and is all about teen boxing sensation, Izzy Daniels, who was set to be the next champ. We see Izzy doing some training, including using a skipping rope, before heading out on to the streets, and taking part in a little bit of parkour as he listens to music.

As Izzy continues to roam the streets, he sees his neighbour Mary and her friends doing some Double Dutch and decides to ruin their fun, by randomly jumping into the ropes and messing them up. Mary is furious with Izzy for ruining their practice, especially as they are training for a Double Dutch competition, the regional competition, on Friday. They’ll need to do well if they want to get to the City Championships. Mary eventually gets Izzy to leave, and her friends, Keisha, Shauna, and Yolanda, tease her about her apparent crush on Izzy, which Mary denies and says she has no time for anyway.

Izzy makes it home in time for dinner with his little sister Karin and his father Kenneth, however, Karin warns Izzy that Dad has been cooking again and it’s not going to be good… The family are still adjusting after the loss of Izzy and Karin’s mother. His father asks Izzy how his latest boxing workout went tonight, and Izzy confirms it was good. Izzy’s father reminds him that boxing is 20% talent and 80% heart. The narrator returns to say that Kenneth was once a great boxer, but now he is putting all of his boxing dreams on to Izzy.

At Kenneth’s boxing gym the next day, Izzy is told that he will have an exhibition match soon that he will need to win if he wants to compete for the Golden Gloves. Izzy’s father desperately wants him to be the third generation to win the Golden Gloves. But Izzy’s opponent is set to be Rodney, who is undefeated, and is big and tough. Izzy is told to continue with his strict training regime in preparation, and not to get distracted. Meanwhile, female boxer Tammy comes into the gym ready to train and is teased by Izzy’s friends, Chuck and Earl, although one of them, Chuck, seems to have a crush on her. Later that day, Izzy sees Mary dancing by her window; they live close to each other and regularly talk through their bedroom windows. Izzy jokes that Mary must be trying to impress him.

The next day, Izzy’s father has to rush off to the gym to get a leak fixed, so Izzy is in charge of his sister and she wants to go to the Double Dutch competition that Mary and her friends are competing in today. Izzy begrudgingly agrees to take Karin there, with two of Karin’s friends coming along as well. Izzy bumps into Chuck and Earl on the way, who are amused that Izzy has to spend his day watching Double Dutch, and they also run into Rodney who tries to engage Izzy in some smack talk, saying he’ll see him in the ring soon.

At the competition, Karin immediately runs over to Mary and her three friends who make up the Joy Jumpers, their team name for competitions. Yolanda, though, is incredibly negative about their chances of winning and of Mary’s routines. They see the Dutch Dragons, the reigning champions, and their leader Gina. The Joy Jumpers try to act confident, but the Dutch Dragons aren’t at all scared of them. Izzy starts to laugh at how seriously everyone takes Double Dutch, and is told to go to the snack bar by his sister. The first round, all about completing compulsory steps, sets off as Izzy returns with snacks. He actually finds it quite interesting to watch, despite pretending not to be interested. The teams then compete in speed runs. The final round involves their freestyle routines. By the end of the competition, the Joy Jumpers have come in 4^th place, whilst the Dutch Dragons won – obviously. It’s still enough to qualify for the City Championships, but Yolanda says Mary’s freestyle routine is not good. Izzy refuses to be drawn into this and takes his sister home.

At school the next day, Izzy overhears that Rodney has problems at home as his father has recently lost his job. However, Izzy can’t let any sympathy for Rodney get in the way of their fight later. At the gym, Izzy and Rodney have their fight, with Rodney getting the first punch on Izzy. He is simply bigger, stronger, and angrier than Izzy. Izzy gets tripped and is given some coaching advice by his dad: to watch, wait, and find his rhythm. Izzy realises that Rodney has power but no skill, and Izzy ends up winning. Chuck and Earl pump up Izzy’s ego after the match. Trainer Felix hears them all talking, reminding them that boxing is about scoring points and endurance, not about punches and knockouts.

That evening, Izzy secretly leaves a bag of clothes outside of Rodney’s flat, just to be kind, and heads home, where he sees Mary crying. It turns out Yolanda quit the team, feeling that the Joy Jumpers have no chance of winning, so they are now one member down. Mary congratulates Izzy on his fight, before she is called in by her mother.

The following day, Rodney demands a rematch, as Izzy’s win is the talk of the school. Izzy tells Rodney just to let it go and move on. After school, Izzy comes across Mary, Shauna, and Keisha, who are struggling to work out what to do as the City Finals aren’t too far away. They’ve heard that Yolanda left them to join the Dutch Dragons, just to really rub salt into the wound. Izzy can’t believe they can’t find someone to join their team, as Double Dutch is so easy that little girls play it. Izzy is challenged by Mary to show them how easy it is. Izzy makes a go of jumping into the ropes, but fails. He asks for another chance, and instantly shows he has a talent for it. Shauna and Keisha are impressed; Mary is not.

Later, as Izzy trains at the gym, the Joy Jumpers come to Izzy to ask him to be on their team, although Mary really isn’t sure he’s the right person to ask. Izzy says he doesn’t want to be on their team, because everyone will laugh at him. Mary is annoyed, and knew this was a bad idea. Izzy heads home shortly after, where he is told to pick up dinner by his sister so they can avoid eating their dad’s awful chilli again! At the restaurant, as he gives his order, Izzy sees Shauna and Keisha eating. They say they just want Izzy to fill in as the fourth member so they can get their routines together; they’ll find someone else to take his place by the time of the competition. Izzy is assured that Mary wants him on the team, but that turns out not to be the case. Mary wants to get her cousin on the team, not thinking that her cousin living in Alaska could be an issue! Mary eventually relents, and asks Izzy to join the team. Izzy accepts, but only if they train at the boxing gym before school so no-one sees.

On their first day of practice, Izzy sees the girls stretching, and then they will run to help their stamina. Mary says this is a sport, just like any other, so it needs to be taken seriously. Mary tries to prove her point about Double Dutch being more difficult than it looks again, by challenging Izzy to do one of their Double Dutch tricks. Izzy finds he can’t do it, getting his legs tangled in the rope. He says he’s just meant to be a fill-in anyway, so he doesn’t need to do the tricks or be good. They get to work.

As practice continues over the next few days, Izzy finds himself getting tired, losing his focus at both school and the boxing gym. But he is excelling with the Joy Jumpers, having plenty of ideas to improve their freestyle routine. Boxer Tammy sees him practising with the girls at the gym though, and decides to keep this information to herself for a bit. After Izzy takes part in a practice fight with Tammy though, he gets knocked down by her, and she tells him she knows his secret. After practice, Izzy begs Tammy to keep that information to herself. She says she doesn’t want to spread it around, but she asks Izzy to stop with his female boxer jokes, especially around Chuck, because she likes him. He accepts that. Izzy comes home late for dinner because of his conversation with Tammy, and his father is angry with him, as his mother always had dinner ready for 7pm, so he should’ve known not to be late. Izzy says something needs to change at home, but Kenneth ignores that comment.

At the next Double Dutch practice, Izzy tells Mary her freestyle routine isn’t great and they should look to change it, needing to focus on fun and not winning. He takes them to the park to see some non-competitive jumpers to get some inspiration. Mary admits this was a good idea. However, as Izzy is so busy with Mary and the girls, he forgets he was meant to be at boxing practice. The group then run into Rodney again, who mocks him for hanging out with girls. Rodney threatens to beat him up, but Mary comes to the rescue by pouring water over him. The group run away, leaving Rodney a soggy, angry mess.

Back at home, Mary thanks Izzy for his help with the team, and Izzy has to admit that he actually likes Double Dutch, but he can’t disappoint his dad, so he has to focus on boxing. Mary thinks he should just be honest with his father, because everything worked out fine when Mary finally told her mother she didn’t like ballet. Izzy doesn’t think that would be the same with him and his dad. Mary then kisses Izzy. Embarrassed, she runs back inside. Izzy goes back to his room too, and finds his father there, wondering why Izzy missed his practice match and why he missed curfew. Kenneth knows something is wrong, and thinks Izzy is nervous and unfocused. Izzy just promises to not be late again.

Rodney corners Izzy at school the next day, and Izzy gets Rodney in trouble with a teacher by pretending Rodney wanted his lunch money. Rodney reminds Izzy this isn’t over – and he is right, because Rodney comes by the boxing gym and sees Izzy practising Double Dutch. He returns with his friend and a camera to get some photographic evidence. At that same practice, Izzy agrees to be the team’s official fourth member, even getting the team to change their name to the Hot Chili Steppers, and commits to competing with them at the Double Dutch Showcase in three days.

As the showcase day rolls around, Izzy tries to sneak out of the house, but his father sees him and asks him to go to a boxing match with him, instead of going off to see Mary. Izzy tries to call Mary at home to let her know he won’t be able to make it, but she’s already left and doesn’t get the message. Mary, Shauna, and Keisha have to compete without him. At the end of the day, Izzy tries to apologise to Mary, but she is too angry with him to listen, saying he made them look like fools by not showing up. Mary kicks Izzy off the team.

Izzy tries to focus on boxing again, going back to the gym for training. He sees Earl and Chuck watching Tammy train, and he stands up for Tammy, saying she’s a good boxer. Chuck agrees with Izzy, and is able to support her more openly now. Meanwhile, Shauna and Keisha try to convince Mary to let Izzy back on the team, but she won’t hear it.

At school, Izzy sees photos of himself practising Double Dutch have been put up all over school and now everyone is laughing at him, even Chuck and Earl. Rodney lets Izzy know that he was the one to do this, and Izzy runs off embarrassed. Mary sees the photos too and starts ripping them down. Izzy comes home, and angrily throws one of the photos in the bin. He ignores Mary’s attempts to talk to him and tries to forget all about the team.

Later, Izzy’s father leaves a necklace in Izzy’s room, this being the same thing Izzy’s father was given after he won the Golden Gloves competition. In the room, Kenneth finds the photo of Izzy doing Double Dutch that he threw away. He demands an explanation, and Karin lets slip that Izzy is on Mary’s Double Dutch team. Karin is told by her father to leave him and Izzy to talk. Izzy tells his father that he doesn’t like boxing anymore and is only doing it for him. He angrily says just because his father doesn’t have a life anymore, it doesn’t mean he can take his away. Izzy instantly regrets what he said, seeing how much that hurt his dad. Izzy tries to focus on boxing, telling Mary he’s not coming back to the team. Tammy overhears part of this conversation, and tells Izzy he shouldn’t not do something just because people are laughing at him. Tammy has to put up with comments all the time about her boxing, but she doesn’t let it get to her, telling herself it’s their problem, not hers.

As Izzy is about to leave the gym, Rodney arrives with a whole group of people demanding that rematch right now. Izzy tells Rodney there is no point to this fight, and it won’t change the fact he is a bully or the fact that Rodney’s father is out of work. Felix sees the rematch going on, and watches on proudly as Izzy refuses to engage, using his Double Dutch skills to keep out of Rodney’s way. Izzy says he’s sorry that Rodney is so angry, but that fighting isn’t going to solve anything. With that, Izzy leaves the ring. Rodney tries to follow him, but he falls to the ground. Izzy refuses to continue fighting, even with Rodney on the ground. He wants to move on from all this now, and leaves. The narrator returns to say that Rodney was impressed with Izzy standing up to him; he would not forget this moment.

Soon, the New York City Finals for Double Dutch are happening. The Hot Chili Steppers have a fourth member but she isn’t very coordinated and Mary knows they can’t win. Keisha sees Izzy arriving. He is allowed back on the team. The Dutch Dragons then come up to them, saying Izzy won’t be able to help them win, and that the trophy is theirs.

The first phase of the competition begins with the compulsory steps. The winners of that round are the Hot Chili Steppers, with the Dutch Dragons in second place. Moving on to the speed round, the Dutch Dragons win this time, and the Hot Chili Steppers have to settle for second place, but this does mean the two teams are tied at the top. So, it all comes down to the freestyle routines. Mary is calm as the other teams compete, but Izzy is starting to get a bit nervous as he sees how good some of their routines are. The Dutch Dragons step up to compete their freestyle, with the Hot Chili Steppers coming up right after them.

As the Hot Chili Steppers head to the stage, Izzy sees his father in the crowd with Karin. They are all ready to show everyone what this team can do. The Hot Chili Steppers compete their complex and impressive freestyle routine, complete with tricks, hip-hop moves, and even some solo skipping from Izzy. It also turns out Rodney is in the audience.

As the teams await the final results, Izzy gets to have a heart-to-heart with his dad, who says he only pushed boxing on Izzy after his mother died because it was something he thought Izzy loved and it was a way for the two of them to connect. He says it is alright for Izzy not to want to box anymore, and that he is still proud of him. Chuck and Earl, along with Tammy, then come over to congratulate Izzy. Izzy sees Rodney standing behind them and goes over to talk to him. Rodney says he thought the Double Dutch competition was pretty cool, and accepts a truce with Izzy, especially if he can teach him how to backflip!

The results are about to be announced with only the top three able to go on to the State Finals. Third place goes to the team the Kung Fu Flyers. Second place goes to the Dutch Dragons. But before first place is announced, the narrator comes back to say that Izzy taught everyone to not care what everyone else thinks and to do what makes them happy, saying this lesson changed the narrator’s life. We then see that this narrator is actually Rodney, telling the story to a group of kids in the present day. He says that the Hot Chili Steppers went on to State, but that they didn’t win – until the next year. He also confirms that Mary and Izzy are still together. After this, we return to the City Finals from the past to see the Hot Chili Steppers win their first-place trophy.

The film ends with Izzy’s father being taught how to Double Dutch. After some hesitancy, Kenneth finally “jumps in” and finds his rhythm.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Izzy Daniels is a teenage boxing sensation, helped by having a father who was also a boxer able to train him in his own boxing gym. Izzy has a bright future ahead of him, with his father’s big dream for him to win the Golden Gloves, as he did when he was younger. However, although Izzy attempts to take his boxing seriously, he has fallen out of love with it, particularly since his mother died, but he doesn’t want to disappoint or upset his father by telling him that, so Izzy tries to carry on as normal. After he discovers a love and talent for Double Dutch, possibly helped by his crush on neighbour Mary who loves Double Dutch, Izzy ends up leading a double life, wanting to keep the Double Dutch thing a secret, at risk of being mocked for doing something that “only girls” do. The pressure of all this soon becomes too much, as people find out about his Double Dutch team, including Izzy’s dad and bully Rodney. Izzy decides he can’t be on the Double Dutch team anymore, and once again reverts back to boxing. After he is persuaded to take part in a rematch with Rodney, he decides boxing and fighting isn’t worth it anymore, and refuses to continue. Izzy realises he should do what he loves, no matter what anyone else thinks.

Corbin Bleu was cast as Izzy, having starred as Chad Danforth in the first High School Musical film in 2006, a year before Jump In! Bleu returned to reprise his role as Chad in the other two films for Disney Channel. Earlier in his career, Bleu was cast alongside Kristen Stewart in the movie Catch That Kid (2004), where he played Austin. He had also been in the main cast of the Discovery Kids series Flight 29 Down (2005-07), where he played Nathan McHugh. Bleu has had much success with theatre work since his “Disney days”. For example, he played Seaweed J. Stubbs in the 2011 Hollywood Bowl production of the musical Hairspray, going on to star as Jesus in the 2011/12 Broadway production of Godspell. Bleu also played Ted Hanover in the musical Holiday Inn on Broadway in 2016. He later played Seymour Krelborn in an Off-Broadway version of The Little Shop of Horrors around 2024. Most recently, he starred as Nick Carraway in the stage musical adaptation of The Great Gatsby for London’s West End in 2025 and on Broadway in 2026. Bleu was also the runner-up in Season 17 of Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) in 2013, and won the dance competition series The Real Dirty Dancing (2022) with celebrity chef Cat Cora.

Since Izzy’s mother died, it has just been him, his father, Kenneth, and his little sister, Karin, at home. The three are trying to adjust to life without their mother, but it has been a struggle. For example, Karin is quite sensitive of her father’s feelings, but she isn’t so sure about his cooking or hairdressing skills! Karin loves Double Dutch, and is a big supporter of Mary’s team, both before and after Izzy joins it. Karin isn’t a bratty little sister, and mostly keeps out of the tension between Izzy and their father, although she is quick to tease Izzy about his friendship with Mary, and also tells their father about Izzy being on Mary’s Double Dutch team, obviously being too young to understand why that would be such a big deal. Karin was played by Kylee Russell, who went on to play Eliza in the Disney Channel musical franchise ZOMBIES, appearing in the first four films, as well as reprising her role for ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series (2024-26).

Kenneth Daniels is trying to hold everything together, at home, with his children, and with his boxing gym, however, he doesn’t always get it right. Kenneth has little reason to worry about Karin as she is so young, but he does have some concerns around Izzy, especially as Izzy initially seems focused on his boxing, only to become distracted, missing training, curfews, and family dinners. Kenneth thinks boxing means everything to Izzy and puts this down to nerves about the Golden Gloves, however, he is soon told by Izzy that actually he doesn’t like boxing anymore and that Izzy is feeling suffocated by Kenneth putting all the pressure of success on his shoulders. This comes as a slap in the face to Kenneth, who thought he was doing right by his son, and enjoyed having something in common with Izzy. Once the dust settles after their argument, Kenneth goes to see Izzy in the Double Dutch competition and sees how good and engaged Izzy is with the sport, accepting that although boxing was something for them to bond over, if that is not the case anymore, then that is fine with Kenneth because he is still so proud of his son. Jump In! even ends with Kenneth wanting to try out Double Dutch for himself.

Kenneth Daniels was played by David Reivers, who is actually Corbin Bleu’s father. His casting alongside his son in Jump In! was not even the last time that they would act together, as Reivers went on to play Mr. Danforth, Chad’s father, in High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008). Prior to this, he was cast in the recurring role of Bob Cowen in the fantasy drama series Charmed (1998-2006) in Seasons 4 and 5.

Then we have Mary, Izzy’s love interest in Jump In! The two are neighbours, who frequently talk through their bedroom windows at night, even meeting on the fire escape that connects their windows sometimes. Izzy initially teases Mary for her Double Dutch team, thinking it’s kind of lame, and Mary lets herself get wound up by Izzy whenever he says that, yet her friends know that Izzy and Mary are only like this because they both like each other. During the events of Jump In! Mary and Izzy fight over their different attitudes to Double Dutch, with Mary not being sure about having Izzy on the team, and Izzy showing a lack of commitment to the team at various times throughout the film. Eventually though, Mary is able to feel calmer about her team, not being so obsessed with winning, thanks to Izzy telling her to make their routines more fun. Izzy also allows himself to let his guard down, with Izzy and Mary both accepting their feelings for each other by the end of the movie.

Mary was played by Keke Palmer. Shortly after her role in this Disney Channel movie, Palmer went on to star as True Jackson in the Nickelodeon series True Jackson, VP (2008-11), going on to voice the character of Aisha in the Winx Club animated franchise also for Nickelodeon. After this, Palmer went on to act in various other series, including in the recurring role of Elizabeth Royce Harwood in Season 5 of the teen drama series 90210 (2008-13), and as Zayday Williams in the Fox series Scream Queens (2015-16). She was then cast as April Lewis in Seasons 2 and 3 of the drama series Berlin Station (2016-19). In movies, she appears as Mercedes in the movie Hustlers (2019); as Emerald “Em” Haywood in Nope (2022); and as Zoe in the Prime Video film The Pickup (2025). Most recently, Palmer is the current host of the game show Password (2022-present) on NBC, and stars as Samira Fisher on the Peacock series The ‘Burbs (2026-present). She also released her album Just Keke in 2025, before becoming a guest mentor in Season 24 of American Idol (2002-present) in 2026. In voice acting, Palmer voiced the character of Peaches in Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) and Ice Age: Collision Course (2016). She also returned to Disney to voice Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins in The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (2022-26), having voiced the character of Izzy Hawthorne in Pixar’s Lightyear (2022) around the same time.

The other three members of Mary’s original Joy Jumpers team were Shauna, Keisha, and Yolanda. Yolanda is too focused on winning and is irritated at the lack of progress that Joy Jumpers are making in competitions, so she leaves, joining their fiercest rivals the Dutch Dragons instead. Mary, Shauna, and Keisha can’t believe Yolanda would betray them, but she does, showing that she doesn’t care about her teammates. This leaves Mary, Shauna, and Keisha looking for a new fourth member. In the end, it is Shauna and Keisha who convince Mary to let Izzy on the team, wanting Mary to focus on his talent for Double Dutch and not on her personal feelings towards him. Shauna and Keisha are loyal to the team, but they aren’t afraid to stand up to Mary, telling her that their freestyle routine could do with some changes and that their team’s name can be changed to the Hot Chili Steppers. They basically force Mary to accept that if they want to win, they have to do things differently.

Shauna was played by Shanica Knowles, who was already known on Disney Channel for her recurring role as Amber Addison in their series Hannah Montana (2006-11). Knowles had appeared as Vanessa in the Nickelodeon series Unfabulous (2004-07) by this time as well. She went on to be cast as Simone Burch in The Young and the Restless (1973-present) from 2018. Keisha was played by Laivan Greene, who had been cast as Courtney in Season 4 of the series All of Us (2003-07) prior to her role in Jump In! Yolanda was played by Jajube Mandiela, who starred as Chantay Black in the Canadian teen series Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001-15) in the 2000s, from Season 4 until Season 11.

Within Izzy’s boxing circle, he has his friends Earl and Chuck, who back him up about his boxing talent and in front of Rodney, boosting his confidence whenever they can. However, they are also one of the ones who tease Izzy about his Double Dutch team, not thinking that is something that boy boxers should be doing in their spare time. This comes back to haunt them though as Izzy reminds Earl and Chuck that the best female boxer in their gym, Tammy, deserves their respect because boxing isn’t just for boys, just like how Double Dutch isn’t just for girls. Chuck, it turns out, actually likes Tammy, so he is almost relieved to find Izzy sticking up for Tammy so he can be more open about liking her, whereas it takes Earl a little while to get used to the idea of not making fun of Tammy. He also clearly hasn’t gotten used to Chuck and Tammy being a couple, as they all attend the Double Dutch competition at the end of the film.

Micah Stephen Williams was cast as Earl, going on to appear in the recurring role of Emmett in the Disney Channel series Good Luck Charlie (2010-14). Mazin Elsadig was cast as Chuck, having already been cast as Damian Hayes in Degrassi: The Next Generation before Jump In! Elsadig appeared in Seasons 6 and 7 of the series. He went on to voice Broseph in the Canadian animated series Stocked (2009-13) shortly after this. Tammy was played by Rebecca Williams, who went on to play Elizabeth Jones in the Lifetime movie Reviving Ophelia (2010), for which she was nominated for a Gemini award.

Finally, for the main cast, we have Rodney. Rodney is known as the school’s bully, and he is incredibly tough. His anger, strength, and build have meant that he is also a great boxer, like Izzy, however, he mostly uses his power to get through his fights, not skill. This has meant he has been undefeated – until he fights Izzy in an exhibition match, and loses, thanks to Izzy’s strategic boxing. Rodney is having a tough time at home, as his father is out of work, so his family are struggling for money. This explains why Rodney is so angry all the time, and Izzy sympathises with his situation, feeling their difficult family lives actually give them something in common. All Rodney feels he has is boxing and he wants to prove that Izzy’s win was a fluke, by challenging and demanding a rematch. Izzy eventually feels pressured enough to agree to it, but he can’t be bothered to fight Rodney and leaves the ring. Rodney is told by Izzy to let go of his anger and Rodney is surprised to find someone stand up to him. It gives Rodney a chance to reevaluate his life. In the end, he goes to the Double Dutch competition to support Izzy, basically thanking him for knocking some sense into him, just not literally! It turns out Rodney has been so affected by this story that he frequently tells it to children to help them navigate their futures. Rodney was played by Patrick Johnson Jr., who appears to have transitioned to being a producer in recent years.

I will also just mention a couple of other actors in Jump In! who may look familiar. One of these is Gene Mack, who plays Felix, one of Izzy’s trainers at the gym. Felix is wise and has a lot of advice to give to the up-and-coming boxers, wanting them to focus more on the skill of boxing rather than just punching out their opponents. Felix sees Izzy not engaging with the rematch with Rodney and is clearly proud of Izzy’s attitude. Gene Mack is a retired Canadian football player, having previously played for the Toronto Argonauts and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 1970s, before going into acting.

The other person to mention is Paula Brancati, who is the arrogant leader of the Dutch Dragons, Gina. Gina doesn’t think the Joy Jumpers or the Hot Chili Steppers will ever be capable of beating them, constantly mocking them before competitions, but the Hot Chili Steppers are finally able to beat the Dutch Dragons at the City Finals, no doubt putting Gina’s nose out of joint. Around this time, Brancati was cast as Jane Vaughn in Seasons 7 to 9 of Degrassi: The Next Generation, and she had also played mean girl Sarah in the Disney Channel movie Cow Belles (2006) prior to her role in Jump In! She went on to be cast as Jenny Zalen in the Canadian sitcom Being Erica (2009-11) and, more recently, had roles in all five series of the horror anthology series Slasher (2016-23).

MUSIC

Jump In! features plenty of pop, R&B, and hip-hop music, both to accompany moments from the film as well as to enhance the various Double Dutch performances.

First up, the song “It’s On” is playing during the opening credits, as Izzy dances and jumps around the streets whilst listening to music after his boxing practice, before ruining Mary and her team’s Double Dutch practice in the park. “It’s On” was written by Tim James and Antonina Armato, and was performed by boy band NLT.

At the regional Double Dutch competition, the compulsory steps and speed rounds are accompanied by the song “Gotta Lotta”. “Gotta Lotta” was written by Ray Cham, Drew Seeley, and Steve Burton, and was performed by Prima J. This song is also the same one that Mary is dancing to in her room before the competition and Izzy teases her. The freestyle round of this same competition is performed to the song “Go! (Jump In! Mix)”, sung by Jupiter Rising. It is used again for the Dutch Dragons’ freestyle routine at the City Finals. This song was also used in another DCOM, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006).

As Izzy prepares to face Rodney in an exhibition match at the boxing gym, having just heard that Rodney’s family is struggling for money, the song “I’m Ready”, performed by Drew Seeley, can be heard. It was written by Michael Bradford and Pam Sheyne.

Following that, after Izzy agrees to be part of the Double Dutch team, they have their first practice where the song “Jump to the Rhythm” plays. This song was written by Frank Fitzpatrick, Keith Thomas, and Robyn Johnson, and was performed by Jordan Pruitt. Pruitt was no stranger to Disney at this time, having performed the song “Outside Looking In” for the DCOM Read It and Weep (2006), and having been an opening act on various Disney stars’ tours, such as The Cheetah Girls’ The Party’s Just Begun Tour in 2006 and Demi Lovato’s Live In Concert tour in 2009. “Jump to the Rhythm” also reappears during the end credits, and is a recurring theme in the instrumental score.

Shortly after this, the song “Vertical” is used, for the montage sequence of Izzy struggling to balance Double Dutch training with school and his boxing. “Vertical” was written by Jamie Houston and was performed by T-Squad, who were a pop group created by Disney that lasted for a short period of time in the mid-2000s.

The song “Jump”, performed by Lil’ Josh, follows this, playing as Izzy takes the Joy Jumpers to the park to get some inspiration for their new freestyle routine from seeing kids doing Double Dutch in the park. Izzy wants Mary to recapture her joy for Double Dutch, instead of being so focused on perfection and precision. This song is said to have been inspired by the 1992 song “Jump Around” by House of Pain.

Following on from this, Jump In! takes a more serious and emotional turn. After Izzy is teased at school about his Double Dutch team, having had photos that Rodney took of their practice put up all over school, the song “Where Do I Go from Here” is used. It was written by Andy Dodd and Adam Watts, and was performed by Sebastian Mego. It sees Izzy torn between continuing Double Dutch and putting up with the teasing, or leaving the team.

A similar situation arises just a short while later as Izzy has an argument with his father. Izzy says he doesn’t want to be a boxer anymore, telling his dad to stop forcing his own dreams upon him. This leads to Izzy feeling guilty for hurting his father’s feelings, and the song “Let It Go” plays. It was written by Michael Bradford, and was performed by Kyle.

The next set of songs don’t play until the Double Dutch City Finals, where Izzy makes his triumphant return to Mary and the Hot Chili Steppers, just in time to compete. First up is “Jumpin’”, written by Marco Marinangeli and Chaka Blackmon, and performed by Keke Palmer. This accompanies the first two rounds of the competition. The Hot Chili Steppers’ freestyle routine then uses two different songs. The first is “It’s My Turn Now”, also performed by Keke Palmer, and was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil. Their second song is “Push It to the Limit”, also written by Gerrard and Nevil, and performed by Corbin Bleu. These songs add lots of energy and excitement to the finale of Jump In! “Push It to the Limit” is easily considered to be the most iconic song from Jump In!, and was clearly meant to be the main single for the film, as could be seen from the fact it was played extensively on Disney Channel in order to promote this film and Bleu’s singing career.

These songs make up the official soundtrack for Jump In!, which was released on 9^th January 2007, just a couple of days before the movie’s Disney Channel premiere. The soundtrack reached No. 2 in the US Billboard Soundtrack Albums chart, and peaked at No. 3 in the US Billboard 200. This is quite an impressive performance for a non-musical DCOM soundtrack. The song “Live It Up”, performed by Jeannie Ortega, is also a track on the official soundtrack, but I cannot find specifically where it was used in the film.

The composer of Jump In! was Frank Fitzpatrick. He had previously worked for Disney Channel as the composer on The Proud Family Movie (2005), but not the original series the movie is based on. Outside of Disney, Fitzpatrick has also worked on the music for such movies as Bring It On: Worldwide Cheersmack (2017).

PRODUCTION

The Jump In! that we received in 2007 was not the Disney Channel movie that it was originally meant to be. It was announced in 2005 that Disney Channel had been pitched a new movie all about competitive jump roping by screenwriter Tyger Williams to be called Double Dutch, and was set to star Raven-Symoné, who was a big deal for Disney Channel at the time, having already starred in their Disney Channel musical The Cheetah Girls (2003) and by being the lead in their popular series That’s So Raven (2003-07)[1].

For whatever reason, Double Dutch was later retooled to become Jump In!, and Raven was no longer starring in this new film, potentially due to her increasingly busy schedule. Instead, Keke Palmer became the female lead in this new film, and was paired with Corbin Bleu, likely because of his rising star status from his role in High School Musical.

The writers of Jump In! were Doreen Spicer-Dannelly, Regina Hicks, and Karin Gist. Spicer-Dannelly developed and produced the Disney Channel series The Proud Family (2001-05) with Bruce W. Smith, also writing some episodes, prior to Jump In! Together, Hicks and Gist co-wrote Camp Rock (2008) for Disney Channel with Paul Brown and Julie Brown, continuing on this franchise by co-writing Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010) with Dan Berendsen. They were both writers on the sitcom Girlfriends (2000-08) before Jump In! Separately, Hicks was a writer on Sister, Sister (1994-99) before working on the sitcom Instant Mom (2013-15), and then created The Upshaws (2021-25) for Netflix with Wanda Sykes. Gist went on to work on shows like Revenge (2011-15) and Mixed-ish (2019-21).

The director of Jump In! was Paul Hoen, who has had a long history with directing Disney Channel movies. Before Jump In! Hoen had directed the non-musical DCOMs The Luck of the Irish (2001), Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off, and Read It and Weep. After Jump In!, Hoen was chosen to direct The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008), following this up by directing Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam and the entire ZOMBIES movie franchise.

Jump In! is set in Brooklyn, New York. It was actually filmed in Toronto, Canada, as so many Disney Channel movies are. Another example of a DCOM being set in New York City but filmed in Canada is The Cheetah Girls. Toronto is a decent enough substitute for New York City, but it clearly does not feel the same, and will be hugely noticeable to anyone familiar with New York. But, you know, budgets, logistics, whatever.

New York City was still used for some establishing shots though, such as views of the city and the Brooklyn Bridge. In Toronto itself, the Living Arts Centre in downtown Mississauga appears to have been used as the location for the regional Double Dutch competition that the Joy Jumpers compete in towards the start of the film. Reportedly, the Double Dutch City Finals were filmed at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, now named the Mississauga Sports and Entertainment Centre, but it is not entirely clear if this venue was used. In behind-the-scenes footage, it was just said that this competition was filmed in a 5,000-seat arena, but the brief exterior shot does appear to match the exterior look of the Hershey Centre. Within the crowd at this competition, there were various real-life extras there, however, there were also 400 inflatable dummies used to fill up the crowd. Each dummy had a different costume and facial expression, meaning they looked creepy in a variety of different ways. This was required so that production could control the sound level of the crowd, yet still give the audience a sense of how busy a competition would be[2].

Speaking of the Double Dutch competitions, although doubles were used in some of these competition shots, with Marcus Taylor being the stunt double for the character of Izzy, as well as official Double Dutch teams taking part in filming, the cast actually managed to perform plenty of the Double Dutch steps and tricks in Jump In! The cast practised for weeks to be able to do this, with Double Dutch instructor Chris Emerson and choreographer Troy Liddell there to help choreograph the Double Dutch sequences, and work out just what the cast could and couldn’t do. Luckily for production, less shots of the doubles were used in Jump In! thanks to Corbin Bleu being able to pick it up quickly, with his dance ability and rhythm helping with that, and Keke Palmer being able to fall back on her childhood experience of Double Dutch. The group had three weeks of training in Double Dutch in Los Angeles first, where they focused on the basics, before moving over to Canada, where the training began to focus more on specific choreography, tricks, and the general team dynamic. The cast and crew were proud to be able to showcase this popular and intense sport, with little attention being given to the seriousness of Double Dutch as a sport before this, since it had mostly been referred to as simply “jumping rope” and was considered to be a playground activity for children; Jump In! showcases Double Dutch as a competitive sport[3].

But Double Dutch is not the only sport that Jump In! focuses on, as there are a few other sequences showing both boxing training and boxing matches. Director Paul Hoen had been given a list of shots that were not allowed for the boxing scenes, as this was a Disney film after all. He was told there could not be shots of people punching to the head, no blood flying, and no cheers from the crowd for any intense hits, as this could be seen as glorifying violence. Although Hoen tried to stick to these rules, after seeing the initial edited sequences, he found that they were so dull that he had to re-edit the footage to bend the rules as much as possible. For example, there is a shot of Izzy punching towards the camera, with Rodney throwing his head back to look as if he’d been punched.

A few other changes were made to Jump In! relatively late in the process. One was that Izzy was meant to be the narrator of this story; however, it was felt that it would be good to see how much Rodney had changed as a person during the course of the film by having him tell the story, showing how much Izzy’s words had affected him in a positive way. Hoen had assumed that viewers would know early on that Rodney was the narrator, as the actor who played Rodney, Patrick Johnson Jr., read these lines. Hoen was pleasantly surprised to find that the reveal of the narrator was actually a shock to some viewers. I was one of those.

Jump In! was also originally meant to see Izzy and Mary talk only through their windows. Inspiration came from West Side Story (1961) to add to these scenes. Production added a fire escape connecting Izzy and Mary’s bedroom windows so the two could talk more intimately, and have more of a romantic moment like Tony and Maria had in that film.

Disney asked for a new clip to play during the credits later on in the filmmaking process too. Hoen decided to create a full-circle moment by having Kenneth learn to jump rope. This was meant to be a similar moment to Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off, which Hoen had directed, where the father embraces his son’s dream, by helping Eddie in the cook-off.

The original cut of Jump In! was said to be two hours long, but it had to fit into a roughly 90-minute time slot for Disney Channel, so many cuts and edits were made to the footage. This mostly meant shortening some of the Double Dutch sequences, and omitting some of the tricks. I will say that I’m not surprised to hear Jump In! had to be edited quite significantly as I do feel like it chops and changes scenes quite quickly[4].

RECEPTION

Jump In! premiered on Disney Channel in the US on 12^th January 2007. It gradually came to other international countries in the months after; it reached the UK in April 2007 for example.

On its US premiere night, Jump In! was said to have been watched by 8.2 million viewers on that Friday night. This was enough to surpass the roughly 7.7 million viewers who had watched High School Musical on its premiere just a year before. However, as we all know High School Musical was watched by millions more viewers after that one night. Jump In! was the No. 1 basic cable program of the day on its premiere, and did exceptionally well within the Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 demographics. It was followed by the premiere episode of Cory in the House (2007-08), a spin-off of That’s So Raven, which itself ended up with an average of 7.6 million tuning in, making it the second-most watched cable program of the day, beating out Disney Channel’s previous series debut, Hannah Montana (2006-11), which had 5.5 million watching[5].

