10th Oct 202517th Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

Halloweentown (1998)

BACKGROUND

I was a bit too young to have heard of Halloweentown when it first came to Disney Channel in 1998. I wasn’t watching Disney Channel at that time, but don’t worry, because when I did start watching the channel, Halloweentown was everywhere. Well, around Halloween.

The trailers for re-runs of the original two movies, perhaps the first three, were all over Disney Channel when I first became a regular viewer in the early 2000s. But they never once interested me. I scare easily, I don’t like monsters, and that was most definitely the case back when I was a kid and a tween as well.

Basically, I reject Halloween and everything it stands for. I don’t decorate my house, I don’t like trick or treating and never went as a child, and I don’t watch scary movies. But it’s fine if you like Halloween. It’s becoming as big an occasion in the UK as it is in the US, so I get it; people like Halloween. I just choose not to.

And yet, with the arrival of Disney+, I found it impossible to escape the constant promotion of their Halloween movies on the streaming platform, even putting them all into a nice, handy collection to peruse at your leisure. In 2020, or maybe 2021, my curiosity got the better of me and I had a look. I was trying to get into the idea of watching some family-friendly, non-scary Halloween movies every year, to add to Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, a film I began watching at Halloween from the age of 18 or 19. I know, how brave of me!

There, in the Halloween section of Disney+, I found… Disney Channel’s ZOMBIES movies. They were not at all scary and musical DCOMs, so I instantly liked them. But still, I was not looking to watch Halloweentown, and simply ignored all four film suggestions.

However, shortly after this, I was reading the Halloween edition of the Vault of Walt, a book series written by Disney historian Jim Korkis, who sadly passed away in 2023. These books are brilliant for Disney history lovers like myself, and it was here that I first read about the Halloweentown series of films. I decided that as I’d read about them now, and they didn’t sound scary, that it was about time I tried to understand the popularity around this franchise. So, in 2021, that is what I did. I watched all four films, and I actually kind of liked them – though my favourite might be a surprise.

The films are cheesy and feel very much of their time, but I enjoyed them. They were only slightly spooky, with some mild threats but little fear factor. I watched all four films at Halloween once more but not since. 2025 was the year to go back and do it all over again.

PLOT

On a typical suburban street in the US, on Halloween night, trick or treaters are walking around in their costumes. However, one house on this street is not decorated and doesn’t seem to be getting into the Halloween spirit.

This house is home to the Pipers, mother Gwen, and her three children, Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie. Marnie is begging her mother to let her go to a Halloween party with her friends, but Gwen refuses, saying she has never let the children go out on Halloween before and that is no different today. Marnie says it’s not fair that she can’t go out, even though she is 13. Marnie is surprised her mother is so against Halloween anyway, seeing as she met their father on Halloween night; their father has since died. Marnie also reiterates to her mother that she loves Halloween and all the creatures associated it, but there is no changing Gwen’s mind on the matter. She has to stay home. Sophie just wants a cookie but she’s told that she isn’t allowed to have a cookie before dinner. Gwen sees this cookie levitating as Sophie sulks, and quickly eats it before Sophie can notice. Strange…

Suddenly, a flying bus arrives on the street, and a woman wearing a red velvet cloak exits the bus. This woman shows up at the Pipers’ house. It turns out she is Aggie Cromwell, the children’s grandmother and Gwen’s mother, although she and Gwen have a bit of a tense relationship. This only increases when Aggie gives the children Halloween costumes to wear and decorations to put up around the house. Aggie tells Gwen that today is Marnie’s 13th Halloween, but Gwen tells her to drop it. What could that mean?

After dinner, the children are told to get ready for bed. They beg their mother to let Aggie tell them a bedtime story. Gwen relents and says they’ll come up in a bit. Meanwhile, Gwen and Aggie talk. Aggie says she still wants Gwen and the kids to live with her, but Gwen just wants them to have a normal life, whatever that means. She warns Aggie not to talk about “home” to Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie.

But what kind of grandmother would Aggie be if she listened to her daughter? As part of Aggie’s bedtime story, she shows the children a book all about a place called Halloweentown, where all kinds of monsters and mystical creatures live. Marnie is fascinated by this place, only wishing it were actually real. They then spot an image of what seems to be Marnie flying on a broomstick over the town in the storybook. Aggie says Marnie must have a secret life. Gwen then comes into the room and says that Aggie has to get going home now, and they leave the children upstairs.

In the kitchen, the two argue. Aggie is angry that Gwen is letting Marnie forget all about her powers, saying she ought to have been a fully trained witch by her 13^th Halloween, but that she has had no training at all. If her training doesn’t start that night, Marnie’s powers will cease to exist forever. Gwen thinks that would be best for everyone, so they can have a mortal life like anyone else. Although Aggie does not agree, knowing they should be a part of the Cromwell dynasty of witches, she tells Gwen she has a more pressing issue. Something bad is happening in Halloweentown. People are changing and going missing. Aggie fears the dark times are returning and needs Gwen’s help. Gwen says she doesn’t want to get involved and Aggie leaves the house.

As it happens, Marnie overhead this whole conversation and excitedly tells her brother Dylan that she is a witch and wants to go with their grandmother back to Halloweentown to start her training. Dylan won’t let Marnie go alone, so they both follow Aggie as she walks to the bus stop and gets on a bus. Dylan and Marnie get on too, and are shocked by the look of their fellow travellers who are all strange creatures.

After some time on this weird flying bus, the bus stops and Marnie and Dylan disembark to find that Halloweentown is a real place. Dylan thinks he’s just dreaming but Marnie knows this is real and she loves it. But as the two were too busy looking at their new surroundings, they find they’ve already lost their grandmother. As they try to find her, they see their sister Sophie stood in the middle of Halloweentown. It turns out she followed them onto the bus. The three are soon greeted by the Mayor of Halloweentown, Kalabar, who is confused by these new visitors to his town. They explain they are Aggie’s grandchildren, which interests Kalabar who knew their mother Gwen, even seeming to have had a crush on her. He hopefully asks if Gwen is with them, but she is not. Kalabar then signals for Benny the cab driver to take the children to Aggie’s house in his taxi.

During the drive, Benny warns the children about a kid in Halloweentown called Luke, who has suddenly become a bully after apparently having some work done on his face, making him look like a normal mortal teenager. They soon arrive at Aggie’s house and Benny drops them off. The kids see that there is a lock on the gate, and Marnie attempts to do a spell to open it…. but it doesn’t work. As Marnie and Dylan discuss how to get in, Sophie pushes the gate and it opens. She actually wished for the lock to turn into a frog, allowing it to open. The three walk up to Aggie’s front door and she welcomes them into her home, although she knows that their mother will be furious to know they are here! Aggie thinks it would be best if she took them home. Marnie says she wants to begin training so Aggie says they can stay, but that they will have to get home by midnight. The kids think that will only give them a couple of hours in Halloweentown, but Aggie tells them that time works differently between Halloweentown and the mortal world, so a couple hours in the mortal realm is a lot longer in Halloweentown. That makes them feel happier.

Aggie tells the children that she has seen that something bad is coming to Halloweentown and she must try to stop it. Aggie has a talisman from the great wizard Merlin, which should end the threat of the Dark Ages returning. Filling it with witch’s brew, and casting a spell, Aggie hopes to light up the talisman. The talisman does not light up. Aggie thought she would need another witch’s magic to help anyway. Plus, she also thinks she perhaps shouldn’t have used instant witch’s brew. She decides they’ll have to make it from scratch, needing specific ingredients for it, so they’ll have to go searching for them.

The group take a tour of Halloweentown, where Aggie tells the children that mortal children have simply taken traditions from Halloweentown as their own, such as choosing to dress up as the residents of the town for Halloween. Aggie tells them that their mother met their father at a mortal Halloween party all that time ago. She also says that, after the Dark Ages, where magical beings and mortals fought for years, the magical creatures made their own world, away from the mortal realm, meaning that they can now only visit the mortal world on Halloween. Aggie then bumps into a neighbour called Harriet, who has suddenly turned nasty, both in looks and personality. Aggie tells Kalabar the Mayor about her worries, knowing that Harriet will disappear by tomorrow. He tells Aggie to give him a couple of days to sort it, warning her not to do anything about it in the meantime. Aggie ignores that.

Marnie sees a shop selling brooms nearby and asks Aggie if she can have one. Aggie says of course she can. However, as they shop, Luke comes by and starts harassing them. Marnie basically tells him to back off and he angrily leaves. The shop owner reiterates what Benny the taxi driver said; that Luke has changed a lot over the last few days. Marnie finds a broom she likes and her and Aggie take a ride over Halloweentown. When they come back to land, Marnie discovers that her mother is here, having seen that the children were not in bed and knowing they were likely in Halloweentown with Aggie. Gwen tells the children they are getting the bus back right now.

However, at the bus stop, they discover that the bus is delayed so they cannot get home. Dylan says maybe they should talk to the mayor. Gwen thinks that is a great idea and they go over to City Hall. Gwen is surprised to find that Kalabar is the mayor, but he is just happy to see her, even giving her a dead rose, using magic to make it alive again. How…sweet? He asks Gwen out on a date, but she says they need to get back home. Kalabar has to head off to deal with an emergency but says he’ll help them when he returns.

Meanwhile, Aggie is being bothered by Luke again, who says “he” knows she has the talisman and she must give it up to him. Aggie wants to face this evil once and for all and asks Luke to take her to him. As Marnie and Gwen argue about the fact Gwen has kept her and Sophie’s magic a secret all these years, and that Marnie wants to stay in Halloweentown and be trained by her grandmother, Sophie sees Aggie going somewhere with Luke. Marnie rushes off to help, with the others having to follow her to stop her getting in trouble.

They come to the town’s abandoned movie theatre. Here, Aggie sees residents of the town. Luke tells her they have been frozen by a spell, so they can come back to life later. A dark figure appears in the movie screen. He demands Aggie gives him the talisman but she refuses and is attacked. The others arrive and the evil figure continues to attack them. Gwen is then frozen as she attempts to save Aggie, with Aggie being frozen as she tries to protect the children. Luke leaves after witnessing the attack, saying this wasn’t what he’d agreed to.

The children are told to run by Aggie, just as she is frozen, and they rush out of the theatre. Marnie noticed that the figure hated the light, so they need to make the proper witch’s brew to make Merlin’s talisman light up. They search for ingredients around town, getting hair from the werewolf hairdresser; sweat from a ghost in a sauna; and a vampire fang from the dentist. As they come up with their next steps, Benny arrives in his cab, saying he’ll take them to Aggie’s house. However, Sophie senses something isn’t right with him, especially after he attacks Dylan, and unleashes a dog which pursues Benny.

The three make their way to Aggie’s house, where they mix up the witch’s brew and refill the talisman. Marnie now has to recite the spell – but she can’t remember it. Luckily, Sophie said the spell sounded pretty so she made it into a song to remember it. The two say it together. But it still doesn’t light up. They then try again, with some added positive belief and it finally lights up. Marnie puts on Aggie’s cloak and they head back to the theatre to try and wake Gwen and Aggie, but they do not. Marnie tries to figure out what they need to do with the talisman, remembering Aggie saying something about it needing to be installed somewhere. Marnie then remembers what Aggie said, about mortals copying what is done in Halloweentown; they have to install the talisman in the town’s jack-o’-lantern.

As they head over to the town square to do this, Luke warns Marnie that this is a trap, and the figure will come for her. Suddenly, the sky darkens and the figure appears again on the roof of City Hall. It is revealed that the evil figure is in fact Kalabar the mayor. He wants to return the citizens of Halloweentown to their glory days and take over the mortal realm. He doesn’t want them to live in exile anymore and wants the residents to come together with him. Kalabar warns the town that a half-human will try to stop them. Right on cue, he notices Aggie’s cloak and attacks, believing this to be Marnie. It is actually Luke who is wearing the cloak as a distraction. But it wasn’t a good enough distraction as Kalabar spots Marnie at the jack-o’-lantern, ready to install the talisman. He freezes her and she passes out. In her partially unconscious state, she hears the voices of her mother, Aggie, and others, motivating her. She briefly wakes up and drops the talisman, believing it will do what has to be done. The talisman drops into the perfect position and the light from it awakens anyone who was frozen, including Aggie and Gwen.

They all reunite, believing they have defeated Kalabar. However, Kalabar is still very much alive and takes back the talisman. He tells Gwen she should’ve stayed in Halloweentown with him, because she could’ve had all this power too. Gwen and Aggie begin an incantation aimed at him, but it doesn’t work. Marnie sees that Dylan has powers too and thinks they will be more powerful if they all say the spell together. As they do, the talisman lights up, destroying Kalabar. Marnie and Gwen make up after their fight, and Marnie catches up to Luke. She sees that Luke has returned to his normal goblin state, and he apologises for causing all this trouble. He says he wished he could’ve won Marnie round and taken her on a date. She kisses him on the cheek and thanks him for his help. Luke tells Marnie to look him up if she’s ever back in Halloweentown.

The Pipers are about to head back to the mortal world on the bus, when Gwen says Aggie will have to come and live with them, so she can spend more time with the kids and so they can both train Marnie to be a fully fledged witch. Aggie is delighted, and the family get on the bus together.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Marnie Piper is thirteen years old during the events of Halloweentown, and loves everything related to magic and Halloween. She can’t understand why her mother is so against Halloween, especially as she met their father on Halloween night, and it is something that Marnie clearly loves. This causes tension between the two, so it is no wonder that Marnie is close to her grandmother, who shares her love of Halloween, despite the fact they only see her once a year, on Halloween. When Marnie finds out she is actually a witch, and must start using her powers that night to keep them, she finally understands herself and why she likes the things she does. She is determined to become a witch, and is confident in her abilities, despite having had no training whatsoever. In Halloweentown, Marnie feels at home there, and loves learning about magic from her grandmother. Even when Marnie is left with only her two siblings and very little advice to deal with a great evil in Halloweentown, she tackles the challenge with optimism and belief, knowing that she is part of a great dynasty of Cromwell witches. For Marnie, anything is possible.

Marnie was played by Kimberly J. Brown. Prior to her casting in Halloweentown, Brown had been in some Broadway shows, such as Les Misérables and the 1994 revival of Show Boat. She had also been cast as Marah Lewis in the soap opera Guiding Light (1952-2009) from 1993 to 1998. Also on screen, she had a small role as Nicole in the Mary-Kate and Ashley series Two of a Kind (1998-99) and was cast in the lead role of Jamie Grover in another Disney Channel Original Movie, Quints (2000), shortly after Halloweentown. Brown later appeared as Sarah Sanderson in the comedy film Bringing Down the House (2003), which starred Steve Martin and Queen Latifah.

Joining Marnie in Halloweentown are her two siblings, Dylan and Sophie. 12-year-old Dylan is a non-believer in magic, not even believing Halloweentown exists when he’s actually there. Dylan is incredibly intelligent, so he’d rather explain things using science. It doesn’t compute in his mind that magic might actually exist. At the end of the film, as the family stand up to Kalabar, Dylan is seen to have magic as well, showing it is not only the women in the family who have powers, but even then, it takes some coaxing from Marnie to get him to believe in his ability, giving them extra help in defeating Kalabar. But as they get on the bus to get back home, and he sees Aggie’s magical bag that follows her around and stores items much too big for it, like Mary Poppins’ bag, Dylan just wants to figure out how it works! Sophie is only seven during the movie, but she seems to be just as strong a witch as Marnie, if not stronger. Sophie’s magic seems to make strange things happen, even without her knowing, like making a cookie levitate when she’s angry. She also can sense when bad things are going to happen, which helps the kids a few times during their time in Halloweentown, like Sophie seeing Aggie walking into the movie theatre with Luke, and knowing that Benny the cab driver has been taken over by evil. Sophie also remembers the spell for the talisman which Marnie does not, and opens the gates to Aggie’s house. So, although the movie is mostly about Marnie, Sophie is a pretty strong witch too.

Joey Zimmerman was cast as Dylan Piper, having previously been cast as Ulysses Adair in the science-fiction series Earth 2 (1994-95) and as Eric Kipper in the CBS children’s sitcom Bailey Kipper’s P.O.V. (1996) prior to his role in Halloweentown. Emily Roeske was cast as Sophie Piper. Roeske is most known for her role as Sophie in this series of films.

Aggie Cromwell is the grandmother of Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie, and the mother of Gwen. She is an experienced witch, and is very proud of the Cromwell legacy, believing that the Cromwell witch dynasty must continue with her grandchildren seeing as her daughter has rejected magic ever since she married a mortal. Aggie can’t understand why Gwen would want her children to be normal and actually seems quite happy when the three travel to Halloweentown, on their own, just to spend time with her. Aggie is also very excited to find that Marnie wants to train to be a witch, and does everything she can to help her, although their main quest to defeat the evil taking over Halloweentown, as well as her being frozen by that evil force, means that they don’t get to spend as much time training as they’d like to! But luckily, Aggie told Marnie just enough to get her to succeed in re-awakening her and Gwen, starting the process of defeating Kalabar once and for all. At the end of Halloweentown, Gwen asks Aggie to move to the mortal world with them so they can teach the children about magic and the town together, showing a thawing in the frostiness between them.

The legendary Debbie Reynolds was cast in the role of Aggie Cromwell, in what may seem a surprising career choice for her. The production team wanted a big name involved in the movie, so they were very excited to see that Reynolds was interested. She apparently wanted to become more involved in television, and took the role so that her granddaughter Billie Lourd could actually see something with her in it that she’d actually enjoy. Reynolds is well-known for her role as Kathy Selden in the movie musical Singin’ in the Rain (1952) being cast alongside Gene Kelly. She was later cast in The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) in the title role, even being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. She also voiced the role of Charlotte in the 1973 animated adaptation of E.B. White’s book Charlotte’s Web. On stage, Reynolds received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in the 1973 Broadway revival of the musical Irene. Sadly, Reynolds passed away on 28^th December 2016, at the age of 84, just one day after the death of her daughter Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise.

Gwen Piper has chosen to ignore her former magical life, having chosen to settle in the mortal world with her mortal husband, and raise her children as mortals too. Gwen seemingly can’t wait for her kids’ 13^th Halloweens to have come and gone, so that they can lose their witch powers forever and never have to think about magic. However, Aggie doesn’t want to let that happen so this has created ongoing tension between the two. It is quite selfish for Gwen not to allow her children even the option to train as witches, with Aggie being quite happy to take on the job of training them if Gwen does not want to do it. Gwen can still live in the mortal world if she chooses to, but I can understand that Gwen thought she was doing the right thing, finding that a life as a mortal is safer than a life as a witch, which turns out to be accurate given what happened in Halloweentown with Kalabar! Gwen means well, but when she sees just how much magic and becoming a witch means to Marnie, and just how good she is at it, having found a way to defeat Kalabar mostly on her own, she admits that it has been unfair to not allow Marnie to train as a witch, and even decides that she will take responsibility for training, despite her misgivings about magic.

Judith Hoag was cast as Gwen Piper. Prior to her role in Halloweentown, she appeared as Melissa Shaw Elliott in the CBS crime drama Wolf (1989-90) and was cast as April O’Neil in the 1990 film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), this being the first movie based on the comic book characters. Joey Zimmerman was a huge fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but waited until filming was over to tell Hoag so he could remain professional throughout filming[1].

Kalabar is the initially friendly Mayor of Halloweentown. He welcomes Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie, even doing silly magic tricks to impress Sophie, like making a huge lollipop appear. He seems kind and the biggest concern we have when we first see Kalabar is whether he’s planning on dating their mother Gwen, as he seems to still hold a torch for her after their time growing up together in Halloweentown. However, it all becomes clear that actually Kalabar wants to take over the mortal world, and he wants everyone in Halloweentown to help him do so. So determined is Kalabar, that he is willing to attack children to prevent them from stopping his plan. But he clearly underestimated the Piper children as they manage to defeat him anyway, hopefully forever, so Halloweentown and the mortal world are able to continue co-existing. Strangely, Kalabar’s name appears in the opening credits spelt as “Calabar”, however, most people spell the name with a “K” when referencing the movie and that is also how his name is spelt in the title of the first sequel.

Kalabar was played by Robin Thomas. He had previously been cast as Mark Singleton from 1983 to 1985 in the soap opera Another World (1964-99) and went on to be cast as Paul Kellogg in Season 1 of the NBC series The Mommies (1993-95). More recently, Thomas appeared as Marco Serrano in the series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-19) and has starred as Graham Winslow in the Mystery 101 Hallmark series of films.

Finally, there are a couple of Halloweentown residents to mention. One is Luke, who the Piper children are warned about early on in the film. Although most residents are becoming mean and horrible and then disappearing, Luke has actually become more handsome, with his warts being removed and his nose being made smaller. But with this new look, Luke’s personality has also changed, and he has started to act egotistical and arrogant. He is in fact an accomplice to Kalabar’s plot, however, when he sees Kalabar attack Aggie, something that he was not told about and does not want to be a part of, he rejects Kalabar and realises he was on the wrong side. From then on, Luke actively helps Marnie to defeat him; by using himself as a distraction so Marnie has time to install the talisman. At the end of the film, we see that with Kalabar gone, Luke’s face has returned to normal, and he has regrets over helping him. He apologises to Marnie and hopes they can be friends in the future, showing that Luke is not a bad guy; he just made some bad choices.

Luke was played by Phillip Van Dyke, who had previously been cast as Ellis Solomon in NBC’s The Home Court (1995-96) prior to his role in Halloweentown. Van Dyke has also done some voice work, such as voicing Young Martin in the direct-to-video sequel The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue (1998) and Ivan Romanov in Bartok the Magnificent (1999). He was also the voice of Arnold Shortman in Seasons 2 and 3 of the Nickelodeon show Hey Arnold! (1996-2004). He went on to star as Noah Beznick in Nickelodeon’s Noah Knows Best (2000) after Halloweentown.

Then there is Benny the cab driver. Benny is a skeleton who happens to drive a taxi, not strange at all. He is chatty and clearly knows all the goings-on in Halloweentown, such as Luke’s sudden transformation. He makes a lot of jokes which the Piper children don’t always understand. Although Benny is generally a nice guy, he attacks Dylan after coming under the influence of Kalabar, leading to Sophie setting a dog on him to leave them alone. Benny returns at the end of the film, back to normal now Kalabar has gone. Benny’s voice was provided by Rino Romano. Romano has voiced Spider-Man in various video games and the series Spider-Man Unlimited (1999-2001). He also voiced Batman in the series The Batman (2004-08) and was the narrator of the Curious George animated series (2006-22).

MUSIC

Presumably to fit in with the fantastical setting, Halloweentown does not feature any generic pop songs within the movie, unlike many other Disney Channel movies, where these sorts of songs are used for montages, parties, and general background music.

Halloweentown simply relies on its score, composed by Mark Mothersbaugh. Mothersbaugh returned to Disney Channel to compose the music for the first Halloweentown sequel, Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001), but also worked on the score for the DCOMs Can of Worms (1999) and The Even Stevens Movie (2003). Outside of this, Mothersbaugh has composed music for the Rugrats franchise, including for the original series, and its three theatrically-released movies The Rugrats Movie (1998), Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000), and Rugrats Go Wild (2003). He has also worked with Pixar previously, on the music for their series Cars Toons (2008-14) and is set to compose the score for their new movie Hoppers (2026).

The official score for Halloweentown was released digitally for the first time in September 2023, for the movie’s 25^th anniversary. This is quite uncommon for Disney Channel to do. If you’re lucky enough to find your favourite DCOM has an official soundtrack, it may only contain one track that is an excerpt of the movie’s score, if any portion of the score appears at all. This shows the popularity and recognisability of Halloweentown’s score

The soundtrack consists of 24 separate tracks, with the most recognisable track being the main Halloweentown theme. After a relatively mysterious opening, the track morphs into a jolly, upbeat tune to match the whimsical nature of Halloweentown. This music is repeated often throughout the movie, including in “Farewell” and “The Town Story”, and the End Credits. I also like “Aggie’s Bus Flies In”, which is another happy tune to match the excitement that Aggie feels visiting her grandchildren on Halloween night. This motif is repeated on the track “Bus Ride”, for when Marnie and Dylan follow Aggie onto the bus back to Halloweentown. The “Halloweentown Book Pt. 1” and “Halloweentown Book Pt. 2” tracks are quite relaxing too, used for when Aggie is telling her grandchildren a “bedtime story”, which is actually a book all about Halloweentown. “Cromwell’s Victory”, when the family overpower Kalabar using their collective powers, is another nice piece of music here. There are some spookier and more fearful inclusions in the score as well, to match the danger that is facing Halloweentown, such as “Cauldron”, and “Dark Theater”.

PRODUCTION

Halloweentown began life as a simple question asked by the stepdaughter of producer Sheri Singer. This question was: where do all the creatures from Halloween go after Halloween night is over? This gave Singer and her husband Steve White the concept for a new movie.

Initially, the two pitched the idea to NBC. NBC liked the original concept. Screenwriter Paul Bernbaum was then brought in to write the movie. Prior to Halloweentown, Bernbaum had created the science-fiction series Deadly Games (1995-96), and written the comedy movies Rent-a-Kid (1995), which starred Leslie Nielsen and Christopher Lloyd, and its sequel Family Plan (1997), which saw Leslie Nielsen return to the lead role. He had also written some episodes in the earlier seasons of the crime drama series 21 Jump Street (1987-91). After seeing the full script, NBC decided that Halloweentown was too young to fit their target audience, despite Bernbaum claiming that parts of it were quite scary. So, the idea was taken to Disney, who also passed on it. At least to begin with. After their first official Disney Channel Original Movie, Under Wraps, a kid-friendly Halloween movie, did well on its premiere in October 1997, Disney decided to move forward with Halloweentown.

Now the film was at Disney, two screenwriters, Jon Cooksey and Ali Matheson, came in to rewrite some parts of the original screenplay to ensure it fit with the younger audience that Disney would be aiming this new movie at. Jon Cooksey and Ali Matheson had previously worked on the original Rugrats (1991-2004) before co-writing Halloweentown, and went on to create the Canadian supernatural drama series The Collector (2004-06) together. There have been some comments over how much of the story was taken from Harry Potter in particular, since both stories are about a teenager finding they are a part of a magical dynasty, and needing training to fulfil their magical potential. They even both have a dark wizard who needs to be stopped by this young witch or wizard. The first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was published in June 1997 in the UK, however, it did not reach the US until September 1998, under the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, so it is unlikely that elements of Harry Potter were “stolen” by Disney; it is likely just a coincidence that these similarities exist, being found after Harry Potter became a success[2].

There was going to be a different ending to Halloweentown. Instead of Marnie putting the talisman into the town’s jack-o’-lantern, she was going to have to place the talisman in the middle of the forest where she would age with every step she took. Perhaps this ending was a bit too dark so that is why it was changed, but work had begun on this ending, with moulds of Kimberly J. Brown’s head being taken for the aging process. These were obviously not used, so Brown ending up taken one of her heads as a memento from set!

Duwayne Dunham was brought in to be the director of Halloweentown. Brink! (1998) was the first Disney Channel Original Movie to go into production, and Dunham had expected to be offered that, but was instead tasked with making Halloweentown. Halloweentown was the second DCOM to go into production, even though it became the fourth DCOM ever released. Dunham went on to direct numerous other Disney Channel movies, including The Thirteenth Year (1999), Double Teamed (2002), Tiger Cruise (2004), and Now You See It…. (2005). He also directed and edited some episodes of the original Twin Peaks (1990-91) as well as directing episodes of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). Dunham won a Primetime Emmy award for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series for his work on the original Twin Peaks.

The budget for Halloweentown was reportedly cut from around $20-30 million to just $4 million, meaning that tough decisions had to be made to keep within budget. Remember, Disney Channel Original Movies back in the late 1990s and early 2000s were not the same movies that we have been watching since High School Musical and beyond. For example, special effects had to be used sparely, which isn’t easy when the film is all about magic, and the shoot only lasted around 24 days, and was filmed during a particularly hot summer in Oregon in July 1998. It was said that the extras were passing out from the heat in their hot monster costumes, and Debbie Reynolds apparently struggled in her thick velvet robe! The most expensive part of filming Halloweentown was Benny the cab driver because he was a real animatronic, with Rino Romano dubbing in Benny’s lines after filming.

A couple of other movie facts are that Kimberly J. Brown was actually holding a hair dryer with real flames coming out of it during the scene in the hairdressers, where they need hair from the werewolf, and that the Halloweentown story book that Aggie reads to the children early on in the movie was created for real as a fully finished and illustrated book, although only a few copies were made, solely for the shoot[3].

Although you might associate somewhere like Salem with being a filming location for a movie all about witches, like Disney’s Hocus Pocus (1993), production actually chose the site of St. Helens in Oregon, partly because it was mostly a ghost town after the Mount St. Helens volcano eruption in 1980. The crew felt it would be fun to create the town of Halloweentown right there, and the locals were said to be very happy to have them there[4]. Some specific locations include Plaza Square, home to the Halloweentown square and the huge jack-o’-lantern, and the Halloweentown movie theatre is on South 1^st Street[5]. The town of Scappoose, Oregon was the location of the suburban area where the Piper family live.

RECEPTION

Halloweentown first premiered on the US Disney Channel on 17^th October 1998. It brought in around 3.4 million viewers on its premiere, which doesn’t sound like much, but this was at the start of the Disney Channel Original Movie, with many premieres not even having any viewership information. DCOMs were just getting started[6].

It has been watched and loved by Disney Channel viewers throughout the 2000s though, and is a classic DCOM to watch over the Halloween season. It has many loyal fans, and much more positive reviews than negative ones, with many enjoying the characters and the casting choices, particularly that of Debbie Reynolds.

However, Halloweentown has not avoided all criticism. Some say the film is too silly and cheesy for most older children to enjoy and that it looks a bit cheap. I feel that it does look quite low-budget but that’s because it was. DCOMs back then aren’t what they are now. Others said the plot was basically just taking portions of other stories, such as Harry Potter, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Hocus Pocus. There are also comments about the story lacking much content or excitement, although it is admitted that this first movie was probably laying a foundation for further potential movies. Many of the negative comments also seem to be from people who found Halloweentown much later in life, and much later than its release date, with some of those thinking that you need the childhood nostalgia to really enjoy them, which I can agree with.

There is also a potential plot hole that if Marnie is already 13, then this would’ve been her 14^th Halloween, not her 13^th, but others have come back by saying that Marnie might be 12, but soon to be 13, so she is just saying she’s 13, because she basically is. I can’t say I noticed that, but I guess it makes sense! Another question is around Gwen and her husband’s first meeting, with many wondering if Gwen had to reunite with him the following Halloween, since the portal between Halloweentown and the mortal world is only open on Halloween, or did she stay in the mortal world from that night on[7]? I would’ve liked to have seen more about this, but it’s just a lack of a backstory and doesn’t change the film’s plot.

Halloweentown was not nominated for any major awards, however, two of its young cast were nominated for their performances. Kimberly J. Brown was nominated in the category of Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series, or Series: Leading Young Actress at the Young Artist Awards, and Phillip Van Dyke was nominated for a YoungStar Award for Best Young Actor in a Mini-Series/Made for TV Film.

LEGACY

As most viewers of Halloweentown know, this was just the first in a series of four movies. The first sequel Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge came to Disney Channel in 2001.

Outside of that, Halloweentown has been remembered in a celebration held in the town of St. Helens over the Halloween season. This event is called Spirit of Halloweentown, and usually runs from the last weekend in September to 31^st October.

Spirit of Halloweentown pays homage to the 1998 DCOM, with decorations filling up the town, taking around two weeks to set up, including a fiberglass jack-o’-lantern taking pride of place in the Plaza Square, just like the one in the movie. The event includes a haunted house, a hay maze, and a train ride taking riders on a tour of filming locations.

The first Spirit of Halloweentown parade was organised in 1998 to celebrate the movie’s release, and was later revived a few years later, eventually morphing into the event it has become today. Many special guests come for the event, with Phillip Van Dyke, who played Luke, coming to St. Helens for the first weekend in October in 2025, and Kimberly J. Brown, Emily Roeske, and Joey Zimmerman, who played Marnie, Sophie, and Dylan, came the weekend before. Kimberly J. Brown was also joined by husband Daniel Kountz who appears in Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge[8].

The Spirit of Halloweentown event first came to the attention of the general public when Kimberly J. Brown made an appearance there back in 2015. She returned again in 2016, and for 2017, she was joined by the rest of the cast that make up the Piper family in order to dedicate a monument to honour Debbie Reynolds after her death[9].

Halloweentown celebrated its 25^th anniversary in 2023 and in the town of St. Helens, that did not go unnoticed during the Halloween season, with the whole weekend of 21^st to 22^nd October 2023 at Spirit of Halloweentown being dedicated to the movie. The teen vampire romance film Twilight (2008) was also partially filmed at St Helens. 2023 happened to be the 15^th anniversary of that movie, so Twilight was also celebrated over one weekend[10].

Alongside that, the “official Disney fan club” D23 released a 25^th anniversary pin for Halloweentown in 2023, of the Halloweentown pumpkin, exclusively for D23 Gold members. D23 also set up a special screening of Halloweentown at St. Helens on 21^st October 2023. This was a ticketed event, including all-day access to the Spirit of Halloweentown event.

The short-form Disney animated series Chibi Tiny Tales (2020-present),which features Disney characters animated in the Japanese “chibi” animation style, released an episode called Halloweentown: As Told by Chibi in 2020 whereby the events of the Halloweentown movie were condensed into a roughly one-minute animated short. There were two other Chibi short episodes released involving Halloweentown. One was called Halloweentown: Haircut, also released in October 2020, which saw Marnie going around Halloweentown with Aggie to get her hair cut. Aggie tries to convince Marnie to let the werewolf hairdresser, who appears in the original film, cut her hair. Finally, Halloweentown: First Date Fright, also from October 2020, sees Marnie go on a date with Luke, presumably after the events of Halloweentown since Luke is back to his normal goblin self, where Marnie finds herself unable to eat the strange delicacies of Halloweentown.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Halloweentown will always be watched over the Halloween season, being a family-friendly Halloween movie that can be enjoyed by the majority of people.

It is also one of the first Disney Channel Original Movies ever released, at a time where the channel was trying to figure out just where its original programming was going, so it has an important place in Disney Channel history too.

Although I am not a fan of Halloween, I do still find Halloweentown enjoyable, even if I do not need to watch it and the full series every Halloween. I simply do not have that childhood love for it, or that obsession with Halloween, that would allow me to do that. But the die-hard fans clearly do, and that is why Halloweentown has continued to be praised and remembered years after it first premiered.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt 9: Halloween Edition (2020), ‘The Halloweentown Saga (1998-2006)’, pp. 85-101.

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt 9: Halloween Edition (2020), ‘The Halloweentown Saga (1998-2006)’, pp. 85-101.

[3] Credit: Emily Leschhorn, ’20 Wild Details Behind The Making Of Halloweentown’, ScreenRant.com, 14^th November 2022.

[4] Credit: Tierney Bricker, ‘These 15 Secrets About Halloweentown Are Not Vastly Overrated’, EOnline.com, 12^th October 2019.

[5] Credit: Kate Bove, ‘Where Is Halloweentown In Oregon?’, ScreenRant.com, 29^th September 2023.

[6] Credit: Denise Martin, ‘Disney bewitches young aud’, Variety.com, 23^rd October 2006.

[7] Credit: Lindsay Press, ’10 Things That Make No Sense About The Halloweentown Franchise’, ScreenRant.com, 10^th October 2022.

[8] Credit: Samantha Swindler, ‘How this small Oregon town transforms into ‘Halloweentown’ each fall’, OregonLive.com, 20^th September 2025.

[9] Credit: Kristi Turnquist, ‘‘Halloweentown’: 9 reasons why the TV movie is still magical’, OregonLive.com, 29^th September 2017.

[10] Credit: St Helens, ‘Spirit of Halloweentown Celebrates 25^th Filming Anniversary’, StHelensOregon.gov, 21^st August 2023.

26th Sep 202523rd Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

How to Build a Better Boy (2014)

BACKGROUND

In the early 2010s, my favourite Disney Channel series and movies were all ending, like Sonny with a Chance (2009-11), Camp Rock, and Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12). Disney Channel was moving away from the stars I’d grown up with, so I decided it was time I moved on from Disney Channel too.

For the most part, that was true, although Descendants and Liv and Maddie (2013-17) occasionally brought me back. But every time I watched trailers or adverts on Disney Channel at that time for new shows or DCOMs, I felt like the whole channel was changing and it was becoming something very different from what I’d known as a tween or teen.

If you talk to anyone who has watched Disney Channel, they will tell you that whatever was on when they were watching was the best, therefore, their era of Disney Channel was superior to any other. So, the 2010s are not “my era”, and they never will be. I will always prefer what was on in the 2000s to anything from the 2010s onwards. My stars were Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, and Demi Lovato.

But those watching in the 2010s had their own stars, many of whom became household names, like Zendaya, Dove Cameron, and China Anne McClain. The 2010s hold their breakout moments, thanks to a mixture of leading roles in series and star performances in Disney Channel Original Movies. Just one of these was 2014’s How to Build a Better Boy.

As we all know, Disney Channel like to put well-known Disney names front and centre of their movies. It’s good for viewership and good for business. In this case, they took China Anne McClain from A.N.T Farm (2011-14) and teamed her up with Kelli Berglund from Lab Rats (2012-16) for this film.

I had not seen How to Build a Better Boy before, apart from perhaps seeing a few clips. I also hadn’t seen Kelli Berglund in anything previously, although I did know McClain from various Disney and non-Disney projects beforehand. I’ve always liked her. That definitely helped me like this movie more than perhaps I would have had the two leads both been completely unknown to me.

How to Build a Better Boy was not the best DCOM I’ve ever seen, but it wasn’t the worst either. I found it was fairly entertaining and watchable, mostly because the premise was not unique to me, whereas this seems to have irritated others, who called it a “rip off”, as it is quite similar to a certain 1980s John Hughes comedy.

PLOT

How to Build a Better Boy begins with the US Army and Department of Defense pursuing two fugitives who have stolen a $3 billion weapon from the government. The fugitives are trapped and told by a general that they will be tried for treason and should show themselves to stop things getting worse. Another man says they definitely should – or they won’t be able to attend Homecoming… Um, what? It is revealed these fugitives are two teenage girls.

The story really begins two days earlier. At school, these two girls, Mae and Gabby, are sophomores but they are excelling in their academics, going to classes with the Seniors. They are seen as “nerds” who don’t fit in with the rest of their class. Mae spends time tutoring too, with one of those she tutors being Jaden, a jock who needs help in Math. Mae has a huge crush on Jaden, but Gabby continuously tells her that Jaden is not and will never be interested in someone like her, but Mae clings on to some hope that perhaps he does. Mae gets a text from Jaden, saying to meet him after football practice, which makes Mae wonder if he’s going to ask her to the Homecoming Dance. After all, he told her in tutoring that she ought to go to the dance… Gabby tells her that is not going to happen.

Popular girl Nevaeh approaches the two as they wait to see what Jaden wants to talk to Mae about. Nevaeh tells Mae that she will be going to Homecoming with Jaden because they’ve been going out for a whole 17 days! Jaden comes up to them after practice and says he was actually going to ask Mae for some extra help with his Math. Embarrassed, Mae tells them all that she already has a hot boyfriend, called Albert. He’s a genius, and sporty, and charitable, and just amazing. Nevaeh calls Mae’s bluff and says she wants to meet him. Mae and Gabby are picked up from school by Mae’s brother Bart. He says he saw Mae’s conversation with Nevaeh on the school’s website, humiliating Mae further.

That evening, Mae and Gabby discuss the fake boyfriend problem. Mae admits she’ll probably just have to tell the truth and say Albert was completely made-up. Gabby comes up with a better idea though: they’ll make Gabby a fake virtual boyfriend, using Mae’s father’s software from his video game company. It’s not like he works for the government.

Except it turns out Mae’s father actually does work for the US government, with the video game company being a cover. Mae’s father, Dr. James Hartley, has been working on the creation of a covert robotic operative, basically the perfect spy. He has just been given clearance to make this robot a reality.

Back at home, Gabby starts hacking into the software, known as X-17, causing all the technology at both Dr. Hartley’s laboratory and home office to switch on. Gabby gets Mae to answer the question prompts to build the boyfriend’s look and personality, covering areas like political allegiance, capabilities, personality, and even commander name. Once those have been answered, Gabby and Mae get their first look at “Albert”. A spark shocks them both from Gabby’s laptop screen, and the whole laboratory goes into overload as the “X-17” begins fabrication. Gabby says she can smell smoke, and thinks they may have fried some circuits. Going downstairs, the girls discover the mess is so much worse than that as all of Dr. Hartley’s home office equipment has been completely destroyed – and he’s on his way home! Gabby asks Mae’s brother Bart to stall him and keep him away from the office. Bart says he’ll only do that if Gabby agrees to be his date to the Homecoming dance. Under pressure, she says she will and goes about fixing the servers and equipment. When Bart and Mae’s father comes home, Bart distracts him with tea and jazz music, causing Dr. Hartley to fall asleep almost instantly. That buys them some time.

In the morning, Bart is left to continue fixing the equipment as Mae and Gabby head off to school. Dr. Hartley gets an urgent call from the lab and rushes over to work. At school, Nevaeh amusingly says that Mae’s boyfriend Albert added their classmates on social media last night, with Nevaeh obviously believing it was just Mae, having created a fake online profile for her fake boyfriend. As Mae is about to explain, Albert arrives to school in a bright orange Lamborghini, drawing everyone’s attention. Mae and Gabby are as shocked as everyone else at seeing that Albert is actually a real person!

At the lab, General McFee alerts Dr. Hartley to the fact this is a national emergency, as their robotic operative has gone. McFee thinks this was a hacking and a theft, and that they must find the X-17 and whoever took him. Unfortunately, the X-17 was built to be a covert spy, so no CCTV picks the robot up, neither leaving the room nor the building. The only piece of information they have is from a dogwalker who saw an attractive man leaving the building the night before – which isn’t much to go on.

Back at school, Albert is charming Mae and her classmates with his sensitivity, talent, and attractiveness. All except Gabby, who is annoyed that Mae is now spending all her time with Albert and ignoring her, as well as being very confused about why Albert is real. She believes he is an actor sent by the video game company to impersonate their virtual character and be a form of advertising, but Albert says he is very real – although his ability to read at lightning-fast speed would seem to suggest he is not exactly human, confusing Gabby further. Albert says he will kiss Mae at Homecoming, this being his mission. Bart calls Gabby to ask what is going on, since he’s seen pictures of Albert online and doesn’t like the idea of his little sister having an actual boyfriend.

Later, Albert is told to try out for football by the school’s coach who is impressed by his strength, endearing him to even more of the girls at school. Jaden is starting to feel a bit jealous of him though, especially as Mae forgets all about their tutoring session that afternoon to go to the park with Albert. Gabby also shows up at the park, not enjoying how nature is affecting her allergies, but she is soon told to leave Mae and Albert alone to talk. Fine, Gabby will just go and sneeze in a corner by herself then, yeah? Albert asks Mae to the Homecoming dance. She isn’t sure how to answer that and goes to talk to Gabby. Gabby tells Mae this wasn’t part of the plan, which was for them to graduate from school early and go to Harvard together, before becoming President and Vice President of the United States. Mae tells Gabby that wasn’t her plan, and says she likes Albert and having a boyfriend. Their conversation – or argument – is interrupted by Albert singing to Mae, drawing a crowd. They finish the song together, and Mae says she’ll go to Homecoming with Albert. Bart calls Gabby to say they need to get home now, because there is something very wrong with this situation. Gabby goes alone.

Meanwhile, at the lab, the government fear that the arms dealer group Black Sigma are behind the theft of the X-17 robot. They ask Dr. Hartley if the lab contains the only copy of the software. He tells them that actually there is a copy at his home office.

At the house, Black Sigma are scouting out the area, ready to go in. They are annoyed someone stole the X-17 before they could, so now they’ll have to find it. Also at the house, Gabby is told by Bart that, after fixing the computer, he learnt that Gabby has hacked into the Pentagon and tells her that his father works for the Department of Defense. Gabby is surprised that she managed to hack the Pentagon. On the computer, they find the manual for the X-17 robotic operative and this is where they learn that Albert is the X-17. At that moment, Black Sigma break into the office, so Bart and Gabby hide. Black Sigma take the X-17 files and destroy the servers. Government officials then arrive at the house and question Bart and Gabby. They pretend that they didn’t see anything and quickly make their excuses to leave the house. Black Sigma follow Bart and Gabby, hoping to be led to the X-17.

Gabby rushes to Mae and tells her she is the mission commander of Albert so is the only one who can shut Albert down. Mae refuses to do this, as she is now happy and popular, with her little group of fans wanting Gabby’s help with finding a perfect boyfriend too. Gabby tells Mae Albert is just a robot, but Mae ignores her, saying she loves him. At a loss what to do next, Gabby tells Bart that Mae wouldn’t let her explain the full story.

Albert has been tracked down by Black Sigma to the school and one of the men tries to attack Albert, but Albert fights him off and knocks him out. The other members of the group later find their guy in the storage room. They decide they need an electromagnetic pulse device to disable Albert.

Albert is put into the football game as the team are losing. He helps the team make a comeback with his insane speed and strength, simply running through opponents who cling on to Albert in the hopes of bringing him down. It doesn’t work. At the same time, the General is reporting the burglary at Dr. Hartley’s home to the police when one of them shows the General a video of the football game. The General sees that it is the X-17 playing. They go to the school.

As the game ends, Black Sigma use their device, and the Department of Defense arrive too to retrieve Albert. Albert is momentarily stunned by the pulse but makes an escape. The army’s arrival at the school causes everyone to scatter, with Gabby finally telling Mae everything she knows about Albert and what they’ve done. They go and hide. Nevaeh happens to overhear all this new information about Albert.

The government catch Black Sigma, but the X-17 is nowhere to be found, so they go after who stole him. The girls are tracked down, as per the opening scene. They are taken back to Dr. Hartley’s lab and are warned that what they’ve done could have had severe consequences for the world. However, they are told they are free to go as the General knows their intentions were nothing harmful. Mae asks where Albert is. The General says his system was temporarily taken down because of the electromagnetic pulse, but that he rebooted back to his default soldier mode, and is being tracked doing good all over the world. Mae is devastated that Albert won’t be with her anymore, but she believes he will come back for her, which frustrates Gabby who cannot get through to Mae.

At the Homecoming dance, Gabby arrives with Bart, and Jaden arrives with Nevaeh. He tries to talk to Mae, who arrives alone, but Nevaeh pulls him away. Suddenly, Mae sees a car pull up and who should come out of it but Albert. Dr. Hartley, who dropped Mae off at the dance, is also shocked but happy Mae gets to keep her date for Homecoming. But the General and the army arrive at the dance, knowing that this is where he would be. They plan to take the X-17 by force, but Dr. Hartley says if they let Albert finish his mission, which is to kiss Mae at the dance, then Albert will come peacefully. The General doesn’t want to do this, but when Dr. Hartley threatens to quit, the General reconsiders and orders everyone to prepare for “Operation Pucker Up”.

Inside, everyone is surprised to see Albert and Mae arrive together. Gabby tells Albert there is no way that he and Mae will ever be together, but he ignores her. Nevaeh and Jaden argue about how self-obsessed she is, and the two break up. As Homecoming Queen is announced, Mae is shocked to discover she was voted Homecoming Queen, which also horrifies Nevaeh who was sure it would be her. Dr. Hartley is so proud of his daughter – until he’s told by the General that they stuffed the ballot box to ensure she won! Nevaeh interrupts Mae’s Homecoming Queen speech and attempts to reveal Albert’s true identity. Instead, Jaden and others make out that Nevaeh is merely complimenting him, by calling him “dangerous” and a “machine”. She is ignored and the dance continues.

Jaden tells Bart and Gabby that he has spent too much time worrying about what people think. He admits he wanted to ask Mae to the dance but never had the guts to do so, and now she is with Albert. Gabby is annoyed at herself for always telling Mae that Jaden never liked her, when actually he did. She goes to find her and apologises for what she said about Jaden, saying she hasn’t been a very good friend to Mae recently, feeling like she’s been holding Mae back. The two reconcile.

Mae and Albert are given a slow dance together in front of everyone, which has been carefully manufactured with lights, rose petals, and a sparkly moon by the General to make sure this kiss happens. However, as Albert leans in, Mae pulls back, saying this isn’t how she wanted her first kiss to be because it is all too perfect and doesn’t feel real. Mae then sees that the army are all around them. Albert says he already knew but he had to make this the best night of Mae’s life. Now that it is over, he asks Mae to say the words. Mae tells him to initiate self-destruct. He says goodbye and his self-destruction begins, ripping a hole in the roof as he flies up and into the sky. To cover up the true reason for this, Bart tells everyone to appreciate the special effect display that the school put on for the dance!

The dance continues. Jaden talks to Mae and tells her that the line of smoke Albert left behind is a perfect logarithmic curve. He says he was never bad at Math and actually just liked spending time with his tutor. Jaden asks Mae to dance, but she says no, choosing to talk to Gabby instead. Mae tells Gabby she shouldn’t have let anything or anyone get in the way of their friendship, not even boys. Gabby then admits that she actually likes Mae’s brother. Mae takes this information quite well! The two dance the night away together.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Mae Hartley has spent much of her school life fully focused on academics, with the aim of graduating early and moving on to bigger and better opportunities. She is joined, or perhaps coaxed, into this journey by her best friend Gabby. However, Mae has started to think that they’ve missed out on the other social elements of high school, like having a large group of friends, and, of course, having boyfriends. Mae has a crush on football player Jaden, and really believes she has a chance with him. Since everyone, including her best friend, laughs at Mae for believing this, she makes up a whole fake boyfriend to cover her embarrassment, but when he miraculously comes to life, Mae turns out to be the one laughing. Albert, her new boyfriend, is as perfect as anyone can be. Although Mae likes Albert, and the newfound popularity his presence brings her, by the end of How to Build a Better Boy, Mae has realised that she’d much rather stick with her friend Gabby and actually try to find a boyfriend who may not be perfect but is at least real. That may’ve ended up being Jaden, but for now, Mae is trying to work out who she is and what she wants from life.

Kelli Berglund was cast as Mae, also starring as Bree Davenport in the Disney XD series Lab Rats (2012-16) at the time of filming How to Build a Better Boy. After her time on Disney, Berglund went on to appear as Madison in the movie Cherry (2021), starring Tom Holland, and appeared as Ren in Seasons 7 and 9 of the sitcom The Goldbergs (2013-23). She was also cast as Crystal Tyler in the Starz series Heels (2021-23) and more recently was cast as Nell Stewart in Queen of the Ring (2024).

Albert Banks is a robotic operative, officially known as X-17. Albert was meant to be a soldier, completing operations around the globe on behalf of the US government, however, when Mae and Gabby hack into the software, which they believe is just for a computer game company and would create them a virtual boyfriend, the X-17 comes to life as Albert, Mae’s perfect boyfriend. Albert is tall, blond, and athletic. He is sensitive, caring, and always knows the right thing to say. All the girls at school are jealous of Mae for having such a perfect boyfriend and they all want to find someone just like that. Albert also makes all the guys at school jealous, because they want to be as skilled a football player as him. Albert is devoted to Mae, and not embarrassed about showing his feelings one bit. Because of this, Mae instantly becomes attached to Albert, to the point she won’t listen to reason: that he is basically a robot spy and only cares about whatever he is programmed to care about; he doesn’t like Mae for her. But Mae was right to think he did actually like her, because Albert returns to school just to take her to Homecoming and to kiss her, which would complete his “mission”, despite the fact he knows the army are there to capture him. Albert even understands when Mae can’t go through with their kiss, and tells Mae to initiate his self-destruct so they can move on, showing Albert is the perfect boyfriend even in a break-up!

Marshall Williams was cast as Albert, going on to be cast in the recurring role of Spencer Porter in the final series of Glee (2009-15). Williams later appeared as Sam Tremblay in the first two seasons of the drama When Hope Calls (2019-present).

Gabby is Mae’s best friend; however, Gabby and Mae have differing opinions on one thing in particular: boys. Gabby doesn’t have time for boys. She just wants to graduate high school, go to Harvard, and then become the first female President of the United States, all with Mae by her side throughout, potentially even being her Vice President. Wow, how kind of you, Gabby! Gabby doesn’t think Mae should be thinking about boys like Jaden, but not wanting her friend to be embarrassed, and probably wanting to prove she can hack an IT system, Gabby helps Mae create her virtual boyfriend. Gabby never expected Albert to turn up as a real person though, nor did she expect Mae to become so obsessed with Albert that she ignores Gabby. Gabby discovers from Mae’s brother, Bart, that she accidentally hacked the Pentagon, not realising that they were building a robotic boyfriend, not a virtual one. But when Gabby tries to tell Mae the truth about this, Mae doesn’t listen, creating a major divide between the two. Eventually, this rift is healed at Homecoming as they both apologise for their behaviour, Gabby for not caring about Mae’s feelings for Jaden, and Mae for not listening to Gabby. It all works out in the end, and Gabby even starts to realise that boys aren’t so bad, after she starts dating Mae’s brother! The dynamic between Gabby and Mae reminded me a lot of Ben and Mandy’s friendship in Disney’s Prom Pact (2023), where the bossier friend, in this case Gabby, believes that their friend, in this case Mae, is happy with things being just the way they are, when in actual fact, they want something different.

Gabby Harrison was played by China Anne McClain. McClain’s acting career began at a young age when she chose to star as Jazmine Payne in Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (2007-present), a role which she returned to in 2020. McClain also starred alongside Cameron Boyce in the Adam Sandler films Grown Ups (2010) and Grown Ups 2 (2013). For Disney, McClain first appeared on the channel in the recurring role of Kiara in Jonas (2009-10), before securing a major role as Chyna Parks in the series A.N.T. Farm (2011-14), where she won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children’s Program. McClain was later cast as Freddie, daughter of Dr. Facilier, in the animated series Descendants: Wicked World (2015-17). When McClain was cast as Uma in Descendants 2 (2017), returning for the films that followed, her sister, Lauryn, took over this voice role. More recently, McClain was cast as Chantal Taylor in Adam Sandler’s Hubie Halloween (2020), and as Jennifer Pierce/Lightning in the superhero series Black Lightning (2018-21) on The CW. She also starred as Morgan Brewster in Brewster’s Millions: Christmas (2024), a Christmas-themed sequel to the 1985 comedy film Brewster’s Millions.

Mae’s brother Bart is immediately seen to be interested in Gabby, his sister’s best friend, although we are not sure how or why his feelings have evolved in this way. Bart shows Gabby that he likes her by basically blackmailing her to go to Homecoming with him; he says he’ll distract his father whilst Gabby and Mae attempt to fix all the technology in Dr. Hartley’s home office after they destroy it. Bart and Gabby do end up going to Homecoming, but not before they become united in their determination to stop Mae and Albert being together after learning he is an important weapon to the US government. Bart is actually quite panicky when he learns this fact, whereas Gabby takes this new information in her stride and is mostly just annoyed that Mae won’t listen to her, whereas Bart is clearly concerned about the consequences they’ll face when they are discovered to be the hackers… Well, Bart is just an accomplice to hacking, I guess, but I’m sure that’s still a criminal offence.

Matt Shively was cast as Bart Hartley, having previously starred as Ryan Laserbeam in the Nickelodeon series True Jackson, VP (2008-11) and voiced the character of Sky in the animated series Winx Club (2011-19) and its 2012 and 2013 movies. After Nickelodeon, and Disney, Shively later appeared as Damo in Power Rangers (2017); Larry in Father of the Year (2018); and Alex in The Wedding Year (2019). More recently, Shively starred as Quinten Mark Van Bryan in the sitcom Lopez vs Lopez (2022-25).

