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 21st 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 12th 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 5th 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 15th 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 6th December 2005, starting in Newark, until 28th 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 20th 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, 28th 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, 9th 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).