Although Jump In! had very good viewing figures for the time during its premiere, it would not end 2007 as the most-watched DCOM premiere. That ended up going to High School Musical 2, with a record-breaking 17.2 million viewers watching this sequel. Jump In! had to settle for being only the second-best DCOM of 2007 in terms of viewership.

Jump In! received mixed reviews, although it had slightly less negative comments than you might expect a Disney Channel movie to receive. Most critiques centred on the fact the story was fairly predictable, and was very similar to the storyline in both High School Musical and Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off. Others were annoyed that Disney Channel was once again using the success of one property to springboard the success of another, in this case, by hiring Corbin Bleu to star in this new movie, having already been a part of High School Musical. It was also felt that Jump In! did not accurately reflect the neighbourhood of Brooklyn, despite being set there.

However, plenty of viewers had much to like about Jump In! For example, the performances of Corbin Bleu and Keke Palmer were highlighted as being positives for the film, as was the natural chemistry between Bleu and his father David Reivers. Many enjoyed the Double Dutch performances, both from the actors and their doubles, liking how this movie was showcasing a different and less-known sport. Jump In! was entertaining, had good music, and was perfect for its target audience.

In terms of awards, Jump In! was nominated for Choice: TV Movie at the Teen Choice Awards. Unsurprisingly, it lost to High School Musical 2. It was also nominated for a Humanitas Prize, for Children’s Live Action Television, but the winner here was Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front (2006), the third movie in the American Girl film series. However, Paul Hoen did win the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs, beating out Kenny Ortega and High School Musical 2.

LEGACY

Jump In! is fondly remembered by fans of Disney Channel, especially those who were watching Disney Channel in the 2000s. It has become one of the more popular DCOMs.

It was even referenced at the Disney Parks, through their short stage show Disney Channel Rocks, which ran at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World from 2010 to 2013. Disney Channel Rocks showcased music from many Disney Channel films and franchises including the Camp Rock films, StarStruck (2010), the High School Musical trilogy and Jump In! From Jump In!, the song “Push It to the Limit” was performed, mixed in with The Cheetah Girls: One World song “Dance Me If You Can”. The version of Disney Channel Rocks that reappeared at the Disneyland After Dark: Disney Channel Nite events in 2024 and 2026 continued to feature this same performance of “Push It to the Limit”.

Jump In! is one of Disney Channel’s “sports movies”, adding to a list that already included the likes of Go Figure (2005), Full-Court Miracle (2003), and Johnny Tsunami (1999) by 2007. However, after the release of Jump In!, there was a steep decline in sports movies being made by Disney Channel, as the channel tried to capitalise on the success of High School Musical by making more and more musicals. Shortly after Jump In!, Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board premiered in the summer of 2007, but there have only been a handful of other sport-related DCOMs, such as Cloud 9 (2014) seven years later, since then.

In more recent years, Corbin Bleu himself referenced his role in Jump In! by posting a video to TikTok of him doing some Double Dutch, adding his song “Push It to the Limit” to the video. This video was filmed between performances of the Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors in 2024, when Bleu was starring in the show as Seymour Krelborn[6].

FINAL THOUGHTS

In the years since Jump In!, many Disney Channel movies have come and gone, some sticking around due to the popularity of its stars or music, whilst others are forgotten.

Because Corbin Bleu cemented himself as an integral part of Disney Channel history by being in the cast of High School Musical, and Keke Palmer has continued to have starring roles in various film and television projects, Jump In! has managed to stay relevant and continues to be talked about, albeit not to the same extent as High School Musical or many of Disney Channel’s musical movies, which usually have the best reviews.

With the 20^th anniversary of Jump In! coming up in 2027, there will likely be fans, and potentially members of the cast, posting about their love for the film on social media around this time. Jump In! may not have been totally unique, but it was at least memorable.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Michael Fleming, ‘Disney skips into ‘Dutch’’, Variety.com, 28^th August 2005.

[2] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘DCOM Extras – Jump In: Behind the Scenes!’, DisneyChannelRules YouTube Channel, 25^th December 2006.

[3] Credit: Disney, “Backstage Disney: Inside the Ropes: The Making of Jump In!”, from Jump In! (2007) Freestyle Edition UK DVD (2007).

[4] Credit: Rachael Ellenbogen, ‘‘Jump In!’ director shares 9 things fans probably never knew about the classis Disney movie’, BusinessInsider.com, 11^th January 2022.

[5] Credit: Michael Schneider, ‘Shows set records for Disney’, Variety.com, 16^th January 2007.

[6] Credit: Ashlyn Robinette, ‘Corbin Bleu Shows Off Impressive Double Dutch Moves 17 Years After His Disney Movie ‘Jump In!’’, ETOnline.com, 28^th May 2024.

11th September 202611th September 2026 by The Disney Purist

The Lorax (2012)

BACKGROUND

The 2012 adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s treasured tale, The Lorax, brought together a few different US companies and entities.

One of these was the longstanding film studio Universal Pictures, who distributed the movie. Another was Illumination Entertainment, an animation studio that was still revelling in the success they’d just had with Despicable Me (2010), which, as we know now, has spanned a major animation franchise.

The other was of course the estate of famed children’s author Dr. Seuss, with the estate granting the rights to Illumination to adapt his beloved tale The Lorax for the screen.

Children in the US have grown up with Dr. Seuss stories for decades, preferably having their first introduction to the stories through the books but potentially through screen adaptations, which range from the bleak, like The Cat in the Hat (2003) with Mike Myers, to the wonders of something like Horton Hears a Who! (2008), which I haven’t seen but apparently seems to be one of the better movie adaptations of a Dr. Seuss book.

Since I am British, we have our own children’s stories that we discuss in schools and at home, with the best comparison to Dr. Seuss in terms of education and the number of book-to-screen adaptations is probably Roald Dahl. So, my knowledge of Dr. Seuss primarily comes from the films, like How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), as well as visits to the Universal Studios Islands of Adventure Park and its Seuss Landing area.

Dr. Seuss stories are known for being full of imaginative characters, colourful landscapes, and some sort of moral tale. The Lorax is no different, and in this case, the lesson is centred around the environment and the dangers of consumerism.

I had not heard of The Lorax prior to watching the 2012 film. I wasn’t even bothered about seeing it but for some reason I went with my sister to the local cinema in the summer to see it. I don’t really know why. It wasn’t like it was something we were desperate to see; it just happened to be on that day. Maybe we watched it for Zac Efron? Who knows!

But regardless, I actually enjoyed it. It was a good story; it had some catchy music; and a strong voice cast. However, my like of this film, probably helped by not growing up with the story, was not matched by all, with others saying it remains one of the worst adaptations of a Dr. Seuss tale, for a variety of reasons.

PLOT

The Lorax begins on a stage, as a character introduces himself to those watching. The character says he is the Lorax, and that he speaks for the trees. He reminds the audience that what they are about to see is all a true story, so they should pay attention.

The red curtain behind the Lorax then opens up to reveal the city of Thneedville. The Lorax explains, in rhyme, that Thneedville is an artificial city, but the people like it that way. There is no nature, only manufactured products, including trees, and that the people have even allowed themselves to start buying fresh air, with the owner of this air company being Thneedville’s mayor Aloysius O’Hare. Dodgy…

One person who lives in this town is teenager Ted Wiggins. On this day, Ted is flying his remote-controlled aeroplane around, and deliberately crashes it in someone’s garden. This is Ted’s crush’s house. Ted knocks on the door and a slightly older girl called Audrey comes to the door, not at all surprised that Ted is here to retrieve his plane, since this has happened before! She isn’t annoyed though and in fact invites him in, taking him to the back garden, to show him a painting of colourful trees that she has completed on the back of her house. It turns out Audrey is desperate to see a real tree, having found out they used to grow around here, and had tufts like silk and smelt of butterfly milk. This gives Ted an idea, especially as Audrey said she’d marry the man who found her a tree.

Over dinner, Ted asks his mother about trees. This confuses Ted’s mother as they already have a tree, that lights up and plays music. Why would he want a tree that’s all dirty and real when they’ve got that? Ted’s grandmother pipes up and says if Ted wants to learn about real trees and what happened to them, he needs to speak to the Once-ler. This gets Ted’s interest, but Ted’s mother says not to listen to Grammy’s crazy stories. Grammy asks Ted’s mother to get her teeth for her, and she leaves the room. Grammy actually has her teeth with her, but wanted Ted’s mother to go away so she could tell Ted more about the Once-ler. She tells Ted the Once-ler lives outside of town, where the grass never grows and the wind smells sore when it blows. She says: If you bring him 15 cents, a nail, and the shell of a great-great-great-grandfather snail, then he’ll tell you everything. Ted jumps on his moped and heads out of town, finding his way out of the steel-encased Thneedville.

Meanwhile, Mayor O’Hare is having a meeting with his marketing team, aimed at expanding O’Hare Air. They’ve come up with a plan and a commercial to sell single-use bottled air for consumers. The mayor isn’t so sure the citizens of Thneedville are stupid enough to fall for that, but the marketing team are convinced that the people will buy anything that comes in a plastic bottle, and with this plan requiring a new factory, the air quality will get worse so the people will believe they need to buy more fresh air; it’s perfect. Suddenly, the mayor is shown an alert by his security guards showing Ted leaving Thneedville. Mayor O’Hare tells security to follow him and see what Ted is up to.

As Ted progresses through the inner workings of Thneedville, he sees pipes pumping out oil in the gallons, and making his way out of Thneedville, it gets a whole lot worse, as Ted sees miles and miles of barren, black landscape. After dodging twisted metal structures, remnants of whatever used to be here, and surviving a death-defying jump off a cliff, Ted finds a tall, ramshackle house, outside which are numerous “Get Out” signs. Ted approaches the door of this house and finds it is the home of the Once-ler. He rings the doorbell, and is thrown into the air by a variety of inventive traps. Ted is grabbed by a hook and brought up to a boarded-up window, being told by the Once-ler to get out and leave him alone. But Ted refuses to leave, saying he has been told if he hands over some stuff, he’ll learn about trees. The Once-ler hasn’t ever had someone talk to him about trees before, believing that no-one cares about trees anymore. The Once-ler admits he is the reason why there are no trees, him and his invention, and launches into his story, starting a long, long time ago.

It starts with the Once-ler as a young man, leaving home so he can make his fortune, wanting to bring joy to the world with his new invention, the Thneed. He leaves behind his unsupportive family, consisting of his mother, twin brothers, aunt, and uncle. The Once-ler travels for miles and miles in his wagon, searching for the perfect material for his Thneed. Eventually, he comes across a colourful paradise, full of soft-tufted trees, Humming-fish, cute little bear-like creatures called Bar-ba-loots and Swomee-Swans. The Once-ler is convinced this is the place where he needs to be, however, the animal creatures are quickly fed up with all of his human items coming to their home. The Once-ler tries to defend himself from their attack with two huge bags of marshmallows. It turns out these creatures really like marshmallows, and they become too distracted to attack the Once-ler.

Back in present day, Ted interrupts the story, wanting the Once-ler to get to the point, but the Once-ler refuses to shorten his story for anyone. Ted tells him to carry on then. Back with the Once-ler, he chops down one of the bright Truffula Trees, finding that this action has scared all the forest creatures away. The Once-ler takes the tree away with him, not realising that by chopping down this tree, he has summoned the mythical creature the Lorax, who appears from the tree stump. The Lorax mourns the death of this tree, putting rocks around it in commemoration, with the animals joining him until they have created a full circle.

The Lorax soon sees who is responsible for this and marches over to the Once-ler, who is harvesting the tuft off the Truffula Tree. The Once-ler is confronted by the Lorax, who says he speaks for the trees. The Once-ler tries to bribe the Lorax with a marshmallow, which the Lorax enjoys – but not enough to let this go. He tries to stop the Once-ler from setting up home here, and baits the Once-ler into showing he can be violent and angry. The Once-ler vows to chop down every tree around here, just to spite the Lorax. The Lorax threatens the Once-ler with a curse from all the forces of nature should he not leave the area by sunset. The Once-ler then tells Ted to return the next day to hear the rest of the story. Ted promises to come back tomorrow, although he doesn’t particularly want to.

The next day, over breakfast, Ted starts to fantasise about giving Audrey a tree on her birthday, and getting a kiss in return. He snaps out of it as his mother teases him for kissing the cereal box – and not for the first time either! Ted tries to head out to see the Once-ler, but his mother reminds him it is family time, a day for playing board games together. However, Ted’s mother quickly gets frustrated by how slow Grammy is, and says family time is over, because she needs time to herself! Grammy tells Ted this was all part of her plan, so now Ted can return to the Once-ler. On his way out of town though, Ted is confronted by Mayor O’Hare, who warns Ted not to start meddling in things he doesn’t understand, especially as Ted wanting trees back will destroy O’Hare’s air company, since trees create fresh air naturally. The mayor reminds Ted that Thneedville is a great place to be. It’s fun, has plenty to do – and is under constant surveillance.

After this talk, Ted pretends to go back home, before going back out of town as soon as the mayor and his security team have left. Ted returns to the Once-ler, who is a bit surprised to see him back. The Once-ler figures he must be here because of a girl. If a guy does something stupid more than once, it’s usually to impress a girl. Ted admits it is for a woman, actually, and that she wants to see a real tree. Ted is determined to get her one.

The Once-ler continues his story. After the Lorax threatened the Once-ler, the Once-ler ignored all the warnings, and managed to knit his first Thneed from the tuft of the Truffula Tree. He then goes to sleep. The Lorax enlists all the animals to steal the Once-ler’s bed and put it in the river. This plan goes swimmingly, until the Lorax notices one of the Bar-ba-loots – Pipsqueak – on the Once-ler’s bed, heading towards some rapids, rocks, and a huge waterfall. The Lorax tries to save Pipsqueak, even creating a ladder with other animals, wanting Pipsqueak to grab his hand, but the Bar-ba-loot is quickly distracted and ignores the outstretched hand, not noticing the danger he is in until it is too late. The Once-ler soon wakes up as he is dunked in the water, but he can’t do anything to save them. The Lorax tips a boulder into their path, hitting the bed, and catapulting the two of them to dry land. The Once-ler is knocked unconscious, revived only be the Lorax’s quick-thinking – to use the static electricity from the Bar-ba-loots to work as some sort of defibrillator! The Once-ler is thankful, until he realises the Lorax put him in the river in the first place. The Lorax tries to reason with the Once-ler. The Once-ler finally promises not to cut down any more trees.

The following morning, the Once-ler wakes up to find the Lorax and all the forest creatures in his home, eating his food, and using all his stuff. He doesn’t have time to deal with this right now, so he heads into town to sell his first Thneed. The Lorax can’t believe the Once-ler thinks anyone would buy this apparently versatile Thneed. And he is right – because the Once-ler does not sell the Thneed for days, instead being laughed at and having tomatoes thrown at him by the townspeople. The Once-ler gives up, throwing his Thneed away – not realising that it has landed on some woman’s head, acting like a hat, and her friends think it is really cool. The Once-ler simply heads back to the valley, disappointed.

However, the Once-ler, the Lorax, and the creatures soon hear a strange noise. It’s all the townspeople coming towards them, singing about how they all need a Thneed, loving how adaptable it is. The Once-ler, excited by this newfound success, calls his mother, telling all his family to get to the valley to help him run his business.

Ted returns home again, and takes his grandmother to the supermarket, believing the Once-ler will finally tell him what happened to the trees on his next visit. Whilst waiting outside, Ted sees Audrey and tries to play it cool. But Grammy arrives and starts to embarrass him, by saying how Ted talks about her all the time, and she’s even prettier than Ted had let on. Back at home, Audrey sees her tree painting has been completely covered over by O’Hare’s company. Ted also sees O’Hare has meddled in his plans, as he has closed up the door leading out of town permanently. Ted instead drives over the tallest buildings in the city, and slides down the town wall, to get back to the Once-ler again.

The Once-ler continues his story. His family arrive into the valley, loudly, with a grotesque RV that folds up and out into a huge mobile home. The Once-ler is pleased to see his family finally being supportive of him, now that his invention might make them all rich. But the Lorax is horrified to see how little the Once-ler’s family care for nature, with him even being insulted by the Once-ler’s aunt on multiple occasions. The Lorax tries to kick the Once-ler’s family out of there, but the Once-ler won’t let that happen; he needs them to build up his huge Thneed enterprise. The Lorax cryptically warns the Once-ler to be careful which way he leans, seeing he can’t get through to him again.

The Once-ler’s mother soon comes to the Once-ler to tell him that harvesting the tufts is simply too slow, and they’ll never be able to make enough Thneeds without chopping down the trees. The Once-ler initially rejects that idea, however, he is convinced it is the only way to make his business a success. The Lorax sees the trees being cut down and tries to speak to the Once-ler, saying this is very bad, but he is unable to talk to him face-to-face.

After some time, the Once-ler has created a whole new persona for himself, complete with long green gloves, sunglasses, a top hat, and an air of self-importance, and refuses to accept that what he is doing, by building factories and ruining the environment, is bad, because he’s making so much money. The Lorax comes to the Once-ler’s office, where he tries to confront him again. The Once-ler simply puts the blame for all this on the Lorax, as he never summoned those powers of nature he claimed to have to stop him. The Once-ler says he’ll keep cutting down the trees and making Thneeds, with nothing stopping him. Except the very last Truffula Tree has just fallen, leaving only miles of nothingness.

As two construction workers start talking down one of the Thneed billboards, they wonder who will come up with the next million-dollar idea. One begins coughing, giving the other one that exact idea – and who is the one with that idea? Aloysius O’Hare…

With no more Truffula Trees to make Thneeds out of, the Once-ler’s business soon closes down, and his family disown him, as he is no longer successful. The Lorax comes with all the forest creatures to show the Once-ler what he has done to their paradise. The Once-ler watches helplessly as the animals walk away, hoping to find a new home. The Lorax then beams himself back up into the sky, leaving behind only a ring of stones, with the word “Unless” carved in to one of them.

Ted comes to the realisation that the Once-ler was right; he was to blame for destroying all the trees. The Once-ler has been living as a recluse for years, ashamed of what he has done, pondering what that word “Unless” could possibly mean. But now, he knows. It must be about Ted, because “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” Ted is given the last Truffula seed, and told to plant it.

Knowing what he must do, Ted rushes back to Thneedville. He tries his best to return without being seen by one of O’Hare’s cameras, but he is spotted. Ted comes to Audrey’s house, telling her to meet him at his house in a bit. Ted starts collecting what he’ll need to plant this tree, finding a bottle of water. Ted is called downstairs by his mother, not noticing the water bottle tip onto the seed. Downstairs, Ted sees Mayor O’Hare is here, wanting him to hand over the seed. Ted feigns ignorance, and the mayor orders his security guards to search Ted’s room. Luckily, the seed has somehow vanished. Ted’s mother sees what is going on and orders the mayor to get out of her house. As they go back downstairs, Ted sees his grandmother saved the seed, which has begun sprouting. Ted shows the seed to his mother and Audrey, before heading into the town to plant it.

Ted’s mother distracts one guard, leading him away from Ted, Audrey, and Grammy who are going in the opposite direction, almost driving over a half-constructed bridge. Meanwhile, on the moped, the other three see O’Hare’s blimp overhead, and he drops out of it with a jet pack and a guard on his back, chasing down the moped. O’Hare crashes into his other guard’s van, and continues on foot. The three get in an elevator before O’Hare can get to them. However, he sees the seed in Audrey’s hand, and tilts a big fan towards them, sending the seed flying. A further chase ensues as the two groups try to get to the seed first. It has fallen into an air canister. O’Hare has the canister in his hands, but thanks to Ted’s grandmother’s cane, they manage to retrieve it.

Ted, Audrey, and his grandmother find a spot to plant the tree in the centre of Thneedville, but there is no dirt. Grandma commandeers a digger, knocking off the head of O’Hare’s statue, which allows the ground to be broken, revealing some dirt. Ted tries to explain what he’s doing, but the people of Thneedville don’t care; they don’t want real trees here. They are dirty and impure. Audrey says the only reason O’Hare doesn’t want trees here is because it will threaten his air company. The people try to get the seed off Ted, so he grabs the other two and puts them into the digger, driving it right into the town wall.

The wall collapses revealing the destroyed landscape just outside Thneedville. The citizens of Thneedville look out in horror as Ted says he speaks for the trees, wanting to make changes to make Thneedville better. He says the first thing to do is to plant this seed. Mayor O’Hare attempts to get the people back on his side, but now they’ve seen the devastation they’ve been surrounded by, they say the seed should be planted, and be allowed to grow. Outside of town, the Once-ler cuts down the boards on his window, realising that Ted must’ve done what needed to be done. Ted has sure enough planted the Truffula Tree, and even gets a kiss on the cheek from Audrey for doing so!

After some time, nature has begun to be restored everywhere, both in Thneedville and by the Once-ler’s house. Animals have even begun to return to the area. The Once-ler then notices the Lorax has returned as well, where he tells the Once-ler “he done good”.

The film ends with the simple, but most important, message of the story, as written by Dr. Seuss, being displayed on screen: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not”.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Theodore “Ted” Wiggins is the catalyst for change in The Lorax, even though he’s not exactly an environmental activist. Ted would not have been at all interested in finding out about trees had his crush Audrey not stated an interest in them, but really, it’s lucky he did do this all for love, because had he not, nothing in Thneedville would’ve changed. As he said, nobody in Thneedville cares about trees and they’ve all been brainwashed to believe that the only things worth having are those that have been manufactured, like their light-up trees. Ted is brave and determined enough to go to the Once-ler to find out what happened to all the Truffula Trees that used to be around them all those years ago, ignoring the threats of Mayor O’Hare and listening to the advice of his grandmother and the Once-ler instead. He is then motivated to go up against the mayor and his loyal townspeople, showing them the errors of the generations before them, calling on them to help make the changes they need for the future. He is hoping that they are as affected as he was by seeing the barren landscape that encircles Thneedville – and they are, telling Mayor O’Hare to get out of town if he doesn’t want them to start planting real trees and making a difference.

Ted was voiced by Zac Efron, with the character name being inspired by that of Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Theodor. Efron rose to prominence thanks to his role as Troy Bolton in the High School Musical franchise for Disney Channel. After moving away from Disney, Efron went on to play Young Mike O’Donnell in the teen rom-com 17 Again (2009), and tried out a more dramatic role with his casting Charlie St. Cloud (2010) in the title role. He has since gone on to star in a variety of movies, with just a few of these being Teddy Sanders in Neighbors (2014) and its 2016 sequel; Matt Brody in the remake of Baywatch (2017); and portraying serial killer Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019). Efron also did not turn his back on movie musicals after High School Musical either, as he played Link Larkin in Hairspray (2007) and Phillip Carlyle in the smash-hit The Greatest Showman (2017), alongside Zendaya and Hugh Jackman. He also had his own travel documentary series called Down to Earth with Zac Efron (2020-22), which streamed on Netflix. Efron recently starred as Chris Cole in the Netflix film A Family Affair (2024).

Ted’s mother and grandmother have two differing opinions on trees when Ted first asks about them. Ted’s mother, having grown up in Thneedville not knowing any better, is uncertain why Ted would be bothered about real trees, thinking they’re dirty and unclean, not right for Thneedville. She only comes to see the importance of trees after Ted shows her the Truffula Tree seed he was given by the Once-ler, and then supports her son in his mission to plant it and make Thneedville a part of the natural environment again. Ted’s grandmother, however, knows all about real trees, having apparently seen them when she was young. She sends Ted to the only person who can explain what happened to the Truffula Trees, the Once-ler. Ted’s mother believes it is just another story or myth, but it turns out Ted’s grandmother knew what she was talking about and sent her grandson to the right place. Ted’s grandmother is also very helpful in planting the seed in Thneedville, retrieving the seed from the air canister and even commandeering that digger to find a place to plant it.

Ted’s mother was voiced by Jenny Slate. Slate is no stranger to voice acting, having gone on to voice Dawn Bellwether in Zootopia (2016) and its 2025 sequel for Disney Animation, and voicing Gidget the Pomeranian in The Secret Life of Pets (2016) and its 2019 sequel for Illumination Entertainment, who just so happened to make The Lorax. She returned to Illumination to voice Valeria Da Vinci in Despicable Me 3 (2017). Outside of that, Slate has also voiced the character of Tammy Larsen in the adult animated series Bob‘s Burgers (2012-present) and its 2022 movie. She also co-created the film series Marcel the Shell with Shoes On with Dean Fleischer Camp, which became a feature film in 2021; Slate voiced the character of Marcel. In person, Slate was a cast member on Saturday Night Live (1975-present) for one season between 2009 and 2010, and went on to be cast as Zoe in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011). More recently, she starred as Emma in the Amazon Prime comedy film I Want You Back (2022) opposite Charlie Day, and was cast as Allysa Kincaid in the romantic drama film It Ends with Us (2024).

Betty White was chosen to voice Grammy Norma in The Lorax. White is well-known for her role as Rose Marie Nylund in the sitcom The Golden Girls (1985-92), reprising the role in its short-lived spin-off The Golden Palace (1992-93). She won an Emmy for her role in The Golden Girls in 1986, being nominated in the Best Actress in a Television Series category on other occasions. She later was cast as Elka Ostrovsky in the sitcom Hot in Cleveland (2010-15). In movies, White appeared in various comedy films, including as Mrs. Kline in Bringing Down the House (2003), which starred Steve Martin and Queen Latifah; as Grandma Annie in The Proposal (2009), with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds; and as Grandma Bunny Byer in You Again (2010), alongside the likes of Kristen Bell and Jamie Lee Curtis. White also voiced the character of Mrs. Claus in Disney’s animated special Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa (2010), going on to voice Bitey White in Toy Story 4 (2019) for Pixar. White was named a Disney Legend in 2009. White sadly died in December 2021, at the age of 99, with a documentary movie about her life, Betty White: A Celebration, being released in 17^th January 2022, which would’ve been her 100^th birthday.

The Once-ler is shown to be a mysterious figure in The Lorax, living out his life as a recluse, not being visited or being seen by anyone from Thneedville since he lives way away from the town. The Once-ler has simply become a myth or a legend. However, Ted’s grandmother knows all about him and sends her grandson to talk to him, to learn about what happened to the trees. The Once-ler has clearly lived with regrets for many years for what he did out of greed, chopping down all the trees just so he could sell pointless items people didn’t need and make a lot of money, sending all the animals away, and creating a toxic wasteland. He has taken responsibility for his actions, keeping a Truffula Tree seed aside for just the right moment, for just the right person to plant it. After Ted shows interest in the story, the Once-ler decides Ted is the one who should plant the seed and change Thneedville for ever, reversing the Once-ler’s mistakes all the years before. Luckily, things end on a happier note for the Once-ler, as the Lorax returns to forgive him and thank him for still caring.

The Once-ler was voiced by Ed Helms. Around the time of The Lorax, Helms was known for his role as Andy Bernard in the sitcom The Office (2005-13) from Season 3. He had previously been a correspondent on The Daily Show (1996-present) from 2002 to 2006. Helms is also recognisable for his casting as Stuart “Stu” Price in The Hangover trilogy, as well as for his appearances in a string of other comedy films, including as Brad Gurdlinger in We’re the Millers (2013); as Hogan “Hoagie” Malloy in Tag (2018); and as Bill Walker in Netflix’s Family Switch (2023) with Jennifer Garner. His other voice work outside of The Lorax includes voicing Captain Underpants in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017), and voicing Graham Pudowski in Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021). Helms also recently co-created and starred as Nathan Rutherford in the Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls (2021-22).

The Lorax tells us and all the characters he interacts with that he speaks for the trees. He is the one sent to ensure that nature is being respected by all those around it, so imagine his shock at seeing that a beautiful Truffula Tree was chopped down by a human, just so he could make some stupid Thneed from it and make a lot of money. The Lorax and the Once-ler initially come to an understanding, where the Once-ler promises not to chop down any more trees, having been grateful to the Lorax for saving his life after he almost got sent down a waterfall. The Lorax believes the Once-ler will keep his word, and isn’t too concerned anyway as he doesn’t believe the Thneed will ever be popular. Sadly, the Once-ler’s word means nothing, and he does start to cut down all the trees. Well, his family start doing that – and the Once-ler is fine with it because it is all for his business, and a necessity to ensure he builds a Thneed-making empire. The Lorax is unable to reason with him from that point on, despite numerous attempts, and once the last tree has fallen, he sees he has failed in his mission to protect the trees and disappears back into the clouds, leaving the Once-ler with only his thoughts and regrets. Luckily, the Lorax returns and seems to have forgiven the Once-ler for what happened in that valley all that time before, as he once again has a purpose here, now there are new trees to protect from harm.

The Lorax was voiced by Danny DeVito, who returned to voice the character for various other language dubs of the film, such as Italian, German, Russian, and Spanish[1]. DeVito has had an incredible acting career spanning multiple decades. Some of DeVito’s best-known roles are being cast as Louie De Palma in the series Taxi (1978-83), for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy; and for playing Mr. Wormwood in Matilda (1996), the adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel that he just so happened to direct as well. He also starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the comedy film Twins (1988) where he played Vincent Benedict, reuniting with him to play Dr. Larry Arbogast in the film Junior (1994). DeVito is also well-known for his voice role as Philoctetes in Disney Animation’s Hercules (1997). DeVito has continued to star in movies, such as appearing as the Ringmaster in Tim Burton’s live-action remake Dumbo (2019), and for his role as Eddie in Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) and its 2026 sequel Jumanji: Open World. Other recent movies roles include being cast as Bruce Davis in Disney’s Haunted Mansion (2023) and starring alongside his daughter Lucy in the festive film A Sudden Case of Christmas (2024). DeVito currently stars in the sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-present), having played the part of Frank Reynolds since Season 2.

Audrey is Ted’s crush. She is slightly older than him, so Ted finds her intelligence and knowledge intriguing, wanting to impress her by having the same interests. Audrey shows Ted a painting she did on the back of her house of all the Truffula Trees that used to exist. It shows what a talented artist she is, but really, Audrey just wants to see a real tree, telling Ted she’d probably marry the man who got her a tree. Audrey is clearly impressed with Ted when he shows her that he has a Truffula Tree seed, and wants to help him plant it, even if it means going against Mayor O’Hare. She’s not intimidated by him one bit, and like Ted, stands up for her beliefs in front of all the people of Thneedville. In the end, her and Ted are able to plant the tree together. Audrey was named after Dr. Seuss’s wife, Audrey Geisel.

Taylor Swift was tasked with voicing Audrey, having only had a couple of movie roles beforehand; she had a cameo appearance in Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009) for Disney Channel, and was cast as Felicia Miller in Valentine’s Day (2010). She went on to appear in a few other films, including as Bombalurina in the heavily-criticised adaptation Cats (2019) and then as Elizabeth Meekins in Amsterdam (2022). Swift is mostly known as a singer, starting out in country music before becoming one of the biggest global pop superstars of all time. She has had over ten major studio albums, with numerous hit singles like “Love Story”, “You Belong with Me”, “Fearless”, “Mean”, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, “22”, “Shake It Off”, “Blank Space”, “Look What You Made Me Do”, “Anti-Hero”, “Cruel Summer”, “Is It Over Now?”, “The Fate of Ophelia”, and “Opalite”. She has won various American Music Awards and Grammys amongst many others for her music, and has been on various sold-out tours, including her recent The Eras Tour from 2023 to 2024. Swift has also taken part in various documentary films about her life and career such as Miss Americana (2020), and Taylor Swift: The End of An Era (2025) docuseries on Disney+.

Mayor Aloysius O’Hare, as we see partway through The Lorax, actually began his career as a humble city employee. From his work there, he saw how gullible people could be about buying things they didn’t need. This sparked an idea in his brain to start selling fresh air to people in containers, thus bringing his business empire O’Hare Air to life. Through his continued “improvements” in Thneedville, O’Hare has become mayor of the town, wielding great power. Despite his small stature, O’Hare can be menacing, threatening Ted not to start bringing any ideas about trees into “his town”. He also has big security guards to back up those messages. When Ted brings the Truffula Tree seed into Thneedville, the major initially has the backing of the people – until they see just how bad things are outside of Thneedville. They then turn against the mayor and he is sent away from Thneedville on his jet pack. He probably should’ve just accepted defeat and got on board by that point!

Rob Riggle voiced Mayor O’Hare here, having had various roles in comedy movies before The Lorax. Some of these include playing Jack Telmont in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006); being cast Randy in Step Brothers (2008); and his cameo appearance as Officer Franklin in The Hangover (2009). Riggle also played Mr. Walters in 21 Jump Street (2012) and Mackenzie in Night School (2018). Riggle was also a cast member on Saturday Night Live for one season from 2004 to 2005 and a correspondent on The Daily Show from 2006 to 2008. In terms of voice acting, Riggle voiced the character of Noel in the Disney animated television special Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice (2011), and voiced Doug Clancy in their Disney Junior series Fancy Nancy (2018-22). He has also voiced Lance Loud in the Nickelodeon series The Loud House (2016-present).

Those are the main characters in The Lorax, but we do also briefly see some members of the Once-ler’s unsupportive and uncaring family. His mother, twin brothers Brett and Chet, Aunt Grizelda, and Uncle Ubb wave the Once-ler off as he leaves home to go and make his fortune from his new invention, the Thneed. They laugh at him as he drives away, not expecting him to ever be anything great. However, when it turns out the Thneed is really taking off, the family drop everything and come to build up the Once-ler’s big business empire, even convincing him to break his promise to the Lorax and cut down the trees in the name of “progress”. Once the last tree is felled and there is no more material to make any more Thneeds, the family leave, basically disowning the Once-ler. They are terrible people.

The Once-ler’s mother was voiced by Nasim Pedrad, who was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2009 to 2014. She also voiced the character Jillian in Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me 2 (2013). Recently, she played Ashley in the Netflix sequel Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) and is set to have a role in Jumanji: Open World. She also voiced the character Zia Zanna in the animated Disney series Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures (2023-25). Danny Cooksey voiced Brett and Chet.

Aunt Grizelda was voiced by Elmarie Wendel who is perhaps best known for her role as Mamie Dubcek in the NBC sitcom 3^rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001). Stephen Tobolowsky voiced Uncle Ubb. Tobolwsky is known for such comedy roles as Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day (1993), Mr. Bates in Freaky Friday (2003) and its 2025 sequel, and Ned in the Hallmark holiday films Haul Out the Holly (2022), its 2023 sequel, and Haul Out the Halloween (2025). He also voiced the character of Principal Purdy in DreamWorks Animation’s Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014). In series, Tobolowsky played the role of Principal Earl Ball in The Goldbergs (2013-23) and its spin-off Schooled (2019-20), prior to his recurring role as Rabbi Cohen in the Netflix series Nobody Wants This (2024-present).

MUSIC

Although Illumination Entertainment are not known for creating animated musicals, The Lorax happens to be one, with five original songs appearing in this film, and many others seemingly written but not used. The music does not compare to the likes of those from Disney Animation, but nonetheless they are quite catchy.

The movie begins with the song “Thneedville”, introducing this oddly environmentally-unconscious place to the audience, where they find it amusing that people who swim in the pond come out of it glowing, and how much the people of Thneedville love all the purchases and new construction around, not bothered in the slightest that all this means they now buy fresh air… It’s quite a cheesy song, but gives a good introduction to Thneedville, its citizens, and their overly manufactured ways. “Thneedville” was performed by the cast of The Lorax and was written by John Powell and Cinco Paul.

“This is the Place” is the song the Once-ler sings, feeling very excited to have found just the place to start constructing his Thneeds, discovering that the tufts of the Truffula Trees are the perfect material to make them from. He soon makes enemies of the forest creatures though. This song is performed predominately by Ed Helms, and was written by John Powell and Cinco Paul. Only part of the full song “This is the Place” is heard in The Lorax movie, but a different version exists on the soundtrack under the name “This is the Place (Tricky Version)”. The End Credits of The Lorax does not credit the song “This is the Place”, only a song called “These Trees”, so this might be another name for the same song.

After the Once-ler successfully constructs his first Thneed, he immediately goes to the market to sell it. He comes up with the song “Everybody Needs a Thneed”, hoping to enlighten people about just what it is. He has no luck initially, but once it inadvertently lands on someone’s head, becoming a hat, suddenly everyone comes to the Once-ler, singing this song, demanding their own Thneed. “Everybody Needs a Thneed” was performed by the pop band The 88 and Ed Helms, and was written by John Powell and Cinco Paul.