As with any teen comedy, although the “nerdy ones” might be the leads, there has to be some popular people to create conflict. In this case, we have the popular girl who is set to be Homecoming Queen, Nevaeh, whose name, as Albert points out, is “heaven” spelt backwards – although what the significance is of that, I don’t know; it’s not like she acts like an angel. Nevaeh is the one to alert the whole school to the fact that Mae has a crush on Jaden, something that would never be reciprocated, as everyone continues to tell Mae. Nevaeh calls Mae out on her fake boyfriend Albert, thinking Mae has just created an online profile, so she is very surprised when Albert turns out to be real – and she doesn’t like how much more popular Albert is than her own boyfriend, Jaden, or how much more popular Mae becomes by being with him. This makes Nevaeh jealous and wanting ammunition against Mae – and she finds it, because she overhears Gabby explaining who Albert is to Mae when the army gatecrash their football game. Nevaeh is then made even more angry when she loses out on Homecoming Queen to Mae so she attempts to warn everyone about the fact Albert is a robot, who could be dangerous. But nobody actually listens, as her speech is interrupted by Jaden. Jaden is the jock that Mae has been tutoring, but he is scared about what people would think if he dated a smart girl, so he keeps his mouth shut about his feelings and lets Nevaeh push him around. Eventually, Jaden stands up to Nevaeh and breaks up with her at Homecoming and then lets Mae know that he does like her, and actually only wanted to be tutored by her so he could spend time with her. Although Mae is clearly touched by this, she won’t let Jaden win her that easily. He’ll just have to try harder.

Nevaeh was played by Ashley Argota, who also played a character in Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP (2008-11), Lulu, before joining Kelli Berglund in Lab Rats (2012-16) with her role as Taylor. Argota was later cast as Lou Chan in the sitcom The Fosters (2013-18). Noah Centineo was cast as Jaden Stark, and his career has sky-rocketed since How to Build a Better Boy and his recurring role as Dallas on Disney’s Austin & Ally (2011-16). After this, Centineo went on to replace Jake T. Austin as Jesus Adams Foster in The Fosters (2013-18) from Season 3. He was then cast in a selection of Netflix romantic comedies, such as the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy where he played Peter; Swiped (2018) being cast as Lance; and The Perfect Date (2019), starring as Brooks. He starred as Owen Hendricks in the Netflix series The Recruit (2022-25) and is set to play Ken Masters in Street Fighter, the 2026 movie adaptation of the video game series of the same name.

Alongside this main plot taking place at the school, the side plot involves Dr. Hartley and General McFee trying to work out who hacked into Dr. Hartley’s laboratory and stole the X-17 robotic operative. Obviously, this is important to the security of the US, and the General initially fears it is the arms dealer group Black Sigma who has done this. They are after the X-17 but they were not the culprits. Dr. Hartley and the General couldn’t have been more surprised that it was two silly teenage girls who did this, with one of them being Dr. Hartley’s daughter. General McFee is clearly mostly interested in getting the X-17 back in the hands of the US government, which is exactly what he should be doing, but Dr. Hartley is concerned about his daughter’s feelings after X-17, known to Mae and the others as Albert, is swiftly taken away from her. He doesn’t want Mae to be upset about this, which is why, when Albert does return to take Mae to Homecoming, he convinces the General to let Albert finish his mission, and then Albert will peacefully go with the army. So, the General sets about making this the most romantic Homecoming dance ever, except Albert tricks him and actually self-destructs on Mae’s order, leaving the General with nothing and Dr. Hartley with a feeling of pride that his daughter got one over on them! Dr. Hartley can always make another robot.

Ron Lea was cast as General McFee. Lea had previously been cast as Brian Malony in the Canadian legal drama Street Legal (1987-1994) and as Dr. Oliver Crane in the medical drama Doc (2001-04) which starred Billy Ray Cyrus. Around the time of How to Build a Better Boy, Lea was appearing as Gavin Hardcastle in the sci-fi thriller Orphan Black (2013-17). Dr. James Hartley was played by stage and screen actor Roger Bart. On stage, Bart won a Tony for his role as Snoopy in the 1999 production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, before starring as both Carmen Ghia and Leo Bloom in various productions of The Producers in the 2000s. Recently, Bart originated the role of Dr. Emmett Brown in Back to the Future: The Musical, starring on the West End in London from 2021 to 2023, before moving over to Broadway from 2023 to 2025. On screen, Bart reprised his role as Carmen Ghia in the 2005 movie version of The Producers (2005) and appeared in the recurring role of George Williams in Desperate Housewives (2004-12). He was also cast as Mason Treadwell in Revenge (2011-15), and more recently, as Judge Wilson in Good Trouble (2019-24). Bart also provided the singing voice of Hercules in Disney Animation’s Hercules (1997) and played the role of Hades in the Off-Broadway 2019 stage production of the film at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

MUSIC

The soundtrack for How to Build a Better Boy contains a mixture of songs made famous by Disney Channel’s own singers and actors, as well as a selection of pop music.

From the Disney category, we have “Stand Out” performed by pop princess Sabrina Carpenter. At the time, Carpenter was starring on the channel in their series Girl Meets World (2014-17) as Maya Hart, alongside releasing music for Disney’s label Hollywood Records. She has since had various No. 1 singles like “Espresso”, “Please Please Please”, and “Nonsense”. Her song “Stand Out” is used for both the Opening and End Credits in How to Build a Better Boy. It was written by Carpenter, Rune Westberg, and Stevie Scott.

Following that we have a cover of Selena Gomez & the Scene’s 2011 song “Love You Like a Love Song” from their third and final album When the Sun Goes Down. In 2014, Gomez was no longer a fixture on Disney Channel screens, and she was releasing music as a solo artist. But the use of this song in How to Build a Better Boy shows how popular her music still was, especially amongst Disney Channel viewers. In the movie, “Love You Like a Love Song” is performed by Marshall Williams and Kelli Berglund, as Albert and Mae, during the sequence of them in the park after school. Albert begins singing alone with only a ukulele as accompaniment and is then joined by Mae to make it a duet. “Love You Like a Love Song” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, and Adam Schmalholz.

The final song used in How to Build a Better Boy to feature a Disney Channel star is “Something Real”. This is used for the final scene at Homecoming, and is performed by China Anne McClain and Kelli Berglund. It was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, IN-Q, and Thomas Sturges. The song details Gabby and Mae’s journey throughout the movie, however, it is only used as background music, so they do not perform it in the film as their characters.

Outside of this, when Albert first arrives at school, much to the surprise of everyone, “Is That All You Got” by BossHouse is used. After that, we have the song that plays during the montage sequence of Mae and Albert at school together, where he plans a lunch date for her on the football field and frees the frogs that were meant to be used in Biology class. This song is “Higher”, by Scott Stallone, Steven Stern, Cristi Vaughan, Matt Todd Naylor, and David Wade. During the football game, the song playing as Albert outruns everyone on the field was not a song that I managed to find.

For Mae and Albert’s slow dance at Homecoming, the song “Your Ways / I Love Your Ways” by Chuckie Perez is used. There were a few others at the dance that were more difficult to figure out. I believe one song briefly playing during this dance is “Come On Now” by Miss Amani. This is closely followed by “Today’s the Day”, performed by Michelle Lewis, as Mae is voted Homecoming Queen. The other two songs used at Homecoming I have not been able to work out, despite some lyrics being more audible than most background music.

The score for How to Build a Better Boy was composed by Kenneth Burgomaster, who has composed the score for numerous DCOMs, including Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009) and The Swap (2016). He also composed music for Disney Channel series like Dog with a Blog (2012-15) and A.N.T. Farm (2011-14). The full score has been uploaded as a playlist on Burgomaster’s official YouTube Channel.

PRODUCTION

Production on How to Build a Better Boy was announced in the summer of 2013, with filming completed between July and August of that year. Much of the cast was announced, alongside a brief plot, and a potential premiere date of 2014.

This new movie was seen to be a part of the Disney Channel’s changing of direction as some beloved shows like Shake It Up (2010-13) and Good Luck Charlie (2010-14) were coming to end, and new series like Girl Meets World (2014-17), I Didn’t Do It (2014-15), and Liv and Maddie (2013-17) were coming in, bringing in a new cast of Disney Channel stars[1].

The director was confirmed to be Paul Hoen, who has directed numerous Disney Channel Original Movies during his career, both musical and non-musical. In the non-musical category, some of his credits include directing Read It and Weep (2006), Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003), and The Luck of the Irish (2001). In the world of musicals, he directed Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010), The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008), and the entire ZOMBIES movie franchise. Jason Mayland was the screenwriter for How to Build a Better Boy, having previously worked on the animated movie Space Chimps (2008) as well as writing episodes of the animated Disney Junior series Eureka! (2022-23).

How to Build a Better Boy was filmed in Toronto, Canada, with one specific location being the Ron Joyce football stadium at McMaster University campus, obviously used for the football game in the film. Filming took place at this location in early August 2013 for a few days. Production liked the McMaster name and their eagle logo so much that they sought permission to use it, and rewrote their script to make the movie’s school the fictional McMaster High School[2]. North Toronto Collegiate Institute was used for the high school.

There are elements of stunts in How to Build a Better Boy, to match Albert’s spy capabilities. Director Hoen worked together with stunt coordinator Branko Racki, who had previously worked on Pacific Rim (2013), Disney’s The Pacifier (2005), and Pompeii (2014) just to name a few, to work out some of these sequences. One of these includes a fight scene between Albert and a member of Black Sigma. To suit the teen movie genre, instead of this being an action-packed scene with lots of kicks and punches, it was lessened to include mostly blocking motions and no hits to the face.

Another difficult stunt sequence was the football game, which required Albert to run down the pitch at speed. Marshall Williams, who was cast as Albert, first read for the part of Jaden, but Hoen suggested he read for Albert instead, as they were struggling to find someone who fit the character. Williams had the physicality, was a football player, and a model. Hoen and Racki said Williams was a good athlete and very capable with his stunts, although stunt doubles were also used. The shot of Albert having four or five players clinging on to him was not actually done as it appears, with some “movie magic” achieving this. Players actually ran at a padded vehicle as it moved down the field, with camera trickery, CGI, and editing producing the final shot[3].

RECEPTION

How to Build a Better Boy premiered in the US on Disney Channel on 15^th August 2014, with the movie being promoted on the channel throughout Summer 2014.

This movie followed Cloud 9, which premiered in January 2014 and starred Dove Cameron from Liv and Maddie (2013-17), and Zapped, which was led by Zendaya and premiered in June 2014, bridging the gap between her role as Rocky in Shake It Up (2010-13) and her leading role as K.C. Cooper in K.C. Undercover (2015-18).

How to Build a Better Boy attracted an average of 4.6 million viewers on its premiere date, this being the most-watched program of the day for kids 2-11, and tweens 9-14. It also generated over 1 million views over seven days on the WATCH Disney Channel app. The overall viewing figures for How to Build a Better Boy were lower than those of either Cloud 9 or Zapped, however, only marginally. Cloud 9 had an average of 5 million on its premiere, and Zapped had 5.7 million. Anything from 4 to 6 million was standard for Disney Channel in the 2010s. With their three DCOMs of 2014, Disney Channel aired three of the year’s six most-watched original television movies[4].

Some viewers enjoyed How to Build a Better Boy for its message about self-acceptance and not conforming. High schoolers find it particularly difficult to stand out from the crowd and not give in to peer pressure, so to see Gabby be comfortable with her intellect, and Mae happy to wait for the right guy to come in to her life, was seen as a positive move from Disney. Many also praised the performances by China Anne McClain and Kelli Berglund; I enjoyed watching their friendship evolve and change during the movie.

However, there were some comments around the unrealistic elements of the movie, such as the US government not punishing the girls for as serious an offence as hacking is. Although How to Build a Better Boy perhaps doesn’t comment enough on the severity of hacking, in a time where we have an increased number of cyber-attacks happening in the world, sometimes from teenagers, I’d say the whole concept of this movie is pretty unrealistic and leans towards science-fiction so it’s not really fair to comment on its realism! Others felt that the battle between nerdy and popular girls was also an overused theme in teen movies.

But the complaint that came up the most was that many have said How to Build a Better Boy is basically a gender-swapped version of the 1980s John Hughes teen comedy Weird Science (1985), so they claim Disney Channel ripped off this film. The overall storyline is very similar; that two teenage boys who are outcasts at school create what they think will be a virtual perfect woman but she accidentally comes to life after they hack into a government computer system. Weird Science is less “family-friendly” than How to Build a Better Boy and Disney’s version is about teenage girls, because it’s much more acceptable in this day and age to have two teenage girls make themselves a perfect boyfriend, instead of two teenage boys making their dream woman. Hypocritical or not, you decide.

For me, since I haven’t seen Weird Science, How to Build a Better Boy was very similar to an episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996-2003), the Season 1 episode “Dream Date”, where Sabrina’s aunts make her a date to her school dance out of “Man Dough”. Chad Corey Dylan is made to be a great dancer, a daredevil, a musician, and seriously enthusiastic, although one of his arms is shorter than the other. But his perfection can’t match up to Sabrina’s true love for Harvey Kinkle. This is like Mae accepting that, although Albert is great, she’d be happier with someone more real.

How to Build a Better Boy might not have been the most original concept, but it was seen to be enjoyable, although not amazing, by the general Disney Channel viewership. Plus, it was still nominated for a couple of awards. One was at the NAACP Image Awards, where China Anne McClain was nominated for her role as Gabby in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Youth in a Youth/Children’s Program, but lost out to the voice of Dora the Explorer, Fatima Ptacek, in Nickelodeon’s Dora and Friends: Into the City! (2014-17). Paul Hoen was also nominated at the Directors Guild of America Awards for his directing of How to Build a Better Boy but he lost out to Jonathan Judge, the director of the pilot episode of Nickelodeon’s 100 Things to Do Before High School (2014-16).

LEGACY

There was no sequel to How to Build a Better Boy, although China Anne McClain and Kelli Berglund did continue to appear in Disney series and movies after its air date.

You could consider Bad Hair Day (2015) as following in the footsteps of How to Build a Better Boy, by having two main story points. One is about high school life, so for How to Build a Better Boy it’s about boyfriends as well as Homecoming, and for Bad Hair Day it’s about prom, and a second storyline where the leads are being chased for unknowingly contributing to criminal activity. For How to Build a Better Boy, the army and the government want their X-17 back in their possession and away from groups like Black Sigma, and in Bad Hair Day, the two leads try to stop diamond thief Pierce from escaping the authorities. From my point of view though, How to Build a Better Boy balanced these two differing movie themes the best; Bad Hair Day felt very random at times as it switched between the two.

Disney Channel Original Movies explored numerous different genres across the 2000s and 2010s, so How to Build a Better Boy continued in that experimental nature. However, it has to be said that DCOMs are now reverting back to their favoured slate of sequels and musicals once again. More unique films don’t seem to be getting a look-in at the moment, as we have a fifth Descendants film, a third Camp Rock film, and potentially a fifth ZOMBIES film listed as the channel’s upcoming movies.

FINAL THOUGHTS

How to Build a Better Boy did what Disney Channel tend to do with its movies. They made a tween and teen-friendly flick featuring two of the channel’s stars, one from one series, and one from a different series. Combined, they brought in their own fans.

The 2010s on Disney Channel were made for a different generation to my generation of watchers from the 2000s, but the series and movies of the 2010s proved that Disney were still very capable of making television movies, even if they were zanier than the DCOMs of the 2000s. How to Build a Better Boy was a different type of film compared to High School Musical, Camp Rock, and The Cheetah Girls, for example.

But those who grew up around that time probably like How to Build a Better Boy for that reason. How to Build a Better Boy may not have been particularly original, but it had humour, it tackled high school anxieties, and once again, Disney Channel showed they could make stars, showcasing the talented actors they’ve become well-known for casting.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Philiana Ng, ‘‘A.N.T. Farm’, ‘Lab Rats’ Stars to Topline Disney Channel TV Movie’, HollywoodReporter.com, 31^st July 2013.

[2] Credit: Jemma Wolfe, ‘Disney Channel filming teen movie on Mac campus’, TheSil.ca, 8^th August 2013.

[3] Credit: LA 411 Blog, ‘“How To Build A Better Boy” – Creating Stunts with Director Paul Hoen and Stunt Coordinator Branko Racki’, LA411.com, 15^th August 2014.

[4] Credit: Rick Kissell, ‘‘How to Build a Better Boy’ Draws 4.6 Million for Disney Channel on Friday Night’, Variety.com, 18^th August 2014.

19th Sep 202529th Sep 2025 by The Disney Purist

Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006)

BACKGROUND

In January 2006, Disney Channel Original Movies began their revival. This was all down to one film, a musical called High School Musical. You might’ve heard of it.

Disney Channel hadn’t made bad or unpopular films before then, but High School Musical really got viewers to focus on what the channel were doing with their television movies, which had, in some cases, been low-budget and lacking ambition, and in other cases, were mostly remembered for their franchise potential, like Zenon, The Cheetah Girls, Halloweentown, and Twitches. It’s kind of hard to forget films with sequels.

High School Musical wasn’t the only DCOM released in 2006 though. Disney Channel were averaging around five or six a year by this point. So, what else was coming?

Well, there was Cow Belles, a funny movie about two spoilt rich girls working at a dairy factory, led by sisters Aly and AJ Michalka. There was Read It and Weep, based on a young adult novel of a girl accidentally publishing her private diary, and then the second and fourth instalments of the popular The Cheetah Girls and Halloweentown franchises.

Oh, and there was just one other: Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, starring Brenda Song, the first time she was leading her own DCOM, despite working with Disney Channel since 2000. Song got her real breakout role as ditzy hotel heiress London Tipton in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-08).

Now was Song’s chance to take advantage of a leading opportunity in a new movie. And this wasn’t going to be a shallow movie all about high school or being popular, although, don’t worry, that storyline still makes it in. There was a deeper element to this film, with a story about the importance of heritage, putting the Chinese American culture at the forefront. Sure, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior isn’t perfect in its depictions of this culture; however, this was an early example of Disney Channel going some way to meeting now-commonplace diversity and equality standards.

I remember watching Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior when it debuted on Disney Channel, probably because I liked Brenda Song in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. To be honest, it’s not a DCOM I love, but that’s due to its frequent use of martial arts fight scenes. I just don’t like those sorts of films. I have come to realise though that many people within the average Disney Channel viewership seem to have forgotten about Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, so it’s about time it got some love.

PLOT

Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior begins with an image of a warrior before taking us to a group of monks practising martial arts together. One monk, Shen, is told “It is time”, as the evil spirit Yan-Lo is on his way. He is given four animal totems and told to find “her”. He is shown an image of a teenage girl and told she is in California. Shen leaves on his mission.

It turns out this girl is called Wendy Wu, and she is living in California with her Chinese American family. Wendy is finding herself very distracted at school by her dream of becoming Homecoming Queen, struggling in her World History in class in particular and her teacher Mr. Medina is not impressed. Outside of class, Wendy tries to comfort her friend Lisa about her recent break-up, only to be told that she is so lucky for being perfect and popular, and having a perfect, popular boyfriend, Austin. Lisa and Tory, Wendy’s other friend, are convinced Wendy is going to be Homecoming Queen – until they see Wendy’s rival since second grade, Jessica, handing out cookies to their classmates, asking them to vote for her for Homecoming Queen instead. Wendy sees her brother Peter take one of those, and throws her lipstick at the cookie, breaking it in half. She tells him not to eat that, because it is disloyal, only for Peter to point out Austin has a cookie too. Wendy goes up to Jessica and they both fake-wish each other luck in their campaigning.

After school, Wendy complains to her mother Nina about how unfair the situation is, but Nina is too busy working on a new exhibit at the history museum all about ancient Chinese artefacts, complete with eight terracotta warriors. Wendy almost breaks a precious vase, kicking a box into the perfect position to stop it falling to the ground. Wendy’s mother tells her to focus on things that are actually important, like her responsibilities at home. Wendy’s mother mentions feeding her dog Cupcake more often, which gives Wendy an idea: she’ll make cupcakes, to outdo Jessica’s cookies!

We then see Shen is attempting to hitchhike to California but is ignored by those driving by. So, Shen does the rational thing – and decides to ride on top of a car instead!

Back at home, Wendy is struggling to bake all these cupcakes with her father, Kenny, whilst her grandmother watches Chinese soap operas on television. Nina comes home and asks her mother to talk to her about Chinese folklore to give her some context about the items in this museum exhibit. Wendy is told to clean up her mess in the kitchen. Then, there is a knock at the door. Wendy answers it, to find Shen stood there. He tells her that she is a warrior born in the Wei dynasty, sworn to defeat evil. Wendy doesn’t have a clue what he is talking about and tries to shut the door on him, but Shen gets in the house. Wendy fights him with a broom, manging to push him out the door.

At the museum, the security guard takes delivery of a strange box and places it with the other exhibit items. He returns to his desk at the entrance to the museum, but begins to see a weird green glow. The guard goes to investigate and sees the glow coming from this box. Looking inside, he sees an orb, but then is consumed by this green glow, which is an evil spirit: the spirit of Yan-Lo. The guard sees a photo of Wendy and Peter, obviously left by their mother at the museum. The guard is distracted by a pizza delivery, being delivered by none other than Wendy’s brother Peter. He shows Peter the image, and he says that is his sister, obviously confused about why the security guard would care. The spirit is then transferred into Peter and he heads home.

At home, Wendy is on the phone to her friend, being told that Jessica is the guest weather reporter on the news today, promoting her campaign to be Homecoming Queen. Wendy is furious – but manages to fall asleep on the sofa! Peter, still possessed, comes home and sees Wendy. He tries to use the orb from the strange box on Wendy, but Shen, who was keep watching outside the Wu household, gets into the house through an open upstairs window and stops Peter. They engage in a fight, quietly, so Wendy does not wake up. Peter is eventually overpowered, after Shen uses a powerful medallion on him, and the spirit transfers into the family’s dog, Cupcake.

The next morning, Wendy wakes up to find herself wearing that medallion, though she thinks it is just an ugly necklace, and blames Peter for putting it on her; she takes it off. Wendy’s mother tells the rest of the family what she has discovered about terracotta warriors, that supposedly every 90 years they come under the spell of the evil Yan-Lo. Wendy sees Shen in a photograph of monks that Wendy’s mother is looking at, and is confused why he is bald in that image. Wendy’s mother tells her all monks shave their heads, which makes Wendy suspicious of Shen. Shen goes into the house to retrieve the medallion and is confronted by Wendy’s grandmother, who asks if her granddaughter is a warrior. He says she is and vows to protect her. As Wendy heads off to school, catching a ride with her friends, Shen chases after her, telling her to put on the medallion. She refuses and tells her friends to ignore him. Shen tries to follow them, by holding the back of the car whilst on a scooter, but he is shaken off eventually.

In soccer class, Wendy sees Jessica being praised by their coach for outmanoeuvring her in the class. Coach also congratulates Jessica on her weather report last night. In anger, Wendy kicks the ball with an extreme amount of force at Jessica who is the goalkeeper, winding her and scoring a goal, but this doesn’t dent Jessica’s popularity.

Wendy’s dog Cupcake arrives at the school and the spirit moves on to Wendy’s principal. Wendy is then met by Shen again, who tells her to wear the medallion. She refuses, and tries to get away from him. She tells Shen she knows he is not a monk because he has a ponytail. Shen says he was allowed to grow a ponytail so he’d fit in with the contemporary culture here, forgetting the fact he is still wearing his robes! Shen says he saw Wendy’s kick in the soccer class, and says that is her power showing. Wendy asks for further explanation. Shen says he has been reincarnated numerous times to help the descendant of the Yin warrior to defeat Yan-Lo. He shows her an image of the Yin warrior and Wendy admits it does look like her. Shen demands they begin their Kung Fu training now, but Wendy doesn’t want anything to do with it and goes to the mall with her friends. She tells them Shen is her cousin from China and they should keep him a secret – except Jessica already knows about him. Shen comes to Wendy’s house and tells her to wear the medallion – again – but she says he needs to find another warrior because it can’t be her.

The next day, Wendy wakes up to find the medallion on her. Except this time, her grandmother placed it on her, but of course, Wendy blames Shen. As Wendy arrives at school, the principal tries to approach her, but Shen stops him. Mr. Medina asks if the principal is alright, and the spirit goes into him. Wendy complains that Shen is ruining her chances of being Homecoming Queen by following her around, and now showing up at her school. But Shen won’t go away. Wendy then finds out, from Jessica, that she is about to be dropped from the soccer team for failing World History – and won’t be able to compete for Homecoming Queen either. She tells Shen about her problems, with her midterm on China not far off. Shen says he knows all about China and will tutor her, if she agrees to start Kung Fu training and wear the medallion. She agrees, and they have their first lesson in the park that day, except she doesn’t take it seriously at first, talking on her phone and dancing throughout her lesson. At the end of her “training”, Shen says the history of China is already within her, telling her to meditate to unlock the information. We also see the spirit transfer from Mr. Medina to the school janitor.

Wendy spends time focusing on meditation and this allows her to pass her midterm so she can still run for Homecoming Queen. Shen recommends they continue their training, but Wendy is only thinking about Homecoming Queen, saying she needs to get flyers done. She says she’ll get back to training after Homecoming is over.

As Wendy and her grandma set the table for dinner that night, Wendy asks her grandma about her life in China. She recounts a story about a young girl who battled evil, and that every 90 years a descendant must take responsibility and be a Yin warrior. Her grandma tells Wendy she wholeheartedly believes this story. Wendy realises Shen and her grandma must’ve talked already, but Grandma already knew as her mother was a warrior. Shen is seen by Wendy’s mother and he joins the family for dinner, under the guise of being Grandma’s great nephew. Shen starts talking about Wendy’s mother’s exhibit and says he can help her with the research. Peter asks Shen to teach him some martial arts moves to help with his football training. It is also discovered that Shen has made mooncakes for the family, something that seems to upset Wendy’s father, who leaves the table.

Wendy talks to her friends on the phone, who say they are concerned about her chances of being Homecoming Queen with Shen around. She decides to take him to the mall and give him a makeover, so he can blend in more easily. Meanwhile, at home, Wendy’s parents talk about their heritage, with Wendy’s father regretting turning his back on his ancestry. He wants to change that now.

Back at school, Wendy’s boyfriend Austin shows off his new highlights, and tells Wendy that people are talking about Shen and this could ruin their chances of winning Homecoming King and Queen. Shen is tasked with handing out flyers, and his new look makes him popular with her classmates. The two talk later. Shen says Wendy’s great-grandmother almost failed to defeat Yan-Lo, as Yan-Lo has gotten stronger over the years, saying Wendy must train even harder and unlock the spirit within. He also says it is his destiny to die in battle, as he will sacrifice himself to save her.

The next day, Wendy takes Shen to a real teenage party and finds herself getting jealous of Shen dancing with another girl. She also breaks up with Austin, after they argue over the fact Wendy isn’t wearing an outfit that matches his. As Wendy sees the girl kiss Shen, she takes off her medallion and sits alone outside. Here, we notice that her friend Tory has been possessed by the spirit and goes to attack Wendy. Shen stops her and she falls in the pool, along with the orb. Jessica takes a photo of Tory in the pool to embarrass her, and the spirit transfers to her. Wendy understands why her training is important now.

During training, Shen shows Wendy four animal statues, which are all her teachers: tiger for aggression, snake for flexibility, leopard for speed, and crane for balance. There is a fifth teacher, the dragon for invincibility, but that comes from within. As Shen brings the statues to life, they appear as monks. Wendy doesn’t want to be seen hitting old men in the park, obviously, so Shen tries a different tactic. He possesses Wendy’s teachers to be these four teachers, including her soccer coach and Mr. Medina. They also try different methods to keep Wendy motivated in training, such as placing her phone at the top of a lamppost and using soccer as a training tool. The final lesson sees all four teachers battling her with wooden canes. She manages to defeat them all. Her training is complete.

Wendy takes Shen to get coffee. On their return, she gets a call saying she won Homecoming Queen. But Wendy finds out that the battle with Yan-Lo is going to happen on the exact same night as Homecoming. Wendy is angry with Shen for not telling her and refuses to go to the battle. On Homecoming night, she gets all dressed up, ignoring her grandmother’s request for her to battle and wear her great-grandmother’s ancient robes, and is about to leave when her teachers appear at her door, still possessed by the martial arts teachers. They tell her Shen has gone to the museum to fight Yan-Lo alone, and she must go and help him. Fearing for his life, Wendy goes to the museum.

Still in her dress and heels, Wendy sees that Yan-Lo is in the body of Jessica, meaning she must now fight Jessica, and that the terracotta warriors have been awakened. Shen looks beaten, but Wendy and her four teachers begin to fight Yan-Lo/Jessica. Eventually, the terracotta warriors are destroyed, breaking into shards, leaving only Yan-Lo. Wendy’s grandmother arrives with the robes and tells Wendy to wear them. After a quick costume change, where I’m assuming the others cover her, or Yan-Lo agrees to a brief pause, the battle resumes. Wendy shoots a ball of fire using her powers at Jessica and Yan-Lo’s spirit leaves her body and appears to be defeated. Wendy tells Jessica to go and claim the Homecoming Queen crown. But the fight is not over, as Yan-Lo rebuilds himself as a huge warrior. Shen says this is the first time the spirit has ever fought in person. Wendy is beaten back and Shen is about to sacrifice himself, when Wendy hits Yan-Lo with her powers again. She catches Shen as he falls, and uses her powers to revive him, changing destiny. The two resume the fight together, beating Yan-Lo seemingly once and for all, as Yan-Lo shatters into pieces and disappears.

The teachers congratulate Wendy on her achievement, saying the battle is over forever. They tell Shen this will be his last life and should live it well. He chooses to stay with Wendy and her family. The martial arts teachers’ spirits leave the bodies of Wendy’s teachers, who are confused why they are in the museum. Wendy’s grandmother says they were heading to hers to get mooncakes and leads them away. Shen says he actually doesn’t like mooncakes so he and Wendy go for cappuccinos instead!

CHARACTERS & CAST

At the start of this film, the most important thing to Wendy Wu is winning Homecoming Queen. She isn’t bothered about schoolwork, nor is she too bothered about family life; everything is about winning that crown. So, when Wendy is approached by Buddhist monk Shen and told her destiny as the descendant of the Yin warrior is to defeat the evil spirit Yan-Lo, well, that throws all her plans for Homecoming out the window. Wendy is a bit ditzy and just the tiniest bit self-absorbed. She didn’t ask to fight evil, so why should she have to spend hours training for this battle she doesn’t want to attend? But evil waits for no-one, forcing Wendy to miss out on Homecoming in order to save her new friend Shen from certain death, which is honourable. It’s just a shame it takes Shen, Wendy’s grandmother, near-death experiences with her best friend and brother, and her four possessed teachers to get her to that point! If only Wendy had accepted her destiny from the start.

Wendy Wu was played by former Disney Channel star, Brenda Song. Song has actually appeared in five Disney Channel Original Movies: The Ultimate Christmas Present (2000) as Samantha; Get a Clue (2002) as Jennifer; Stuck in the Suburbs (2004) as Natasha; Wendy Wu in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006), and as London Tipton in The Suite Life Movie (2011), reprising her role from both The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-08) and The Suite Life on Deck (2008-11). She guest starred in the Disney Channel series That’s So Raven (2003-07) as Amber and was cast in the recurring role of Tia in Phil of the Future (2004-06). Song broke out of Disney with her casting as Christy in The Social Network (2010). In recent years, Song has been the voice of Princess Akemi in Blue Eye Samurai (2023-present) and was cast as Mary-Anne in The Last Showgirl (2024). In 2025, Song was also cast as Ali Lee in the Netflix series Running Point (2025-present) and will voice a character in Disney’s Zootopia 2 (2025), alongside partner Macaulay Culkin.

Shen is a Buddhist monk, so naturally, he is very disciplined and committed to his cause, namely to ensure Wendy Wu accepts her role as the warrior who must defeat Yan-Lo. Shen has an insane amount of patience to deal with Wendy and her blunt refusals to take part in Kung Fu training, or even to wear the medallion which will protect her from Yan-Lo’s spirit. Eventually, Wendy is convinced that she does need to train and Shen is by her side to ensure she focuses on the task at hand. He sticks by her during the final battle with Yan-Lo, helping Wendy to defeat him once and for all. At the end of this battle, Shen is told he will no longer be reincarnated to train another descendant of the Yin warrior so he should enjoy his “last life”. He chooses to stay with Wendy and her family in California, so he can eat chocolate and drink cappuccinos for a long, long time!

Shin Koyamada was cast as Shen, and he already had an impressive background in martial artistry prior to his role in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, with expertise in three different martial arts disciplines. On screen, he had been cast as Nobutada Katsumoto in The Last Samurai (2003) before his casting in this DCOM. He went on to narrate and co-produce the documentary Wine Road of the Samurai (2006), and co-produced the miniseries The Yokai King (2013), starring as Ippei.

Shen and Wendy’s adversary is Yan-Lo, an evil spirit who reawakens every 90 years to battle a descendant of the Yin warrior. He does not generally appear in human form, but mostly as a spirit, in the form of green smoke, which possesses humans to carry out the task of defeating the Yin warrior. Yan-Lo possesses multiple people in Wendy’s life, including her brother, her school principal, her history teacher, and, randomly, her dog. Eventually, Yan-Lo comes to possess Wendy’s school nemesis, Jessica Dawson, a popular, snooty girl who has always tried to outdo Wendy in everything she does. In this case, it is competing against Wendy to become Homecoming Queen. Wendy seems quite happy to fight Jessica in the final battle with Yan-Lo, but when his spirit leaves her, Wendy has a change of heart and tells Jessica to accept the title of Homecoming Queen in place of her. After Yan-Lo re-created himself to become a huge armoured figure with more strength than Jessica, it took all Wendy’s strength to defeat him, seemingly forever, making the world safe again and avoiding the need for any further Yin warriors.

Yan-Lo was voiced by Hadley Hudson. Jessica Dawson was played by Ellen Woglom. Woglom went on to be cast as Mereta Stockman in the NBC legal drama Outlaw (2010) and as Louise in the ABC Marvel series Inhumans (2017).

The majority of Wendy’s family do not realise the task Wendy is taking on throughout the events of this movie, except for her grandma. Wendy’s grandmother is aware of the legend and family history linking them to Yan-Lo and the Yin warrior because her mother was the Yin warrior, the last one prior to Wendy to take on Yan-Lo, almost failing to defeat him. Wendy’s grandmother fears for Wendy’s safety but knows the importance of her role and appreciates Shen’s help in preparing and protecting her granddaughter. Wendy’s grandma tries to encourage Wendy herself, by placing the medallion around her neck whilst Wendy is sleeping one night, and giving Wendy her great-grandmother’s robes to wear during the final battle. Because every great battle needs a costume change.

Grandma Wu was played by Tsai Chin, who has had roles in various well-known movies. For example, she was cast as Auntie in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and as Madam Wu in the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006). After Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, Chin appeared as Bu Bu in Now You See Me 2 (2016) and voiced the character of Nai Nai in the DreamWorks’ animated movie Abominable (2019). She also starred as Lindo Jong in the 1993 film The Joy Luck Club.

To round out the rest of Wendy’s immediate family, we have Wendy’s brother, Peter, who doesn’t seem to take anything particularly seriously, not caring about Wendy’s bid for Homecoming Queen, and teasing Shen for his hairstyle and robes – until he realises Shen can teach him some martial arts moves, which Peter turns out not to be very good at! Peter is possessed by Yan-Lo early on in the movie and attempts to attack Wendy but he is stopped by Shen. The spirit leaves Peter and he seems unfazed by it! Then there are Wendy’s parents, Nina and Kenny. Nina is busy researching ancient Chinese artefacts for her job at the museum during the course of this film, asking her mother and Shen for help with some of it. Sadly, much of the exhibit, including the loaned terracotta warriors, are destroyed in the battle with Yan-Lo, as it takes place at the museum. I hope Nina didn’t get in trouble for that; we never find out what happens there. After meeting Shen, Kenny starts to realise he has neglected his heritage for too long and vows to ensure the Wu family are more in tune with their Chinese culture from now on.

Justin Chon was cast as Peter Wu. Chon went on to be cast as Eric, one of Bella’s school friends, in The Twilight Saga film series soon after his role in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, having also played Tony Lee in the Nickelodeon series Just Jordan (2007-08). He also appeared as Jeff Chang in the film 21 & Over (2013) and as Sid Park in Seoul Searching (2016). More recently, he had a recurring role as Jae in the ABC comedy series Dr. Ken (2015-17), which was co-created by and starred Ken Jeong. Chon also recently wrote and directed the film Blue Bayou (2021), playing the character Antonio LeBlanc, opposite Alicia Vikander. Nina was played by Susan Chuang, who played Frannie Ching in the police crime drama Cold Case (2003-10). Chuang had a recurring role as Mrs. Lee in Nickelodeon’s Victorious (2010-13). Kenny was played by Michael David Cheng, who has guest starred in numerous series, including How I Met Your Mother (2005-14) and The Bold and the Beautiful (1987-present).

Wendy’s friendship group consists of her friends Tory and Lisa, who are very loyal to her and fill her in on all the gossip surrounding Jessica and her Homecoming Queen campaign, as well as the school’s opinion of Shen, to ensure Wendy gets her dream of winning the crown. They aren’t convinced by Wendy’s “cousin” Shen, fearing he may damage her popularity but they soon come round to him and find he is just as popular as Wendy with their classmates – after Wendy gives him his makeover. Tory does get possessed by Yan-Lo at one point and tries to destroy Wendy at a party, but that’s just a minor issue in their friendship; I’m sure Wendy forgave her! There is also Wendy’s self-obsessed boyfriend, Austin, who seems determined to show the school that he and Wendy make the perfect couple so he can be Homecoming King to her Homecoming Queen. After becoming closer to Shen, Wendy realises she doesn’t love, or even like, Austin and the two break up after Austin has an argument with Wendy over the outfit she is wearing because it doesn’t match his…

Andy Fischer-Price played Austin. He played Kirk MacKenzie in the Nickelodeon series Unfabulous (2004-07) and was cast as Brody in the Lifetime sitcom Rita Rocks (2008-09). He also played Greg Nickels in the TV movie Betrayed at 17 (2011). Sally Martin was cast as Tory. She had previously been cast as Tori Hanson, the Blue Wind Ranger in the series Power Rangers Ninja Storm (2003) and Power Rangers Dino Thunder (2004). She went on to be cast as Nicole Miller in the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street (1992-present) from 2009 until 2025. Lisa was played by Anna Hutchinson, who was also in Shortland Street, as Delphi Greenlaw from 2002 to 2004. She was in the Power Rangers series Jungle Fury (2008) after her role in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, being cast as Lily Chilman, the Jungle Fury Yellow Ranger. Hutchinson later appeared as Sasha in the sitcom Anger Management (2012-14), and as Amy Smart in the New Zealand comedy-drama series Go Girls (2009-13).

Strangely enough, it is not only Anna Hutchinson and Sally Martin who appear in both Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior and some sort of Power Rangers series. Geoff Dolan, who played the security guard here, voiced Koragg in Power Rangers Mystic Force (2006) and Dai Shi in Power Rangers Jungle Fury, amongst other voice roles in other Power Rangers series. James Gaylyn, who was cast as Mr. Medina, also played characters in the Power Rangers franchise, including Mr. Watkins in Power Rangers Dino Charge (2015-16) and Zeltrax in Power Rangers Dino Thunder. Gaylyn also appeared in two other DCOMs before Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior: the mayor in You Wish! (2003) and Longo in Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003), who I believe is the assistant coach of the baseball team.

MUSIC

Not being a musical, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior does not feature many songs. There are actually only three that are easily identifiable.

One takes place during the training montage in the park, Wendy’s first training session with Shen, where she’s not really taking anything seriously and doesn’t understand the battle she is set to face. This song is “Hero” by Jupiter Rising. Jupiter Rising were an American pop duo formed in 2005. They released music until around 2010.

After that, we have the song “Will It Go ‘Round in Circles”, performed by Orlando Brown. It is a cover of the 1973 song of the same name performed by soul musician Billy Preston, and written by Preston and Bruce Fisher. Orlando Brown was best known on Disney Channel at this time for his role as Eddie Thomas in That’s So Raven (2003-07). This song plays during the sequence of Wendy shopping with Shen to give him a makeover so he can fit in with Wendy’s classmates.

Shortly after this moment, Wendy and Shen attend a party together. The second song here, as Shen is dancing with another girl, is “Go”, also performed by Jupiter Rising. This song was later used in the 2007 DCOM Jump In! I haven’t been able to work out the first song playing at this party, which is annoying because a lot of the lyrics are audible.

Brenda Song apparently recorded a song for this movie, titled “I’m Not That Girl” – not the song from Wicked – which was written by Eddie Galan, however, it did not appear in the movie and is not available to listen to online for some reason. It was said to have aired on Radio Disney, but I can’t find any evidence of its existence.

Other songs in the film that I cannot figure out include the song playing on the radio as Wendy gets a ride to school with her friends, and the background music as Wendy is on the phone to her friends, just before she takes Shen to the mall for new clothes. If only Disney Channel credited all songs used in their DCOMs in their End Credits, then it might be simpler to work out the music in them.

Nathan Wang is credited as the composer for the score of Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior. Wang composed the music for other DCOMs including Hatching Pete (2009); Geek Charming (2011), and Christmas…Again? (2021), amongst many other non-Disney projects.

PRODUCTION

Disney Channel like to cover a wide range of topics in their television movies, so as to relate to the kids, tweens, and teens that watch them.

Many involve stories about life at school and struggles with friendship groups or family. Others look at typical sports and achieving your dreams. In the case of Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, the channel actually went in a slightly different direction: by having a story all about martial arts, Chinese history, and the importance of heritage and destiny. It’s quite a deep story, albeit diluted to fit the target audience.

The story and screenplay for Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior were written by Vince Cheung, Ben Montanio, B. Mark Seabrooks, and Lydia Cook. Cheung and Montanio went on to write episodes of and produce the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12). They also co-wrote the television special The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex with Dan Berendsen, which aired in March 2013. Cheung and Montanio had previously written for other series, including The Steve Harvey Show (1996-2002) and the short-lived sitcom Greetings from Tucson (2002-03). B. Mark Seabrooks had also worked on The Steve Harvey Show as a writer. Lydia Look is mostly known as an actress, such as her role as Selina Wu on General Hospital (1963-present) from 2015, but did also write the episode “Surf and Turf” on Disney Channel’s animated series The Proud Family (2001-05). Look voiced the Chang Triplets in this series, and returned as one of the triplets in the reboot The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (2002-present).

Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior features so many martial arts stunts and fight sequences that this particular DCOM was rated TV-PG in the US. There weren’t all that many before Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior with this same rating. Others that were mostly included the scarier Halloween-themed films like Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001) and Twitches (2005). Gary Marsh, then-President and Chief Creative Officer for Disney Branded Television, called this movie “Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon“. Marsh joined Disney Channel in 1988 and stepped down from his role in 2021, moving on to create his own production company, which still develops content for Disney.

This means many stunts were expected. Much of Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior was filmed in Auckland, New Zealand, apparently in order to accommodate the crew who would work on this movie, such as the film’s action director Koichi Sakamoto. Sakamoto was the stunt coordinator on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993-95), before working on other Power Rangers series, including directing episodes of Power Rangers in Space (1998) and Power Rangers Ninja Storm (2006). Sakamoto has also worked on adaptations of the Kamen Rider Japanese superhero franchise.

It would seem that many Power Rangers series were being filmed in New Zealand in the 2000s so the location makes sense, although other Disney Channel Original Movies have also been filmed in New Zealand, for example, Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003); Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board (2007); and even ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires (2025). One location that appears to have been used for filming in Auckland, New Zealand is Long Bay College, the setting of Wendy Wu’s school. The mall used is said to have been the shopping centre Westfield St Lukes. It would seem that the exterior of the Auckland War Memorial Museum may’ve been used for the movie’s Fair Springs Museum, and that the park Auckland Domain might’ve been the location of Wendy’s training sequences. It has a very similar looking bandstand to the one Wendy has to balance on in one scene anyway.

The director of this film, John Laing, is also from New Zealand and has links to Power Rangers series, directing episodes of series like Power Rangers S.P.D. (2005); Power Rangers Mystic Force (2006); and Power Rangers Megaforce (2013-14). Laing later directed episodes of the New Zealand comedy-drama Go Girls (2009-13), from Season 3 onwards.

Due to the nature of some of the martial arts sequences, obviously stunt doubles were used in some scenes, however, the two leads of Brenda Song and Shin Koyamada already had martial arts experience prior to filming Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior. Koyamada has two black belts, in Tae Kwon Do and Karate, and was a six-time US national champion in Kung Fu prior to his casting here, making him an expert in three different martial arts disciplines. Song knows Tae Kwon Do, starting classes at the age of 9. She had actually wanted to learn ballet, but her younger brother wanted to do martial arts. Song joked in a behind-the-scenes interview that her mum didn’t want to take them to two separate places so Song was “forced” to take martial arts! But it all worked out because Song actually stuck at it longer than her brother, gaining a black belt in the discipline[1].

However, both Song and Koyamada still had extensive training with experts in self-defence for roughly three months before filming began, and had numerous rehearsals with the stunt co-ordinators, both in and out of costume, to ensure all their stunts were safe, as well as impressive. They also had to learn new punches, kicks, and wire flying to practise some of the bigger aerial stunt scenes. Koyamada and Song worked well together and the crew, including Koichi Sakamoto, were especially impressed with Song’s skills, strength, and resilience. Other cast members like Justin Chon and Ellen Woglom also had some stunt training of their own for their respective scenes with Koyamada and Song[2].

In more recent years, there has been some controversy linked to some of these stunt sequences, as a TikTok video allegedly showed a scene where Mr. Medina’s skin tone changes. James Gaylyn who played Mr. Medina was replaced with stunt professional Nooroa Poa in this action-packed scene. It was later claimed by Disney that all that was being seen was Poa’s light-coloured body pad which was underneath his costume for safety. Poa spoke out to say that his head and hands had been painted darker to match the complexion of actor Gaylyn. Although embarrassing for Disney and offensive to some, it is not always easy to match body or stunt doubles to an actor’s exact characteristics, as the correct skill level from the stunt double is the most important for the scene. It would seem that this was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment that was not visible to most viewers. I have not seen it and the TikTok video does not appear to exist anymore, so I cannot view it[3].

RECEPTION

Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior premiered on the US Disney Channel on 16^th June 2006, before reaching international Disney Channels in the following months.

The premiere was said to have been watched by 5.7 million viewers. This was similar to the two DCOMs that came before and after Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior. Cow Belles, released in March that year, gained 5.8 million viewers, and Read It and Weep, which premiered in July 2006, reached 5.6 million viewers. However, the other three DCOMs released in 2006 gained over 7.5 million viewers, but these were High School Musical, a phenomenon from the start; Return to Halloweentown; and The Cheetah Girls 2, two continuations of much-loved Disney Channel franchises, so I’d say Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior did reasonably well with its viewing figures. It is also said to have had a very strong positive response with its premiere on Disney Channel Japan, but specific figures do not seem to be available to prove this.

However, as with many Disney Channel movies, reviews were mixed. On the plus side, some felt Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior was a good concept with its action-packed martial arts scenes, something that is not typical within the usual DCOM. It was also seen to be entertaining and showcased a Chinese American family, which was not generally being featured on the Disney Channel at the time. The message about the importance of appreciating family heritage and culture came across clearly as well.

But many criticise Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior for various reasons. Some say it is stereotypical, almost making its characters caricatures, and that the acting is particularly flat here. The reaction to Brenda Song in her first leading role for the channel was also mixed, as some liked her in this movie, and others felt Wendy was incredibly annoying and was too close to London Tipton in terms of her behaviour and characteristics, such as being ditzy and obsessed with popularity. I can see that, but I didn’t find the character of Wendy Wu particularly irritating. Others also commented on the presentation of the Chinese culture in Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, feeling that it was not sufficient and inaccurate. Disney Animation’s Mulan (1998) is said to have been better at doing this.

LEGACY

As promotion for the movie, Disney Channel aired some behind-the-scenes looks at Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, through their DCOM Extras series. After Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior’s debut on the Disney Channel, a DVD with featurettes on the making of the film was released.

Brenda Song also appeared in the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade TV special in 2006, advertising Disney’s travel company Adventures by Disney with a family trip to Costa Rica, however, strangely enough, she was only introduced as Brenda Song from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior was not mentioned, even though it was released in that same year.

It was also reported, allegedly by Variety, in October 2007 that Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior would be getting a sequel, with both Song and Shin Koyamada signed on to return, with filming set to begin in early 2008[4]. Obviously, this sequel never happened. The final cut of the movie ends with the audience believing Yan-Lo was defeated, so there were no signs of a sequel. However, in an alternate ending, Wendy and Shen are brought home by Wendy’s grandmother and Wendy pets her dog – only for its eyes to glow green when she turns her back, showing that perhaps Yan-Lo was not fully defeated and that there was a case for a sequel at one stage during the production process, but this cliffhanger was later edited out for whatever reason[5].

There are other spin-offs from the film that have been mentioned online, such as Wendy Wu dolls being released in some Asian countries, like Malaysia and Japan, and a video game called Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior Kick-In Challenge, but I’ve seen no evidence, like images or gameplay, to show that either of these actually did exist.

FINAL THOUGHTS

More important than material things and sequels though is the reaction to Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior and how it is remembered by others.

Brenda Song stated in an interview with Vanity Fair in February 2025 that she has had people come up to her and talk about Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior in recent years, showing that it did affect some people quite deeply. Song also said that she appreciated how Disney gave opportunities to kids of all ages, sizes, and ethnic backgrounds, saying that the channel was ahead of the curve in terms of representing more diversity on screen[6].

Disney Channel Original Movies are not always widely acknowledged by the general or casual Disney Channel viewer. The ones that have done exceptionally well are films that people all around the world, of all ages, have at least heard of, even if they haven’t seen it.

Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior might not be remembered in the same way as movies like the Disney Channel musicals, but big or small, popular or not, every DCOM has its place and the right to be remembered, especially when it attempted to break down barriers and do something a little bit different.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘Disney Channel Original Movie’, Gilgerfox YouTube Channel, 30^th October 2008.

[2] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘Wendy Wu – Homecoming Warrior: Kickin’ Edition 2006 DVD Overview’, Diamond Boy’s Disney DVD Overviews YouTube Channel, 5^th January 2024.

[3] Credit: Newsweek, ‘Disney’s Painting of Polynesian Stuntman in Wendy Wu Movie Sparks Controversy’, Newsweek.com, 24^th February 2021.

[4] Credit: B. Alan Orange, ‘Shin Koyamada Joins the Cast of Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior 2’, MovieWeb.com, 15^th October 2007.

[5] Credit: Disney, ‘Wendy Wu – Homecoming Warrior: Kickin’ Edition 2006 DVD Overview’, Diamond Boy’s Disney DVD Overviews YouTube Channel, 5^th January 2024.

[6] Credit: Savannah Walsh, ‘Brenda Song Reintroduces Herself: On Running Point, Child Stardom, and Life With Macaulay Culkin’, VanityFair.com, 27^th February 2025.

12th Sep 202529th Sep 2025 by The Disney Purist

Scooby-Doo (2002)

BACKGROUND

Similarly to Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, and Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo has been a recognisable icon and longstanding figure of children’s entertainment for decades.

Until the 2000s, we had only ever known Scooby-Doo in an animated form, much like his friends in Mystery Inc., Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Fred. Computer animation was an evolving animation medium in the late 1990s, and was increasingly used in movies around this time and into the 2000s.

So, the question had to be asked: Was it time we all got to see Scooby in CGI?

That question was answered in 2002, with the first live-action movie to feature Scooby-Doo, creatively titled Scooby-Doo; in some cases, Scooby-Doo: The Movie.

It’s not easy moving a traditionally 2D animated character into the 3D world, and there have been as many successes with this as failures. For example, the Disney Princesses were transformed into computer-animated characters for a couple of scenes in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), being met with a highly positive response. Sonic the Hedgehog recently got a CGI makeover for his series of animated movies, and no-one will ever forget that infamous first take on the character, before the creators bowed to fan pressure and had a second look at Sonic!

Scooby-Doo was similar to that, in that some liked his new look and others despised it. I personally quite like it and feel like he fit well next to the live-action Mystery Inc. gang. But I was only nine-years-old when Scooby-Doo came out, so it’s not like I had much interest in the world of animation by that point. All I know is that CGI Scooby didn’t freak me out.

I can’t remember if I watched Scooby-Doo at the cinema with my family, only knowing for certain that we watched the second one there. I’d like to think we did but I can’t be certain. I just know I watched this Scooby-Doo film on DVD numerous times.

It’s a bit of a surprise that I like it, even from a young age, because as an easily scared child – and now an easily scared adult, but that’s beside the point – I would’ve thought the story would’ve been too creepy for me, and the monsters too horrifying. Then again, those monsters really don’t look very realistic at all! Or I was just too focused on Daphne, wondering if I would ever look as effortlessly cool or pretty as her when I got older. I never did. What a shock!

PLOT

Scooby-Doo begins on a dark, misty night, at a toy factory – the Wow-O-Toy Factory to be exact. This is where Mystery Inc. are on the case of the Luna Ghost. Daphne has been kidnapped by this ghost, but not to worry, because as usual, Velma has a plan. However, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy are waiting for instruction nearby in a barrel and get scared, drawing attention to themselves. The ghost spooks the two of them, causing Velma to begin the plan, by starting the factory’s conveyor belt, even though Scooby-Doo and Shaggy are the ones stuck on this belt, trying to avoid the various mechanisms, all whilst trapped in a barrel and on a skateboard…The Luna Ghost simply flies up, still holding Daphne. Fred attempts to douse it with water, but misses and accidentally hits Velma, who is knocked off a platform and left to dangle by a chain. The net intended for the ghost drops on Fred. As Scooby and Shaggy fear for their lives, Scooby grabs a dangling hook and gets off the conveyor belt. They hit into the Luna Ghost in the process, knocking him and Daphne, and themselves, into a wall of toys.

Now that the Luna Ghost has been stopped and Daphne has been freed, the team work out who is behind the mask. The press arrive for the big reveal, and as the ghost mask is removed, it is revealed that the Luna Ghost was in fact… Old Man Smithers, who did it apparently after being rejected by Pamela Anderson…Weird. The gang also show that the Luna Ghost was able to fly due to helium balloons being inflated underneath his costume.

With that mystery solved, the group head outside, but Fred, Daphne, and Velma soon start arguing. Daphne hates being teased for always being the one who gets captured, and Velma hates Fred taking all the credit for her ideas. The confrontation ends with all three quitting, despite Shaggy’s attempts to keep them together by likening them to a strange banana split. Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are disappointed and leave in the Mystery Inc. van.

Two years later, Shaggy and Scooby are living out of the van on the beach, loving life. Suddenly, they hear a knock on the door. Scared that someone might be asking them to solve a mystery, they attempt to leave without being noticed, but it doesn’t work. Sure enough, someone is there to ask them to solve a mystery. This man has come on behalf of Mr. Emile Mondavarious, who wants them to deal with a case on his theme park, Spooky Island. Shaggy says they won’t go anywhere with “spooky” in the name and move away, but after hearing that there is an all-you-can-eat buffet there, they agree to go.

At the airport, it is revealed that Fred and Velma are also on their way to Spooky Island. They briefly catch each other up on their lives, like how Fred has written an autobiography, and how Velma has been working at NASA. At the check-in desk, they are reunited with Daphne, who is not happy to see either of them. It turns out she’s a black belt in karate now, ready to not to be the damsel in distress anymore. Shaggy arrives with Scooby dressed up as a grandma, since big dogs aren’t allowed on the plane. Velma realises that they’ve all been brought to Spooky Island to solve the same mystery. Fred, Velma, and Daphne refuse to work together.

On the plane, Daphne sits apart from the others. Scooby is initially sat with Shaggy but when a pretty girl sits by them and starts sneezing, due to her allergy to dogs, Shaggy asks Scooby to sit with Fred and Velma. As Shaggy talks to this girl, Mary Jane, Scooby starts barking at a cat. Fred and Velma try to get Scooby to calm down, but nothing works. Fred even tries flicking Scooby-Doo on the nose but that only results in Scooby punching Fred in the face. Scooby proceeds to chase the cat all through the plane!