“How Bad Can I Be?” is the song that follows on from the Lorax’s warning about cutting down trees and breaking his promise. He tells the Once-ler what he is doing is a bad thing, but the Once-ler doesn’t see how creating a business empire is bad, morphing into someone completely different to the person who came to the valley. “How Bad Can I Be?” was performed by Ed Helms, and was written by John Powell, Cinco Paul, and Kool Kojak. This is the villain’s song in The Lorax, I suppose, but it’s quite upbeat, as the Once-ler doesn’t realise he is the villain of the story at this point in the film.

The final song in The Lorax is “Let It Grow”. It shows all the people of Thneedville agreeing with Audrey and Ted that something needs to change in their town, after seeing the devasted wasteland that exists around Thneedville. They decide their best option is to plant that last seed. Weirdly, this song and this final sequence make me cry. I think it’s something to do with seeing a group of people come together as a collective to make a difference. It’s quite a sentimental song but it’s still good. “Let It Grow” was performed by the cast of The Lorax, and was written by John Powell and Cinco Paul.

A different version of “Let It Grow” is used as the End Credits song, as original illustrations from The Lorax book roll by. It is titled “Let It Grow (Celebrate the World)” and was written by Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, Ester Dean, Cinco Paul, John Powell, and Aaron Pearce. The song was performed by singer-songwriter Ester Dean. Dean has written hit songs for various artists, including Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Nicki Minaj. She went on to be cast as Cynthia Rose Adams in the Pitch Perfect films series, as well as voicing Legsly in Trolls World Tour (2020) for DreamWorks.

The rest of the soundtrack consists of other songs that were originally written for The Lorax, and are listed on the soundtrack as original demos in most cases. One of these is “Let It Grow Gospel Ending”, performed by Jenny Slate and other singers from the film. Apparently, this was an unused ending for the “Let It Grow” sequence. I like the quieter way “Let It Grow” ends in the film, and am glad they didn’t use this ending. There is also a demo for “Thneedville”, which has the same basic melody as the version heard in the final film, although some of the lyrics are different, with additional verses, like one for Ted, presumably, talking about how he wants a “Whosit”. I personally prefer the film version of this song.

“The Once-ler’s Traveling Madness” is just the Once-ler jamming on his guitar as he rides through various places, looking for the best place to make his Thneed. He’s basically just singing whatever he sees, and does appear to be descending into madness as the journey looks hopeless. I just found this song annoying, to be honest! It was performed by Ed Helms as the Once-ler, who I believe also played the guitar for his numbers in the film.

The next song on the soundtrack is “I Love Nature”, which would’ve likely been used as the song that the Once-ler sings when he arrives at the Truffula Valley. This song, talking about how much the Once-ler likes nature and all the animals around him, is at odds with what the Once-ler does next, i.e., cuts down the trees, so I feel that “This is the Place” fits better within the film than this song would’ve done. It was performed by Randy Crenshaw.

Following that are the songs “You Need a Thneed” and “Nobody Needs a Thneed”, which use basically the same tune as “Everybody Needs a Thneed”. “You Need a Thneed” seems to have been performed by Keith Slettedahl and The 88, featuring Antonio Sol, Fletcher Sheridan and Taylor Graves. “Nobody Needs a Thneed” was performed by Fletcher Sheridan and Randy Crenshaw. I’m assuming there would’ve been two songs, one for when the Once-ler was upbeat about his invention, and the other for when he realises nobody is buying it. I think “Everybody Needs a Thneed” was fine to use in place of these two songs.

Finally, there is the song “Biggering”, referring to the Once-ler saying he plans to keep on “biggering” his empire, regardless of the Lorax’s warnings about what he is doing to mention. This song was meant to be used in place of “How Bad Can I Be?”. “Biggering” was performed by Gabriel Mann, Randy Crenshaw, and The 88. I think this song is too serious for this type of film, so I understand why “How Bad Can I Be?” was used instead.

The Lorax also contains other credited songs that are not in the soundtrack. Some of these are brief excerpts of well-known pieces of music. One is these is “The Hustle”, which can be heard as Ted’s mother shows how much better their plastic tree is than a real one, putting it on “Disco Mode” to show him. “Disco Mode” clearly means play “The Hustle” – I’d love that if I owned that tree. “The Hustle” was written by Van McCoy, and was performed by Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony. Another is “Happy Birthday to You”, originally written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill, used in Ted’s daydream presenting Audrey with a tree on her birthday. The party attendees sing this song to her as she blows out the candles on her cake. The other is the “Mission Impossible Theme”, written by Lalo Schifrin. It is sung by the fish in The Lorax, as they put the Once-ler’s bed in the river. The final credited track in The Lorax is “O’Hare Air Jingle”, written and performed by Chad Fischer.

As well as the soundtrack featuring songs from The Lorax and others intended for it, which reached No. 24 in the US Billboard Soundtrack Albums chart, an additional soundtrack was released, for the full musical score. Both soundtracks were released in February 2012.

The score for The Lorax was composed by John Powell, who has worked on the music for a large number of animated movies. At DreamWorks, prior to his work with Illumination Entertainment on The Lorax, Powell had previously worked with Harry Gregson-Williams on the music for DreamWorks’ Antz (1998) going on to work on Shrek (2001) and Chicken Run (2000) with him, before working on the How to Train Your Dragon animated trilogy for the studio. Powell also collaborated with world-renowned composer Hans Zimmer for the music on further DreamWorks Animation films, including The Road to El Dorado (2000) and their Kung Fu Panda franchise. More recently, Powell returned to work on the How to Train Your Dragon 2025 live-action remake, and is credited as a co-composer of the score, alongside Stephen Schwartz, on Wicked (2024) and Wicked: For Good (2025). Powell was also the composer on Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and went on to work with Illumination again to write the music for Minions & Monsters (2026).

Within the score, I like the track “Truffula Valley Fantasy”, playing as the Once-ler comes across the valley and the Truffula Trees, wanting to set up shop there to make his Thneed, because it showcases what a fantastical place this valley is. I also like “Funeral For a Tree”, showing what kind of an impact this one action has had on the Lorax and the forest animals, as they mourn the loss of this felled tree. You also have more action-based pieces of music in this soundtrack, like “Thneedville Chase”, used for the sequence of Ted, Audrey, and Grammy trying to get away from Mayor O’Hare and his guards. The track “Valley Exodus” is another example of a change of mood in this soundtrack, going from wondrous one minute to disastrous the next, playing as the Once-ler finally realises that his business empire has destroyed the natural environment, forcing all the forest animals he lived peacefully alongside for a time to flee the area, and find a new home.

John Powell was nominated at the Annie Awards with Cinco Paul in the category of Outstanding Achievement for Music in a Feature Production for their work on The Lorax, however, they lost out to Henry Jackman and his team for the music in Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph (2012). Powell was also nominated at the Ivor Novello Awards for Best Original Film Score, but lost to Dario Marianelli’s score for Anna Karenina (2012).

PRODUCTION

The Lorax could not have existed as a movie without the original Dr. Seuss story.

The Lorax was first published in 1971, and its environmental message was very fitting for the time, as conversations about this subject were increasing around this time, with the first Earth Day being held in April 1970.

The original story has sold more than 200 million copies worldwide since its publication date, and is widely used in education, particularly in the US. President Lyndon B. Johnson was seemingly a fan of the story and its environmental themes, as the original artwork and manuscript of this book are housed at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, having been donated by Dr. Seuss himself, apparently.

However, for all its good intentions, The Lorax story has come under attack by some, accusing the book of being nothing but propaganda, even leading to some schools and libraries banning it. There were warnings ahead of the 2012 film release too, about how the story is indoctrinating children against big industry[2]. Wow.

Shortly after the publication of The Lorax came its first screen adaptation. This was the 1972 television special The Lorax which aired on CBS in the US on 14^th February 1972, coming to Canada’s CBC Television on 22^nd October 1972. Dr. Seuss himself actually wrote this 25-minute special. Eddie Albert, who had played Irving Radovich in Roman Holiday (1953) was cast as the narrator, whilst Bob Holt provided the voice of the Lorax. Holt went on to voice other characters in later Dr. Seuss television specials.

Forty years later came the 2012 movie from Illumination Entertainment. The animation studio was founded in 2007 by Chris Meledandri, with Universal Pictures financing and distributing their movies. Their first film was Despicable Me, which has become so beloved in the years since its release that it has spanned numerous films, spin-off prequel films, short films, and even theme park attractions. The film Hop (2011) then followed, a live-action/animated hybrid all about the Easter Bunny, which was not as well-received, but I personally love it and watch it every year.

So, how did this up-and-coming animation studio get to make an animated film based on one of the works of Dr. Seuss? That all goes back to Horton Hears a Who!, where Chris Meledandri was an executive producer, having secured the rights to the book from Dr. Seuss’s widow Audrey Geisel. Geisel was clearly happy with how Horton Hears a Who! was received, allowing Meledandri the rights to adapt The Lorax next.

Chris Renaud was chosen to direct The Lorax, having previously worked at Blue Sky Studios in the animation department. Blue Sky Studios produced Horton Hears a Who!, so Renaud had a role in the making of that film. Renaud moved to Illumination Entertainment, where he first directed Despicable Me, and followed up his direction on that film, and The Lorax after that, with Despicable Me 2. He later directed The Secret Life of Pets (2016) and its 2019 sequel, and directed Despicable Me 4 (2024). Renaud was also the voice of the forest animals in The Lorax.

The writers of The Lorax were Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, who had both co-written The Santa Clause 2 (2002) for Disney prior to their later screenwriting credits. They had also previously written Horton Hears a Who!; Despicable Me; and Hop, with Brian Lynch; before working on The Lorax, going on to co-write Despicable Me 2, Despicable Me 3, and The Secret Life of Pets, again, with Brian Lynch. More recently, Paul and Daurio co-created the Apple TV series Schmigadoon! Separately, Daurio worked on Despicable Me 4 with Mike White, whilst Paul co-wrote the screenplay for the Netflix film Ladies First (2026).

It’s never easy to adapt a novel or book into a feature-length film. In the case of The Lorax, it is obviously a very short story so the story was going to have to be extended, via additional characters and different locations.

Although Ted technically is a character in the book, Ted is just a boy in the original story with no name, who goes to the Once-ler because he is curious to hear the story of the Lorax. Audrey is an original character for the film, and her love of trees is Ted’s motivation to go to the Once-ler, so he can figure out how to get a tree for her. Ted’s family are extra characters for the film as well, to give him more of a backstory. This is also the reason behind the scenes with the Once-ler’s family. Mayor O’Hare is the primary villain of The Lorax film, whereas he does not exist in the original story, with the only villain being the Once-ler himself. The Once-ler’s face is never seen in the book either.

Thneedville is not the name of the town in The Lorax book, and the setting of the story is only by the Once-ler’s house in the original tale. Thneedville was created for the movie, probably as a bright, colourful contrast to the wasteland where the Once-ler lives, as well as to show how consumerism has taken over a whole town and its people, deluding them into thinking this life they’ve built is good enough.

The Once-ler does not have trouble selling his Thneed in the original tale, with a man just coming by and buying the first Thneed, whereas the Once-ler has a lot of trouble at the market when he tries to sell his Thneed in the movie, even to the point where he gives up and tosses the Thneed away. A deleted scene from the movie shows the Thneed being used for all kinds of things, including as a parachute, a blanket for a cat, and as a cape, before landing as a hat on a woman’s head, making the Thneed famous. The movie simply shows the Once-ler tossing the Thneed to the side, and it ends up on the woman’s head[3].

The book sees each set of animals – the Bar-ba-loots, the Swomee-Swans, and the Humming-fish – all leaving the valley at different times, showing how specific parts of the Once-ler’s new business have contributed to damaging their natural habitats. The film has all of the animals leave the area all at once. The movie involves more of a friendship between the Once-ler and the Lorax too, not wanting the Once-ler to be simply greedy with no redeeming qualities as he appears in the book. The Once-ler promises the Lorax he won’t chop down any more trees, only going back on his promise after pressure to expand his company from his family. The Lorax returns to the Once-ler at the end of the movie, showing he has forgiven him as we see that nature is coming back to the area, thanks to him motivating Ted to plant that last seed. The book simply ends with Ted being given the seed and told to plant it; we don’t get to see whether he does or not[4].

The animators were very excited to adapt Dr. Seuss’s novel, knowing his quirky and whimsical worlds would be fun to imagine in animation. They did use the illustrations from the original story of The Lorax as a starting point, knowing that they would not be able to translate the drawings exactly into 3D, so the spirit of the characters would need to shine through if that was the case. The Truffula Trees required some experimentation for example, to ensure they looked like they did in the book, with a fluffy, candy floss top, but they also had to look believable and like they belonged in this world they were creating. The forest animals were made to look cuter and cuddlier than they perhaps do in the original story.

The Lorax and the Once-ler are the two main characters in the book, so designing them to be recognisable was important. A lot of time was spent on designing the Lorax, with particular attention focused on his moustache and how it should look. The Lorax in the movie is made to have a thick, but well-groomed moustache, with fluffy eyebrows to match. His fur also looks more groomed and sleeker than it does in the original illustration. The orange of his fur is bright too, to match the colourful valley around them and to contrast with the bleakness that comes later, after the trees are destroyed. The Once-ler was simply a character with a pair of green gloves in the book. The animators had to make the Once-ler a full human character, so they could animate his backstory. In this case, they made the Once-ler just an ordinary person, showing that anyone can give in to greed and do things they wouldn’t normally. However, as the Once-ler starts to become a big deal, thanks to his Thneed sales, he dresses himself up in a suit, a top hat, a long green coat – and of course, those green gloves. The Once-ler is shown to still be wearing those gloves as a recluse, probably as a reminder of what he did and who he became. You also see at the end of the film he has grown a moustache to rival that of the Lorax, and wears a Thneed as a scarf.

The Seuss estate was said to have been incredibly supportive during the making of this movie, and the voice actors were incredibly proud to be a part of this animated film, having grown up listening to and reading Dr. Seuss stories[5].

As all good animation studios do, Illumination left plenty of Easter eggs in this film, to reference earlier movies, as well as to give something for people to look out for during re-watches of the film. For example, Ted’s sneakers include a logo of a minion with the brand name “Gru Shoes” printed on them, referencing Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me film. There also seems to be a police officer character who appears in The Lorax and in Despicable Me 2, which came out the following year. If you look closely at Ted’s cereal box, after he gets caught kissing it by his mum, you’ll see it says that the cereal is enriched with tar oils, and contains 13 addictive “plastofeens” and 50 “badamines”. Yum. This shows to what extend the town of Thneedville has given into their buying habits, seemingly not even bothering to read the small print or nutritional information on anything they buy. Another Easter egg you might spot is that Grammy Norma is close to spelling the word “Lorax” during the family board game scene, which is cut short by Grammy’s deliberate slowness[6]!

RECEPTION

Following on from its premiere at Universal Studios Hollywood on 19^th February 2012, complete with the walkaround character of the Lorax, The Lorax movie premiered in the US and Canada on 2^nd March 2012, on Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

The Lorax did not reach some countries, particularly certain ones in Europe, until the summer months of June and July, probably hoping for the best turnout from the school holidays, whereas others received The Lorax shortly after North America. The Lorax was released in both standard 2D as well as IMAX and 3D.

Shortly after The Lorax’s release in America, it was reported that The Lorax had had the best opening weekend of any film in 2012 – although it was only March – making more than $70 million in its first three days, specifically $70.7 million. Its closest competitor was the teen comedy film Project X, released on the same day, which only reached $20.8 million[7]. The Lorax also had the best opening ever for a non-sequel animated title at that time, beating out Pixar’s The Incredibles in 2004, with its $70.5 million. Another record The Lorax broke was the best showing for any animated film since Toy Story 3’s release in Summer 2010, which had $110.3 million[8].

It is possible that the marketing campaign for The Lorax made a big difference to its financial figures, emphasising the fact that Zac Efron and Taylor Swift were in the voice cast, aiming at getting young viewers excited to watch the film, along with tie-ins with companies such as IHOP, which had themed menu items, and even Mazda, for some strange reason… I guess they wanted to look environmentally friendly!

However, these impressive, and even potentially surprising, opening box-office numbers did not lead to the film being a huge success. Although it did modestly well to make just under $349 million at the Worldwide Box Office in 2012, it failed to make much impact outside of North America, ending the year at No. 22 on that list. This was behind many other animated movies, including Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, at No. 14 with $471 million, and Pixar’s Brave at No. 13 with just under $540 million. The third instalment of DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar series, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, reached as high as No. 8, making $746 million, and Ice Age: Continental Drift, the franchise’s fourth movie, hit $877 million in worldwide takings, ending 2012 in fifth spot.

2012 was not only a big year for animation, but it was a big year for cinema in general, as multiple movies had box office takings of more than $1 billion, such as The Avengers, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The first Hunger Games also came out that year, making $694 million, as did the final film to come from the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn – Part II, which made just under $830 million.

The reviews were just as much of a mixed picture, with some liking that The Lorax was colourful, lively, and relatively faithful to the book, accepting that some story elements would have needed to be extended to make a full-length feature film. Others said the eco-conscious message came across nicely without being too preachy, and they felt the voice cast did well with their performances. Those that liked the film have also encouraged others to not read too much into the movie, and to view it as simply an entertaining story.

However, on the other side, many felt The Lorax was boring and over-extended, feeling this adaptation of a Dr. Seuss novel was no better than The Cat in the Hat, which has been universally panned. I personally think that’s quite unfair to say. The Cat in the Hat is horrifying; The Lorax is not. The Lorax movie was said to lack charm and be too zany and cartoony, especially with the chase sequence at the end. Viewers who disliked this version of The Lorax have generally said the 1972 television special is significantly better. It also irked some that The Lorax was missing quintessential Seuss rhyming dialogue, other than some brief excerpts in the movie’s story and in the Lorax’s opening narration, which was disappointing for fans of the book and Dr. Seuss. The decision to show the Once-ler as a person was another factor that caused some to dislike this adaptation, feeling that it went against Dr. Seuss’s original idea to not show his face so the Once-ler could represent anyone. The reason why the Once-ler was shown in the movie was apparently to show viewers that the Once-ler is just like them, and to humanise him, instead of appearing as a faceless monster. I can understand both points of view here.

The Lorax did not take award season by storm as other animated movies have done. But it was nominated at the Annie Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Character Design in a Feature Production, losing out to ParaNorman. At the Kids’ Choice Awards, Taylor Swift was nominated for Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie, but the winner in this category was Adam Sandler for his role as Count Dracula in Hotel Transylvania, yet another animated film released in 2012. The Lorax fared slightly better at the Teen Choice Awards, having Zac Efron and Taylor Swift both nominated for Choice Movie: Voice for their roles as Ted and Audrey respectively, with Taylor Swift winning this one.

LEGACY

Despite The Lorax not being a huge, critical success, there have still been a variety of references and extensions of this 2012 film to come out in the years since.

One of these are the three “mini-movies”, also known as “shorts”, that Illumination Entertainment released, featuring characters from The Lorax. These short films allowed the animators to focus on characters that were not the main focus of the movie’s storyline, namely the forest creatures. One of these mini-movies, Forces of Nature, was based on a scene that had originally been created to come before the river rescue sequence. However, they decided the idea was too similar to the more important river rescue, as it also sees the Lorax and the forest creatures attempt to get the Once-ler away from the valley, in this case, making him believe the forces of nature have come to get him. It was felt this scene could feel too repetitive to the audience, so it became its own separate story. The other two movies, Wagon Ho! and Serenade, were written by The Lorax’s screenwriters, but were original concepts planned for the film that did not make it in for one reason or another. Wagon Ho! sees two of the Bar-ba-loots, Lou and Pipsqueak, take the Once-ler’s wagon for a spin on their own. But obviously they don’t really know how to drive it, lose the donkey, and end up rolling away at high speed, before making a lucky landing back outside the Once-ler’s house. Unfortunately, although the Bar-ba-loots survived the journey, the wagon did not… Serenade is about Lou attempting to impress a female Bar-ba-loot through song, but a singing battle soon ensues as Lou is overshadowed, using the fish to help boost his performance. In the end, neither Lou or the other Bar-ba-loot competing with him wins her heart! These short films were included in the bonus features of the film’s Blu-Ray release[9].

There are also some references to The Lorax at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park at its Universal Orlando resort, specifically at the Seuss Landing area of the park. Some theming elements relate to the story, including recreations of Truffula Trees and other parts of the story, even a statue of the Lorax himself, and you might be lucky enough to see the Lorax as a meet-and-greet character at the Dr. Seuss Character Zone. The story of The Lorax has also been told as part of the Oh! The Stories You’ll Hear! show at Seuss Landing, featuring a storyteller and Dr. Seuss characters. There may be some merchandise related to The Lorax at shops within this area too, although there doesn’t seem to be too much in the way of official merchandise, other than some emblazoned items of clothing. Movie posters, a plush toy of the Lorax, and physical copies of the movie and the original book are also still available to purchase online, even if they are not in the Universal stores.

The Lorax film showed that despite not being a critical success and a thoroughly treasured movie it had some relevance online as clips and moments from the movie popped up in various memes. This could be considered bad because the memes are essentially poking fun at the film and its characters, like taking stills out of context, but these jokes are all in jest and I bet those at Illumination Entertainment got a kick out of them; I’m pretty sure they can take some light mocking in their stride. These memes are also a good thing because, although The Lorax was not a commercial success, it clearly still had a place in the world. It’s better to be mocked than forgotten and ignored!

The mediocre response to The Lorax did not stop other screen adaptations of Dr. Seuss coming in the years after 2012 either. For example, Illumination Entertainment had some success adapting the story How the Grinch Stole Christmas! for the 2018 animated movie The Grinch, with the main character being voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. It actually became the highest-grossing Christmas film, making over $550 million, and still remains in that position today. Warner Bros. are set to release two further animated films based on Dr. Seuss’s works. One is their film The Cat in the Hat, set for release in November 2026 with Bill Hader in the title role, and the other is reportedly set to be an adaptation of Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, due for release in March 2028.

There has even been a stage musical version of The Lorax since the release of The Lorax movie in 2012. Following on from a whole sequence based on the story of The Lorax being cut from Seussical the Musical after its initial run in Boston back in 2000, not making it to the final show that transitioned to Broadway, The Lorax premiered as a stage musical, written by Charlie Fink and David Greig, at The Old Vic Theatre in London, where it ran for a limited time, from December 2015 to January 2016. It received highly positive reviews from critics, and returned for another short run in October and November 2017. The musical then played in Toronto, Canada from December 2017 to January 2018, and went on to be performed in Minneapolis in the US from April to June 2018. It then ran at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego from July to August 2018. It should be noted that the musical is based on the original book, not the 2012 movie; the songs are new and original to the stage show.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Whenever a studio announces they’ll be adapting a popular book for either a film or series, there will be at least two differing opinions on that. People will either be excited or horrified.

In the case of The Lorax, a favourite childhood story for many, especially those in the US, the 2012 film was met with a mixture of responses. Some felt the movie did justice to the story, whereas others did not and were unhappy with the extended story.

However, The Lorax movie did expand the reach of Dr. Seuss and his stories to those who perhaps had not grown up with his books. The Lorax in particular is an important tale to tell because it has an environmental focus. Sure, the movie isn’t perfect but it does introduce environmental themes to children, and warns them against the dangers of years of industrial growth and how vital nature is to our world.

The Lorax film is a piece of entertainment aimed at children. It’s a musical, colourful journey that I’m sure interested plenty of viewers within the target audience. And if it happened to interest some adults, as it did me, then that is simply a bonus.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Universal, ‘The Lorax Featurette: Danny DeVito speaks to the world!’, Universal Pictures UK Official YouTube Channel, 25^th July 2012.

[2] Credit: Daniel Nasaw and Kate Dailey, ‘Five interpretations of The Lorax’, BBC.co.uk, 3^rd March 2012.

[3] Credit: Universal, “Deleted Scene”, from The Lorax (2012) UK DVD (2012).

[4] Credit: Dr. Seuss, ‘Full Episode: The Lorax I Official Animated Read-Along I Storytime I Dr. Seuss’, Dr. Seuss YouTube Channel, 18^th April 2025.

[5] Credit: Universal, “Seuss to Screen”, from The Lorax (2012) UK DVD (2012).

[6] Credit: CineWave, ’25 Amazing Details You Missed in The Lorax’, CineWaveCentral YouTube Channel, 9^th June 2023.

[7] Credit: BBC News, ‘Dr Seuss animation The Lorax has best 2012 debut so far’, BBC.co.uk, 8^th March 2012.

[8] Credit: Pamela McClintock, ‘Box Office Shocker: ‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’ Opens to Record-Shattering $70.7 Mil’, HollywoodReporter.com, 4^th March 2012.

[9] Credit: Universal, ‘The Lorax (2012) I Behind the Scenes’, DVDXtras YouTube Channel, 18^th June 2025.

4th September 2026 by The Disney Purist

Camp Rock 3 (2026)

BACKGROUND

Consider this your spoiler warning. I like to go into detail with plot points, so you might want to ensure you’ve watched Camp Rock 3 before reading anymore.

Camp Rock was one of those Disney Channel musical series that managed to capture the attention of a whole generation, as it followed in the footsteps of The Cheetah Girls and High School Musical in the 2000s, arguably the best Disney Channel era.

It has since come to our attention though that making Camp Rock (2008) and its sequel Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010) was not as wholesome an experience as the young viewers were led to believe. It was safe to say that this franchise wasn’t going to go much further after the sequel, so we had all simply given up hope of a third film.

But strangely, in 2025, Disney Channel announced that a Camp Rock 3 was heading to television screens for Summer 2026, and fans started to get excited, especially when they found out the Jonas Brothers would be returning, as would Demi Lovato as a producer. I’d like to point out I was not excited and was just concerned, because I knew Camp Rock 3 would not feel the same as the previous two. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, as I have managed to find plenty to enjoy about the latest additions of the Descendants franchise.

However, something just told me that Camp Rock 3 was not going to be good. My instincts were entirely correct this time. I found this film uninspiring, and really disliked the recycled songs and moments from the first two films. These were clearly added in for “nostalgia”, but it was just unnecessary, feeling like Disney couldn’t decide whether they were making a tribute to the earlier two films or trying to make something fresh and new, ending up somewhere in the middle with no real direction.

The main thing I did like about Camp Rock 3 was the random addition of Milo Manheim as a former Camp Rock camper in a cameo that lasted less than five minutes. I didn’t like this cameo because I felt it was needed; it was just that I like Milo Manheim. He seems like a good guy. Positive, upbeat, always showing up for Disney. Seeing Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers again was nice too, I suppose, but I’d been expecting the Jonas Brothers to be in Camp Rock 3 a lot more than they actually were.

I don’t like to be mean about new Disney Channel movies, regardless of how this introduction might sound, because I am aware that many of these films feature young, up-and-coming actors and singers, just trying to get a foothold in the industry, so I do try to be careful with what I say. So, to be clear, my dislike of Camp Rock 3 has nothing to do with the young cast and their acting or singing abilities; it’s all to do with what they were given.

PLOT

For anyone uncertain whether Camp Rock had survived its battle with Camp Star in Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, the answer is quite clear at the start of Camp Rock 3. Camp Rock is still going and is actually thriving, with kids coming from all across the country to attend the camp over the summer, following in the footsteps of their idols and former Camp Rock alum.

One lucky camper very excited to be at Camp Rock for the first time is Sage Scott. She can’t wait to get started. The only trouble is she’s here with her brother, Desi, a fellow music lover, who is downplaying his happiness at being at Camp Rock simply because he is still annoyed at Sage for breaking up their band. He doesn’t seem to want to have much to do with his sister anymore. Meanwhile, other campers start to arrive including a cellist named Rosie; and a boy who constantly drums, Cliff. Rosie ends up being bunkmates with Sage Heading outside, Sage sees some more campers arriving, including stuck-up influencer Maddie and her sidekicks, Danielle and Daniel. Maddie is well-prepared for camp, even having a dance number ready to show off to the crowd. Sage also meets Callie Banks.

Away from Camp Rock, former camp counsellors and members of band Connect 3 Nate, Jason, and Shane Gray are performing on a movie set. As the three mess up their take by bumping into each other, they are told to take a break by their manager Lark. Shane notices that Lark seems stressed by something and she tells him the opening act for their tour, Girl Vibe, is no longer available. This causes Nate and Jason to blame Shane for hiring such a flaky band – Girl Vibe just broke up – as it was Shane’s job to sort the opening act. They bicker about what to do next, although agree they know just the place to find a new act.

Back at Camp Rock, former camp chef and current camp director Connie Torres welcomes the new campers, saying how one summer here could change their lives. She then tells everyone that there is a phone ban during the whole of their time at Camp Rock and starts collecting all the campers’ phones. At this point, Connect 3 arrive – in three separate cars, because they aren’t getting along – with Lark. They say they are here to find a new opening act for their tour, stating, in between making digs at each other, that the campers will face three challenges, with only the very best getting the chance to perform a new, original song at Final Jam at the end of camp.

As the campers start to discuss this massive opportunity, not believing their luck that they chose to come to Camp Rock on the year there’s a huge competition that could make them famous, a sheriff arrives to drop off a new camper. This is Fletch, who meets Sage after literally bumping into her, and is taken by Connie to his cabin, which he is sharing with younger kids. The boys are both in awe and a little scared of Fletch, as they believe he’s come here straight from prison because he arrived in a police car. Fletch plays into the fear, saying if he wanted to hurt them, he’d wait until lights out. The next day though, he retrieves Cliff’s drumsticks from the roof of a cabin and now Cliff wants to be friends!

In Sage’s cabin, she overhears Rosie singing, and convinces her to compete in the competition. Rosie is from a family of classically trained musicians, who wouldn’t be involved in something so…. musically common. Rosie is meant to expect more from her music, with her background as a cellist making her more used to a supporting role instead of being front and centre. Sage convinces Rosie, and she goes to Connie to register for new classes.

At lunch, Sage and other campers start discussing the first challenge in the competition, which is to cover Connect 3’s biggest hit and make it their own. Sage desperately searches for a practice room, but finds they are all full. Maddie and her two backup dancers have commandeered one and won’t leave until they’ve each had their allotted thirty minutes, and Desi is in another one, not wanting to share or leave the room. Sage assumes Desi is not competing and therefore shouldn’t be allowed to use the practice room. They continue to argue about Sage choosing to attend Anthem music school over their band. Sage says she won’t let anyone ruin her chances of winning and leaves.

Then, it is time for Challenge #1 to take place. The campers perform a variety of different versions of the song “Play My Music”, including a synth version and an operatic version of the song. Some are definitely much better than others! After the challenge is over, Lark proceeds to cut people from the competition, only allowing some to proceed to the second challenge, leaving many campers crying and heartbroken. However, Sage is still in the competition, but also learns her brother Desi is too.

Later, there is a workshop event about songwriting that is unrelated to the competition. Connie introduces singer and former Camp Rocker Calvin Rhodes to take the class. Calvin has the campers interview another camper they don’t yet know. After having some time to talk, Calvin asks the pairs to stand up and tell everyone what they learnt. One of these pairs consists of Fletch and Sage. Fletch is chosen to tell everyone about Sage, having picked up on a lot of things about her personality. This has also inspired him to finish a song he’d been writing, going up on stage to perform it. Calvin is impressed. As the workshop is going on, Desi runs into dancer Callie, saying dancing is not his thing.

That night, Sage finds herself unable to talk about anything other than Fletch as she talks to Callie. Callie says she can tell Fletch has a crush on Sage, although she has heard rumours about Fletch’s bad boy status. Sage says it doesn’t matter anyway because Fletch is her competition. Sage decides to stay in and focus on the second challenge as Callie heads out to the campfire, as she wants to show Desi that she isn’t uptight and can be carefree. Callie tells Sage she’s thinking about it too much, and tells Sage to come out with her. Sage gets ready to go, stepping on a creaky floorboard. Lifting it up, she finds an old songbook belonging to Mitchie Torres, a former Camp Rock alum. At the campfire, Cliff hears about Rosie’s lack of self-confidence. He does his best to help her, before attempting to flirt with Rosie, telling her all girls love a project. Oh, Cliff, don’t see yourself short. Girls might like a project initially, but when it doesn’t go their way, they quickly move on.

The next day, Lark calls Connect 3, but the signal is bad. She finds out the three are talking although they still aren’t really “connecting”. She tells the boys that the second challenge is all about performance, and is told to find someone with the right attitude. As the campers wait around for the second challenge to start, Fletch approaches Desi as he is playing his guitar and asks to join in. Desi hears that Fletch is yet another serious musician, and jokes he is just like Sage. Desi knows that Fletch likes her, but says no more about it.

At the second challenge, Lark tells the campers that some people have been removed from the competition overnight as they had kept their phones. Lark reminds all the campers that it is important that nobody breaks this rule as they do not want any leaks or posts about the competition getting online. Callie gets up to lead the second challenge, a dance challenge. Lark says this challenge will end with the Final Five being chosen; they will be the last ones standing. The campers try their best to impress Lark, with Lark eliminating campers as the challenge goes on. Lark approaches Desi, seemingly wanting to eliminate him. To keep her brother in the competition, Sage pushes in front of him and shoves Maddie and her friends to the side. Desi is told by Sage to keep dancing, however, Maddie stops, as do Daniel and Danielle. Lark has no option but to eliminate them as they stopped dancing and a performance stops for no-one. This leaves the Final Five of Desi, Sage, Rosie, Cliff, and Fletch, although Lark tells Desi he got lucky and needs to work on his dancing if he wants to win. After the dance challenge, Desi asks Callie to go and talk alone. In the cafeteria, he asks Callie for some dance lessons to improve his dancing ability.

Lark then gets calls from the Connect 3 boys individually, all with their own problems. Lark tells them to figure it out themselves as she is busy organising a campfire. Before she goes, the boys tell Lark that going on tour requires more than just talent; the winner will need stamina and endurance, especially as they’ll be on tour for a while. This gets Lark thinking.

Later, Sage is joined by Fletch as she works on her song by the lake. She explains she’s having trouble with the lyrics, with Fletch simply saying she should have fun with it. Sage reminds Fletch that nothing is going to distract her from the competition, not even him. He asks about what happened between her and her brother, and she explains she wanted to take her music more seriously than her brother did. In response, she asks Fletch if he’s actually a bad boy. He explains he came straight to Camp Rock from court. His mother recently died and a judge is trying to figure out where he should live.

Maddie is still fuming after what happened at the dance challenge and has come up with the perfect revenge for the Final Five. She has got a message to all of them to say they need to meet up for a style consultation with Lark. As the Final Five arrive at the cabin, they do not find Lark, only Maddie, Daniel, and Danielle. Here, Maddie confronts them, and shows she was the one who set this meeting up. She gives each of the five campers critiques about their style, before showing that she has “customised” one of their belongings, basically ruining them with paint and arts and crafts materials. Rosie is furious to find they have bedazzled her cello. Maddie insults Rosie, upsetting Cliff who throws paste at Maddie. This starts a paint war between the two groups. Sage sees someone coming and tells the others to hide in a cupboard. Maddie doesn’t realise, and sees Callie walk into the cabin. She goes to throw paste at her, but Callie ducks, and Connie is hit instead. Oops.

Lark leads the Final Five away from the cabin, telling them that Maddie’s parents have committed to replacing all of their wrecked items instead of buying her car, but she tells the other five they shouldn’t have gotten involved, not liking this immature behaviour which could not happen on tour. She proceeds to take them to the third and final challenge. This challenge is taking place on the Camp Rock bus, where they must remain for 24 hours, without getting off. But don’t worry, there’s a porta-potty attached to the back of it, so they’ll have everything they’ll need to survive! However, Sage appears to have some porta-potty PTSD and worries how she’ll cope. Eventually, she can’t hold it any longer and has Cliff be her security guard. It all goes smoothly. However, the Final Five are unaware of the fact that Maddie, still determined to get revenge and have them disqualified, has stolen her phone back from Connie’s office and plans to record the challenge, to put it up online.

Inside the bus, the campers start to get bored and irritated with each other, with cabin fever setting in. Rosie starts to cry, as she desperately wants to win, so she doesn’t go back home and end up reverting back to her old ways, just being the cellist in the background. Cliff opens up, saying that he struggles to make friends because everyone thinks he’s too much. The other four chime in and say they are his friends now. Sage and Desi attempt to reconnect, by saying that Camp Rock has made Sage realise that she doesn’t have to be so uptight, and Desi admitting that he is feeling pressure to be great in this competition. Fletch says he has an uncertain future ahead of him, but that being at camp or on tour will mean he doesn’t have to worry so much. They all sing a song together to cement their bonding experience. As the others sleep later on, Sage and Fletch look at the stars from the top of the bus. Here, Fletch tells Sage that he has a phone, as he waits to hear where he is living next, admitting that he simply didn’t hand it in, not that it was allowed. Sage promises to keep his secret. Sage then tells Fletch he shouldn’t always sing with his eyes closed, not wanting him to lose any moment of connection with an audience, even if it is only brief.

The next morning, Lark tells them they’ve completed the challenge and can leave the bus, having until tomorrow night to get their songs ready for Final Jam. Back in the cafeteria, Sage continues working on her song, and Connie sees that she has Mitchie’s songbook. Connie tells Sage to keep it as it might just help her. After that, Sage sees Desi practising his dancing and the two once again start up their fight about their old band. They say they could always revive the band, and they reconcile.

However, the good feelings don’t last long as the Final Five are called into Connie’s office. Connie and Lark have become aware of a video circulating online of them singing on the bus, revealing the Camp Rock competition. She orders them to tell her which one has a phone, and must’ve put this video up. Sage fears being disqualified and tells Fletch to admit he has one. He has no option but to hand it in, but pleads his innocence, saying he did not film on the bus. The other four are told to leave. Desi tells Sage she chose the competition over Fletch. She hopes Fletch will eventually forgive her and she can make things right.

The following day, Connect 3 return to Camp Rock, ready for Final Jam. They see Lark overworked and stressed out, but clearly having had a good time at camp this summer. The guys have a look around, ending up at the lake, with Nate and Jason throwing Shane in!

At the cafeteria, Sage apologises to Fletch for what she did, but it’s all good; the video was traced back to Maddie and he’s allowed to compete at Final Jam. Well, of course it ended up being traced back to Maddie; how could Fletch have filmed the song from outside the bus? Anyway, this means Fletch and the others have some work to do ahead of Final Jam. They’re all nervous but they’re also ready.

On the night of Final Jam, the stage is set. As Connie does final checks, she sees daughter Mitchie hiding backstage, having taken a night off from her tour to come here. Connect 3 welcome everyone to Final Jam, with Lark introducing all the acts. First up, Cliff performs a hip-hop-style song, with some drum solos. Then, Rosie performs, singing and playing the cello. Third is Desi, with his new and improved dance moves, and fourth is Fletch, performing a guitar ballad and finally having the nerve to open his eyes as he sings.

The final performance is Sage. She stops her performance so she can say that she learnt all about friendship from her time at Camp Rock, and says a line about each of the other Final Five, and how good they are. Camp Rock should never have been all about winning a competition. She then proceeds to sing a new song, with the other four joining in with her. Desi and Fletch come in on guitar, whilst Rosie and Cliff play the cello and drums. The audience love the song, this being enough to make Maddie and her sidekicks leave!

Connect 3 then go to deliberate, where they see Mitchie. Mitchie says Final Jam was great and that Sage’s performance showed it’s not all about solo performances. Connect 3 don’t know who to pick, with Mitchie reminding them maybe they don’t have to pick just one.

Connect 3 return to the stage, announcing that they can’t pick just one of the Final Five, so instead choose them all as a group. Mitchie and Shane have a moment as the five celebrate, saying Camp Rock will always be magical, before saying they’ll be here same time next summer. Sage even gets a brief wave from Mitchie before she leaves. The five join Connect 3 for a final song to end Final Jam, signalling the end of the summer at Camp Rock.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Sage Scott arrives to Camp Rock very serious about her music, having decided to attend music school. This has led to a difficult relationship between her and her brother Desi as their differing attitudes to their music meant that their band split up. Desi still has not forgiven Sage and teases her about how uptight and highly strung she is, seemingly unable to ever go with the flow. Sage is incredibly determined to win the competition to be Connect 3’s next opening act. After spending time with the other members of the Final Five, particularly Fletch, who she has an instant connection with, she learns that friendship is more important than winning, and chooses to perform a new song she hadn’t done endless amount of preparation for, with her new friends joining her to create their own group. Sage ended up getting to win the competition whilst also repairing relationships with those around her.

Liamani Segura was cast as Sage in Camp Rock 3. Segura is not a newcomer to the world of Disney, as she had previously appeared in the recurring role of Emmy in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019-23). She was also cast as Pink in another Disney Channel musical, Descendants: Wicked Wonderland (2026).

Fletch Robinson appears to be the camp’s bad boy as he arrives late to Camp Rock and in a police car. He is welcomed to Camp Rock like any other camper though, although he is assigned to a cabin for younger kids, who initially seem a bit scared of him. Fletch is a talented guitar player and singer, getting many chances to showcase this. He was even inspired by a conversation with Sage to perform a new song he’d written. Fletch is scared of connections with people, having a complicated living situation to sort out as he waits to see where he will live after his mother’s death. However, he slowly learns to open up to Sage and the Final Five about his background and they are understanding. His chance at getting a more stable future for himself, by becoming Connect 3’s opening act, almost ends up in jeopardy as Fletch keeps his phone, as phones have been banned for the entirety of their time at Camp Rock. Luckily, Connie sees reason and decides not to disqualify Fletch from the competition, having figured out he did not film or post anything from camp.

Fletch was played by Malachi Barton, who is also no stranger to life on Disney Channel. Early in his career, Barton was cast as Beast Diaz in the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle (2016-18), and voiced the character of Lionel in the animated Disney Junior series Fancy Nancy (2018-22). Barton went on to star as Marshall in the DCOMs Under Wraps (2021) and Under Wraps 2 (2022), as well as appear in the series The Villains of Valley View (2022-23) as Colby / Flashform. Barton went on to star as Victor in ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires (2025), a role he will reprise in its upcoming sequel ZOMBIES 5: Secrets of the Sea, set to premiere sometime in 2027. He will also soon be seen as Jake in the supernatural series Coven Academy for Disney, set to premiere in October 2026.

Rosie Kleinman is a classically trained cellist with very strict parents, who want Rosie to spend time focusing on her cello rather than her singing. At Camp Rock, Rosie doesn’t plan on competing to be Connect 3’s opening act, however, after Sage hears her sing, she encourages Rosie to join the competition. Rosie is initially very nervous about being front and centre for once, but she overcomes those nerves and gets to the Final Five.

Rosie was played by Lumi Pollack. Prior to Camp Rock 3, Pollack was cast as Amelia Cavell in the drama film The Fallout (2021) with Jenna Ortega. She went on to appear as Westyn/Wanessa in the animated Netflix series Dee & Friends in Oz (2024), and more recently, starred as Posey Parker in Disney Channel series Electric Bloom (2025).

Desi Scott is Sage’s brother, who is relaxed and chilled about his music, but is still just as talented as Sage despite not going to a fancy music school. Desi is struggling to forgive his sister for leaving him and their band in the dust for school, with the two butting heads over their different approaches to their music. Desi does not overprepare his performances and mostly tries to wing it through the camp competition. However, when he learns from Lark that his dancing ability is not as good as his competitors, he takes action to improve it by enlisting Callie to help him. It’s unclear at first whether Desi is in the competition just to annoy his sister or actually does want to win, but by the end of it, it’s obvious he feels he needs to actually step up and create a good performance instead of hoping for the best. By the end of their time at camp, he and Sage have also made up after the feud. It’s a good thing too otherwise their time on tour might not have lasted too long…

Hudson Stone was cast as Desi. Stone is lined up to be a cast member on the rebooted series of The Mickey Mouse Club. Production on the series seems to have only begun in July 2026 so there is no air date yet.

Cliff Carmichael is the joker of this group of five, being quite energetic and upbeat. Cliff always has his drumsticks in hand, feeling very passionately about his drumming. During his time at Camp Rock, Cliff becomes close to Desi, Sage, Fletch, and Rosie, with Rosie being the one he has a crush on, and he discovers that, although he was been on his own a lot as he is considered to be “too much”, he finds his people at Camp Rock.

Casey Trotter was cast as Cliff, and he is also going to be a cast member on the rebooted series of The Mickey Mouse Club alongside Hudson Stone.

Callie Banks is a dancer, not a singer, at Camp Rock and she does not enter the competition to be Connect 3’s opening act. She is basically Lark’s assistant throughout the competition, judging the first challenge about singing and then leading the group in the second challenge all about dancing. She is more mature than many of the campers. This means that Sage feels she can confide in Callie about her preparations for the competition, and her crush on Fletch. Meanwhile, Callie and Desi seem to have their own relationship blossoming in the background, growing closer as Callie is tasked with improving Desi’s dancing, something she clearly does a good job with as Connect 3 even notice how much Desi’s dancing has improved during Final Jam.

Brooklynn Pitts was cast as Callie, and she is yet another cast member on the rebooted series of The Mickey Mouse Club alongside Hudson Stone and Casey Trotter. She appeared in the recurring role of Aria in the series Mani (2017-23) prior to her role here.

The final campers at Camp Rock to mention are Maddie, Daniel, and Danielle. Maddie is an influencer and mean girl, who seems to have rich parents and an attitude that says she doesn’t care about anyone but herself. Maddie thinks she is definitely going to become Connect 3’s opening act, with Daniel and Danielle acting as her backup. However, after Sage knocks Maddie off balance during the second challenge, and Maddie and her sidekicks stop dancing, she is eliminated from the competition by Lark. She is furious and tries to get her own back on them, first by destroying some of their most treasured possessions, and secondly by filming them during their bus challenge and posting it online, breaking the rule about keeping the competition secret from the outside world. This shows that Maddie and her sidekicks aren’t very smart since the video they shot would’ve quite clearly shown it was filmed outside the bus and not inside it, so Fletch couldn’t have done it. Connie and Lark also traced it back to Maddie’s account. By the end of Camp Rock, Maddie is left to sit in the audience for Final Jam and eventually leaves out of jealousy.

Ava Jean was cast as Maddie, having previously appeared as Savannah in the series A Week Away (2025), which was a spin-off of the Netflix film of the same name. Orlando Lucas was cast as Daniel, having previously played Dawson in the television movie Big Sky River (2022) and its 2023 sequel. Danielle was played by Orlando’s sister Ella Lucas, who appeared as Isabelle in the movie Re: Uniting (2023) prior to Camp Rock 3.

The last main character in Camp Rock 3 to mention is Connect 3’s overworked, probably underpaid, harassed tour manager Lark. Although it is Shane’s fault that their original opening act for their tour fell through, Lark is stuck with finding a new one, as Connect 3 do not spend time at Camp Rock going through the challenges, instead leaving Lark to oversee and organise all of them. She doesn’t really want to be there, so she is quite harsh and strict with her critiques of the campers, mostly just trying to get through the summer! In the end though, she ends up liking Camp Rock and completes her work requirements by getting Connect 3 their opening act. I didn’t love many of the characters in Camp Rock 3, but I did like Lark. Her sarcasm and lack of enthusiasm was quite funny.

Sherry Cola was cast as Lark. Prior to Camp Rock 3, Cola voiced the character of Helen in Pixar’s Turning Red (2022), later going on to play Stella in the Netflix film A Family Affair (2024), which starred Zac Efron, Joey King and Nicole Kidman. Also on Netflix, Cola currently plays the recurring role of Ashley in their series Nobody Wants This (2024-present) alongside Kristen Bell. Cola had also previously been cast as Alice Kwan in the Freeform series Good Trouble (2019-24). She also appeared as Maya in Season 3 of Apple TV series Shrinking (2023-present). Cola is set to play Yzma in the new Descendants movie for Disney, Descendants: Hidden Heroes. A release date is currently unknown.

Alongside the new cast, there were a few other characters from the original Camp Rock films who reprised their roles in Camp Rock 3. One of these was Connie Torres. After being the camp chef in both Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, she has now taken over as camp director from Brown Cesario, who does not appear in Camp Rock 3. Connie is a kind leader, giving advice to the campers, wanting them to have a great experience at Camp Rock. However, Connie is not afraid to put her foot down sometimes, as we see when she demands to know who has a contraband phone after footage of the competition ends up online. But Connie is also fair, allowing Fletch to compete in Final Jam, realising he did not post that video. Maria Canals-Barrera returned to play this character.

The Jonas Brothers also returned to play Connect 3 members Shane, Jason, and Nate Gray from the first two films. They, however, do not appear that much in Camp Rock 3, showing up at the start, where they seem to be filming a movie, before heading to Camp Rock to let the campers know they need an opening act. But then they leave the competition in Lark’s capable hands. Lark gets a few calls from them, where they mostly just get a quick update on the competition or use the call as an opportunity to criticise one another. They might have grown up, but Connect 3 still struggle to “connect”. But time away from Camp Rock 3 seems to have done wonders for them as they return reunited to judge Final Jam and pick their winner. Well, I hope so anyway, otherwise that opening act might not be opening up for them for long. I wouldn’t be surprised if that tour never happened…

Another cameo appearance was from Demi Lovato as Mitchie Torres. Having previously been one of the most talented and determined campers at Camp Rock, it is not much of a surprise to hear she is a famous singer, who takes one night off from tour to attend Camp Rock’s Final Jam. She doesn’t want to make everything about her though, so she watches from backstage, taking in all the talent of the new campers. She later proves to have some very useful advice for Connect 3 who struggle to choose one of the Final Five to have as their opening act. It is Mitchie’s idea to have the five perform as a group. After commenting with Shane over how great it’s been to be at Camp Rock again, she seems to commit to coming back next summer, but perhaps only briefly.

A final cameo appearance came from former Disney Channel star Milo Manheim. Manheim is well-known for his role as Zed in the Disney Channel musical franchise ZOMBIES, and he is currently filming the live-action Tangled film, where he will star as Flynn Rider. Tangled is set for release in March 2028. In Camp Rock 3, Manheim appeared for all of five minutes as former Camp Rock alum and big-time singer Calvin Rhodes, taking the campers through a songwriting workshop.

MUSIC

Camp Rock 3 features a mixture of covers of songs from Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, as well as a selection of new original songs. The soundtrack for Camp Rock 3 was released on 13^th August 2026, the day of its Disney Channel premiere, with a vinyl LP also being made available to purchase.

The soundtrack for Camp Rock 3 contains a long list of songs, so let’s break it down by starting with the new music. The first new song we hear we don’t even get in full. This is the song “Come On Over”, which Connect 3 are performing apparently on a movie set. Their performance comes to an abrupt halt after Nate and Jason knock into each other on stage, and “Cut” is called. The full song is available on the soundtrack, however, after hearing all of it, I actually think the small amount of the chorus we get in Camp Rock 3 is the best part of it. “Come On Over” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, and Thomas Armato Sturges, and was performed by the Jonas Brothers as Connect 3.

Following that, back at Camp Rock, after finding out about the competition to be Connect 3’s opening act, Sage starts thinking about what a great opportunity this would be for her. She encourages all the other campers to join her in the excitement, by singing the song “One Beat Away” all across Camp Rock. This song was the first single to be released from the soundtrack, in July 2026, so a month before the movie’s premiere. It is a high-energy opener for the film. “One Beat Away” was performed predominately by Liamani Segura as Sage, with backup from the rest of the Camp Rock 3 cast. It was written by Matthew Tishler and Shridhar Solanki.

After this, there is a large portion of Camp Rock 3 that only uses covers of songs from Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, which I will get to later. The next complete original song we hear doesn’t come until the third challenge of the competition, where Lark challenges the Final Five of Sage, Fletch, Desi, Rosie, and Cliff to stay on the camp bus for 24 hours without stepping off it. The five perform an impromptu song after having a bonding chat about their feelings and their backstories, and this song is “Echo”, showcasing the five’s friendship and their shared love of music. “Echo” was therefore performed by Liamani Segura, Malachi Barton, Lumi Pollack, Hudson Stone, and Casey Trotter. It was written Alex Geringas, Polly Josephine Geringas, and Alexandra Grace Saad.

The song that comes after this is “Rhythm’s Only Right”, taking place as Sage and Desi make up after their sibling feud over the break up of their band. They accept their differences and apologise for not communicating properly, deciding they might even be able to start the band up again. “Rhythm’s Only Right” was performed by Liamani Segura and Hudson Stone, and was written by Matthew Tishler and Grayson DeWolfe.

After that, we get five songs in quick succession as Cliff, Rosie, Desi, Fletch, and Sage perform their own songs for Final Jam, and the final part of the competition, where Connect 3 will choose their opening act. Each song showcases that character’s own style.

Cliff gets up on stage first, performing a hip-hop-style song, complete with rap sections and drum solos, since he is a drummer after all. His song is titled “My Own Drum”. The song was performed by Casey Trotter and written by Jaheem King Toombs.

Rosie follows Cliff, starting off her song by playing the cello. She then leaves her cello to the side, taking centre stage to launch into a strong, powerful song, showing how far she’s come since arriving at camp as a shy cellist. This song is “Play It My Way”, performed by Lumi Pollack and written by Aaron C. Harmon.

Then, we get Desi’s song “Get Ready”. Desi shows off his singing talent, as well as his newly improved dance skills, courtesy of lessons from Callie, even bringing her up on stage to dance. Again, this song proves that Desi has been on a journey whilst at Camp Rock, accepting that he can put on a spectacle. “Get Ready” was performed by Hudson Stone and written by William “Will Jay” Behlendorf, Jason Mate and Brandon C. Rogers.

The fourth song of Final Jam is Fletch’s ballad, singing and playing the guitar. This is actually a more polished version of the song “Tomorrow” that he was inspired to finish after doing the songwriting workshop with Calvin Rhodes and talking to Sage. The earlier, shortened version of this song is listed as “Tomorrow (Acoustic)” on the official soundtrack, whereas “Tomorrow” is the full version, complete with backup musicians. I actually decided this song wasn’t so bad in the end, and is definitely one of the better ones in Camp Rock 3. “Tomorrow” was performed by Malachi Barton, written by Josh Cumbee and Jordan Powers.

The final song of Final Jam is for Sage. She has a song prepared, but decides to go with something different after learning that her time at Camp Rock shouldn’t have been about the competition, and was about meeting like-minded people who love music, just like her. Sage then starts singing the song “Work In Progress”, with each of the other four joining Sage on stage. Cliff gets on the drums, Rosie plays her cello, whilst Fletch and Desi join in with their guitars. As I was watching Camp Rock 3 for the first time, this was the only song that I thought was alright. It was performed by Liamani Segura, and was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, and Thomas Armato Sturges.

Four songs from Camp Rock and two songs from Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam were re-recorded by the cast of Camp Rock 3, with five of them appearing in the film, and one other only being on the soundtrack. The first one we hear is “Brand New Day”, originally the opening song from Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. This song is also used for the opening sequence of Camp Rock 3, accompanying the arrival of all the campers, but is only heard in the background briefly, and was not performed by the movie’s characters as it was in the sequel. It was recorded by Liamani Segura.

For the first challenge in the competition to be Connect 3’s opening act, the campers are asked to cover a well-known Connect 3 song. This happens to be “Play My Music” from the first movie, where the band accept the opportunity to perform in front of the campers, to inspire them in time for Final Jam. In Camp Rock 3, each camper competing for the chance to be Connect 3’s opening act is told to perform “Play My Music”, but make it their own, so there are many weird and interesting takes on this song here. It is also performed again in the End Credits by the main cast of Camp Rock 3.

The second challenge, the dance challenge, involves a re-recording of “Start the Party”. Camp Rock fans will recognise this song from the dance scene in the first film. It is part of Shane Gray’s first class with the campers, teaching them how to dance and how to perform like a rockstar. The whole cast of Camp Rock 3 perform this song.

“It’s On”, the famous battle song from Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, where Camp Rock campers challenge those from Camp Star to the ultimate singing battle, is used in the background as the Final Five and Maddie and her gang have a paint battle in the arts and crafts room. This cover is credited to Lumi Pollack, Hudson Stone, and Ava Jean.

The final song in Final Jam, signalling the end of the first Camp Rock film was “We Rock”. “We Rock” is once again used for the same purpose, being performed by Connect 3 and the Final Five to end the Final Jam here and Camp Rock 3 as a whole. It is performed by Connect 3 and the Final Five. I’ve always liked this song – but I was disappointed to find the choreography had changed. So much for all that practice watching the Camp Rock: Dance-Along on Disney Channel all those years ago…

The last song taken from a previous Camp Rock film for the Camp Rock 3 soundtrack was “What It Takes”, originally performed by the character Lola in Camp Rock. Here, it is performed by Brooklyn Pitts. Video online has shown Pitts performing full choreography to this song, making it seem like this song was recorded for a specific scene, but was cut for unknown reasons, which is a shame, as Callie didn’t get much screen time in Camp Rock 3. It would’ve been nice for her to get a chance to shine.

“Fire” from Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam is also heard briefly here. This is the song that Maddie, Daniel, and Danielle dance to in order to really show everyone at Camp Rock who they are. This song is not on the soundtrack, and it is only an instrumental.

Despite all the effort going into this soundtrack to try and please both older viewers and newer viewers with the mixture of new and old music, the Camp Rock 3 soundtrack did not outdo its predecessors. Camp Rock 3 debuted at No. 9 on the US Billboard Soundtrack Albums chart, which is respectable enough, however, it does not match the performance of either Camp Rock or Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, which both reached No. 1 in this same chart. Those two soundtracks also peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart, whereas Camp Rock 3 has missed out on this chart entirely[1].

Tom Howe was the composer for Camp Rock 3, having previously worked with Disney Channel on the music for Upside-Down Magic (2020) and ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires. Outside of that, Howe was the composer on the popular Apple TV series Ted Lasso (2020-present) and Shrinking. He has also collaborated with Aardman Animations on the music for a couple of their movies, including A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019), and Early Man (2018) with Harry Gregson-Williams. Howe is also reportedly the one behind the theme music for The Great British Bake-Off (2010-present). An excerpt of Howe’s score is included as a track on the official Camp Rock 3 soundtrack.

PRODUCTION

As the years stretched on after Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam arrived on Disney Channel in the summer of 2010, many fans had given up hope of there ever being a third film.

They’d grown up and moved away from the channel, as had all the stars of the first two films. Some of those stars had also come out to say that their experience of working on those films, and with Disney Channel generally, had not been a great time in their lives, struggling to process their time as child or teenage actors. It just didn’t make sense to make a third one, and most people had forgotten all about it, because, although we seem to forget in these days of endless sequels and reboots, some franchises do actually come to an end.

However, all of sudden, rumours started swirling about a Camp Rock 3. I mostly ignored them, thinking it was just wishful thinking from fans, like all those ones doing fancasts for new Disney live-action remakes. It’s not possible for all of them to happen. The rumours partially began in August 2025 because of a Hot Ones Versus video filmed with the Jonas Brothers that was released on 12^th August. In this video, Joe was tasked with reading the most recent entry on his phone’s Notes app and it said “Read Camp Rock 3”[2]. This might not have seemed like much on its own – it could’ve simply been a joke – but this video followed a surprise appearance by Demi Lovato at MetLife Stadium with the Jonas Brothers as part of their Greetings From Your Hometown tour. Here, Lovato performed “This Is Me”, following on from Joe’s performance of “Gotta Find You”. They then finished up with their duet “Wouldn’t Change a Thing” from Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. Fans were ecstatic to see Demi Lovato reunited with the Jonas Brothers, and this fuelled the rumours of a Camp Rock 3[3]. I still ignored the suggestion that Camp Rock 3 was happening.

I was later proven wrong, as an official confirmation of Camp Rock 3 was announced in September 2025, with filming beginning in Canada that same week. It was confirmed that the story was going to revolve around Connect 3 looking for campers to be their new opening act for a major reunion tour. It was confirmed that the Jonas Brothers would be returning as the members of Connect 3, Shane, Nate, and Jason, and that Maria Canals-Barrera would be the only other original cast member returning for this third movie, as Connie Torres, Mitchie’s mother. Demi Lovato was only listed as an executive producer, alongside the Jonas Brothers, although at the time, I was convinced she’d end up having a small cameo in the film – this time, I turned out to be right. A list of new cast members was also announced for Camp Rock 3, including Malachi Barton and Liamani Segura, both from other successful Disney Channel musical franchises[4]. Even with the promise of the Jonas Brothers returning, I was not excited or interested in Camp Rock 3 when it was announced. Luckily for fans of any franchise, my disinterest at newly announced films does not stop them being made. After this announcement, Camp Rock 3 immediately entered production.

Filming on Camp Rock 3 seems to have taken place from September 2025 until early November 2025. The cast and crew did not return to the original Camp Rock locations in Ontario, Canada, instead moving to British Columbia. Specifically, filming took place at Barnet Marine Park in Burnaby, where eagle-eyed watchers could see sets like cabins and stages being set up. The Jonas Brothers were also spotted in and around the area[5].

As with all Disney Channel musicals, plenty of dance experience is required for these films, and in this case, Jamal Sims was selected as the lead choreographer on Camp Rock 3. In film, Sims worked on choreography for movies like Step Up (2006), Hairspray (2007), and even Disney’s live-action film Aladdin (2019). He also worked with Miley Cyrus on the choreography for “Hoedown Throwdown” from Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009), as well as directing and choreographing her Wonder World Tour in 2009. Sims later played Dr. Facilier in Descendants 3 (2019), alongside being a choreographer on the movie. Sims regularly appears on RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009-present) as a choreographer and judge.

Along with learning the dances for Camp Rock 3, Malachi Barton also had to learn how to play the guitar for this film, prepping for his role as Fletch whilst on the Descendants/ZOMBIES Worlds Collide Concert Tour in 2025, ready to start filming just as the tour ended. Liamani Segura was a surprise guest towards the end of this tour as well, due to her role as Pink in Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, which was coming the following year. Segura and Barton already knew each other even before this meeting though, as they previously met simply due to them both working at Disney for years, but they also read together for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, as Segura was screen tested for the role of Nova, which ended up going to Freya Skye[6].

Camp Rock 3 was directed by Veronica Rodriguez, who already had some history of working with Disney Channel, having written and directed some episodes of the Disney Channel series Gabby Duran & The Unsittables (2019-21), before going on to direct the Disney Channel movie The Slumber Party (2023).

The screenplay was written by Eydie Faye, who had also written the screenplay for Disney Channel’s The Slumber Party. Faye had previously written the musical drama film The J Team (2021), which starred JoJo Siwa, for Paramount+. After Camp Rock 3, Faye is continuing to work with Disney Channel, by co-writing ZOMBIES 5: Secrets of the Sea, as well as working on the Descendants: Hidden Heroes movie. Faye must’ve been inspired by the first two films, as can be seen from the endless references and nods to the original Camp Rock films, as well as the return of some original characters, with these being created by Karin Gist, Regina Hicks, Julie Brown, and Paul Brown.

RECEPTION

Disney held a red carpet premiere to celebrate the upcoming release of Camp Rock 3 on 10^th August 2026, reportedly at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California. It was attended by the cast of Camp Rock 3, as well as other current and former Disney stars, such as Roshon Fegan, who played Sander in the original two Camp Rock films, and Dara Renée, who played Uliana in the recent DCOM Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024).

Camp Rock 3 then premiered on Disney Channel in the US on 13^th August, followed by its release onto Disney’s streaming platform Disney+ the day after, on 14^th August 2026. This appears to be the standard release schedule for Disney Channel Original Movies now.

Its Disney Channel premiere was apparently watched by less than 0.2 million viewers. However, although these viewing figures used to be the best indicator of how well a DCOM had performed, that is no longer the case. For example, Camp Rock, which was viewed by 8.9 million viewers on its premiere in 2008, making it the third most-watched DCOM premiere of all time, with Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam in 7^th position with a reported 7.9 million viewers. Figures like these have not been reached in a very long time, as viewership of new DCOM releases has been steadily declining ever since the 2010s. Now that audiences have Disney+, naturally, less viewers are choosing to watch the newest DCOMs on Disney Channel, because why should you bother paying for both services? How the film does on Disney+ is more of a useful indicator of DCOM performance nowadays. Camp Rock 3 was the No. 1 movie on Disney+ in 66 territories during its debut week[7].

Although building up hype for a third Camp Rock film after sixteen years of waiting was easy, managing to draw in viewers even from the older generation who had grown up with the original films, it was not enough to satisfy the viewers, who, on the whole, were left disappointed by this new movie. Critics actually seemed to have nicer things to say than the audience did, which is really quite rare for a Disney Channel movie.

On the positive side, some said Camp Rock 3 was pretty good, just not amazing. They enjoyed the cameos, like Demi Lovato’s surprise appearance and the scenes with the Jonas Brothers, as well as liking the references to the first two films. I actually found the cameo with Lovato quite awkward, and felt that both her and the Jonas Brothers had trouble connecting to their original characters; I didn’t feel like I was watching Mitchie, or Shane Gray, or whoever, so their scenes just felt a little odd. But I do understand they have grown up now and have become very different people since their time at Disney. Some liked the new music, and felt that tour manager Lark was a funny addition to the cast.

However, on the other side of things, some stated that they would’ve preferred to have seen the old cast return as camp counsellors. I’d agree with this, despite the fact this was already a key part of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, because I didn’t feel like the original characters had much purpose in Camp Rock 3. It arguably would’ve been better to have rebooted the Camp Rock franchise without any appearances by the original cast, especially since it was felt Camp Rock 3 was falsely advertised with the Jonas Brothers, who were barely even in this film. The fact their appearance was pushed so much in advertising suggested to me they were going to be main characters here, not just popping up randomly for not much reason at all. Others, like me, also disliked how much recycling and reusing of elements from the first two Camp Rock films existed in Camp Rock 3. Lines like “Grab a mic and a hat; follow me if you can” and “Whatever, Major Loser”, as well as the return of the heavily mocked “Camp Rock Stomp” that Mitchie led on the way to challenge Camp Star in Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, were clearly meant to be funny for those who had watched the original films. I didn’t find them funny or feel like they were needed.

The re-recording of music from the first two movies also just felt lazy to me, and the new original songs were not particularly memorable in my opinion. Some of them I decided weren’t that bad after hearing them a few times, but still don’t compare to the music of other more recent Disney Channel musicals, and definitely not the older ones. The pacing of the film was also criticised, feeling that parts of it were rushed and that the story felt too episodic, with the campers just moving from challenge to challenge. Characters were also not developed well. I liked Lark as a new character though, because her sarcasm and lack of enthusiasm about being at Camp Rock matched how I was feeling whilst watching Camp Rock 3 and I thought that Sage and Fletch were fine as characters, but the other three in the Final Five barely got any backstory and I found it hard to care about them. Maddie was also a terribly written character, as she had no redeeming qualities. She was obviously meant to be similar to mean girl Tess from the original films, but Tess at least had a sad backstory about how her parents were too busy to care about her and that’s why she craved attention. Maddie was just mean, jealous, and vindictive, with little else in the way of personality.

As Camp Rock 3 has only just been released, there is no information yet on how it might perform at certain award ceremonies. Given that Disney+ tend to do very well at the Children’s and Family Emmy Awards, it is possible that Camp Rock 3 may receive a nomination or two here. It may also be recognised at the Kids’ Choice Awards potentially.

LEGACY

In the build up to the release of Camp Rock 3 over the summer, some of the cast were spotted at the Disney Parks to promote other summer events in 2026.

Demi Lovato, alongside the younger cast members, was spotted at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, specifically at the Magic Kingdom, to promote their Cool Kids’ Summer, because Camp Rock 3 was being tied in with that event. The group went on the newly refurbished Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, with a video later being posted on the Camp Rock Instagram page showing highlights of their ride, set to the song “Brand New Day”. Other videos of them at the park were also later released.

Another reference to Camp Rock 3 at the Disney Parks over Summer 2026 was the DescenDANCE Party x Camp Rock Jam, which had been performed at the Disney Springs Waterside Stage on select nights at the Walt Disney World Resort, as part of Cool Kids’ Summer, to promote and celebrate the release of their two newest DCOM musicals, featuring music from both franchises. It began in late May 2026, running until early September 2026. A promotional display area was also constructed for the Disneyland Hotel at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, with areas for photo opportunities. Some fun activities for hotel guests have also been put on.

The D23 Expo was also taking place on the same weekend that Camp Rock 3 made its debut, from 14^th to 16^th August 2026, so it’s only right that the cast would come to the convention as well in order to promote Camp Rock 3 further. In this case, the performance was presented by the Jonas Brothers, who then cleared the stage so the main cast could perform their version of “We Rock” from Camp Rock – probably to please all the millennials in the audience – as well as the original song “One Beat Away”.

A bus tour, titled All Roads Lead to Camp, to promote Camp Rock 3 also launched earlier in the summer, starting on 3^rd July 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee, travelling to various cities around the US over July and into August, with the tour ending at the D23 Expo in Anaheim on 14^th August 2026, with this being the film’s Disney+ premiere date too. How coincidental! The bus had a Camp Rock-themed mural painted on it, alongside the movie’s release dates. The bus had item giveaways and photo opportunities for anyone there. It was even blasting music from the series for people to sing along with[8].

There is also set to be a new short-form series premiering on Disney+ and Disney Channel in September 2026, which is a continuation of Disney’s Locker Diaries series. Yep, just like Descendants and ZOMBIES before it, Camp Rock 3 stars will be appearing in new episodes of this series, titled Locker Diaries: Camp Rock.

A further project related to Camp Rock 3 has yet to take place and that is the Descendants/ZOMBIES/Camp Rock: Worlds Collide Concert Tour, following on from the successful Descendants/ZOMBIES Worlds Collide Concert Tour over Summer 2025. From Camp Rock 3, the cast members going on the tour are Hudson Stone, who played Desi; Liamani Segura, who played Sage; and Malachi Barton, who played Fletch. The American leg of the tour kicks off on 25^th September 2026 in Palm Desert, California, running until 13^th December 2026 with its final performance in Mexico City. The tour will then move over to Europe, beginning with a performance on 6^th February 2027 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, and ending on 24^th February in Madrid, Spain. Other cities the tour group will be heading to include Paris, London, Glasgow, and Manchester. Based on the previous tour, fans can expect to hear music from both the older and new movies of each franchise.

Finally, although a fourth Camp Rock film has not yet been announced, some of the cast have said they’d be happy to continue with the franchise by making a new film. Given the fact that Disney Channel seems to be quite comfortable focusing on the same few musical franchises, I’d say a Camp Rock 4 is probably quite likely, whether it is needed or not. Descendants is heading towards six films, and ZOMBIES is about to hit five after all.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Although I have called myself a “Disney purist”, I like to think that I am actually more open-minded than most “Disney purists”.

I have given every new Disney Channel Original Movie a chance, even if I am not interested in them. There have been some newer films that continue Disney Channel musical franchises that I have really liked, and others that I only found moments that I did. And that’s fine, because I’m not the target audience, even though by going back to these older films, Disney seems to think they are targeting millennials, forgetting that millennials require much more from their movies than tweens and teens do.

I will be unlikely to ever revisit Camp Rock 3, because if I want nostalgia for Camp Rock, I will simply put the original films on. This film has made me even more concerned about how the fourth Cheetah Girls movie might end up, but really, it’s all good, because as long as Disney Channel’s younger audience enjoy them, and their new stars get a chance on the small screen, then Disney did their job.

To all the adults that watched Camp Rock 3, give it time for the anger and disappointment to ebb. Remember: these new versions of beloved DCOMs are not actually yours. They weren’t meant for you, or made for you. Just keep that in mind the next time you go to watch a new Disney Channel movie; it might make you look at them a little differently.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Hugh McIntyre, ‘‘Camp Rock 3’ Scores The Series Another Hit – But The Franchise Flags’, Forbes.com, 31^st August 2026.

[2] Credit: Samantha Olson, ‘Is ‘Camp Rock 3’ Happening? Joe Jonas May Have Just Confirmed It’, Cosmopolitan.com, 13^th August 2025.

[3] Credit: Larisha Paul, ‘Jonas Brothers Reunite With Demi Lovato For ‘Camp Rock’ Classics At Stadium Tour Opener’, RollingStone.com, 11^th August 2025.

[4] Credit: Disney, ‘‘Camp Rock 3’ Officially Greenlit for Disney+ and Disney Channel’, TheWaltDisneyCompany.com, 17^th September 2025.

[5] Credit: Daniel Chai, ‘Popular Metro Vancouver park shines in new trailer for Jonas Brothers’ ‘Camp Rock 3’’, DailyHive.com, 21^st July 2026.

[6] Credit: Sarah Hearon, ‘‘Cause we (still) rock! The Jonas Brothers introduce a new generation in nostalgia-filled Camo Rock 3 (exclusive)’, EW.com, 13^th August 2026.

[7] Credit: Fawzia Khan, ’16 Years Later, Disney+’s New Legacy Sequel Is An Instant Global Hit Despite 42% Audience Score’, CBR.com, 16^th August 2026.

[8] Credit: Amanda Finn, ‘‘Camp Rock 3’ Hits the Road: Nationwide Bus Tour to Promote Upcoming Film’, WDWNT.com, 2^nd July 2026.

28th August 202630th October 2026 by The Disney Purist

The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008)

BACKGROUND

Disney Channel had a few musical goodies to gift to their audience in 2008.