Finally, the gang land at Spooky Island, a well-known party spot for college students. They are greeted by Emile Mondavarious, who shows them that although the students are arriving on the island ready to party, something strange is happening to them by the time they leave. The group observe a line of students, waiting to board the ferry off the island. They are waiting in almost a military fashion, and do not talk to anyone. When one girl is approached by a guy who knows her, she picks him up and violently throws him across the beach. Emile Mondavarious asks Mystery Inc. to hurry and work out what is happening.

Velma, Fred, and Daphne start exploring the area, whilst Shaggy spends time with Mary Jane. Velma starts at the resort’s “Spookapalooza”, which is hosted by N’ Goo Tuana. He tells the guests that this island is sacred, home to strange creatures, who have been antagonised by the building of this resort. On the beach, Daphne meets a voodoo priest living on the island, who tells Daphne this island isn’t safe, and warns her not to go into the abandoned Spooky Island castle. She deduces that he must be warning her not to go actually because he wants her to go in there. Daphne decides to enter the castle. Meanwhile, Scooby-Doo has received a call from a stranger telling him to go into the forest, because there is a bag of hamburgers waiting for him. When Scooby gets there, he finds the bag empty and a monster waiting for him. Scooby manages to run back to the hotel without being caught, and tells Shaggy what he saw. Shaggy isn’t sure what to make of his story.

Daphne wants to go in the castle, and convinces Shaggy and Scooby-Doo to go in with her, coaxing Scooby with Scooby snacks. Inside, Velma comes out of the shadows, scaring Daphne with an animatronic figure, and says the castle is home to an abandoned roller coaster. Fred appears from a different entrance and he gets the group to split up and explore the area. Fred initially plans to go with Daphne, but after a complaint from Velma, him and Velma go one way; Shaggy and Scooby another; and Daphne heads off alone. Shaggy and Scooby find themselves in a medieval banquet hall, but they soon realise they are being watched as the rollercoaster is turned on. The sausages on the banquet table come to life and pin them to the wall. Daphne, after kicking open a door, is struck by a rollercoaster vehicle and has no choice but to ride it out, literally, whilst clinging on to the front of the ride vehicle. Fred and Velma find themselves dodging swinging axes, and get to a room with no exit. They start pulling books off a bookcase, hoping to find a secret door. As an axe almost hits Fred, Velma tosses him a book, which he uses as a shield, although the force pushes him through a window and down onto a switch in a control room. The rollercoaster is turned off, just in time as Daphne was about to be impaled on steel!

Velma checks Fred is alright, and then sees one final book on the bookshelf. She pulls it and a door opens, just like she said. Inside, they see a room set up like a school. A video plays showing a tutorial on proper etiquette. They deduce this could be used for brainwashing as part of some sort of cult. Daphne then finds herself in a room with a strange pyramid relic in the centre of it. She picks it up and is almost trapped in a pyramid-shaped cage, but she jumps out just in time. Daphne finds Shaggy and Scooby who are in some sort of studio having a bumping and farting contest. Nice… They hear an alarm go off and rush to find an exit. The gang meet up again and hide in costumes. They hear the security team saying the Daemon Ritus has gone, and they order a search for the intruders. After they’ve left, the gang run out of the castle and back to the hotel.

In the hotel lobby, Mr. Mondavarious asks for any news. Fred says they have three suspects: N’ Goo Tuana, because of his speech about creatures wanting revenge on this island; the voodoo man that Daphne met because of his weird warning about the castle; and Mr. Mondavarious himself. Velma takes the Daemon Ritus and starts looking at its inscriptions. She sees a guy she met at the Spookapalooza and talks to him about Mystery Inc. and their case. She also tells him about Scrappy-Doo, Scooby’s younger nephew, who was kicked out of the group for peeing on Daphne one day – and for his general attitude of being better than the rest of the them. Scooby then sees a monster like the one from the forest at the hotel window, causing him to freak out in front of all the guests. Fred is about to tell everyone there is no such thing as monsters, when the monsters come into the lobby and start attacking, grabbing people and taking them away. Fred and Velma are both caught, as is Mr. Mondavarious, leaving Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby to figure out what is going on with Mary Jane, retrieving the Daemon Ritus too. They escape the hotel and call the coastguard for help. The coastguard tells them to wait on the beach, but after the call, they laugh maniacally, showing that they have no intention of being helpful.

Sure enough, the four wake up on the beach the next morning, finding no coastguard has come. They see the hotel back to normal, no windows smashed or any damage, and all the students are there, although they seem a bit different. The four split up to look for Fred and Velma. Daphne walks through a beach party, and is hit on by the band’s lead singer. As she looks at him, she sees he has green eyes and gets away from him, although her concern shows suspicion. Shaggy finds Fred, but he doesn’t act like he knows Shaggy or Scooby. Fred and the other students then attack them, saying they need to “get the dog”. Daphne finds herself captured by wrestler Zarkos who works on Spooky Island. He takes the Daemon Ritus, and her, away. Scooby and Shaggy end up trapped in a garage, but drive out on quad bikes, dodging all the monster students on the way. They find Mary Jane and rescue her, except at one point, she hits her head on a branch and Scooby sees she is not herself at all. When they come to a stop, Scooby accuses Mary Jane of being a man in a mask. Shaggy doesn’t believe him and the two fight. Scooby steps on a trapdoor and falls through the ground. Shaggy goes after him, despite Mary Jane telling him not to.

Shaggy jumps through the trapdoor and finds himself in a cavern, with a glowing vat full of floating heads ahead. Going up to the vat, he finds Velma’s head. She tells him she is a protoplasm and needs him to free her so she can find her body. Shaggy does this for Fred and Daphne too, and gets the Daemon Ritus back. Velma’s protoplasm does align with her body, and as it does, a monster jumps out and is quickly burnt by the sun, disintegrating. Velma sees another protoplasm coming towards her and sees Daphne ahead, assuming it’s hers. Velma sees the same process unfold for Daphne – except it turns out, that was actually Fred’s protoplasm, meaning Daphne’s protoplasm ends up in Fred’s body. The four reunite in the forest, but due to their close proximity to the Daemon Ritus, and the fact the protoplasms haven’t aligned correctly, they switch bodies a few times, until everyone is back to normal. They head to the beach after hearing an explosion and talk to the voodoo priest, who is trying to leave the island. He says the demons are about to perform their ritual and he doesn’t want to be there when it happens. Velma looks at the Daemon Ritus again and they discover that a pure soul needs to be absorbed to complete the ritual. They believe that pure soul is Scooby-Doo. Scooby-Doo has been captured, by none other than Emile Mondavarious. He treats Scooby well, telling him that his friends have abandoned him but he has a task for him: to be a sacrifice. Not knowing what one of those is, Scooby agrees to be the sacrifice, thinking it sounds great.

Shaggy convinces Fred, Velma, and Daphne to help him save Scooby. They agree and start about setting up their plan, putting a skull disco ball in the cavern, ready to scorch all the monsters that will come out once they tip over the vat of protoplasms and they return to the students’ bodies. However, the plan goes awry early on when Shaggy doesn’t attach the cables correctly to the vat, and Daphne ends up slamming into the cavern wall on her harness, having to crawl out of the cave herself. Fred and Velma are caught in the middle of the students as they begin the ritual. They are discovered after Fred doesn’t stop chanting and dancing when everyone else does. The Daemon Ritus is found in one of their bags as they are detained. Shaggy goes to find Scooby, and tries to get him to run but they are too late; his protoplasm is taken and Mr. Mondavarious begins to absorb all of them.

Shaggy grabs onto the pincer that took Scooby’s protoplasm and swings into Mr. Mondavarious. This allows Scooby’s protoplasm to be released and returns to him, whilst the Daemon Ritus closes up and Mr. Mondavarious collapses. Fred and Velma rush over to see that Mr. Mondavarious is a man in a mask. They pull it off to reveal a robot – with Scrappy-Doo inside. He says he has absorbed enough energy to make him bigger, and the giant Scrappy starts to chase them, needing Scooby-Doo’s spirit to complete his transformation. Shaggy tries to protect Scooby but it doesn’t work and he is soon caught. Meanwhile, Daphne is outside trying to release the disco ball, but she finds herself being attacked by Zarkos. The two engage in a martial arts fight, which Daphne eventually wins, toppling Zarkos onto the air vent over the cavern and pushing him through it. The disco ball is release, just as Shaggy manages to use the pincer to remove the Daemon Ritus from Scrappy’s chest, allowing all previously absorbed protoplasms to be released. The monsters are burnt by the shining of the disco ball and everything returns to normal.

As the team celebrate, and Fred and Daphne kiss, Shaggy hears tapping from underground. He opens a trapdoor and it reveals the real Emile Mondavarious. He said he’s been trapped down there for two years, after Scrappy attended an audition to work on the island! Shaggy and Scooby-Doo properly reunite as well, with Scooby accepting of Mary Jane. The next day, the police arrive to arrest Scrappy, and Zarkos and N’ Goo Tuana, who were his accomplices. The press come to listen to how Mystery Inc. solved the case. Fred is about to take the credit again, but passes it over to Velma to explain. They are told about a new case going on in London and Mystery Inc. say they are ready and waiting to help. The movie ends with Shaggy and Scooby at the all-you-can-eat buffet they were promised, where they find their hot peppers really are hot!

CHARACTERS & CAST

Anyone who has watched Scooby-Doo knows that the Mystery Inc. team consists of Scooby-Doo, the Great Dane, Fred, Velma, Daphne, and Shaggy. In Scooby-Doo, the four human characters are played by actors, and Scooby-Doo is a computer-animated character.

Fred Jones is perhaps more arrogant than usual in this version of Scooby-Doo, caring a lot about how he looks and loving the obsessed fans that he has. He is the unelected leader of the group, choosing who gets paired up for teams when exploring new locations, and taking the credit for solving the mystery, something that really annoys Velma. Fred has an ongoing flirtation with Daphne in this movie, although of course, he believes she is more into him than he is her, but that is most certainly not the case. Fred learns how to be more of a team player by the end of Scooby-Doo, accepting that Velma is the smart one who comes up with all the plans, and that actually he didn’t do all that much in helping to free Scooby-Doo. Shaggy was the one to defeat Scrappy, and Daphne did her part of the plan, as did Velma. All Fred did was get them caught!

Freddie Prinze Jr. was cast as Fred Jones. Since Freddie Prinze Jr. has naturally dark hair, and Fred has always been blond, he was asked to dye his hair blond, and even had his eyebrows tinged. Prior to Scooby-Doo, he was known for his roles as Ray Bronson in the slasher movie I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and its 1999 sequel, and as Zack Siler in She’s All That (1999), which won him the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor. Prinze Jr. went on to co-create and star in his own sitcom Freddie (2005-06). He also voiced the character Kanan Jarrus in the Disney XD series Star Wars: Rebels (2014-18), and reprised the role in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He was the host of WWE Rivals (2022-present) for three seasons.

Daphne Blake is seen to be the pretty one of the group, who perhaps isn’t known for her intellect, getting herself into trouble and generally being the one who gets caught by the bad guy, as we see at the start of the film when she is kidnapped by the Luna Ghost. Because of this, Daphne plans to make herself strong and powerful, learning karate after her departure from Mystery Inc. She shows that she isn’t someone to be messed with and that just because she’s pretty and dresses well doesn’t mean she should be underestimated.

Sarah Michelle Gellar was cast as Daphne, who got her start in dramas like All My Children (1970-2013), where she played Kendall Hart and won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for her performance. She also starred in I Know What You Did Last Summer, as Helen Shivers, this being where she met her husband Freddie Prinze Jr., and went on to star as Kathryn Merteuil in Cruel Intentions (1999). Her most well-known role though is arguably as Buffy Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), winning numerous Teen Choice Awards for her role. More recently, she was cast as Sydney Roberts in the sitcom The Crazy Ones (2013-14) alongside Robin Williams, and had a guest role as Tanya Martin in Dexter: Original Sin (2024-25) for Paramount+.

Shaggy, full name Norville Rogers, is Scooby-Doo’s best friend, and they bond over how easily scared they are by everything, relying on the others to get them through these cases! They also like to eat together, always feeling hungry. Shaggy is depicted as a hippie, with his “shaggy” appearance and occasionally laid-back attitude. In Scooby-Doo, Shaggy is incredibly brave, wanting to save his best friend more than wanting to hide from his fear. Shaggy actually turns out to be the hero in this story, which is a nice change.

Shaggy was played by Matthew Lillard who has returned to voice the character in some series and direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies since around 2010. He was cast as Stu Macher in Scream (1996) and also appeared alongside Freddie Prinze Jr. in She’s All That (1999) where he played Brock Hudson. Lillard later appeared as Principal Bosch in the Netflix remake He’s All That (2021). Most recently, Lillard has been cast as Principal Grayle in the upcoming miniseries Carrie for Amazon, and is returning to horror movies by returning to reprise his role in the 2025 sequel to Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) where he was cast as William Afton. Lillard is also due to reprise his role from Scream in Scream 7 in 2026.

The final human character in Mystery Inc. to mention is Velma Dinkley. Velma is the intelligent one, obviously, because she is the only one who wears glasses. Velma makes all the plans, and is given the more difficult tasks to complete, such as examining the Daemon Ritus in this movie. She is annoyed at the fact Fred basically ignores her, favouring Daphne, and thinks she is taken for granted in the group, leading her to be the first one to quit. But although it looks like Velma could solve all these cases on her own, it’s shown that she still needs her friends too, since she does actually get caught by the monsters early on, and Shaggy is the one to save her. I think she understands the importance of everyone in the group, including herself, by the end of Scooby-Doo.

Linda Cardellini was cast as Velma, having appear as Chutney Windham in Legally Blonde (2001) shortly before Scooby-Doo was released. She was also cast as Samantha Taggart in ER (1994-2009) and in the 2000s and starred as Lindsay Weir in the comedy-drama series Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000). Cardellini has recently been cast in various high-profile movies, such as the role of Dolores in the Oscar-winning Green Book (2018); as Diana Hyland in the popular A Simple Favor (2018), and as Olivia in the highly-rated Nonnas (2025) for Netflix. She was recently cast as Judy Hale in the Netflix series Dead to Me (2019-22) and is set to play Pamela Voorhees in Friday the 13^th prequel series Crystal Lake.

Scooby-Doo, also known as Scoobert, is a Great Dane and best friend of Shaggy. The two are quite similar, with their love of food, and fear of all things spooky, but together, they are a loyal team, and will do anything for each other. Scooby finds himself in trouble at various points and is easily manipulated by Emile Mondavarious during this film, believing that Shaggy has abandoned him for Mary Jane, leading to him agree to be a sacrifice. In the end, Shaggy and Scooby are reunited and they do what they do best: eat strange combinations of food together! Scooby-Doo was voiced by Neil Fanning, who is an Australian actor and stuntman. He was hired to be the voice of Scooby in rehearsals, but he was so good, Fanning was cast as the official voice of Scooby-Doo for the 2002 movie. He reprised his voice role for Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) but nowhere else.

The actual voice of Scooby-Doo outside of these live-action movies in the 1990s and 2000s was Scott Innes who was tasked with voicing Scrappy-Doo for the movie. Scrappy is loud, annoying, and thinks too much of himself. He doesn’t know when to quit and concocted this revenge scheme after being kicked out of Mystery Inc. Innes has also voiced the role of Shaggy for various video games in the 2000s.

Emile Mondavarious is the owner of Spooky Island, who leads the Mystery Inc. gang to his resort to help solve the mystery of why students are behaving very differently compared to those arriving. This is actually all a ruse because the creepy, buffoon-like Mr. Mondavarious is not him at all; it’s just Scrappy-Doo in a robot. Mr. Mondavarious was captured two years before Mystery Inc. arrived and was replaced by Scrappy. He seems like a nice enough guy when he is released, but we actually don’t know much about him, only seeing him briefly after Shaggy gets him out of his underground cell.

Rowan Atkinson was cast as Emile Mondavarious. Atkinson was well-known for his roles in comedy series, such as the sketch show Not the Nine O’Clock News (1979-82); as Edmund Blackadder in the series Blackadder (1983-89); and as Mr. Bean in the 1990s series and its subsequent spin-off movies, even returning to portray the character in a small segment of the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony. Atkinson is most notably a comedic actor, also playing the role of Johnny English in the movie franchise; and appearing in smaller roles in the Richard Curtis’ movies Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Love Actually (2003). He also voiced Zazu in Disney Animation’s The Lion King (1994), and more recently was cast as Father Julius in Wonka (2023).

To go alongside Scrappy and his evil ways, he had two key accomplices, Zarkos, the wrestler, and N’ Goo Tuana, who are both arrested alongside him at the end of the film. Zarkos is seemingly the muscle, being tasked with fighting Daphne on a couple of occasions, whilst N’ Goo Tuana, seems to be the mysterious one, who attempts to spook Velma on her arrival at Spooky Island and tries to steal back the Daemon Ritus when the monsters attack the lobby. He is also the controller of the pincer during the ritual scene. Zarkos was played by Sam Greco, a pro wrestler, heavyweight kickboxer and mixed martial artist. Steven Grimes was cast as N’ Goo Tuana. Grimes played King Zad in the Beastmaster series (1999-2002), which was based on the 1982 film The Beastmaster.

Another key character to mention is Mary Jane. She is Shaggy’s love interest who Shaggy meets on the plane to Spooky Island. He is instantly smitten with her. But it turns out Mary Jane is not as sweet as she seems, because at some point during the film, and I can only presume that is after the monsters have attacked and they split up the next morning to find their friends, she is switched out with a monster. Mary Jane then seems to be used to get Shaggy away from Scooby-Doo, leaving him vulnerable and able to tricked into being the sacrifice. She is obviously back to her normal state by the end of the film, but I do question how long Mary Jane is a monster. It could’ve been from her arrival on Spooky Island and she was just always meant to be driving Shaggy away from Scooby. And that might be why Scooby doesn’t like her from the start.

Mary Jane was played by Isla Fisher, who had gotten her start as Shannon Reed in the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1988-present) from 1994 to 1997. She went on to appear in the rom-coms Wedding Crashers (2005) as Gloria Cleary, winning the MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and Definitely, Maybe (2008), where she played April. She was also cast as Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby (2013) and as Rebecca Bloomwood in Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009). Fisher later starred as Henley Reeves in Now You See Me (2013) and is set to reprise her role in Now You See Me, Now You Don’t (2025). Fisher was asked to wear a blonde wig for her role in Scooby-Doo as it was felt her natural red hair would be competing with Daphne[1]!

Finally, there is a brief cameo to mention. Pamela Anderson appears after the Luna Ghost is captured as herself. At this time, Anderson was well-known for her role as C.J. Parker in Baywatch (1989-2001) and had been cast as Lisa in the sitcom Home Improvement (1991-99) in its first two series.

MUSIC

Alongside Scooby-Doo the movie, an official soundtrack of songs was released in June 2002. The soundtrack contains a mixture of genres, like rap, R&B, pop, and hip-hop, although not every song heard in the film is on the soundtrack.“Land of a Million Drums”, used for when the gang first arrive of Spooky Island, as well as in the End Credits, was performed by Outkast, featuring Killer Mike and Sleepy Brown. “Things That Go Bump in the Night” performed by the British pop band allSTARS* is played as the gang escape the Spooky Island castle with clues to solving the mystery. Following that is “Man with the Hex” by The Atomic Fireballs which is used for when the monsters are attacking the hotel and Shaggy, Scooby-Doo, Mary Jane, and Daphne manage to get away. The opening of this song might sound familiar to fans of the movie Labyrinth (1986) since David Bowie’s song “Magic Dance” from that film uses similar lyrics. There is also the beach party scene that takes place the next morning, where Daphne is sung to by the band’s lead singer. This band was actual rock band Sugar Ray, performing the song “Words to Me”. These are my favourite songs in the movie.

This soundtrack also contains two tracks that re-record the original Scooby-Doo series theme song. One of these is “Shaggy, Where Are You?”, performed by none other than Shaggy, obviously, and is used in the opening credits. “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? by MxPx was used as the group try to stop Scrappy-Doo’s evil plan to take over the world. “Thinking About You” by Solange Knowles featuring Murphy Lee, which contains lyrics from the original theme song, seems to have been used in the hotel scene shortly after Scooby-Doo returns from the forest after trying to claim his free hamburgers, scared that a monster is chasing him. “Scooby D” by the Baha Men is another song all about Scooby-Doo, performed by the Baha Men in the End Credits.

Within the rest of the soundtrack, you can hear Uncle Kracker and Busta Rhymes with “Freaks Come Out at Night” in one of the earlier scenes at the Spooky Island Hotel, shortly before Scooby-Doo gets the phone call to go in the forest. “Grow Up” by Simple Plan seems to have been used for the opening shot of Mystery Inc. on the flight to Spooky Island. “Lil Romeo’s B House” by Lil’ Romeo and Master P is used briefly for when Scooby-Doo walks into the airport dressed as Shaggy’s grandma. “It’s a Mystery” by Little-T and One Track Mike is credited in the movie’s credits, but I can’t find any scene where this song was used. The only song to only appear on the soundtrack and not be credited in the movie is “Whenever You Feel Like It” by Kylie Minogue.

For songs not featured on the soundtrack but used and credited in the film, we have “Pass the Dutchie” by Musical Youth, which is heard as we see Scooby-Doo and Shaggy living out of their camper van on the beach in the two years since Mystery Inc. broke up. You can also hear “Take the World” by Evan Olson as the group start about setting up their plan to infiltrate and disrupt the Daemon Ritus ritual that evening. Speaking of the ritual, you’ll probably not be too surprised to find that the “Creatures Chant” of “this is what the creatures sing” was written by James Gunn, the screenwriter of Scooby-Doo. According to the End Credits, it was performed by Danny Saber, featuring Stacie Plunk and Bernard Fowler.

As Pamela Anderson arrives in the Mystery Machine to see the unmasking of the Luna Ghost, the song “Happy Ending” by Fiona Horne is briefly heard. “Rock Da Juice” by The Dude seems to be the music used for Scooby and Shaggy outrunning the students on quad bikes. “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys is playing as we see the flashback of the gang with Scrappy-Doo. “The Name Game” by Lincoln Chase and Shirley Ellison is credited, and doesn’t specifically appear in the movie, but Velma and Fred say some of the lyrics as they attempt to fit in with the ritual chanting, not knowing the words.

The composer of the score within Scooby-Doo was David Newman, part of the Newman family of composers. His older brother is Thomas Newman, and his cousin is Randy Newman, who both composed the scores for Pixar movies amongst numerous other achievements. One excerpt of the score, titled “Mystery Inc.” appears on the official soundtrack. Newman had previously composed music for the animated film Anastasia (1997) receiving an Academy Award nomination. He went on to work on the music for many other family-friendly movies, such as The Mighty Ducks (1992); The Flintstones (1994) and its 2000 sequel; 102 Dalmatians (2000); Ice Age (2002); and Daddy Day Care (2003). Newman also worked on the music for other Eddie Murphy comedy films like The Nutty Professor (1996) and its 2000 sequel, and Norbit (2007). He recently arranged and adapted Leonard Bernstein’s original score for Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story (2021). Newman won a BMI Film Music Award in 2003 for his score in Scooby-Doo.

PRODUCTION

Scooby-Doo began his life on Saturday morning television in an animated series.

In 1968, Saturday morning cartoons were struggling as parents didn’t want their children viewing the violence seen in typical superhero cartoons. The Head of Children’s Programming at CBS, Fred Silverman, started to explore other avenues as a basis for a new children’s series, looking to the old radio series I Love A Mystery and the characters within CBS’s new show The Archie Show (1968-69). He approached Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, who had had previous success with Tom and Jerry and Yogi Bear prior to this, to come up with a new series. Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the series. The basic premise of this new show was to follow a group of teenagers solving mysteries across the US, known as Mysteries Five. This group would’ve been members of a band who solve mysteries when not at gigs. Their names were Geoff, Mike, Kelly, Linda, and Linda’s brother W.W., and their dog Too Much. The dog was made to resemble a Great Dane, but to avoid too many similarities to the comic strip dog Marmaduke, also a Great Dane, character artist Iwao Takamoto gave this dog some different characteristics, like a double chin, a sloped back, and bowed legs.

This new show looked like a hit, however, CBS President Frank Stanton decided it was too scary to air, and asked for the show to be reworked to make it more comedic. The band element was dropped, and the characters changed and morphed. Geoff and Mike became Fred; Kelly become Daphne; Linda turned into Velma, and W.W. was Shaggy, and wasn’t Linda or Velma’s brother anymore. The title changed to Who’s S-S-Scared? There is an urban legend that the characters here were meant to represent different East Coast Colleges, the Five College Consortium, but that was not the case. Fred Silverman was a fan of the series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959-63) so the characters are actually based on those within that series. The name of Scooby-Doo the Great Dane is said to have come from the doo-wop song, “Denise”, performed by Randy & the Rainbows in 1963, where “scooby-doo” is sung numerous times throughout the song[2].

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-78) was decided as the new name of the animated series, and it finally debuted in September 1969, with voice actors like Casey Kasem as Shaggy and Frank Welker, who went on to voice many other animated characters, including Abu in Disney’s Aladdin (1992) and Altivo in DreamWorks’ The Road to El Dorado (2000), as Fred. The show was an instant success, and led to many new formats over the years, like The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972-73); and The Scooby-Doo Show (1976-78).

Plans for a live-action adaptation were first considered in 1994, with Mike Myers and Jim Carrey attached to the project at one time or another. Raja Gosnell was hired as the movie’s director in October 2000. Gosnell had directed Home Alone 3 (1997) and Never Been Kissed (1999) by this point, and was also a movie editor, working on Home Alone (1990) and its 1992 sequel, Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), and Pretty Woman (1990). James Gunn came on as the screenwriter for the live-action Scooby-Doo film. In recent years, Gunn has become synonymous with superhero movies, being the co-screenwriter, and director, of all three Guardians of the Galaxy movies; and wrote and directed The Suicide Squad (2021). He is currently the writer and showrunner of the HBO Max series Peacemaker (2022-present), which stars John Cena in the title role. The co-creator of the story for Scooby-Doo was Craig Titley, who worked on the story of Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) and was the screenwriter on Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010). More recently, Titley produced and wrote some episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013-20).

Gunn’s original screenplay was intended to be a PG-13 parody of Scooby-Doo as a series, in a similar way that DreamWorks’ Shrek franchise is a parody on the quintessential fairy tale, and Austin Powers parodies spy films, specifically James Bond movies. However, Warner Bros. wanted the PG-13 elements to be toned down to make the film suitable for children, so some jokes about Shaggy smoking marijuana, and Velma’s sexuality being questioned, including a kiss between Daphne and Velma, were removed. The word “soul” had to be taken out of the film too, due to concerns from more religious viewers, so this became “protoplasm”. Gunn and Gosnell didn’t feel too badly about these changes being made, since they understood the need for Warner Bros. not to taint the brand of Scooby-Doo, however the cast, who had signed on to this PG-13 film were apparently not as happy to go along with this change in tone.

Not all of these story changes or deleted scenes are available to view, obviously, but some have been made available as bonus content on DVD releases. One of these that may play into the need to tone down some jokes about Velma was a scene that took place during the sequence of Velma studying the Daemon Ritus in the hotel lobby, just before the monsters attack that night. She is seen sipping a drink whilst at the bar, and it would seem that that drink was meant to have more of an effect on her than it did in the final movie. This deleted scene saw Velma lie on top of the hotel’s piano and start singing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” as Fred and Daphne walk downstairs into the lobby. It is unclear who, if anyone, she is meant to be singing too. Others watch on, including Emile Mondavarious who asks Shaggy whether Velma knows that drink she had was actually non-alcoholic.

Seemingly unrelated to the toning down of the story, there are a few other interesting deleted scenes. During the sequence at the airport as Fred, Velma, and Daphne briefly recap each other on their lives, flashbacks are shown, showing that the three don’t have their lives as together as they make out. Fred didn’t have a successful book tour for his autobiography; Velma has actually been in therapy; and Daphne isn’t as accomplished at karate as she’d like to think. There was also an alternate opening, with the opening credits, that was an animated sequence, like you’d expect from the series, before morphing into the live-action toy factory Luna Ghost case. It was decided that placing the viewer in the middle of an active case, even if it was live-action, was enough to keep the feel of the original series in the minds of the viewers.

Gunn has said that he made Scrappy-Doo the villain of their 2002 movie because both of him and director Gosnell hated him in the series. Scrappy-Doo first appeared in 1979 in the series Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (1979-80) as a way of boosting the franchise’s viewing figures. However, apparently there are many Scooby-Doo fans that hated Scrappy, and this was Gunn’s way of finally giving those Scrappy-haters a satisfying ending for the character! I don’t know how I felt about animated Scrappy in the show, but I don’t like him at all in Scooby-Doo so they did their job in making him as unlikeable as possible here[3].

Scooby-Doo was filmed over six weeks in 2001 in Australia. The Spooky Island resort was filmed at the Tangalooma Island Resort, which, although it has been developed and renovated over the years since 2002, is still a popular tourist destination and hotel area, even if no original props from the film remain there. Other areas used in Australia include Bond University in Brisbane, used in deleted scenes; Mt. Tamborine, allegedly used as the location for the Spooky Island castle; and the Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast[4]. Brisbane International Airport was another filming location, and it would seem that the constant announcements, because the airport was not shut down, made filming scenes there quite difficult!

But many of the cast found the most difficult part of filming Scooby-Doo was the fact that in many instances, they were acting to thin air, and had to pretend Scooby-Doo was there in scenes with them. Rowan Atkinson mentioned that his scene “with” Scooby-Doo in the chair in his office was particularly challenging as he had to remember where all the marks were for this character as he walked around the chair and interacted with Scooby. Matthew Lillard had a similar challenge when filming Shaggy’s fight scene with Scooby after he accuses Mary Jane of being a man in a mask. In some instances, there were puppet stand-ins of the character, including a Scooby head on a stick, which would be used with the cast. For Scooby-Doo walking through the airport dressed as Shaggy’s Grandma, someone walked through in the costume with a green screen mask on. Neil Fanning, voice of Scooby, was on set to read his lines out loud. Meanwhile, Scooby-Doo was being computer animated, with the animators having their own difficulties, although they did have some creative license with the character since he has never acted or behaved like a normal dog, so he could be moved in strange ways and do more comedic things. They did struggle with giving Scooby distinct expressions though, finding they had to build in muscle structure to be able to manipulate his face in the correct way.

The human cast of Fred, Velma, Shaggy, and Daphne also had to contend with making their characters literally and figuratively more three-dimensional than their 2D counterparts, as they needed to have more realistic behaviours and characteristics, making them well-rounded people, with flaws and distinct traits, not just stereotypical copies of the characters they’d seen in the animated series.

Scooby-Doo also saw the cast and crew being involved in various different stunts. For example, harnesses and wires were used for when Fred and Velma are being picked up by the monsters; there was a real rollercoaster track that Sarah Michelle Gellar had to ride on as part of her scene in the castle as Daphne; and Linda Cardellini was sprayed with water and tasked with falling off the platform in the toy factory in the opening sequence[5]. There was also the scene of Daphne, Shaggy, Mary Jane, and Scooby-Doo crashing through a window, and Daphne had a big fight scene with Zarkos the wrestler. Here, a specialist team from Hong Kong came in to help Guy Norris, the movie’s stunt co-ordinator work on choreographing this intense scene. It became a mix of fist and kick fighting with wire work[6].

There were some impressive sets built for Scooby-Doo, 25 in total across 25 locations, ranging from small laundry rooms to huge underground caverns. The rollercoaster set is probably my favourite of all of them, because I just think it’s cool that they built a working rollercoaster for a film. They filled the set with suits of armour and gargoyles, like you’d seen in an actual episode of Scooby-Doo when the gang went into a spooky, abandoned castle. The most detailed and complex set was the underground cavern which took around four months to build[7].

RECEPTION

The premiere for Scooby-Doo was held on 8^th June 2002 at the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, before being released in the US to the general public on 14^th June.

Despite, or because of, Scooby-Doo being such a beloved character, the 2002 movie received mixed reviews on its release, as the move to turn the animated series into a live-action film with a computer-animated Scooby irked some viewers.

On the positive side, some enjoyed the fact that the movie was family-friendly, but still had humour that suited both the adults in the audience as well as the kids. It was said to be cheesy, but in a good way, with the story mimicking the series well, but not being afraid to poke fun at aspects of it too, like Daphne always being kidnapped, and the idea that it is always a man in a mask behind these mysteries.

However, there are plenty that disagree that Scooby-Doo is at all clever, or even enjoyable. Those who grew up with the original cartoons were the most annoyed by this strange attempt to reboot the series, finding the effects to be terrible, and the story to be too convoluted. There are quite a few unanswered questions that come up after watching Scooby-Doo, I’ll admit, because many threads of story are dropped but not picked up again. Like the brainwashing facility in the castle: was that meant to be used for the creatures so they knew how to act like humans? If it was, it didn’t work very well because when the humans are taken over by creatures, they don’t act normal – or even like those in the “training” video – at all. We also never find out why these monsters are involved in Scrappy’s plot, or how they came to be involved, or the origins of the Daemon Ritus. The coastguards not wanting to help the gang is another oddity in the story. Some of these questions may have been answered in a different cut of the film, but that doesn’t help when you’re watching the film. Many unsatisfied viewers also commented on the poor-taste humour in the film, including minor references to drugs, some low-key swearing, a few low-cut tops, and the farting and burping scene that failed to amuse some.

Kids must’ve loved this scene though, because it actually won a Kids’ Choice Award, specifically to Matthew Lillard for “Favorite Fart in a Movie”. Wow, I wonder how strong the competition was that year… There were actually three other movies nominated, and one was Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), but as I haven’t seen that or the other nominees I can’t comment if Scooby-Doo deserved the win; it’s not my area of expertise.

That wasn’t the only “stinker” that Scooby-Doo won either. The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, which ran from 1978 until 2007, didn’t let Scooby-Doo go unnoticed. Scooby-Doo was nominated for Worst Film, Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy, Most Intrusive Musical Score, and Worst Resurrection of a TV Show. It won awards for Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing More Than $100M Worldwide and Most Annoying Non-Human Character, specifically for Scrappy-Doo, although computer-generated Scooby was also nominated, alongside Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Dobby the House Elf from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).

There were also Golden Raspberry, or Razzie, nominations for Scooby-Doo, from those “celebrating” the worst in cinema. Here, Freddie Prinze Jr. was nominated for Worst Supporting Actor, but lost to Hayden Christensen in Star Wars Episode II, and the movie was nominated for Most Flatulent Teen-Targeted Movie, losing out to Jackass: The Movie (2002).

But it wasn’t all bad, because Scooby-Doo was nominated for awards at the Teen Choice Awards. It was nominated for Choice Movie: Comedy, with the winner being American Pie 2 (2001); and both Matthew Lillard and Freddie Prinze Jr. were up for Choice Movie Actor: Comedy, but neither won. Sarah Michelle Gellar did win for Choice Movie Actress: Comedy though. Both Gellar and Prinze Jr. were nominated for Choice Movie Chemistry, but they lost to Shane West and Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember (2002). Scooby-Doo, the character, was nominated for Best Virtual Performance at the MTV Movie Awards, but the winner was Gollum from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).

Despite an interesting reception from critics and audiences alike, Scooby-Doo was successful at the box office. It made $56.4 million in its first three days of release in the US, this being the biggest June debut ever at the time, beating Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), which grossed $52.8 million. Scooby-Doo came out a week before Disney Animation’s Lilo & Stitch (2002) did, so it managed to avoid tough competition initially. Scooby-Doo outperformed DreamWorks’ Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), which had been released on 24^th May 2002 in the US[8]. Scooby-Doo made a total of just under $276 million against a reported budget of $84 million by the end of its run. This was seen as successful, but was not enough to compete with some of the big blockbuster hits of 2002, including Spider-Man, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, missing out on being in the Top 10 in either the worldwide or domestic box office.

LEGACY

Specifically related to this live-action Scooby-Doo movie, there have been a few experiences that came from it. The earliest one was the arrival of the rollercoaster Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast in Australia. This is fitting for two reasons: because Scooby-Doo was filmed at the studio next to the park, and because the ride itself is based on the rollercoaster in the film. It originally opened on 17^th June 2002, a few days after the movie was released. It was revamped in 2018 and reopened with some new effects under the name Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster: Next Generation. It has been undergoing another refurbishment since 2023, and is due to reopen in 2025.

The most important thing to come from Scooby-Doo though is arguably its sequel, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, released in 2004. In this sequel, which was meant to be simply called Scooby-Doo Unleashed originally, the Mystery Inc. gang find themselves chasing down the Evil Masked Figure, who wants to bring about their downfall. The cast from Scooby-Doo returned to reprise their roles. New additions to the cast included Seth Green as Patrick Wisely, a love interest for Welma; and Alicia Silverstone as Heather Jasper Howe, a news reporter. Raja Gosnell and James Gunn returned to direct and write the movie respectively. There had been a deal to write and direct a third film, however, the second movie was not deemed profitable enough for another sequel, as it brought in just over $180 million at the box office. Apparently, the plot of a third film could’ve seen the gang in Scotland, with the monsters revealed to be the victims[9]. I know I watched Scooby-Doo 2 at the cinema with my family, but I haven’t watched it in years because I didn’t like it.

For the 20^th anniversary of the film in 2022, Airbnb partnered with Warner Bros. Consumer Productions to host three one-night stays in a recreation of the Mystery Machine. The camper van was located along the South California Coast, and each stay in June of that year was complete with a virtual greeting from Matthew Lillard; all-you-can-eat snacks, like Shaggy and Scooby-Doo would want you to have; and a late-night re-watch of the film[10].

Outside of that, Scooby-Doo has continued to exist in the entertainment industry in ways not directly related to the 2002 live-action movie. For example, the show has continued to be regenerated for new generations, like the Kids’ WB show What’s New, Scooby-Doo? (2002-06), which was the first new iteration of Scooby-Doo on television since 1991. There were also further live-action movies made, like Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (2009) and Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (2010), which were television movies, with Hayley Kiyoko, who went on to be cast in Disney Channel’s Lemonade Mouth (2011), playing Velma, and Robbie Amell, who was playing Jimmy Madigan in Nickelodeon’s True Jackson, VP (2008-11) at the time being cast as Fred. Frank Welker voiced Scooby-Doo. Cartoon Network began airing a new animated series called Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated in 2010, which ran until 2013, and there were spin-offs like the direct-to-video films Daphne & Velma (2018), starring Sarah Jeffery from Disney Channel’s Descendants franchise as Daphne, and Sarah Gilman from Disney’s I Didn’t Do It (2014-15) as Velma.

More recently, we’ve had newer animated series, such as the Cartoon Network and HBO Max series Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? running from 2019 until 2021, and Velma (2023-24), an HBO Max spin-off series focusing on Velma, with Mindy Kaling voicing the title role. A new animated film titled Scoob! (2020) was released in May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, having a limited theatrical release because of this. This film featured big names in the voice cast, including Zac Efron as Fred, Amanda Seyfried as Daphne, Will Forte as Shaggy, and Gina Rodriguez as Velma. Other Hanna-Barbera characters also featured in this film, such as Mark Wahlberg voicing The Blue Falcon, and Jason Isaacs voicing Dick Dastardly. Frank Welker once again voiced Scooby-Doo. Scoob! received mixed reviews, and a prequel called Scoob! Holiday Haunt was later cancelled.

Scooby-Doo as a franchise has also appeared at other theme parks across the world. For example, the characters used to appear in the simulator ride The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera at Universal Orlando from 1990 until 2002. The attraction still remains, but has been rethemed a couple of times since. It currently houses Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. An interactive dark ride called Scooby-Doo’s Haunted Mansion existed at seven amusement parks, including Canada’s Wonderland and Six Flags in St. Louis. It was later replaced in all parks, except for Parque Warner Madrid where it remains as La Aventura de Scooby-Doo. You can also currently ride the trackless dark ride Scooby-Doo: The Museum of Mysteries at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, which opened in 2018.

There are numerous comic books and items of merchandise that feature characters from Scooby-Doo, like t-shirts, mugs, and DVDs and books of the films and series, showing that Scooby-Doo is still holding strong, decades after the character first came to screens.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Scooby-Doo as a live-action movie went some way in modernising the character and the franchise as a whole.

The casting in the 2002 film was pretty perfect, and we could easily believe that those actors were the Mystery Inc. gang. Even if Scooby-Doo perhaps didn’t work so well as a CGI character, computer animation was all the rage in the early 2000s, with many studios using those years to experiment with this medium, which has now become commonplace.

It would seem that particularly millennials have revisited Scooby-Doo in recent years and found they love it, partly due to the casting, and in part due to the production team that was involved in it. Maybe it will only be the children who grew up with this film who continue to be its biggest fans.

Some might call Scooby-Doo unwatchable. Others might proclaim that it was a “genius” piece of movie-making. For me, although I like this film, I wouldn’t go quite that far!

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Tierney Bricker, ‘Zoinks! We’re Revealing 22 Secrets About Scooby-Doo’, EOnline.com, 14^th June 2022.

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Origin of Scooby-Doo’, CartoonResearch.com, 1^st May 2020.

[3] Credit: Tierney Bricker, ‘Zoinks! We’re Revealing 22 Secrets About Scooby-Doo’, EOnline.com, 14^th June 2022.

[4] Credit: Tangalooma Island Resort, ‘Spooky Island – The Scooby Doo Movie’, Tangalooma.com, 5^th May 2017.

[5] Credit: Warner Bros., “Scooby Doo: Unmasking the Mystery”, from Scooby-Doo (2002) UK DVD (2002).

[6] Credit: Warner Bros., “Daphne Fight Scene”, from Scooby-Doo (2002) UK DVD (2002).

[7] Credit: Warner Bros., “Scary Places”, from Scooby-Doo (2002) UK DVD (2002).

[8] Credit: Richard Natale, ‘‘Scooby-Doo’ Fetches Biggest June Debut’, LATimes.com, 17^th June 2002.

[9] Credit: Shane Romanchick, ‘James Gunn Reveals ‘Scooby-Doo 2’s’, Original Title For 20^th Anniversary’, Collider.com, 28^th March 2024.

[10] Credit: Airbnb, ‘Jump back to 2002 and join Matthew Lillard in Scooby Doo’s Mystery Machine’, News.Airbnb.com, 8^th June 2022.

5th Sep 202516th Oct 2025 by The Disney Purist

Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010)

BACKGROUND

Despite Camp Rock not ending on a cliffhanger that instantly set up a sequel, we all knew a Camp Rock 2 was coming pretty much as soon as the credits rolled on Camp Rock. It’s just what Disney Channel do.

After the success of both Camp Rock and its soundtrack within the Disney Channel audience, the sequel had to be bigger and better in every way, especially considering the fact that High School Musical 2 had been even more successful than the original High School Musical. The Camp Rock fanbase was built up at this stage, so surely Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam would do better than Camp Rock – wouldn’t it?

Well, the jury is out on that one. For some, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam was better than the original. For others, it didn’t match up at all, either in terms of music or story. In the midst of that, there were viewers who felt Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 were both terrible!

If you want to look at viewership, Camp Rock 2 did not equal or beat that of Camp Rock, surprisingly, despite heavy promotion over the summer on Disney Channel as well as the soundtrack being released early and even a Jonas Brothers tour being used to market the movie. For some reason, Camp Rock 2 didn’t match High School Musical 2’s journey.

But that didn’t matter to me because I was one of those that did like Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam more than Camp Rock. I liked the fact it had more of a plot, with Camp Rock competing against a rival camp, and the feeling that the characters had grown up in the two years between the film, being more bothered about the fate of Camp Rock and the need to stand up for themselves instead of just being focused on romance and being popular. The music was better for me too, and the ending even makes me cry, every single time.

The possible slight decline in the popularity of the Camp Rock franchise, and the mixed reception to the movie might’ve seemed like the biggest problems with Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, for Disney executives at least, however, there were other troubles going on behind-the-scenes, both around the time the movie was being filmed and its premiere date.

It is no secret now that the show business industry is not an easy industry to grow up in, with numerous child and teen stars having voiced their difficulties adapting to it. In recent years, some stars of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam have since come forward to say that their experience on this film and at Disney was not a wholesome as it was made out to be. Demi Lovato’s personal experience is perhaps the most documented.

At the time of the premiere, I simply thought that Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam felt different because of the new cast members, the bigger performances, and the changed-up hairstyles. But now, I think it went deeper than that.

PLOT

Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam begins as camp employees prepare the camp for summer, and a very excited Mitchie is travelling there with her mother, Connie, who is returning as the camp’s catering manager. Connie is concerned that Mitchie is putting too much emphasis on seeing Shane again, the member of Connect 3 who attended Camp Rock last year, after they briefly showed some sign of romance. Connie reminds Mitchie that she actually hasn’t seen Shane in a year and that she ought to concentrate on music and friends this summer. Mitchie tells her mother not to worry as that already is her focus – until she gets distracted by the sight of a seemingly rival camp just across the lake from Camp Rock.

When Mitchie arrives at Camp Rock, she is immediately welcomed by her friend Caitlyn, and they both question why camp doesn’t seem so busy this year. But there’s no time to talk about that because Caitlyn and Mitchie are soon met by Ella, Peggy, and Tess in the girls’ cabin. They waste no time in catching each other up on their lives, with Tess seeming much nicer than she was last summer. For example, instead of being jealous, Tess is genuinely interested to know what is happening between Mitchie and Shane.

Speaking of Shane, Shane is trying to get to Camp Rock before Mitchie so he can surprise her, since she believes he may be too busy touring to come to camp this summer. The trouble is Shane is driving to Camp Rock in his tour bus with his bandmates, Jason and Nate, and the bus has a flat tyre. Despite Shane’s attempt to change it, one bolt was missing from the tyre – which Jason kept in his pocket and didn’t mention – causing the tyre to pop off and the entire tour bus to fall into the lake below…Hmm. Now how will they get to camp?

Back at Camp Rock, Mitchie is asked if she has a song prepared for Opening Jam. She says she has worked out parts of it, but not all of it, so she gets her fellow campers to help her finish the song and it’s a big hit. After the performance, Brown Cesario, director of Camp Rock, begins to welcome all the campers back to Camp Rock, when Connect 3 arrive at camp on a farmer’s truck with hay and chickens. Brown introduces Connect 3, saying that they will be joining them for the whole summer, under the illusion that they want to spend more time with Brown, their uncle, though many suspect it is so Shane can spend more time with Mitchie. Mitchie is very happy to see Shane here and is looking forward to the summer.

But there is just one other thing. Brown mentions that there is a new camp across the lake called Camp Star, which just so happens to be owned by one of Brown’s former bandmates who still bears a grudge for being kicked out of that band. As this is explained, speedboats come out onto the lake and start shooting things at Camp Rock. These packages contain ingredients for s’mores and an invite to come to Camp Star for a bonfire. Brown isn’t sure they should go, but everyone else wants to, so they head over there that evening on canoes. On arriving at Camp Star, the campers see that Camp Star is more like a resort than a camp, with huge buildings and an enormous outdoor amphitheatre.

Once everyone has settled into their seats at this amphitheatre, Axel Turner, director of Camp Star, comes onto the stage to welcome all the Camp Rock campers and asks for volunteers to perform first. In the extended edition of the film, after a short pause, Mitchie raises her hand and says she will perform, alongside Caitlyn, Ella, and Peggy as her backup singers – despite the fact I thought none of them wanted to be backup singers. At least, they didn’t a year ago… Axel then introduces his own group of Camp Star campers to perform a high-energy routine which makes Mitchie’s slow ballad pale in comparison. In the regular version of the film, the Camp Star group launch straight into their performance after nobody from Camp Rock volunteers to sing. During this performance, a girl that Nate saw earlier in the evening is shown to be a piano/keyboard player in the group and towards the end of the song, her bracelet flies off her hand and right into Nate’s eye. Talk about fate.

After this, Axel invites any Camp Rock staff members to come over to Camp Star, promising to increase their salaries. He also asks if any Camp Rock campers would like to join Camp Star instead. Brown is furious at this and orders everyone from Camp Rock to leave Camp Star now. Mitchie starts to round up the Camp Rock campers, who have become distracted by Camp Star’s recording studios and state-of-the-art equipment. Here, she learns that Tess is switching to Camp Star, wanting to be front and centre just like Camp Star’s current frontman, Luke Williams. Shane, Jason, and Nate round up campers too, and Nate returns the bracelet to the girl, who it turns out is called Dana and is Axel Turner’s daughter. Ah, that’s not great… All remaining Camp Rock campers and staff leave.

Back at Camp Rock, Brown calls everyone to a meeting the next morning. He states that although he is happy to see that not many campers left to go to Camp Star, many of his staff did defect to Camp Star, leaving the camp short of counsellors and unable to continue to run this summer. Brown says Camp Rock is closed. Not wanting this to happen, Mitchie rallies the older Camp Rock members to help with classes etc. Brown is pleased with their dedication and agrees to let them help out and keep Camp Rock open. There are initially some teething problems, with the counsellors not getting to the right classes, Mitchie’s scheduling not quite working, and Connie receiving tons of beach balls instead of black beans in her food delivery, but eventually, it is all organised. Peggy helps with the junior singers; Ella does fashion classes; Caitlyn works with dancers; and Nate teaches the drummers. Jason gets the worst job of all though and is stuck with the junior rockers, who walk all over him! Jason resorts to building a birdhouse whilst hiding from the kids – something that he wanted Shane to build for him at Camp Rock last summer – until he reaches the end of his tether and demands some respect from the kids, saying if they listen to him, he can help them be rock stars. That gets their attention.

Meanwhile, Nate is casually stalking Dana, looking at her across the lake with binoculars as she practises piano. He keeps getting caught doing this, first by Shane, and then by Barron and Sander on the lake as they lead the wakeboarding activity! He eventually canoes over to Camp Star to try and talk to Dana, but their conversation is cut short by the arrival of Axel, who doesn’t want Dana talking to anyone from Camp Rock. Shane is also not doing so well on the romantic front, because Mitchie is so busy running camp. They were meant to be getting to know each other this summer but haven’t been able to spend any time together so far. That night, at a bonfire, Axel, Tess, and Luke come to spy on Camp Rock, with Axel and Luke laughing at how “basic” they are, having fun chasing fireflies. Tess says she remembers doing that when she was little and that it was fun, but she’s quickly reminded that she is part of Camp Star now. Mitchie and her friends start discussing how much they want to show Camp Star up with a performance that hasn’t been secretly practised for weeks beforehand. This gives Mitchie an idea…

The next day, the campers from Camp Rock interrupt Camp Star’s rehearsal and challenge them to a showdown, camp vs. camp. Axel Turner overhears this and wants to up the stakes, by making this is a televised competition, with the public voting for the winner. Mitchie starts to think that maybe that is taking things a step too far, but not wanting to back down, she agrees to this “Final Jam”. She plans to rewrite a duet she previously wrote to include everyone at Camp Rock in the performance, and there are lots of ideas of how to make this the best performance ever. However, Mitchie accidentally overhears Brown and Connie having a conversation about this competition, with Brown furious at Mitchie for agreeing to this. Connie thinks it would be good exposure for Camp Rock, but Brown is spooked by some of the promotional material for the competition, which has been dubbed “Camp Wars” and threatens that only one camp can survive, with Brown believing it won’t be Camp Rock that survives. Mitchie is hurt by this and reschedules all camp activities to make everything about winning the competition, so there are to be no distractions whatsoever.

As the days go on, Mitchie becomes increasingly irritated by her fellow campers, who she doesn’t believe are working hard enough and are having too much fun. She tries to get across how serious the situation is, but nobody will listen to her, not even Shane, who is annoyed that they now have even less time to spend together. Mitchie just wants to save Camp Rock and can’t think about anything else right now. Brown soon sees that people at Camp Rock aren’t happy and instructs Shane to inject some joy back into Camp Rock.

At yet another one of Mitchie’s group meetings about the competition, Shane interrupts with the junior rockers and they start a water fight. Everyone seems to be having a laugh – except for Mitchie, who walks away upset. She then spends the rest of the day alone, working out musical arrangements for the performance. Shane tries to convince her to take the evening off to have a moonlight picnic with him, but she refuses, telling him that the water fight was completely unnecessary. Shane walks away angry, although both he and Mitchie know that although they might argue, they don’t want to argue with anyone else.

The next morning, Mitchie wakes up to find camp incredibly quiet and nobody around. She eventually finds everyone by the beach working on the song. Caitlyn says that Shane got everyone up early to start working, reminding them of how important this performance is, and wanting Mitchie to have a break from doing everything. Mitchie also learns she needs to calm down! That same day, Dana shows up at Camp Rock to talk to Nate, except he can’t think of anything to say to her, which upsets Dana. She likes him, but doesn’t know anything about him, and will never know anything if he doesn’t talk to her. She walks away, not believing Nate to be the person she hoped he’d be. But Shane and Mitchie are finding time together and everything is going well for them.

Nate complains to Shane and Jason about how much of a struggle it is to talk to Dana, not understanding what he’s meant to do. They tell him that if he can’t say anything about himself, maybe he should sing it. So, naturally, Nate goes over to Camp Star and sings to Dana, telling her lots of random things about himself, like how he likes to use the word “dude” a lot and thinks cheese smells like feet. Wow, Nate is so deep. But the song works, although Axel leads Dana away for rehearsal, clearly unhappy with the two talking.

That same night, Jason, unable to sleep after hearing scary stories the kids told him, takes the junior rockers over to Camp Star to spy on their rehearsal. In the extended edition of the film, this Camp Star rehearsal is shown in full, with Axel debating whether to use this song or a different one in the competition, however, in the regular cut of the film, only brief clips are shown before Jason and the children run back to Camp Rock. Back at camp, they fill everyone in on Camp Star’s performance, revealing that it is just Luke and Tess doing a duet with only backup dancers and musicians on stage. This leads the campers to believe that Shane and Mitchie should go back to just doing a duet together as their chemistry and singing ability are far above those of Luke and Tess. This upsets some of the junior rockers, who were promised a part in the show, although they really just want Camp Rock to stay open so they can come back next year, as they had a great summer. They show Mitchie video clips that one of the rockers, Trevor, recorded over the summer of their antics at Camp Rock. This gives Mitchie another idea…

Then it is time for the competition. Camp Wars is indeed being televised and has a host, Georgina, who is a friend of Axel’s, which instantly makes Brown concerned about the partiality of the contest. Georgina reminds viewers that their votes will be deciding the winner, before introducing Camp Star’s performance. Sure enough, their song is full of dance breaks, special effects, and is just generally flawless. Mitchie and the others congratulate Tess and Luke on their performance. Tess wishes them luck, just after Luke states he wished he’d been able to do a solo, showing that Tess and Luke don’t get along at all. As Camp Rock prepare to take the stage, Brown talks to Georgina, telling her not to count them out just yet. She tells him that it would be a miracle if Camp Star don’t win, as Axel has paid to text and tweet every cell phone user in the Western Hemisphere to vote for Camp Star. The Camp Rock campers get this text too.

Shane and Mitchie then go up on stage to sing for Camp Rock. Others later appear on the stage as dancers, and Trevor’s video plays on screens in the background, showing all the fun of Camp Rock. The junior rockers even get their own spot in the performance to do a little guitar solo. It might not be as perfect as Camp Star’s performance, but Camp Rock show that they put fun and friendship over fame. After their show, Caitlyn reminds the others to vote for Camp Rock, which shouldn’t really be allowed but ok! After voting is over, Camp Rock and Camp Star gather on stage for the results. In a slow-motion, silent reveal, we see that Camp Rock did not win the competition, as the Camp Rock campers’ faces drop and Camp Star celebrate wildly. Close to tears, Mitchie is comforted by Shane, as the others walk off the stage. Tess briefly consoles Mitchie.