First up, at the start of summer, we were given Camp Rock, a new Disney channel movie musical clearly heavily inspired by High School Musical (2006). As summer stretched into autumn, Disney gave us a real treat by releasing High School Musical 3: Senior Year into cinemas, this being the final outing of the franchise.

But in the middle of these two films, premiering towards the end of summer, was The Cheetah Girls: One World, the third film for its franchise, beating out High School Musical to be the first Disney Channel musical “threequel”. And after they had such success sending the girls to Spain in The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006), it was decided to send them to a completely different continent. This time, they were going to Asia, to India to film a Bollywood musical.

I have always liked The Cheetah Girls: One World, having watched it on its premiere date in the UK. Instead of annoying me, like it had done for the sequel thanks to “Strut” being shown at least four times an hour, I enjoyed watching all the promotional adverts for this film on Disney Channel, like the music video for “Dance Me If You Can” and the behind-the-scenes clips; they made me really want to see it.

However, this film is either not considered the best of the three by most Cheetah Girls fans or fans hate The Cheetah Girls: One World. There will be various reasons for this but an undisputed one is that the third Cheetah Girls film does not include Raven-Symoné as Galleria so why bother? The reason she does not appear is quite simple: she did not want to be involved, supposedly due to tension between her and the other three girls.

I should say that I was not aware of this at the time I watched The Cheetah Girls: One World and was only made aware of this recently. I had simply assumed that because That’s So Raven had ended in 2007, Raven’s Disney Channel sitcom, she had chosen to move away from Disney and was concentrating on non-Disney projects.

That was apparently not the case and, although I have sympathy for the situation, even knowing this fact has not made me like The Cheetah Girls: One World any less. I think the music is the best of the three; the story is interesting; and I didn’t really miss Raven being in the film. I’m not saying that because I don’t think Raven was an integral part of the films, but it’s just that I thought the other three managed to hold their own here.

PLOT

The Cheetah Girls: One World opens with the Cheetah Girls preparing for a huge performance. There are glamorous costumes, a peppy, catchy song, dancers, a huge stage, and an adoring crowd. The audience is lapping up the spectacle in front of them. There’s just one problem with this picture – it’s not real, it’s all a fantasy.

Yes, this is just a daydream as the Cheetah Girls are actually finishing up an audition, on an ordinary stage, in an ordinary theatre, in front of an ordinary guy. He’s probably a talent agent or something but as he was not impressed by the girls’ audition, it doesn’t even matter. The point is their audition has gone nowhere and the girls are rightly upset about it. The Cheetah Girls are going through a transition period at this point in time as they adjust to becoming a trio, since Galleria left the group to focus on her studies, ready to start college in Cambridge. Aqua and Dorinda are disheartened by the group’s lack of progress recently and start to wonder if their summer break would be best used to prepare for college too. But Chanel doesn’t want to hear this negativity and tells them their shot is coming. Aqua’s focus has also drifted elsewhere, to a flirty over-the-phone relationship with a tech support guy. Aqua retorts that not everyone can have a gorgeous, devoted, Spanish boyfriend, to which Dorinda responds that nobody has a gorgeous, devoted, Spanish boyfriend, as she broke up with Joaquin, the dancer she met when the Cheetah Girls were in Barcelona.

To get over the heartache, the girls head out for dinner, going to an Indian restaurant, because Dorinda simply can’t deal with Spanish food at the moment because of the whole Joaquin thing. Seems a bit unfair to taint a whole cuisine over a bit of boyfriend trouble, don’t you think? Anyway, at the restaurant, Dorinda notices a statue of the Hindu god Ganesh, who partly resembles an elephant. Their server tells the girls that Ganesh is said to be the remover of obstacles. The group complain about their lack of career progression and the server tells them to have some faith. The three continue to complain, with Aqua wanting to do a college prep class and Dorinda having a dance camp job lined up, which annoys Chanel who wants to solely focus on the group this summer. They all agree to concentrate on the Cheetah Girls. Suddenly, Chanel gets a phone call, stating that they are being asked to audition for a big Hollywood musical. Chanel didn’t get many details, but the girls are excited and nervous, feeling this could be their lucky break.

After warming up their vocal cords and dance moves at the restaurant, we zoom over to see the Cheetah Girls finishing up their audition for the movie musical. The director of the film, Vikram, mostly known as Vik, comes over to introduce himself, and he is instantly taken with Chanel, distracting him for a moment. He eventually gets to the point and says he wants all three of them for his movie, with this movie dream keeping his parents from sending him to dental school! They are told they are heading to Bollywood the day after tomorrow. The girls notice that he said “Bollywood” and not “Hollywood”, so they won’t be going to California, but heading instead to Mumbai, India. Chanel doesn’t care that much about this huge change to the schedule, but Dorinda and Aqua are very uncertain about going to the other side of the world. Chanel convinces them this is their opportunity to become international superstars. With Chanel’s persuasion, the other two agree to go to India. Chanel then gets all excited about how cute their director is, but Dorinda tells all three of them to not spend their time together talking about boys. The three announce to Vik they are all in on the film. However, Vik’s assistant reminds him he was only meant to select one girl, with his movie producer uncle going to be mad about the fact three girls have been hired…

Soon, the girls arrive into the heat, noise, and general chaos of Mumbai, especially its traffic situation which they are all experiencing through a very stressful ride to their hotel in a rickshaw! On the way, Dorinda sees an elephant, as she did with the Ganesh statue at the restaurant, and notices her phone ringing with a call from Spain, presumably from Joaquin. She ignores the call and absorbs herself in India instead. Their hotel is beautiful and luxurious, complete with stalls selling souvenirs right outside. As the girls take part in some light shopping, Dorinda is called over by a wise, elderly man, who tells Dorinda to take a string, make a wish, and tie the string to the tree. When their wishes come true, they can return to the tree and untie it. Dorinda is joined by Aqua and Chanel who all make a wish.

The next morning, Chanel is given the rehearsal schedule for the movie by Vik, and rushes the other two to get ready so they can get to the studio on time. The three arrive at the India Pictures lot, where they are greeted by Vik. Vik explains his vision for the movie, that he wanted to make a classic, traditional remake of the Bollywood romantic hit film Namaste Bombay but his uncle, the producer, wanted to make it more contemporary and marketable by hiring Americans, so that is why the Cheetah Girls are here. The girls are told a huge Bollywood star, Rahim Khan, will be their co-star. Rahim comes over to meet them all. The girls are speechless. Even they are impressed by his fame and charisma!

The Cheetah Girls are taken over to meet their choreographer Gita, who complains about them being late. Gita suddenly sees Rahim and is so nervous about seeing him that she stumbles over. Rahim goes over to her to help and an awkward encounter between the two ensures. Rahim is ushered away to a costume fitting whilst Gita takes the girls outside for their first dance rehearsal. Gita, unimpressed by these American girls who are supposedly amazing dancers, goes through the choreography at break-neck speed, with the dance moves being very unlike the hip-hop choreography the girls are used to. Dorinda hears Gita say they’ll need to really slow down these rehearsals for them. Offended, she begins a dance battle between her and Gita, over their two differing dance styles. In the end though, both Gita and the Cheetah Girls learn some new moves from each other and everyone ends up the best of friends – just in case you forgot this was a DCOM.

As their rehearsal ends, a man comes over, looking confused. The girls state that they are the stars of the movie, to which the man demands to see Vik. This man is Vik’s uncle, the producer, who tells Vik he only has the budget for one star, and that all three girls cannot stay. Vik’s uncle states they will each have to audition for the role, with the unsuccessful two heading straight home. Vik tries to reason with his uncle by saying he can make some script rewrites and fit all the girls in. His uncle refuses to back down. The Cheetah Girls confront Vik about the mix-up, and all three decide they should just go home. Aqua and Dorinda are annoyed that they wasted their time here, and think the group is over.

The next day, having had some time to sleep and reflect on it, the girls go shopping together and start talking about the audition and the movie. They don’t want to audition against each other, but each have an idea of who should get the role. Chanel says Dorinda should take the part, because she needs the money, whereas Dorinda wants Aqua to do it to get a chance to showcase her acting skills. Aqua says it’s clear Vik wants Chanel for the role. Chanel says she’d never take the part if that were true anyway. The three change their minds and decide they will all audition, and that they’ll be happy for whoever gets the part. Aqua then calls a phone call – it’s from her tech support guy, Kevin 347. She wanders off to talk to him. After he checks on the status of her laptop, they start to have a normal conversation. They eventually start discussing the sunset they can each see, which makes Aqua realise they must be in a similar part of the globe. They start describing their surroundings, and it turns out they are in exactly the same place! Aqua turns around to see Kevin 347 right in front of her – what are the odds! Aqua can’t believe her luck. Kevin formally introduces himself, stating that Kevin is just his work name; his real name is actually Amar. Dorinda sees what’s going on and wants to stop Aqua from getting her heart broken, but Chanel persuades her to let Aqua have some fun. Dorinda then sees yet another elephant, and starts to get paranoid about it. Chanel tells Dorinda to calm down, saying nothing is going to change in the group – before rushing off to take a call from Vik.

That evening, Dorinda comes across the wise, old man again, who tells Dorinda that she should not feel anxious for the future, and must embrace change as it is always happening. Things that do matter, though, never change. The man tells Dorinda to remember that tough times never last forever, and gives her a totem of the god Ganesh, before hitting her on the head with a leaf, for clarity, he says!

In the morning, Aqua continues to spend time with Amar. Over dinner, Amar says his father is sending him to business school and cannot study what he wants, where he wants. Aqua doesn’t understand not having control over your own life, but she does state that her dream is to star in Vik’s movie, something that she has little control over. Meanwhile, Dorinda sees Rahim acting weirdly around Gita again at rehearsals, telling him he’s a real dork every time he’s near Gita and it’s embarrassing to watch! Rahim says he’s just nervous, because he’s never kissed a girl in real-life, outside of his movies. Rahim asks Dorinda for her help with Gita, in exchange for helping Dorinda with her audition for the film. Back with Chanel, Chanel is discussing Vik’s endless attempts at rewriting his movie script, as Vik is determined to make this movie a success, as an opportunity to prove himself. This makes Chanel consider how good the film role could be for her career, even without the girls.

Dorinda takes a walk with Gita later that day, where she talks about the movie role. Gita thinks she would’ve liked to be a movie star, but doesn’t believe that will ever happen for her now. Dorinda sees Gita also acting like a dork around Rahim, as she hides behind a market stall after seeing a cardboard cut-out of Rahim. Dorinda reminds Gita that she is definitely good enough for Rahim, even if he is a celebrity.

Now, here is where the Extended Edition of the film leads into a date scene with all the couples, or potential couples, and Dorinda. Chanel brings Dorinda along on her date with Vik, for some reason, forcing Dorinda to sit in a swan pedal boat, peddling around this lake on her own, whilst Chanel and Vik gaze adoringly at each other. On dry land, Aqua and Amar are also discussing their newfound romance, whilst Gita and Rahim separately consider their feelings for the other, wondering if anything will ever happen between them.

After that, we return to the studio lot, where Vik is disheartened by the set being built for the movie’s big wedding scene, finding it bare and poorly constructed, but this is all the budget could afford. Vik goes to his uncle to ask for something more, knowing with his film school qualifications from NYU that he can make a good film. However, Vik’s uncle refuses to put any more money into the film, threatening to cancel the movie entirely and send Vik to dental school. The girls overhear Vik’s fight with his uncle, and plan to go back home, since the movie is going to be cancelled without a free location, however, Amar invites all the girls and Vik to come back to Rajasthan with him for Holi, to hold the auditions and potentially do some location scouting. Vik’s uncle invites himself along too.

As the girls prepare to leave for Rajasthan, the wise man, Swami, tells the girls to untie their strings, but they say their wishes haven’t come true. Swami says the tree just needs time to make the wishes happen. Chanel and Dorinda head to the car, leaving Aqua to secretly untie her string from the tree. Her wish has seemingly come true – what was it?

The girls head off on their long road trip to Rajasthan with Vik, his uncle, Amar, Gita, and Rahim. They arrive and Dorinda sees yet another elephant. Gita tells Dorinda she is lucky that the elephants are looking at her, because it means they are trying to help her. Dorinda is glad to hear she might be lucky but decides she can’t possibly be after the same elephant sprays water at her! The group are immediately thrown into the middle of celebrations for Holi, before being whisked away on a boat, heading for Amar’s parents’ home. They come to a huge palace and are all shocked that this is where Amar lives.

Aqua complains that Amar never told her he was rich, or that he is from royalty. She thinks he has plenty of options for his life, but Amar reiterates his father has ideas for his life, so Amar doesn’t choose for himself. Amar’s mother tells Amar that dinner is ready, and the group all sit down for dinner. Amar’s mother starts being very friendly to Aqua, believing her to be Amar’s girlfriend, but she confirms she isn’t his girlfriend. Vik discusses the potential for using Amar’s home as a location for the film, and Amar agrees to it, with one condition.

The next morning, Amar tells Aqua about the news, and that his condition was to make Aqua the lead in the movie. Dorinda runs into Gita and Rahim being awkward again, and Dorinda tells Rahim he needs to be open and honest about his feelings. She then gets another call from Spain and ignores it, with Rahim noticing she doesn’t take her own advice. They then see Vik and Chanel walking hand-in-hand. Rahim says the rumour is those two are officially a couple. Dorinda is shocked she wasn’t told, and believes Chanel didn’t say because it will only make it look unfair if she does get the lead. Chanel then hears from Vik that Amar asked for Aqua to be cast in the lead in exchange for the location. This leads to all three girls feeling paranoid about the others, not expecting a fair fight for the role anymore.

On the day of the audition, Chanel and Dorinda notice Aqua’s string from the tree tied around her wrist, and demand to know what her wish was. Aqua’s wish, it turns out, was to meet Kevin 347. Chanel is upset to find Aqua didn’t wish for the Cheetah Girls to be big movie stars. Dorinda admits her wish was for the group to stay the same, effectively cancelling out Chanel’s wish. The animosity between the three girls only grows as they start their audition, with Rahim fighting for Dorinda; Amar fighting for Aqua; and Vik fighting for Chanel to get the part. In the end, Vik’s uncle casts Chanel in the lead, annoying Aqua and Dorinda who knew Vik had been wanting Chanel in the lead all along. It wasn’t fair.

Given the conflict between the girls, Chanel’s excitement at being cast in the starring role is short-lived. As she sees Dorinda and Aqua packing to leave India, Chanel starts to consider whether this role is even worth it, not wanting to lose her friends. Eventually, the three girls come together and apologise for everything. Dorinda and Aqua admit they were just jealous and wrong to say it wasn’t fair, with Chanel saying she turned down the part anyway. Chanel tells Vik in person, and he thinks it is now certain that his film is over, since there is no love interest. Chanel convinces Vik to stand up to his uncle and make the movie he wants to make. He considers it, before kissing Chanel, wanting her to be his leading lady in real-life. Cringe. Amar then talks to Aqua, apologising for trying to get her the lead role in the film, before saying he is going to apply to Columbia University to be with Aqua. Dorinda also gets Rahim to ask Gita on a date – she says yes – as well as finally giving Joaquin a call, wanting to still be friends. She realises she was the obstacle getting in her way.

Chanel shows the girls a gift she got for Vik, the original poster for Namaste Bombay. They feel bad for backing out of the film, not knowing who will be the star of the film now. They look over to see Rahim with Gita, giving them all an idea. Vik goes to his uncle with the others, telling him that Gita will be the lead. Vik’s uncle can’t believe Vik would want to put the choreographer in front of the camera, but Vik puts his foot down. His uncle is happy to see Vik talking like a real director and goes along with the new plan.

They are now ready to shoot a sequence for the film. The sequence shows the love interests – played by Rahim and Gita – getting married, with the Cheetah Girls having a supporting role in the movie. It is a big song-and-dance number, perfect for the girls. The sequence – and this film – ends with the girls riding on the back of an elephant.

CHARACTERS & CAST

The Cheetah Girls: One World sees Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Sabrina Bryan returning as Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda respectively for this third story. This time, the Cheetah Girls have become a trio and are still trying to make it in the mainstream, auditioning to try and get opportunities for the group. All looks lost for them until they are offered parts in a movie – not in Hollywood like they expect, but in India, as this is a Bollywood movie. The girls embrace the challenge and their new surroundings, but find themselves caught up with distracting love interests and a fight over the lead in this film. In the end though, they are reminded that their friendship is more important than anything else, not wanting the movie or boys to get in the way of that. Raven-Symoné was not involved in this film as Galleria, with Galleria being written out of the film with a brief mention of the fact she is in summer school before heading off to Cambridge to go to university in the UK. With Galleria absent from the movie, it makes sense that her mother Dorothea would also not be in this third film. Chanel’s mother, Juanita, is not here either, probably because she’s too busy with her new husband, Luc. Same old, same old.

But there are still a few new characters in The Cheetah Girls: One World. One of these is Vikram Bhatia, mostly referred to as simply Vik. Vik is the director of this remake of the classic Bollywood film Namaste Bombay that he has hired the Cheetah Girls for. He is instantly smitten with Chanel after meeting her at the audition, and despite a clear conflict of interest here, he makes no secret of the fact he likes her throughout the movie. Chanel and Vik become close during the course of the story, as they bond over their dreams, with Vik wanting to be a movie director and this first film being his first step to achieving that, and Chanel wanting to be an international superstar. With their relationship progressing throughout their time in India, naturally Aqua and Dorinda start to feel concerned that Vik’s feelings for Chanel will mean that the audition process is completely biased. Sure enough, by the time they do come to audition, Chanel gets the part in Vik’s movie. Vik doesn’t seem to understand that Chanel would be concerned about losing her friends over this, and how their relationship might appear to them. He is entirely focused on making this film, whilst also being beaten down by his uncle, who is producing the film. It’s up to Chanel to get Vik to take control of his movie, so he can avoid going to dental school. Eventually, Vik manages to stand up for himself and gets to make the movie he wanted to make initially.

Vik was played by American actor Michael Steger, who had previously guest starred in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana (2006-11) in a Season 2 episode prior to his casting here. Steger went on to star as Navid Shirazi in the teen drama series 90210 (2008-13), a role he is perhaps most known for.

Another love interest in The Cheetah Girls: One World, but this time for Aqua, is Amar. Aqua first meets Amar under his tech support name Kevin 347. She has been deliberately tampering with her laptop to find reasons to talk to Kevin over the phone, but they have never met in person. Coincidentally, Aqua gets a call from Kevin whilst in India, seemingly wanting to check on the status of her laptop, and they get into a conversation about the sunset, leading them to realise they are in the same place, finally getting to meet face-to-face. This is where Aqua learns that Kevin’s name is actually Amar. Amar and Aqua spend a lot of time together in this film, with their relationship also creating paranoia amongst the girls ahead of their audition for the lead, especially since Amar asks Vik to give Aqua the role in exchange for using his family’s home as a location for the movie. Amar, like Vik, doesn’t seem to realise how wrong this is either, and how much it will affect the girls’ friendship. He also neglects to tell Aqua that he is in fact Indian royalty, this coming as quite a shock to everyone, especially since he was working in tech support. By the end of the film, Amar has decided to be with Aqua in the US by applying to the same university as her.

Kunal Sharma was cast as Amar, having previously also guest starred in the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, as well as Phil of the Future (2004-06) ahead of his role in The Cheetah Girls: One World. He later appeared as Vivek in the teen comedy spin-off Legally Blondes (2009). In 2017, he was cast in the recurring role of Sid al-Tunis in Season 5 of the crime drama series Prison Break (2005-17). More recently, he played the character Koa Rey in Season 8 and Season 9 of Hawaii Five-0 (2010-20).

Rahim Khan is the male lead who Vik has cast in his remake of Namaste Bombay. Rahim is already a huge star in Bollywood, and has plenty of screaming fans waiting for him whenever he comes to set. Despite this though, Rahim is actually incredibly shy around one woman, Gita, the film’s choreographer. Rahim confides in Dorinda about his feelings for Gita, although the way he acts around her, tripping up and being generally awkward, has already made that obvious to all the Cheetah Girls, also stating that he has never kissed a girl outside of his movies. Dorinda decides to help Rahim with Gita, and in exchange Rahim helps Dorinda with her dancing, ready for the audition. Rahim, although not Dorinda’s love interest, is the person that is backing her for the lead role in the film, as Vik and Amar are doing for Chanel and Aqua. The audition doesn’t go Dorinda’s way, however, she doesn’t hold Rahim accountable for that, and encourages him to ask Gita out on a date, so they can stop acting strangely around each other and making everyone else feel uncomfortable!

Rahim Khan was played by Rupak Ginn. After The Cheetah Girls: One World, Khan was cast in the recurring role of Raj in the comedy-drama series Royal Pains (2009-16) and later hosted a PBS documentary series on South Asian cuisine, titled Spice Road (2023-26).

Gita is the choreographer on Namaste Bombay. She initially is quite annoyed by having to teach these American girls traditional Bollywood dance steps, not wanting to slow it down for them since Vik has told her how well they dance. She is quite pleased to embarrass the girls in front of all the other dancers, proving they have a lot to learn, however, this irritates Dorinda who starts a dance battle between the Cheetah Girls and Gita’s dancers. They finally come to get along with each other though, and Gita even gets some advice on her feelings for Rahim from Dorinda. Gita’s journey in The Cheetah Girls: One World ends with her finally getting the man of dreams – Rahim – and getting her dream role of starring in a Bollywood musical.

Gita was played by Deepti Daryanani, who had previously been cast as the character Priti in the Hindi-language version of the comedy American Pie, titled Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai? (2002). After The Cheetah Girls: One World, she was cast as Maya in the Lifetime film Acceptance (2009), which starred Mae Whitman and Joan Cusack.

Vik’s uncle, Kamal Bhatia, is the producer on Vik’s new movie, meaning he is in charge of financing this film. This means Vik’s uncle has a lot of ideas and necessary compromises to make the movie happen, even if they do not match Vik’s vision for this masterpiece. Vik’s uncle is adamant that they can only afford one of the Cheetah Girls to star in the film, and orders the audition to take place to choose the best one. He also comes up with a set for the big wedding sequence in the film, but Vik is unhappy with it, even though that is as far as the budget will stretch. Vik’s uncle later accompanies Vik and the others to Rajasthan to scout for new locations, which must be free. Luckily, Amar offers up his family home at no cost. Vik’s uncle is later approached after Chanel drops out of the leading role, with Vik demanding that he gets to make the movie his way, which means Gita in the lead role and reverting back to Vik’s initial version of making a more traditional remake of Namaste Bombay, albeit still with the Cheetah Girls in minor roles. Vik’s uncle allows these changes, happy to see Vik stand up for his movie, as all directors should.

Uncle Kamal was played by British-Indian actor Roshan Seth. Earlier in his career, Seth was cast as Jawaharlal Nehru in Gandhi (1982), for which he was nominated at the BAFTAs in the Best Supporting Actor category. He went on to appear as Chattar Lal in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and as Amritrao in A Passage to India (1984). In the 2000s, Seth starred as Gopal in the independent film Cosmopolitan (2003), and was cast in various Hindi-language films, including as Justice Thapar in Guru (2007). Seth was even cast as Pramesh Singh in Disney’s live-action remake Dumbo (2019). In television, Seth starred as Haroon Amir, opposite Naveen Andrews, in the BBC miniseries The Buddha of Suburbia (1993). More recently, he was cast as Darius Dalal in the Channel 4 series Indian Summers (2015-16) and as Shah Alam II in ITV’s Beecham House (2019).

The Cheetah Girls frequently encounter the wise man Swami Ji, as he sits under a tree by their hotel in Mumbai, giving out advice to them about where their lives are going. After they leave Mumbai for Rajasthan, we don’t see him again, but his wish strings certainly cause problems for the girls even after they’ve left the area! Swami Ji tells Dorinda to expect change and to not fear it, whilst also telling the girls that they may wish for things that they don’t need, and that something unexpected might take its place. That is certainly the case, as Chanel’s wish of the girls becoming major movie stars didn’t happen, although they did end up in a film, and Dorinda’s wish of having the Cheetah Girls stay exactly the same obviously wasn’t going to happen. With Swami Ji’s help, the girls got to understand themselves more, as well as the culture’s spirituality.

Indian actor Vinod Nagpal was cast as Swami Ji. Nagpal had previously been cast in various Indian television series, including as Basesar Ram in Hum Log (1984-85) and as Shyamlal in Buniyaad (1987-88). He has also made appearances in various Hindi-language films, for example as Mr. Srivastav in Aaja Nachle (2007) and most recently as Kitpal in Main Vaapas Aaunga (2026).

MUSIC

The soundtrack for The Cheetah Girls: One World was released on 19^th August 2008, just a couple of days before the film premiered in the US, and consists of 12 original songs.

Although the soundtrack album may have underperformed in the charts when compared to the other two movies’ soundtracks, by reaching No. 2 in the US Billboard Kid Albums and No. 3 in the Soundtrack Albums, as well as No. 13 on the US Billboard 200 chart, whereas the other two had topped both the Kid Albums and Soundtrack Albums charts, The Cheetah Girls: One World contains the best music in the franchise in my opinion.

In movie order, the first song we hear is “Cheetah Love”, being led to believe that the girls are putting on a major concert in front of a crowd of excitable fans, when in fact they are just auditioning in a theatre and have not yet become famous. This is a good, energetic song to recentre the viewers in the world of The Cheetah Girls after a bit of a break. “Cheetah Love” was written by Kara DioGuardi, Niclas Molinder and Joacim Persson.

Following that, the girls decide to head to an Indian restaurant for dinner, and start to feel hopeless about their chances of stardom. However, at dinner, Chanel gets a call saying they are wanted for an audition for a huge musical. This gives the girls some further motivation to continue with their group, leading to them singing and dancing around the restaurant in front of the other paying customers, before ending up in another theatre, continuing their performance as part of their audition. “Dig a Little Deeper” is the only song that I don’t like in this film. Maybe because I don’t think running around a restaurant is good from a health-and-safety perspective; it just seems very reckless, with all that sharp cutlery! “Dig a Little Deeper” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, and Devrim Karaoglu.

After that, we hear “Getting Crazy on the Dancefloor”, which was actually a solo song for Sabrina Bryan. This song plays in the background as we see the Cheetah Girls arrive in India, experiencing a little bit of a culture shock as they are driven through the streets. We don’t get to hear much of this song but what we do hear is just ok. “Getting Crazy on the Dancefloor” was written by Sabrina Bryan, Sebastian Jacome, and Karl Cameron.

As the girls arrive at the movie studio in India for their first rehearsal, they are late and have managed to irritate the choreographer, Gita, so she makes the rehearsals hard for them, leading Dorinda to get defensive and say they can dance well. This leads to a dance battle of sorts via the song “Dance Me If You Can”. I really like this song, ever since I first saw it on the Disney Channel, promoting this film. It’s fun, it’s got a bit of a Bollywood essence to it, and it’s high-energy. “Dance Me If You Can” was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil, and was performed by the Cheetah Girls, along with Deepti Daryanani as Gita. This song is used in the End Credits of the film too.

Things slow down a bit after this, as the Cheetah Girls start to consider the group’s future and their opportunities in India, after Vik is told that he can only hire one girl, meaning the three will have to audition against each other for the part, something they don’t want to do. This leads to the song “Fly Away”, where the girls wonder how these events might change them and the Cheetah Girls. It’s nice to hear the girls sing more of a ballad here, giving the film a different mood. “Fly Away” was written by Jamie Houston.

Another ballad follows, but this time solely performed by Adrienne Bailon, as Chanel starts to consider that getting the starring role in the film would be great for her career and something she really wants to achieve, but she worries how it will affect the Cheetah Girls if she does get it. I love this song; it’s a great one to sing along to, and it expresses how torn Chanel is feeling. “What If” was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.

The next song only appears in the movie as part of the Extended Edition, with this song being “Feels Like Love”. Oddly, I actually like this song and the whole sequence that accompanies it, despite it being an extended scene, which basically means it was deemed not good enough to make the final edit of the film! Whether I like a deleted song or not varies wildly from film to film. For example, although I like “Feels Like Love” in this film, I hated “Cherish the Moment”, the song from the extended edition of The Cheetah Girls 2. But “Feels Like Love” is really sweet and I love that their date is going on pedal boats. It’s a song for the whole cast – except Dorinda who has sworn off boys! “Feels Like Love” was performed by the Cheetah Girls; Michael Steger as Vik; Kunal Sharma as Amar; Deepti Daryanani as Gita; and Rupak Ginn as Rahim, written by Adam Watts and Andy Dodd.

As the Cheetah Girls head to Rajasthan to scout locations with Vik and the rest of the movie gang, we hear a song playing in the background. This song is “Stand Up”, another solo song for Adrienne Bailon. It’s a good song, but it is lively, which is quite at odds with the boredom of the long car journey that we are seeing on screen! “Stand Up” was written by Matthew Gerrard, Robbie Nevil, and Adrienne Bailon.

A little while later, as the girls prepare for their audition for the lead role in Vik’s film, they become increasingly suspicious and paranoid of each other, wondering if the others are playing fair, or using their connections with various members of the movie crew to get ahead. The song is again only heard briefly in the background, but it’s still decent. This time, the song “Circle Game” was a solo for Kiely Williams, meaning all three of the girls got at least one solo each in this film. It was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, and Kiely Williams.

This leads pretty much straight into the song “I’m the One”. We already saw a dance battle earlier in the film, but “I’m the One” is a singing battle as the Cheetah Girls fight for the starring role in Vik’s movie. By this point in the story, the girls aren’t really speaking so this is a real fight, with the girls no longer afraid to use some leverage to get the role, in the form of each of their male confidantes: Dorinda has Rahim, Aqua has Amar, and Chanel has Vik. “I’m the One” is therefore performed by the Cheetah Girls, as well as Michael Steger as Vik, Kunal Sharma as Amar, and Rupak Ginn as Rahim. It was written by Kara DioGuardi, Niclas Molinder, and Joacim Persson.

After Chanel is given the lead role, Aqua and Dorinda are irritated, thinking that Chanel only got the part because she’s been flirting with Vik, the director. Aqua and Dorinda must then pack up and leave India as they are no longer needed on the film. As they do this, Chanel wonders whether she should take the part at all. All three sing another heartfelt song, “No Place Like Us”, deciding they don’t want their friendship to end over something so trivial like an audition and choosing to stick together no matter what. “No Place Like Us” is easily my favourite song in The Cheetah Girls: One World, and I think it might be my favourite song in the entire franchise. “No Place Like Us” was written by Adam Anders and Nikki Hassman.

Finally, we have “One World”, the big finale number to end The Cheetah Girls: One World, and seemingly the final sequence of Vik’s film, as we see the new leads of Rahim and Gita film the movie’s wedding scene, with the three Cheetah Girls there to sing and dance as well. This finale has everything: extras, colourful costumes, even elephants! They really threw everything at this one, and it is the closest the audience gets to seeing something authentically Bollywood, ending the Cheetah Girls’ Indian adventure. “One World” was performed by the Cheetah Girls, with the additions of Deepti Daryanani as Gita and Rupak Ginn as Rahim. “One World” was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.

David Lawrence was the composer for The Cheetah Girls: One World, having returned to the franchise after his work on the music for The Cheetah Girls 2. Elsewhere for Disney Channel, Lawrence was the composer for various other musicals, including the High School Musical trilogy, StarStruck (2010), Teen Beach Movie (2013) and Teen Beach 2 (2015), and the first three Descendants films.

PRODUCTION

After The Cheetah Girls 2, The Cheetah Girls as a franchise had a huge surge in popularity and fame come its way from Disney Channel fans.

Director Paul Hoen was chosen to direct The Cheetah Girls: One World, the franchise’s third film, having had experience directing Disney Channel films prior to this, such as The Luck of the Irish (2001), Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003), and Read It and Weep (2006). After The Cheetah Girls: One World, Hoen continued to be called upon by Disney Channel for their films, going on to direct the musicals Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010) and the entire ZOMBIES movie franchise, with ZOMBIES 5: Secrets of the Sea set for release in 2027, as well as the non-musicals Cloud 9 (2014) and Invisible Sister (2015).

Dan Berendsen was tasked with co-writing the screenplay for The Cheetah Girls: One World. His previous writing credits for Disney Channel were Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003); Stuck in the Suburbs (2004); Twitches (2005) and its 2007 sequel, as well as writing the teleplays for the movies Sabrina Goes to Rome (1998) and Sabrina Down Under (1999) that add to the series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996-2003). After The Cheetah Girls: One World, Berendsen went on to write various major DCOMs, including Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009); Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009); and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010). He later created the Freeform series Baby Daddy (2012-17).

Two other writers were credited with writing the screenplay for this third Cheetah Girls film. One of these was Nisha Ganatra who recently directed Season 1 of the comedy-drama series You Me Her (2016-20), as well as directing the movies Late Night (2019), which starred Dame Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling, and the Disney sequel Freakier Friday (2025). The other writer was Jen Small, who had previously been a producer on the independent film Cosmopolitan (2003), which Nisha Ganatra directed.

High School Musical hadn’t yet made its sequel by the time The Cheetah Girls 2 came out in 2006, but by the time The Cheetah Girls: One World did in 2008, Disney Channel had managed to create their most-watched DCOM ever, with High School Musical 2 reaching over 17 million viewers just on its US premiere date in August 2007.

That either meant that Disney Channel felt pressure to ensure their first-ever musical “threequel” with The Cheetah Girls: One World was a hit, or meant that they thought they had enough fans desperate for more musicals that this third Cheetah Girls movie would be a success regardless of what it was actually like.

If Disney Channel assumed The Cheetah Girls: One World would be an instant success for simply being a Disney Channel musical, then they were wrong, because with Raven-Symoné not getting on with the other three girls during filming on The Cheetah Girls 2, she declined to be involved in this third film, leaving a key member of the cast out[1]. The official reason for her absence was that Raven was busy recording her new album and filming a new Disney film, College Road Trip (2008), so was not available. Omitting Raven from this film was not something that all fans could easily get used to, and made some not want to watch The Cheetah Girls: One World before it even premiered.

If they felt pressure, then it was clear that by having this movie be filmed and set in India, they were looking to capitalise on the interest that The Cheetah Girls 2 had had with its European setting of Barcelona. A stunning location can do wonders for a movie, instantly grabbing the viewers’ attention. In this case, the cast and crew filmed The Cheetah Girls: One World in early 2008, with the shoot taking place over 16 days specifically in Udaipur, a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan[2]. One of the primary filming locations used was the City Palace in Udaipur. Strangely enough, the filming of The Cheetah Girls: One World was even mentioned on the Season 2 episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2007-21), “Rob’s New Girlfriend”, as Adrienne Bailon was dating Rob Kardashian at the time, and she told him she was heading to India for three months to shoot the third Cheetah Girls film. Given that the third film was shot around spring, this would explain why there were scenes showing celebrations of the Hindu festival Holi. They may have been recreated for the movie, but either way, the production team should’ve done some more research as Holi is a spring festival, and does not take place in summer when this film is set.

Before filming could even begin, the girls flew to Mumbai to take part in two weeks of dance rehearsals, followed by a further week of rehearsals in Udaipur. They were put through their paces by choreographer Fatima Robinson, who has been a choreographer for musical artists like Aaliyah and Beyoncé, along with choreographing for films such as Save the Last Dance (2001) and Dreamgirls (2006). Robinson recently choreographed the movie musical The Color Purple (2023).

But these dance rehearsals were not like any other the girls had experienced as their choreography on this film would be combining their usual hip-hop and contemporary styles with Bollywood dancing, which is known for being incredibly precise and difficult to master. These moves were particularly necessary for the songs “Dance Me If You Can” and “One World”, which feature plenty of accomplished dancers in the background, just to give the girls even more of a reason to ensure their dancing was exactly right! “One World” also required the girls to be dressed up in traditional colourful saris. The girls stated in behind-the-scenes interviews that they were allotted a specific amount of time in their schedule in order for them to be dressed correctly without being rushed as it can take time. The entire finale sequence for The Cheetah Girls: One World took three days to film in total. And the girls were quite scared to ride that huge elephant in the very last shot of the film too!

Other stories they had from their time filming in India were that Sabrina Bryan struggled to pedal that swan boat during the extended scene for the song “Feels Like Love” and couldn’t keep with Adrienne Bailon and Michael Steger in the other boat, and that it actually rained as they were filming the “I’m the One” audition scene, despite them filming during the dry season. They hadn’t seen any clouds in the sky throughout their whole time of being in India until this day. They also said that doing their scene in the auto rickshaw was pretty scary as well, with all the traffic that they had to weave in and out of, so I’m assuming the terror on their faces in this scene was probably at least 50% authentic!