That evening, by the campfire, everyone at Camp Rock is upset, believing that this was their last summer here as they lost the competition. Mitchie and Shane have a moment too, where she says they all still need to keep singing. She also apologises for not spending enough time with him that summer and the two kiss. As Mitchie leads everyone in what could be one final campfire sing-along, they see canoes from Camp Star arriving at Camp Rock. This group is being led by Dana and Tess who wanted to join the campfire, as they don’t get to do anything like that over at Camp Star. Brown welcomes everyone to his camp. Tess asks Brown is she can come back to Camp Rock next year, as do many other Camp Star campers. Connie then comes out to say that the phones are going crazy with enquiries and she needs some help dealing with them all. Well, it looks like Camp Rock is staying open.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Mitchie Torres returns to Camp Rock this summer, excited and hoping to spend some proper time with Shane who has been busy on tour with Connect 3, leaving them to only communicate via text and email. However, Mitchie’s usual positivity and optimism doesn’t last long as she gets drawn into a fight between Camp Rock and a new camp across the lake, Camp Star. Mitchie is desperate for Camp Rock to prove to Camp Star that they are just as good as them, but this leads to a competition between the two. Mitchie starts to take this too seriously and sucks all the fun out of Camp Rock, ignoring Shane and being rude to her friends in the process as she sees them not taking the competition as seriously as she is. Mitchie has to be reminded of what Camp Rock really means; that it is not about winning, but about being with friends, having fun and making music. Thankfully, those friends she almost pushed away come to her rescue here and camp ends on a high note.

Between Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, Demi Lovato had been very successful with Disney, acting, singing, and touring, although the pressure and intense schedule was clearly overwhelming her and it led to Lovato stepping away from Disney not long after Camp Rock 2. From here, Lovato became a judge and mentor on Seasons 2 and 3 of the US The X Factor (2011-13), alongside recording new albums and releasing top singles like “Skyscraper” and “Sorry Not Sorry”. She also recorded a version of “Let It Go” for the end credits of Disney Animation’s Frozen (2013). Other acting roles for her included the recurring role of Jenny in the Will & Grace reboot (2017-20), as well as the part of Katiana Lindsdóttir in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020) for Netflix. Over the years, Lovato has opened up about her personal life and her struggles in documentaries such as Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil (2021) and Child Star (2024). Ever since her Disney days, Lovato has remained popular, winning numerous Teen, People, and Kids’ Choice Awards for both her singing and acting, and has become an advocate for mental health. Her loyal fan base continues to support her in all her endeavours.

Returning to Camp Rock along with Mitchie is Shane Gray, but this time he has also brought Jason and Nate along with him, the other two members of Connect 3 who only came to Camp Rock last time for one performance and to judge Final Jam. Shane is only at Camp Rock this summer because he wants to spend time with Mitchie. Even when the competition with Camp Star starts to ramp up, he still just wants to spend time with her and isn’t bothered by the contest. He can’t understand why Mitchie is getting so stressed out by everything and when he tries to remind her what fun is, by starting that water fight, all he does is make things worse between them. So, to get back into her good books, he decides to get everyone involved in working on the performance, which reminds Mitchie that she needs to be a bit calmer about things and the two are able to get their relationship back on track. Nate also has his own girl trouble, as he likes Dana from Camp Star, which is a forbidden romance. He struggles to find time to talk to her away from her father, but even when he does, he can’t figure out how to talk to her for some reason. Eventually, after thinking Dana is not interested in him anymore because he won’t talk to her, Nate finally finds the courage to open up about himself, and they choose their romance over the camp rivalry. Jason doesn’t have romance on his brain because he is too focused being the camp counsellor for the junior rockers who require a lot of time and energy. Things start off badly between Jason and the rockers, probably because he dropped Trevor’s camera in the lake at the Camp Star bonfire, but in the end, the kids respect him and Jason comes to like them, even fighting for their own piece of the performance in the Final Jam.

The Jonas Brothers were cast as Connect 3, having been involved with projects for Disney since around 2007. Shane was played by Joe; Nate by Nick; and Jason by Kevin. The Jonas Brothers later went on hiatus in 2011, before splitting in 2013. The band eventually reunited in 2019, releasing their single “Sucker” and releasing their comeback album Happiness Begins that same year. They are still releasing new music and touring together. However, the brothers have also worked on their own solo projects. For example, Joe Jonas released his solo album Fast Times in 2011, and formed the band DNCE, becoming its lead singer, who were best known for their hit song “Cake by the Ocean”. In terms of acting work, Joe made a cameo appearance in Zoolander 2 (2016) and voiced the Kraken in Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018). Nick starred as Marius Pontmercy in the musical Les Misérables on the West End in 2010, later becoming part of the musical’s 25^th anniversary concert that same year. He also played Link Larkin in the 2011 Hollywood Bowl performance of Hairspray. After that, Nick was cast as Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and appeared alongside his wife Priyanka Chopra Jonas, as Joel, in Love Again (2023). Nick made a cameo appearance as Pastor Luther in You’re Cordially Invited (2025) for Amazon.

Kevin starred in the reality series Married to Jonas (2012-13), which was about his life with wife Danielle, for two seasons, and was later a contestant on Season 14 of The Apprentice (2004-17). He currently co-hosts Claim to Fame (2022-present), a reality competition series for ABC, with his brother Frankie Jonas. Frankie appeared in Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam as Trevor, a junior rocker. This was another reunion for the brothers who had all appeared together in the Disney Channel series Jonas (2009-10), with Frankie even winning the Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Breakout Star Male for his role on the show. Frankie has recently launched his own music career as a singer-songwriter.

For the new characters of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, all of them come from Camp Star. The first is Luke Williams, who is the big star of Camp Star, being their lead singer, before having to share the stage with Tess when she comes over to Camp Star. He is quite arrogant and believes himself to be a big star already. He doesn’t get on with Tess, probably because there isn’t a big enough stage for both of their egos. Luke is very talented though and has some great stage presence. Luke was played by Matthew “Mdot” Finley, who has continued with his music career, releasing a string of singles in 2024.

Then there is Dana Turner, who doesn’t have an ego at all, nor does she care about the rivalry between Camp Rock and Camp Star, despite the fact her father Axel Turner is the owner of Camp Star. Dana is loyal to her father to a point, in that she performs on stage as the pianist or keyboard player, and she attends all his rehearsals, but she doesn’t agree with the competitive element of this summer camp, and doesn’t avoid talking to people from Camp Rock, like Nate. She doesn’t let her father control who she talks to. Dana was played by Chloe Bridges, who had been cast as Ashley in the direct-to-video sequel Legally Blondes (2009) before working on Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, but she had also appeared as Zoey Moreno in the sitcom Freddie (2005-06) with Freddie Prinze Jr. earlier in her career. Bridges went on to be cast in the recurring role of Sydney Driscoll in Pretty Little Liars (2010-17) and as Donna in The Carrie Diaries (2013-14) on The CW. More recently, she was cast as Jessie in the Hulu sitcom Maggie (2022).

Axel Turner was a former member of the same band as Brown. Brown thinks he still holds a grudge after being kicked out of the band, and he clearly still does, by running a rival summer camp, but Axel remembers things differently, saying he left the band. Axel tries to lure Brown into a false sense of security by inviting Camp Rock to an opening night campfire, but it soon becomes clear that his intentions were simply to poach staff and campers from Camp Rock to force them to close. He is desperate for Camp Rock to fail, so tries as many things as possible to make that happen, even setting up this major competition and manipulating the voting to ensure Camp Star win, regardless of whether anybody watched the performances or not. However, he ends up losing campers to Camp Rock as his summer camp is missing out on any element of fun, which even disappoints his own daughter, who would rather not spend all of camp working to become famous. Axel Turner was played by Daniel Kash. He played Lorenzo Cosoleto in Season 2 of the Canadian crime drama Bad Blood (2017-18) and Sergeant Dan Lavery in Netflix’s Tiny Pretty Things (2020).

I will also briefly mention Georgina Farlow, the host of the Camp Wars competition show, who is clearly a friend of Axel’s which makes this competition seem even more dodgy and fixed! Arisa Cox was cast in this role, having previously co-hosted the programme E! Canada from 2007 to 2009. She went on to host Big Brother Canada (2013-24).

Outside of that, there are many returning characters and cast members for Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. Many of the Camp Rock campers returned, except for Lola who did not. Mostly, the other campers, like Caitlyn, Ella, Sander, Barron, and Peggy spend much of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam helping out with classes around Camp Rock and trying to avoid Mitchie’s wrath. They also help put together a stand-out performance at the competition thanks to their classes. These returning cast members include Alyson Stoner as Caitlyn; Anna Maria Perez de Tagle as Ella; Jasmine Richards as Peggy; Roshon Fegan as Sander; and Jordan Francis as Barron.

Meaghan Jette Martin also returned to play Tess, however, although Tess ended Camp Rock apologising to everyone and seemingly turning a corner from being her over-confident, egotistical self to someone who actually notices others around her, all that is quickly tossed aside during the events of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. This is because Tess joins Camp Star so she can be centre stage again, albeit sharing that stage with Luke, but it’s better than being in the background behind Mitchie, I suppose, like she was in the Opening Jam. Tess has some brief moments where it looks like she regrets her decision to leave Camp Rock, and then comes to Brown at the very end of the film to ask to come back to Camp Rock next summer, but it all seems a little unfair. We didn’t need Tess to be the mean girl again, because Luke is meant to be the bad boy now, leaving Tess with very little to do in Camp Rock 2. I think it was a strange direction to take her character in, but I’ve always liked Tess’s performances and I still liked them at Camp Star.

Finally, we have Connie Torres and Brown Cesario, played by Maria Canals-Barrera and Daniel Fathers, who also return to Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. Here, Brown is much less chilled out than he was in Camp Rock, as he feels like his livelihood is under threat thanks to a former bandmate. He is very thankful to the other campers for stepping in and helping with the staffing, and when he sees that the campers aren’t having fun like they should be, he encourages Shane to start that water fight. Brown has worries, and he tells Connie about those, but when he sees those worries are affecting the campers, he reins them in to avoid it ruining the summer camp experience; he wants Camp Rock to be a place of fun, not stress. Connie isn’t seen as much in Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam as she was in Camp Rock, probably because Mitchie is not spending time helping her in the kitchens this time round. It is also possible that Connie had to work in some new roles due to the staffing shortage, as we see at the end of the movie when she seems to be manning the phones in the office. It’s a bit of shame we don’t see more of Connie and Mitchie together because I liked the mother-daughter dynamic, and I feel like Connie needed to tell Mitchie to not take things so seriously earlier on in the film than Shane did.

MUSIC

Unlike the music in Camp Rock which is very much based around performances, the music of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam is more story-driven, although there are still plenty of on-stage performances to enjoy.

The soundtrack for Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam was released on 10^th August 2010, to coincide with the Jonas Brothers tour, where some of the Camp Rock 2 cast joined them to perform songs from the movie. The soundtrack consists of fifteen songs.

In movie order, the film begins with “Brand New Day”, which is a song that Mitchie has begun writing and the Camp Rockers want to use for the Opening Jam. Mitchie hasn’t quite worked out all the music so she enlists the help of the other campers to finish the song, which she then performs on stage with Tess, Ella, Peggy, and Caitlyn. It’s an upbeat song, detailing the excitement of a new summer at Camp Rock. It was written by Kara DioGuardi and Mitch Allan, and was performed by Demi Lovato on lead vocals. It’s quite a catchy song that can get stuck in your head, and it’s nice for the film to open with a group number.

Following that are the performances at Camp Star’s “bonfire”, actually just an opportunity to show off their high spec camp. In the extended edition, you’ll hear Mitchie perform “Different Summers” on the guitar with Caitlyn, Ella, and Peggy as back-up. It’s quite a calm, relaxed tune, with some country music elements to it. “Different Summers” was predominately performed by Lovato as the lead singer again, and was written by Jamie Houston. This song is also available on the soundtrack, but for those who have not seen the extended edition, “Different Summers” was cut from the film, and instead, it skips right to Camp Star’s Luke performing “Fire”. This is a contrast to Mitchie’s song as Camp Star throw everything at this performance, like matching costumes, backing dancers, a live band, and pyrotechnics. It’s a stylish, professional performance, and I love it. “Fire” was written by Dapo Torimiro and Lyrica Anderson. It was performed by Matthew “Mdot” Finley as Luke.

After that, back at Camp Rock, Mitchie tries to encourage the other more senior campers to help keep Camp Rock open by working as camp counsellors this summer, to cover the staff shortage that they are facing. This is Mitchie’s rallying cry, calling everyone to come together. “Can’t Back Down” was written Antonina Armato, Tim James, and Thomas Sturges. Demi Lovato, Alyson Stoner, and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle are credited as performers on this song.

Next up is the fan-favourite song “It’s On”, which I liked when I first watched Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, but now I find this whole “battle song” a bit awkward to watch. I think it’s some of the choreography and just how serious the group are taking it, when really, it’s just challenging Camp Star to a sing-off at a summer camp; it’s not a life-or-death situation! “It’s On” was written by Toby Gad, Lyrica Anderson, and Kovasciar Myvette. It was performed by Lovato, Finley, Meaghan Jette Martin as Tess, Jordan Francis as Barron, Roshon Fegan and Sander, and Alyson Stoner as Caitlyn.

Then, we get the Mitchie and Shane song that everyone was expecting after their amazing Final Jam performance in the first Camp Rock, “Wouldn’t Change a Thing”. However, this time, this romantic song actually comes after the two have a fight, with Shane not understanding why Mitchie is working herself so hard for this competition, and Mitchie not understanding why Shane doesn’t get it. Although this song doesn’t culminate in them both making up, it shows that even though they are different people, they still love each other. It’s a sweet song, and Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato show once again how well their voices work together. “Wouldn’t Change a Thing” was written by Adam Anders, Nikki Hassman, and Peer Åström.

We also get another Jonas Brothers song, as the band Connect 3, like we did in Camp Rock. This time, the song is “Heart and Soul”, written by Antonina Armato, Tim James, Aaron Dudley and Steve Rushton. Much like “Play My Music” from Camp Rock, I don’t like “Heart and Soul” here. It’s starting to sound like I have a problem with the Jonas Brothers, and I actually don’t. Maybe it’s just I prefer typical pop tunes to more rock-like ones.

After that, we get another Mitchie and Shane duet. This time, the song is played as a montage of scenes of the two going on dates around the camp are shown, so they don’t perform it within the film. “You’re My Favorite Song” is another cute, romantic song. This song was written by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis and Chen Neeman.

To match Mitchie and Shane’s romance, Nate gets his own love story with Dana from Camp Star. But there isn’t a romantic duet for the two of them, or even a sweet ballad from Nate. No, Nate sings “Introducing Me” which is really just a list of all the things Nate does and doesn’t like. Some of those things are kind of silly, but the song is actually well-written, by Jamie Houston, and performed well, by Nick Jonas. If you just read the lyrics and didn’t listen to the song, you’d probably think “Introducing Me” was the most ridiculous song you’d ever heard, so really, to get the best from it, you have to hear it in the context of the film.

There is also another song that only appears in the extended edition of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, and the official soundtrack. This is another Camp Star performance, although it is a late-night rehearsal. This is “Walkin’ in My Shoes”, which is actually my favourite song from both films. Despite only being a rehearsal, Camp Star never look rusty and “Walkin’ in My Shoes” is no different. It has smoke machines, high-energy dance moves, full lighting, and of course, the backing dancers, with Luke and Tess singing lead together. In the movie, this song is either shown as brief clips with no music, in the original cut of the film, or the full performance in the extended edition. It was performed by Finley and Martin as Luke and Tess, and written by Lyrica Anderson, Niclas Molinder, Joacim Persson, Johan Alkenäs and Pam Sheyne.

It is then time for the Final Jam competition, and Camp Star start off with “Tear It Down”, which also sees Luke and Tess up front, in another highly stylised performance, and I also love this song. I think had this been a real competition, I would’ve voted for Camp Star. I don’t know what it is but I really like all the Camp Star songs, and I likely would’ve followed Tess in being a traitor and moving from Camp Rock to Camp Star. Please, don’t hate me. “Tear It Down” was written by Toby Gad, Lyrica Anderson and Kovasciar Myvette.

Camp Rock’s Final Jam song is a very close second to “Tear It Down” though, especially as it is touching to see it as a group number, highlighting the fun element of Camp Rock that Camp Star is obviously missing, with the clips from the summer playing on screens behind Mitchie and Shane as they sing their duet. I think it also shows Jason being given a guitar-shaped birdhouse by the junior rockers; good, because he’d been going on about getting a birdhouse since the first film! The junior rockers get their solo bit as well in this performance, like Jason was promised. It’s also nice to see those beach balls that accidentally got delivered to Connie in the camp’s food budget being put to some use, by being thrown into the crowd! Their song is “What We Came Here For”, and it was written by Jamie Houston. Lovato and Joe Jonas sing the duet.

However, Camp Rock do not win and they are left to contemplate the potential end of Camp Rock forever with a final bonfire. But Mitchie, back to her usually positive self, and Shane encourage everyone in a sing-along. This song is “This Is Our Song”, and was written by Adam Watts and Andy Dodd. Demi Lovato, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, and Alyson Stoner perform this song. It shows that they are taking their defeat well, but during the song, we also see that many kids want to come to Camp Rock, with even Tess wanting to come back, making it seem like Camp Rock will survive – at least until next year! It’s a lovely song to end the movie on; it’s really great, and tear-jerking, if you’re that kind of person, like me.

Outside of that, there are two other songs that appear on the official Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam soundtrack. One of these is performed by Demi Lovato as Mitchie in a deleted scene that doesn’t even make it into the extended edition of the film. This song is “It’s Not Too Late” and should’ve taken place just after Mitchie overhears her mother and Brown talking about how the Camp Wars competition may be the end of Camp Rock. This song was written by Adam Watts and Andy Dodd.

The other song is “Rock Hard or Go Home”, which is not performed by any of the Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam cast members, and only appears as background music for the epic water fight scene. This song was written by Stacy Wilde and David Bellochio, and performed by Iron Weasel, the fictional rock band in the Disney XD series I’m in the Band (2009-11). “Rock Hard or Go Home” featured in the Season 1 episode “What Happened?” and in the Season 2 episode “Iron Weasel: The Video Game”.

There are also two songs that appear in Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam that are uncredited. One is the Camp Rock song “Play My Music” which plays briefly as Connect 3 arrive to Camp Rock on that hay truck, instead of in their fancy tour bus. The other is a song that is played during the scenes of the campers trying to work out their new schedule, after they take over the running of some classes. Sadly, the Internet doesn’t seem to have heard of this song, which is a shame, because the lyrics are clearly audible within the scene and it’s actually a pretty good song.

Much like with the Camp Rock soundtrack, international artists performed their own versions of the Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam songs for other countries’ soundtracks. Some examples are Portuguese singer Mia Rose and Italian band Finley singing “Wouldn’t Change a Thing”; and Spanish singer Lucia Gil performing “You’re My Favorite Song”.

The Camp Rock original soundtrack went platinum in the US and eight other countries, and gold in a dozen others[1]. It peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart in July 2008, staying in the Top 10 for ten consecutive weeks and topped the US Billboard Top Soundtracks chart, with four of the movie’s songs charting in the US Billboard Hot 100. Internationally, the soundtrack charted at No. 1 in Argentina, and No. 2 in countries like Canada, Mexico, Spain, and UK. So, how does the Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam soundtrack compare? Well, it debuted at No. 3 on US Billboard 200 chart as well, in August 2010, but dropped out of the Top 10 after one week. But the soundtrack did top the US Billboard Top Soundtracks chart, along with the UK Soundtrack Albums chart. It stayed in the Top 10 in the UK for 22 weeks. The soundtrack also charted within the Top 5 in other countries, including Italy, Canada, Spain, and Poland. The songs released as promotional singles were “Wouldn’t Change a Thing”, “Can’t Back Down”, “It’s On”, and “Fire”.

The composer on Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam was Christopher Lennertz. After Camp Rock 2, Lennertz worked with Disney Channel again, on the music for Lemonade Mouth (2011). He has also composed the music for many other movies, including the family-friendly films Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) and Hop (2011), and the comedy movies Horrible Bosses (2011) and its 2014 sequel, and Pitch Perfect 3 (2017).

PRODUCTION

It was pretty much a given that Camp Rock 2 would happen after the success of Camp Rock, in order to launch a new Disney musical franchise. Production on Camp Rock 2 was announced in July 2009, around a year after Camp Rock premiered in the US.

At this time, it was known that the movie’s full title would be Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam; that there would be a rival camp called Camp Star; and that there would be a Romeo and Juliet-style romance in amongst the story. Dana Bridges and Matthew “Mdot” Finley were confirmed as new cast members, and a new director, Paul Hoen, was confirmed too, alongside the return of Demi Lovato, the Jonas Brothers, and others[2].

Filming for the sequel returned to Canada in Autumn 2009, although some new locations were used. One of these was the Rockwood Conservation Area in Ontario, Canada, as well as Fall Street in Rockwood. Cabins were built in the area to represent Camp Rock’s buildings, and there was much excitement in the area at the sight of seeing the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato filming around there, so much so that officials had to close down half of the park to the public due to the numbers of fans around[3].

It would seem that the buildings for Camp Star were from the Kingbridge Conference Centre and Institute near Toronto, as well as the French River Visitor Centre. French River Provincial Park was said to be a filming location as well. The Earl Bales Amphitheatre in Toronto seems to have been used as the outdoor theatre at Camp Star[4]. It would appear that Kilcoo Camp in Minden, Ontario was once again used for some shots in Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, although it is unclear if the cast and crew returned to YMCA Camp Wanakita in Haliburton, Ontario too. But some areas, like the Mess Hall, were actually built as new sets in studios, so it is not certain how much of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam was filmed at these summer camps, compared to the first film.

Other information on filming includes the fact that the weather was incredibly mixed during the cast’s time filming Camp Rock 2 in Canada over the autumn, with them seeing sun, snow, and rain. Demi Lovato, for example, stated that when they filmed “Brand New Day” which was a long shoot anyway, filmed over multiple locations, she was wearing a sundress, yet could see snow falling. The Connect 3 tour bus falling into the lake was also looked at in behind-the-scenes footage. The crew stated that the bus weighed around 22,000 lbs, even though the bus was just a shell with its engine etc. pulled out. The bus was attached to a crane and tipped over to allow it to fall in a controlled way down the hill into the lake below. The new cast members, Chloe Bridges, and Matthew Finley felt very welcomed by the original cast, and Bridges stated that Dana was initially meant to be a violin player, but as she auditioned with her classical piano skills and got the part, Dana was changed to be a classical pianist. It was also shown that the set of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam tried to be as environmentally friendly as possible, encouraging cast and crew to use refillable water containers, and only putting food into containers made of corn starch, not plastic. It was stated that their set buildings were going to be donated to charity after use.

Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam also saw a change in some production staff. This included a new choreographer, Rosero McCoy, who has worked with the likes of Beyoncé. The cast enjoyed working with him, as they felt McCoy was supportive and encouraging. Their dance rehearsals were strenuous and it is obvious from watching the movie that the dancing in Camp Rock 2 is a step up from the dancing in Camp Rock. The cast had two weeks of dance rehearsals before filming[5].

A major staff change was that Camp Rock director Matthew Diamond did not return to work on the sequel. Instead, Paul Hoen, who already had a history of working on Disney Channel Original Movies, came on to direct Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. Hoen’s credits include the non-musicals Read It and Weep (2006), Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003), and The Luck of the Irish (2001). Prior to Camp Rock 2, Hoen had also directed the Disney musical The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008) before going on to direct all four of the ZOMBIES movies.

The screenplay did see the return of Karin Gist and Regina Hicks from the first movie, who had also both co-written the screenplay for Disney Channel’s Jump In! (2007) alongside Doreen Spicer-Danelly prior to working on Camp Rock. Dan Berendsen was a co-writer of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. Berendsen had previously had a long history of writing for Disney Channel, having credits that included writing for Twitches (2005) and its 2007 sequel; The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008); Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009); and the channel’s smash hit Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009).

As well as promoting Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam with songs, sneak peeks, and behind-the-scenes moments on Disney Channel itself, it was decided that for the sequel, Disney would have some of the cast of Camp Rock 2 go on tour to promote the movie and the soundtrack, which came out prior to the film’s premiere date. This tour was known as The Jonas Brothers: Live in Concert tour, which began on 7^th August 2010 in Illinois, and went all across North and South America before ending on 18^th November 2010 in Abu Dhabi. Demi Lovato, Alyson Stoner, Jordan Francis, Matthew “Mdot” Finley, and Anna Maria Perez de Tagle joined the Jonas Brothers on this tour, singing some of the hits from Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. Stoner said in an interview whilst on tour that they were having a great time, but that it was a hectic schedule and that there had been a lot of doctor visits to check on the wellbeing on the cast, although they did also get tips on how to deal with the pressures of touring from the Jonas Brothers and Lovato who were used to it by this point[6].

But it soon became clear that not enough was being done to help these young Disney stars get through this tour, because it was later known to the press around November 2010, that Demi Lovato had had a physical altercation with a dancer whilst on tour and had been removed for the remainder of the dates. Lovato was said to have enter a rehab facility in order to deal with her personal issues[7]. Rumours started to gain traction that the split between Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato, and the fact that Joe was beginning a new relationship, had led to the altercation. Anyone who has heard Lovato’s story will know that those rumours were false and that she had been struggling for months, even years, prior.

Demi Lovato’s newfound fame from Camp Rock came like a whirlwind. Because of her star quality, Disney continued to find opportunities for her, however, in just the space of three years or so, Lovato was already overworked and finding herself pushing through, turning to other methods to try and escape the pain and pressure she was feeling. Her work schedule went something like this, according to her own account in the Child Star documentary: filming Camp Rock, to first album, to tour, to filming Sonny with a Chance Season 1, to filming Princess Protection Program, to new album, to another tour, to filming Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, to filming Sonny with a Chance Season 2, to the Camp Rock 2 tour with the Jonas Brothers. It had been non-stop since she’d come to Disney and neither she, nor her family, knew how to ask executives for a break. Lovato has also said that she doesn’t remember some of her career, like filming on Camp Rock 2 or some of Sonny with a Chance Season 2, saying that she has “disassociated” from it. In a reunion with Raven-Symoné who guest starred on Sonny with a Chance, Lovato said she didn’t really remember Raven being on the show, with Raven stating that she could see that Lovato was struggling, knowing all too well herself what it was like to be young and in the show business industry.

The dynamics on the set of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam changed as well between Lovato and some of her co-stars, as they had to acknowledge just how much Lovato’s life had changed in those two short years, and had to come to terms with her new star status. Alyson Stoner has said that they found it difficult to interact with Lovato on set, finding that they and the rest of the cast were walking on eggshells around her, for fear of causing an argument should they say the wrong thing. This behaviour continued throughout their time on the tour as well. Demi Lovato said that she feels terrible, knowing that she treated people poorly at this time, and has apologised to those she upset. Alyson Stoner has talked about some of their struggles as a child star, including their time on the set of Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, in their memoir Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything, published in 2025.

After the altercation on the tour, Lovato probably knew she had to make some changes to her life, and did not return to acting on Disney Channel, leaving Sonny with a Chance (2009-11) after two seasons, leading to Disney Channel attempting to rebrand the show as a comedy sketch show called So Random! (2011-12), based on the in-show sketch show that Sonny and the cast act on. It only lasted one season before being cancelled. Lovato instead focused on her music, and after leaving Disney, has been an advocate for mental health and addiction struggles, as well as wanting to change the conversation around just what being a child star means and entails to help future generations[8].

Lovato and Stoner were not the only two who did not have a great experience filming Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. Meaghan Jette Martin, who played Tess, felt that her character had been poorly written for the sequel, especially after having such a positive ending at the end of Camp Rock. Martin also stated that she was very ill with glandular fever, also known as “mono”, throughout her time filming Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam and that this was only made worse by having to do many night shoots during the cold weather in Canada that autumn, and all whilst wearing summery clothes. In behind-the-scenes footage, Martin did not sound well. Martin went on to say she felt she was being berated, bullied, and manipulated whilst filming[9]. Martin was invited to attend the tour with the other cast members of Camp Rock 2 and the Jonas Brothers, but she decided not to go, choosing instead to film the movie Mean Girls 2 (2011), where she played Jo and said she had an amazing time filming the movie, despite the film being panned by critics. Martin has since moved on from her life as a child star and found fulfilment in her career and life[10].

RECEPTION

The red-carpet premiere for Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam was held at Lincoln Center in New York City on 18^th August 2010, presumably a date found in amongst a very busy tour schedule. The movie did not premiere on Disney Channel US until 3^rd September 2010, making its way to international channels within that same month for the most part.

Just under 8 million viewers watched the Camp Rock 2 premiere on 3^rd September, with further showings over the Labor Day Weekend in 2010, including sing-along and dance-along editions[11]. This figure was around 1 million less than the audience that watched Camp Rock on its premiere date in 2008, however, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam was still the most-watched Disney Channel Original Movie of 2010, by quite some margin. Only StarStruck (2010), which just so happened to star Demi Lovato’s handsome co-star from Sonny with a Chance, Sterling Knight, came close, reaching 6 million viewers. The other two DCOMs of 2010, Den Brother and Avalon High, each reached a little under 4 million viewers. Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam’s viewership would not be beaten until 2013 with the release of Teen Beach Movie. It sits at No. 7 on the Top 10 most-watched DCOM premieres list.

The reviews for Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam were not as good as those of Camp Rock either, although some did enjoy the bigger and better musical performances, as well as the greater character development for some of the characters. I can only assume that this comment was referencing the fact that both Nick and Kevin Jonas got significantly more screen time than they did in Camp Rock, because quite a lot of other characters, like Caitlyn and Peggy, had much less time on screen in this sequel, which I personally found to be a bit disappointing, given that Caitlyn was Mitchie’s best friend in Camp Rock, and Peggy had that big performance at Final Jam in the first movie where she showed herself to be a truly talented singer and soloist. They both faded into the background along with many of the other campers from the first film here, but I guess screenwriters are constantly struggling with finding compromises. Others liked the plot twist, which must be referring to the fact that Camp Rock did not win the competition against Camp Star, although some viewers were annoyed and even angry at that. I personally liked this realistic ending, and felt it was similar to Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off, where Eddie did not win his cooking competition. In the case of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, Camp Rock were battling against an aggressive marketing campaign that was in favour of Camp Star, so it would’ve been strange to have them win when Axel Turner was manipulating the voting system.

On the other hand, some viewers felt that the story for Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam was just a rehash of the first film and that the story was not good enough for a sequel. Many disappointed viewers felt that a sequel wasn’t even needed. These comments go alongside the usual reviews for DCOMs were people stated the film was “cheesy” and “cringey”.

Despite those comments, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam went on to win the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Family TV Movie, up against competition like Disney’s StarStruck and Nickelodeon’s iCarly: iPsycho (2010). Paul Hoen was also nominated at the Directors Guild of America for Children’s Programs, but lost to Eric Bross, who directed the Nickelodeon movie The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010).

LEGACY

After Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam premiered, fans were eagerly awaiting news of a third movie. After all, both High School Musical and The Cheetah Girls had reached three movies, so it was believable that Camp Rock would do the same.

As the months went by, it was becoming clearer, as both Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers drifted away from Disney to jump-start their careers outside of the Disney Channel, that a Camp Rock 3 was looking unlikely to ever happen. But don’t worry, randomly, Disney decided to release a Nintendo DS game based on Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam shortly after the movie’s release date, so that was about as good as a sequel, right?

There was a small reference to Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam and the first film at the Disney Parks though. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, from October 2010 to 2013, there was a short stage show performed called Disney Channel Rocks, which was similar to the High School Musical pep rallies that had been seen at this park as promotion for the trilogy of films. Disney Channel Rocks showcased music from many Disney Channel musicals including The Cheetah Girls, StarStruck, Jump In!, and of course, High School Musical. From Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, the songs “It’s On”, “Heart and Soul”, and “This is Our Song” were performed.

A slightly altered version of this show later appeared at the special event Disney Channel Nite at Disneyland After Hours in March 2024. It contained music from The Cheetah Girls, Camp Rock and its sequel, with the additions of “Brand New Day” and “Can’t Back Down”, and High School Musical still, but not some of the lesser-known Disney Channel musicals. Also at Disney Channel Nite, guests could have their photograph taken in front of a Camp Rock backdrop, and sing-along to hits from the movies at Camp Rock Karaoke.

Many of Camp Rock’s cast have mentioned the movie on social media, especially around a milestone anniversary, despite there being little hope of Camp Rock being revived as the years went on. For example, in 2018, Joe Jonas tweeted that he was still bitter that Camp Rock lost to Camp Star in celebration of the 10^th anniversary of Camp Rock. Kevin Jonas commented on the dodgy haircut he had in Camp Rock, but this was sorted out for the sequel, along with Joe’s hair which I think was equally dodgy! It was also around this time that the Jonas Brothers were asked in interviews about a Camp Rock 3. They talked about potentially wanting to be involved in an R-rated sequel, something that they could relate to as adults and that original viewers who were also adults themselves would enjoy[12].

But 2025, the year of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam’s 15^th anniversary, seems to have had the most Camp Rock news in a decade. Firstly, there was a Bop to the Top Summer Tour at House of Blues locations across the US over the summer of 2025, where songs from many Disney Channel movies and series, like Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Lemonade Mouth, and of course, Camp Rock were played to attendees. It would also seem that Matthew “Mdot” Finley and Roshon Fegan, who played Luke and Sander in the movies, attended some of these events as special guests.

In August 2025, rumours really started swirling about a Camp Rock 3 and that is all from 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”[13]. This might not have seemed like much on its own, 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 has fuelled the rumours of a Camp Rock 3[14].

An official confirmation of Camp Rock 3 was later announced on 17^th September 2025, with filming beginning in Canada that same week. The story is 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 will 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 she could end up having a small cameo in the film, I suppose. A list of new cast members was also announced for Camp Rock 3, including Malachi Barton, who starred as Victor in ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires (2025) and Liamani Segura, who appeared as Emmy in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019-23) and is set to play Pink, Red’s sister, in the fifth Descendants film Descendants: Wicked Wonderland (2026)[15]. To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about Camp Rock 3. I’m bored of reboots, even of things I like.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Once again, it is disappointing to hear that some of the stars of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam did not have an enjoyable experience on this film. It baffles me just how Disney Channel could’ve ignored these young people’s struggles for so long without doing something about it, only increasing the pressure on them due to the potential status of Camp Rock as a musical franchise for the company.

Thanks to a more encouraging environment where we allow people to discuss mental health and other personal struggles, these former child stars have been able to open up about their experiences, and although it may make the nostalgia for these films and TV shows bittersweet afterwards, it’s an important step to allow them to move on from a troubling, even traumatic, time in their lives. I can only hope that entertainment companies are listening and making changes. I’m not sure if Disney Channel themselves have learnt from their past, as fairly recent stars from the franchises of Descendants and ZOMBIES, for example, have not publicly shared difficult stories around filming their respective movies, or whether their time will come to do this. I hope it is the former and not the latter.

With the potential for Camp Rock 3, and the recent reunion of Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers, perhaps the time has come for the former cast to revisit this franchise, either directly or indirectly, to finally gain some closure from it, to put it behind them.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Paul Bond, ‘New Crew For ‘Camp Rock 2’’, Billboard.com, 8^th July 2009.

[2] Credit: Helen O’Hara, ‘Camp Rock 2 Starts Production’, EmpireOnline.com, 8^th July 2009.

[3] Credit: Advertiser Staff, ‘Jonas brothers a big hit in Rockwood’, WellingtonAdvertiser.com, date unknown.

[4] Credit: Richard Ouzounian, ‘Behind the scenes of Jonas Brothers’ Camp Rock 2’, TheStar.com, 1^st September 2010.

[5] Credit: Disney, ‘Road to Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam’, Disney Channel Official YouTube Channel, July 2010.

[6] Credit: Jessica Norton, ‘All About Camp Rock 2!’, Seventeen.com, 31^st August 2010.

[7] Credit: ABC News, ‘Demi Lovato Leaves Jonas Bros. Tour to Get Treatment for ‘Emotional and Physical Issues’, ABCNews.com, 3^rd November 2010.

[8] Credit: Demi Lovato and Nicola B. Marsh, Child Star (2024), Disney+.

[9] Credit: Isobel Lewis, ‘Disney Channel star Meaghan Martin says she was ‘berated, bullied, and manipulated’ while filming Camp Rock 2’, Independent.co.uk, 28^th August 2022.

[10] Credit: Roisin O’Connor, ‘The mice that roared: How Disney’s former child stars are fighting to change the entertainment industry’, Independent.co.uk, 19^th July 2021.

[11] Credit: Just Jared Jr., ‘Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam: 8 Million Viewers Strong’, JustJaredJr.com, 4^th September 2010.

[12] Credit: Zoë Weiner, ‘“Camp Rock” Stars Are Getting Nostalgic on Twitter About the Film’s 10^th Anniversary’, TeenVogue.com, 20^th June 2018.

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

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

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

29th Aug 202529th Sep 2025 by The Disney Purist

Camp Rock (2008)

BACKGROUND

It can’t be said enough just how much High School Musical changed the Disney Channel Original Movie landscape.

After High School Musical, Disney Channel movies, also known as DCOMs, became big events, something for young viewers to plan their lives around, something to look forward to after a long week at school. These Friday night movie premieres were even more important when the movie was a musical – and its arrival signalled the start of the summer break.

Camp Rock was just one of these movies. It featured a storyline all about summer camp, a typical summer activity for some, alongside a Disneyfied musical soundtrack, full of catchy pop tunes. Camp Rock was supposed to be the next High School Musical.

And it seemed like it would be, for a while. Camp Rock was globally popular, and although it wasn’t quite the same as High School Musical, it felt similar and had its own success. I personally don’t even like High School Musical, the first movie, all that much, and remember liking Camp Rock more when I first watched it, and that’s still the case.

I was very excited to watch the premiere of Camp Rock back in 2008, even if we didn’t get it in the UK until school had already started up again after the summer holidays. I really liked it at the time, just not as much as High School Musical 2, but it had everything I was looking for in a Disney Channel musical.

It was also showcasing the talent of young stars I hadn’t heard of before. The Jonas Brothers weren’t a band I knew before they appeared on Disney Channel. Camp Rock made them overnight stars within the channel’s viewership. And then we had Demi Lovato, who was making her Disney Channel movie debut, and it launched her career at Disney into the stratosphere. She became a regular on the channel after that, for both music and acting.

Camp Rock was the perfect marketing exercise for Disney Channel, showing just how successful they were at making the next teen stars, with many of them later becoming household names outside of Disney.

PLOT

Camp Rock doesn’t begin at Camp Rock, but on the last day of school before summer for teenager Mitchie Torres. Mitchie wakes up feeling very optimistic, hoping that one of those leaflets for Camp Rock that she’s been leaving around the house might just have inspired her mother to let her go there over the summer break. As the two sit down to breakfast, whilst watching a news report on the latest from teen rock star / bad boy Shane Gray, whose behaviour has led to the Connect 3 tour, his band’s tour, being cancelled, Connie, Mitchie’s mother, tells Mitchie she knows she’d like to go to camp, but that the family can’t afford it.

At school, Mitchie tells her friend Sierra that camp is not going to happen for her, and that she is so disappointed and unexcited for the summer ahead. Mitchie later returns home, having worked a shift at a burger shop to find her parents in a good mood, but Mitchie isn’t sure why. She is about to go to her room, when Connie tells her the good news: Connie is doing the catering at Camp Rock, so Mitchie can go at a discounted rate! Mitchie is super excited, and doesn’t even mind that she’ll have to help her mother in the kitchen whilst there.

Later, Connie and Mitchie arrive at Camp Rock, and Mitchie can’t wait to get started – although she is slightly distracted by a limo passing right by her mother’s catering van. It looks like a girl with money goes to Camp Rock… Mitchie and Connie head to their cabin, and the camp director, Brown Cesario, comes to greet Connie. Connie is about to introduce her daughter to him, but Mitchie has already gone exploring!

Mitchie has found where the other campers are, congregating outside. Mitchie bumps into the girl she saw in the limo, but is ignored. Another camper, Caitlyn, tells Mitchie that girl is Tess Tyler, daughter of famous singer T.J. Tyler. Mitchie is impressed. Caitlyn and Mitchie get talking, and Caitlyn says she’s planning to be a music producer, even playing her one of her demos. Their chat is interrupted by the arrival of the camp’s musical director Dee La Duke, who welcomes everyone to Camp Rock. The campers are also told that for the first time in Camp Rock history, they will have a celebrity instructor here to teach them.

It turns out this celebrity instructor is Connect 3’s Shane Gray. His other bandmates, Nate and Jason, are making Shane attend Camp Rock to help with his reputation and to give him some positive PR. Shane is told he’ll be recording a duet with the winner of Camp Rock’s Final Jam competition. Shane doesn’t want to waste his summer at Camp Rock, but Nate and Jason hold firm. Besides, it’ll be good for Shane to get back to his musical roots, because the three attended Camp Rock, and their uncle is Brown, the camp director.

Mitchie is helping her mother in the kitchen, preparing burgers for the Open Mic Night, a chance for the campers to get to know each other and show off their musical abilities. Mitchie tells Connie she is too nervous to sing at Open Mic Night and her nerves only get worse when she overhears Tess and her friends rehearsing in their cabin. Mitchie starts to set up the Mess Hall for dinner and plays one of her own songs on the piano, singing to herself. Shane Gray, who’s recently been dropped off at Camp Rock, gets mobbed by fans and hides underneath the window of the Mess Hall. He overhears the singing.

Back at her cabin, Mitchie worries about what to wear to Open Mic Night, feeling that she’s not good enough to be here. At the Open Mic, Mitchie meets up with Caitlyn. She introduces her to Lola, who it turns out is another very talented performer and she has no anxiety about performing in front of everyone. Caitlyn tells Mitchie that Lola’s mother has been on Broadway, but that only money and fame really matter here. Tess then comes over to Caitlyn, just to be snooty, and Mitchie introduces herself. Tess’s friend Peggy asks if Mitchie’s father is a famous composer, since they share a surname. Mitchie says her father runs a hardware store. Bored, Tess and her friends go to walk away, when Mitchie says that her mother is President of Hot Tunes TV – in China. This does impress Tess, and she asks Mitchie to move into their cabin. Mitchie grabs her stuff and moves, telling her mother that she’ll still get up early and help in the kitchen. Connie is just glad Mitchie is making friends.

At Tess’s cabin, which Tess shares with Peggy and Ella, we see that Peggy likes to play the guitar, but Tess soon tells her to stop playing so she can talk on the phone, except her mum has no time to talk to her, yet again. Mitchie arrives and starts unpacking her stuff. They see Mitchie’s song book and convince her to sing one of her original songs to them. Peggy and Ella like Mitchie’s song a lot, although Tess is slightly less enthusiastic about it.

The next morning, Mitchie gets up early to help in the kitchen, but tries to hide this fact by arriving at the Mess Hall with the other campers and dodging Tess’s questions about where she goes in the mornings. Mitchie tries to sit with Caitlyn and the others, but Tess orders her over to her table. Caitlyn warns Mitchie to hide her singing talents if she wants to stay friends with Tess. Very ominous. Mitchie isn’t the only one having a bad morning. It turns out Shane has been avoiding teaching his classes, and Brown won’t have it anymore. He tips water over him to wake him up before heading off to his own class.

Brown’s first class is a singing class with Mitchie, Tess, Caitlyn and the others. He asks for volunteers to sing in front of the class. Pretty much everyone puts their hand up, but Mitchie doesn’t, so naturally Brown makes her sing first! After some encouragement, Mitchie performs well and Brown compliments her on her original song, something that doesn’t go unnoticed by Tess. After class, Tess asks Mitchie about her plans for Final Jam. Mitchie says she’ll sing a solo for it, despite her nerves. Tess tells her that’s a really brave thing to do on her first Final Jam, but no doubt Mitchie has already performed in front of a large audience before. Mitchie says that actually she hasn’t, which puts doubts in her head. Mitchie then decides that actually she’d like to join Tess’s group and sing backup for her instead.

Mitchie goes to the kitchens to help Connie. She apologises for being late and is given some tasks to do. But then Shane Gray comes in. Embarrassed and not wanting to be seen here, this being a dead giveaway that she’s lying about who her mother is, Mitchie covers her face in flour before talking to Shane. Shane moans that his allergies are not being catered for at camp. Mitchie responds to say that Shane is being incredibly rude and needs to learn how to talk to people. Shane is taken aback by that and says he’ll have his agent send his allergy list over to them again, before leaving.

The next day, Brown escorts Shane over to his first class of the day, since Shane seems unable to go to class by himself. Brown is shocked by this attitude that Shane has suddenly got after “becoming a star” and warns him to get himself together. Shane then takes his first class, a dance class with Mitchie and the others. They are ordered to grab a hat and a microphone and simply follow Shane’s direction. He doesn’t seem in the mood to be doing this, so everyone just does as they’re told. However, soon, one of the campers, a drummer, falls over, spoiling the routine. Tess makes a comment and laughs at him. It initially looks like Shane is going to have a go at him too, but he doesn’t. He knows this guy has rhythm as a drummer and says he’ll help him get that rhythm to move from his hands to his feet. Mitchie sees that Shane can be a good guy after all.

The following day at breakfast, Connie tries to talk to Mitchie, Tess, and the others. Mitchie talks to Connie casually, not letting on that Connie is her mother, but Tess is simply rude to Connie, not knowing why the “kitchen help” would be talking to her or Mitchie. Mitchie says that Connie is a celebrity chef who has cooked for everyone.

Later that day, Brown asks Shane if he is coming to the Campfire Jam that night. Shane tells Brown he wants to work on his music, having started writing a new song, thanks in part to the girl he heard singing in the cafeteria on that first day, still not knowing who she is. At the Campfire Jam, Tess performs a song with Peggy, Ella, and Mitchie singing backup. Shane does make his way down there and enjoys the performance. Mitchie, however, did not enjoy it, something that Caitlyn picks up on.

In the morning, by the lake, Mitchie sees Shane playing on his guitar and interrupts him, just to say she likes his new sound. Shane complains that the label doesn’t let him or Connect 3 perform music like this because they don’t think it would sell. Mitchie says she’d buy that song, encouraging Shane to continue.

At lunch, Caitlyn and Tess’s animosity towards each other increases as Caitlyn deliberately trips Tess with her foot. Tess then tips spaghetti onto Caitlyn as payback. Caitlyn is furious and grabs a handful of spaghetti, throwing it at Tess. This turns into a food fight between the two of them. Mitchie attempts to stop them but to no avail. Brown comes over and takes all three of them to his office. Tess and Caitlyn talk over each other to try and get their version of the story across, but Brown isn’t interested; he simply wants to know who threw the food first. Tess says it was Caitlyn – and technically, that was the case, so Caitlyn cannot argue. Brown tells Caitlyn as punishment she’ll be helping in the kitchens from now on. Mitchie tries to protest, but can’t. She knows her secret will come out sooner or later.

Later, Shane sees Mitchie again and asks if he can play his new song for her. She agrees and listens to it. She tells him she really likes the song. Shane says he was inspired by hearing a girl sing around camp earlier. Shane likes the fact Mitchie is different from the other campers around here. She isn’t so sure about that.

Back at the kitchen, Mitchie comes in to find Caitlyn there. Caitlyn tries to introduce herself, not knowing that Connie had a daughter helping her here. Mitchie tries to hide and run away, but she gets caught in a mop bucket and falls over, water and the tortilla chips she was carrying spilling all over her. Caitlyn comes over to help and finds that Connie’s daughter is Mitchie. She demands to know why she lied about her family. Mitchie says she was just trying to fit in. She accuses Caitlyn of hiding her true self as well, with Caitlyn’s whole act of pretending not to care what people think. Mitchie tells Caitlyn she might as well just tell everyone at camp she’s a liar now. Caitlyn says she just might do that when Connie comes in. Shocked at the mess, she tells Mitchie to get herself cleaned up.

That night, it is the Pajama Jam and Tess has ensured her backup singers are dressed the same, but Peggy, Ella, and Mitchie are surprised to find Tess in a different outfit from them. She reminds them that she is the lead singer and can dress how she wants. Before they can perform, it is Caitlyn’s turn. Caitlyn’s performance is praised by the crowd, and Tess sees Shane watching in the corner of the room, clearly enjoying it too. Not liking the attention being on someone else, Tess screams that she’s seen a snake in the room. It is soon discovered that there is no snake, and that what Tess was pointing at was just a power cord. Caitlyn accuses Tess of ruining her set on purpose. Tess responds with hand gestures that spell out the term “Whatever Major Loser”. Mitchie rightly points out to Tess that those gestures are so uncool, sticking up for Caitlyn in a small way, but it does not go unnoticed.

The next day, Caitlyn and Mitchie are sat in the kitchens together, helping with decorations for the next musical event. Mitchie starts to talk to Caitlyn about Final Jam, but Caitlyn is confused why the two are even talking since they aren’t meant to be friends with each other. Mitchie then bursts a balloon by Caitlyn, saying she was just setting her up for a prank. The two then talk properly. Caitlyn says she was once friends with Tess too, but when she started to show she had talent beyond being Tess’s backing singer, she was pushed out of Tess’s group. Caitlyn reminds Mitchie that Tess’s popularity might make her seem fun at first, but there’s more to life than just being popular.

Shane gets a call from Nate and Jason, asking how camp is going. He tells them he is working on new music, and that he’ll be happy to record a duet with the winner of Final Jam but what he’d really like to do is find the voice he heard on his first day at camp. Shane then tells the drummer from his dance class about this search, which leads to all the girls at camp randomly auditioning for Shane, trying to figure out if they are the voice he heard. The search gets nowhere and all it does is make Shane a victim of some casual stalking. Mitchie later sees Shane and he asks if she’d like to go for a canoe ride with him. The two sit and talk in the middle of the lake, and Shane says how difficult it is to figure out if people are being fake around you and just want a taste of your fame. Shane says Mitchie must know all about that because of her mother being President of Hot Tunes TV in China. She doesn’t say much to that, but feels bad that Shane knows about this lie now too.

Back at camp, Tess sees Mitchie and Caitlyn with Connie at the kitchens and figures out that Connie is actually Mitchie’s mother and that she isn’t famous at all. All three head over to the Beach Jam where Connect 3 perform a surprise song for everyone. The band say they should go and record the song as a demo right away, but Shane wants to stick around because he hasn’t found that girl yet. After the show, Tess calls Mitchie out in front of everyone, asking for more details about her mother. Caitlyn initially tries to cover for Mitchie, but it doesn’t work and, embarrassed, Mitchie has to reveal the truth – that her mother works in the kitchen. Many of the campers shun Mitchie but worst of all, Shane is angry with her for lying to him as well. Mitchie tries to explain but he doesn’t want to hear it.

To make things worse, Tess hears Shane talking to Brown about his “mystery girl” and he sings part of the song he heard. Tess believes she’s heard that before and looks in Mitchie’s song book. Sure enough, it is Mitchie’s song. Tess devises a plan to ensure Shane never realises Mitchie is that voice.

At class that day, Shane gives everyone advice for Final Jam, namely to be yourself and be authentic, this being a deliberate shot at Mitchie who is feeling very isolated at Camp Rock right now. Way to be a real jerk, Shane. Connie tries to talk to Mitchie, who can’t understand why Mitchie wouldn’t want to be herself. Mitchie tells her mother that she only has one friend at school, and she isn’t popular. She just wanted to fit in and feel popular for once in her life. She didn’t want to feel the way she does at home. Connie tells Mitchie that she is an amazing person and she should be herself from now on.

In the cafeteria, Mitchie manages to make amends with Caitlyn and her friends. Tess comes over just to be mean, asking Mitchie to tell her mum that the chicken was dry today. This time, Mitchie has had enough of Tess and tells Tess to stop making everyone feel bad just to make herself feel better. Mitchie is officially kicked out of Tess’s group so she teams up with Caitlyn for Final Jam. Preparations begin for Final Jam right away.

The day before Final Jam though, as Caitlyn and Mitchie work in the kitchens, Tess comes in with Brown and accuses them of stealing her charm bracelet. They have no idea what she’s talking about but Brown sees the bracelet in a stack of their books. Caitlyn and Mitchie say they don’t know how that got there, and know Tess has set them up. Brown can’t take their word for it and feels he has no choice but to ban them from all camp activities until the end of Final Jam. Tess walks away, happy that Mitchie won’t be performing anymore. Mitchie and Caitlyn talk about how unfair Brown has been to them, and how they can’t believe he’s actually banned them until the end of Final Jam. This gives Mitchie an idea; they’ll just have to perform after the end of Final Jam!

At Final Jam, Connect 3 are back as judges of the competition. Backstage, Tess manages to annoy Ella and Peggy right before going on stage, and the two quit, making their own plans. Two campers, and rappers, Barron and Sander launch into the first performance, which Ella joins in on. Tess then performs her song and is thrilled to see her mum has shown up to watch her. However, partway through the song, Tess sees her mum is on the phone, not even watching her. Distracted, Tess forgets her routine and almost falls off stage. That gets her mother’s attention! But it’s too late; the song is ruined and Tess is humiliated.

Following that, Dee and Brown announce a late entry. But no, it’s not Mitchie and Caitlyn. It’s actually Peggy, performing a solo under her actual name, Margaret. She does extremely well and Tess even apologises to her for not realising how good she was. The judges then leave to deliberate. At this point, Caitlyn and Mitchie ask Brown if they can perform now that is the end of Final Jam. Brown is thrilled to see that they understood what he meant, and eagerly let them perform.

On stage, Mitchie is initially nervous, but soon settles in to her song, this being the same song she sang in the Mess Hall on that first day and the same song that Shane heard. Shane turns around after hearing the song, finally finding that voice he’s been thinking about all through camp. Shane then duets with Mitchie on stage.

Connect 3 announce the winner of Final Jam, and the one who will be recording a duet with Shane. The winner is…. Peggy! Shocked, Peggy accepts her trophy. Tess then apologises to Mitchie and Caitlyn, and says she told Brown that they didn’t take her bracelet. Tess looks forward to seeing them next year. Mitchie’s parents compliment her on her performance. Mitchie thanks them for letting her come to Camp Rock as she had a great summer. Shane then asks Mitchie to go for another canoe ride with him. Finally, there is a goodbye performance by all the campers.

That is the end of Camp Rock in the original version of the movie. However, if you happen to own the Camp Rock Extended Edition DVD, you’ll know that right after this scene, there is an additional scene, taking place three months later. Here, Caitlyn shows Mitchie, Tess, Peggy, Ella, and Lola her garage studio and they all record a song together.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Mitchie Torres has dreams of being a great singer-songwriter. She is enthusiastic and upbeat, feeling very hopeful that her parents will let her go to Camp Rock if they see how much it means to her. However, the financial cost is an obstacle to her going and all looks lost for Mitchie – until her mother just happens to take over the catering of the camp at short notice. Mitchie is very excited to be at Camp Rock, but in a way, she is quite naïve to the different types of people she is going to meet there, and feels quite insecure, especially next to the rich and famous campers like Tess, and the super talented campers like pretty much everyone! This leads Mitchie to lie about her family, because she wants Tess to like her so she can feel popular for once. It takes a while, but Mitchie eventually learns that it’s better to be yourself and accept yourself for who you are, rather than pretend to be someone else.

Demi Lovato was cast as Mitchie Torres. Lovato initially got her start in acting on the children’s show Barney & Friends (1992-2010), with this being where she met her Disney BFF Selena Gomez. Later, Lovato was cast as Charlotte Adams in Season 1 of the short form Disney Channel series As the Bell Rings (2007-09). From here, Lovato was cast in Camp Rock and this is where her Disney Channel career really took off. Just a few months later, she began starring in the Disney Channel series Sonny with a Chance (2009-11) in the lead role of Sonny Munroe, and starred alongside Selena Gomez in the Disney Channel Original Movie Princess Protection Program (2009), as well as releasing new music. Lovato was nominated for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special by a Leading Young Actress at the Young Artist Awards for her role as Mitchie, but sadly, lost out to Selena Gomez in Another Cinderella Story (2008).

Shane Gray begins his time at Camp Rock as an arrogant rock star, who thinks the whole world revolves around him. We all know that stereotype and might even have some specific real-world examples. In this case, Gray’s behaviour is threatening the future of his band, Connect 3, so he is forced to go and work at Camp Rock over the summer, to try and reverse some of that negative attention he’s had from the press. His time at Camp Rock doesn’t start well, as he misses classes and clearly doesn’t like the fact his uncle is his boss here. Shane just wants to leave, but after hearing a mystery girl singing, he finds himself compelled to write new music that is more fitting to the sound he wants him and his band to have, instead of just recording the music they are being told to record. It is all thanks to Mitchie that Shane has a better time at Camp Rock than he expected and that Connect 3 have managed to reconnect with their original sound.

Joe Jonas, of the Jonas Brothers, was cast as Shane Gray. The Jonas Brothers initially formed in 2005, before working with Disney from around 2007, where they recorded the song “Kids of the Future” for the Disney Animation movie Meet the Robinsons (2007). The Jonas Brothers appeared on tour with Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus, with this tour being recorded and released as Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (2008). The Jonas Brothers got their own concert movie for Disney, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, in 2009. The Jonas Brothers also got to lead their own Disney Channel series, Jonas (2009-10), shortly after Camp Rock. The other two members of the Jonas Brothers, Nick and Kevin, were cast as Nate and Jason Gray, members of Connect 3.

Tess Tyler is said to run Camp Rock, because she has the most famous parent in show business. Tess thinks that she is destined to be the most famous camper because of this and therefore believes everyone is beneath her. She cares about status, which is why she initially decides Mitchie isn’t worth her time, after hearing her father runs a hardware store. But when Mitchie suggests she has parental connections in the music industry, Tess is suddenly interested in talking to her. Tess doesn’t like anyone who might have more talent than her, and those who take the spotlight away from her. She quickly puts Mitchie off performing at Final Jam on her own, and convinces her to be her backup singer instead because of this. It is later shown that Tess acts this way because her mother is so famous, she can’t spend any time with her, so Tess wants others to feel worse about themselves, because she doesn’t think she is particularly worthy of anything. It’s a shame really and you kind of have to feel a bit sorry for Tess when you see that her mother can’t take five minutes to pay full attention to her daughter for once. Tess tries to make amends at the end of Camp Rock and apologises to those she’s hurt.

Tess Tyler was played by Meaghan Jette Martin. After Camp Rock, Martin sang “When You Wish Upon a Star” for the 2009 re-release of Pinocchio (1940) and the song “Magic” for the Wizards of Waverly Place official soundtrack for Disney. She later was cast as Bianca Stratford in the ABC Family series 10 Things I Hate About You (2009-10), which was based on the 1999 film. She also starred as Jo Mitchell in Mean Girls 2 (2011), which was also released on ABC Family.

Tess being Tess, she needs to have an entourage to give that appearance of power. Tess has two girls in her group before Mitchie. These are Ella Pador, and Margaret “Peggy” Dupree. Ella is a little bit ditzy and seems to be the least musically-inclined of the group, not seeming to be interested in going solo. Peggy clearly has talent, being seen playing the guitar early on in the film, and performing her own song at Final Jam, eventually winning the competition. Although Peggy and Ella may view music and their time at Camp Rock differently, they both hate how Tess talks down to them and orders them around all the time. Peggy is the first to walk away from Tess, and Ella, inspired by Peggy, does the same thing at Final Jam, leaving Tess without any backup singers.

Ella was played by Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, who had been cast in the recurring role of Ashley DeWitt in Hannah Montana (2006-11) prior to her role in Camp Rock. She went on to play Joy Moy in the 2009 remake of Fame, and was cast in the 2011 Broadway revival of Godspell. Peggy was played by Jasmine Richard, who had previously been cast as Margaret in the Canadian teen comedy drama Naturally, Sadie (2005-07) and went on to appear as Tara Bohun in the series Overruled! (2009).

We also have Caitlyn, who dreams of being a big-time music producer. Caitlyn is the first person to talk to Mitchie at Camp Rock, and introduces her to some of her friends there. However, once it becomes clear that Mitchie would rather ditch Caitlyn to spend time with Tess, Caitlyn decides Mitchie isn’t her type of person after all. She tries to warn Mitchie about what being friends with Tess does to you, but Mitchie doesn’t listen. Eventually, the two are forced to talk after Caitlyn finds herself by working in the kitchens. Caitlyn decides to keep Mitchie’s secret about her mother’s job and the two become friends. Caitlyn is there for Mitchie when the lie unravels and even helps Mitchie with her Final Jam performance.

Alyson Stoner was cast as Caitlyn, having already voiced the character of Victoria in Lilo & Stitch: The Series (2003-06) and been cast in the recurring role of Max in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (2005-08). Stoner was also cast as Sarah Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) and its 2005 sequel before Camp Rock. They also voice Isabella in the popular Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb (2007-15, 2025-present) and its two films.

Within Caitlyn’s “group”, there are Barron, Sander, and Lola. In Camp Rock, we don’t see all that much from them, other than Lola’s performance at Open Mic Night, and Barron and Sander’s performance at Final Jam. Barron and Sander seem to be the jokers at Camp Rock, knowing that this is a good time to work on their breakdancing and rapping skills but also knowing that Camp Rock is the place to have fun over summer. Lola seems to be the cool, older one at Camp Rock, who knows exactly who she is and who she wants to be.

Lola Scott was played by Aaryn Doyle, and Barron was played by Jordan Francis. Roshon Fegan was cast as Sander. Fegan went on to be cast as Ty Blue in the Disney Channel series Shake It Up (2010-13) and appeared as a contestant on Season 14 of Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) in 2012. More recently, he voiced the recurring role of Elbone in Netflix’s DreamWorks Dragons: Rescue Riders (2019-22).

For the adults at Camp Rock, first, there is Connie Torres, Mitchie’s hardworking and caring mother. Connie has a lot of work to do at Camp Rock, having to make themed meals to go with all the numerous themed “jams” the camp has. But luckily, she has Mitchie, and then, Caitlyn to help her out. Connie is thrilled to be able to send her daughter to Camp Rock by being the catering manager there, as this is something that Mitchie must’ve been talking about for months. She doesn’t even mind when Mitchie basically ditches her, by moving out of their cabin into Tess’s, and then barely speaking to her outside of helping in the kitchens. Connie understands that Mitchie wants to make friends. The only thing she doesn’t understand is why she’d feel the need to lie about her family to fit in at Camp Rock. Connie consistently tells Mitchie she is a brilliant singer, and a great person, so she should just be herself in future and not change herself for anyone.

Connie Torres was played by Maria Canals-Barrera, who is perhaps best known for her role as Theresa Russo in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12) and its 2009 movie. However, before Wizards of Waverly Place, Canals-Barrera had voiced the character of Sunset Boulevardez in Disney’s animated series The Proud Family (2001-05), returning to voice the character in the series’ reboot The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder (2022-present). Canals-Barrera also voiced the character of Paulina in Danny Phantom (2004-07).

Brown Cesario is Camp Rock’s director, as well as the uncle of Shane and the other members of Connect 3. Brown tells Connie as soon as she meets him that he was a founding member of the band the Wet Crows, before proceeding to say how he knows Mick Jagger. As cool as Brown is, not being overly strict or disciplinary except when he has to be, and very encouraging of the campers, he is definitely a bit of a name-dropper! Daniel Fathers was cast as Brown. In more recent years, he has played Rudy Moore in A Christmas Prince (2017) for Netflix, and Clarence Perry in Season 2 of Snatch (2017-18).

Finally, we have Camp Rock’s musical director Dee La Duke. She is upbeat and full of energy the few times we see her introducing events around Camp Rock. Dee was played by Julie Brown, who was also the co-writer of Camp Rock. In terms of previous acting work, Brown had voiced Lisa in A Goofy Movie (1995) and played Coach Stoeger in Clueless (1995). More recently, Brown was cast in the recurring role of Paula Norwood in the ABC sitcom The Middle (2009-18).

MUSIC

Camp Rock is a musical, however, it differs from typical musicals, including Disney Channel ones, in that the main characters do not suddenly burst into song. In Camp Rock, the music is either accompanying music playing in the background, or the campers are singing these songs as part of performances, both on stage, in class, and just at camp in general. This might have helped some non-musical lovers like this movie, especially if they perhaps don’t like the normal musical storytelling format, where songs seemingly come out of nowhere.

In movie order, the first song to appear in Camp Rock is “Who Will I Be?”, which plays in the opening sequence, as background music playing from a CD that Mitchie has recorded of her own songs. Here, Mitchie is getting ready for her last day of school before the summer break, and seems very optimistic about her day, hoping that today will be the day her mother says she can go to Camp Rock. It’s an upbeat pop song to match Mitchie’s mood, and all about being able to choose what kind of person you want to be. Sadly, Mitchie’s optimism doesn’t last past breakfast! “Who Will I Be?” also reappears as Mitchie’s solo singing performance in her first class with Brown Cesario. “Who Will I Be?” was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil, and is performed by Demi Lovato as Mitchie Torres.

The next song in Camp Rock is performed by Lola at the Open Mic Night on the first night of camp. Lola performs the song “What It Takes”. It’s a catchy song, particularly the chorus, where Lola sings about finding the perfect guy. It’s not the best song in Camp Rock but since Lola isn’t in the movie all that much, it’s good that she had a moment in the spotlight. “What It Takes” was written by Tim James and Antonina Armato, and performed by Aaryn Doyle as Lola.

Following that is a song that is used during Shane Gray’s dance class. It is not performed in the class but is played from a CD, although the song is technically credited to Jordan Francis, who played Barron in this film. It is later used by the girls at Camp Rock as an audition song when Shane tries to find his mystery girl and “that voice”. “Start the Party”was written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil.

Next up is my favourite song in Camp Rock, “Too Cool”, Tess’s song for Campfire Jam. I will be absolutely clear and say that I like the song, but I find the performance of this song in the movie to be just a tad bit cringey with the choreography. Don’t get me wrong; I like to do the shoulder movements in the chorus, but Tess preening and posing to the camera is a bit awkward to watch at times! It matches the tone of the song though, because “Too Cool” is all about Tess, telling people she’s just too good to talk to them! The song was written by Toby Gad and Pam Sheyne, and was meant to be a teen version of “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred[1]. Meaghan Jette Martin as Tess performed “Too Cool”.

After that, we get a calm ballad from Shane Gray, as he plays “Gotta Find You” to Mitchie by the lake, to get her opinion on his “new sound”. Shane states that he was inspired to write this song after hearing a girl singing at camp. I really like “Gotta Find You”, although it is fun that viewers have since pointed out that there are mysterious backing vocals and instruments performing this song, even though it is meant to be just Shane and his guitar! “Gotta Find You” was written by Adam Watts and Andy Dodd, and performed by Joe Jonas.

Then we have the song I dislike the most in Camp Rock: “Play My Music”. This might seem a bit weird to some as “Play My Music” is performed by the members of Connect 3 at the Beach Jam, making this the most typical Jonas Brothers song you’ll find in Camp Rock, and the only song the three guys sing together. I guess I’m not a big Jonas Brothers fan. I mean, I’m not a big fan of their music; they seem like nice enough people. “Play My Music” was written by Kara DioGuardi and Mitch Allan.

Following that we just have performances at Final Jam, the first of which is “Hasta La Vista”, performed by Jordan Francis and Roshon Fegan as Barron and Sander, the aspiring rappers. Anna Maria Perez de Tagle also performs this song as Ella in the movie, adding her vocals at certain times in the song, although it is unclear if this is her singing as she was not specifically credited on the song as a performer. I quite like this song; it’s fun and easy to sing along too. It was written by Toby Gad, Pam Sheyne, and Kovasciar Myvette.

After that is Tess’s second song at Camp Rock, which I like but not as much as “Too Cool”. It is “2 Stars”, once again performed by Meaghan Jette Martin as Tess, written by Adam Anders and Nikki Hassman. I think “2 Stars” is just less memorable than “Too Cool”, but it does reflect Tess’s complicated relationship with her mother and even though Tess is the “villain” in Camp Rock, it isn’t nice to see Tess performing her heart out for her mum, only for her to be on the phone during the song. It’s not an amazing song, but it’s an important moment for Tess and her character development and backstory.

Technically the final song of Final Jam is “Here I Am”, which is a last-minute entry from Peggy after she ditches Tess in favour of performing her very own solo. It’s a good thing she did too, because Peggy goes on to win Final Jam due to her thought-provoking lyrics about not letting yourself fade into the background whilst others shine, the perfect summing up of Peggy’s journey at Camp Rock that summer. “Here I Am” was written by Jamie Houston and was performed, not by Peggy’s actress Jasmine Richards, but by Renee Sandstorm, also known as Renee Sands, who was part of the girl group Wild Orchid and went on to perform other songs for Disney including “Just Like We Dreamed It”, which was the theme song for Disneyland Paris’ 15^th Anniversary in 2007, and recently sang the theme song for the Disney Junior show The Chicken Squad (2021-22).

After Final Jam has ended, Mitchie and Caitlyn ask Brown if they can perform their song now as they were banned from camp activities after allegedly stealing Tess’s bracelet. Brown is very happy for them to perform, knowing this will be a chance for Mitchie to shake off her shyness and show what she’s made of. Mitchie starts off uncertain in her performance of her song “This Is Me”, but gradually, she gains confidence and belts out that chorus. This song is also combined with Shane Gray’s song “Gotta Find You” as Shane realises that Mitchie was the voice he’d been searching all of Camp Rock for, to give Mitchie a very Cinderella ending. Mitchie had sung “This Is Me” in the Mess Hall on the first day of camp, and Shane happened to overhear it after hiding from crazy fans by the hall’s open window. It’s a brilliant solo performance and then duet, and obviously one of the best Camp Rock songs. “This Is Me” is also sung very briefly by Mitchie after she moves into Tess’s cabin and the girls ask her to sing a song she’s written, as they find her song book in her bag. “This Is Me” is performed by Demi Lovato, and later Joe Jonas since the song as it appears in Camp Rock, as part solo, part duet, is how it appears on the official soundtrack. It was written by Adam Watts and Andy Dodd.

The last song in the original cut of Camp Rock is the less rock, more pop song “We Rock”, which is performed by the entire cast at the very end of Final Jam, and therefore camp, as a goodbye song from the campers. I really like “We Rock” and the air guitar dance moves are incredibly easy to learn and remember. “We Rock” was written by Kara DioGuardi and Greg Wells. An instrumental version of this song is also used during the montage of the campers making their preparations for Final Jam.

But there is one other song that appears on the official Camp Rock soundtrack and in an End Credits scene within the Extended Edition version of the film. Here, the girls from Camp Rock come together to record a song in Caitlyn’s garage recording studio. This song is “Our Time Is Here”. The three singers credited on this song are Demi Lovato, Aaryn Doyle, and Meaghan Jette Martin, although Anna Maria Perez de Tagle and Jasmine Richards are also singing in this scene as their characters. Surprisingly, I actually like “Our Time Is Here”, and that’s only surprising because I don’t normally like the “deleted” songs in movie. This song was written by Tim James and Antonina Armato.

The Camp Rock soundtrack was officially released on 17^th June 2008, just a few days before the US premiere of the film. The soundtrack was released on different dates internationally, although seemed to also be available prior to the movie premiering, as Disney Channel did with many of their musical movies. The soundtrack had some success in the official charts, peaking at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200 chart in July 2008, staying in the Top 10 for ten consecutive weeks. It also topped the US Billboard Top Soundtracks chart. Four of the movie’s songs were released as singles to promote Camp Rock in the build-up to the film’s premiere. These were: “We Rock”, “Play My Music”, “This Is Me”, and “Gotta Find You”, all of which charted in the US Billboard Hot 100.

Internationally, the soundtrack charted at No. 1 in Argentina, and No. 2 in countries like Canada, Mexico, Spain, and UK. Some of Camp Rock’s songs were also recorded by local artists for different versions of the soundtrack and DVD, such as French singer Sheryne and Dutch singer Nikki performing “This Is Me” for their respective countries’ soundtracks, and English singer and actor Brad Kavanagh, who was cast as Dylan in Season 2 of Disney Channel UK’s As The Bell Rings (2007-08), performing his version of “Here I Am”[2].

David Kitay is credited as the composer of the music in Camp Rock. At Disney Channel, Kitay also composed the music for other DCOMs, like Cadet Kelly (2002) and Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003), and co-composed for Stuck in the Suburbs (2004) with Jeff Vincent. Away from Disney, Kitay has worked on the music for such non-Disney movies as Clueless (1995); Scary Movie (2000); and Over Her Dead Body (2008).

PRODUCTION

Disney Channel movies are normally used as a springboard for young actors, singers, and dancers to become more integrated in the Disney family, before hopefully moving on to become mainstream stars outside of Disney.

In the case of Camp Rock, although the Jonas Brothers were already famous prior to the film, Demi Lovato was a relative unknown, so Camp Rock was an opportunity for her to become the next big Disney Channel star, following in the footsteps of Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez. However, Lovato was not the only person who auditioned to play Mitchie.

On an episode of the podcast Magical Rewind, hosted by former Cheetah Girls star Sabrina Bryan and Will Friedle, who played Eric Matthews in Boy Meets World (1993-2000), in 2024, Meaghan Martin, who played Tess Tyler in Camp Rock, stated that she had initially auditioned to be Mitchie, but she knew she was meant to be the mean, blonde girl in this film – because what teen movie doesn’t need a mean, blonde girl[3]? They were all the rage in the 2000s! Martin was so good at playing bully Tess that she said on this podcast that she still gets nasty messages on social media about how mean she was to “Demi” in Camp Rock. People know Camp Rock is just a movie, right?

But that wasn’t all. Alyson Stoner, who ended up playing Caitlyn, read for the lead, and after being cast in numerous projects at Disney previously, Stoner believed she had a shot at being Mitchie. However, it was later told to them that casting actually had them in mind for the part of Caitlyn, thus basically becoming the “sidekick” to Mitchie, which was a little bit disappointing at the time[4]. On top of that, according to her “TV Dad” in Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12), David DeLuise, who spoke in an interview in 2020 about this, said that Selena Gomez had been offered the role of Mitchie Torres in Camp Rock, but that Gomez had turned it down in the hopes that her best friend at the time, Demi Lovato, would be offered the lead instead, because Gomez had already been given her “breakout role” at Disney by being cast as Alex Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place[5]. If this was the case, this makes a moment in the Sonny with a Chance Season 1 episode “Battle of the Networks’ Stars” when Gomez made a guest appearance as a fictionalised version of herself, even more amusing. At the end of this episode, the cast of So Random! and Chad Dylan Cooper are supposed to be sitting down to watch Chad’s new movie about his life, but instead, they end up watching Selena Gomez in the film Camp Hip Hop, and we see a small clip of Gomez dancing with three boys who look a lot like the Jonas Brothers!

Demi Lovato had initially auditioned for Disney to be cast in Jonas, the Disney Channel series based around the Jonas Brothers that was being developed. Lovato screen tested for it, but she did not get the part. However, Disney still wanted to see her for two other roles – one was Mitchie in Camp Rock, and the other was Sonny Munroe in Sonny with a Chance. Lovato got both of them and was whisked away with her family to Los Angeles. to begin her new life as a Disney Channel star[6].

Even Shane Gray had an interesting casting story because Taylor Lautner auditioned for the part! He wasn’t seen as quite the right fit for Shane though and ultimately did not get it. Coincidentally, Lautner starred alongside Alyson Stoner in Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005) in one of his earlier screen roles, so had Lautner gotten the lead role in Camp Rock, it might’ve been a nice reunion for the two of them. But it was not to be, and that’s fine because Lautner ended up being cast as Jacob Black in Twilight (2008), which came out just a few months after Camp Rock, and began a five-movie series. All things considered, I think he did alright for himself without this film!

So, how did that part go to a Jonas Brother? Well, Joe Jonas was asked to send in an acting tape for the part of Shane Gray after the director of Camp Rock attended a Jonas Brothers show in L.A. It was clear from watching the show that Joe could sing and had that “rock star image”, and so they just needed to see him act. After looking at his audition tape, Jonas was offered the part. Shane was meant to simply be the camp director’s nephew who had a solo act before being forced to come to camp to fix his attitude, but because Joe Jonas was in a band with his real-life brothers, it was decided that Shane Gray would have bandmates written into the script so that Joe could appear with Nick and Kevin in the film. This also meant that instead of an adult telling Shane he needed to get his act together, the message would come from his bandmates, making it less of a punishment.

Camp Rock’s story was written by Julie Brown, who played Dee La Duke in the film, Paul Brown, Regina Hicks, and Karin Gist. Gist had previously written the DCOM Jump In! (2007), and went on to write and produce shows like Mixed-ish (2019-21); Our Kind of People (2021-22); and Revenge (2011-15). Hicks had co-written Jump In! with Karin Gist, and had previously written and produced the show Girlfriends (2000-08) before Camp Rock. After Camp Rock, Hicks worked on the sitcom Instant Mom (2013-15) and most recently The Upshaws (2021-25) for Netflix. Paul Brown had written and produced the series Quantum Leap (1989-93) and Pacific Blue (1996-2000) before co-writing Camp Rock.

Camp Rock was directed by Matthew Diamond. In 1998, Diamond directed the documentary film Dancemaker which was nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature. For Disney, he directed episodes of the Disney Channel series That’s So Raven (2003-07) before working on Camp Rock, and directed episodes of other non-Disney series such as Gilmore Girls (2000-07) and Desperate Housewives (2004-12).

The movie was filmed in Autumn 2007 in Canada, as so many Disney Channel movies are. Specifically, two different summer camps were used as the set of Camp Rock. One was Kilcoo Camp in Minden, Ontario, and the other was YMCA Camp Wanakita in Haliburton, Ontario. This meant that a typical camp setting, with picturesque landscaping and a beautiful lake, could be the backdrop of the movie, alongside the standard wooden cabins that make up a normal summer camp. In their downtime, the cast spent a lot of their time as though they were actually at Camp Rock, singing and dancing, as well as taking part in usual camp activities like canoeing.

Although much of Camp Rock was filmed at the camps, the Final Jam was not filmed there. It was meant to be filmed at one of the camps, but it was moved to a soundstage to make it a bigger showcase. They decorated a soundstage to look like Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts, which is a theatre housed inside a barn. The director even had a whole backstory for Brown Cesario and why he’d have all this expensive tech equipment at a summer camp. The story went that Brown, who we already knew was a touring rocker, wasn’t paid for his final tour at the end of career and took all the tour’s lighting equipment to Camp Rock with him as payment. Since it was never questioned why all this equipment was at Camp Rock, Brown’s backstory was not used[7]!

Another behind-the-scenes secret is that the Campfire Jam was filmed with a real, huge fire, lit by propane, burning behind the dancers and singers. It was actually further away from the cast than it looks on screen, thanks to a touch of forced perspective and camera trickery, but there were crew members on hand with fire extinguishers just in case something went wrong. The cast members said they could feel the heat from the fire as they were shooting the scene. The performance was also not filmed as late at night as it might appear in Camp Rock, with filters being used to make it look darker[8].

The filming of Camp Rock was an enjoyable experience for the young cast members, who called the set “Disney High” because it was just like high school, with everyone dating each other, and people falling out over silly things, but they all became good friends simply because they were spending so much time together. However, high school isn’t always a pleasant experience, and that was the case at Disney High for some as well. For example, Alyson Stoner and Demi Lovato have since talked about their experiences during their time at Disney, and they both stated that they struggled with their body image and self-confidence during this movie, which no doubt was exacerbated by the fact that the set was full of pretty, talented performers, some of which had already been on television before, plus the fact all these young people were growing up in a high pressure environment, with fans and the press being fascinated and judgmental, in some cases, about them.

Having said that, Lovato and Stoner have been able to laugh at some of their moments in Camp Rock over the years, such as joking about Caitlyn’s keyboard scene in the Pajama Jam and how they hate the music that was overlaid over this scene in the final cut, not believing it to match Caitlyn’s opinion of herself as a would-be music producer, and how Stoner still knows all the steps to the “Start the Party” dance[9].

RECEPTION

Camp Rock first aired on Disney Channel in the US on 20^th June 2008. It was rebroadcast on the Disney-owned channels ABC and ABC Family that weekend too. The movie made its way to international Disney Channels in the coming months, although in some cases, it did miss the school summer holidays, so viewers were unable to join Mitchie in her enthusiasm to have a great summer, because in these countries, kids were already going back to school!

On its US Friday night premiere, Camp Rock brought in around 8.9 million viewers, with 3.4 million of those being in the 9-14 age bracket, Disney Channel’s prime audience. At the time, Camp Rock was the second most-watched DCOM, after High School Musical 2 (2007), which had an unprecedented 17.2 million watching its premiere. Camp Rock did outperform High School Musical’s 2006 premiere though, which reached 7.7 million viewers, making Camp Rock the best performing non-sequel movie for Disney Channel at the time[10]. Camp Rock remained as the best performing Disney Channel Original Movie of 2008, but it lost its position as second-most watched DCOM just a year later. In 2009, Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie brought in 11.4 million viewers on its premiere, bumping Camp Rock down a place, however, Camp Rock does remain in the No. 3 spot to this day, and will likely remain there, since Disney Channel movie premieres don’t hit the same numbers they did in the 2000s and 2010s any more.

Camp Rock was meant to be a new age of Disney Channel musicals after High School Musical and its trilogy, since the third – and rumoured to be final – movie was coming to theatres in late 2008. Although many regular Disney Channel audience members enjoyed Camp Rock with its cute, simple story, catchy music, and its typical message of loving yourself and being yourself, it was not seen to be as good as the High School Musical series. But it did bring a new Disney Channel actress and singer to screens, as Camp Rock launched Demi Lovato’s career, with Lovato continuing to be a favourite within the group of actors and artists formally known as Disney Channel stars.

However, there was quite a lot of cynicism in critics’ reviews of Camp Rock, specifically around the marketing of the movie alongside its cast. The Jonas Brothers were said to be well on their way to “world domination” because of Camp Rock and Disney’s clever marketing strategy, and that Demi Lovato would soon be the next female teen star to come from the company. It was both amazing, and scary, to see how much power Disney Channel had in launching new acts. Others also did not like the fact Camp Rock was predictable and almost too wholesome, whilst being clichéd and cringey in places, especially around some of the “mean girl” moments. Some musicians were also annoyed with the continuous use of the word “jam” in Camp Rock, which was being used incorrectly, as a jam session is supposed to be informal and improvised whereas the performances at Camp Rock are clearly not that, and that there were very few people at Camp Rock who could even play an instrument.

Camp Rock’s director Matthew Diamond was nominated at the Directors Guild of America Awards for his work on Camp Rock in the category of Children’s Program, alongside two other 2008 Disney Channel movie directors, The Cheetah Girls: One World, directed by Paul Hoen, and Minutemen, directed by Lev L. Spiro. However, all three lost out to Classical Baby (2005-17) on HBO Family, directed by Amy Schatz.

LEGACY

Soon after Camp Rock aired, it was already being discussed whether there was going to be a sequel, because Disney Channel seem to like musical sequels in particular.

It was later confirmed in 2009 that Disney Channel were working on Camp Rock 2, and production began in Summer 2009. A few story details and cast additions were known around this time, such as the story revolving around Camp Rock and another rival camp, Camp Star, as well as a Romeo and Juliet-style romance going on between a camper at each of the two camps[11]. In April 2010, a premiere date of 3^rd September 2010 was confirmed, and the soundtrack of 15 new songs went on sale on 27^th July. It was also confirmed that Demi Lovato and other Camp Rock 2 cast members would be joining the Jonas Brothers on a worldwide concert tour to promote the film, beginning on 27^th July 2010. This came off the back of the success of Camp Rock as a film, its soundtrack, and its DVD, which became the No. 1 TV Movie and No. 1 Family TV title on DVD in 2008[12].

To bridge the gap between Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2, on the European Disney Channels, there was a singing competition called My Camp Rock, where young viewers could compete through a series of workshops and performances, with the winner getting to professionally record “This is Me” from the film. This show originally began on Disney Channel UK, with the first season airing in April 2009. There was also a second season, which aired in August 2010, before the second film came out. The final episode seems to have aired a week before the UK premiere of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. This competition also came to Disney Channels in France, Spain, Scandinavia, and Benelux countries, in 2009 and 2010.

At the US Disney Parks, Camp Rock has been referenced in very small ways over the years. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, from 2010 to 2013, there was a short stage show performed called Disney Channel Rocks, which was similar to the High School Musical pep rallies that had been seen at this park as promotion for the trilogy of films. Disney Channel Rocks showcased music from many Disney Channel musicals including The Cheetah Girls, StarStruck (2010), Jump In! (2007), and of course, High School Musical. From Camp Rock, the song “We Rock” was performed.

A slightly altered version of this show later appeared at the special event Disneyland After Hours: Disney Channel Nite in March 2024. It contained music from The Cheetah Girls, Camp Rock, this being “We Rock”, and its sequel, and High School Musical still, but not some of the lesser-known Disney Channel musicals. Also at Disney Channel Nite in 2024, guests could have their photograph taken in front of a Camp Rock backdrop, and sing-along to hits from the movies at Camp Rock Karaoke.

Apparently, you can also go to Kilcoo Camp, where Camp Rock was filmed, to take part in a Camp Rock experience with all the usual camp activities, like dancing, campfires, and s’mores. Kilcoo Camp is a working private summer camp though, so this Camp Rock experience would only seem to take place in the off-season, however, apart from the odd TikTok video and a couple of articles, where one states the price at almost $4,000 for a two-week stay at Kilcoo Camp, or just over $6,500 for a four-week stay, I can’t find anything categorically showing that this is a bookable experience on the camp’s website[13].

FINAL THOUGHTS

Sadly, my enjoyment of Camp Rock has been somewhat tainted by the experiences that some of its cast have since talked about as they’ve processed events as adults, even if they can laugh about some of their more embarrassing on-screen moments now.

I’m obviously not putting blame on any of the cast for these mixed feelings I have about the film. Working at Disney Channel at that time must’ve been a hugely pressurised environment for many of them.

It’s just a shame that something that seemed so carefree and looked like such fun to be a part of, apparently wasn’t so much in real-life. Unfortunately, this pressure only increased with the sequel, creating a situation that unnecessarily reached boiling point.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Rachael Ellenbogen, ‘‘Camp Rock’ director shares 17 things fans probably never knew about the iconic Disney movie’, BusinessInsider.com, 21^st June 2023.

[2] Credit: Disney, “Music Videos”, from Camp Rock (2008) Extended Rock Star Edition UK DVD (2008).

[3] Credit: John Russell, ‘Meaghan Martin Says She Still Gets Backlash About Her Character’s Bullying of Demi Lovato in Camp Rock’, People.com, 7^th August 2024.

[4] Credit: Zach Sang, ‘Alyson Stoner on Losing the Lead Role in ‘Camp Rock’ to Demi Lovato’, Zach Sang Show Clips YouTube Channel, 14^th August 2025.

[5] Credit: Sara Delgado, ‘Selena Gomez apparently turned down the lead role in Camp Rock for Demi Lovato’, GlamourMagazine.co.uk, 10^th November 2022.

[6] Credit: Demi Lovato and Nicola Marsh, Child Star (2024), Disney+.

[7] Credit: Rachael Ellenbogen, ‘‘Camp Rock’ director shares 17 things fans probably never knew about the iconic Disney movie’, BusinessInsider.com, 21^st June 2023.

[8] Credit: Disney, ““Too Cool”: Setting the Scene”, from Camp Rock (2008) Extended Rock Star Edition UK DVD (2008).

[9] Credit: Demi Lovato and Nicola Marsh, Child Star (2024), Disney+.

[10] Credit: Kate Authur, ‘High ratings for ‘Camp Rock’, the Disney Channel’s Jonas Brothers movie’, LATimes.com, 21^st June 2008.

[11] Credit: Helen O’Hara, ‘Camp Rock 2 Starts Production’, EmpireOnline.com, 8^th July 2009.

[12] Credit: Charlie Piane, ‘Disney Channel Announces World Premiere of ‘Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam’ 9.3’, BroadwayWorld.com, 27^th April 2010.

[13] Credit: Lucy Marshall, ‘Disney Channel fans buzz over ‘real-life Camp Rock’ with lake views and studios’, Mirror.co.uk, 7^th July 2025.

15th Aug 202521st Nov 2025 by The Disney Purist

#17 Finding Dory (2016)

BACKGROUND

2016 was a big year for The Walt Disney Company, in terms of their movies.

Disney Animation themselves released both Zootopia in March that year, and then Moana in November. Pixar’s Finding Dory, the long-awaited, but perhaps not requested, sequel for Finding Nemo was released in Summer 2016. Outside of that, Disney released other movies, like Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, their live-action The Jungle Book remake, and Lucasfilm’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

It was a busy time, but one that naturally benefitted Disney’s profits, and made them feel very confident in their movie-making abilities, although let’s not forget that by this point, Disney had purchased Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Pixar, so really, their success was mostly down to other studios and directors, not solely themselves. Just trying to lower their ego.

Anyway, Pixar had needed a boost after their late 2015 film The Good Dinosaur, especially as 2016 was the 30^th anniversary of the studio. The Good Dinosaur didn’t feel much like a movie from Pixar, missing a lot of their warmth and generally just being too scary and strange. It flopped at the box office and critics were not kind to it, a rarity for Pixar.

There was also concern from audiences that perhaps Pixar were going a little overboard with their sequel-making, as Finding Dory became their fifth sequel or prequel. Disney was following a similar pattern, with Frozen II (2019) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) on the cards for them. Was this going to be an early sign of “sequel fatigue”?

Well, I’d say Pixar got a bit lucky because for the most part, audiences and critics enjoyed Finding Dory, despite the fact the story is largely the same as its predecessor, only that forgetful Dory gets to be the main attraction here, not the sidekick, and the location is moved from Australia to California. It may not have been a necessary film to make, but they just about got away with it.

I’m not saying that to be unkind because I’m one of few people that actually prefer Finding Dory to Finding Nemo. I’ve never been much of a nature person, not enjoying documentaries about that sort of thing, mostly because nature is cruel and makes me sad, so to have Finding Dory set in an aquarium made it more enjoyable for me, because I am familiar with that environment, whereas the ocean will always be a mystery.

PLOT

Finding Dory begins with young Dory, who I call baby Dory, learning how to talk to people about her short-term memory loss, with help from her parents. They seem to be getting her to practise playing hide and seek, however, Dory being Dory is told to count and forgets what she’s doing part-way through her counting. She sees a group of young fish playing nearby and swims out to them, but her parents tell her not to go over there because of the undertow:

A little while later, we see baby Dory is lost in the ocean, trying to ask other fish to help her find her parents. Most of them just ignore her, or claim not to be able to help her, but two kelp bass fish, Stan and Inez, do stop to talk to Dory. However, they are confused when she keeps restarting the conversation. Stan and Inez go to talk alone about how best to deal with the lost little fish, but by the time they turn back, Dory has gone…

Over the years, Dory continues to swim through the ocean alone, asking for help. As time goes on, she starts to forget exactly why she’s looking for help. At one point she sees a boat overhead, and then hits straight into Marlin, recreating a scene from Finding Nemo. Dory tells Marlin she knows where the boat went and tells him to follow her.

One year later, Dory is living next door to Marlin and Nemo. One night, she starts to remember something about her past, but she can’t quite figure out what. The next morning, Marlin and Dory swim Nemo to school, where Marlin continues to talk about his mission to rescue Nemo from the dentist, overexaggerating parts of the story, such as claiming he took on four sharks, when actually, he only met three. At the school grounds, Mr. Ray, Nemo’s teacher, arrives to take the class on a field trip to see the ray migration. Dory is looking forward to going along too, but Marlin is told by Mr. Ray that he’s going to have too many other fish to think about today, and having Dory along would be too much. Marlin tries to explain this to Dory; however, she misunderstands and says she’ll be Mr. Ray’s teaching assistant for the day to help out. It’s not worth the fight, so she sticks around.

Before heading off, Mr. Ray explains that the stingrays are heading home and that is why they migrate. Some of the kids ask Dory where her home is, which makes Dory question where she does come from, and where her parents are… before instantly forgetting what they were even talking about! But it’s time to go to see this migration.

At the stingray migration, Mr. Ray warns the kids not to get too close to the undertow, or they might be swept away from the group. This triggers something in Dory’s memory so when the rays come by – singing, of course – Dory becomes distracted and swims too close to the undertow. She is later found by Nemo and Marlin on the sand, where Nemo hears her mumbling something about “the Jewel of Morro Bay”. Dory comes round and Nemo repeats what she just said. This triggers a flood of memories for Dory and she finally remembers her family! Dory desperately wants to get to California to find them. Marlin says that’s too far away and she should accept her life as it is now. Marlin eventually reconsiders after thinking of Dory’s help on their journey to find Nemo, and he knows who can help.

We then see Marlin, Nemo, and Dory with Crush and the other sea turtles riding another current. This time, the current is heading to California. Crush tells them to get ready as their exit is coming up and they leave the current at some dark and scary place, full of wrecked ships and storage containers. This is the Shipping Lanes and Dory claims it is vaguely familiar to her. Dory starts shouting for help, asking if anyone knows her parents, Jenny and Charlie. Marlin tells her to stop making so much noise. He was right to be concerned because Dory inadvertently wakes up a big, glowing squid, who chases them through the area. Eventually, the squid is trapped in a container, but it still has use of one of its tentacles and grabs Nemo, slowly bringing him up to its mouth. Marlin and Dory try to get him back, and the squid lets go of Nemo when the box falls. Nemo is quite shaken by this near-death experience, and Marlin tells Dory, who is also concerned, to go away and just forget about it, like she does best. Dory decides to go and get help, with some plastic becoming stuck to her. Dory hears a voice, the voice of Sigourney Weaver, who leads her to a cove. As Dory surfaces to figure out where she is, Marlin and Nemo pop up too, just in time to see Dory being plucked out of the ocean and taken away in a boat.

It turns out Dory has been placed in the quarantine unit of the Marine Life Institute. She has been tagged on her fin. Here, Dory meets octopus Hank, although she quickly works out he only has seven tentacles, so is actually a “septopus”. Hank tells Dory where she is and explains that her tag means she is going to Cleveland Aquarium. Dory asks if he can help her find her parents in this institute. Hank says he will in exchange for her tag, since the institute is planning to release him into the ocean and he’d rather go and live in an aquarium alone for the rest of his life. Yeah, Hank’s a bit of a grumpy curmudgeon. Hank says he will take Dory to a map of the institute in a coffee pot, using his camouflaging and shape-shifting abilities to hide them from institute employees.

Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo are trying to work out where Dory will be, with Marlin feeling especially guilty. They meet two sea lions sat on a rock and Nemo wants to ask them for help. Marlin fears these predators will pounce on them but these particular sea lions, Fluke and Rudder, are too lazy to do any pouncing. They tell Marlin and Nemo that the Marine Life Institute is a fish hospital and that Dory will be getting treated and then will be released back into the ocean. Marlin wants a way into the institute so Fluke and Rudder call for loon Becky – a loon being an actual type of bird. Marlin and Nemo watch confused as Fluke and Rudder make strange noises to call her…

At the map, Dory looks over it and tries to work out where to go. But Dory doesn’t know what to do, and Hank says she’s running out of time, because the employees are looking for the missing octopus, him. He takes Dory to a backstage area, where Dory sees a bucket labelled “Destiny”. Since Dory believes in destiny, she drops into this bucket, which is full of dead fish. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. At the tank, Dory and the other fish are poured in and Dory comes face-to-face with Destiny, a near-sighted whale shark, who hits into her tank’s walls all the time. Dory starts talking to Destiny, telling her she swims beautifully, and when Destiny thanks her “in whale”, Dory responds. This makes Destiny recognise that this fish is Dory. Destiny tells Dory that they used to speak through the pipes all the time as kids, dubbing themselves “pipe pals”. Dory realises Destiny must know which exhibit she is from and she sure does; Dory is from the Open Ocean exhibit. At that moment, Destiny’s neighbour, beluga whale Bailey, comes into the conversation. He’s in the institute for a head injury that he claims has damaged his echo location, where he can “see” his surroundings using echoes, but Destiny knows he’s fine. Bailey “attempts” to help, but it just won’t work. Destiny tells Dory she can easily get to Open Ocean through the pipes anyway, but Dory isn’t so good at remembering directions. Then, Hank arrives in the tank, demanding Dory’s tag. She says she needs more help first.

Back with Marlin, Nemo, and the sea lions, finally Becky has been called over. Fluke and Rudder tell Marlin he needs to look Becky in the eye and make a noise like “roo-roo” to get her attention. Then, she’ll take them straight to quarantine. Fluke and Rudder even convince fellow sea lion Gerald to give up his pale as a transportation device in exchange for a few seconds on Fluke and Rudder’s precious rock.

Dory devises a plan to get to Open Ocean without the pipes. Hank has commandeered a stroller and put Dory in a cup. Bailey looks over the top of his tank and waits for just the right moment. On his command, Destiny starts jumping in her tank to distract on-lookers. Dory and Hank get going, with Dory being tasked with following signs to Open Ocean. However, Dory gets distracted and they hit a small child on the way, knocking the cup with Dory over. The cup is returned to the stroller by a parent and Hank pretends to be a really ugly baby to avoid suspicion! But the kid dropped popcorn everywhere when she was hit and Becky the loon gets distracted this time, and leaves Marlin and Nemo in the pale on a tree branch while she eats. Marlin tries to get Becky’s attention again, but nothing works. Nemo tells him to just be patient, but Marlin pushes the pale closer to Becky, further down the branch. The branch snaps back and flings them into a gift shop tank.

Dory and Hank continue their journey, but Dory insists on following the sign to “The World’s Most Powerful Pair of Glasses”. Hank stops and demands Dory’s tag, telling her he’s done enough now. But Dory wants to remember more and tells Hank he’s being mean, despite octopuses – octopi? – having three hearts. As they argue, the stroller starts rolling down the hill with them inside and they crash into the Kid Zone, specifically the hands-on tank, where kids can grab at anything they want to grab at. Why would anyone think that was a good idea? Dory loses Hank in the tank and tries to find him. Hank is hiding and is absolutely terrified, since it would seem a child had something to do with him losing his tentacle. Dory tells Hank they should just keep swimming to get out. But to get out, they have to go through “Pokers’ Cove”. Just as they are about to leave, one kid pokes at Hank who freaks out and releases his defence mechanism: ink. Hank is embarrassed, but hey, it got all the gross children to go away! They also see they are right by Open Ocean.

In the gift shop, Marlin continues to try to get Becky’s attention, but she is too far away. Marlin and Nemo see her pick up the pale and fly to the roof of quarantine, proving that Nemo was right and they should’ve just waited. Nemo tells Marlin that this is just what he did to Dory; made her think she couldn’t do something she actually could. Marlin admits he was wrong to do that and says he could really do with her help right now. They start to think about what Dory would do to get out of this tank. Ahead of them, Marlin sees splash pad fountains. He tells Nemo they are going to jump out of the tank and use them to get across the park. They end up in a new pond, with a very loud, chatty clam. Now what?

At Open Ocean, Hank takes Dory in a cup to the roof of the exhibit. They say goodbye and Dory passes over her tag before being poured in. Dory swims in but can’t find help again. She starts to see shells in the sand and remembers that she was told by her parents to always follow the shells to find her way home. Dory does just that and she ends up at her home. However, the home is empty… Dory then remembers how she went missing. She heard her mother crying one night, concerned about how Dory was going to cope with her memory loss, and Dory decided to find a purple shell to cheer her up. But as she did, the undertow took her right into the pipes. Dory then hears two crabs ask how she got back to Open Ocean since all the blue tangs are meant to be in quarantine right now. Dory believes that must be where her parents are and asks how to get there. The crabs say to use the pipes, telling her it’s two lefts and a right to get to quarantine. Dory heads in.

Soon, she gets very lost and confused, as expected. Dory uses the pipes to contact Destiny, who convinces Bailey to use his echo location to locate her. They start to direct her but then “see” a big fish heading towards her. It’s too late; Dory heads right for this fish and Bailey and Destiny believe it has eaten her. But that’s not the case, because that big fish was just Marlin and Nemo; they’ve found her! Dory tells Destiny and Bailey she isn’t dead, to their relief, and the three fish all head to quarantine together.

In quarantine, they eventually locate the blue tangs, but as they attempt to jump there, they end up in a mop bucket. Luckily, Hank comes over to scoop them out and takes them to the blue tangs. Here, the blue tangs realise Dory is Jenny and Charlie’s daughter and have to give her the tragic news that they went to quarantine ages ago to find her and never returned. Dory is distraught, believing her parents must be dead. In the confusion, Dory is taken out of the tank by Hank just in time, but Marlin and Nemo are left in there. Suddenly, Hank is discovered by the workers and Dory is tipped down a drain. Once again, she is lost and alone in the ocean. Not knowing where to go, she sinks down to the sand, and then sees lines of shells in the sand. Following them, she comes to a house and two fish. Dory goes to ask for help, but the two fish rush up to hug her. It’s Dory’s parents! Dory apologises for forgetting them, but they say she didn’t forget them because she’s here, and they’ve been leaving shells for her in the hopes it would help bring her back to them. They went into the ocean to look for her, as they couldn’t find her in quarantine all that time ago.

Her parents ask what has happened over the years, which is when Dory remembers she hasn’t been alone all that time, because Marlin and Nemo were there for her, but now they need help. Dory and her parents go outside the institute and call to Destiny. They want help locating the van with the blue tangs heading to Cleveland. Bailey uses his echo location and tells Dory where it is. Bailey then convinces Destiny to jump out of her tank into the ocean to help Dory more. Destiny is concerned but Bailey reminds her there aren’t any walls in the ocean. They jump out and join Dory and her parents. Fluke and Rudder, the sea lions, also leave their rock to watch the commotion, with Gerald taking their place!

The truck is heading away at speed so Dory knows they need to stop traffic. Dory involves a group of otters, who Destiny catapults with her tail onto a nearby bridge. Dory is tossed up there too and caught by an otter. Dory tells the otters to cuddle and the cuteness overload causes a pile-up. The otters then approach the institute’s truck and open the door. Hank quickly puts Dory into the tank with Marlin and Nemo. The otters are chased away by the van drivers, so Marlin calls for Becky. Becky comes over but only takes Marlin and Nemo out of the tank, not Dory. She’s still in the van with Hank. Becky returns but is too late, and the doors close. Dory comes up with a new plan: Dory and Hank get out via the sunroof of the van, and Hank throws himself onto the windscreen, making the drivers leave their seats. Hank then takes over the steering wheel with Dory in a cup beside him. She directs him, badly, through traffic. Eventually, they come to a police road block and Dory knows they’ll have to fly over it, sending the truck into the ocean. Dory convinces Hank that the ocean is the right place for him, and he agrees to do this. All the fish tumble into the sea.

We then see Marlin, Nemo, and Dory have returned home, with their new friends Destiny, Bailey, and Hank, who is substituting as the teacher at Nemo’s school whilst Mr. Ray is away on his migration, along with Dory’s parents, Jenny and Charlie. As Nemo heads off for school, Dory says she’s going to the drop-off on her own. Concerned, Marlin follows her, only to see that Dory just wanted to take in the view. They sit together and watch.

In a post-credits scene, we also see that the “tank gang” from Finding Nemo, still in their plastic bags, have made it to California and the Marine Life Institute. As they work out their next move, they are picked up by institute staff and taken inside…

CHARACTERS & CAST

Unlike in Finding Nemo, Dory is no longer the funny sidekick in Finding Dory. She’s still funny, still has short-term memory loss, and still acts impulsively, but this time she gets to do more of it as the whole story revolves around her! Throughout Finding Dory, Dory is getting flashbacks of memories from her childhood, slowly allowing her to piece together who are parents are, where she is from, and how she ended up so far away. This leads Dory on an amazing journey to find her family, taking her all the way to California. After Dory becomes separated from Marlin and Nemo, she then relies on Hank to help her find her parents in the Marine Life Institute, and adds Destiny and Bailey to that support system because Dory being Dory needs some help remembering exactly what she’s doing from time to time! Dory goes through a whirlwind of emotions on this journey but Dory finds she’s more capable than she thought and she manages to bring everyone together again, just like in Finding Nemo.

Ellen DeGeneres returned to reprise her role as Dory. This time, Dory also had two other voice actors, to voice baby Dory and teenage Dory. Baby Dory was voiced by Sloane Murray, who is the daughter of Pixar producer Lindsey Collins. Collins produced Finding Dory and went on to produce Turning Red (2022) and Elio (2025) for the company. Teenage Dory was voiced by Lucia Geddes.

At the start of the film, Marlin is perfectly content with how everything has worked out for him. He’s back with his son Nemo and he’s found a new friend in Dory. Marlin doesn’t want to go on another epic journey like he did the year before, believing Dory should just be satisfied with how life is right now, like him. But Nemo guilts Marlin into going on this journey to help Dory because that’s what friends should do. Nemo has to be the voice of reason a lot of the time in this film, telling Marlin he shouldn’t have gotten annoyed at Dory for being concerned after the squid attack, and that he needs to be more patient with people, like Dory and Becky, instead of thinking they’re going to ruin things all the time. His “relationship” with Becky the loon is quite funny actually, because she seems to like him. Marlin must have a way of attracting strange women into his life! In the end, Marlin admits that he does appreciate Dory and her “Dory ways”, especially when she comes back to save him and Nemo from ending up in Cleveland.

Albert Brooks returned to voice the character of Marlin, however, the voice actor for Nemo changed. Because of the 13-year gap between Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, it was only expected that Alexander Gould, voice of Nemo in the original movie, would not be able to reprise his role for the sequel since his voice would have changed. Alexander Gould is given a small voice cameo as one of the workers in the institute’s truck, Passenger Carl, to make up for this. Hayden Rolence was cast as Nemo.

Then, we have a collection of new characters. Hank is a grumpy octopus, sorry, septopus, who has some unresolved trauma after the loss of one of his tentacles, which he seems to suggest had something to do with an incident with a child but it’s not clear how this happened. Like everyone, Hank finds Dory and her memory loss particularly irritating, just wanting to get her tag so he can go to Cleveland. Dory takes so long to find her parents that he can’t ever have thought he was going to get that tag, but she does and Hank is left to go on his merry way. However, when Dory comes back to quarantine, Hank knows he has to help her, finding that he does like her, even with her strange quirks. I think he was actually pleased to see her come back. After stealing the truck, Hank is convinced by Dory that he doesn’t actually want to be alone forever, and that he should live in the ocean with her and her friends. He decides that would be the best option for him.

Ed O’Neill was cast as Hank, having previously voiced the character Mr. Litwak in Wreck-It Ralph (2012) for Disney. He reprised this role in the sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018). O’Neill is known for his roles in television series, such as starring as Al Bundy in Married…with Children (1987-97), and more recently, as Jay Pritchett in ABC’s Modern Family (2009-20). O’Neill is set to appear in All’s Fair (2025), a new legal drama series for Hulu, starring Kim Kardashian and Naomi Watts.

Destiny is a whale shark who was childhood friends with Dory, communicating through the institute’s pipes. She stills like Dory even after all the years. Dory and Destiny pick up right where they left off with Destiny being a huge help to Dory in finding her parents, knowing exactly what exhibit she is from. Destiny also overcomes her fear of the ocean, having been in captivity for most of her life, if not all of it. She then returns home with Dory and the others to start her new no-walls life.

Destiny was voiced by Kaitlin Olson, who rose to fame with her role as Deandra “Sweet Dee” Reynolds in the comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-present). Olson currently appears in the recurring role of DJ Vance in the series Hacks (2021-present), and stars as Morgan Gillory in the ABC drama series High Potential (2024-present) for ABC. In movies, Olson was cast as Tatiana in The Heat (2013), which was led by Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, and as Ms. Nielsen in Netflix’s Incoming (2024).

Destiny’s neighbour at the Marine Life Institute is beluga whale Bailey, who seems to be a hypochondriac as he had a head injury ages ago and became convinced his echo location was gone forever. Because of this, Destiny and Bailey have a bit of a contentious relationship, as Destiny thinks Bailey is just making a fuss and needs to get it together! She manages to convince him to try to use his echo location to get Dory through the pipes and much to Bailey’s surprise, it works. His echo location comes in quite handy in this movie. Bailey is also the one to encourage Destiny to jump out of their tanks together and leave the institute, so they both encourage each other.

Ty Burrell was cast as Bailey, and he is also known for his role in Modern Family, like Ed O’Neill. Burrell played Phil Dunphy on that show, winning Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2011 and 2014 for his role, as well as a Screen Actors’ Guild Award in 2013. Outside of that, Burrell also voiced the character of Peabody in the animated movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014), and was cast as Jean Pierre Napoleon, the French Interpol agent, in Muppets Most Wanted (2015).

For Charlie and Jenny, Dory’s parents, they spent much of Dory’s childhood trying to prepare her for life with short-term memory loss, which can be a struggle, as well as the fear that Dory may end up forgetting them because of it. After Dory goes missing, her parents search for her, but despite the length of time that has passed, they never lose hope that Dory may return to them, doing the smart thing and staying in one place instead of scouring the ocean for her. They leave out trails of shells like they used to when Dory was little, to help lead her home. They are ecstatic when Dory does come back to them and they return home with her, ensuring that they will never be separated from her again.

Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton voice Charlie and Jenny. Both have had incredible careers, so here are some highlights from their acting careers. In more recent years, Levy is known for being the co-creator and actor behind the character of Johnny Rose in Schitt’s Creek (2015-20), winning Emmy awards for Outstanding Lead Actor and Outstanding Comedy Series in 2020. His son, Daniel, also co-created the series and played David Rose. Levy played a version of himself in Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building (2021-present), and currently hosts the travelogue series The Reluctant Traveler on AppleTV+ (2023-present). Other past roles Levy may be known for are his recurring role as Noah Levenstein in the American Pie film series, and as Dr. Walter Kornbluth in Splash (1984).

Diane Keaton’s earlier roles include playing Kay Adams-Corleone in The Godfather series, as well as starring in the title roll of Annie Hall (1977), for which she won the Academy Award, the BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. She also starred alongside Steve Martin as Nina Banks in Father of the Bride (1991) and Father of the Bride Part II (1995), which Eugene Levy also had small cameo roles in. She was later cast as Erica Barry opposite Jack Nicholson in the romantic comedy film Something’s Gotta Give, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress. In more recent years, she played Diane in Book Club (2018) and its 2023 sequel, with Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen.

There is also Fluke and Rudder, the lazy sea lions who sit on a rock outside the institute all day, protecting this rock from odd sea lion Gerald. They are very protective of their rock, and only use it as leverage to Gerald’s pale being shooing him away. I wonder what Gerald ever did to them to make them react in this way? Gerald gets his own back though, because when Fluke and Rudder do decide to leave the rock to watch Dory’s plan with the truck in action, he takes over the rock – although I’m sure Fluke and Rudder were able to get it back from him!

Fluke was voiced by Idris Elba, who voiced characters for two other movies for Disney in 2016: Chief Bogo in Disney’s Zootopia, and Shere Khan for The Jungle Book live-action. Elba has continued to voice act, for example with his role as Knuckles in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. On television, Idris Elba appeared as Stringer Bell in The Wire (2002-08), and starred as DCI John Luther in the BBC series Luther (2010-19), for which he won a Critics’ Choice Television award, a Golden Globe award, and a SAG award. Elba also portrays Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Dominic West voiced Rudder. He had previously played Detective Jimmy McNulty in The Wire, and portrayed Fred West in the British TV movie Appropriate Adult (2011), winning a BAFTA for his role. He was cast as Noah in the series The Affair (2014-19), winning Satellite Awards for Best Actor in a TV Series – Drama in 2015 and 2016. West was also cast as Prince Charles in Seasons 5 and 6 of The Crown (2016-23) for Netflix, and currently plays Lieutenant Colonel Dudley Clarke in SAS: Rogue Heroes (2022-present). Other recent roles include Dr. Chris Cox in comedy-drama series Brassic (2019-25) and Guy Dexter in Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) and The Grand Finale (2025).