To add to the excitement for The Cheetah Girls: One World, Disney Channel fans globally were invited to vote on certain aspects of the movie through The Cheetah Girls: One World: Play Your Part online polls. This was something that fans had been able to do for High School Musical 2 back in 2007 and had proven very popular. Voting ran from 31^st December 2007 to 1^st February 2008, receiving 50 million votes from viewers worldwide[3]. Some of the winning selections included the dress that Chanel was wearing during the film’s opening audition scene; Aqua’s jacket that she is wearing during the Cheetah Girls’ audition for the movie; the ring and earrings that Dorinda and Chanel buy from the market; and the poster of the Jonas Brothers in another market scene. Apparently, Zac Efron was close to being the Disney Channel star to feature on this poster, but he narrowly lost out[4].

RECEPTION

The Cheetah Girls: One World held its premiere at the El Capitan Theatre on 12^th August 2008, with the premiere being attended by various Disney Channel stars, including the cast of Camp Rock, the Disney Channel musical that premiered earlier in that same summer. The Cheetah Girls: One World then premiered on the Disney Channel in the US on 22^nd August 2008, before making its way to other countries internationally throughout the rest of the year.

During its US premiere, it has been said that 6.2 million viewers tuned in to watch The Cheetah Girls: One World. This is not a terrible figure by any means but it can only be described as average. This was also over 1.5 million less than those who watched the premiere of The Cheetah Girls 2 just two years early in 2006. It was also the least-viewed Disney Channel Original Movie of 2008, with Camp Rock being the most-viewed, at 8.9 million viewers. However, most DCOM musicals easily outperform any non-musical DCOMs. This was not the case in 2008 as Minutemen, a science-fiction-themed DCOM, was watched by 6.5 million viewers, only slightly outdoing The Cheetah Girls: One World, but still, I find that quite surprising. This third Cheetah Girls film was also not anywhere near close to the viewing figures of High School Musical 2, which was watched by 17.2 million viewers on its premiere in 2007, and it could be said that Disney Channel had been attempting to build this same type of hype for The Cheetah Girls: One World just a year later.

The reason why The Cheetah Girls: One World may have underperformed is potentially simply due to the fact that Raven-Symoné was not involved, leading to fans of The Cheetah Girls franchise boycotting this third film. There continue to be fans who say they have never watched this film for this very reason. Others who did watch it despite Raven’s absence have said the third film wasn’t even needed, and should not have been made without all four girls being included. Further negative critiques aimed at The Cheetah Girls: One World include the stereotypical representation of India, such as the character of Swami Ji and Amar being a tech support guy from India. Some were also annoyed to find that Michael Steger, who was cast as Vik, was not even Indian, and questioned why he would’ve been cast here. It was felt that there were very few authentic representations of Bollywood films or their music here, with only very few references being made to traditional Bollywood musicals in the “One World” sequence right at the end of the film. Generally, those that did not like The Cheetah Girls: One World said it was bland and unoriginal.

But there are others who very much did enjoy The Cheetah Girls: One World – and I am one of those people. For those that are fans of The Cheetah Girls: One World, the music was a highlight here, with the additional Bollywood elements, from the choreography to the music style, another bonus. I can’t say that I am a fan of Bollywood musicals, having never really seen one, other than Bride and Prejudice (2004), but that isn’t a true Bollywood film, however, I have heard various Bollywood-style songs and I’ve always liked them. Having the movie set and filmed in India was something else to be praised, since the film featured many beautiful, and colourful locations, many of which would’ve been new to Disney Channel fans at the time. It has been said by many fans that there is plenty to enjoy in this film, providing you are willing to look past the fact that Raven-Symoné is not in it.

In terms of awards, Paul Hoen was nominated at the Directors Guild of America Awards for his work on The Cheetah Girls: One World in the category of Children’s Program, alongside two other 2008 Disney Channel movie directors, those being Matthew Diamond for Camp Rock, and Lev L. Spiro for Minutemen. However, all three lost out to Classical Baby (2005-17) on HBO Family, directed by Amy Schatz. The Cheetah Girls: One World was also nominated at the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Children’s Program, with the winner being the children’s animated series Dora the Explorer (2000-19).

LEGACY

Around the time of the premiere of The Cheetah Girls: One World, in the US the Nintendo DS game, The Cheetah Girls: Passport to Stardom was also released, in August 2008. The storyline of this game features events based in India, matching the film, as well as a selection of songs from The Cheetah Girls: One World and the other two films.

The Cheetah Girls as a musical group also released their second EP, titled The Cheetah Girls Soundcheck, on 19^th August 2008. This was the same day that The Cheetah Girls: One World soundtrack was released. The EP consisted of three songs from this third film, “One World”, “Cheetah Love”, and “Dance Me If You Can”, along with “Strut” from The Cheetah Girls 2, and the song “Break Out This Box” from their album TCG.

Also in 2008, the Cheetah Girls made some appearances on the Disney Channel. This included guest appearances on the series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-08), in the Season 3 episode “Doin’ Time in Suite 2330”, which has been removed from some digital platforms due to the episode also featuring controversial singer Chris Brown, and in the second show of Studio DC: Almost Live! (2008), with the Muppets and fellow Disney Channel stars. Here, the Cheetah Girls performed “Dance Me If You Can” with Miss Piggy.

The girls were also present for the third season of the Disney Channel Games that aired on Disney Channel throughout Summer 2008. Each of the three was in a different team, with Adrienne Bailon a member of the Red Team; Kiely Williams captaining the Blue Team; and Sabrina Bryan in the Yellow Team, these being the same teams they had been a part of in the 2007 edition of the Disney Channel Games. At the closing ceremony, the Cheetah Girls performed these songs from The Cheetah Girls: One World: “Cheetah Love”, “Dance Me If You Can”, and “One World”.

After a little bit of a break, the Cheetah Girls then continued their promotion of their third film and its soundtrack by going on the One World Tour, which ran from 4^th October 2008, starting in Corpus Christi, Texas, until 21^st December 2008, when it ended in San Diego, California. This tour was not as successful as The Party’s Just Begun Tour had been in 2006 and 2007, when promoting their second film, with this tour being extended on a couple of occasions. The One World Tour was not extended and actually had some negative publicity surrounding it. For example, the group were meant to perform at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2008, but they dropped out; the official reason behind this was reportedly “scheduling issues”.

After the end of the One World Tour, rumours had begun to circulate stating that this was not just going to be the Cheetah Girls’ final tour, but was also pointing to the group breaking up for good. In January 2009, Adrienne Bailon confirmed that the news was true, however, she did not feel it was such a big deal, as their run had to end sometime, like it had done for the cast of High School Musical around the same time. The girls were simply old enough to be moving away from Disney Channel now. Bailon stated that the girls were all still friends. Kiely Williams had some slightly different things to say on the group breaking up, and that was to say that she was annoyed that the negative publicity surrounding the group had led to the break-up of the group ending on a sour note[5].

The Cheetah Girls was not completely forgotten by Disney or Disney Channel after this though, as their films continued to be re-run on the channel. They even got some recognition at the Disney Parks, specifically at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, from 2010 to 2013, by way of the short stage show performed at the park called Disney Channel Rocks. Disney Channel Rocks showcased music from many Disney Channel musicals including the Camp Rock films, StarStruck (2010), Jump In! (2007), the High School Musical trilogy and of course, The Cheetah Girls franchise. From The Cheetah Girls: One World the song “Dance Me If You Can”, mixed in with “Push It To The Limit” from Jump In!, was performed, with a brief excerpt of “One World” coming towards the end of the show. The new version of Disney Channel Rocks that reappeared at the Disneyland After Dark: Disney Channel Nite events in 2024 and 2026, despite dropping the song “The Party’s Just Begun” from The Cheetah Girls 2, did keep “Dance Me If You Can” and “One World”.

It was clear by this point that, although The Cheetah Girls had not reached the same heights as High School Musical, it was still a treasured musical franchise amongst Disney Channel fans. And yet, some fans have always been aware of the underlying tension between some members of the group that has been around for years.

Each of the four girls has been asked on numerous occasions in interviews about their friendships with the others. In 2020, Raven-Symoné was asked about the possibility of a Cheetah Girls reunion. She alluded to the fact that there had been tension between her and the others girls, stating that she would like to be a part of the Cheetah Girls brand again, but would need to clear the air with some of the girls first. Raven did, however, confirm that she was still close to Adrienne Bailon[6]. The discussions around a reunion only intensified when it became known that Kiely Williams and Raven-Symoné had cleared the air – via an Instagram Live – around some of the conflicts that had arisen during the filming of The Cheetah Girls 2, with Williams even admitting that The Cheetah Girls: One World failed because Raven wasn’t in it. It would have seemed that a truce was close to being reached between all four of the Cheetah Girls – until Williams said she had no intention of making up with Adrienne Bailon, with some events between them running too deep to ever resolve[7].

With this in mind, it might have come as a surprise to find that, on 8^th July 2026, Disney Channel confirmed that a fourth Cheetah Girls movie was in the works, to be titled The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen, premiering on Disney Channel and Disney+ potentially in 2027. It was confirmed that Raven-Symoné and Adrienne Bailon would be reprising their roles as Galleria and Chanel, as would Lynn Whitfield and Lori Alter, as their on-screen mothers Dorothea and Juanita. New castings for the film included Leah Sava’ Jeffries, as Faith, Galleria’s daughter; Carmen Sánchez, as Dior, Chanel’s younger sister; Kaileen Chang, as Ruby; and Sophie Lennon, as Brooklyn, making up the four new “Cheetah Girls”. Also joining the cast is Sophia Bush as a character named Jennifré. The story is set to follow Galleria and Chanel, along with the girls, travelling to Africa to volunteer at a wildlife sanctuary, with events eventually leading to the girls becoming the new Cheetah Girls.

Production on the film began in late July in South Africa, with Debra Martin Chase returning as a producer, and Raven-Symoné and Adrienne Bailon also producers here. The director will be Billie Woodruff, with choreographing coming from Kyle Hanagami, and the script being written by Kara Holden, Sarah Watson, and Deborah Swisher[8].

It was also confirmed that Sabrina Bryan would be returning to reprise her role as Dorinda in The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen. Kiely Williams will not be coming back to play Aqua though, which, given what she’d said about the status of her friendship with Adrienne Bailon, isn’t really surprising. It’s a bit disappointing, but nobody should feel forced to do something that makes them feel uncomfortable. It’s just a movie after all.

Although the news of this fourth film was met with plenty of excitement from older and younger fans alike, it was not necessarily seen as a good thing by everyone. There has been some backlash around the casting. This is due to the fact that the Cheetah Girls was always meant to be focusing on Black girls. The book series by Deborah Gregory, that the film series is based on, originally featured four Black girls as the stars. When The Cheetah Girls (2003) movie was made, this was then reduced down to featuring two Black girls, one Latina, and one white girl, with the producers wanting to showcase as much diversity on screen as possible, allegedly. However, this new casting now only has one of the four girls being Black, which has been considered a step backwards to some[9].

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Cheetah Girls: One World will always be viewed differently because one key cast member was missing.

Some say this was a major misstep by Disney Channel to make this third film without Raven-Symoné, whereas others weren’t too bothered by her absence and found plenty to like here. However, The Cheetah Girls: One World did signal the end of this DCOM musical franchise, with various factors leading to this decision.

And yet, over twenty years after the original film came out, it turns out the franchise has not ended and was just on a very long hiatus. A fourth film is indeed coming, introducing a new generation of Cheetah Girls to Disney Channel fans, who will hope the company are successful at reviving the series.

We will just have to wait and see if this new film manages to remind viewers of the true meaning of “girl power” once more.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Ashley Spencer, Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Empire (2024), ‘That’s So Raven-Symoné’, pp. 85-110.

[2] Credit: Jennifer Frey, ‘Cheetah Girls go global’, SouthCoastToday.com, 24^th June 2008.

[3] Credit: Gary Rusak, ‘Disney Channel’s Cheetah poll garners 50 million votes’, KidScreen.com, 7^th March 2008.

[4] Credit: Disney Channel, “Cheetah Spots”, from The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008) UK DVD (2009).

[5] Credit: AceShowbiz Editorial Team, ‘Adrienne Bailon Confirms The Cheetah Girls Break-Up Rumor’, AceShowbiz.com, 28^th January 2009.

[6] Credit: AJ Pitts, ‘Raven-Symoné Weights In On What Would Have To Happen Before a Cheetah Girls Reunion’, JustJaredJr.com, 4^th April 2020.

[7] Credit: Allie Gemmil, ‘Raven-Symoné and Kiely Williams Resolved Some “Cheetah Girls” Drama on Instagram Live’, TeenVogue.com, 10^th April 2020.

[8] Credit: Joe Otterson, ‘‘Cheetah Girls 4’ Set at Disney With Raven-Symoné, Original Cast Members Returning’, Variety.com, 8^th July 2026.

[9] Credit: Leyla Mohammed, ‘Disappointed Millennials Are Accusing Disney Of “Whitewashing” The Next Generation Of Cheetah Girls Amid News That A Fourth Movie Is In The Works, So Here’s An Explainer On The Discourse’, Buzzfeed.com, 9^th July 2026.

21st August 202630th October 2026 by The Disney Purist

The Cheetah Girls 2 (2006)

BACKGROUND

The Cheetah Girls 2 was all set to be the first-ever Disney Channel musical sequel.

After the instant success of High School Musical (2006), this sequel had to be bigger and better – and the best way for Disney Channel to deliver that? To have the Cheetah Girls head out to Europe. Yep, the girls were going on tour! Well, not a literal tour. They didn’t go from winning a school talent show to selling out global arenas, but they were going on vacation to Barcelona in Spain, with the aim being to perform at Barcelona’s music festival.

Americans love Europe, and production companies love to send their American stars to film projects in Europe. It’s been happening for years. Mary-Kate and Ashley got to go to Paris for Passport to Paris (1999), Disney Channel themselves sent Lizzie McGuire to Rome for The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003), and now the Cheetah Girls were heading to Barcelona.

This was a great way of one-upping High School Musical, which had premiered on Disney Channel in January 2006, just a few months before The Cheetah Girls 2 arrived in the summer. High School Musical was already on its way to becoming a major hit for Disney Channel, with more ideas for future projects on the way, so The Cheetah Girls franchise couldn’t get left behind. Having the second film set in Spain was a big way of doing this, because the cast of High School Musical never got to go to Europe. Losers. Just kidding.

Anyway, I don’t think I actually watched the premiere of The Cheetah Girls 2, even though I was actively watching Disney Channel at the time. I think I chose to avoid it out of spite, although who I was trying to spite, I have no idea. It’s not like the people at Disney Channel were going to be bitterly disappointed that I personally had not watched The Cheetah Girls 2. But I came to the decision out of pure annoyance because all summer I’d had to hear and see the music video for the song “Strut” that appears in the film. I know it’s a fan-favourite, but I just can’t stand it! Plus, I was never a big Cheetah Girls fan. I liked the first film enough to watch it all the way through, but I didn’t connect with it on a deeper level.

However, eventually, I did bring myself to watch The Cheetah Girls 2, I think it was actually after I saw the third film. It was kind of unavoidable anyway because the first sequel was re-run so often, and at the time I watched it, I didn’t like it. I have no idea why either, because watching it a few years later, I loved the fact it was set in Barcelona, I found a few songs that I really liked, and it just felt like a bigger and better version of the first film, which is what all Disney Channel musicals set out to do. So now, I actually do like it.

PLOT

The Cheetah Girls 2 begins with a performance by the girl group, as the previous film did, but this time, the girls have levelled up from performing at children’s birthday parties to headlining their school’s jungle-themed graduation party. It has been two years since Galleria, Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda won the Manhattan Magnet Talent Show and they have just finished their Junior Year of high school.

Galleria reminds the girls that just because it is summer break, there shouldn’t be a break for the Cheetah Girls, having already created a rehearsal schedule. Galleria and Chanel go and sit with their mothers after their performance, where Galleria is reminded by her mother that summer is for family time and everyone has their own plans. She lets slip that Chanel and her mother are going to Barcelona to spend the summer with Chanel’s mother’s boyfriend, Luc. This comes as a complete surprise to Chanel and she’s not happy.

Later, at Galleria’s family’s apartment, Chanel vents about her annoyance at having to go to meet all of Luc’s family in Spain this summer. She doesn’t want to and she’s never warmed to Luc. Galleria and Chanel wonder whether all the Cheetah Girls could go to Spain as well, and they float the idea with their mothers, who are busy wondering whether Luc is going to propose to Chanel’s mother over the summer. They both say the girls cannot come as the trip is in three days and it would frankly be rude to invite extra people to Luc’s villa, despite apparently being big enough for all of them to stay there.

Aqua and Dorinda join Chanel at Galleria’s for a sleepover, where they talk about their unexciting summer plans. Aqua has some summer course lined up at Columbia University, and Dorinda can go and teach kids at a dance camp, but they’d rather be together over the summer. As they talk, a shooting star passes by the window and they all wish to go to Barcelona. This is what manifesting used to look like – and it even worked, because as luck would have it, the breeze flipped over some pages of a magazine right to a page about a New Voices contest at the Barcelona Summer Music Festival. Galleria gets Chanel to translate it for her. She seems hopeful – until she reads the deadline for entries was last week. Galleria doesn’t seem to think the deadline will apply to them, and goes to call them right away, to audition over the phone. Chanel reminds Galleria about time differences so they agree to wait until later on to call. When the time is right, they all wake up and call the music festival, who try to tell the girls not to bother, but Galleria insists and they sing their song “Cheetah Sisters” over the phone. They are told to download and sign the application form and to get over to Barcelona for a meeting with the festival director next week. Galleria has them promise they’ll work hard to ensure they win the competition.

The next morning, the girls tell Galleria and Chanel’s mothers all about their plans to go to Barcelona. They can’t quite believe the girls’ audacity, but Galleria has worked out with her father to use his airline miles to fly her and Dorinda to Spain, and they can stay at Luc’s house. Chanel’s mother agrees, as long as Galleria’s mother comes too. They admit defeat.

Soon after, the Cheetah Girls are at the airport, ready to fly off to Barcelona and become international superstars. In the city, Aqua is excited to sightsee and to improve her Spanish, with Chanel continuously picking up on Aqua’s flawed pronunciation. Hey, Chanel, not everyone can roll their Rs, you know! Later that same day, the girls collapse at a café after a full day of walking around the city. As they wait for their drinks, they hear a guitarist who starts singing a song. Chanel is asked by Galleria to translate his words, as she has fallen in love at first sight. He sings about following him and discovering “his” Barcelona. The girls take his invitation and wander the city again, with their new friend in tow. He introduces himself to Galleria as Angel. But they have to go now, so she hopes they’ll see each other again. This is a Disney Channel film; we all know she’s definitely going to see him again.

They then arrive at Luc’s villa, which is palatial and instantly impresses the girls. Chanel plays it cool, claiming it is just pretentious to have all this space. Luc later comes in and welcomes the girls to his home, but Chanel refuses to engage with his kindness, claiming instead that he is being annoying and controlling. The other three disagree.

The next day, at breakfast, Luc says he has a friend, an associate and a count, who will be available to help the girls with whatever they need during their stay; they’ll meet him later. Chanel rushes the girls out to their meeting with the festival director, to avoid any further conversation with Luc. They arrive at the theatre for their meeting, where the festival director orders them to go on stage and audition properly for the competition. The Cheetah Girls weren’t prepared for either the audition, or for the festival director to be this direct, but they get up on stage anyway, and sing “Cheetah Sisters” a cappella once again. The festival director says he’s heard enough, and walks away on his phone. Luckily, his assistant comes into the theatre and confirms their entry into the New Voices contest.

They then return to Luc’s villa, where Galleria starts bothering the girls with discussions about rehearsal schedules, when they just want to relax for a little bit. The count and associate that Luc was talking about arrives and introduces himself as Joaquin, getting all the girls’ names completely wrong. Dorinda corrects him and he thanks her with a kiss on her hand. He tells the girls they should head over to the Dancing Cat teen club soon, so they can see their competition for the New Voices contest, as they all practise their material there. Joaquin says he will sign them up to their Open Mic Night tomorrow night. Luc then arrives, saying Joaquin is best placed to show them around, with it also being revealed that Joaquin is his godson, and he is a dancer, something that makes Dorinda more interested in him. Joaquin invites Dorinda to dance with him at his dance studio sometime.

The next day, Galleria and Aqua go shopping with Galleria’s mother, although Galleria is less into it than the other two, wanting to spend some time rehearsing for the rest of the day. Galleria’s mother bumps into an old friend, Randolph, who invites her to see Aramet’s, another old friend, new boutique. They all go to see the shop, but Aqua wants to go with Galleria’s mother on a tour of the facility, having found an interest in fashion and being a big fan of Aramet’s designs. Galleria begrudgingly lets her go for a few minutes. Meanwhile, Dorinda goes to Joaquin’s dance studio where he teaches her the tango.

That night, the girls all meet up at the Dancing Cat club, and Joaquin is there too. As the first act goes on, Joaquin explains that she is a singer called Marisol, and the hometown favourite for the competition. Marisol finishes her high-energy number and the crowd is very much with her. This makes the Cheetah Girls nervous, and they decide maybe they won’t perform tonight! A guitarist then comes on to the stage, to slow things down with an old Spanish lullaby called “A La Nanita Nana”. Galleria is very happy to see the guitarist is Angel, the one they met at the café a few days before. Chanel recognises the lullaby and starts to sing along to the tune. Marisol joins her, and with some backing vocals from the other three Cheetah Girls, they mesmerise the audience there. After the song, Marisol’s mother, Lola, runs over to speak to them, excited to meet the American act that has entered the New Voices contest. Lola says she can really open doors for the Cheetah Girls, telling them it is not easy to win the contest the first time round, since this is already Marisol’s third time in the contest. Lola wants to meet Galleria’s mother, Dorothea, as she is the manager of the Cheetah Girls, and she gives Chanel her number to arrange a meet-up with all of them.

The next day, Lola tells Marisol that she should focus on getting close to Chanel, having seen how popular their duet was at the club the night before. Marisol doesn’t want to break up the Cheetah Girls, like Lola seems to want to do, but Lola reminds her that if she doesn’t win the New Voices contest this time, then her career is over. If she enters the contest with Chanel, she has a good chance of winning and could even crack America. Marisol isn’t overly convinced but doesn’t want to miss out on a long-lasting singing career – or disappoint her mother. The two then meet up with the Cheetah Girls and Dorothea, with Dorothea being very suspicious of Lola wanting to help the girls, not understanding why the competition would be so nice. The girls brush off her concerns.

Later that day, the Cheetah Girls go to a beach party, having been invited by Joaquin. Dorinda goes off with Joaquin shortly after arriving; Chanel walks away with Marisol; and Aqua goes to talk food with someone else, leaving Galleria on her own. She says they need to leave in an hour to rehearse, so she waits alone. Dorinda and Joaquin talk about their lives, with Joaquin saying his life is very complicated, and Dorinda saying the same.

Back at the villa, Dorothea tries to talk to Chanel’s mother Juanita about Lola and her intentions towards the girls, but Juanita is too busy obsessing about why Luc hasn’t proposed. Meanwhile, Galleria has finally got all the girls together to rehearse, but after half an hour, they’re flagging because of the party. Galleria tries to get them to stay focused, wanting to play them a new song she’s been writing for the competition, but Chanel interjects and says that Lola thinks a song in Spanish would be best. Galleria says there would be no point to that since they don’t speak Spanish! Dorinda is then called away by Joaquin to teach a hip-hop class; Chanel is told to get ready to meet Luc’s family for lunch by her mother; and Aqua is invited by Dorothea to go back to Aramet’s studio. Galleria is once again alone, focusing on the contest, whilst the others go off doing their own things.

The next morning, Galleria wakes up to find Aqua and Dorinda up and about, wanting to take the opportunity to rehearse and talk about the new song she was up all night finishing, but Aqua is too busy wanting to share her costume ideas and Dorinda is once again invited out by Joaquin. Galleria goes to find Chanel, only to find Marisol is here, talking to Chanel about her own performance. Galleria tells Marisol she needs to leave, but Marisol reminds Galleria that Chanel invited her here, and Chanel tells Galleria to give her space and stop telling her and her friends – and the other girls – what to do.

Dorinda goes to the studio to meet Joaquin for lunch, only to find him arriving with a group of people in suits. He does not reference Dorinda at all, and she wonders if he is embarrassed to be seen with her, since she isn’t all dressed up. Dorinda tells Joaquin she lives with a foster family. Clearly, they are on different pages and paths in life. She leaves.

At the villa, Galleria talks to her mother about a new design she’s been working on that Aramet wants to create and put in her new spring collection. Galleria’s mother has now got a chance to finally live her dreams of being a top designer. Galleria then has her own news: that she is going home. Galleria is upset that the girls aren’t focused, and if she keeps pushing them, then she could damage her friendships forever, especially with Chanel. Galleria says they don’t have a chance of winning right now and she doesn’t want to get on stage and embarrass herself. She’s already worked it out, so her mother can stay put. Galleria is going to get the train to Paris tomorrow, and will meet her father there to fly home together. Her mind is made up and she thinks it’s for the best.

Later that night, Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda are told by Juanita and Dorothea that Galleria is heading home. The girls can’t believe it got to this point and want to talk to her, to apologise for being distracted, but the mothers tell them to let her get some sleep and to talk to her in the morning. The girls start blaming each other for why this happened.

In the morning, Chanel goes to Galleria’s room to speak with her, only to find that she has left for the train station already, leaving only the new song she’d written for the contest on her bed. Chanel shows Aqua and Dorinda what’s gone on. Chanel gets a call from Marisol and tells her she can’t talk right now as Galleria is leaving Spain. Sure enough, Galleria is at the train station. As she looks at the departures board, she starts to hear singing. It’s her new song. Turning around, she sees Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda singing the song to her, in the middle of the train station, in their pyjamas! The three apologise to Galleria for ignoring her and being distracted. Galleria forgives them, as long as they promise to focus on the performance now. They return to the villa together.

As the girls finally get down to rehearsing, Chanel gets a call from Lola and Marisol, wanting to share their sympathy about Galleria leaving, but Galleria pipes up and says she’s still here. Now that plan has been scuppered, Lola comes up with a new one, and that is to book them in to perform at the Dancing Cat club as a warm-up performance.

Later, Chanel overhears her mother complaining that Luc hasn’t proposed to her yet, wondering if it is because Chanel has made it clear she doesn’t like Luc. Chanel goes to speak to Luc, and says she’s sorry for being rude to him all the time; she just didn’t want to see her mother get hurt. Luc says he wants to have a life with her mother and wants Chanel to be a part of it, saying he has no intentions of hurting either of them. With Chanel’s blessing, Luc immediately goes outside to propose to Juanita, who is randomly sat outside, by a flower bed, reading a book. Very out of character. The others gather to watch. Luc asks Juanita to marry him. Juanita looks over to the crowd and sees Chanel tell her to say “yes”. She does and Luc finally puts a ring on it. Juanita is ecstatic that she got what she wanted.

After that is sorted, now the Cheetah Girls need to organise their Dancing Cat performance. Dorinda takes the girls to Joaquin’s dance studio where he explains to Dorinda that he might be a count but that he has no money, and that is why he didn’t introduce her to his friends, because they were going somewhere fancy for lunch and he couldn’t afford to take her there. Although that doesn’t really explain why he didn’t even say, “Hey, this is my friend, Dorinda, from New York”, Dorinda accepts his apology and they kiss.

But now, the girls really do have to rehearse. They start practising their performance, and are ready to perform at the Dancing Cat. At the club, the Cheetah Girls are a huge hit, so much so, that the owner of the club even pays them for their performance. Lola encourages them to take the money, to use for expenses.

The next day, it is time for the contest’s sound check. The girls arrive, excited, costumes in hand, only to get to the dressing room and be told by the festival director that the Cheetah Girls can no longer perform, because the New Voices contest is for amateurs only, and by getting paid to perform by the Dancing Cat, the group are now classed as professionals. Seeing that her plan has worked, Lola half-heartedly attempts to take the blame for this “mistake”, despite actually wanted this to happen, so she could ask Chanel to perform with Marisol. Galleria and the others say Chanel might as well do that, to represent the Cheetah Girls on the global stage. Chanel isn’t sure, but Lola convinces her to agree.

Back at the villa, the girls complain to their mothers and Luc about what happened, but there is nothing they can do. Luc says there will be plenty of opportunities for them to perform in New York City when they get back home, showing that Luc is going to move to New York after the wedding, so that Chanel can finish high school. The girls then decide to hand the money back to the Dancing Cat owner on principle. Unbeknownst to them, Angel the guitarist saw them hand the money back and goes to investigate.

Backstage on the night of the contest, Dorothea and the other girls watch as Marisol and Chanel practise, with Lola buzzing around them. The festival director comes over, and says he was informed by a reliable source that Lola had arranged for the girls to be paid for their performance at the Dancing Cat. The reliable source turns out to be the festival director’s nephew, Angel. It is confirmed that the Cheetah Girls can now perform together. Lola is horrified, and tries to say it is against the rules, but she is overruled by the director. Lola tells Marisol she can still win, but Marisol ignores her pep talk, saying she doesn’t want to win this way or win just for her mother, and pulls out off the show. She is announced on stage, but is instead eating churros in the audience. Good for her!

That leads them to announce the final act of the night instead, the Cheetah Girls. Galleria begins the performance with Angel on the guitar as their accompanist, stating that this song is dedicated to Barcelona, and to thank the city for everything they’ve learnt there. It’s a bit of an overly dramatic opener to their song; however, they light up the stage with their performance of Galleria’s new song “Amigas Cheetahs”. Joaquin and his dancers come on to stage, and they even invite Marisol on stage to join in with a verse. The audience cheer and scream for them as they take their bows, before they sashay off into the city. We have no idea if they won the contest, but they definitely won over the crowd.

This is where the film should end, however, on the Extended Edition DVD, there is an alternate ending, which sees the Cheetah Girls attend Luc and Juanita’s wedding in Spain. I personally don’t need this song or this scene. I much prefer the original ending.

CHARACTERS & CAST

With The Cheetah Girls 2 being a sequel, it makes sense for the four Cheetah Girls to have returned for this new story, with all four actresses and singers – Raven-Symoné, Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Sabrina Bryan – also reprising their roles. In this new film, Galleria once again finds herself at odds with the other girls. This time, it’s not because of how Galleria is behaving, but because of how the other three are, choosing their own individual pursuits over rehearsing, despite committing to perform in a prestigious contest and promising to work hard during their time in Spain before they even left New York City. It takes Galleria almost getting on a train headed to Paris for the three girls to see the error of their ways, and to convince her to stay, promising they will focus on the performance now. They are true to their word, and end up becoming a stronger group because of all the drama.

Another character and actress to return here is Lynn Whitfield as Galleria’s mother, Dorothea. Dorothea ends up reconnecting with her designing dreams after running into some old friends, whilst trying to keep the group away from the devious tactics of a new “momager”. This mom manager is Lola Durán, who manages her daughter, Marisol. Lola has total control over Marisol’s life and career, telling her what she can and can’t eat, and who she can and can’t be friends with, because she is so desperate to see Marisol win the New Voices contest on her third try. After becoming threatened by the arrival of the Cheetah Girls, seemingly the only American act in the contest, Lola comes up with an idea to keep Marisol on top – by breaking up the Cheetah Girls and getting Chanel to become a duo with Marisol. She instigates various meetings with the girls, under the illusion that she wants to help them whilst in an unfamiliar environment, but everything she does is to try and sabotage their chances of winning. She even resorts to orchestrating having the girls kicked out of the amateur-only contest by having them be paid for performing at the Dancing Cat, encouraging the girls to take the money when they don’t know whether to accept or not. Lola eventually sees how far she has gone, after Marisol abandons her music career and refuses to perform on stage. In the end, Lola is happy to just see Marisol on stage with the Cheetah Girls having fun for a change, without all that pressure on her.

Lola was played by Kim Manning. Manning is American; however, she had built up a career in Spain, having worked on the Spanish game show Un, dos, tres…responda otra vez (1972-2004) in the 1980s. She followed that up by being cast as Tania Biezka Salianova in Spanish comedy series Manos a la obra (1998-2001). Manning appears to have returned to the US to work for a children’s theatre and acting company.

Marisol is Lola’s daughter, and she is the sweet, wholesome teenage singer from Barcelona. Marisol is the home crowd favourite for the New Voices contest, but she has tried to win this contest twice before and not won. Her and her mother are hoping the third time’s the charm for her. Marisol first meets the girls at the Dancing Cat club, where she joins Chanel in singing the lullaby “A La Nanita Nana”, which is a hit with the audience, giving her mother the idea of getting Marisol to sing with Chanel at the contest. Marisol doesn’t want to go along with Lola’s plans, basically to break up the Cheetah Girls, because she likes them, but she is pressured to, due to Lola’s control over her entire life. Lola tells Marisol to spend time with Chanel exclusively, taking her away from Galleria and creating a major rift in Galleria and Chanel’s friendship. In the end, Marisol is so fed up with her mother for controlling her, and for being caught sabotaging the girls, that she chooses not to perform, much to her mother’s confusion. The Cheetah Girls show they have no bad blood with Marisol though by bringing her on stage for their song. Marisol is able to just sing with her friends without feeling like she has to win or risk being seen as a failure.

Belinda Peregrín, also known as just Belinda, was cast as Marisol. Belinda was born in Spain but has built up her career in Mexico. As a child actress, Belinda was cast as Ana Capistrán Vidal in Mexican children’s telenovela Amigos x siempre (2000); as Violeta Arcángel Flores in comedy drama telenovela Aventuras en el tiempo (2001); and as Mariana Cantú and Silvana del Valle Ontiveros in Cómplices Al Rescate (2002) in the first half of the series. After The Cheetah Girls 2, Belinda went on to be cast as Valentina Izaguirre in the telenovela Camaleones (2009-10). More recently, she was cast as Ǻfrica Guadalupe López in the Spanish thriller Welcome to Eden (2022-23) on Netflix, and as Daniela Levy de Mijares in the Mexican musical comedy-drama series Mentiras, la serie (2025) on Amazon Prime. In music, Belinda topped the Mexican album charts with her debut album Belinda in 2003, and did the same with her 2013 album Catarsis and her 2025 album Indómita. She was also a coach on La Voz (2011-22), The Voice in Mexico, from 2019 to 2020, as well as on La Voz Senior (2019-21) and Season 3 of La Voz Kids (2017-present).

Joaquin is the love interest of Dorinda in The Cheetah Girls 2. He is introduced to the girls as being a count, appearing rich in his fancy suits and with his fancy dance studio. He is smitten with Dorinda instantly, and when she finds out he is a dancer, so is she. They bond over having complicated family lives, however, neither explains the situation until Dorinda takes offence at not being introduced to his other “friends” in suits. It turns out Joaquin might be a count, but his family has no money, and he is just like Dorinda; dancing because it is his life, not just a hobby, like Dorinda said it was. Golan Yosef was cast as Joaquin. Yosef is a dancer and singer, having released various songs through music platforms in recent years.

Angel is a guitarist and busker, who Galleria is immediately attracted to. He starts singing at the café about discovering Barcelona and she is hooked. He then follows the girls around Barcelona as they sightsee – but not in a stalker way, because after this scene, he mostly vanishes, only popping up again to perform at the Dancing Cat on Open Mic Night after Marisol. He isn’t seen again until he sees the girls handing back the money they received for performing at the Dancing Cat, and going to investigate. It turns out he is the music festival director’s nephew, and his information about Lola’s scheme allows the Cheetah Girls to be able to perform. He even plays the guitar as their accompanist during their final performance. But there is no big emotional scene between him and Galleria. It was a bit of a random love interest to tease, because nothing much happens between them.

Angel was played by Spanish actor Peter Vives. After The Cheetah Girls 2, Vives went on to play Marcus Logan in Spanish period drama El tiempo entre costuras (2013-14), and then Carlos Ǻlvarez in Spanish drama Velvet (2014-16).

Juanita Simmons is Chanel’s mother. She did appear in the first film, being obsessed by her new rich boyfriend Luc, ditching Chanel and constantly leaving her home alone so her boyfriend can whisk her off on fancy dates. Now her and Chanel have been invited to spend the summer with Luc at his huge Spanish villa in Barcelona, where Juanita is absolutely convinced that Luc is going to propose to her, being seemingly unable to talk about anything else or think about anything else, even the Cheetah Girls performing at the music festival. As their time in Spain seems to be coming to a close, Juanita is very irritated that there has still not been a proposal, prompting Chanel to tell Luc that she wants her mother to be happy with him, so Luc does eventually propose. After that, Juanita is happy and starts to take more of an interest in her daughter’s life again. But who knows what happened to her disappearing son and Chanel’s brother? He’s just not in this film. He must’ve chosen to stay with his father, to get away from all this drama and wedding chat…

Anyway, Lori Alter returned to play Juanita in The Cheetah Girls 2, after playing the character in The Cheetah Girls. Prior to her role in The Cheetah Girls franchise, Alter was cast as Renata D’Allesandro in the Canadian show Power Play (1998-2000), later going on to be cast as Anna Sophie Antonia Garces-Keller in the Canadian-French sitcom Family Biz (2009) and as Lisa Dewitt in the series She’s the Mayor (2011).