Other characters who return in Finding Dory include Crush the sea turtle, who guides Marlin, Dory, and Nemo to California, still voiced by Andrew Stanton, director of both Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, and Mr. Ray, Nemo’s teacher, who takes them to the ray migration, also still voiced by Pixar story man Bob Peterson. Another Pixar employee to voice a character here is Torbin Xan Bullock, an editor for Pixar, who voiced Gerald.

There are many cameo roles in Finding Dory too. One is Sigourney Weaver who provides the voice of the public messages at the Marine Life Institute, such as the aim of the institute to “rescue, rehabilitate, and release” creatures to the ocean. Weaver won Golden Globes for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her role as Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist (1988), and for Best Supporting Actress as Katharine Parker in Working Girl (1988). Weaver is also known for playing Ellen Ripley in the Alien franchise, as well as Dr. Grace Augustine in the Avatar films, and even Dr. Rebecca Gorin in the Ghostbusters movies. For Pixar, Weaver was the voice of Axiom in WALL-E (2008).

Then, we have Stan and Inez, the two kelp bass who try to help lost baby Dory at the start of the film. They were voiced by Bill Hader and Kate McKinnon, both former cast members of Saturday Night Live (1975-present). Hader was there from 2005 until 2013, and McKinnon from 2012 to 2022. Hader also voiced a few characters for Disney and Pixar movies, such as Fear for Inside Out (2015); J.P. Spamley in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018); and Featheringhamstan in Lightyear (2022). He voiced the main role of Flint Lockwood in Sony Pictures’ Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and its 2013 sequel; and Guy Gagné in DreamWorks’ Turbo (2013). McKinnon is no stranger to voice acting either, having voiced Stella and Eva in The Angry Birds Movie (2016). She was also the voice of Miss Frizzle in The Magic School Bus Rides Again (2017-21). Both actors have appeared in numerous comedy movies, such as Hader playing Dr. Aaron Conners in Trainwreck (2015) and George Custer in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009); and McKinnon for her roles as Weird Barbie in Barbie (2023) and Morgan Freeman – not the actor – in The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018), alongside Mila Kunis.

The whole “Tank Gang” from Finding Nemo also reprise their voice roles for a special post-credits scene in Finding Dory, where they are “rescued” by employees at the Marine Life Institute after being spotted in their plastic bags, now covered in algae. This includes Willem Dafoe as Gill; Brad Garrett as Bloat; Alison Janney as Peach; Austin Pendleton as Gurgle; Stephen Rott as Bubbles; and Vicki Lewis as Deb. The voice of Jacques the cleaner shrimp was replaced by Jerome Ranft, the brother of Jacques’ original voice actor Joe Ranft, and also an employee at Pixar.

Finally, John Ratzenberger, who voiced a character in every Pixar movie up until Onward (2020), including Hamm in Toy Story franchise, and returned as a voice cameo for the studio in Inside Out 2 (2024), voiced Bill the crab in the Open Ocean exhibit.

PRODUCTION

Given the 13-year gap between Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, it might be assumed that Pixar never intended to make a sequel to Finding Nemo, at least not initially. However, it has been reported that around 2005, Disney tasked Circle 7 Animation, a division of Walt Disney Feature Animation that only lasted from 2004 to 2006, with making a Finding Nemo 2. At the time, they’d also planned to make a Monsters, Inc. 2 and a different version of Toy Story 3, as a way of using Pixar properties. Allegedly, Finding Nemo 2 was meant to see Nemo and his long-lost twin brother go on a mission to rescue Marlin from an aquarium[1].

Luckily, once Pixar and Disney came to an agreement for Disney to acquire Pixar in 2006, this animation division was shut down and these ideas were scrapped, allowing Pixar to leave the decision of what happened with Finding Nemo in the capable hands of Pixar employees, namely the movie’s director Andrew Stanton.

Stanton has admitted that rarely does he watch the movies he’s made after their release, because during the development process, movies have to be screened and watched so many times to make sure they are on the right track.

But around 2010, Stanton had to watch the 3D version of Finding Nemo to sign it off for its release. Finding Nemo in 3D was available for a limited time at theatres during 2012, for Finding Nemo’s 10^th anniversary. Whilst watching, Stanton started to wonder how easily Dory could get lost again, and he began to feel worried for this character, that she might forget about her new family with Marlin and Nemo because she’d seemingly already lost her actual family. All the backstory that had been given to Dory for Finding Nemo was that she had been swimming alone in the ocean for many years before she met Marlin, and that she was probably overly optimistic and positive because her memory loss problem had caused some to abandon her, meaning Dory puts on a façade to get fish to like her and stay with her. That’s a clear reason why she got upset whenever Marlin said he wanted to continue his journey to find Nemo without her. Now, Stanton was wondering where Dory was from, what happened to her parents, and just how much could her memory deal with.

Stanton began to discuss this idea privately with co-workers, not wanting to cause mayhem at the Pixar studios with talk of “Finding Nemo 2”. Once he’d thought it over more and had a story together, focusing on Dory’s emotional memory, instead of her memory of names, locations etc., Stanton pitched it to John Lasseter, then Chief Creative Officer of both Pixar and Walt Disney Feature Animation, around early 2012. Lasseter was happy to greenlight this endeavour so Stanton hired a writer to work on the story further. I assume this writer was Victoria Strouse, credited as co-writer of Finding Dory’s screenplay. Strouse went on to co-write the movies Let It Snow (2019) and Family Switch (2023), both for Netflix[2].

Now that Finding Dory was happening, the story needed some work before locking that in and moving on to animation. This required many rewrites as well as numerous areas of research. It also required the team to push away the fear of making a sequel, which is deemed to be even harder than making an original movie because most of the characters are already there, and parameters have been set in terms of their characteristics and behaviours, so these cannot be changed. The team working on Finding Dory said they had to forget they were making a sequel and just try to make the best film they could[3].

The initial concept for Finding Dory was always going to be about Dory finding home, but how could they make that happen for a character who has short-term memory loss? This concept came from the fact that goldfish memory apparently only lasts around five seconds. Goldfish can’t “cure” their “memory loss”, so why should Dory? But not being able to remember your home is quite an obstacle to finding it, so there had to be a way of triggering Dory’s memories. In the final film, we see that Dory’s memory of her past is triggered by certain things, like seeing a shell, or hearing about an undertow. Nemo then manages to trigger a whole flood of memories when he mentions “the Jewel of Morro Bay, California”, the phrase Dory was mumbling when she was in shock from being swept away by the undertow at the ray migration[4]. This was going to be something Nemo heard while Dory was “sleep swimming”, with this sequence being completely finished and even used in the Finding Dory teaser trailer before being cut. The idea of a flood of memories is quite accurate to real-life because our memories can be recalled through something simple, like a smell or a song.

But how would Dory find her home? She’d have to cross the whole ocean to get there, and where would she even be going? In a deleted scene, an initial idea for this was that Dory would have a migratory instinct, where her fins would guide her home, this being something that Nemo had learnt about at school. Nemo and Marlin would’ve been right with Dory as she began her journey, simply following her fins. There was also a big-mouthed clam in this deleted scene who was meant to be Marlin’s nosy neighbourhood, who would tell Dory that her memory loss must be linked to some sort of childhood trauma. In the end, the character of the clam was added to the final movie, in the pond that Marlin and Nemo get into via the institute’s splash pad fountains, who just talks about himself and his sad love life! This clam was voiced by director of Finding Dory Andrew Stanton.

Another idea that appeared in an early scene that was later cut but appeared in the final film was the ray migration. Originally, Dory was meant to take Nemo to the ray migration alone, something Marlin isn’t sure about but feels guilted into agreeing to. He tells Dory to be hyperaware of her surroundings and if either she or Nemo gets separated, they should wait under a ledge. On the day of the migration, Nemo and Dory arrive together, but Dory gets distracted after seeing two blue fish who she thinks are her parents. She chases after them and then forgets what she was doing. She goes home with some other fish. Once home, Marlin asks where Nemo is and is furious to see Dory forgot about him. She couldn’t even remember taking him to the ray migration. Luckily, Nemo did as he was told and waited under a ledge until Marlin and Dory find him.

One of the more annoying character points that was quickly removed was that Dory’s parents were also going to have memory loss. This came from a line in Finding Nemo where Dory explains her short-term memory loss, saying it runs in her family, or at least, she thinks it does. This meant that Dory’s parents also forgot about her, so when Dory did eventually find home in a cut scene, she saw no-one there, and swum out to sea. Dory’s parents were told to use their fins to find their home via this homing instinct that was used in another deleted scene. They would eventually find home and Dory, with the parents apologising for not remembering her. However, it soon became clear that having three characters with memory loss was irritating, plus, having parents who can’t remember their child is not ideal! Because Dory only says she thinks memory loss runs in her family, this element of the story could be removed, simply accepting that Dory was wrong on this fact[5].

Something that Andrew Stanton had initially wanted to do with Finding Nemo was tell Marlin’s backstory about his life with Coral through the form of flashbacks, but this concept didn’t work and just made Marlin a difficult character to like. But for Finding Dory, Stanton got to experiment with flashbacks once more, for Dory’s backstory.

There were multiple different prologues that were made to open the story, revolving around Dory’s childhood. The first would’ve seen Marlin bumping into Dory as per their meeting in Finding Nemo, going all the way up to them meeting Bruce. Marlin would’ve then beaten him up and caused all the sea mines to explodes. Obviously, that never happened in the original movie and that is because this is Marlin’s parent presentation at Nemo’s school, talking about his journey to rescue Nemo. A kid asks about Dory’s family, confusing her and making her think. Marlin says Dory is part of their family and there’s no need for further questions. This led Nemo to become concerned that Dory might leave to find her family.

Another prologue showed young Dory getting lost and floating out to sea, before going to the scene from Finding Nemo of Marlin bumping into Dory whilst searching for the diver’s boat. There was also a third prologue that involved Dory’s parents’ memory loss, apparently something that affects all blue tangs. The three go on a walk together and repeat the same conversation over and over again, but when Dory chases after a fish, she gets lost. Dory kept swimming until she bumps into Marlin like in the first film. A fourth version was closer to the final film but gave away too much of Dory’s backstory, showing instantly how she got lost, i.e., by being sucked into the pipes by the undertow in her exhibit.

Finally, another set of deleted scenes was meant to include the “tank gang” from Finding Nemo, who were meant to help Marlin and Nemo get into the institute to save Dory via a series of complicated military-like plans, including riding on flying fish and loons[6].

Research in the real world was also helpful in cementing the story of Finding Dory. For example, Pixar spent a lot of time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, south of San Francisco, and based their Marine Life Institute on the layout of this aquarium, as they’d explored public areas and backstage areas. The Marine Life Institute was decided to be the setting of Finding Dory based on clues given about Dory’s character in the first movie, like being able to read showing that she had to be somewhere near humans, and how she can speak whale, meaning she needed to be around whales at some point in her life. New characters were also added to match the location of coastal California, which is why there are otters and sea lions here[7]. Other places they went to include the Vancouver Aquarium and the Marine Mammal Center in California to get further information on what a place like the Marine Life Institute would look like.

It’s also been said that the documentary film Blackfish (2013), about orca whales in captivity and their behaviours, with a particular emphasis on SeaWorld’s duty of care, or lack thereof, to their orcas and personnel. Blackfish was a sensational documentary, containing many claims and questions that were quite damning, and was very popular on its release. The Pixar team watched Blackfish and John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton sat down to discuss it with Blackfish director Gabriela Cowperthwaite. It has been assumed that Pixar adjusted their Finding Dory story based on this documentary, suggesting that perhaps it was meant to be set in an aquatic theme park but was later changed to a rehabilitation centre, to avoid too many comparisons with parks like SeaWorld. It’s also been said that releasing the sea creatures back into the ocean was added in to the story based on this documentary[8]. Pixar hasn’t commented on exactly how Blackfish impacted Finding Dory, only saying that it was just one area of research that they undertook during the development process.

With a concrete story in place, work could begin on animating it. One thing to note is that all the work done on Finding Nemo is not simply stored in Pixar’s computers, ready to use again if needed. Everything had to be rebuilt and recreated again, however, the benefit of a 13-year gap between movies was that there had been many improvements to technology around imagery and rendering, such as Pixar adopting the new technology RIS, the next-generation of RenderMan, Pixar’s core system to render animation and visual effects. This helped deal with light in more sophisticated and accurate ways[9]. Since they knew they were going to use a replay of the scene of Dory and Marlin meeting in Finding Nemo as part of the opening sequence of Finding Dory, this was a good test to see how much could be changed from the original film[10].

There were also plenty of new sets to create as well as new characters. One of these new characters that particularly benefitted from new technology was Hank the septopus, although even then, making a flexible character on a computer was a challenge. Hank was the most complicated character that Pixar had ever made. Drawings of the character looked good but having to animated him on computer filled animators with a mixture of excitement and dread! It was exciting to see how he could camouflage and move around on land, solving the logistical problem of Dory making her way through the human world, but with all those tentacles and that squishy body, shapeshifting and changing colour, it took a while to figure him out. It apparently takes between six and nine months to create characters at Pixar, but it took over two years to work out Hank!

To research the character, Pixar workers went backstage at the Monterey Bay Aquarium to feed and interact with an octopus. They found that the suckers on their tentacles are incredibly strong, and that they like to escape in real-life, by using their tentacles to open hatches and lids, sometimes just creeping their tentacles up and over the lip of their tanks. The animators also looked to Kaa from Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967) as a reference point for animating Hank’s tentacles.

Randomly, Hank was meant to be addicted to hot sauce, and would drink it all over the park, but this became distracting, so was removed. No doubt that would’ve made the animation even harder as well! Another thing that was removed was Hank’s eighth tentacle, which helped with the animation, since they had one less tentacle to work with[11].

Pixar can’t have a movie without Easter eggs so naturally, these were included in Finding Dory. For example, A113, referencing the room at CalArts where some of Pixar’s animators studied, can be seen on Fluke and Rudder’s tags, with one saying “A1” and the other “13”. It is also on the licence plate of the institute’s truck, as “CAL A113”. The Pizza Planet truck can seen rusting away in the Shipping Lanes scene. In reference to Pixar’s next movie, a Lightning McQueen plaster can be seen on the hand of the truck driver; the Pixar movie to follow Finding Dory was Cars 3 (2017). In The Good Dinosaur (2015), the movie preceding Finding Dory, Hank was spotted in a pool of water that Arlo the dinosaur falls into.

Some other Easter eggs include the Marine Life Institute’s motorboat reading “1200 PA”, referring to the address of Pixar’s headquarters, 1200 Park Avenue. In quarantine, there is a pipe with “Seawater Supply TL59” written on to it. This is a nod to a similar pipe in the Disneyland attraction Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, which itself refers to 1959, the original opening date of Submarine Voyage, and Tomorrowland, its location.

MUSIC

The Finding Dory soundtrack consists of mostly instrumentals from another ocean-inspired score, composed by Thomas Newman. Newman composed the score for Finding Nemo (2003), as well as WALL-E (2008) and Elemental (2023), also for Pixar.

Within the score, there is a mixture of pieces that evoke the excitement of a long-awaited journey, as well as the perils and dangers of that journey. “Finding Dory (Main Title)” is a stand-out piece within the score, as it manages to capture some of Dory’s child-like spirit and joy, and uses abstract vocals to get the feel of marine noises travelling through the sea[12]. “Lost at Sea” also has similar elements to it, as it continues Dory’s journey through the sea as a child, desperately trying to remember her parents and where they are. Elements of “Main Title” appear again in “Quite a View” for when Dory and Marlin sit at the drop-off and just take in the view at the very end of the film. Some of the music that is used for scenes at the Marine Life Institute are quite calming, matching the feeling that we get at the aquarium, where everything seems slower and more relaxed as we watch fish swimming around in their tanks. This is felt during pieces like “Sigourney Weaver” and “Open Ocean”. I also like “…Shells”, which plays when Dory reunites with her family.

I like the calmer, more emotional pieces of music in any score, but others that have a sense of threat include ones like “Hands!” for when Dory and Hank get trapped in the Kid Zone, and “Okay with Crazy” as Dory and Hank hijack the institute’s truck.

There are only two songs credited in Finding Dory and only one of these features on the official soundtrack. This is the End Credits song “Unforgettable”, written by Irving Gordon and performed by Sia. It is a cover of the song which was previously recorded by Nat King Cole in 1951, and featured on his 1952 album of the same name. I don’t really understand why Pixar chose to use “Unforgettable” as their End Credits song, other than it is a clear reference to Dory’s memory, where she has memory loss, but did not forget her family. However, I find Sia’s version of this song quite haunting, as many of her songs, especially the slower ones, tend to be. Not that I have a problem with that normally; I like a lot of Sia’s music, but I don’t think her version of “Unforgettable” fits here. I was expecting a more upbeat, positive song to end the movie, like Finding Nemo’s “Beyond the Sea”.

The other song credited in Finding Dory is “What a Wonderful World”, written by Robert Thiele and George David Weiss, and performed by Louis Armstrong. This song was originally recorded in 1967. Here, the song is used to accompany the slow-motion sequence of the Marine Life Institute’s truck tumbling into the ocean, spilling all of the marine creatures back to their home. The song is naturally quite relaxing and calming, so it’s fun to see it combined with a scene that would actually be quite disturbing and shocking to see in person; I suppose that was the joke!

There is another small song that shouldn’t be forgotten and that is the rays’ migration song, “O, We’re Going Home”. It is sung by the group of rays as they pass by the field trip on their way home as part of their migration journey. It’s fun, it’s loud, and it lets us in on just why Mr. Ray sings so much! It is unclear who specifically performs this song, but the lyrics were written by Finding Dory screenwriters Andrew Stanton and Victoria Strouse, and Pixar story man Bob Peterson, voice of Mr. Ray.

Finding Dory’s soundtrack was not nominated for as many awards as the Finding Nemo soundtrack, not even at the Annies. However, it was nominated at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards for Best Original Score in an Animated Film, but it did not win; Alexandre Desplat’s work on The Secret Life of Pets (2016) did. Newman himself was nominated for Soundtrack Composer of the Year in 2016 at the World Soundtrack Awards, for his work on Spectre (2015), Bridge of Spies (2015), and Finding Dory, but lost out to Carter Burwell, for his music on movies like Hail, Caeser! (2016) and Carol (2015).

RECEPTION

At the 2015 D23 Expo Panel for Pixar, they spoke about The Good Dinosaur, which was to be released in November 2015, originally the release slot for Finding Dory, but both were pushed back. Finding Dory was obviously mentioned too, with Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane, co-director of Finding Dory, on stage to discuss it. Angus MacLane had worked at Pixar since 1997, working as an animator on some of their biggest movies like Up (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Finding Nemo (2003). He later directed the Toy Story spin-off Lightyear (2022), and was subsequently let go from Pixar in 2023 as part of a company restructuring. MacLane and Stanton introduced the voice actors on stage, Ellen DeGeneres, Ed O’Neill, Ty Burrell, and Kaitlin Olson, and their characters were discussed, with some footage from Finding Dory being shown to attendees.

After a premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on 8^th June 2016, Finding Dory was widely released in the US on 17^th June 2016, making its way to other countries over the following months. Unlike Finding Nemo, Finding Dory was released in both IMAX and 3D at the time of its initial release. The new short Piper (2016), about a little sandpiper trying to balance eating with a fear of drowning, learning how to act like a hermit crab in the process, was released alongside Finding Dory. It is one of three shorts at the Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival attraction in Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Finding Nemo has made around $940 million at the box-office worldwide, over two releases. It was the most successful animated movie of all time until Toy Story 3 in 2010. How would Finding Dory do? Early signs were incredibly positive as Finding Dory raked in $136.2 million in its domestic opening weekend. The global opening for that weekend increased the figure to $186.2 million, and the movie had $200 million by the end of its first week, with many international markets, like the UK and Germany still waiting for the movie.

Finding Dory broke records for: the opening weekend for an animated movie; the largest single day for an animated movie; and the largest opening day for an animated movie. It also beat the domestic opening weekends of all previous Pixar movies, including Toy Story 3 with $110.3 million and 2015’s Inside Out with $90.4 million. It even beat Disney Animation’s recent hits of Zootopia (2016), with $75.06 million, and Frozen (2013) and its $67.39 million[13]. Finding Dory crossed the $1 billion mark on 9^th October 2016, becoming only the second film in Pixar history, after Toy Story 3, to reach this figure. It settled at $1.029 billion. Finding Dory was only the fifth animated film to take $1 billion of box-office revenue, after Frozen (2013), Minions (2015), and Zootopia, and Toy Story 3[14]. It peaked at No. 4 on the list of highest-grossing animated films at the time.

With help from Finding Dory, as well as a whole list of other movies Disney released in 2016, including Captain America: Civil War, Zootopia, and the remake of The Jungle Book, the studio crossed the $2 billion mark at the domestic box office on 16^th July 2016. A week earlier, Disney surpassed the $5 billion mark globally, and crossed $3 billion in international grosses on 6^th July 2016. In the second-half of 2016, they also released Pete’s Dragon, Doctor Strange, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Moana, so even more money was awaiting them by the end of the year[15].

Finding Dory was met with mostly positive reviews, who enjoyed the beautiful animation, and the new characters and voice cameos. Hank was considered to be a fun new sidekick, and many liked how the movie had deepened Dory, making her more of a sympathetic character with those adorably cute childhood scenes. It was funny, moving, charming, and warm, as we’d all expect from Pixar. It was considered to be a sequel that worked for the majority of viewers.

But you can’t please everyone, and this being a sequel meant it was always open to scrutiny and comparison. It is no secret that Finding Dory follows a similar story to that of Finding Nemo, and for some, that simply isn’t enough to warrant a sequel. That didn’t bother me with Finding Dory because I liked the new setting, but I can understand this opinion. Others said it was just not as good as Finding Nemo and was pretty unnecessary.

This sentiment could be seen as being reflected in awards season as Finding Dory did not receive as much acclaim as Finding Nemo did. For example, Finding Nemo won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film, and cleaned up at the Annie Awards. In comparison, Finding Dory was not even nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the Oscars, although Disney’s Zootopia and Moana were, with Zootopia winning. Piper, the short Pixar film that accompanied Finding Dory in theatres, did, however, win Best Animated Short Film here. At the Annie Awards, Finding Dory was nominated for Best Animated Feature but once again lost to Zootopia. It was also nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Character Animation, and Storyboarding, but lost to Jan Maas for Kubo and the Two Strings, and Dean Wellins for Zootopia, respectively. Piper once again won Best Animated Short Subject though. But, at the Saturn Awards, Finding Dory did win Best Animated Film.

Finding Dory won other awards, including Favorite Animated Movie at the 2017 Kids’ Choice Awards and Ellen DeGeneres won Favorite Voice for Dory. The ensemble cast won the #Squad award here. At the Teen Choice Awards, Finding Dory won Choice Movie: Summer, and Ellen DeGeneres won for Choice Movie Actress: Summer. The film also won Favorite Movie and Favorite Family Movie at the People’s Choice Awards. DeGeneres won for Favorite Animated Movie Voice once again. I guess this shows that Finding Dory was not considered the amazing animated feat that Finding Nemo was but that it was still popular.

LEGACY

After Finding Dory was released, a short movie called Marine Life Interviews was released exclusively on the Finding Dory Blu-Ray. It is similar to Aardman Animations Creature Comforts, where the animals are being interviewed, answering questions about their time with Dory. Outside of that, there have been some other short episodes of Disney+ series themed to Finding Dory. One is an episode of Pixar: In Real Life, released in 2019, where the scene of Hank and Dory using a stroller to get round the Marine Life Institute is recreated in real life. Another is a Pixar Popcorn episode, from 2021, where Dory finds different trinkets on the ocean floor; and a LEGO Pixar: BrickToons short, titled Field Trip from 2024, showing LEGO versions of the characters going on a school field trip to a shipwreck. There is also talk of a National Geographic series called The Real Finding Nemo, announced at the end of 2024. This will follow in the footsteps of the A Real Bug’s Life series.

The Disney Parks have been representing the characters of Finding Nemo ever since its release in 2003, in parades, shows, and attractions. So, some of these experiences already existed before Finding Dory was released in 2016, but others opened later, and there are some experiences that were revamped to include characters from Finding Dory.

For example, at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, The Living Seas pavilion at Epcot closed in August 2005, reopening as The Seas with Nemo & Friends alongside a new attraction and updated aquarium space in January 2007. Here, there is the interactive show Turtle Talk with Crush, which opened in 2004. It uses a mixture of digital puppetry, image projection, and improvisation by an actor in real-time to make guests feel like they are having a conversation with fan-favourite Finding Nemo character Crush the sea turtle. Children can even ask Crush questions. A version of Turtle Talk with Crush exists at Disney California Adventure Park at Disneyland, opening in July 2005, and at Tokyo DisneySea in October 2009, which opened in October 2009. A similar show also exists at the Animator’s Palate restaurant on the Disney Cruise Line, and Walt Disney Imagineering even donated a Turtle Talk with Crush unit to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County in California in 2013. Ahead of Finding Dory’s June release date, characters like Dory, Destiny, Bailey, Hank, and Squirt were added to the shows at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland[16]. Due to the live nature of this show, Turtle Talk with Crush will be different every time you watch.

At Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World, Finding Nemo – The Musical opened at the Theater in the Wild on 24^th January 2007. Finding Nemo – The Musical was a roughly forty-minute show, featuring live actors and elaborate puppetry. Finding Nemo – The Musical closed in 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic closures. When it reopened in June 2022, the show reopened as Finding Nemo: The Big Blue…and Beyond! This show is now about 25 minutes long, and includes an opening sequence relating to the Marine Life Institute in Finding Dory, complete with Sigourney Weaver’s narration. Here, we see the Tank Gang from Finding Nemo getting ready to be released back into the ocean after a stay at the institute – they were picked up by institute workers at the end of Finding Dory – and them explaining how they got there, taking us back to the events of Finding Nemo. Some songs were cut from the original musical, including my favourite song, and more of the story was condensed. The ending of the musical sees the Tank Gang released from the institute and finding Nemo to see how he’s getting on at home. There is also a golden statue of Nemo and Dory at this park, as part of the Fab 50 Character Collection installed throughout Walt Disney World for the resort’s 50^th anniversary in 2021.

Speaking of hotels, at Disneyland, their newly renovated Pixar Place Hotel opened in January 2024, along with a new pool area, which is themed to Finding Nemo and Finding Dory and their characters. It consists of a splash pad area called Nemo’s Cove, and Crush’s Surfin’ Slide. Pixar Place Hotel itself is themed to Pixar and its movies, so you may find some Finding Nemo or Finding Dory artwork or Easter eggs when exploring the space.

Outside of that, Pixar Pier, which opened at Disney California Adventure in June 2018 as a retheme of Paradise Pier, has a few references to Finding Nemo and Finding Dory including a billboard featuring Gerald, Fluke, Rudder, the sea lions, and Dory. The Pixar Pal-A-Round Ferris wheel attraction here also has character-themed gondolas, with Dory and Nemo just two featured Pixar characters. At the Lamplight Lounge restaurant, you may also see some small references to the artwork of Finding Nemo and Finding Dory. Sadly, since the characters of these movies cannot walk around the park unlike other Pixar characters, they were not referenced much at Pixar Fest here in 2024, but they were included as projections for the Together Forever fireworks show during this festival.

At Disneyland, along with Turtle Talk with Crush, the biggest Finding Nemo addition to Disneyland was the reimagining of the Submarine Voyage ride at Tomorrowland in the original Disneyland Park. Submarine Voyage opened in 1959. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opened in June 2007. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage now follows the story of visitors helping Marlin and Dory find Nemo once again and characters from the movie are projected into the water scenes, similarly to The Seas with Nemo & Friends attraction, at points throughout the ride[17]. Dory and Nemo were also added to it’s a small world here.

Outside of the US, there are some other Finding Nemo and Finding Dory attractions and experiences. At Disneyland Paris, specifically at the Walt Disney Studios Park – soon to reopen in 2026 as Disney Adventure World – in the Worlds of Pixar area is Crush’s Coaster, a thrilling, spinning rollercoaster, taking you through moments from the film, including the sharks’ shipwreck and a ride through the EAC. It opened in June 2007. At Shanghai Disneyland, there is a play area called the Junior Explorers Camp at Adventure Isle with an area themed to Finding Nemo. Two other areas are themed to The Lion King and Up (2009). At Tomorrowland in Shanghai Disneyland, there is an interactive exhibit called Pixar Adventurous Journey, with exhibits themed to different Pixar movies. One is Finding Nemo.

At Hong Kong Disneyland, there used to be a Turtle Talk with Crush attraction, however, it was only open through the summer of 2008, and did not return. However, you can see Nemo, Dory, and Peach the starfish within the it’s a small world attraction there. At the Disney Explorers Lodge Hotel, there is also a children’s indoor play area themed to Finding Nemo called Nemo’s Recreation Reef. At Tokyo Disneyland, along with their version of Turtle Talk with Crush, a new attraction, Nemo & Friends SeaRider opened at Tokyo DisneySea in 2017, taking over the space previously used by StormRider. This ride is a simulator attraction and takes guests through the Marine Life Institute in a submarine, experiencing moments from the movie and new scenes. You can also see Nemo, Marlin, and Dory within the it’s a small world attraction.

For parades and shows at the Disney Parks, Finding Dory specifically has been used less frequently than Finding Nemo, although a clip of baby Dory with her parents was used in the revamped nighttime show for Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Rivers of Light: We are One back in 2019. This show no longer exists. This same image is used for the Momentous nighttime show at Hong Kong Disneyland, which seems to still be running. Finding Nemo characters are still used in Disney Stars on Parade at Disneyland Paris, with a whole float featuring the characters of Finding Nemo, including Crush, Dory, Bloat, and of course, Nemo. Previous versions of World of Color at Disney California Adventure included clips from Finding Nemo, and Nemo even flew over Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty castle during the Disneyland Forever fireworks back in 2015 for the park’s 60^th anniversary celebration.

On the Disney Cruise Line, there is the Nemo’s Reef water play area on the Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream. On the Disney Wish, Disney Treasure, and Disney Destiny, “Go with the Flow”, from Finding Nemo – The Musical, is performed as part of the Disney Seas the Adventure musical stage show. You can even experience a version of Turtle Talk with Crush at Animator’s Palate on some ships.

Pieces of merchandise have been available over the years since Finding Dory’s release, including toys, clothing, and pins. Finding Dory has not yet reached a milestone anniversary, with its 10^th anniversary being in 2026, so Finding Nemo merchandise is more frequently available.

As Pixar continue to announce upcoming sequels to popular properties, I’m sure many are expecting the announcement of a third Finding Nemo movie. Initially, director Andrew Stanton joked that he was too tired to think about making a third film, whereas Ellen DeGeneres said she would consider it if the story for a third movie was good enough. She thought it could be something about new character Hank the septopus. However, in 2024, DeGeneres was asked about whether she would do a third Finding Nemo movie and she categorically said she would not. Yet Pixar said around this time that there were some ideas for a third film. Many fans don’t think there is anywhere they can go with this franchise now, as Finding Dory was incredibly similar to Finding Nemo, and if Dory isn’t going to return with Ellen DeGeneres, they may as well not bother, in my opinion.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Back in 2016, after an amazing year for The Walt Disney Company and their movies, Pixar apparently made an announcement saying they would not be making any more sequels. Since Disney’s record-breaking year encompassed a variety of sequels alongside original movies, this announcement was a bit of a surprise, and is even more surprising to us now, because all anyone wants to make is sequels!

In this case, Pixar said they were misquoted, and simply meant that they had just done a couple of sequels and they had lots of original movies in the works. They reiterated that they only make sequels if the story is good enough and the studio want to do it[18].

Now, I don’t have a problem with the occasional sequel, and Finding Dory was a pretty great one for me, but sequels at Disney and Pixar are getting just a little bit silly now. They’ve actually only made four since Finding Dory, but with the difficult movie-going landscape right now, studios are taking comfort in sequels to bring in those audiences, so they can make some decent profit from these very expensive animated films.

It seems like 2016 was really the start of this sequel-making world we live in, and it has only increased after the COVID-19 pandemic and economic troubles caused many of us to rely on streaming services instead of movie theatres to watch new films.

Finding Dory might have seen Dory reconnect with her family, but it seems to have signalled a disconnect between studios, filmmakers, and their audiences. Sure, sequels make a lot of money if promoted well and have the backing of an audience already, but do too many, and you risk alienating the public.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: The Disney Classics, ‘Circle 7 Animation (Pixaren’t)’, TheDisneyClassics.com, 4^th September 2021.

[2] Credit: Marina Draskovic, ‘Director Andrew Stanton Brings Dory Back’, D23.com, 17^th June 2016.

[3] Credit: Zach Johnson, ‘The Making of Finding Dory: Why It Took 13 Years to Make the Finding Nemo sequel’, EOnline.com, 18^th October 2016.

[4] Credit: Pixar, “What Were We Talking About?”, from Finding Dory (2016) UK Blu-Ray (2016).

[5] Credit: Matt Singer, ‘Andrew Stanton And Lindsey Collins On ‘Finding Dory’, Making Sequels, And What They Learned From Steve Jobs’, ScreenCrush.com, 14^th June 2016.

[6] Credit: Pixar, Deleted Scenes (2016), Disney+.

[7] Credit: BFI, ‘Pixar directors reveal Finding Dory animation secrets’, BFI.org.uk, 19^th July 2016.

[8] Credit: Amy Kaufman, ‘‘Blackfish’ gives Pixar second thoughts on ‘Finding Dory’ plot’, LATimes.com, 9^th August 2013.

[9] Credit: Disney, ‘Technology Enhances “Finding Dory” Filmmaking Process’, TheWaltDisneyCompany.com, 21^st June 2016.

[10] Credit: Matt Singer, ‘Andrew Stanton And Lindsey Collins On ‘Finding Dory’, Making Sequels, And What They Learned From Steve Jobs’, ScreenCrush.com, 14^th June 2016.

[11] Credit: Pixar, “The Octopus That Nearly Broke Pixar”, from Finding Dory (2016) UK Blu-Ray (2016).

[12] Credit: Pixar, ‘Dory’s Theme I Finding Dory (2016) Bonus Feature’, Capivaronator YouTube Channel, 28^th May 2024.

[13] Credit: Simon Thompson, ‘Why ‘Finding Dory’s Massive Box Office Makes A Third Film Inevitable’, Forbes.com, 23^rd June 2016.

[14] Credit: T.J., ‘‘Finding Dory’ Crosses $1 Billion in Worldwide Box Office Revenue’, PixarPost.com, 10^th October 2016.

[15] Credit: Disney, ‘Disney Hits 2016 Box Office Milestones in Record Time’, TheWaltDisneyCompany.com, 18^th July 2016.

[16] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Turtle Talk with Crush’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

[17] Credit: Pixar, ‘Reinventing the Submarine Voyage I Finding Nemo’, Special Features Archive YouTube Channel, 16^th March 2025.

[18] Credit: BFI, ‘Pixar directors reveal Finding Dory animation secrets’, BFI.org.uk, 19^th July 2016.

8th Aug 20259th Jan 2026 by The Disney Purist

#5 Finding Nemo (2003)

BACKGROUND

Disney Animation might’ve been the king of hit animated movies in the 1990s, but by the 2000s, their crown had slipped – and it moved on over to Pixar.

Yes, Disney was struggling in this particular decade and wouldn’t recover until 2010. DreamWorks was another animation studio around at the time but their movies felt quite different to Disney and Pixar’s in terms of their level of humour.

Pixar benefited from Disney’s issues as their brand was centred around creating wholesome entertainment for all the family to enjoy, just like Disney. Pixar liked to make movies based on human emotion and experience but set in new fantastical worlds. Pixar had the added bonus of being the masters of computer animation, something most studios were still trying to get to grips with. It’s also worth remembering that Disney had an agreement with Pixar to distribute their movies, so both studios were feeling the financial benefit, even if Disney’s own films were taking the brunt of reviewers’ criticism.

In 2003, after making hit after hit, Pixar returned with their latest outing, Finding Nemo, a story of a father fish’s difficult journey through the ocean to save his son from the confines of a dentist’s fish tank.

Little did the filmmakers know at that time that not only was Finding Nemo going to be a record breaker and the fifth successive smash hit for the studio, but that this film would become a classic in the years since its release, still being talked about and praised by both critics and regular audiences.

I can’t remember if I watched Finding Nemo at the cinema with my family when it came out but I probably did; I was the right age for it. I mostly remember watching it on DVD a lot but rarely, if ever, was it my decision to watch it. I don’t particularly enjoy the story, partly because of the fact so many movies follow people on journeys, with varying levels of success. It can get quite samey very quickly when you’re simply watching characters get into scrapes at different points, meeting strange creatures on the way.

Despite my lack of love for this film, I can still appreciate its artistry and its casting, understanding why many others have proclaimed Finding Nemo as a masterpiece. I will also happily say that I find Finding Nemo to be very funny, as I do with so many other Pixar films. They have a type of humour entirely their own.

PLOT

Finding Nemo begins with a clownfish couple, Marlin and Coral, who are getting ready for their hundreds of eggs to hatch. They are excited to be parents, and are talking about names for their children. Marlin believes most should be called either Marlin Jr. or Coral Jr., but Coral likes the name Nemo. Marlin agrees to allow one to be called Nemo. Suddenly, the two notice that the reef around them has gone silent – and that is because a barracuda is about. Coral fears for the safety of her eggs so swims down to protect them, however, the barracuda follows her. Marlin attempts to stop it, but is knocked unconscious. When he regains consciousness, Marlin is devastated to find that Coral and their eggs have gone. Searching around, Marlin finds one of their eggs has survived. Marlin vows to call this one Nemo and will protect this son at all costs, not letting anything happen to him.

Some time has now passed and Nemo is excited for his first day at school. Marlin is not so excited, and is feeling very overprotective, as he is every day of Nemo’s life! All the way to school, Marlin tells Nemo to check the coast is clear before leaving their anemone home, tells him to “hold his fin”, and not swim off. When they arrive at the school “grounds”, Marlin talks to some other parents, who try to calm his fears. Nemo’s teacher, Mr. Ray, a stingray, then arrives. Nemo is welcomed as a new student, but before they can leave for the day, Marlin quickly mentions Nemo’s “lucky fin”, the smaller fin that he was born with, worried that Nemo may struggle with swimming during Mr. Ray’s class. Mr. Ray tells him not to worry and the class leave. Marlin then hears from the other parents that they are going to “the drop-off”, and freaks out, chasing after them.

The class arrive at the drop-off, and whilst the rest of the class listen to Mr. Ray’s teachings, the three children of the parents Marlin was talking to walk off to the edge of the reef, so they can see the real drop-off of the seabed. Nemo goes with them. They see a boat in the distance, incorrectly referring to it as “a butt”. They start to dare each other about who can touch “the butt”, but when it is Nemo’s turn to swim out, he doesn’t want to. However, Marlin comes in at just that moment and is furious with Nemo for putting himself in danger, despite the fact he wasn’t going to do it. Marlin tells Nemo he simply isn’t ready for school and won’t be coming back. Nemo tells his dad he hates him. Mr. Ray comes over to resolve the issue, but as the adults talk, Nemo tries to prove a point to his dad by swimming out to sea. Everyone turns around and is shocked to find Nemo right up against the boat. Marlin warns Nemo not to even think about touching that boat, but Nemo defiantly does. Nemo starts to swim back; however, a diver appears right behind him. This diver puts Nemo into a bag and swims back to his boat. Another diver takes a photograph of Marlin, with the flash dazing him. Marlin tries to swim after the boat but can barely see a thing. The boat starts up its engine and pushes Marlin further away from it. The diver’s mask drops into the ocean.

Marlin tries to follow the boat, but even on the surface, he can’t see the boat anywhere near him. He attempts to ask other fish for help but they ignore him. He then swims right into blue tang Dory. Dory claims to have seen a boat and tells Marlin to follow her. After swimming for a bit, Dory starts to swim erratically, and then confronts Marlin, asking why he is following her. Marlin is confused by this, telling Dory she said she was taking him to the boat. Dory then starts the conversation again, leading Marlin to believe she’s crazy and says they’ve already had this conversation! Dory explains she has short-term memory loss and forgets things almost instantly. Marlin tells Dory she is wasting his time, and goes to leave. Instead, he swims right into great white shark Bruce. Bruce invites the two of them to a “party”. Marlin is immediately suspicious but Dory happily agrees to go. They don’t really have much choice anyway, and Bruce leads the two to a wrecked ship. At the ship, two other sharks are waiting for them and Marlin fears he’s about to be eaten…

But this turns out to be a support group meeting for the sharks, who are attempting to give up eating fish, with their motto being “fish are friends, not food”. At this meeting, Bruce and his friends Chum and Anchor have been tasked with bringing a fish friend to their meeting today. Chum has “misplaced” his friend, actually having eaten it, and Bruce offers Marlin instead, since he brought both Marlin and Dory. The meeting can now start. Bruce says it has been three weeks since he has eaten a fish, and opens up the (sea)floor to anyone else. Dory swims up and says she doesn’t believe she has ever eaten a fish. Marlin is then told to introduce himself to everyone. Marlin starts by saying his name and that he is a clownfish. Whenever someone hears or sees Marlin is a clownfish, they always ask for a joke, as the school parents did, and now the sharks want a joke too. However, Marlin isn’t good at joke-telling and is distracted by a mask in the distance, recognising it as the mask of the diver who took Nemo. Marlin explains the story to the sharks, and Dory comes over to take a look. It has writing on it, so she wants to ask the sharks if they can read it. The two fight over the mask, and it hits Dory in the nose, causing it to bleed. Bruce then smells the blood and reverts back to his predatory nature.

Bruce chases after Dory and Marlin, who swim away quickly, still holding the mask. They get to a dead end, but Dory manages to read the word “escape” and they find a way out of the wrecked ship. They soon find themselves trapped somewhere else though, and the mask has ended up in Bruce’s mouth. Dory finds that the area they are in holds torpedoes and sets one off. It hits Bruce in the mouth, freeing the mask, as well as Dory and Marlin. Bruce throws the bomb from his mouth. He soon comes to his senses again when he realises that bomb is heading right for the sea mines surrounding the ship. They swim away as multiple mines detonate and everything around them explodes.

Back with Nemo, we discover he has been placed in a dentist’s fish tank, with this dentist being the diver, who believes he was saving Nemo from the reef as he was swimming all alone out there. Nemo is terrified about being here, but his fellow “tank mates” soon introduce themselves. They include Bloat the pufferfish, Peach the starfish, and Gill the Moorish idol fish. Nemo is also introduced to Nigel the pelican. The fish soon discover that the dentist has saved Nemo as a birthday present for his niece, Darla. The tank fish are horrified, knowing Darla killed another fish by shaking its bag. Nemo has to get out of there.

Meanwhile, Dory and Marlin have fallen asleep in the mask, which is hanging precariously on the edge of the wrecked ship. The ship starts to move and Marlin wakes Dory. As the two fear being squished by this boat, they drop the mask. The boat settles on an edge, leaving them unharmed. But Marlin wants that mask back – and it fell a really long way down… Dory tries to encourage him to swim into the darkness, by telling him to “just keep swimming”. Soon enough, all the light has vanished. They then come across a random light in the sea. Entranced, they swim right up to it – before realising it is the light of an anglerfish! Marlin and Dory swim away, but Marlin spots the mask on the sea floor. He realised Dory could read on the ship and asks her to read the mask, while he distracts the anglerfish. Dory successfully manages to read the mask, just in time for them to get eaten! Dory and Marlin wait for their deaths – until they realise nothing has happened, because the anglerfish has gotten caught in the mask! They’ll have to leave it there, but thankfully, for once in her life, Dory has remembered what was written on the mask: an address. They need to get to “P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney”.

That night, in the dentist’s tank, Nemo is woken up by Jacques, a cleaner shrimp, who takes him to the volcano in the tank. Nemo hears the other fish chanting as he is led to the top of the volcano, named “Wannahockaloogie” – get the joke? Gill leads Nemo in his “initiation” into their gang. He is told to swim through the “Ring of Fire”, just the volcano’s bubble eruption. Nemo does so easily. Gill dubs him “Brother Sharkbait” and tells them of his escape plan: to block the tank’s filter so the dentist will have to clean the tank, and get them out to do so. In their bags, they can roll right out the window and down to the harbour.

Back in the ocean, Dory is pleased with herself for remembering the address, repeating it so many times to ensure she doesn’t forget it. Marlin sees a school of moonfish and goes to ask them for directions but they won’t stop and listen to him. Marlin then says to Dory that he wants to go on alone. Dory gets upset and starts to cry, alerting the school of fish who accuse Marlin of upsetting her. The fish start to play charades with Dory in a bid to cheer her up, but Marlin keeps guessing the answers instead, annoying them. The fish do an impression of Marlin, which upsets him and he swims away. Dory explains that he has lost his son and they are trying to get to Sydney. The fish happily tell them the way to get there. They’ll have to ride the East Australian Current, but first, they’ll come across a trench. At this trench, Dory is told specifically to go through it, not over it. Dory thanks them and they head off. At the trench though, Marlin doesn’t like the look of it, seeing it as a way to certain death. He wants to go over it, and won’t listen to Dory’s instinct they should go through it. Marlin distracts Dory, telling her something shiny went over the trench so they start to swim over it. At the top, Dory comes across a tiny jellyfish, who stings her. Marlin bats it away and says thankfully, it was only a little one. However, they are soon surrounded by hundreds of jellyfish. See, Marlin; that’s why you weren’t supposed to go over the trench. Marlin doesn’t believe there is a way through, until he sees Dory bouncing on the top of them. He comes up with a game, a race to get through the jellyfish by only bouncing on them. Dory and Marlin get really competitive and Marlin races ahead, getting through easily. He then notices Dory is not with him, and heads back in to find her. Dory has been stung numerous times and is trapped. Marlin swims right into the jellyfish’s tentacles and saves Dory, getting her out. But both pass out from their stings and begin to float to the bottom of the ocean…

At the dentist’s office in Sydney, the dentist leaves the room, giving the fish the perfect chance to enact their plan. Nemo swims through the filter, and is passed a pebble from the tank. He pushes the pebble into the rotating gear, which jams the filter. Nemo then swims up the tube above the gear to get back to the tank. However, just when everyone thinks it’s done, the pebble moves out of the gear and the filter starts up, sucking Nemo right into the gear. Gill grabs a piece of foliage from the tank and stuffs it up the tube with the help of the others. Nemo manages to grasp it with his teeth and is pulled through. Peach tells Gill not to make Nemo do that again. Traumatised by his own near-death escape, where Gill landed on dentist tools, scarring himself and cutting his fin, he says he won’t.

Marlin wakes up, and is surprised to find himself on the shell of a turtle named Crush. Crush tells Marlin they all saw how he “took on the jellies”, making him an instant legend. Marlin says he needs to get to the East Australian Current and is told by Crush he’s already there. He then asks about Dory, who he sees on a turtle shell below. He goes to her, believing she’s still unconscious. It turns out she’s just playing hide and seek with the younger turtles, who all want to know about Marlin and the jellyfish. This story is then passed through the creatures of the ocean, eventually getting to Nigel the pelican, who manages to tell Nemo that his dad is coming to get him. Motivated by this, Nemo enacts the plan to block the filter again, whilst nobody is watching. As the others notice what Nemo is trying to do, they grab a plant again and tell Nemo to grab it. But everything’s fine; Nemo has already jammed the filter and gotten back. Now, all they have to do is wait for the tank to get dirty!

In the current, Dory and Marlin have reached their exit, and Crush’s son, Squirt pushes them out at the right point, and they ride the current out. Marlin asks Crush how old he is, so he can tell Nemo. Crush is 150 years old “and still young”. Dory and Marlin then just swim straight. After a while, they don’t seem to be getting anywhere and only see one fish in the distance. Dory wants to ask the fish for directions, and realises it is actually a whale. Dory starts speaking whale, but it swims away from them. As they work out what to do next, the whale swallows them. In the whale’s mouth, Marlin starts to lose hope of ever seeing Nemo again. They then see the water level decreasing in the whale’s mouth. Dory “asks” the whale what is going on and she says it wants them to go to the back of the throat. Marlin doesn’t trust the whale not to eat them, so hangs on to the whale’s tongue. Dory wants to follow the instructions and falls down, but Marlin grabs her fin at the last minute. Dory tells him to trust her for once. Eventually, he does and they drop – only to be freed from the whale via its blowhole. They also discover the whale has taken them right to Sydney Harbour.

Yet things aren’t going so well at the tank. Although it got dirty, the dentist installed a new filter overnight so the fish wake up to find it spotless without them being removed. The dentist then tries to fish Nemo out with a net, but the others dive in and swim down, taking the net with them. Nemo is fished out in a bag instead, and left in a box so he can’t roll.

In the harbour, Marlin and Dory look for the diver’s boat but are picked up by a pelican. Marlin refuses to be almost swallowed twice today, and sticks in the pelican’s throat. Nigel sees this pelican choking, because two fish are on his tongue. The pelican spits Dory and Marlin out. Nigel then hears Marlin talking about finding his son and realises he is Nemo’s dad. He wants Marlin and Dory to jump into his mouth but Marlin doesn’t want to do that. They are surrounded by seagulls. Nigel explains that he knows where Nemo is, but the excitement makes Marlin jump up and the seagulls swarm. Nigel grabs Marlin and Dory and flies away from the gulls, leading them on a chase through the harbour.

At the dentist’s office, Darla has arrived and she’s worse than Nemo had imagined, so he plays dead in his bag, believing that the dentist will flush him down the toilet, and the pipes will take him to the ocean, like Gill said. The dentist goes to put him in the bin instead. Nigel arrives at this point, and Marlin forces him into the room, causing chaos. Marlin then sees Nemo in the bag and believes he’s dead. Nigel is forced out of the room and takes Marlin and Dory back to the harbour. Back in the office, Nemo thought he heard his dad so stops playing dead. Darla picks up the bag and starts to shake it, causing Gill to use their tank volcano to launch him onto her head, getting her to drop the bag. The bag breaks on the dentist tools and both Gill and Nemo land, gasping for breath. Gill manages to propel Nemo into the toilet, and Gill is returned to the tank, pleased to have saved Nemo.

Nemo goes on a journey back through the ocean, calling for his dad. Marlin has gone on back home alone, leaving Dory lost. Nemo sees Dory and explains what happened to him. Dory doesn’t twig that this is Marlin’s son though and says she thought she was looking for someone too. Nemo says they can look together. After a minute or two, Dory does actually remember that Nemo is who they were looking for! She asks nearby crabs to tell her where Marlin went, using the surface seagulls to persuade him to tell her! They follow the same direction and Marlin eventually hears Nemo calling. But the reunion doesn’t last long, as Dory is caught in a fish net with hundreds of other fish. Nemo has an idea to save her and goes into the net, telling Marlin to get all the fish to swim down together. Marlin agrees to help, though concerned he’ll never see his son again. The fish are confused initially but work together to swim down, moving the net lower to the ocean floor. The net crashes down, freed from the boat, and the fish swim out. Dory is fine, but left on the bottom of the net is an unconscious Nemo. Marlin swims to him, and he regains consciousness. Marlin then tells Nemo all about his journey, and how he met a 150-year-old sea turtle. They all go home.

At home, Dory has joined the sharks in their bid to not eat fish, and Marlin has become calmer, even being funny for once! Nemo is back at school, and Squirt has joined as an exchange student. Marlin waves goodbye to his son for the day, and Nemo quickly swims back to hug him, saying he loves him. We also learn that the tank fish have broken the dentist’s new filter and had to be removed in plastic bags. They have managed to roll themselves down the harbour and into the sea, pleased with themselves – but wondering what they do now!

CHARACTERS & CAST

Marlin is an incredibly overprotective father, wanting to keep Nemo from harm at all costs. This is because Nemo is his only son, and he has firsthand experience of just how dangerous the ocean can be. He wants Nemo to be safe. Yet this causes friction between him and his son, as Nemo believes his dad doesn’t believe he is capable of looking after himself, even during a day at school. It’s because of this argument that Nemo even swims out to the boat in the first place, trying to prove to his dad that he is fine on his own. If they hadn’t had that conversation, I don’t think Nemo would’ve been taken by the diver. Because of this guilt, Marlin realises he has to put his fear about the ocean aside to rescue his son, knowing the fear of losing him is much worse than anything he’ll experience out at sea.

Albert Brooks was cast as Marlin. Brooks made his acting debut in Taxi Driver (1976), being cast as Tom. He went on to appear as Aaron Altman in the comedy-drama Broadcast News (1987), for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards. For voice work, Brooks had voiced a few characters in episodes of The Simpsons (1989-present), leading to him voicing the character of Russ Cargill in The Simpsons Movie (2007). In more recent years, Brooks has been cast as Bernie Rose in the Ryan Gosling film Drive (2011), and was the subject of the documentary Albert Brooks: Defending My Life in 2023. He is set to appear as Governor Bill in Ella McCay (2025).

Dory is the complete opposite of Marlin, not having any fear, perhaps because she can’t remember what fear even feels like, thanks to her short-term memory loss. Dory doesn’t seem to know where she’s going in life so Marlin’s quest gives her a purpose, and something useful to do. She is initially annoying to Marlin, with her forgetfulness and obsession with singing and repeating things over and over again! Dory likes Marlin’s friendship though, seemingly not remembering where her friends are, and doesn’t like the idea of Marlin leaving her, as he tries to do numerous times on their journey, due to his worry about Dory’s unpredictable behaviour. Dory is easily the funniest character in Finding Nemo, and the movie wouldn’t be the same without her. She is the comic next to Marlin’s “straight man”, with their bouncing off each other leading to many good moments and quotable lines.

Dory was voiced by comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who began her career in stand-up comedy. She later starred in the ABC sitcom Ellen (1994-98), which ran for five seasons. Following that, DeGeneres hosted award shows, like the Grammy Awards in 1996 and 1997, as well as the 2001 Primetime Emmy Awards. She starred in the Epcot attraction Ellen’s Energy Adventure at Walt Disney World. This attraction ran from 1996 until 2017, and also starred Bill Nye the Science Guy. Ellen later hosted her own talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, from 2003 until 2022, as well as the game show Ellen’s Game of Games (2017-21). The daytime talk show was popular, winning multiple Daytime Emmy Awards during its time, however, by the late 2010s, allegations had started to surface around a toxic workplace environment, as well as complaints around DeGeneres herself. Since the end of her series, DeGeneres has mostly retreated from the spotlight, and even moved to the UK in late 2024. DeGeneres won the Annie Award for Outstanding Voice Acting; the Kids; Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie; and the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Dory.

Nemo is Marlin’s curious son. He wants to know all about the ocean and the creatures in it, like sharks and sea turtles. He is frustrated that his father doesn’t seem to think he can do anything for himself, even swim well because of his “lucky fin”. By swimming out to sea and touching the boat, he is aiming to show his father he is perfectly fine, but instead, this gets him taken from the ocean and put into a fish tank. Nemo is scared initially of this new environment and the other fish, but they quickly come to be friends, finding ways to ensure he doesn’t end up as a gift to Darla. Gill in particular comes to be Nemo’s “father figure” whilst away from his dad. With help from him, Nemo is freed and reunited with his father. On returning home, Marlin has made some changes to his parenting style, allowing Nemo more space and the chance to be his own fish.

Alexander Gould voiced Nemo. After Finding Nemo, Gould went on to voice Bambi in the direct-to-video sequel Bambi II (2006), and was cast as Twitch in the children’s comedy film How to Eat Fried Worms (2006). He also had a starring role as Shane Botwin in the comedy-drama series Weeds (2005-12). Gould won Young Artist awards for his roles as both Nemo and Shane Botwin, in 2004 and 2007, respectively.

The “tank gang” consists of an eclectic mix of fish and sea creatures. First, we have Moorish idol fish Gill, who seems to have been taken directly from the ocean, like Nemo, whereas the others were bought online. Gill is the most determined to escape, seeing Nemo as the perfect opportunity to get out, since he is small enough to get in and out of the filter mechanisms. Gill is mysterious, not revealing many details about his life, other than to say his fin was damaged from his escape plan to get into the dentist’s toilet, by landing on dental tools. At first, Gill doesn’t seem to care about Nemo’s safety, seeing him as a tool to get out of the tank, but it soon becomes clear that he does care about Nemo and does not want him to end up with Darla. Him and the others want Nemo to get home to his father.