Finally, we have Luc, Juanita’s boyfriend. Luc was French in the first film. This wasn’t even assumed by the audience after hearing he lived in Paris, but was actually said specifically by both Chanel and Juanita. It would appear Juanita was too overjoyed at having a rich boyfriend that she had no interest in finding out his nationality because in this film, Luc is Spanish and was just living in Paris. Easy mistake to make with the love of your life, right? Luc clearly does have a lot of money, from working in “business”, whatever that means. Luc seems very nice and is friendly to Chanel and the other Cheetah Girls, happily opening his home up to them, finding them a tour guide in Joaquin, and just generally being there for them during the run-up to performing at the music festival. He seems much more interested in the show than Chanel’s mother does anyway! Chanel eventually warms to Luc during her time in Spain and accepts that it was wrong of her to be so rude to him. After apologising and telling Luc that she wants him to be part of their family, Luc proposes to Juanita, making him Chanel’s new stepfather. He is even considerate of Chanel’s feelings, saying he will move to New York instead of making Chanel move to Barcelona. And yet Chanel’s mother was trying to move her to Paris without telling her in the first film. Wow. So, Luc was never the villain. Who knew? Everyone but Chanel apparently.

Spanish actor Abel Folk was cast as Luc. Prior to his casting in The Cheetah Girls 2, Folk was cast as Berni in the Spanish drama series Laura (1998-99). After this film, Folk was cast as Jordi Vergés / Gabriel Vergés in the Catalan series Ventdelplà (2005-2010) from 2008 to 2010. Recently, Folk was cast as Octavio Oramas in La encrucijada (2025-26).

MUSIC

After only recording a total of four songs for The Cheetah Girls movie in 2003, I’m sure the girls were much happier to find that their song numbers had more than doubled in this sequel, with a mixture of new genres used too, such as Latin pop and R&B.

The Cheetah Girls 2 begins with a high-energy performance of “The Party’s Just Begun”. The first film began with a low-key performance at a children’s birthday party, but this sequel has the girls stepping it up by performing with proper costumes, on a real stage, and in front of an actual audience, albeit an audience of high school students, but it’s still moving forward! Although this song is an iconic Cheetah Girls song, I have never liked it. “The Party’s Just Begun” was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.

Following on from that, the girls then sing the song “Strut” as they sing and dance around Barcelona, with Angel the guitarist, using the sights of Barcelona as their stage. Adrienne Bailon said that for “Strut”, she was wearing ballerina flats, but due to her small feet, the shoes didn’t fit her properly and the shoes kept flying off whilst she was trying to dance. In the end, the crew had to use clear packing tape, wrapping it around her shoes to keep them on her feet[1]! “Strut” is also used in the End Credits. It was written by Jamie Houston. Again, this song is much loved by Cheetah Girls fans, but not by me. Disney Channel used it way too much when promoting the sequel that I ended up hating it, and yet, I still don’t think it is the worst song in The Cheetah Girls 2!

“Dance with Me” is the song that is used for the dance sequence of Joaquin teaching Dorinda how to dance tango. Sabrina Bryan said she was very excited for this sequence, with it all being filmed in one demanding day for the cast and crew[2]. This song was not performed by any of the Cheetah Girls or any character in this scene. It was instead performed by Drew Seeley, featuring Belinda, who played Marisol. Drew Seeley is well-known amongst Disney Channel fans for singing the vocals for Troy Bolton in High School Musical. “Dance with Me” was written by Ray Cham and Charlene Licera. This is one of the songs that I dislike more than “Strut”. I just don’t like it, or the scene as a whole.

So, after a disappointing start to the music for me, it’s not until we hear Marisol sing her song “Why Wait” at the Dancing Cat club that I actually begin to enjoy the songs in this film. Marisol comes out and performs her heart out here, to a crowd that adores her. It’s a great song and a great performance. “Why Wait” was performed by Belinda as Marisol, and was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.

Shortly after that, Angel goes up on stage at the Dancing Cat and begins playing a Spanish lullaby on his guitar. Chanel instantly recognises the song as something her mother used to sing to her when she was younger, and sings along to the guitar. She is soon joined by Marisol and the two sing the rest of “A La Nanita Nana” as a duet, which the audience love. The other three girls join in by singing some backup vocals, but really this song is for Marisol and Chanel. “A La Nanita Nana” was predominantly sung by Adrienne Bailon and Belinda. It was adapted and arranged by David Lawrence, from the traditional Spanish carol song composed by José Ramón Gomis, with lyrics from Juan Francisco Muñoz y Pabón.

A little while later, the song “Do Your Own Thing” plays during a montage of what the Cheetah Girls are doing individually when they are meant to be rehearsing. Galleria is continuing to write the song she thinks the girls should perform at the competition; Chanel is busy at a get-together with Luc’s family; Dorinda is teaching a hip-hop class at Joaquin’s dance studio; and Aqua is with Dorothea, sketching designs at Aramet’s studio. Even though this song is not accompanied by a big song-and-dance performance, I actually quite like it. “Do Your Own Thing” was in fact a solo song performed by Raven-Symoné, and was written by Raven, Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.

As the story progresses, Galleria starts to feel ignored by the group, who are neglecting Galleria’s rehearsal schedule. Galleria makes the tough decision to head home; to stop pressuring the girls in case it causes their friendship to be damaged forever. This leads to the song “It’s Over” being performed by the Cheetah Girls. It’s a touch melodramatic, but it matches the emotion of the scene. And when you’re a teenager, your friend leaving your holiday early is probably something to make you overthink and question all your life choices! “It’s Over” was written by David Lawrence and Faye Greenberg.

The sadness of “It’s Over” is soon replaced by happy times, as Galleria is convinced by Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda that she should stay in Barcelona because they’ve decided to commit to rehearsing for the competition properly. This leads to them performing “Step Up”, first as a rehearsal in Joaquin’s dance studio, before moving over to the Dancing Cat club to finally perform like they meant to do on that first Open Mic Night they attended. I love “Step Up”; it’s my favourite song in the film. It was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.

The Cheetah Girls 2, in most versions of the film, ends with the girls performing at the New Voices competition, where they sing the song that Galleria had been writing throughout their time in Barcelona. This song is “Amigas Cheetahs”, which has yet another moment of theatrics, with an intense opening from Galleria and Chanel, but it’s not long before they go back to their pop best with another lively performance, complete with extravagant costumes, extra dancers, and even a surprise guest or two in the form of Angel and Marisol. The film ends with the Cheetah Girls continuing to sing this song as they leave the stage, with the audience following. “Amigas Cheetahs” was written by Jamie Houston and Will Robinson.

However, if you had The Cheetah Girls 2 on DVD with its extended edition, after the main film ended, you could then see the extended ending, which saw the Cheetah Girls attend the wedding of Luc and Chanel’s mother in Spain, accompanied by the song “Cherish the Moment”. It was performed by the Cheetah Girls, and was written by Jamie Houston and Greg Curtis. Having seen this ending and heard this song now, I can safely say Disney Channel made the right decision to cut this ending from the final version of the film.

Also within The Cheetah Girls 2, the girls sing their song “Cheetah Sisters” from the first film, written by Jamie Houston, as part of their audition process. They sing it a cappella on two occasions: once over the phone, and then again in a theatre in Barcelona when they meet the Barcelona Music Festival director. However, on the soundtrack, the version of this song that appears on the tracklist is “Cheetah Sisters (Barcelona Mix)”. I prefer them singing this song a cappella, to be honest!

The soundtrack also features two more songs performed solely by Raven-Symoné, which did not appear in The Cheetah Girls 2. These songs were “Everyone’s a Star” and “It’s Gonna Be Alright”, both written by Matthew Gerrard, Robbie Nevil, and Raven-Symoné.

The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack was released on 15^th August 2006, ten days before its official television premiere. The soundtrack ended up peaking at No. 5 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and spent nine weeks at No. 1 on their Top Soundtracks Album. The singles “Strut” and “The Party’s Just Begun” even reached Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, peaking at No. 53 and No. 85 respectively. The success of The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack was on par with the likes of Lemonade Mouth (2011) and Teen Beach Movie (2013), which had peaked at No. 4 and No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, but was further behind the soundtracks from Descendants (2015), High School Musical (2006), and High School Musical 2 (2007), which had all reached No. 1 in that chart[3]. The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack was later certified platinum after selling a reported 1.4 million copies in the US. Outside of the US, The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack’s best performance was in the UK, where it peaked at No. 3 in the UK Soundtrack Albums.

David Lawrence was the composer for The Cheetah Girls 2, replacing John van Tongeren who had worked on the music for the first film. Also for Disney Channel, Lawrence was the composer on various other musicals, including the High School Musical trilogy, StarStruck (2010), Teen Beach Movie (2013) and Teen Beach 2 (2015), and the first three Descendants films.

PRODUCTION

Disney Channel love to have the opportunity to make a sequel, but in the early 2000s, they actually hadn’t had all that much experience of making them, especially not musicals.

The Cheetah Girls 2 was the first musical sequel for the channel, and in some ways could be considered to be the blueprint that every successful Disney Channel musical franchise later followed, including High School Musical, because, as every filmmaker will state, it’s not always easy to make a sequel that is as loved as its predecessor.

One way to make a DCOM a success is to attach Kenny Ortega to it. Kenny Ortega has had a long history working with Disney and Disney Channel, although by 2006, he had only just directed the first High School Musical film. Still, the acclaim that that film got from Disney Channel fans just proved that getting Kenny Ortega to direct any Disney Channel musical would guarantee a success. And they were right, because The Cheetah Girls 2 was most definitely a hit. Prior to working on Disney Channel, Ortega had been the choreographer on many musical movies including Xanadu (1982) and Dirty Dancing (1987) before directing and choreographing the Halloween film Hocus Pocus (1993) and the musical adaptation Newsies (1992) for Disney. After The Cheetah Girls 2, Ortega returned to direct the second and third films within the High School Musical trilogy, and then created the Best of Both Worlds Tour, starring Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana, which ran from October 2007 until 2008. Ortega was then set to choreograph and direct Michael Jackson’s This Is It tour in 2009, which was cancelled after Jackson’s death. Footage from the rehearsals was later released as the documentary film Michael Jackson’s This Is It (2009). Later, Ortega returned to Disney Channel to direct the first three films in the Descendants franchise, and recently worked on the Netflix musical series Julie and the Phantoms (2020).

Although The Cheetah Girls 2 was obviously still based on characters created by Deborah Gregory for her The Cheetah Girls book series, this sequel was an original story, as none of Gregory’s books see the Cheetah Girls head to Barcelona to take part in a music competition. The Cheetah Girls 2 was written by Alison Taylor, who had previously written the first instalment of the film franchise, and Bethesda Brown. Whitney Houston and Debra Martin Chase were also producers on this sequel as they were on the first film.

By April 2006, it was confirmed that filming was under way for The Cheetah Girls 2, with it also being confirmed that the four girls Raven-Symoné, Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Sabrina Bryan would all be returning to reprise their roles and that Kenny Ortega of High School Musical fame was on board to be the choreographer and director. It would seem that as filming was taking place in Spring 2006 that they needed a quick turnaround in order to ensure the film was ready to debut in August 2006[4].

But before filming could take place, the girls had to record their music, which they loved doing for this sequel, as they felt that the songs had been stepped up a gear with lots of energy in the music. They then had to do three weeks of intense dance rehearsals, with the choreographing also being intensified for this movie thanks to Kenny Ortega and Charles Klapow’s high standards for this film. Klapow was also a choreographer on the High School Musical films. After this was completed, the cast and crew were ready to go to Barcelona[5].

Even though portions of The Cheetah Girls 2 were set in New York City, prior to the girls flying off to Barcelona, the entirety of the film was actually filmed in Barcelona, with Galleria’s apartment apparently needing to be completely redesigned to make it look like a typical New York apartment and not a European one. Other sets, like the Dancing Cat club, the high school graduation party, and the staging for the New Voices competition were also designed and created, thanks to production designer Mark Hofeling who, like Kenny Ortega, has much experience working on Disney Channel movies, having worked on the likes of musical franchises like High School Musical, Descendants, and ZOMBIES, as well as non-musical films like Den Brother (2010) and Read It and Weep (2006)[6].

But there were plenty of opportunities to film within the beautiful city of Barcelona itself. The “Strut” sequence was one to really showcase the sights of the city, going all over the place, with moments in Park Güell; the Plaça de les Cascades near the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya; Park Montjuïc; Passeig del Born; and Palace Dalmases, becoming the café where the Cheetah Girls meet guitarist Angel at the beginning of the song.

Away from “Strut”, there are still various other locations that the cast and crew visited for their shoot. One is Plaça del Rei, which was used for the location of the New Voices contest stage. The Chapel of Santa Àgata was used as the dressing room for the contest. The Estació de França train station was the train station that Galleria walks through as she tries to find her train to Paris, and the Palau de la Música Catalana appears to have been used as the theatre that the girls audition in to confirm their spot in the contest in front of the festival director. The beach party that the girls attend, thanks to an invite from Joaquin, was filmed at Platja del Garraf and the exterior of the Teatre Coliseum was used as the exterior of Joaquin’s dance studio. Finally, Luc’s villa seems to have been the events space Finca Mas Solers, situated about an hour outside of the city centre[7].

It would seem that with all this excitement around the music, the dances, and the amazing locations that everything was rosy on the set of The Cheetah Girls 2. Those in the know are aware that was not the case at all.

Despite appearing harmonious and stating how close the four girls were as a group whilst filming the first Cheetah Girls movie, something had changed by the time The Cheetah Girls 2 started production. There was no longer a bond between the girls that had existed in Toronto, and there was now a huge divide between Raven-Symoné and the other three girls. It is unclear exactly what or who caused all this drama and friction, but some have stated that it may’ve been the case that, as Raven was having huge success away from The Cheetah Girls and had been acting since she was very young, the other three girls may have felt jealous of her fame. Although I can’t comment on what was said and what wasn’t said because this has never been stated in public – quite rightly too – all I can say is that this divide doesn’t surprise me. Not because I think Williams, Bryan, or Bailon are nasty and mean, but because those three were close due to their involvement in the Cheetah Girls as a musical group. They were on their own journey and Raven was on hers, so naturally, when the two sides came together, I wouldn’t have expected them to get along, at least not in the way they had when the first film was being made. But like I said, there are rumours that this was not just a case of one person drifting away from the others, and was deeper than that, so it seems there is more to the story that we won’t ever know specifics about.

What we do know is that Raven-Symoné was so affected by her experience on The Cheetah Girls 2 that she refused to make the third film[8]. Perhaps Disney Channel should’ve reconsidered their decision to make a third Cheetah Girls film without arguably their biggest star, but they did not, and pushed ahead with making The Cheetah Girls 3 without Raven.

RECEPTION

The Cheetah Girls 2 premiered on the Disney Channel in the US on 25^th August 2006.

There does not seem to have been a red carpet premiere prior to the film’s release, however, Disney Channel did screen a premiere party for The Cheetah Girls 2, with segments from this party playing before, during, and after the showing of the film. It was hosted by Miley Cyrus and Corbin Bleu, who were both rising stars for the channel in 2006 for their work on Hannah Montana (2006-11) and High School Musical respectively. Plenty of other Disney Channel stars attended the premiere party too, including those from High School Musical, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-08), Hannah Montana, and That’s So Raven (2003-07). The Cheetah Girls were obviously there too, although director Kenny Ortega was only available for a quick video as he was away working on a project in Australia. It would seem that the party was also open to a select few kids too, who could play various games, dance, and snack during the premiere party.

The Cheetah Girls 2 was promoted on the Disney Channel as being part of their So Hot Summer! event, which had also been an event in 2005. In 2006, other programming involved in So Hot Summer! were new episodes of favourite series like That’s So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, the new Disney Channel Original Movie Read It and Weep, which premiered in July 2006, and the first season of the Disney Channel Games.

It would seem that in the UK, The Cheetah Girls 2 came to screens a month later in September 2006, with it reaching many other international Disney Channels in Europe and South America by the end of 2006, and other ones a bit further afield by early 2007.

On its US premiere, it was said that The Cheetah Girls 2 drew an average of 7.8 million viewers, making it the most-watched DCOM debut in their history, tied with Cadet Kelly (2002), being particular well-received in the Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 demographics[9]. The Cheetah Girls 2 even beat out High School Musical, which premiered in January 2006, with around 7.7 million viewers, however, it did become much more successful later. The Cheetah Girls 2 was the most-watched DCOM of 2006 and remains tied at No. 8 with Cadet Kelly in the Top 10 Most-Watched DCOMs list. This Top 10 is likely to remain now, given how live TV viewing habits have changed in recent years.

The Cheetah Girls 2 is generally considered to be bigger and better than its predecessor, with many stating this is their favourite film within the franchise. It encouraged many young people to experience Barcelona, although there is no official data to back this up. This is quite ironic actually, since Barcelonians now are not big fans of international tourists swarming their city… It was also appreciated by many that Kenny Ortega was involved, after his huge success with High School Musical, feeling that this stepped the franchise up a level. Many liked the new music in this sequel, and again, Raven-Symoné was highlighted for her acting performance.

However, on the other hand, there were some negative comments, particularly from those outside of its target demographic. Some felt the story was predictable, and that it was just an excuse for Disney Channel to send its stars to Spain. I mean, they could’ve based this story anywhere, but Spain did enhance the overall look of the film and that was a major reason why The Cheetah Girls 2 was so loved, so I’d say it paid off for Disney Channel. Others were annoyed at the continuity issues, which must’ve actually been a critique from fans, otherwise these wouldn’t have been picked up. These included Chanel’s missing brother, whose absence was unexplained, but maybe the writers just forgot about him since he was barely mentioned in the first film, and Luc’s changing nationality, from French in the first film, to Spanish here. I don’t know how this was missed. Chanel acts like it’s Galleria getting confused in the sequel, but she clearly didn’t remember that both Chanel and her mother said Luc was French in the first film. It was also said that Disney Channel were too heavy-handed in their promotion of The Cheetah Girls 2. I second this statement. It really did feel like too much, to the point it made me not want to watch the film for a couple of years.

In terms of awards, Kenny Ortega was nominated in the category of Best Director – Film at the Imagen Foundation Awards, and Carli Barber was nominated for Best Sound Editing in Music for Television – Long Form at the Motion Picture Sound Editors Awards, for her role as the music editor on The Cheetah Girls 2. Neither won here. There was not even a nomination for Kenny Ortega at the Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs. I wondered if this was because The Cheetah Girls 2 was a sequel, but other Disney Channel sequels were later nominated here. Ortega did win this award anyway in 2006 though, for High School Musical.

LEGACY

Shortly after the premiere of The Cheetah Girls 2, in order to further promote the movie and its soundtrack, the group went on tour across the US, Canada, and one night in Puerto Rico.

The tour, which was the second tour for the Cheetah Girls, titled The Party’s Just Begun Tour, started on 15^th September 2006 in Seattle, and ended on 4^th March 2007 in Houston, having been extended on a couple of occasions with more dates and cities added. The Cheetah Girls setlist consisted mostly of songs from the films The Cheetah Girls and The Cheetah Girls 2, although there were some songs that the Cheetah Girls had recorded outside of the films added in to the performance as well. The group had a variety of opening acts throughout their tour, including Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana, Vanessa Hudgens, the band Everlife, and Jordan Pruitt.

There was even a live album recorded using their performances from their tour dates in Anaheim and San Diego in January 2007. This album was named The Cheetah Girls In Concert: The Party’s Just Begun Tour, and was released on 10^th July 2007, with additional DVD content showing highlights from the concert and behind-the-scenes footage.

Later that same year, the Cheetah Girls released their second studio album, entitled TCG, short for The Cheetah Girls, on 25^th September 2007. TCG peaked at No. 44 on the US Billboard 200 chart. Two of their more well-known songs from this album were “Fuego” and “So Bring It On”, with the latter being included in the DCOM sequel Twitches Too (2007).

As per the agreement made prior to the Cheetah Girls’ first album in 2005, Raven-Symoné was not included in recording this soundtrack, nor was she involved in The Party’s Just Begun Tour. These two projects were focused on the Cheetah Girls as a real singing group. Raven had elected to concentrate on her solo music career, declining to join the girls.

Following the release of The Cheetah Girls 2, there was also some merchandise items made available for fans to purchase. Two of these were video games. The Gameboy Advance game, released in 2006, simply called The Cheetah Girls, has gamers follow a storyline where the girls are trying to compete in the New Voices Competition in Barcelona, as per the story of the sequel film. This was followed up with a 2007 Nintendo DS game entitled The Cheetah Girls: Pop Star Sensations. This does not appear to have a storyline involving the events in Barcelona, but does feature songs from this second film. Outside of that, a novelisation of The Cheetah Girls 2 was made available, as was an exclusive clothing line launched by Sears department stores in the US.

Other items of merchandise included board and card games, calendars, and various accessories, along with a line of dolls called The Cheetah Girls: In Concert Collection, which featured a doll resembling each Cheetah Girl which would sing a song from the franchise. Even with the 20^th anniversary of The Cheetah Girls 2 in 2026, some merchandise featuring The Cheetah Girls is still around, with the Disney Store currently having Cheetah Girls-emblazoned T-shirts and sweatshirts on sale, at least in the US and the UK.

With all these fans and all this popularity, it was kind of obvious that Disney Channel would want to push the franchise further, by making a third film. This film was released under the title The Cheetah Girls: One World in August 2008, however, it would be missing one key member of the cast, something some fans have never forgiven or forgotten.

At the Disney Parks, specifically at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, from 2010 to 2013, there was a short stage show performed called Disney Channel Rocks. Disney Channel Rocks showcased music from many Disney Channel musicals including the Camp Rock films, StarStruck (2010), Jump In! (2007), the High School Musical trilogy and of course The Cheetah Girls franchise. From The Cheetah Girls 2, “The Party’s Just Begun” was performed as part of the opening. This show was later retooled and performed at the Disneyland After Dark: Disney Channel Nite events in both 2024 and 2026, however, “The Party’s Just Begun” from The Cheetah Girls 2 was dropped. Also at the Disneyland After Dark: Disney Channel Nite events in April 2026, there was a photo op with a backdrop for The Cheetah Girls 2 that guests could use. The backdrop featured a postcard of Barcelona.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Cheetah Girls 2 and 2006 seemed to be the peak for The Cheetah Girls franchise.

Fans had liked the bigger budget, the increased production value, the levelling up of the story, and the superior music that they saw in the sequel. This was perfect timing for Disney Channel as they were also gearing up to make the most out of High School Musical, which turned out to be another successful movie for them in 2006.

All good things must come to an end eventually, but I don’t think anybody expected The Cheetah Girls to decline in quite the way they did. Their third movie, although not a flop by any means, was not what some of the fans felt they had been promised. It was a seismic shift from what we’d all been expecting and it turned out to be too much change for some.

But at least we’ll always have 2006 and The Cheetah Girls 2, when everything seemed right and happy in Cheetah Land. At least, that’s what we can pretend it was like.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney+, ‘Adrienne Bailon is here to answer our questions. All The Cheetah Girls #DisneyPlusThrowback movies are streaming on Disney+, Facebook.com, 15^th August 2025.

[2] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘DCOM Extras – The Cheetah Girls 2 #2’, DisneyChannelRules YouTube Channel, 25^th December 2006.

[3] Credit: Paul Grein, ‘TV Soundtracks With The Most Weeks At No. 1 On The Top Soundtracks Chart’, Billboard.com, 24^th April 2024.

[4] Credit: United Press International, ‘Work on ‘The Cheetah Girls 2’ begins’, Archive.Triblive.com, 11^th April 2006.

[5] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘DCOM Extras – The Cheetah Girls 2 #1’, DisneyChannelRules YouTube Channel, 25^th December 2006.

[6] Credit: Mark Hofeling, ‘The Cheetah Girls 2’, MarkHofeling.com, no date.

[7] Credit: Stephanie Safdie, ‘The Cheetah Girls 2: All Barcelona Filming Locations’, DestinationDreamerDiaries.com, 23^rd May 2026.

[8] Credit: Ashley Spencer, Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Empire (2024), ‘That’s So Raven-Symoné’, pp. 85-110.

[9] Credit: Denise Martin, ‘Good run for ‘Cheetah’’, Variety.com, 28^th August 2006.

14th August 202630th October 2026 by The Disney Purist

The Cheetah Girls (2003)

BACKGROUND

Although High School Musical was the first musical franchise for Disney Channel to become a major success and has since sucked up a lot of the attention given to Disney Channel Original Movies, it should be remembered that The Cheetah Girls was actually the first-ever DCOM musical, premiering three years earlier than High School Musical.

That’s not the only thing that makes The Cheetah Girls stand out. What is unique about The Cheetah Girls is that, for once, Disney Channel had chosen to make a movie that put diverse characters at the forefront of their story, a four-piece girl group, made up of teenagers growing up in New York City with different backgrounds and experiences. It is no secret that Disney Channel had – and still does to some extent – trouble leaning into diversity, especially in its earlier days, but by 2003, it felt like that might be changing.

2003 not only saw the premiere of The Cheetah Girls, but also the premiere of a new series, That’s So Raven (2003-07), both of which starred the same actress, Raven-Symoné, who has since become synonymous with the heyday of Disney Channel. Raven’s star was on the rise, and with the help of these two projects, she was rocketing to mainstream fame.

However, The Cheetah Girls, although quite well-known today especially with the millennials, the demographic watching The Cheetah Girls at the time of its release, does not appear to have instantly spanned a huge franchise. Sure, the DCOM got pretty good viewing figures for its premiere, but it did not achieve worldwide fame until a couple of years later, for whatever reason, not releasing any further music as a group until 2005. This was when the girl group began to really shine, putting on concerts, releasing new albums, making appearances at the Disney Parks, as well as making further movies.

From that point on, it would seem that The Cheetah Girls was definitely rivalling the fame achieved by High School Musical, and these two properties were Disney Channel’s hottest tickets in the mid-2000s, with the channel wanting to push them as far as possible.

Personally, I don’t believe I watched The Cheetah Girls when it premiered, not that I even know when it premiered on Disney Channel in the UK because international channels did not receive new DCOM premieres at the same time as the US in the 2000s. Sometimes we waited months, even years, for them. I think I saw it before the sequel came out in 2006. I know I liked it, but it wasn’t my favourite DCOM musical, even when there weren’t many.

PLOT

The Cheetah Girls begins with four teenage girls from New York City performing as their singing group the Cheetah Girls at a birthday party. Everything seems to be going well with their performance, until one of the members, Aqua, gets her high-heeled boot caught in the wooden slates on the stage they are performing. As two of the other girls, Dorinda and Chanel, attempt to help her, all three end up toppling to the ground, just as Galleria ends the song on a high, not even noticing the chaos behind her. All the kids at the party laugh.

After the show, Chanel points out to the girls that this incident might be a sign they shouldn’t audition for their school’s talent show. Galleria refuses to believe that though, wanting the Cheetah Girls to be the first Freshmen in their school’s history to win the competition. Dorinda then runs off somewhere, having to go and do something, whilst Aqua heads home as well, desperately trying to get a taxi and failing miserably because she refuses to get the subway. Chanel ends up getting a taxi for her. Chanel and Galleria discuss the group together as they walk home, glad they took the advice of their teacher Drinka to add two girls to the duo Chanel and Galleria had formed. They start discussing the possibility of the Cheetah Girls being famous.

On their walk, they pass a shop front where a new singer is being promoted due to her working with famed record producer Jackal Johnson. Galleria and Chanel think that will be them soon and start to dance in front of the store randomly, drawing an impressed crowd. However, Galleria sees a dog in the crowd and remembers she has to get home right now!

At home, Galleria arrives to find her mother annoyed because Galleria was not there to take her dog Toto out for a walk, so she had to do it. Her mother has also realised that Galleria must’ve missed a message from an important client, asking to change her appointment time; her mother is a fashion designer. Her father then comes in asking if Galleria got the capers he needed for dinner; she did not. They tell Galleria that, although they understand how important her singing is to her, she needs to start focusing on reality.

Meanwhile, for some of the other girls, we see that Dorinda is cleaning the hall at a dance centre, and Chanel is struggling to deal with the fact her mother has a new, rich French boyfriend, and is now too busy with him to spend time with her daughter. Galleria later calls Chanel, asking her to listen to a new song she’s writing for the group.

At school the next day, Galleria is shocked to hear that Chanel is failing some classes and orders a group study session to ensure they all keep their grades up. Two boys from school then approach the girls at lunch and ask Galleria if they can swap talent show audition times. Galleria doesn’t want to, but Chanel says it’s fine, and eventually all four agree to it. Derek, one of the boys, thanks Galleria, and starts flirting with her. Galleria says it’s all just a trick and a ploy to have their group not be successful. The boys then trip and fall in the cafeteria, having food spilt all over them. The girls tease Galleria about Derek.

Later, it is time for the Cheetah Girls’ talent show audition, and they smash it. Drinka, the teacher running the talent show and a former disco diva, is very impressed with them and instantly gives them a spot in the show. Suddenly, from the back of the auditorium, a man approaches them. This is Jackal Johnson, the record producer and a former student at the girls’ high school, Manhattan Magnet. Jackal was also impressed with them and wants to make them the next big thing in music. Galleria instantly pushes in front of the others, introducing herself to Jackal as the writer and founder of the Cheetah Girls, which isn’t strictly true. However, Galleria and Chanel’s mothers, who were in the audience for the girls’ audition, interrupt, stating their concerns, telling the girls to leave right now. Jackal manages to give Galleria his card before she leaves, telling her to give him a call.

Back at home, Galleria argues with her mother about not being allowed to talk to Jackal. Galleria’s mother is simply concerned that Jackal’s deal won’t be all it’s cracked up to be, wanting Galleria and the others to wait until after college to pursue their singing dreams. In the end, Galleria’s father manages to convince Galleria’s mother to let Galleria call Jackal. But it comes with some caveats: that Galleria’s mother attends the meeting with the girls and that if she sees that something is not right, then they will immediately leave. Galleria agrees. Meanwhile, Chanel is also annoyed with her mother, who ignores Chanel’s complaints about the Jackal meeting, instead floating the idea of them moving to Paris so Chanel’s mother can move in with her new boyfriend. Chanel vents to Galleria on the phone later.

Back at school, Galleria tells the other Cheetah Girls that she has lined up a meeting with Jackal, and now the whole school knows about it, even the school newspaper now wants to interview them. But, to match their new status as superstars-in-waiting, Galleria picks up Dorinda on her “poor” fashion sense and Aqua on her “nasty” table manners, telling them to get it together before they meet Jackal. Dorinda has more to worry about than clothes though, as she is still working at the dance centre to get free dance lessons in return. One evening, she discovers the centre is going to be closed soon. She talks to the receptionist who tells Dorinda if she helps with the auditions for a music tour taking place at the centre on the day it’s closed, then she can have two free weeks of lessons.

Soon, it is time for the Cheetah Girls to have their important meeting with Jackal. Everyone is there on time – except for Galleria and her mother who are stuck in traffic. Jackal greets the other three and gives them a tour of the studio. Galleria’s mother tells Galleria they can’t be late for this meeting, so forces her to walk the rest of the way in her heels. Galleria accidentally steps in dog poop on the way though, and does not notice until she arrives at the meeting, and everyone else starts to smell something, realising it’s coming from Galleria’s shoe! Horrified, Chanel ushers Galleria into the bathroom, where Chanel kindly cleans Galleria’s boot for her. Galleria is annoyed at herself for making such a bad impression, and says the two of them need to get back in there and get it together. She gives Chanel a cursory thanks for her help and goes back to Jackal.

Jackal welcomes Galleria back and she wants to talk business. Jackal says the deal is done, because Aqua gave him a tiny bottle of hot sauce she carries around with her – something Galleria told her not to do because it makes them seem unprofessional. Jackal hands out a contract, which Galleria’s mother snatches away and starts revising, wanting a lawyer to look at it properly. Jackal lets her get on with it, whilst telling the girls his plan, which is to record a demo; sell it to the record label; and then get instant fame and fortune for the group. They can get the demo done in less than a week if they’re quick about it. Galleria’s mother thinks that all sounds a bit too good to be true but Jackal tells her to calm down. They just need a clean take and they can do that on Saturday. Except the girls remember that is the day of the talent show. Galleria says they’ll do the demo instead. Outside, Galleria’s mother says they won’t be singing anything for Jackal until she’s had a lawyer go through the contract properly, but Galleria just sashays away.

This success only adds to Galleria’s diva attitude, passing out photographs of the group at school and refusing to do a proper interview with the school paper. At lunchtime, plenty of the other students want to hear all about their meeting with Jackal. However, Galleria is such a name-dropper and acting so pretentious that by the end of lunch, Galleria is mostly talking to herself and has managed to annoy even Dorinda and Aqua. They talk to Chanel after lunch and show her a poster on the school walls, pointing people to a hate site for the group. Chanel tries to stand up for Galleria, but Aqua tells Chanel she needs to talk to Galleria about all this. Chanel says she will, but not until the time is right.

At rehearsals for the talent show, Drinka is told by Galleria that the Cheetah Girls want to rehearse their new song first, before telling her the Cheetah Girls probably won’t be performing at the talent show because it clashes with recording the demo for Jackal. Galleria says they basically won the talent show already, and insults Drinka by saying Drinka knows what it’s like to lose an opportunity and not have it come along again. Drinka has the next act go on stage instead. Dorinda asks if they are rehearsing or not today, as she has somewhere else to be. Galleria says she might as well go since they are working on music and Dorinda is mostly a dancer. She also hands Dorinda some clippings of potential outfits to wear for the next time they see Jackal, saying they aren’t optional. Dorinda is rightly offended. She then heads to the dance centre to help out with those dance auditions, where she impresses, being offered a place on the tour with the group Gold Medal Crew.

Chanel returns home later and sees a note from her mother, saying that she has been whisked away by her boyfriend – again – so she’ll not be able to do their planned shopping trip. Her mother has left her credit card though so Chanel can buy them both something nice. Chanel then hears a voicemail message from an estate agent, talking about putting the apartment up for sale. Chanel angrily tells the estate agent they won’t be selling, before grabbing the credit card and maxing it out buying various outfits.

As Chanel finishes up, she sees that she is by Dorinda’s apartment block and speaks to the doorman, who sends Chanel round the corner into an alley to find her. Chanel finds herself at the block’s Superintendent’s flat, and knocks on the door. A woman comes to the door. Chanel asks for Dorinda, but believes she’s got the wrong address. The woman tells Chanel Dorinda is here and calls for her to come to the door. Dorinda comes to the door, embarrassed. A commotion erupts inside, sending the woman, Mrs. Bosco, back inside to see what’s going on. A little girl asks Dorinda if she wants to see someone get in trouble. She tells the girl to go on without her. Dorinda goes outside with Chanel to explain, but Chanel tells Dorinda not to be embarrassed, believing that Dorinda’s big secret is that she is half-Black, since Mrs. Bosco is Black and Chanel thinks that is Dorinda’s mother. Dorinda says Mrs. Bosco isn’t a mother and that she is in fact a foster child, having never met her birth parents. She doesn’t have money like the other three girls and life is sometimes hard for her, but she has pretended to be rich to fit in with them. Chanel feels terrible for not realising and tells Dorinda to be proud of who she is. She gives Dorinda an animal print jacket she just bought, to wear to the next meeting with Jackal, to keep Galleria off her back. Dorinda says she was offered a spot on a dance tour and doesn’t know whether to take it, as she won’t be able to be a part of the Cheetah Girls if she does.

That night, Chanel and Galleria have a sleepover. Galleria’s mother says they can go to the rehearsal with Jackal on Saturday alone. This leads Galleria to excitedly show Chanel a CD of the Cheetah Girls’ music, but Chanel instantly sees that Galleria has made her picture on the cover of the CD bigger than the other three. Galleria says it’s not a big deal, but Chanel is furious; the group isn’t all about her. Galleria says they just need to get the demo recorded and then it’ll be fine. Chanel lets slip about Dorinda being in foster care, which just makes Galleria think they’ll need to get the deal with Jackal even more now, but Chanel reminds Galleria that it’s not all about money; they all need friends, not fame.