Gill was voiced by Willem Dafoe. Dafoe first rose to fame with his role as Sergeant Elias in the war movie Platoon (1986), receiving an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role. Dafoe would go on to be nominated in this category twice more: as Bobby in The Florida Project (2017) and as Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire (2000). Dafoe would earn a further Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh in At Eternity’s Gate (2018). Dafoe is also known for his role as the Green Goblin in the 2002 Spider-Man movie and its subsequent sequels. More recently, Dafoe starred alongside Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things (2023), playing Dr. Godwin Baxter. He also portrayed David Tebet in Saturday Night (2024).

As for the rest of the tank gang, we have Bloat the blowfish, who blows up whenever he gets stressed out. Generally, he is a big lovable fish. There is also Peach, the starfish who is a good lookout in the office, knowing when the dentist is doing an exciting procedure or whether he has left the room, since she is stuck to the sides of the tank most of the time. Bubbles is a yellow tang fish who has grown very attached to a little treasure chest in the tank that releases bubbles, hence his name. There is also Gurgle, a royal gamma fish who is obsessed with cleanliness, even insisting Nemo is “decontaminated” by Jacques, the cleaner shrimp, who naturally cleans the tank a lot, on learning Nemo was in the ocean. Deb is a striped damselfish, who is a little bit crazy, believing that her reflection in the tank is her sister Flo. I think Deb in particular has been in this tank a little bit too long!

Brad Garrett voiced Bloat. Garrett starred as Robert Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005), alongside Ray Romano, for which he won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor. Known for his distinctive, deep voice, Garrett has voiced other characters for Disney and Pixar, including Dim in A Bug’s Life (1998), Gusteau in Ratatouille (2007), Hook Hand in Tangled (2010) and Eeyore in Christopher Robin (2018). Alison Janney voiced Peach. Janney won multiple Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as C.J. Cregg in The West Wing (1999-2006), going on to appear in various movies including The Help (2011), playing Charlotte Phelan; Bombshell (2019), being cast as Susan Estrich; and, most recently, A Simple Favour (2025), playing Aunt Linda. Janney also won numerous awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress, for her portrayal of LaVona Golden, Tonya Harding’s mother, in I, Tonya (2017).

Bubbles was voiced by Stephen Root. Root was cast as Jimmy James in the sitcom NewsRadio (1995-99), alongside Dave Foley and Vicki Lewis. Root has also voiced the characters of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland on King of the Hill (1997-2009, 2025-present). In recent live-action, Root can be seen as Neil Mullin in Bombshell (2019); Jim Hudson in Get Out (2017); and as Tony in Paint (2023). Gurgle was voiced by Austin Pendleton. Pendleton was cast as John Gibbons in the movie My Cousin Vinny (1992), and appears as Marty in Christmas with the Kranks (2004). He was part of the ensemble cast who won a SAG award for A Beautiful Mind (2001). Vicki Lewis was cast as Deb, who played Dina Reams in the Disney Channel Original Movie Den Brother (2010), and Ms. Knightslinger in the DCOM Upside-Down Magic (2020), as well as appearing as Ms. Bitterman in a few episodes of the Disney Channel series Sonny with a Chance (2009-11). Lewis is also known for her role as Beth in NewsRadio. The voice of Jacques was provided by Joe Ranft, who was an artist at Pixar. His first pieces of work included pitching and storyboarding the Green Army Men sequence for Toy Story (1995). He also voiced other characters for Pixar’s movies, including Wheezy in Toy Story 2 (1999) and Heimlich in A Bug’s Life (1998). Ranft died in a car accident in 2005, during production on the movie Cars (2006) which he co-directed[1]. Ranft worked on story for all Pixar films up until then.

There is also Nigel the pelican, who is a friend of the “tank gang”, visiting them often, wanting to get a look at the dentist treating his patients. Apparently, this is a fun activity for animals; not so much for humans! It is because of Nigel that Marlin is able to get into the dentist office, although things take a turn when it is believed that Nemo is dead. Geoffrey Rush was cast as Nigel. Rush has appeared in many projects on stage and screen over the years. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of pianist David Helfgott in the movie Shine (1996). Rush continued to be nominated for his film roles over the years, including in the Best Supporting Actor category for his roles as Phillip Henslowe in Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Lionel Logue in The King’s Speech (2010). He also won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor for playing the title role in the HBO movie The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004). Rush is also known for playing Captain Barbossa in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise.

The sharks Bruce, Anchor, and Chum are the biggest threat to Marlin and Dory on their search for Nemo, although Dory doesn’t even realise it. They are fine at the start, vowing not to eat fish, and Chum seems to be the one who is most likely to go off the rails. Instead, Bruce smells Dory’s blood when she hits it on the mask and he goes crazy, desperately wanting to eat them. Anchor and Chum try to stop Bruce, attempting to diffuse the situation by saying Bruce never knew his father – which is such a good excuse for wanting to eat someone, isn’t it? In the end, the sharks fear dying from an exploding mine and forget all about Marlin and Dory, giving Bruce an opportunity to come to their senses. By the end of Finding Nemo, Dory and Marlin have befriended the sharks, with Dory helping the sharks on their journey to “vegetarianism”.

Bruce was voiced by Australian comic Barry Humphries, who was well-known for his comedic performances, most notably as the character Dame Edna Everage, having many TV specials as this character in the 1980s and 1990s. Humphries went on to voice the character of Braulio in Justin and the Knights of Valour (2013). He was also the Great Goblin in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) via motion capture. Humphries sadly passed away in 2023. Anchor was voiced by Eric Bana, who came to fame with his role as Norm “Hoot” Gibson in Black Hawk Down (2001). He later played Hector in Troy (2004), and starred as Henry in The Time Traveller’s Wife (2009), with Rachel McAdams. Bruce Spence voiced Chum. He appeared as Cookson, one of Hook’s pirates in the 2003 adaptation of Peter Pan. He went on to play Tion Medon in Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith (2005). More recently, he appeared as Gerry in the movie The Dry (2020), with Eric Bana.

Then, we have Crush the sea turtle. Crush is a chilled-out sea turtle, just cruising down the EAC with his friends and family. Nothing bothers Crush, and he is a relaxed parent too. His son, Squirt, falls out of the current, which causes Marlin to panic. Crush tells Marlin to calm down, knowing that Squirt will find his own way back into the current, and sure enough, he does. This shows Marlin that he doesn’t need to hold on so tight to Nemo because kids are resilient and know more than their parents think. Crush was voiced by Finding Nemo’s director, Andrew Stanton. Stanton has been at Pixar since its first feature, and was a co-director on A Bug’s Life (1998) prior to Finding Nemo, continuing to be part of the Pixar Senior Creative Team. Stanton is also writing and directing Toy Story 5 (2026).

Mr. Ray is Nemo’s flamboyant school teacher. Mr. Ray likes to sing to signal his arrival, and just generally sings on his travels! Mr. Ray is a friendly teacher, although he’s not particularly strict, not even noticing four members of his class walking towards the drop-off, risking their safety. He’s too busy looking at something else with his other students. To be honest, the ratio of students to teachers is way too low here, so no wonder an incident like this occurred. Mr. Ray should really look at hiring a teacher assistant… Bob Peterson voiced Mr. Ray and he is also a Pixar employee. Peterson had worked on the earliest Pixar movie, Toy Story (1995), within the animation department, and has continued to work on other Pixar films in both a story and voice acting capacity. For example, Peterson co-wrote the screenplay for Cars 3 (2017), and co-directed Up (2009), also voicing the characters of Alpha and the much-loved Dug. Another Pixar character he has voiced is Roz in Monsters, Inc. (2001). Peterson also wrote, created, and directed the animated short series Dug Days (2021-23), and reprised his voice role of Dug.

Finally, we have John Ratzenberger, Pixar’s “good luck charm”. Ratzenberger voiced a character in every Pixar movie up until Onward (2020), later returning to reprise his voice role of Fritz in Inside Out 2 (2024). He is particularly known for voicing the character of Hamm in the Toy Story franchise. In Finding Nemo, Ratzenberger voiced the school of moonfish, the ones who like to play charades with random swimmers-by.

PRODUCTION

Pixar had already received critical acclaim for their first four movies, starting with Toy Story in 1995. With every release, audiences started to have expectations of the studio and were excited to see what they would come up with next.

It might seem like workers at Pixar would’ve started to feel confident about their movie-making abilities. Even critics were commenting on the studio’s “reliability”, and yet, within the company, all this gave the filmmakers was an increasing amount of pressure to not mess up and ruin their streak of luck.

In the case of Finding Nemo, the team working on this movie were dealing with a tightly controlled budget, after Monsters, Inc. (2001), despite being a hit, had come under fire for its extraordinary budget, with much development work not even making it into the film. They were also only too aware of Brad Bird’s The Incredibles taking much of the focus away from Finding Nemo, since everyone was expecting that movie to be their hit for 2004. Many actually thought Finding Nemo would be a flop, including CEO of The Walt Disney Company at the time, Michael Eisner, who apparently believed it would be Pixar’s first box-office bomb. During the intense production process, even director of Finding Nemo Andrew Stanton was starting to have doubts about it.

The story of Finding Nemo was devised by Stanton, with a few inspirations. One was Stanton’s childhood visits to his dentist, who happened to have a fish tank. Stanton would look at these fish and wonder what it was like to have humans staring into your home all day. He assumed that these fish all came from the ocean and must’ve been wanting to get home[2]. Another came in later life, when Stanton went for a walk with his five-year-old son to the park. He’d wanted some father-son time together; however, Stanton began to notice how he was taking away from that time by being overprotective to ensure his son didn’t get hurt. He realised he wasn’t being present enough[3]. With these two influences combined, it is clear to see how the story started to take shape, containing a similar father-son dynamic alongside a fish’s journey from fish tank to ocean, and vice versa.

Stanton had initially written a full screenplay, however, after storyboarding, the team found the story didn’t quite work. The story department began to collaborate together to help with rewrites, spending years getting to the point where the story was right and work could begin on the animation, which is pretty standard procedure, but this does mean that many elements initially present in the story did not remain in the final film.

The biggest story element not to exist in the final edit of Finding Nemo was something Stanton was enjoying experimenting with, and that was telling Marlin’s backstory through various flashbacks during the course of the movie. It was meant to gradually show the audience where Marlin’s panic around protecting his son had come from, and would’ve been split into around five flashbacks. The first saw Marlin meeting Coral for the first time, trying to get her attention. The next saw Marlin showing Coral their new anemone home. The third saw Marlin and Coral getting ready to be parents. Another had the two talking about names for their eggs, where Coral said she’d like to name one “Nemo”. The final flashback was to show the tragedy of the barracuda attack, where all but Marlin and Nemo were lost. This was going to be played alongside scenes of Nemo in the fish net with Dory at the end of the film. Although Stanton was excited to tell the story in this format, they found during early screenings of the film that by doing this Marlin wasn’t likeable enough. Stanton was advised to tell the story in a linear format, which was less interesting for him, but after spending over a year seeing people not warm to the character of Marlin, he decided he’d have to try it. Sure enough, by having the introductory scene show Marlin losing the love of his life and most of his children, audiences immediately emphasised with this character[4]. William H. Macy was initially on board to voice Marlin and recorded all of his lines. But when Pixar decided to make the film lighter, and avoid the use of all those dark flashbacks, they felt Macy was no longer right for the part and brought in Albert Brooks, to bring much-needed humour.

There were some others changes to characters as well along the way. Crush was going to be a too-chilled-out hippie sea turtle, who didn’t seem to have much going on his brain! Pixar made test footage of Crush which used Sean Penn’s voice, taking vocals from his 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. It is unclear whether this meant Pixar intended to, or actually did, approach Sean Penn for the part, although it is known that this style of test footage was used to recruit Tom Hanks as Woody in Toy Story, and Billy Crystal as Buzz in the same film, though Crystal turned down the role[5]. Gill was also supposed to lie to Nemo about his past, something that Nemo figured out from watching a parent reading a book to their child in the dentist’s waiting room, because everything Gill had told him was in that book word-for-word. In this same scene, the tank fish were also watching a soap opera on the dentist’s TV, this apparently being their pastime instead of watching the dentist’s more complicated appointments[6]. Dory was initially being written as a male fish, however, Stanton was supposedly watching an episode of the sitcom Ellen, starring Ellen DeGeneres, as he was working on the movie. He liked how Ellen’s character on the show talked so fast and changed subject seemingly at random, and felt she’d be perfect as Dory. Megan Mullally, famed for her character Karen Walker on Will & Grace (1998-2006, 2017-20) was also approached to voice a character in Finding Nemo, however, Pixar wanted her to sound just like Karen, which Mullally did not want to do, so she was allegedly let go for this reason[7].

With the story in place, animation could begin, but not before a significant amount of research took place. Firstly, some of the filmmakers had to take scuba lessons in Monterey Bay so they could dive and look at marine life up close. They also took dives in Maui, Hawaii. Here, they learnt that the reef can be split up into three simple ideas: that there are ground masses; tall, vertical shapes; and flat, horizontal areas. This allowed the filmmakers to present this reef to an audience in an easy way. Research was also taken in Sydney and around the harbour. With the seagull chase, when Nigel the pelican is trying to get Marlin and Dory to Nemo, this was meant to go through the city, but whilst looking at the harbour, they thought it would be more recognisable to set it across the bay, as the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are famous tourist attractions, making it easy for the audience to locate the setting of the sequence. They even did some research at a water treatment centre and sewage plant, with this being the intended setting for a sequence, following Nemo’s journey from toilet to ocean, that was ultimately cut[8]. What a waste!

The underwater world was quite difficult to recreate, as there needed to be a balance between realism and creativity. Although the animators were able to mimic actual shots in a simulation, they found this made the ocean too real, so they had to figure out a way of toning that down, but keeping some of that believability. Light was an important factor in achieving this, as they wanted to created mood as well as reflect natural times of day in the seascape. For example, it starts off as bright, blue water by Marlin and Nemo’s home, before getting darker and greener as they approach Sydney. Different types of light had to be factored in as well, such as light travelling differently through sewage water and harbour water compared to the open ocean. They even animated surge and swell in the water to reflect true activity.

On studying fish, it was decided that animating fish characters was going to be difficult. Fish don’t have any emotion in their faces, so instead, the animators turned to dogs. They saw that dogs use their eyebrows to emote, so this idea was put into the fish characters. Animating how fish move was an added challenge, since Pixar had animated non-human characters before but they had mostly walked on two legs. Here, they’d have to study how fish move their fins and propel themselves through the water[9]. They also had to explore how light goes through fish. In the end, they likened the effect to holding a gummy bear up to the light, and gave their fish this gummy sort of surface, before adding the correct texture to the skin and scales.

Other animation challenges in Finding Nemo included some effects and specific environments. One of these was recreating the anemone. After some time experimenting with ways of animating this, they discovered that covering a tennis ball with fur from Sulley in Monsters, Inc. and sticking it upside down managed to simulate the movement of the anemone, and they could just thicken the fur as needed from that point. With simulations of the large school of moonfish, they used Pisces software to make this, simply “killing” any misbehaving fish from the shot. So, although no actual fish were harmed in the making of Finding Nemo, it would seem that some computer-animated fish were! This was a similar type of process to the fishing net sequence towards the end of the film.

For some specific effects, they studied how silt moves in the ocean, specifically in relation to the rusting shipwreck that the sharks live in. When Bruce hits into parts of the ship, you can see silt, rust, and dust being kicked up. These particles move differently in water than they do in air, so they had to be animated realistically. They did the same with how a mine would explode underwater, creating a mushroom cloud of smoke, with one mine setting off the one next to it, and so on. The whale’s mouth was a particularly difficult challenge for many departments, as it is a dark environment, causing a problem for lighting, and the water trapped in the water looks and behaves differently to the ocean water, with splashes of water and smaller particles running down the whale’s tongue.

Finding Nemo contains many fun Easter eggs. For example, their famous “A113”, referencing a classroom at CalArts were some of Pixar’s animators studied, appears on the diver’s camera here, and the Pizza Planet truck appears outside the dentist’s office on the road, during the imaginary escape sequence, when we see a bag of water rolling itself into the harbour. You can also see a Buzz Lightyear toy in the dentist office, and a boy waiting to be seen by the dentist is reading a Mr. Incredible comic book, continuing the Pixar tradition of referencing their next film, in this case The Incredibles (2004). In Monsters, Inc., the movie preceding Finding Nemo, Nemo appeared as a toy in Boo’s room at the end of the film, and could be found hanging on the wall inside the door that Randall is thrown into by Sulley, also towards the end of the film. Nemo even appeared as one of the fish in the net that is destroyed by Kenai riding on a mammoth in an early scene in Disney’s Brother Bear (2003).

Other fun references in Finding Nemo include the fact that the character Darla was named after Pixar producer Darla K. Anderson, producer of A Bug’s Life (1998) and Monsters, Inc. (2001), who believes her history of playing practical jokes on Andrew Stanton was the reason for this, thinking naming the “villain” of Finding Nemo after her was some kind of payback! You can also see witty names of boats in the Sydney Harbour sequence, such as “Pier Pressure”, “The Surly Mermaid”, “iBoat”, and “Knottie Buoy”[10].

MUSIC

Although Randy Newman had composed the music for all four previous Pixar movies, the composer for Finding Nemo was someone different. But not someone too different, as the composer was Thomas Newman, Randy Newman’s cousin!

After Finding Nemo, Thomas Newman continued to work on the music for other Pixar movies, like WALL-E (2008) and Elemental (2023). He also became known for his compositions for other hit movies, like the Bond movies Skyfall (2012), for which he won the BAFTA for Best Original Music, and Spectre (2015). Prior to Finding Nemo, Newman had composed the music for American Beauty (1999), winning the BAFTA for Best Original Music, along with a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. He would later win the Grammy award again, and be nominated for Best Original Score at the Academy Awards too, for Skyfall. Newman also won an Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music for the series Six Feet Under (2001-05), and recently composed the music for Netflix’s miniseries Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024) with Julia Newman.

The Finding Nemo soundtrack mostly consists of instrumental music, because this isn’t a Disney movie so these fish don’t sing! The score had to get across a wide range of emotions and feelings throughout the movie, as Marlin, Dory, and Nemo deal with their fair share of highs and lows, threats and happy moments. For me, I particularly like the pieces “First Day”, which is a more positive, upbeat moment, at least for Nemo as he gets ready for his first day of school, as well as “Finding Nemo”, which sees Marlin and Nemo reunited at last. “Nemo Egg (Main Title)” is also a nice song, showing Marlin vowing to protect his son for the rest of his life, although it is slightly melancholic too. Within the more tense moments, I quite like “Lost”, where Marlin is desperately trying to figure out where the boat and divers who took his son have gone, and “Friends Not Food”, as Marlin and Dory are trying to escape from Bruce. “All Drains Lead to the Ocean” is another good piece of music here.

The only actual song to appear on the movie’s official soundtrack is the End Credits song “Beyond the Sea”. For Finding Nemo, this song, originally titled “La Mer” and performed by Charles Trenet, was performed by British singer, and former member of Take That, Robbie Williams. It features on his 2001 album Swing When You’re Winning. There was also a music video released of this song, but only with clips from the film; you won’t see an animated fish version of Robbie. “Beyond the Sea” was written by Charles Louis Trenet, Albert Lasry, and Jack Lawrence.

Other music does, however, appear in Finding Nemo, and these songs were credited. One was “Psycho (The Murder)” written by Bernard Hermann. The opening notes of this music were used when Darla appears in the dentist’s office to collect Nemo, to show that she is terrifying to the fish. “Fandango” written by Bob Bain and “The Girl from Ipanema” written by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius De Moraes, and Norman Gimbel are also both credited, although I can’t find specifically when they are used, other than they seem to be used as background music during the scenes in the dentist’s office and its waiting room.

Newman’s score won the Annie Award for Music in an Animated Feature Production, as well as the BMI Film Music Award. It was also nominated for Best Original Score at the Academy Awards, and Best Original Score at the Satellite Awards, however, it lost out to Howard Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Hans Zimmer’s score in The Last Samurai, respectively. Newman also missed out on the Saturn Award for Best Music to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’s score.

RECEPTION

After around three years of production on Finding Nemo, the movie was ready to be shown to the public. The premiere of Finding Nemo was held at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on 18^th May 2003, before being widely released in the US on 30^th May 2003, becoming the first Pixar movie to be released in the summer, and not November, although in some countries, Finding Nemo would not be released until closer to November. Finding Nemo was also released alongside a customary Pixar short. In this case, Pixar re-released a short from their past, Knick Knack from 1989, about a snowman in a snow globe desperately trying to get free so he can hang out with the other ornaments on the shelf.

November has always been considered a good time to release a movie, but so is summertime. However, it was likely still a little bit concerning for Pixar to be releasing a movie outside of their usual timeframe. Yet, they had nothing to worry about because Finding Nemo did amazingly well, both at the box office and with critics. Audiences loved it too.

Finding Nemo achieved the best opening ever at the box office for an animated picture at the time, taking $70.6 million, more than Monsters, Inc. with $62.5 million. Finding Nemo’s box-office performance was followed by Bruce Almighty, The Italian Job 2003 remake, and The Matrix Reloaded[11]. By the end of the year, it was confirmed that Finding Nemo’s domestic takings had reached just under $340 million, and the movie reached the No. 2 spot for 2003 box-office results with just over $870 million; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King took the top spot. Comparing these results to Disney’s animated release of the year, Brother Bear reached No. 14[12]. At one time, Finding Nemo was the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, but has been surpassed many times since.

In terms of reviews, the overwhelming majority of these were positive, although there have been some more negative comments, especially in more recent times. These include that Finding Nemo may’ve been overhyped simply because of its incredible use of computer animation; Pixar was way ahead of the competition, that is a well-known fact. Others say it was less ambitious than previous films, which I can only assume they mean in way of story, as it can get a bit samey after a while, something I understand, but the animation was clearly ambitious. There were comments that Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. are funnier Pixar films, which I agree with, and that sometimes Marlin and Dory got a bit much for some viewers, who found them grating and annoying at times. Some also say some moments in this film are too scary for young children, such as the shark scene, although I’d disagree with that.

On the positive side, many praised the beautiful animation and casting, particularly liking the chemistry between Marlin and Dory. It was seen to be a real story, easily recognisable as a story about the human condition, with messages around parenting and loss in particular. It was entertaining, clever, and imaginative, proving to be popular with adults and children alike. It has since been lauded as a timeless classic.

Finding Nemo’s critical acclaim and financial success were rewarded with a brilliant award season. Arguably the biggest achievement was winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, this being Pixar’s first win in this category. Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, and David Reynolds were nominated in the Best Original Screenplay category and Best Sound Editing was another category where Finding Nemo was nominated.

Finding Nemo also won the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film, and won Favorite Movie at the Kids’ Choice Awards. Pixar also swept the Annie Awards with Finding Nemo winning the Best Animated Picture; Character Animation and Design; Directing; Effects; and Writing categories. Finding Nemo won every category it was nominated in. Finding Nemo was also named Best Animated Film of 2003 by the National Board of Review.

Outside of that, the screenwriters were again nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the BAFTAs. Finding Nemo was also nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globes but lost to Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation. The Golden Globes did not have a Best Animated Feature Film category until 2007.

LEGACY

Following on from its theatrical release, Finding Nemo broke more records with its DVD release, becoming the best-selling DVD of all time, still holding on to that top spot and winning awards for its bonus features and games. Some of these included behind-the-scenes footage, as well as information around marine life, presumably to encourage children to learn about the underwater environment. One of these included a television special with French oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau called Exploring the Reef, which also saw him being joined by Dory, Marlin, and Nemo, to explain the importance of coral reefs and other marine life in the natural world.

A video game based on the events of Finding Nemo was also released in 2003, and Finding Nemo characters have since been added to other Disney-affiliated games, like Disney Friends and Disney Infinity.

Finding Nemo was also re-released in 3D in September 2012 for a limited time. The successful 3D re-release of The Lion King in 2011 may’ve had something to do with this. The 3D release made just under $70 million worldwide, increasing Finding Nemo’s total worldwide box-office takings to just over $940 million.

It was then announced in early 2013 that Finding Nemo would be getting a sequel, with the name being revealed as Finding Dory. It was due to be released in November 2015, however, ended up being released in June 2016. Ellen DeGeneres was confirmed to be back to reprise her role as Dory, and Andrew Stanton was confirmed as the director of the sequel after directing the original. It was announced that Alexander Gould would be unable to return to voice Nemo due to the gap between the movies and the nature of voices changing with age[13]! Finding Dory became the fifth sequel or prequel to come from Pixar.

Due to Finding Nemo’s popularity over the years since 2003, it is no surprise that the Disney Parks have created experiences based on the film. A very early one of these was a means of promoting the movie at the parks, particularly the US parks. This was done with a moving Nemo vehicle who roamed around the parks, being spotted at Epcot at Walt Disney World in Florida, as well as featuring in a mini-parade at Disney California Adventure Park at Disneyland in California, alongside fish puppeteers and dancers. This same Nemo was also used for the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade in December 2003, complete with a coral reef stage and the End Credits song from the movie “Beyond the Sea” playing.

At Walt Disney World, changes to its parks to incorporate Finding Nemo began early on. The Living Seas pavilion in Epcot, first opened in January 1986, complete with the largest saltwater aquarium tank in the world at the time; a restaurant, Coral Reef Restaurant; and exhibits. Guests were even taken to this “Sea Base Alpha” in “hydrolators”, large elevators that supposedly went deep underwater but only moved a couple of inches. The Living Seas area began being re-themed to Finding Nemo in early 2004. First, Nemo’s Garden, a collection of statues of the characters from the movie, was installed outside the pavilion, remaining there to this day as a good photo spot. Then, Turtle Talk with Crush, an interactive show where guests can speak to Crush on-screen, making the show different on every viewing, opened within the old Sea Base in November 2004. The Sea Base began to be changed, with specific signage referencing the Finding Nemo characters’ real-life fish counterparts as well as Bruce’s Shark World, an interactive exhibit, being added. The Living Seas pavilion was closed in August 2005, reopening as The Seas with Nemo & Friends alongside a new attraction in January 2007. This attraction, matching the name of its pavilion, saw guests ride through the aquarium tanks, with projections of Finding Nemo characters added to the real-life marine life, as they go through scenes inspired by the movie in “Clamobiles”, ride vehicles made to look like clams. This is an omnimover-style attraction, so it is continuously moving. The ride ends with characters singing a new song, “Big Blue World”, written for a new show at Disney’s Animal Kingdom by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, the two who wrote the songs for Frozen (2013) and Frozen II (2019)[14].

This new Animal Kingdom show was Finding Nemo – The Musical, which began performances at the Theater in the Wild, which used to house Tarzan Rocks! from 1999 to 2006, on 24^th January 2007. This used to be an outdoor theatre but became enclosed for this new show. Finding Nemo – The Musical contained fourteen new original songs, and was a forty-minute show. It featured live actors and puppetry, such as a huge Crush puppet measuring the same size as a VW Beetle, and a Nigel the pelican puppet being 22-foot-tall. Many puppets were held up with rods by live actors. Crush himself needed four puppeteers to operate, and an additional singer, since all songs were performed live on stage. Michael Curry, who co-created the puppets for The Lion King musical on Broadway, was on hand to create these puppets. The show was directed by Peter Brosius, and choreographed by John Carrafa. Finding Nemo – The Musical won the Themed Entertainment Associate Award for Best Live Show in 2009. Guests could also own the soundtrack on CD, as I did, because it really was a fantastic show. Finding Nemo – The Musical closed in 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic closures, and did not reopen until 2022, with a slightly shortened, altered show, and some songs were cut – including my favourite song…[15]

There is also a Walt Disney World hotel that features suites and courtyards themed to Finding Nemo, alongside those themed to The Lion King (1994), Cars (2006), and The Little Mermaid (1989). This hotel is Disney’s Art of Animation Resort, which officially opened on 31^st May 2012, becoming Walt Disney World’s 26^th resort. The Finding Nemo suites opened first on 31^st May, with the other three sections opening in the following four months. The Finding Nemo rooms feature coral-shaped chairs, lights shaped like bubbles, a porthole mirror, and a vaguely shipwreck-themed bathroom complete with sharks on the shower curtain. The suites also have brightly coloured painted motifs and furnishings to match the coral reef in the movie. The “Big Blue Pool” is the main pool of the resort, the largest hotel pool at Walt Disney World, and includes large statues of characters and settings from the movie, like Crush, and Marlin and Nemo in their anemone. The Drop Off pool bar is nearby, as is a small children’s splash pad. Initially, the space where Disney’s Art of Animation sits, across a lagoon from Pop Century Resort, was meant as an expansion to Pop Century. Pop Century features buildings themed to a specific decade, from 1950s to 1990s, opening in 2003. A “Legendary Years” section, going from 1900s to 1940s, was planned to open in 2007, with some year markers and buildings already in place. This was never built and it was not until Summer 2010 that construction began on this leftover hotel space, with the theme changing to represent some of Pixar and Disney’s best animated films[16].

At Disneyland, specifically in Disney California Adventure Park, Turtle Talk with Crush opened in July 2005 at the Disney Animation area of Hollywood Land. The biggest Finding Nemo addition to Disneyland though was the reimagining of the Submarine Voyage ride at Tomorrowland in the original Disneyland Park. Submarine Voyage opened in 1959. Guests entered a real submarine and went underwater in a manmade lagoon. Portholes allowed guests to view the underwater scene. The story of this attraction was that you were on a voyage to the North Pole. A similar version of this ride later opened at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, but themed to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). This ride opened in 1971 and closed in 1994. The Magic Kingdom lagoon was eventually filled in, around 2004, and is now Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, opening as part of their New Fantasyland expansion in 2014. Submarine Voyage was no longer a popular attraction with guests by the 1990s, and Disneyland imagineers feared a similar future to this ride as the one at Walt Disney World. They knew it needed to be updated, and it was felt the perfect opportunity had come when Disney Animation released Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). This movie contains a specific chase sequence with sea monster the Leviathan, but as the movie flopped, the plans were abandoned. After seeing the success of Pixar’s Finding Nemo, a new retheme was devised. Submarine Voyage closed in 1998, and Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage did not open until June 2007. The submarines were repainted, the “wreckage” in the lagoon was changed to match the Australian coral reef setting of the movie, although some of the original ship graveyard from Submarine Voyage was kept. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage now follows the story of visitors helping Marlin and Dory find Nemo once again and characters from the movie are projected into the water scenes, similarly to The Seas with Nemo & Friends attraction, at points throughout the ride[17].

Although the US Disney Parks appear to have the most Finding Nemo-themed experiences, there are more at the other four international parks. At Disneyland Paris, specifically at the Walt Disney Studios Park – soon to reopen in 2026 as Disney Adventure World – in the Worlds of Pixar area is Crush’s Coaster, a thrilling, spinning rollercoaster, taking you through moments from the film, including the sharks’ shipwreck and a ride through the EAC. It opened in June 2007.

At Shanghai Disneyland, there is a play area called the Junior Explorers Camp at Adventure Isle with an area themed to Finding Nemo. Two other areas are themed to The Lion King and Up (2009). At Tomorrowland in Shanghai Disneyland, there is an interactive exhibit called Pixar Adventurous Journey, with exhibits themed to different Pixar movies. One of these is Finding Nemo. At Hong Kong Disneyland, there used to be a Turtle Talk with Crush attraction, however, it was only open through the summer of 2008, and did not return. However, you can see Nemo, Dory, and Peach the starfish, though they are just stuck on wall, within the it’s a small world attraction there. At the Disney Explorers Lodge Hotel here, there is also a children’s indoor play area themed to Finding Nemo called Nemo’s Recreation Reef. At Tokyo Disneyland, specifically at Tokyo DisneySea in the American Waterfront area, guests can experience Turtle Talk with Crush, just like the US Parks, which opened in October 2009. You can also see Nemo, Marlin, and Dory on a wall within the it’s a small world attraction.

For parades and shows at the Disney Parks, Finding Nemo has frequently featured in some of these, for example, during the Disney Stars on Parade at Disneyland Paris, there is a whole float featuring the characters of Finding Nemo, including Crush, Dory, Bloat, and of course, Nemo. A small clip of Finding Nemo is shown during World of Color – Season of Light at Disney California Adventure during the festive season. Another clip of Squirt and Crush in the EAC, following by Dory and Marlin speaking to the whale, also featured within the original World of Color show, but that show has been updated so many times now, I doubt the original will come back. Nemo even flew over Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty castle during the Disneyland Forever fireworks back in 2015 for the park’s 60^th anniversary celebration, “recreating” his initiation into the “Tank Gang”.

On the Disney Cruise Line, since cruises take place on the ocean, it makes sense that Finding Nemo would be referenced on some of their cruise ships. For example, there is the Nemo’s Reef water play area on the Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream. On the Disney Wish, Disney Treasure, and Disney Destiny, “Go with the Flow”, from Finding Nemo – The Musical, is performed as part of the Disney Seas the Adventure musical stage show. You can even experience a version of Turtle Talk with Crush at Animator’s Palate on some ships.

Many pieces of merchandise have been available over the years featuring Finding Nemo characters, such as toys, clothing, games, pins, and MagicBands. Finding Nemo is one of those movies that is consistently referenced at the Disney Parks and there is no need for fans of the film to wait until a milestone anniversary to find something new.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Finding Nemo did brilliantly both commercially and critically on its release, exceeding even those at Pixar’s expectations who couldn’t believe their luck that each of their first five movies had been big hits.

The movie was not only funny, moving, relatable, full of quotable lines and memorable characters, but it had an impact of society. Finding Nemo made clownfish and blue tangs in particular globally recognised reef species, something that children can quickly point out. It’s impossible to go to an aquarium and not hear someone say “I found Nemo!”, or hear someone saying “Mine!” whenever seagulls are around.

More importantly, it made many of us think about how we as humans interact with the ocean world, and just how fragile an environment it is. Not only should we not take creatures from the sea away from their natural habitats purely to collect them, but we also need to consider whether underwater tourism, like scuba diving and snorkelling, is worth the harm and risk it can cause to reefs.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In His Own Words: Joe Ranft’, CartoonResearch.com, 7^th June 2019.

[2] Credit: Ben Sherlock, ‘Just Keep Swimming: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Finding Nemo’, ScreenRant.com, 21^st February 2020.

[3] Credit: Pixar, “Visual Commentary Index”, from Finding Nemo (2003) UK DVD 2-Disc Collector’s Edition (2004).

[4] Credit: Pixar, A Lesson in Flashbacks (2012), Disney+.

[5] Credit: Jim Hill, ‘Tales of the VES: Behind-the-scenes on “Finding Nemo”’, JimHillMedia.com, 20^th July 2003.

[6] Credit: Pixar, “Visual Commentary Index”, from Finding Nemo (2003) UK DVD 2-Disc Collector’s Edition (2004).

[7] Credit: Ben Sherlock, ‘Just Keep Swimming: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Finding Nemo’, ScreenRant.com, 21^st February 2020.

[8] Credit: Pixar, ‘Filmmakers’ Roundtable I Finding Nemo’, Special Features Archive YouTube Channel, 16^th March 2025.

[9] Credit: Pixar, “Making Nemo”, from Finding Nemo (2003) UK DVD 2-Disc Collector’s Edition (2004).

[10] Credit: Pixar, “Visual Commentary Index”, from Finding Nemo (2003) UK DVD 2-Disc Collector’s Edition (2004).

[11] Credit: The Guardian, ‘Disney finds box office gold with Nemo’, TheGuardian.com, 2^nd June 2003.

[12] Credit: Box Office Mojo, ‘Domestic/Worldwide Box Office For 2003’, BoxOfficeMojo.com.

[13] Credit: BBC, ‘Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory, to be released in 2015’, BBC.co.uk, 3^rd April 2013.

[14] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Seas With Nemo And Friends’, YourFirstVisit.net, 14^th May 2021.

[15] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Fridays with Jim Korkis: Finding Nemo – The Musical’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

[16] Credit: Jim Korkis, Hidden Treasures of WDW Hotels (2021), “Art of Animation”, pp. 147-154.

[17] Credit: Pixar, ‘Reinventing the Submarine Voyage I Finding Nemo’, Special Features Archive YouTube Channel, 16^th March 2025.

1st Aug 202519th Dec 2025 by The Disney Purist

The Road to El Dorado (2000)

BACKGROUND

DreamWorks was a relative newcomer to the animated world back in 2000.

The Road to El Dorado was only its third animated feature, but after Antz (1998) and The Prince of Egypt (1998), DreamWorks was making a name for itself already. Headed by former Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks was preparing to do battle with Katzenberg’s former employer.

The Road to El Dorado was to be an animated musical, but with the added twist of this being a buddy comedy, something that Disney Animation was experimenting with around the same time. The filmmakers over there were also producing a buddy comedy set in the ancient civilisations of South America, set to be released in 2000, so there have been numerous comparisons between The Road to El Dorado and The Emperor’s New Groove ever since. It’s even been theorised by some that Katzenberg may’ve “stolen” the idea from when he worked at Disney, just like the idea being floated around that Antz’s story was just a rehash of Pixar’s A Bug’s Life (1998), which DreamWorks released just a month before Pixar. But let’s not open up that can of worms again. I’ll be the first to say that the two films have just as many differences as they have similarities – but I still hate Antz.

Moving on. I don’t remember having The Road to El Dorado on VHS as a child, so I can’t have loved it much when I was younger, but I do remember watching it, I’m assuming on TV. It wasn’t until I watched The Prince of Egypt on Netflix a few years ago, this being another DreamWorks movie that I hadn’t watched much of when I was a child, that I rediscovered The Road to El Dorado. And yet the road to me watching this film was not simple.

Netflix are annoying and don’t put on the same programming that you get in the US and take things on and off at random. So, although The Prince of Egypt was on Netflix UK, for a limited time, The Road to El Dorado was not. I decided I’d have to get the DVD to watch it, because I just had to watch it. Soon. And because I don’t like to pay the Amazon price for a DVD, I wanted to find it somewhere cheaper. Luckily, in the UK, there is a second-hand media store that I like to get DVDs from. This particular store that had a copy was about thirty minutes’ drive away but the town was populated with strange characters that day, making it not such a pleasant experience… But I got The Road to El Dorado and went on my way, excited to see this film, which I knew had a great voice cast and some good music. I was not disappointed, even re-watching as an adult.

PLOT

The Road to El Dorado begins in Spain in 1519, where the Spanish conquistadors are preparing to sail to the New World in the hopes of finding gold. Meanwhile, two men are gambling in the streets and winning plenty of money, thanks to the loaded dice they’re using, but that’s a secret! The other players then tell these men, Tulio and Miguel, that they want to bet a map to the city of El Dorado against all their money. Miguel is very excited by the prospect of finding El Dorado, but Tulio is much more sceptical, however, he goes along with the bet. The opposition tell them they want to use their own dice, not the dice Tulio and Miguel were using. Tulio is concerned but they manage to roll successfully to win the map.

As they go to leave though, their loaded dice are revealed and needless to say, the gamblers are not happy about being hustled and go to attack Tulio and Miguel. Tulio and Miguel begin a fake fight with each other, complete with swords and an audience of people, ending up on top of a roof. They jump over the other side to get away from the men chasing them, inadvertently landing right next to a bull who begins to chase them through the city instead. Tulio and Miguel are eventually stranded at the edge of the roofs, but seeing barrels of water below them, they choose to jump into those to escape.

These barrels are lifted onto a ship, which Miguel and Tulio are unaware of. They simply plan to jump out of these barrels, but they are unable to, because a chest has been placed on top of them. This ship begins to sail away from the harbour. Later, the chest is removed and Tulio and Miguel jump out of their barrels, but are not prepared to be confronted with a whole army. The two are promptly shackled and taken to Hernán Cortés, the leader of this expedition, who wants them flogged and thrown in the brig, with the plan to put them to work on a plantation in Cuba.

With little to no plan of escape, other than an idea to hijack a row boat to sail away but this being useless unless they can get on deck, Miguel and Tulio begin to feel hopeless in the brig. That is, until an apple, meant for war house Altivo, falls into the brig. Miguel uses this apple to lure Altivo to the bars above them. He asks Altivo to look for a pry bar. Tulio thinks Miguel has gone crazy, asking a horse for help – until Altivo throws the keys to unlock themselves from the brig instead. In the dead of night, Miguel and Tulio steal supplies and get into a boat, ready to lower themselves into the sea. However, Altivo wants his apple back. Miguel tries to toss it back up to the deck for him, but misses, and the apple lands in the ocean, so Altivo jumps into the sea to retrieve it. But Altivo isn’t a great swimmer and Miguel has to jump into the water to save him. Their boat is then almost hit by the ships and in the panic to avoid them, the boat overturns. With all their strength, Miguel and Tulio manage to right it, and they, along with Altivo, begin to sail away.

With rough seas, no food, because that was lost when the boat overturned, and no idea of where they are going, all looks lost for them. Even when a seagull dies on their oar, making them think they actually have some food, fate continues to be cruel, as a shark jumps out of the ocean to eat this seagull. As time passes, Miguel and Tulio lose all hope, and start to talk to each other about how much their friendship has meant to them, as they believe they are about to die. They then look down and see that their boat has landed on a beach. Maybe they won’t die after all! Except on closer inspection, the beach is full of skeletons of dead pirates. Ah, maybe this isn’t such a great place to be… As Tulio debates getting back in their boat, Miguel looks at the map to El Dorado, after recognising an eagle-shaped rock. Sure enough, this rock is on the map! Miguel excitedly tells Tulio they should follow the map and find this “city of gold”, but Tulio isn’t so sure, believing the map to be a fake. He is eventually persuaded into trekking through the forest to find it, planning to find El Dorado, take the gold, and sail back to Spain.

Miguel, Tulio, and Altivo follow the map for days, getting into various scrapes, like having monkeys steal their clothes whilst bathing, and being attacked by numerous animals. Tulio gets covered in leeches at one point too, which is just gross. A little armadillo begins to follow the group as well. After some time, the group arrive at a large rock that resembles El Dorado on the map. Tulio is frustrated, believing this rock is El Dorado and there never was a city of gold. Miguel thinks this is all just a mistake, but Tulio angrily tells Miguel to get on the horse so they can leave.

But as fate would have it, this is not to be. A woman being chased by soldiers literally runs into them. She is carrying some sort of golden ball that she is meant to have stolen. On seeing these strange men and their horse, who resemble the image on the large rock, the soldiers take them and the woman through the fog to a waterfall, then through a cave, and placed on a boat. This boat takes them to a strange city, which turns out to be the legendary El Dorado! Miguel and Tulio are stunned. The two men are greeted by Chief Tannabok and High Priest Tzekel-Kan. Tzekel-Kan says he prophesised that the gods would come, and believe Tulio and Miguel are those gods, although the chief is less than convinced. Tzekel-Kan then sees the thief woman, and asks the “gods” to decide on her punishment. They choose to let her go. This immediately makes Tzekel-Kan suspicious who wants proof of Miguel and Tulio’s divinity. Luckily, as the two argue a nearby volcano starts to erupt, but when they stop, so does the volcano. That’s enough proof for now!

Miguel and Tulio are led to the temple, where they will stay for the duration of their visit. Chief Tannabok plans a feast for the evening, with Tzekel-Kan preferring a dawn ceremony to welcome them. Miguel and Tulio decide they’d like to have both! The chief and Tzekel-Kan then leave the “gods”. Thinking they are alone, Miguel and Tulio laugh about the ridiculousness of the situation, and begin planning the scam of the century, pretending to be gods so they can take gold from the city away with them. However, the thief woman has overheard all of this, and she wants in on this scam, as she is trying to get away from El Dorado forever, though no-one really knows why. She introduces herself as Chel. Tulio and Miguel initially refuse to let Chel in on the plan, but after realising they know nothing about gods, they agree to work with Chel, so she can assist them. Both men are attracted to Chel but they say she is “off-limits”, so things don’t get messy. Yeah, let’s see how long that lasts!

Then, it’s time for the celebratory feast for their arrival. They rationalise this scam, deciding it is in their best interests to play along with the god pretence, believing that the citizens, Chief, and Tzekel-Kan would kill them if they found out they were lying. After a night of drinking and over-indulging, the next morning, it is time for the dawn ceremony, which concerns Chel. It soon becomes clear why, as Tzekel-Kan has set up a human sacrifice for them. He wants to push a living man into the water below as a tribute to the gods, however, Tulio and Miguel put a stop to this, saying the stars are not aligned so they cannot do this today. The Chief brings his own tribute instead, in the form of gold objects. Tulio and Miguel are happy to accept that! However, they misunderstand part of this ceremony, and accidentally ask for this gold to go to “Xibalba”. They are confused to then see the gold being thrown into the water, going to Xibalba, like they said, which is the Spirit World. Tulio and Miguel ask Chel what is going and she explains, before telling the Chief that the “gods” would actually like to keep that gold. The rest of this tribute is taken to the temple.

We then see that Cortés and his soldiers have landed on the same beach that Miguel and Tulio did days earlier. Cortés sees someone has beaten him there, and orders his soldiers to begin their expedition through the forest.

After the ceremony, Miguel and Tulio start to see tension between Chief Tannabok and Tzekel-Kan. The men plan to use this to their advantage, by playing them off against each other. They also begin to think they shouldn’t push their luck and should leave as soon as possible before their ruse is discovered. Tulio and Miguel ask the Chief for a boat to be built for them so they can leave with their tribute. The Chief assumed the gods would stay in El Dorado for the next 1000 years, but says they can build them a boat, only that it will take a week to complete. Once they say they’ll ask Tzekel-Kan if he can build a boat for them quicker, this time scale is reduced to three days. It’ll have to do. Tulio asks Miguel to lie low for the next three days until they can leave. Miguel, however, wants to explore the city. Luckily, Chel wants some alone time with Tulio and encourages Miguel to leave the temple. When Tulio realises Miguel has gone against his plan, he is annoyed. Chel then turns her attentions to him and helps him forget all about Miguel…

In the city, Miguel begins to walk around, but is confused why no citizens seem to be there. Talking to a guard, Miguel learns that Tzekel-Kan ordered the city to be cleansed for them, and that nobody is allowed to be walking around it. Miguel then sees a man being hassled by soldiers and orders them to stop. Miguel seems to be intimidating the people, so he makes a small guitar and starts to play music. This impresses some of the local children who have been with Altivo the horse. This encourages the people to show Miguel around. Tzekel-Kan watches Miguel in the city, and doesn’t think he is acting as a god would so he goes to Tulio, interrupting his “alone time” with Chel. Tzekel-Kan explains to Tulio that humans are imperfect and they are like snakes or insects that need to be killed. Tulio is deeply disturbed by Tzekel-Kan’s apparent thirst for blood.

Tulio meets Miguel in the city and tells him the need to leave El Dorado right now, but Tzekel-Kan instead orders the gods to play a ball game, where they must get the ball through a hoop high up on a wall. He says it should be easy for the gods to win, even against the city’s best players. After only playing for a short time, Tulio and Miguel are falling behind quickly and simply getting more and more tired. As the ball goes out of play, Chel has an idea. She throws in their armadillo friend to pretend to be the ball. Sure enough, this works, and Tulio and Miguel start to catch up. With only a few minutes left of the game, the armadillo is taken out of a play and a real ball is thrown in accidentally by Chel. Tulio and Miguel fight to get the final shot – and they manage, with a little kick from Altivo. Tzekel-Kan demands that the losing team be sacrificed, but once again, Miguel and Tulio refuse to allow this, raising further suspicions. They order Tzekel-Kan to leave the area. He agrees to do this, having seen Miguel bleeding from a small cut on his eyebrow. Gods don’t bleed, proving that Miguel and Tulio are not gods after all. Tzekel-Kan vows to enact his revenge on them.

Miguel is later asked by the Chief to check over their new ship. Miguel pretends to see flaws in it, but in actual fact, he just wants to stay in the city longer. Chief Tannabok tells Miguel if he wants to stay in El Dorado, he would be very welcome. Miguel goes back to the temple to think about this, when he overhears Tulio saying “forget Miguel”, when he tells Chel he wants to take her back to Spain. This makes Miguel certain he’ll stay in El Dorado, believing their friendship to be over now.

But that is the least of their worries because Tzekel-Kan has brewed a potion allowing him to control a huge stone jaguar. The stone jaguar attacks the city, going after Tulio and Miguel. They jump on Altivo with Chel and ride through the city, but are soon thrown off. With Chel in danger, they tell Altivo to take her away from there. Miguel and Tulio end up being chased on foot through lava, before being cornered at the ledge near the water portal to Xibalba. Tzekel-Kan tells them they are not gods and goes to attack them with the jaguar. However, the two begin to argue, like they did in Spain with those gamblers, which allows them to punch Tzekel-Kan whilst he is distracted. They go to tie him up with vines, but the jaguar leaps out at them. They jump to the side of the ledge, meaning the jaguar jumps on to Tzekel-Kan, breaking the ledge and dropping them into the water. Tzekel-Kan eventually comes out the other side of the water, right in front of Hernán Cortés. Seeing gold jewellery on him, Cortés orders Tzekel-Kan to take him to El Dorado.

Back at the city, Miguel returns a hero and chooses to stay in El Dorado. Tulio and Chel gather up their gold and prepare to leave on the boat. However, they soon hear noises and see smoke in the distance. Tulio and Miguel believe this must be Cortés and his soldiers. They fear Tzekel-Kan is leading them to the city. Chief Tannabok wants his citizens to fight against them but Tulio and Miguel say they cannot win that fight. Tulio makes his own plan: to crash the boat against the pillars under the waterfall to block the gates to El Dorado. As the citizens collapse statues in the city to propel their boat forward to enable this plan, Tulio and Chel risk being crushed as they cannot get their sail open in time. Miguel and Altivo leap over to their boat, pulling the sail free. The only thing is, Miguel now can’t get back to the city, but he’s actually ok with that, wanting his friendship with Tulio more. As the pillars in El Dorado fall, their boat catches the wave out, and they turn it in the cave so the boat will collapse the pillars, causing a landslide, blocking any entry to El Dorado. The humans and Altivo jump at the last moment and ride the flow of water. They land on solid ground – without their gold which was lost in the water – and see Tzekel-Kan at the entrance to the city. The way is now blocked, much to Tzekel-Kan’s surprise. Believing Tzekel-Kan has lied to him, Cortés imprisons Tzekel-Kan, turning away from the area.

Tulio and Miguel, although sad to have lost their gold, are happy that they saved El Dorado and have allowed it to be kept a secret forever. They then leave with Chel and Altivo – who unbeknownst to the others is sporting golden horseshoes – ready for a new adventure.

CHARACTERS & CAST

In all honesty, Miguel and Tulio do not begin The Road to El Dorado as good people. They are crooks and scammers, hustling people out of their money on the streets in Spain. Somehow, they have been made to be “lovable rogues” in this movie, but if you really think about it, they aren’t people you’d actually want to come across! Having said that, they are very likeable characters, although they have differing personalities. Tulio is the cynical one, the realist, whereas Miguel is the idealist, the dreamer. Tulio comes up with most of the plans, being quick to think on his feet, whereas Miguel sits back and takes things at a calmer pace. Tulio wants nothing more than to get their gold and leave El Dorado before they are discovered to be scamming the city and its people, however, Miguel wants to experience what the city has to offer and talk to the people, which is where he comes to the realisation that El Dorado is a great place to live, not something they should be exploiting. This causes friction in their friendship and they almost go their separate ways, until Miguel sees Tulio in danger and knows he’ll have to sacrifice his future life in El Dorado to save him and repair their friendship.

Strangely for an animated movie, the voice actors for Tulio and Miguel, Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh, recorded their lines together. This has happened on occasion, but for the most part, actors will record their lines separately from the rest of the cast. For The Road to El Dorado, this process helped to create the necessary chemistry these characters have to have, as well as increasing the potential for great improvisation of lines and humorous moments. This was specifically noticeable in the sword fight between Tulio and Miguel in Spain whilst they are trying to distract and get away from those chasing them for the money they basically stole. Kline and Branagh were even recording their lines with swords in hand! Despite both Kline and Branagh being classically trained serious actors, they were happy to do something different and be silly for their roles in this film. Kline and Branagh also both starred in the movie Wild Wild West (1999) alongside Will Smith, so The Road to El Dorado did not end up being the only time the two actors would work together. Although I have not seen Wild Wild West, I doubt this was their finest hour, so let’s talk about some of their career highlights instead!

The Road to El Dorado was not Kevin Kline’s first experience voicing a character for an animated movie, as he voiced Phoebus in Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), my all-time favourite movie, even reprising the role for the direct-to-video sequel. Also for Disney, Kline appeared as Maurice, Belle’s father, in the live-action remake Beauty and the Beast (2017). Kline began to make a name for himself in the 1980s, performing as The Pirate King in the opera The Pirates of Penzance, first for the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, before the show moved to Broadway. Kline won a Tony Award for his performance and reprised this role in the subsequent 1983 film. On screen, he starred in the drama Sophie’s Choice (1982) alongside Meryl Streep, and with John Cleese and Jamie Lee Curtis in the comedy A Fish Called Wanda (1988), for which Kline won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. More recently, Kline has voiced Calvin Fischoeder in the animated comedy series Bob’s Burgers (2011-present), being nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his role and in 2024, he was cast as Stephen Brigstocke, opposite Cate Blanchett, in the AppleTV+ series Disclaimer, being nominated at the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the Critics’ Choice Awards for the role. Kevin Kline was nominated for a Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Voice From an Animated Movie for his role as Tulio, but lost out to Susan Sarandon’s role in Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000).

Sir Kenneth Branagh is well-known for being a great Shakespearean actor, both on stage and screen, having both directed and starred in numerous film adaptations of Shakespeare plays, such as Henry V (1989) and Hamlet (1996), both nominated at the Academy Awards: for Best Director and Best Actor for Henry V, winning for Best Direction at the BAFTAs; and for Best Adapted Screenplay for Hamlet. Branagh played the title roles in these films, and starred as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), opposite Dame Emma Thompson as Beatrice, and as Berowne in a musical version of Love’s Labour’s Lost (2000), which was an interesting take on the play! He also directed Belfast (2021), which won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Screenplay, and was nominated in the Best Picture and Best Director Oscar categories too. It won the BAFTA for Outstanding British Film. Branagh has also appeared in various other roles. For example, he has recently portrayed Hercule Poirot in a series of movies based on Agatha Christie’s novels, also directing the movies, starting with Murder on the Orient Express (2017), and was cast as Niels Bohr in the Best Picture-winning Oppenheimer (2023). Branagh also appeared as Commander Bolton in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017). On the more comedic side, Branagh was cast as Sir Alistair Dormandy in the comedy-drama The Boat That Rocked (2009) and he became popular with a new audience for his role as Gilderoy Lockhart, my favourite Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), my favourite Harry Potter film. Branagh is set to appear in The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026) which sounds great to me. Another role to mention is Branagh’s portrayal of former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the docudrama series This England (2022), which covered the British government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tulio and Miguel take up much of The Road to El Dorado’s focus, however, there are a small selection of supporting characters to mention. One of these is Chel, the confident, devious citizen of El Dorado, who we first meet trying to escape from the city with seemingly some of El Dorado’s gold. She does not get away and instead, tries to get in on Tulio and Miguel’s scheme, seeing this as her ticket out of El Dorado, somewhere she doesn’t want to be for reasons we never find out. Chel spends much of her time trying to save Tulio and Miguel from being discovered as just ordinary humans and not gods, using her knowledge of El Dorado and its cultures and practices to help them fit in with the customs. Chel also has an ongoing flirtation with Tulio, which lead to some not-so-Disney love scenes! Chel is a great female character, very different from the princesses that Disney Animation were creating at the time, both in looks and personality, however, it is a little bit of a shame that Chel had to be the woman who breaks up the bromance, because that happens in so many stories. It might have been better for her to simply be an addition to the scam, and not necessarily a love interest – but I guess it all worked out in the end, and Miguel seems happy enough with Chel and Tulio as a couple.