At the rehearsal with Jackal, Jackal arrives with marketing executives, telling the girls they have some ideas on how to make their group hit the big time. But it is essentially a total rebrand of the Cheetah Girls, morphing them into a new group of four called Global Getdown, where each girl will wear a mask of a different animal. Galleria remains a cheetah, but Dorinda becomes a panda, Aqua is a seal, and Chanel is a snow leopard. Galleria says they won’t be able to sing in masks, but Jackal says that won’t be a problem as they’ll just be lip syncing. Galleria tells the girls to get up and perform one of their new songs for Jackal. Although he likes the song, he says they’ve already got a demo for them, playing a pop song called “All Around the World” to the room. Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda slowly start to sing along with it, but Galleria is horrified and tells them all to stop. The record label wants Global Getdown so it’s that or nothing. Galleria says it’ll have to be nothing then, and orders the girls to leave with her – but they won’t. The other three talk to Galleria in private and say they should at least think about it or try it out, but Galleria can’t be convinced and says they’ll have to go on with Jackal’s deal without her then. Jackal returns to the room and says they can replace her easily, putting Chanel up front instead. Chanel is flattered, but the three agree they all need to think about it first before agreeing anything. They leave the studio, seeing a line of other teenagers outside, all excited to be pop stars, just like them.

Galliera comes home crying, and begs her mother not to say she told her so. Galleria says she did the right thing not to agree to Jackal’s deal, but can’t understand why the others didn’t. Her parents remind her that everyone has their own choices to make, even if Galleria doesn’t agree with them, and that Galleria needs to let go of this now and move on. Meanwhile, Dorinda is given a contract for the dance tour and is torn about what to do, whilst Chanel faces the wrath of her mother for spending so much on her credit card. Chanel breaks down and tells her mother she’s spending too much time with her boyfriend and ignoring her, with the Cheetah Girls being over just making everything worse. Her mother comforts her and wants to make things right again.

Later, Galleria goes on stage at the school’s auditorium when it’s empty and sings a song she wrote for the group. Derek hears her and says he liked the song, because it wasn’t just typical pop music with nothing to say. She tells him about the Jackal deal falling through and why that was, planning to walk alone now since the group are over.

On the night of the talent show, Galleria’s mother wants to have a night in with her daughter, but Galleria says she wants to watch the talent show instead. As she is out walking Toto, she sees a window display for Global Getdown and hears the same song demo that Jackal played them. She believes this must mean the girls took the deal. She is so distracted, that she lets Toto run off and he ends up getting stuck in a construction hole. Galleria calls her parents in a panic and signals to a police officer for help.

At the same time, Drinka is introducing the talent show at school, with Derek and his friend Mackerel performing as Sonic Chaos, as a huge rescue operation shuts down the streets of New York City to try and rescue Toto. Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda see what’s going on through the news reports and rush over to her, with Chanel running out of a hair salon and Aqua getting the subway just to be there – for Toto, not Galleria. The girls tell Galleria it is all her fault this has happened, and the police say they’ll need to cut the power to get to Toto, which interrupts the Sonic Chaos performance and the school’s talent show.

As the school generators start up, Galleria appears on a screen behind as she begs for help to get Toto free. Drinka, Derek, and the others at the school rush to the scene as well. Drinka comes over to Galleria, and she apologises for having such a big head. Drinka agrees she has a big head, but it’s filled with big dreams, and she has a big heart to match, although she should watch out for her big mouth! The police officer tells Galleria they are close to getting to Toto, but they need her to call to him to get him in the right position to be pulled out. Galleria and the girls start singing as Toto likes their music. It works and Toto is freed, albeit quite dirty! With Toto free, the other three girls head back home. Galleria is devastated their friendship couldn’t be saved. Derek says at least they came to help her when she was in need, but Galleria tells him they were only here for Toto. He says she might have been right to walk away from Jackal, but she shouldn’t walk away from her friends.

Galleria then starts singing one of the Cheetah Girls’ songs on the street, making the other girls turn around. Aqua is the first to join in, followed by Dorinda, and then Chanel. With the help of Derek, they perform the rest of the song together in front of the crowd, who all cheer as the Cheetah Girls are reunited. Derek even kisses Galleria.

Back at the school, Galleria hears that the other girls didn’t take the deal with Jackal, and that Dorinda decided not to go on that dance tour. She also officially introduces the girls to her foster mother and sister, not wanting to keep secrets anymore. Drinka then stands up on stage to announce the winner of the talent show. And the winner is…The Cheetah Girls! Although that’s actually quite unfair, since they weren’t actually in the talent show in the end… Galleria then gets a call from Jackal’s people, who is regretting his decision to change the Cheetah Girls after seeing them on the news. All the girls reject Jackal, telling him they’ll do things their way before Galleria ends the call by saying the Cheetah Girls are unavailable. The movie then ends with fireworks lighting up the name of the Cheetah Girls in the sky.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Galleria Garibaldi, whether consciously or unconsciously, has put herself front and centre of the Cheetah Girls, which began as a duo with her BFF Chanel. With the Cheetah Girls being a quartet, and Galleria writing the music, coordinating the outfits, and pushing the group hard, it has made Galleria feel self-important. But I don’t think she actually means to be bossy or obnoxious; she is just determined to live her dream of making the group successful. After getting attention from record producer Jackal Johnson, Galleria starts to act very diva-like, annoying her friends and those close to her. Then when the deal is not exactly what she wanted, she demands that all the girls leave but they refuse, not wanting to be dictated to anymore, and she is left alone. Galleria may have got the moral high ground but at the cost of losing the Cheetah Girls, maybe for ever. Her distraction at seeing that the girls might have taken Jackal’s dream and are about to be rich and famous without her causes her dog Toto to run off and get stuck in a hole. However, funnily enough, this rescue mission allows Galleria to finally swallow her pride and apologise to the girls – through a song, of course! – allowing the Cheetah Girls to reunite.

Galleria was played by former Disney Channel star Raven-Symoné, who had actually had a successful career as a child star even before then, by being cast as Olivia Kendall from Season 6 of The Cosby Show (1984-92), and later as Nicole Lee from Season 2 of Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper (1992-97). Following that, she was cast as Charisse Dolittle in Dr. Dolittle (1998) and Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001). For Disney Channel, although Raven is well-known for her role as Raven Baxter in That’s So Raven (2003-07), returning for a few appearances in its spin-off Cory in the House (2007-08) and then again for its revival Raven’s Home (2017-23), her first Disney Channel role was actually as Nebula Wade in the DCOM Zenon: Girl of the 21^st Century (1999), reprising the role for its third film in 2004, and then voicing the recurring role of Monique in their animated series Kim Possible (2002-07), Outside of Disney Channel, but still for Disney, Raven was cast as Princess Asana in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) and then as Melanie Porter in College Road Trip (2008). After her time with Disney Channel, where she recorded various albums and singles, including “Superstition”, she then starred as Deloris Van Cartier in the 2012 Broadway production of Sister Act. She also landed the recurring role as Rhonda Johnson in the sitcom Black-ish (2014-22). Raven hosted the revival of the game show Scrabble (2024-present) until 2026.

Chanel Simmons and Galleria are childhood best friends, and have had big dreams for the Cheetah Girls for years. She is the most loyal to Galleria, because they’ve been friends for so long, whereas Aqua and Dorinda are newer members to the group, so when they complain about Galleria’s attitude, Chanel finds herself stuck in the middle as she tries to balance their dream with finding the right time to tell Galleria to stop getting so caught up in herself. Chanel doesn’t want to fight with Galleria, and finds it hard to confront her, with all these feelings later coming out after the Jackal deal causes tensions. However, girls who have been friends for as long as Galleria and Chanel have can’t be apart for too long and they make up. Chanel is also struggling with her mother seemingly choosing her new boyfriend over her here, leaving Chanel on her own a lot, and planning to uproot her to Paris without even listening. Some might say Chanel was bratty for going on that spending spree with her mum’s card, but she was feeling hurt, and teenagers act out irrationally sometimes!

Adrienne Bailon was cast as Chanel Simmons, who was a member of the girl group 3LW, first formed in 1999, at the time she got the role in The Cheetah Girls, alongside Kiely Williams and Naturi Naughton originally, before Jessica Benson took Naughton’s place in the group. 3LW appeared in two Nickelodeon series during their time, including on sketch show All That (1994-2005) and on the show Taina (2001-02) as the fictional band Blue Mascara. In Taina, they performed their hit single “No More (Baby I’ma Do Right)”. I still remember their appearance on Taina and still love this song. 3LW later split in 2007. After her casting in The Cheetah Girls, Bailon appeared in other projects for Disney Channel, including playing the recurring role of Alana Rivera on That’s So Raven, and later Raven’s Home, and being cast as Domino in the DCOM Buffalo Dreams (2005). Also around this time, she appeared as Dominique in the sports film Coach Carter (2005) with Samuel L. Jackson in title role. More recently, Bailon was a co-host of the talk show The Real (2013-22), which was nominated for and won various Daytime Emmys including Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host in 2018 for Bailon and her fellow co-hosts. She also performed as Flamingo in Season 2 of The Masked Singer (2019-present) in 2019, coming in third place, and was a panellist on the music game show I Can See Your Voice (2020-24).

Aquanette Walker, mostly known as Aqua, is from Texas, having recently moved to New York City. She is a germophobe, scared of the subway, and loves hot sauce. Aqua was a late addition to the group, with Dorinda, and is the first to be annoyed at Galleria for her attitude after getting close to fame, probably because Aqua was insulted by Galleria about her table manners! Aqua even squares up to Chanel at one point, telling her to talk to Galleria – or else. After the deal with Jackal turns out to be for Global Getdown and not the Cheetah Girls, she tells Galleria how they are all fed up with her wanting to run the band and make decisions for all four of them. In the end, Aqua doesn’t want the band to end either, and even gets on the subway to help Toto and support Galleria – even if she won’t admit she is there for Galleria as much as she is there for Toto! I’d forgotten how tough Aqua was in this first film, as she is quite a different character in the other two films.

Kiely Williams, a fellow band member of 3LW with Adrienne Bailon, was cast as Aqua. After 3LW and The Cheetah Girls franchise ended, Williams went on to be cast as Lilly Marsen in The House Bunny (2008) and then as Kandi Kane / Brenda Smirkle in Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale (2010). She was also part of the reality series BET Presents: The Encore (2021) which followed the formation of a new music group called BluPrint. Williams has also created various web series, starring in them with fellow Cheetah Girl Sabrina Bryan.

Like Aqua, Dorinda was a late addition to the Cheetah Girls, so these two seem to have bonded more with each other than Galleria and Chanel, due to the fact they are both new. Dorinda is the best dancer in the group, and prefers dancing over singing, but she is still a valuable member to the group. Dorinda is a bit of a peacemaker, as she does what she’s told so nobody asks questions of her, but this means she is being secretive, running off to random places and not telling the girls where. It turns out she works at a dance centre to pay for lessons, but pretends to be rich to fit in with the other girls. In the end, Chanel discovers the truth, and Dorinda has to admit she is in the foster system, saying she didn’t want to feel like the odd one out, although, by the end of the film, Dorinda is clearly relieved to have everything out in the open, and is happy to continue with the Cheetah Girls, even giving up a paying job on a dance tour to stay with them.

Sabrina Bryan was cast as Dorinda, having previously appeared as Fritzie in the television musical Mrs. Santa Claus (1996) which saw Angela Lansbury in the title role, and as Alisa Cordova in the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful (1987-present) in 2002. Later, Bryan was a contestant on Season 5 of Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) in 2007, returning for an All-Stars edition of the show in 2012. More recently, she co-starred with Kiely Williams in various web series.

Galleria’s mother is an influential figure in Galleria’s life, with Galleria looking up to her mother for starting a successful fashion business, however, Galleria’s mother is less than excited about the potential for Galleria to become rich and famous with her group at such a young age. Galleria’s mother, Dorothea, is very protective of her daughter, and doesn’t want her to get hurt when she realises how tough it is to make it in show business. She is worried about Jackal’s interest, and tries to be involved in negotiations, until she sees how desperately Galleria wants to do this alone, so draws back a bit. However, it all ends in tears, literally, just as Dorothea expected it would, and she has to be there to comfort Galleria when her whole world falls apart, reminding Galleria, alongside Galleria’s father, Francobollo, that she can’t make decisions for other people, even if she thinks her decision is the right one for everyone. Francobollo is more laidback than Dorothea, being the one to convince Dorothea to let Galleria and the girls go to the meeting with Jackal.

Lynn Whitfield was cast as Dorothea, having previously been cast as Rae in Silverado (1985); Louisa McCay in Jaws: The Revenge (1987); and Dr. Sweikert in Stepmom (1998). Around the time of The Cheetah Girls, Whitfield appeared as Debra Lassiter in Chris Rock’s Head of State (2003) and later as Laura in The Rebound (2009) with Catherine Zeta-Jones. More recently, Whitfield appeared in the recurring role of Mary Walker in Season 1 How to Get Away with Murder (2014-20), and then as Vanessa Howard in Seasons 2 and 3 of Hit the Floor (2013-18). She also starred alongside Keith David as Daisy Mae Greenleaf in Greenleaf (2016-20), a series co-produced by Oprah Winfrey.

Juan Chioran was cast as Francobollo Garibaldi. Chioran has acted on stage with roles in many productions over the years at the Stratford Festival, held in Stratford, Ontario in Canada, winning a Gemini Award for his 2000 performance as Count Dracula in Dracula: A Chamber Musical. He also has experience in voice acting, recently voicing the recurring role of Señor Tapir in the PBS Kids series Elinor Wonders Why (2020-24). He later returned to Disney Channel to play Gustavo in another Disney Channel musical, Sneakerella (2022).

Jackal is a successful record producer, known for creating successful singers, so his reputation proceeds him. He was also a former student of the same high school that the Cheetah Girls go to, so they believe they can trust him to make them a success and care about their journey to achieving that. Jackal reels the girls in with compliments about their look and their music, only to then come up with a redesign of their group to match the information he has received from his marketing team about what is popular and what will sell. This shows he is only motivated by money and doesn’t care about the girls or the Cheetah Girls as a group, just wanting young girls to mould to fit his own vision. He actually finds himself regretting the fact that he let them go after seeing the Cheetah Girls perform on the news, and tries to get the girls to reconsider. They refuse.

Vincent Corazza was cast as Jackal Johnson. Prior to his role in The Cheetah Girls, he was cast as Albert in the DCOM Quints (2000). Corazza went on to voice Alden Jones in the animated series Braceface (2001-04) as well as the characters of Zexion and Ienzo in the Disney video game series Kingdom Hearts.

Drinka is a former singer, and the girls’ teacher at their high school. She also runs the talent show, being very proud of it and its legacy. She is supportive of all the acts in the show, giving advice on how to improve their performances. Drinka thinks the Cheetah Girls will go far in life, but is taken aback when Galleria effectively tells Drinka the group is too big to perform in the talent show, not liking what she’s hearing. Drinka forgives Galleria after getting an apology from her about how she acted, but does warn Galleria about not letting her big mouth get in the way of her future!

Drinka Champane was played by Sandra Caldwell. Before appearing in The Cheetah Girls, Caldwell played Asia in the Canadian series Little Men (1998-99). Recently, Caldwell has appeared as Ellen in the HBO series The Gilded Age (2022-present).

Derek and his friend Mackerel are part of a rap group called Sonic Chaos. They tease the Cheetah Girls constantly, playing mind games with the girls, as Sonic Chaos open to win the talent show, but see the Cheetah Girls as strong competition. Derek clearly also flirts with Galleria because he likes her, although she just thinks he’s trying to trick her into not focusing on the show. Derek and Galleria eventually grow closer after Galleria thinks the Cheetah Girls are over, even sharing a kiss at the end of the film. Derek can also be credited with motivating Galleria to make up with the girls and not let her lose their friendship.

Kyle Schmid was cast as Derek. Schmid went on to appear as Scott in Disney’s The Pacifier (2005), which starred Vin Diesel, and as Paul Rodman in the teen drama The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005). Later, Schmid was cast as Chief Special Warfare Operator Alex Caulder in the military drama Six (2017-18) and currently plays Special Agent Mike Franks in NCIS: Origins (2024-present). Mackerel was played by Denton Rowe.

MUSIC

For a musical film about a girl group, I was quite surprised at how few songs the Cheetah Girls actually sing in this film, with the total only being four. This is something that would later be corrected, as the group sing plenty more songs in their other films.

Looking at the songs the Cheetah Girls specifically sing, the first one we hear is in the opening sequence, and is the song that the girls are performing at the birthday party. This song is “Together We Can”, which was written by Stephen Lee, Walter Turbitt, and Will Robinson. This is the best song in the film for me. I feel it is very fitting for the opening of the film, as it showcases the talents of the girls right from the off. The girls later sing this song a cappella as they try to help get Toto free, as the dog responds to their voices.

Following that, the Cheetah Girls perform the song “Cinderella” for their school talent show audition, which is met with praise by their teacher, Drinka. I quite like this song as well. Interestingly, “Cinderella” is not an original song written for The Cheetah Girls film, which is very unusual for a Disney Channel musical. In this case, “Cinderella” was actually first performed by American girl group i5, reportedly around 2000, before being covered by the Swedish girl group Play around 2001 or 2002[1]. Regardless of who sang it first, it works in The Cheetah Girls. “Cinderella” was written by Lindy Robbins and Kevin Savigar.

Later on in the film, as the girls attempt to persuade Jackal Johnson that their sound and their look as the Cheetah Girls should be enough for him, and that they don’t need to be rebranded into Global Getdown, Galleria has the girls perform the song “Girl Power”. This song perfectly sums up the Cheetah Girls’ mission for their music, to empower girls everywhere, no matter who they are or what they look like. Sadly, this message is lost on Jackal and his marketing team. You can also hear Galleria singing “Girl Power” briefly earlier on in the film, as she calls Chanel to listen to the new song she’s been writing, this being “Girl Power”. The song was written in real-life by Ray Cham and Rwaana Barnes.

The final song the girls perform as a group is “Cheetah Sisters”, and this is the film’s finale number. Just after Toto is rescued, Aqua, Chanel, and Dorinda head home separately, leaving Galleria distraught that the Cheetah Girls are actually over. She is told that she doesn’t have to let her friends walk away, so Galleria starts singing this song alone, hoping the other three will join her. They do, and the Cheetah Girls are reunited in front of a crowd of on-lookers. “Cheetah Sisters” shows the strong bond and friendship that the girls have. To be honest, although this is an iconic song from The Cheetah Girls franchise, I don’t actually like it but maybe it’s the tracksuits they’re singing in that I don’t like! Galleria also sings part of this song alone in the school auditorium as she laments the fact the girls have gone their separate ways, with Galleria leaving the group and the other three seemingly taking Jackal’s deal to become a new band. “Cheetah Sisters” was written by Jamie Houston.

There are two other songs that appear in the film that are not performances by the Cheetah Girls. One of these is “C’mon”, the talent show entry from Galleria’s love interest Derek and his friend Mackerel. Their group is a hip-hop duo called Sonic Chaos, with their performance being interrupted by the city’s power being turned off to save Toto. They consider the Cheetah Girls their biggest competitors in the talent show, so it must be all the more painful for them when the Cheetah Girls end up winning it! I don’t like this song much either, which perhaps isn’t helped by the fact the performance is interspersed with clips from the rescue of Toto, so you don’t get to hear the song in full. “C’mon” was written by Ray Cham, Alex Dunbar, and Rwaana Barnes.

“All Around the World” is the only other song that the characters engage with in The Cheetah Girls. The Cheetah Girls are told this is the song that the record label want the girls to record, not any of their own songs. It is inoffensive, bubblegum pop, with lyrics that mean very little but are nonetheless quite catchy. Aqua, Dorinda, and Chanel start to sing along to the track that Jackal plays them, albeit not particularly enthusiastically, but Galleria refuses to engage with it at all. I actually really like this song and always have; I think the Global Getdown band idea wasn’t all that bad! “All Around the World” was written by Ray Cham and Rwaana Barnes. It does not appear on the soundtrack, unlike the other five songs.

Outside of that, there are some other tracks that are used as background music in the film, with some appearing on the soundtrack and others not doing so. One of the remaining three songs to make up the soundtrack for The Cheetah Girls, outside of the five above, is “Girlfriend”, written by Ray Cham and Chaka Blackmon, and performed by Char. This song is playing as Galleria and Chanel dance in front of a shop window, due to their excitement at seeing a new artist being promoted by Jackal Johnson in the window display. The two end up drawing a crowd who applaud their impromptu dance.

During the montage sequence of Chanel on a shopping spree using her mother’s credit card, after she is ditched yet again in favour of Chanel’s mother going out with her rich boyfriend, the song “Breakthrough” was used. It was written by Antonina Armato and Tim James, and was performed by Hope 7. “Breakthrough” also appears on the soundtrack for Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2004). Hope 7 went on to have their song “I Want Everything” used in another DCOM, Go Figure (2005).

After Galleria walks away from Jackal’s deal for the girls to become Global Getdown, and the other three decide they need to think about it, the song “End of the Line” plays. This shows the girls distancing from each other, coming to the terms with the fact they may never perform as the Cheetah Girls again. This song perfectly matches the mood of the scene. It was written by John Van Tongeren and Oz Scott, and was performed by Christie Mac.

So, that is the eight tracks that make up the soundtrack for The Cheetah Girls, which was released on 12^th August 2003, a few days before the film premiered on Disney Channel. Apparently, Disney hadn’t originally planned to release the film’s soundtrack, despite all the effort that went into creating original songs for the movie. No Disney Channel movie had had their own soundtrack before. It was only a few weeks before the film’s premiere date that it was decided to release eight tracks from the film, including the four that the Cheetah Girls themselves sing, as a CD[2]. The album peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Kids Albums and Soundtrack Albums chart, as well as peaking at No. 33 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The soundtrack later went double platinum in 2005.

However, there are two other credited songs in this film that did not make the soundtrack. “Tru Blu” seems to be playing in the background as Galleria and the girls talk about their need to have a study session, after finding out that Chanel is failing a class. “Tru Blu” was written by Ray Cham, Debra Barnes and Will Campbell, being performed by Lil’ J, featuring Chase. This song appears to have been used on a later DCOM, Pixel Perfect (2004). “Make You Dance” was written by Ray Cham, performed by SoL Survivor, and seems to be the music being used during the dance auditions that Dorinda helps with, before being offered a spot on the tour with the Gold Medal Crew.

John Van Tongeren was the composer of the score for The Cheetah Girls. He went on to work on the music for various other DCOMs, including Twitches (2005) and Twitches Too (2007); Princess Protection Program (2009); and The Suite Life Movie (2011).

PRODUCTION

It might surprise some to hear that The Cheetah Girls was based on a book series, written by Deborah Gregory. Then again, you might’ve read these books and it’s not a surprise to you at all. All I know is that I was completely unaware of this.

In total, there are 16 main books in The Cheetah Girls series, although it would seem that thirteen had been published by the time the Disney Channel film came out. The first book, The Cheetah Girls: Wishing on a Star was published in 1999. The original series actually featured five girls, not just the four we see in the film. Aqua has a twin sister called Angie in the books, however, despite Tia and Tamera Mowry being floated as playing these twin sisters, it was later decided that having the need to hire twin sisters was limiting the talent pool, so they simply dropped one of the sisters. I think four main characters is plenty to focus on in a film anyway. Some minor changes from the books to the film include Dorinda’s original surname being Rogers and not Thomas, as well as Dorinda being aged up to match the other girls’ ages, despite only being twelve years old in the books. I was going to say that Chanel’s brother Pucci is omitted from the films whereas he is a character in the books, but apparently, he is in the first film, because it is his birthday party at the start, Chanel’s mother briefly mentions his name later on, and he’s at the girls’ talent show audition. Who knew?

Deborah Gregory has said that she drew upon real experiences from her life when creating the series, for example, Gregory grew up in the foster care system in New York City, mirroring that of Dorinda. Gregory felt that there was a need to expand children’s cultural knowledge, to have them understand other experiences outside of their own, which was a motivating factor for her writing her series. She was also apparently inspired to write the series after interviewing Destiny’s Child for Essence magazine, where she worked as the fashion editor at the time[3].

Alison Taylor was credited with writing the screenplay for The Cheetah Girls film, using Gregory’s novels as a basis. Taylor had previously been the story editor on the sitcom Married…with Children (1987-97), and had written a few episodes for the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire (2001-04), before returning to The Cheetah Girls series to co-write the sequel, and then create the Nickelodeon sitcom Just Jordan (2007-08).

But the process of making the film was not simple, as it was initially being pursued as a series for Disney Channel, with Debra Martin Chase the one wanting to produce the series. She had some previous history with Disney after working on their live-action film The Princess Diaries (2001) and on their television film Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1997), later becoming an executive producer on the DCOM Lemonade Mouth (2011). However, Disney Channel was seemingly focused on ensuring their new series would translate well overseas, and it was felt this Cheetah Girls series would not. Yet all hope was not lost as Disney Channel executive Gary Marsh said that perhaps the series could be retooled as a movie instead. It may not be common knowledge that legendary singer Whitney Houston was also a producer on The Cheetah Girls, as she was on Disney’s The Princess Diaries and Cinderella.

After filming the first season of That’s So Raven, Raven-Symoné signed on to play the main character of Galleria, with Adrienne Bailon being cast as Chanel and Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda. Dorinda is not white in the books; however, Debra Martin Chase apparently pushed for the fourth girl to be white, in order to represent as many ethnicities as possible. Sabrina Bryan is actually of Mexican descent. Casting the part of Aqua was not without its problems though, as Solange Knowles, as in Beyoncé’s sister, was cast in the role, but later pulled out of the film after choosing to pursue her solo singing career. In the end, Kiely Williams, who was a bandmate of Bailon’s from their time in 3LW, was then asked if she would want the part of Aqua, and readily accepted.

Director Oz Scott was chosen to direct The Cheetah Girls. Prior to The Cheetah Girls, Scott had directed the short film Mr. Boogedy (1986), which aired on ABC as part of The Disney Sunday Movie (1986-88) series, going on to direct its sequel Bride of Boogedy (1987) for the same ABC series. Scott had also directed some episodes of the Showtime series Soul Food (2000-04) before working on The Cheetah Girls. In more recent years, Scott has continued directing in television, working on series such as the superhero series Black Lightning (2018-21) on The CW and crime drama S.W.A.T. (2017-25).

The Cheetah Girls was filmed in Toronto, Canada, as so many Disney Channel movies are, with Toronto having to represent New York City, the setting of the film. This had also been the case for another Disney Channel Original Movie, Get a Clue (2002).

But first, the cast had to have dance rehearsals in Los Angeles, which happened three weeks before filming began, with choreographer Troy P. Liddell. The four girls said this was great as it was a bonding experience for them, and meant they could properly convey that they were a group who had known each other a while on set. All the cast said they enjoyed their experience working on The Cheetah Girls, and liked the message of the film, about achieving your dreams no matter who you are or where you come from[4].

However, it was quite cold in Canada when they were filming. Apparently, the velour tracksuits the girls wear for the “Cheetah Sisters” performance were designed with the weather in mind, as they had a thin set of thermals inside them, so kept the cast warm in the cold Canadian air. They were designed by costume designer Resa McConaghy, who was well aware that most of the animal print featured in this film was actually leopard print. The reason cheetah print was not used is because this true print was harder to find[5].

RECEPTION

After a red carpet premiere, reportedly held at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School on 5^th August 2003, and attended by the cast and crew, as well as some Disney Channel stars, such as Raven’s That’s So Raven castmates, and Shia LaBeouf and Christy Carlson Romano from Even Stevens (2000-03), The Cheetah Girls premiered on Disney Channel in the US on 15^th August 2003. It is unclear exactly when it reached international channels; it may’ve been months later, or even years, but luckily, since there was no social media at that point, it’s not like any Disney Channel viewers overseas were getting spoilers.

The Cheetah Girls was said to have been watched by 6.5 million viewers on its premiere date. This made it the most-watched Disney Channel Original Movie premiere of 2003, and it would seem that figure of 6.5 million would not be beaten by another premiere until Twitches, starring Tia and Tamera Mowry, came out in 2005. However, The Cheetah Girls was not the highest-viewed DCOM of all time by this point, as Cadet Kelly (2002) had surpassed it with 7.8 million viewers on its premiere the year before. 6.5 million viewers would’ve certainly been considered a successful premiere for The Cheetah Girls at the time, however, as the 2000s stretched into the 2010s, some DCOM premieres were getting 7, 8, sometimes even more, millions of viewers tuning in, so The Cheetah Girls did not stay in the Top 10 most-watched DCOM premieres for long.

Disney Channel movies have always received mixed reactions, with the musicals gaining the most attention generally, therefore opening them up to more criticism. The Cheetah Girls is just one of many DCOM musicals to be adored by its fans and viewers of Disney Channel at the time, but panned by others outside of that demographic.

Some negatives highlighted around The Cheetah Girls is that the attitude of Galleria was seen to be very unappealing and obnoxious, with this behaviour later being rewarded. I accept that Galleria’s behaviour at times in the film doesn’t make her particularly likeable, however, she makes amends by the end of the story, although I will say that it did feel very unfair that The Cheetah Girls won their school talent show, even though they had previously pulled out of competing in it. Also, others said, despite hinting at deeper issues, such as Dorinda’s foster upbringing, and the dangers of being pressured and manipulated by the music industry, these were not fully explored, with Dorinda’s parental situation only being referenced in one scene really, and only with Chanel, not the other two girls. Viewers were critical of the ending as well, revolving around the rescuing of Toto. I think this was a strange way of getting the girls to reconnect, but it was fairly realistic, in that dogs do run off and get stuck in various places, and that Galleria was so distracted that she wasn’t looking after Toto properly that he managed to run off. Another comment made about The Cheetah Girls, this time more gentle teasing, is about the animal print tracksuits that the girls wear during the ending sequence, and wondering how all the girls managed to accidentally coordinate their outfits so they’d all be matching that day, despite The Cheetah Girls supposedly being over!

On the positive side, there was praise for Raven-Symoné’s acting in this film, even if viewers didn’t always like Galleria. Raven was a rising star for Disney Channel at the time, having accumulated more and more fans from her sitcom That’s So Raven by the time The Cheetah Girls premiered. The Cheetah Girls was said to be perfect for teens and tweens with suitably catchy pop music to sing along with. The film’s message of celebrating diversity, and concentrating on your dreams and talent and not your looks, was also recognised and commended. The audience also felt that there was good chemistry between the cast.

In hindsight, with other movies from The Cheetah Girls coming after this first one, many say that this original film is just alright, but the franchise has remained popular as a whole with those that watched the films during the 2000s on Disney Channel.

Some of the cast members were rewarded for their performances in The Cheetah Girls by being nominated at some award ceremonies. At the National Association for Multi-ethnicity In Communications (NAMIC) Vision Awards, Lynn Whitfield, who played Galleria’s mother, Dorothea, was nominated for Best Dramatic Performance. At the NAACP Image Awards, Whitfield was once against nominated for Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children’s Program. It would seem that Raven-Symoné won this award for her role in That’s So Raven. At the 2004 Black Reel Awards, Raven-Symoné and Lynn Whitfield were both nominated for their roles in The Cheetah Girls in the categories of Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress in a TV Movie or Limited Series respectively. The film itself was also nominated for Best Television Miniseries or Movie, but lost to Showtime’s television film Deacons for Defense (2003). Director Oz Scott was also nominated at the Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs. Sean McNamara, who directed The Even Stevens Movie that year, was also nominated. The winner was Kevin Lima for his work on Eloise at Christmastime, a television special aired on ABC as part of The Wonderful World of Disney anthology series (1997-present).

LEGACY

Although The Cheetah Girls was the first Disney Channel musical, and technically the first musical series for Disney Channel to become a franchise, not much really happened after The Cheetah Girls premiered, and it took a while for the franchise to get going.

There are probably a couple of reasons for this. One is that we simply never got to see some early ideas for what would come next for the Cheetah Girls following this first film. It was rumoured that there were some discussions around creating a television series that would likely have followed the band after the events of the first film. It was said that production was set to begin in 2004, however, although the four main cast members were aware of these early development ideas, they have since said that it was all talk and nothing concrete, like shooting a pilot, ever happened. It is possible this series never came to pass because Raven was already tied to her own major Disney Channel series, and likely would’ve been too busy to work on a new series around The Cheetah Girls for ABC.

The other reason why not much seemed to happen with The Cheetah Girls franchise in the year or so after its premiere is that there may have been negotiations taking place about launching the girl group from the film world into reality. This would not be as simple as you’d expect, because Raven-Symoné declined to be a part of the real-life girl group, choosing instead to focus on her solo music career. This left Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Sabrina Bryan to go on without her. The Cheetah Girls as a girl group finally came to be in 2005, after they released their debut album, a Christmas album, in October that year, titled Cheetah-licious Christmas. It consisted of covers of popular Christmas songs as well as some original tracks, and peaked at No. 74 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The group had previously recorded a cover of the song “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)” from Hercules (1997) for the Disneymania CD in early 2005, and went on to record a cover of “Shake a Tail Feather” for Disney Animation’s new film Chicken Little (2005). In December 2005, the Cheetah Girls went on their Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour to promote their album, and were joined by Aly & AJ as their opening act, and the Jonas Brothers, who showed up as surprise guests for a few shows in order to promote their own album. This tour ran from 6^th December 2005, starting in Newark, until 28^th December 2005, ending in San Francisco.

Another way that the Cheetah Girls promoted their Christmas album in 2005 was being appeared at the Walt Disney World Christmas Day parade and performing their song “Cheetah-licious Christmas”. Despite not being part of the group, Raven also made an appearance at this same Christmas Day parade, in a pre-recorded video where she discussed the new ride coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park in April 2006, Expedition Everest. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, Raven was introduced as Raven from That’s So Raven, with no mention of her links to the Cheetah Girls.

Following on from that busy year in 2005, more exciting news for Cheetah Girls fans was coming as the sequel The Cheetah Girls 2 was confirmed for release in Summer 2006, and clearly they wanted to build anticipation for this first-ever Disney Channel musical sequel, because music and clips from the filming of the sequel were on the channel all the time that summer between their main programming! It was kind of annoying actually…

Outside of that, there was some merchandise released based on The Cheetah Girls, including a novelisation of the film and some clothing with The Cheetah Girls logo emblazoned on them. Of course, a DVD copy of The Cheetah Girls was also made available in the US in 2004, reaching other countries by 2007. This DVD featured some behind-the-scenes clips from the film, as well as a deleted scene, which was an alternate ending for the film. It wasn’t overly different from the original ending, except Toto was sent over to an ambulance after being rescued as he didn’t seem right, and then there was a final scene of the four Cheetah Girls talking to the viewers, saying how they were going to be stars soon[6].

However, a lot of merchandise may have been released around the time the sequel came out and not in 2003 when the first film premiered, as 2006 onwards is when The Cheetah Girls really became popular. There was still plenty of love for the first film on social media in 2023 though, as fans celebrated the 20^th anniversary of the first film.

More recently, Disneyland has put on a series of special after-hours events, titled Disneyland After Dark. In March 2024, they held two events themed to Disney Channel, Disneyland After Dark: Disney Channel Nite. Specifically related to the first Cheetah Girls film, there was a photo backdrop for this first film which fans could take photos in front of.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Cheetah Girls will always be remembered for being the first Disney Channel musical film, as well as for its diverse casting and positive messages for young girls.

However, it would not be until the sequel came out in 2006 that this series would increase in popularity, and rival that of High School Musical, whose first film came out at the beginning of 2006 and achieved instant success.

The Cheetah Girls wouldn’t match up to High School Musical in the end, but it certainly has its own set of loyal fans, who can credit The Cheetah Girls with helping them feel represented, important, and worthy of achieving anything they set their minds to.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Devin Herenda, “’The Cheetah Girls” Is 20 Years Old, So Stop What You’re Doing And Learn 18 Interesting Facts About This Iconic Disney Channel Original Movie’, Buzzfeed.com, 28^th February 2023,

[2] Credit: Ashley Spencer, Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Empire (2024), ‘That’s So Raven-Symoné’, pp. 85-110.

[3] Credit: Haniyah P., ‘Why ‘The Cheetah Girls’ meant so much to Black girls and why the reboot debate feels so personal’, Yahoo.com, 9^th July 2026.

[4] Credit: Disney Channel, “Backstage Disney: Behind the Spots”, from The Cheetah Girls (2003) UK DVD (2007).

[5] Credit: Ashley Spencer, Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Empire (2024), ‘That’s So Raven-Symoné’, pp. 85-110.

[6] Credit: Disney Channel, “Deleted Scene: Alternate Ending”, from The Cheetah Girls (2003) UK DVD (2007).