Rosie Perez was chosen to voice Chel, and they found her delivery of lines very funny and perfect for the sassy, feisty character. Perez herself enjoyed having the freedom to act in a more over-the-top expressive way for an animated movie. Prior to The Road to El Dorado, Perez had appeared in White Men Can’t Jump (1992), which starred Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes, as the character Gloria Clemente, before going on to be cast as Muriel in the comedy It Could Happen to You (1994) with Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. She was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards for her role as Carla Rodrigo in Fearless (1993), which starred Jeff Bridges. In more recent years, Perez has appeared in movies like Pineapple Express (2008) as Officer Carol Brazier, and The Counselor (2013) as Ruth.

Another citizen of El Dorado is Tzekel-Kan, although he is not just an ordinary human. Tzekel-Kan is a High Priest, capable of magic and prophesising the future. Tzekel-Kan has a total superiority complex, despising humans, and even Chief Tannabok, who doesn’t seem to like Tzekel-Kan’s opinions and views of the world. I don’t know why the Chief doesn’t have the power to just banish him if that’s the case, but I don’t know who ranks higher, a High Priest or a Chief, in this city so maybe he can’t! Tzekel-Kan is so pleased to have gods in El Dorado because he believes they’ll agree with his way of thinking, that human blood is the best kind of sacrifice…Instead, he gets Miguel and Tulio who don’t believe in blood shed and human suffering. This immediately makes Tzekel-Kan suspicious and it turns out his suspicions were spot on. And yet, despite not being gods, they still manage to deceive him and cause him to almost fall to his death in the water. On coming to the surface, Tzekel-Kan is met with Hernán Cortés, and wanting revenge on everyone in El Dorado, he plans to show Cortés the way so he can destroy El Dorado and reap the rewards of all that gold. But once again, Tulio and Miguel stop him, and Tzekel-Kan becomes a prisoner of Cortés. Well, I hope, as a High Priest, he knows all about karma!

Armand Assante voiced Tzekel-Kan. Assante had appeared in both big and small screen projects before being cast in The Road to El Dorado. For example, he played John Gotti in the TV movie Gotti (1996), winning the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Special for his portrayal, being nominated in the same category at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was also cast as Roberto Texador in the crime thriller Q&A (1990), where Assante was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes. He later plated Odysseus in the miniseries The Odyssey (1997), earning himself another nomination at the Golden Globes, this time for Best Actor in a Miniseries of Television Film. Assante was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, this time for his role as Richard Mansfield in the miniseries Jack the Ripper (1988). Assante was nominated at the Annie Awards for Best Voicing Acting by a Male Performer for his role in The Road to El Dorado. He lost to Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 2 (1999).

For Chief Tannabok, he seems uncertain by Miguel and Tulio’s arrival in El Dorado, being slightly dubious of their motives as well as their desperation to leave, wanting the citizens to build them a boat quickly to take plenty of the gold tribute away with them. To be honest, I don’t think the Chief ever really thought Miguel and Tulio were gods; he doesn’t seem to believe in Tzekel-Kan’s prophecy, and I think their refusal or misunderstanding of the city’s rituals was a big give-away. Maybe Chief Tannabok just allowed these visitors here in the hopes they’d find a way to get Tzekel-Kan to leave! The Chief warms to Miguel quite quickly, even offering him a home in El Dorado, which Miguel quickly accepts, believing Tulio wants them to go their separate ways anyway. He even seems a little bit sad, although understanding, when Miguel jumps onto the boat to save Tulio and Chel being crushed, meaning he’d never be able to get back to El Dorado.

The filmmakers chose Edward James Olmos as the voice of Chief Tannabok, as his naturally warm voice matched the presence of a chief who is the heart and soul of his city. Edward James Olmos had been cast as Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver (1988), being nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his performance. He also won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his role as Martin Castillo in Miami Vice (1984-90), later winning ALMA awards for his role as Abraham Quintanilla Jr. in Selena (1997) and for his performance as William Adama in Battlestar Galactica (2003-09). He returned to animation many years later, to voice Chicharrón in Pixar’s Coco (2017).

There is one non-human character that is important to the cast of characters in The Road to El Dorado too and that is Altivo, the pampered warhorse, meaning supreme or proud in Spanish who technically belongs to Hernán Cortés, but is quite happy to go along with Tulio and Miguel instead[1]. Altivo even has an opportunity to return to his owner at the end of the movie but chooses to go away with Tulio, Miguel, and Chel, who definitely treat him with the respect he deserves. Altivo reminds me of Maximus from Disney’s Tangled (2010), who has a personality without the need to have a real voice. Like Maximus, once away from military duty, Altivo really just wants to eat apples and be loved! Altivo does have a “voice artist”, despite not speaking. This actor was Frank Welker, who has a long history of voice acting for Disney and non-Disney projects, voicing many animal characters, including Abu the monkey and Rajah the tiger, as well as the Cave of Wonders, in Aladdin (1992); Flit in Pocahontas (1995); and Pegasus in Hercules (1997) for Disney; and Totoro and the Catbus in the 2005 English dub of My Neighbor Totoro and even Scooby-Doo for numerous animated Scooby-Doo specials and series. He has also voiced Fred in some of these.

The final character to mention is Hernán Cortés, the leader of the conquistadors and the head of the expedition to the New World. He is cruel and cold, not letting anything impact on his focus and their mission: to find as much gold and resources in the New World as possible. Tulio and Miguel first meet Cortés after inadvertently boarding his ship. Cortés comes up with a harsh punishment for them, locking them in the brig and intending to sell them as slaves in Cuba. Later, Cortés appears close to El Dorado and instructs Tzekel-Kan to take him to the city so he can take all its gold for himself. Thankfully, Tulio and Miguel block the path because Cortés and his soldiers would’ve most definitely destroyed it, and he later takes out his annoyance on Tzekel-Kan for “lying” about the way to the city. Cortés was a real Spanish conquistador whose expedition to the New World led to the fall of the Aztec Empire, bringing large areas of the land under Spanish control[2].

Cortés is an exceptionally intimidating villain, but strangely enough he was voiced by the same man who voices one of the most beloved animated characters in the world. Randomly, Jim Cummings, the current voice of both Winnie the Pooh and Tigger for Disney, voiced Hernán Cortés. Cummings has been a frequent contributor to not only Disney voices, voicing numerous characters for the Studios since the mid-1980s, including Ed the hyena in The Lion King (1994) and Ray in The Princess and the Frog (2009), but also for other studios including voicing Luca in DreamWorks’ Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003), and Featherstone in Gnomeo & Juliet (2011).

PRODUCTION

To begin a look at the production of The Road to El Dorado, we first need to see how its animation studio, DreamWorks, came to be. And to do that, surprisingly, we need to go back to The Walt Disney Company in the 1980s.

In 1984, Ron Miller, Walt Disney’s son-in-law, was removed as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, leading to a management shake-up. Frank Wells, who had previously worked at Warner Bros., and Michael Eisner, coming from Paramount Pictures, took over the running of the company, as President and Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Executive Officer respectively. They became the first people to have been brought in to Disney management from “the outside”. Eisner and Wells then employed Jeffrey Katzenberg, also from Paramount Pictures, to become Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, including the animation department, however, Katzenberg’s background was in live-action, not animation, so this led to tensions with the animators, at least initially and especially on the first movie he oversaw, The Black Cauldron (1985), which was basically a disaster from start to finish.

Katzenberg would later be able to prove his worth, by guiding the company into its “Renaissance Era”, putting Disney Animation back on top once again, with movies like The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and The Lion King (1994). After the tragic death of Frank Wells in a helicopter accident in April 1994, it became clear to Eisner and Roy E. Disney, Walt Disney’s nephew and Vice Chairman of the company and Chairman of Disney Animation at the time, that Jeffrey Katzenberg wanted to take over from Frank Wells as president of the company. A news article proclaiming Katzenberg as the saviour of Disney animation would be the final straw, with rumours surfacing of Katzenberg’s imminent departure from the company. At the red-carpet premiere of The Lion King in June 1994, Katzenberg refused all interviews, knowing his position was on unsteady ground. He was forced to resign from the company in October 1994[3].

So, now what was Jeffrey Katzenberg do? Well, it was quite simple actually. He co-founded a whole new studio, DreamWorks SKG, alongside Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, with Katzenberg being heavily involved in the animation division. This animated department released its first movie, the computer-animated Antz, in 1998. There was some controversy around Antz, as it had some story similarities to Pixar’s A Bug’s Life, information which Katzenberg may’ve seen during his time at Disney, though there is no concrete evidence that this story was “stolen”. But it is quite telling that Katzenberg aimed to steal the spotlight from Disney and Pixar by releasing Antz just under two months before A Bug’s Life. Antz is a more mature movie than A Bug’s Life and it feels like it was aimed at a slightly older audience though. Next for DreamWorks Animation was The Prince of Egypt (1998), with violence and adult themes as per the biblical content it was based on.

Both of these films did well financially and critically, although A Bug’s Life did ultimately outgross Antz, and Disney’s Mulan (1998) outgrossed The Prince of Egypt[4]. Still, Katzenberg was showing that he could run an animation studio without Disney, and that it would be successful. And now was time for their third film.

There were a few sources of inspiration for The Road to El Dorado, though the legend of the lost city of El Dorado itself was a primary one. The story of El Dorado began in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, when Europeans believed that the New World, or the Americas, had vast amounts of wealth and gold, so searches and expeditions were taken to find this place called El Dorado, meaning “the golden one”, where much gold was said to be.

In the early 16^th century, Spanish conquistadors arrived in South America where they heard stories about tribes in the Andes, in what would now be Colombia, and their ceremony of succession. In this ceremony, an imminent ruler was covered in gold dust and taken to a sacred lake, with gold being thrown into the lake as an offering to the gods. The Spanish named this chief “El Dorado”. But they believed that since these people had so much gold, there must’ve been a specific place where it all came from. The Spanish even partially drained one of these Colombian lakes, Lake Guatavita, in 1545 to find the gold that had been thrown in there. They could see gold around the edge of the lake, but they were unable to reach it. Even Sir Walter Raleigh attempted to find El Dorado for the British on two separate occasions. On his second trip in 1617, Raleigh was too old to travel and stayed at their camp, sending his son Wyatt to explore with the others, who was then killed by the Spanish. Raleigh returned to England, where in 1618, King James I ordered his beheading, in part for engaging in conflict with the Spanish on this expedition[5]. So, El Dorado was never discovered, because it was never a real place.

As well as this, DreamWorks also turned to classic comedies like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope’s Road to… films, where places like Morocco, Zanzibar, and Bali were explored. It was initially meant to be a more serious straightforward historical adventure based on the book Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés and the Fall of Old Mexico by Hugh Thomas, however, the tone of the movie changed when Katzenberg decided the studio should make a movie that was different to their previous movie The Prince of Egypt, a serious biblical story. Many reviewers and critics couldn’t help but notice some story points from the film The Man Who Would Be King (1975), adapted from the 1888 novella of the same name by Rudyard Kipling, within The Road to El Dorado. I’ve not seen it so I wouldn’t know, but apparently the discovery by Tzekel-Kan that Miguel and Tulio were not gods after seeing Miguel bleed was just like a scene in The Man Who Would Be King.

Production on The Road to El Dorado took four and a half years to complete, with the story line changing often during this time. Although it may be seen as a creative blessing to be making a movie without a strict plot to follow, this was seemingly a nightmare for the filmmakers. It was discussed whether this movie would ever be made at all, and jokes were made that the movie should in fact be titled El Dorado: The Lost City on Hold. Because of this, staff morale was incredibly low at times. Strangely enough, a similar movie from Disney, The Emperor’s New Groove (2000), also a buddy comedy adventure film set in the ancient civilisations of South America, became famed for its complicated production story.

There are less details available around the specific story changes of The Road to El Dorado, however, the original concept seems to have been a serious, historical narrative, with some more realistic depictions of the conquistadors’ destruction of the lands, before becoming an adventure comedy. Another story change was that Miguel’s character was meant to die and come back to life, making the natives believe he was a god. Some of the love scenes with Chel were meant to be raunchier too, but this ultimately was lessened.

The story for The Road to El Dorado was written by Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, who also co-wrote the screenplay for Aladdin (1992) and contributed to the story of Treasure Planet (2002) for Disney, alongside directors of both films John Musker and Ron Clements. Rossio and Elliott later co-wrote Shrek (2001) for DreamWorks, winning the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production. Rossio and Elliott also wrote the screenplays for some of the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

During production, the directors of The Road to El Dorado changed, adding to the disfunction of the movie’s production process. Initially, Will Finn and David Silverman were named directors of this film. Will Finn had previously been an animated at Disney before working on The Road to El Dorado, animating key characters such as Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast, and Iago in Aladdin. After his experience at DreamWorks working on The Road to El Dorado, it would appear that Finn went back to Disney to write and direct Home on the Range (2004). David Silverman has a long history of working on The Simpsons (1989-present), both as an animator and as a director. Silverman also directed the feature-length The Simpsons Movie (2007), as well as some of the more recent short specials for Disney+, such as Rogue Not Quite One (2023) and May the 12^th Be with You (2024). Silverman also co-directed Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. (2001), alongside Pete Docter and Lee Unkrich, and directed the animated movie Extinct (2021), released globally on Netflix.

The new directors of The Road to El Dorado came to be Don Paul and Eric “Bibo” Bergeron, who took over around 1998. Don Paul has been credited as a visual effects producer for various animated movies, such as DreamWorks’ Shrek, The Prince of Egypt, and How to Train Your Dragon (2010), and Blue Sky Studios and 20^th Century Fox’s Rio (2011) and Ice Age (2002). Prior to The Road to El Dorado, Bergeron had worked as an animator on movies like FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) and Disney’s A Goofy Movie. He went on to co-direct DreamWorks’ Shark Tale (2004) and work as a story artist on Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003) and Flushed Away (2007) for the studio.

To ensure a level of authentic representation of the South American culture, a research trip was taken by the filmmakers, who headed to Mexico to study Mayan cities, like Tulum, Chichen-Itza, and Uxmal. They also hired John M.D. Pohl, an archaeologist from the Fowler Museum of Cultural History in Los Angeles to consult on aspects of the film[6]. On their visit, the creative team found inspiration from the temples and forests in Mexico, which helped production decide on what their city of El Dorado would look like. Since El Dorado was not a real place, and was meant to be an unknown, untouched paradise, they were able to be creative with their creation of this city. They made the city colourful, full of colours you’d typically associate with South American cultures, such as magentas, terracottas, and teals. The city of El Dorado, and the lush forest encompassing it, is in stark contrast to the muted tones of the stone and slabs that we first see in the movie when Tulio and Miguel are in Spain. There is very little colour in these scenes, other than the bright blue and bright red tops the main characters are wearing. Obviously, gold is a necessary colour in The Road to El Dorado too, however, to get the true metallic nature of gold to come across on screen, the animators knew this would not be achievable with traditional paintwork, so any gold in the movie was rendered on computers to make it look more realistic.

The Road to El Dorado is actually a showcase of the traditional 2D animation with many computer animation techniques, like the gold rendering. For example, new software was created to help with some of the water effects, which are notoriously different to animate traditionally. This was particularly useful for the sequence of the boat crashing through the gates to El Dorado, to realistically show how the water would move and splash in real-life. Other special effects used in this movie include scenes with lava and the stone jaguar chasing Miguel and Tulio through the city[7]. Sometimes it was a little jarring to see the 2D animation and the 3D effects together in the same scene, but it was only 2000 and many animation studios were still experimenting with the new technologies on offer, so it would never have looked seamless at this point.

MUSIC

Music has always been a vital element of any movie, but particularly around the late-1990s and early 2000s, many animated movies featured plenty of songs, sometimes sung by the characters, and sometimes not.

For The Road to El Dorado, DreamWorks managed to reunite the team that worked on the music for Disney’s The Lion King, which won multiple awards, including Grammys, Oscars, and Golden Globes, both for the score and the songs. This team consisted of singer-songwriter Elton John, songwriter and lyricist Tim Rice, and composer Hans Zimmer.

The Road to El Dorado consists of six original songs, all written by Elton John and Tim Rice. Elton John performs all of them, basically being a singing narrator, except for one. The opening song is “El Dorado”, which is accompanied by a short opening sequence, showing a stylistic creation of the city of El Dorado by the gods. I do like this song, and it gives a quick introduction to the audience about what they are going to see.

Following that is my favourite song in the film, “The Trail We Blaze. This song plays as Miguel, Tulio, and Altivo navigate the forest, following the map to El Dorado, which turns out not to be the easiest journey! It’s a brilliantly positive, upbeat song detailing the excitement of adventure, and it regularly gets stuck in my head.

I also like “It’s Tough to Be a God”, which comes into the movie after Miguel and Tulio have arrived in El Dorado. Here, they are arriving at the feast put on to welcome them to the city, and the two are discussing the pros and cons of this scam to pretend to be gods. It’s a fun number, full of colour. “It’s Tough to Be a God” is the only song in The Road to El Dorado that Elton John did not sing. Instead, it is performed by Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh as their characters Tulio and Miguel. The two of them said that Hans Zimmer, who was the producer on the film’s songs, was funny and encouraging, but also a good taskmaster, making them do numerous takes of the song, which was difficult for all involved apparently!

Moving on from the fun and adventure, from this point, the remaining three songs are more emotional and heartfelt, matching the tone of the movie, as Tulio and Miguel start to drift apart from each other. This next song is “Without Question”, which is used as Miguel starts to integrate with the people of El Dorado and learns to love this new city, and potentially starts to feel guilty about his and Tulio’s con. It’s a sweet, calming song.

The last song to appear in the movie is “Friends Never Say Goodbye”, which sees Tulio preparing to leave the city with Chel and their gold, whilst Miguel plans to stay there. This seems to signal the ending of their friendship as Miguel believes Tulio is more bothered about his new life with Chel instead of him, and the two only say a brief “good luck” to each other. It’s not the best song in the film but it is still somewhat emotional.

Finally, there is the End Credits song “Someday Out of the Blue”, which was co-written by Patrick Leonard, as well as Elton John and Tim Rice. A music video was made to go alongside this song, despite it not being heard in the film. In the video, Elton John begins singing as his live-action self before becoming an animated version of himself, transported into the animated world of El Dorado. Some clips from the movie are also used here.

The score for The Road to El Dorado was composed by Hans Zimmer and John Powell. Zimmer composed the score for DreamWorks’ previous film, The Prince of Egypt and is also known for his work on Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and Dunkirk (2017), being nominated for Best Original Score at the Academy Awards for all these movies, winning the award for his music on Dune (2021), alongside a Golden Globe for Best Original Score for this movie too. Zimmer has won Grammy awards for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for both his work on The Dark Knight (2008), alongside James Newton Howard, and Dune: Part Two (2024). Zimmer has won numerous other awards for his music over the years, and returned to compose the music for other DreamWorks’ movies many times. John Powell was no stranger to DreamWorks’ either, as he had previously worked with Harry Gregson-Williams on the music for DreamWorks’ Antz, going on to work on Shrek and Chicken Run (2000) together, before working solo on the How to Train Your Dragon animated trilogy for the studio. 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). Zimmer and Powell collaborated again on the music for DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda franchise.

The soundtrack for The Road to El Dorado received mixed reviews, with some loving the songs, and others hating them. I personally find them catchy and really like most of them. In terms of awards, at the Annie Awards, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Elton John, and Tim Rice were all nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Music, but this award was won by Randy Newman for his work on Toy Story 2. At the Saturn Awards, Hans Zimmer was nominated alongside John Powell for Best Music, and Zimmer was also nominated alongside Lisa Gerrard in this same category for their work on Gladiator (2000). Best Music was actually won by James Horner for How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000). Hans Zimmer did however win the Best Composer award at the Critics’ Choice Awards for both his work on Gladiator and The Road to El Dorado.

Elton John worked with songwriter and producer Patrick Leonard to produce an album containing songs from the movie, although these songs are not the official versions you hear in the movie itself, for example “It’s Tough to Be a God” features on this album, but is performed by Elton John and Randy Newman, as well as songs inspired by the movie and a selection of the soundtrack’s score[8]. “Someday Out of the Blue” from this album peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and at No. 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

RECEPTION

The Road to El Dorado was finally released on 31^st March 2000, with reportedly next to no competition at the box-office at the time in terms of competing family-friendly movies.

Yet, even with a kid-centric marketing campaign that included a promotional tie-in with Burger King, giving away toy figurines of characters from the movie with their children’s meals, The Road to El Dorado struggled at the box-office. With a budget of $95 million, The Road to El Dorado only gained back $76.4 million at the box-office[9]. The movie was easily beaten by the end of the year by other family movies such as Disney’s Dinosaur; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; and Chicken Run, which was also released by DreamWorks, although a co-production with Aardman Animations.

It’s not entirely clear why this movie didn’t do well at the time, although the more mature humour, which appears to have been used in the official trailer, may’ve been off-putting to parents of small children, and others thought the film would be more historical, with the overall tone of the movie confusing audiences.

Those are just two opinions, but there are a mixture of criticisms and comments around what makes The Road to El Dorado good and bad. On the positive side, many appreciated the colourful artwork and the fast-paced nature of this fun adventure movie. The voice acting of Kenneth Branagh and Kevin Kline was also largely praised, as well as that of Armand Assante’s ability to great a larger-than-life, theatrical villain. Although it was not seen to be as good as DreamWorks’ two previous movies, Antz and The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado was still considered to be a fun movie, and a step in the right direction for this animation studio which was taking on the greats of Disney and Pixar. There were some who stated The Road to El Dorado was much better than Disney Animation’s Dinosaur, which was released two months later, in May 2000.

However, on the other side, some said the plot was boring and didn’t consist of much adventure at all. Some also did not like the music, saying it was forgettable or just all-around bad, despite the songs being written by the legendary Elton John and Tim Rice. I’m afraid I have to disagree with this comment; I have at least three of their songs from this movie stuck in my head on a regular basis. There were complaints that The Road to El Dorado did not take the subject matter seriously enough, since The Road to El Dorado is basically about colonisation and the conquering of land. This was something that many felt Disney’s Pocahontas had managed to do, getting the balance right – although there was plenty of criticism at the time around the historical inaccuracy of that film.

There were also comments around this movie’s PG rating, due to some animated nudity, mild sexual references, mild language, and threat and peril. This may’ve been a reason for parents not taking their children to the cinema to see The Road to El Dorado, leading to the low box-office numbers. It is worth noting that many animated movies these days are rated PG now, so this doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore. I will also point out that The Road to El Dorado is rated U, our equivalent of G, in the UK, meaning it was likely also rated the same in Europe and other areas of the world.

In later years, reviews of The Road to El Dorado have been more kind, with many fans writing endless reviews about why this movie is brilliant. I wouldn’t go that far, but I would say it is decent, not competing with DreamWorks’ Shrek or Madagascar franchises, or some of Disney’s best, but I’d say it’s a similar level to other animated movies I enjoy like Thumbelina (1994). They have their imperfections, but the voice casting and music keep me entertained and singing for days.

The Road to El Dorado’s lacklustre reception was met with a similar response during awards season, although to be fair, the Academy Awards didn’t even have a Best Animated Feature category at the time, and I’d like to think The Road to El Dorado would’ve been on the shortlist had it existed back then. At the Annie Awards, The Road to El Dorado was nominated in seven different categories, including Production Design; Storyboarding; Character Animation; and Effects Animation; as well as the Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature. Pixar’s Toy Story 2 (1999) took the win for the Animated Theatrical Feature and Storyboarding. Disney’s Fantasia 2000 (1999) won for Production Design, Effects Animation, and Character Animation.

LEGACY

Apparently, there were initially plans for The Road to El Dorado to become a movie franchise, perhaps resembling the Road to… comedy films, which spanned seven movies and were an inspiration for The Road to El Dorado. However, these plans were quickly scrapped when the movie did not perform well. Some fans are hoping for a live-action remake though, and after DreamWorks has given the live-action treatment – unnecessarily, I think – to the How to Train Your Dragon animated trilogy, perhaps they’ll get round to looking at The Road to El Dorado. But I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

Apart from that, there was a video game developed based on the storyline of The Road to El Dorado, which was called Gold and Glory: The Road to El Dorado. You can also buy merchandise online, like T-shirts, and posters, although many of these are fan-made.

Although The Road to El Dorado specifically did not inspire a franchise, there have been other movies in the years since which either reference a search for El Dorado directly, like Paddington in Peru (2024), or others that look at similar lost civilisations like Jungle Cruise (2021). This shows that family movies around adventure are still alive and well, with legendary cities and lost worlds continuing to be a source of inspiration.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In my view, The Road to El Dorado was unfairly treated on its release.

I’m not even sure why. Most of the time, animated movies are judged against other animated movies, sometimes from the same studio, at times from different ones, and this tends to be the reason why a new animated movie suffers harsh criticism.

In 2000, The Road to El Dorado had little competition from animation studios. It’s not like Disney were doing well with their movies in 2000s, releasing Dinosaur and The Emperor’s New Groove specifically in 2000, and Pixar had only made three feature-length movies by this point, Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Toy Story 2, albeit great ones. So, why The Road to El Dorado was judged to be bad at the time, I have no idea.

Fair enough, The Road to El Dorado is not super unique, but it contains great characters, in part thanks to the casting of brilliant actors, and colourful animation. The story is simple, yes, but it is uncomplicated and unpretentious. It has some jokes for the kids, and some more mature ones for the adults, something that DreamWorks was later praised for in movies like the Shrek franchise, so I’m at a loss why just one year before Shrek came out, that The Road to El Dorado didn’t seem to match up to critics’ expectations.

Regardless of this critical blip, I am glad to see that The Road to El Dorado has since cultivated a loyal set of fans, with help from the internet and its ever-growing craziness and virality. It deserves more attention than it gets, because the buddy comedy has always remained a favourite with audiences, and continues to be a familiar genre for the masses.

The Road to El Dorado also has its part to play in the history of animation, and showcases some real technological advancements alongside the nostalgia of 2D animation, which seems to have died a death in the mainstream ever since the early 2000s.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: DreamWorks, “Behind the Scenes Featurette”, from The Road to El Dorado (2000) UK DVD (2001).

[2] Credit: BBC, ‘Hernando Cortés (1485-1547)’, BBC.co.uk, date unknown.

[3] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).

[4] Credit: Scott Mendelson, ’15 Years Of DreamWorks Animation And Its Complicated Legacy’, Forbes.com, 2^nd October 2013.

[5] Credit: Willie Drye, ‘El Dorado’, NationalGeographic.com, date unknown.

[6] Credit: Lorenza Munoz, ‘Bumpy Road to ‘El Dorado’’, LATimes.com, 29^th March 2000.

[7] Credit: DreamWorks, “Behind the Scenes Featurette”, from The Road to El Dorado (2000) UK DVD (2001).

[8] Credit: DreamWorks, “Behind the Scenes Featurette”, from The Road to El Dorado (2000) UK DVD (2001).

[9] Credit: James White, ‘The Road to El Dorado is a Hidden DreamWorks Gem’, Collider.com, 18^th January 2022.

18th Jul 202529th Sep 2025 by The Disney Purist

ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires (2025)

BACKGROUND

They say two’s company, three’s a crowd. So, what does that make four? A hot mess?

To be fair, this is supposed to apply to people, not film franchises. Although this kind of works for Jaws 4. Jaws: The Revenge was a real hot mess…But does it work for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires?

I should insert a spoiler warning here before I say much more. If you’re a big ZOMBIES fan, then you’ve likely already seen ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, but if you haven’t, you might want to watch the movie first before reading any further.

I stated that I found ZOMBIES 3 to be a real disappointment in a previous review, mostly for its inclusion of aliens as its new “monster” species, and for its lack of catchy music, at least compared to the previous two films. I felt the same with Descendants 3 (2019). These “threequels” didn’t match the uniqueness of the original or the energy of the second. They didn’t work for me, but I could find moments in these third movies that I liked after watching them again, so they were not total abominations to the franchises’ legacies.

When a movie franchise gets to its fourth entry though, especially if it has no source material as a basis – so don’t worry Twilight and Harry Potter; you’re safe from this critique – it generally starts to feel unnecessary and like the studio in question has run out of ideas, wanting to milk a franchise’s popularity dry. I feared the same for ZOMBIES 4, because if I already didn’t like the third film for this reason, then how could I like the fourth?

Well, when I started watching ZOMBIES 4, I was not impressed. I liked seeing Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza again but I didn’t like the opening song, and I wasn’t overly convinced by the plot of the movie, which I was already aware of beforehand: two subsets of vampires have fought for decades, and the “Seabrook Four” try to find ways to help them get along. It was going to be very much the same story as each of the ZOMBIES films has followed. At least I knew not to expect too much.

However, much like when I watched Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024), after the story got going, and I got used to the new characters and new locations, I began to enjoy it more. I can’t say that I will ever be a huge fan of ZOMBIES 4, but it wasn’t bad by any means. It was good – there were a couple of moments in particular that had me emotional – and it really felt like a “passing of the torch” from the original cast to a new cast.

PLOT

As we had with the other three ZOMBIES movies, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires begins with an animated opening sequence, recapping the history of Seabrook, where zombies, humans, aliens, and werewolves live together. This recap also lets us know that zombie Zed and human Addison did end up at Mountain College, where they are finishing up their Freshman Year. They love being at college, mixing with different types of people and hearing new stories, like how another moonstone apparently crashed onto Mount Rayburn, creating two new monster species, Daywalkers and Vampires. Over the years, the two groups began to fight over sacred blood fruit, which they need to survive, to the point they decided to lock themselves away from their enemies – until now.

At Mountain College, unlike high school where they were at the top of their sports teams’ hierarchies, Zed and Addison are struggling. Zed is on the bench for football, being told by his coach to attend an intensive football camp over summer to boost his chances of getting on the team for next year. Addison is focusing on her summer Cheer Camp so she can be one of the best cheerleaders again. Meanwhile, Eliza and Willa are also at Mountain College and both are adjusting well. Because they aren’t going to get to see much of each other over summer, the four decide to have a mini road trip together, so they bundle into a yellow VW Beetle and head off for the summer.

Then, we zoom over to Sunnyside to meet the Daywalkers, who are practising their fighting skills on the beach. They are getting ready to harvest more blood fruit, where they’ll likely come face-to-face with the Vampires, their sworn enemy. Nova is the daughter of Daywalker Leader Commander Bright, who tells Nova they need to be prepared to destroy the Vampires if they get in the way of their harvest. Nova isn’t so sure about this, having had visions about a boy from another area, who seems to be the key to something…But Nova’s friend Ray is enthusiastic and eager to please Commander Bright, so he tells Bright he is committed to his plan.

Over at Shadyside, the home of the Vampires, we meet Vargas, Vera, and Victor. Victor is the nephew of the vampire Eldress; however, Victor wants to leave this place and travel the world. He doesn’t want to fight and fear Daywalkers for the rest of his life. But it’s time for the harvest for the Vampires too, so it’s best he gets on board with the plan.

On their road trip, Zed is driving Addison, Eliza, and Willa through the woods, but is distracted with calls from his coach, telling him to spend all summer thinking about football. Eliza and Willa are planning their camping trip together but get increasingly annoyed by Zed’s calls, so Willa throws his headset out the window – because Disney sensibly had Zed talking on a headset, because they don’t want to encourage anyone to be holding their phones whilst driving. Don’t do it, kids! Anyway, Zed randomly “zombies out”, meaning his Z-Band malfunctions momentarily, whilst driving, which isn’t very safe either… I’m not sure zombies should be allowed to drive if this is a possibility. Because of this, Zed crashes the car, and it stops upside-down in the middle of the woods. Everyone’s alive, thankfully. They all get out of the car, where the four split up, with Willa and Eliza going one way, Addison in another direction, and Zed another.

Addison starts walking over a hill, where she stumbles upon a border that splits the land between day and night. Addison heads for a city in the nightscape. Zed ends up finding the daylight town, showing up on the beach. As he runs to a group of people, he is attacked by Nova, as the Daywalkers believe he is a vampire. It’s been so long they actually don’t even know how to distinguish a vampire from anything else. Zed tries to convince everyone he isn’t a vampire. Nova believes him, and proves to her father that he isn’t; by showing he has no fangs. Zed is instead tasked with helping them complete the harvest. Over at Shadyside, Addison is also accused of being a daywalker, and is hit by their magic. She is saved from possible destruction by Victor, and quickly says she is part-alien. Addison is also told to join the group for the harvest.

Both Daywalkers and Vampires head to the blood fruit orchard, through opposite locked gates. As the two groups see each other, they try to race to be the first to get to the fruit. Willa and Eliza also find their way here. Everyone arrives at a bigger gate that won’t open. It apparently needs three keys to open it. As the Daywalkers and Vampires are about to do battle to see who gets to find these keys, Addison and Zed come up with a better idea: that they will help the young leaders of both groups find the keys together, if they agree to split the harvest. The Elders both agree to this deal, however, it soon becomes clear that Commander Bright plans to double-cross the vampires, telling Nova that she will help find the keys, but once the gate is open, the Daywalkers will take all the fruit for themselves.

Zed, Addison, Eliza, and Willa take the young people to a camp in the middle of the woods, with sign posts directing them to it. That was handy! The camp is old and dusty, but it’ll have to do. The “Seabrook Four” tell the Daywalkers and Vampires to get some sleep. Zed and Addison then talk by the campfire, saying how it was a tough year at college, especially as they didn’t get to see much of each other. They’re also sad they won’t be in Seabrook this summer, to see Wynter, or Bree and Bonzo, or Bucky, who safely returned from space, having spread cheer to all the galaxy. So, he is part-alien after all, like Addison. Well, at least he didn’t burn up in the atmosphere!

The next morning, Nova and Victor say that they’ve been having visions about each other, but they aren’t sure why…But there’s no time to discuss that because the rest of the Daywalkers and Vampires are still at war with each other. Addison and Zed try to get the two groups to work together, but it’s a struggle! After the two groups use their powers against each other, they somehow manage to recreate a symbol that was on the gate, with the word “Gather” underneath it. In recreating this symbol, the first key is revealed. They put it in the gate, revealing another layer of gate underneath it that the next key will open. At the campfire that night, the Daywalkers and Vampires start to learn about each other, like the Vampires saying they don’t actually bite people and drink their blood, and how Daywalkers don’t eat soap to have “shiny insides”. How that rumour got going, we’ll never know… To begin this new era of co-operation, Nova and Victor both say goodnight to each other’s groups, much to the surprise of their friends.

With all the kids in bed, Willa, Addison, Zed, and Eliza talk about how Zed and Addison are too focused on their goals, and need to focus on spending time with people instead. As this conversation continues, a weird pulse goes through the camp, which messes with Zed and Eliza’s Z-Bands, as well as Willa’s moonstone necklace. Eliza decides they need to research this further, believing this pulse is so strong, it could reach Seabrook and endanger all the monsters there.

Nova and Victor secretly meet that night, where they find a cave that has symbols on the walls of both the Daywalkers and the Vampires, like much of the camp does. They believe this is evidence that both their groups used to get along, once upon a time. On looking at the cave walls further, they see that there are phases of the moon on the walls, and the colours of the rainbow on the ground, but both realise they are not in the correct order. Nova and Victor re-order the symbols and the second key is revealed. Victor puts the key in the gate. After he does this, and the final layer of gate is left, a hole in the ground begins to lower. It then rises up to reveal a huge stone ball, with the phrase “only one team can win” written beside it. The Daywalkers and Vampires fight over the boulder, as each tries to push it to their respective symbol: the sun or the moon. As the “Seabrook Four” try to get them to co-operate, a huge pulse comes through again, and Zed collapses, stopping the kids in their tracks. They take him back to camp.

There, Eliza, Willa, and Zed research the pulse further, and track it to a nearby hill. They believe the pulse must be originating underground, so Zed decides to go down into a hole in the ground. However, the rope carrying him snaps and the ground crumbles, taking Eliza and Willa into the cavern. Eliza finds that Zed is trapped under a rock, and both Eliza and Willa use their Z-Band and moonstone to shift the rock off him. They find blood fruit roots in this cave, which are being blocked by a ladder. The pulse seems to be coming from there, so the three try to move the ladders, but they won’t budge. Addison arrives with the Daywalkers and Vampires as they heard a noise, and they all work together to move it.

But the Daywalkers and Vampires are still fighting. Addison takes the opportunity to tell them all about Seabrook, and how they all learnt to get along. As they head back to camp, Ray takes Nova aside and reminds her that her father is expecting her to betray the Vampires once that gate is open. Nova doesn’t want to follow her father’s plan, but knows if she doesn’t, then he won’t let her lead. Vera overhears this conversation.

The next day, the two sides return to the stone ball, and work together to push it to one side. The third key is revealed, but this time, it is encased in amber. The Daywalkers attempt to use their fireballs to melt the amber, but it won’t work. The Vampires use their wind power to fan the flame, and the amber is eventually melted. They place the key in the gate – and it finally opens into the orchard. However, as the young leaders are about to head into the orchard, they find the Elders have also arrived there. It turns out Vera and Ray warned their leaders. The Elders fight, but their fighting results in much of the blood fruit being burnt. They declare camp over, as the warring sides ready themselves for war. As they leave, a new pulse comes over the area, and Zed, Willa, and Eliza become weak.

Back at camp, as the Daywalkers and Vampires get ready to leave, Eliza researches the pulse further, seeing that Zed is incredibly unwell. Eliza wants a clearer signal from the roots so returns to the cave. There, Zed fears that he will become a zombie forever if this pulse problem isn’t resolved. Addison says she’ll stay with him, no matter what. Eliza says the roots are struggling and the pulse is getting stronger. Nova and Victor then come to the cave, where Nova says she wasn’t going to betray him or the Vampires, knowing there is a reason why they were having visions of each other. They hold hands, at which point, they notice there are both white and black roots here, from each of their cities. They look up at the tower, and see that the top of it is meant to hold the moonstones from both Sunnyside and Shadyside. Nova and Victor know they have to steal their stones and bring them back here, to heal the roots. They fear this isn’t possible, but Zed and Addison tell them it is.

The other campers join Nova and Victor on their mission. Nova and Victor go to their respective cities and fight for their stones. The Elders return to the orchard to find there is no more fruit. Everyone arrives in the cave, but the Elders tell Nova and Victor to hand over their stones. They refuse, wanting to make peace. As the Elders go to attack them, their friends protect them. Nova and Victor ascend the tower, struggling against the powers. One of the ladders almost collapses in the battle, so Addison and Zed try to hold it up. Zed chooses to remove his Z-Band to find the strength to do this. It works and Nova and Victor get their moonstones in position, but Zed’s Z-Band is destroyed.

As the stones are safely in place, a storm comes over them, uniting the stones. Rain begins to fall, which heals the blood fruit roots, and stops Zed from becoming a zombie forever. The groups find that blood fruit is growing in the orchard again. It turns out all monsters are connected by moonstones, so by having the Daywalker and Vampire stones away from each other for too long, it caused the orchards to die and the pulse released affected the monsters. Nova and Victor declare that every year, at camp, they will bring their moonstones together. The Elders also decide that Nova and Victor are in fact ready to lead.

The movie ends happily with the Daywalkers and the Vampires coming together in celebration. We also see Zed and Addison reflecting on their strange and weird summer, saying they’ll be spending the rest of summer at Seabrook with friends and family. Them, Willa, and Eliza head their together. Then, Nova and Victor say goodbye to each other as they return to their cities. As they hug, a huge tornado of water shoots out of the ocean…

CHARACTERS & CAST

The ZOMBIES movies always liked to introduce new characters in their sequels, but ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires is a little bit different, as only four of this movie’s characters come from the original ZOMBIES trilogy: Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza.

These four have been attending Mountain College together, so they remain close, however, Willa and Eliza have noticed that Zed and Addison are spending too much time focusing on football and cheerleading, stressing themselves out and stopping them from spending quality time with people. This is evident in their summer plans, as Zed and Addison plan to be at cheerleading and football camp over the break, whilst Willa and Eliza are going on a camping trip. But as fate would have it, none of them get the summer they expected. Instead, they are drawn into an ongoing war between two different monsters that they’ve never met before: Daywalkers and Vampires. Using their experience of their time in Seabrook, where Zed and Addison managed to integrate not just zombies and humans into town life, but werewolves and aliens as well in just a couple of years, they decide to guide the Daywalkers and Vampires into living harmoniously together, through the bonding experience of… Summer Camp.

Zed and Addison spend the most time with the Daywalkers and the Vampires, especially Nova and Victor, who remind them of themselves. Nova and Victor don’t want to bow to pressure from their leaders when they know that the two groups must have a reason to work together. Zed and Addison were very much the same, pushing against the status quo because they knew segregation of their two groups was not right. The two also deal with Zed’s ever-complicated Z-Band, which is being weakened by a strange pulse, that Eliza and Willa work to figure out. Luckily, because of Zed and Addison persuading Nova and Victor to work together, bringing the Daywalkers and Vampires together, the pulsing soon sorts itself out, and Zed doesn’t have to fear becoming a zombie forever! Zed and Addison celebrate their steady relationship with a little dance on the hill by the Daywalker and Vampire territories, just before meeting up with Eliza and Willa to return to Seabrook for the summer. This set up a goodbye of sorts from these original four characters. I must say though, I was so happy that this moment with Zed and Addison did NOT result in a proposal, because I was concerned. Descendants 3 began with an engagement between Ben and Mal, which I thought was ridiculous as they were only 18 or 19, and it just seemed they were way too young. We then got Descendants: The Royal Wedding (2021) to tie this story up. Many Disney fans seem to want this for Zed and Addison too, and are still hopeful for it, but I am not. Please stop encouraging this, Disney; there’s plenty of time in life for marriage. You don’t need to rush off and marry your childhood sweetheart. Live a little first.

Anyway, Milo Manheim returned to ZOMBIES 4 to play Zed. In recent years, Manheim has starred in numerous stage musicals, such as playing Johnny in the Green Day musical American Idiot for a late-2024 Deaf West Theatre production in Los Angeles, and starred as Seymour in the Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors from February to June 2025. Manheim was recently announced as playing Peter in the star-studded Hollywood Bowl production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which will run from 1^st to 3^rd August 2025 and star Cynthia Erivo as Jesus and Adam Lambert as Judas.

Meg Donnelly also returned as Addison. Donnelly recently appeared as a contestant on Season 13 of The Masked Singer (2019-present), where she was Coral and came in third place. This season ran from February to May 2025. Chandler Kinney, as Willa, and Kylee Russell, as Eliza, were back for ZOMBIES 4 too. Coming up for them is a role as Kimberly in the 2026 series Elle, which is a prequel to the Legally Blonde franchise, for Kinney, and a role in the movie Savage Sistas for Russell.

Now, to the new characters. First, we have Nova. Nova is a Daywalker, meaning she lives in Sunnyside and has fire powers. Despite her father, Commander Bright, being determined to defeat the Vampires by any means necessary, keeping all the blood fruit for themselves, Nova doesn’t agree with her father, but doesn’t initially feel she can go against his wishes. She doesn’t tell her father she has visions of a boy, who is not a Daywalker, and wonders what this might mean. When she does meet this boy, Victor, who is a Vampire, she realises that they have no reason to fear the Vampires, and they should be working with them instead of against them. Thanks to her determination to do the right thing, and not bow to pressure, Nova manages to help revive the groups’ blood fruit orchards, as well as fix the pulsing that was troubling all the monsters.

Nova was played by Freya Skye, who was predominately known for singing prior to her role in ZOMBIES 4; this was her first movie role. Skye represented the UK at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2022, where she performed the song “Lose My Head” and finished in fifth place, which is very impressive, given the UK’s usual struggles at Eurovision! Skye has since released numerous singles throughout 2024 and 2025, with her song “Who I Thought I Knew” quickly gaining over 1 million views on YouTube.

Like Nova, Victor is having visions about a girl who is not a Vampire like him. However, unlike Nova, who is determined to become a great leader for her people in Sunnyside, Victor doesn’t see a future for himself in Shadyside and can’t wait to leave, wanting to travel the world. His aunt is the Eldress, with Victor being the one to replace her, but he lacks the discipline of good leadership, not feeling very bothered about being a great leader, and just generally being calm, cool, and laid back. But after he meets Nova, Victor realises the two need to work together to get the rest of the groups to co-operate and live harmoniously. After some struggles against their Elders, Victor and Nova find the courage to go against them, by retrieving their moonstones and combining them to heal the blood fruit roots – and inadvertently all the monsters. Nova and Victor end ZOMBIES 4 as friends, with a potential romance looming.

Malachi Barton was cast as Victor, having already had numerous roles on Disney Channel prior to his role in ZOMBIES 4. He was cast as Beast Diaz in the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle (2016-18), and then voiced the character of Lionel in the animated Disney Junior series Fancy Nancy (2018-22). Barton went on to star as Marshall in the Disney Channel Original Movies 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 has recently been announced as a new cast member for the upcoming Camp Rock 3.

On to Nova and Victor’s friends. Nova’s friend in the Daywalker community is Ray. Ray is very committed to the group, wanting to impress Nova’s father Commander Bright with his dedication to the cause of fighting Vampires. Because of this, Ray does not come around to the idea of “playing nice” with the Vampires until late on in the film. Ray wants Nova to stick to the plan and take all the blood fruit for themselves, instead of cosying up to Victor and the other Vampires. When Nova makes it clear she won’t be doing that, Ray tries to show his leadership skills to Bright by telling him, and causing an all-out war in the orchards, which leads to their blood fruit being burnt up. So really, all he did was make things worse! Ray eventually apologises to Nova, believing he was doing the right thing initially and now knowing he didn’t, and he gets along with their new way of life.

Julian Lerner was cast as Ray. Previously, Lerner voiced the role of Lucas Reed in Season 1 of the PBS Kids animated series Alma’s Way (2021-present), going on to play Brad Hitman in the ABC series The Wonder Years (2021-23). In film, Lerner was cast as Evan ‘Nando’ Torres in the Netflix movie Yes Day (2021) which starred Jennifer Garner and Édgar Ramírez, and later as Eugene Wexler in Monster Summer (2024).

On Victor’s side are Vera and Vargas, two Vampires. Vera is the more serious of the two, not trusting Daywalkers, especially not after she hears Ray and Nova talking about their plans to betray the Vampires. Vera is the one to call on their Eldress to come to the orchard to stop this, much like Ray does for the Daywalkers. Vargas, on the other hand, is more playful and jokey, who comes to accept the Daywalkers more quickly than Vera.

Vera was played by Swayam Bhatia. For Disney, Bhatia had previously starred as Sofi Hanson-Bhatt in the Disney+ series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. She had also appeared in the recurring role of Sophie Roy in the smash-hit series Succession (2018-23). Vargas was played by Mekonnen Knife, with ZOMBIES 4 being a breakout role for him.

For the strict leaders of the Daywalker and Vampire communities, we have Jonno Roberts as Commander Bright, who is also Nova’s father. Most recently, Roberts was cast as James Mallet in Season 2 of the NBC sci-fi drama La Brea (2021-24) and as Declan Stanwick in Season 3 of the sitcom Wrecked (2016-18). The Vampire Eldress, and Victor’s aunt, was played by Lisa Chappell. Prior to her role in ZOMBIES 4, Chappell was cast as Michelle Beaufort from Season 29 to 31 of the long-running New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street (1992-present).

MUSIC

The soundtrack for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was released on 11^th July 2025 and consists of 13 pieces of music, with eleven songs appearing in the film. Many of the songwriters from the previous ZOMBIES films came back to write songs for ZOMBIES 4. It is unclear how well ZOMBIES 4’s soundtrack has done on the album charts, like iTunes and Billboard so far, as it has only been out for a week, but these will be released in time.

I initially didn’t think I was going to find any songs that I liked in this movie, as it didn’t get off to a good start for me. However, I did find a few by the end of the film that I liked, more so than I did with the ZOMBIES 3 soundtrack. The most unexpected thing though was that I find my favourite song of the whole franchise in this film.

In movie order, the opening song of ZOMBIES 4 is “Legends in the Making”. It gives a recap of Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza’s Mountain College experience. I’m not sure what it is about this song, but I really didn’t like it. Maybe it was just too positive and upbeat for college; where were all the half-asleep students who don’t want to get up for lectures? That was my experience of college and I didn’t once see a flash mob! “Legends in the Making” was written by Tova Litvin and Doug Rockwell, and was performed by Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Chandler Kinney, and Kylee Russell as Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza.

Next up is “The Place to Be”, which is all about Nova and the Daywalkers showing Zed just why they are so awesome, with Victor and the Vampires showing Addison what makes them better as they both head to the blood fruit orchards for harvest time. It’s the perfect quick explanation as to exactly what the difference between these two groups is and shows what they are all about. No doubt this was the reason it was released as a single on 2^nd May 2025, to give fans a clear idea of what the new movie would be about. I quite liked it; it was like a typical Disney Channel group number with lots of energy and enthusiasm. The song was written by Mitch Allan, Chantry Johnson, and Michelle Zarlenga. It was performed predominantly by the new cast of Freya Skye as Nova, Malachi Barton as Victor, Swayam Bhatia as Vera, Julian Lerner as Ray, and Mekonnen Knife as Vargas.

Shortly after this, once the two groups have arrived at summer camp, the Daywalkers and the Vampires continue to fight against each other and show that they don’t want to co-operate with each other, no matter how much the original ZOMBIES characters tell them they ought to. It’s a proper face-to-face battle this time. This song is “Don’t Mess with Us”, which was performed by the entire cast, and written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, and Adam Schmalholz. It just shows how much effort Zed and Addison will have to put in to get these two groups to work together! This song was also released as a single prior to the movie’s release, on 13^th June 2025. It was another decent song, although pretty similar to “The Place to Be”.

Then, we get to my all-time favourite ZOMBIES song and that is “Dream Come True”. Initially, we hear a brief section of the song, with this being listed as “Dream Come True (Intro)” on the soundtrack. This “intro” took place before “Don’t Mess with Us”, and showed Nova and Victor confused about why they’ve had visions of each other. It is so short that it gave no indication to me of just how good the whole song was – but “Dream Come True” is amazing. It shows Nova and Victor understanding that there is a reason why they had visions of each other, and showing that they are willing to get past their group’s differences, culminating in a sort of ballet in the sky as they both fly through the breeze together. Freya Skye and Malachi Barton, performing as Nova and Victor, shot “Dream Come True” on wires and harnesses, running up and jumping off ramps to get that height to make it seem like they are flying[1]. It was a beautiful scene and it was the moment that made me really focus on this movie. “Dream Come True” was written by Jaheem King Toombs and Matthew Martinez.

This amazing song was followed by a song that I really didn’t like, and was the worst of the entire soundtrack for me. This is the hip-hop-style song “Kerosene”. I’m not a big fan of hip-hop, or whatever musical style this, but my real issue with “Kerosene” is the lyrics, which I found to be a bit cringey and random. “If it’s fire that we need, then I’m the kerosene” just didn’t impress me as a lyric. “Kerosene” was performed by the entire cast, during the moment that Zed, Willa, and Eliza are trying to stop the pulsing they keep feeling by moving a ladder off the blood fruit roots, with everyone coming to help them. “Kerosene” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, Adam Schmalholz.

A bit later, after Nova is told by Ray to stick to Commander Bright’s plan, she feels conflicted about what is the best thing to do, culminating in the solo ballad “My Own Way”. “My Own Way” was performed by Skye as Nova and was written by Josh Cumbee and Jordan Powers.

Following that, we have “Possible”, performed by the entire cast as Nova and Victor figure out they need to combine their moonstones, and will need to steal them from their cities, to truly find peace, but they don’t think that is possible. It is up to Zed and Addison to convince that they can actually achieve this, even if it’s hard. This shows Zed and Addison’s mentoring of Nova and Victor to be successful, as Nova and Victor rally the campers to help them in their plan. I did like this song; it was quite moving to see everyone finally putting their differences aside and coming together. “Possible” was performed mostly by Skye, Barton, Manheim, and Donnelly, as Nova, Victor, Zed, and Addison, and was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, Adam Schmalholz.

Then, we get the ZOMBIES 4 version of “Someday”, something that every ZOMBIES movie has had! This is “Someday (Reprise)”, even though we’ve already had three other “Someday” reprises! This is a very short one performed by Manheim and Donnelly as Zed and Addison, potentially for the last time. This is another heartfelt moment as Addison watches Zed get weaker and almost go “full zombie”. She vows to stay by his side regardless of what happens, but she is scared she’ll lose him after his Z-Band stops working. “Someday (Reprise)” was written by Dustin Burnett and Paula Winger.

After that, we get the typical cheery group finale number. In this case, the song is “Show the World”, written by Matthew Tishler and Shridhar Solanki, and performed by the entire cast. It shows the Daywalkers and Vampires collecting food and drinks to have a celebration at Camp Rayburn, their summer camp. I tend to like these finale numbers in Disney Channel musicals, and musicals in general. “Show the World” is no different.

Finally, we have the last musical moment within ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires and that is “Ain’t No Doubt About It (Reprise)”, a private moment between Zed and Addison as they reflect on their time with the Daywalkers and the Vampires and prepare to head back to Seabrook with Eliza and Willa. It’s a lovely farewell from Zed and Addison and I think it wrapped up not just their journey but also Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly’s journey with the ZOMBIES movies. It was very touching, and I liked their tap dance moment, which seemed to be a callback to their tap dancing in “Someday” in the first ZOMBIES movie. “Ain’t No Doubt About It (Reprise)” was written by Josh Cumbee and Jordan Power, and performed by Manheim and Donnelly, again, potentially for the last time.

There is then an End Credits song called “Together As One”, performed by the entire cast and written by Tim Boomsma, Gustavo Branger, Milo Branger, Louis Knight, and Mohamed Alitou. I didn’t like this song much, even if it is about unity between the Daywalkers and the Vampires. It’s just there, like End Credits song tend to be, not leaving very much impression because they don’t have a scene to give them proper context.

The score for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was composed by British composer Tom Howe. Howe is the composer on the popular AppleTV+ series Ted Lasso (2021-present) and 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 the one behind the theme music for The Great British Bake-Off (2010-present). For Disney, Howe composed the score for the DCOM Upside-Down Magic (2020). An excerpt of Howe’s score is included as a track on the official ZOMBIES 4 soundtrack.

PRODUCTION

After three movies, with ZOMBIES 3 seeming to signal the end of the series, many may’ve been surprised to find that ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was in the works when it was officially confirmed that production had begun in March 2024.

This announcement contained information around the confirmed cast and crew. Writers David Light and Joseph Raso, who wrote the original unaired TV pilot Zombies & Cheerleaders which was the basis for the original ZOMBIES film, returned to for this fourth movie, after writing all three of the previous ZOMBIES movies. This time, though, they were joined by Josh Cagan for the screenplay. Cagan had previously written the screenplay for the teen comedy movie The DUFF (2015) and was no stranger to the world of Disney Channel movies, as he had also co-written the live-action DCOM Kim Possible (2019), and went on to work on the DCOMs Spin (2021) and Under Wraps 2 (2022) prior to ZOMBIES 4.

ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires’ story took a slightly different direction to that of the previous three films. This time, the ZOMBIES franchise was moving outside of Seabrook and its “monsters” who came to live there. Instead, they chose to take zombies Zed and Eliza, human and part-alien Addison, and werewolf Willa away from Seabrook, which they know so well, to a completely different location. Here, they discover the existence of two completely different species of “monster”: Vampires and Daywalkers.

To be perfectly honest, whenever I hear the term “daywalker”, all I think about is Cartman’s school report in the episode “Ginger Kids” in South Park (1997-present), where he said “daywalkers” are people with red hair who do not have pale skin and freckles. I can hear his speech even as I’m typing this, which isn’t relevant to this term at all and can be considered offensive so I’ll quickly move on!

Daywalkers are actually like a subset of vampires. In folklore, daywalkers are basically just vampires that can exist in the sun. Back in the 19^th Century with novels like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, vampires were simply weaker in daylight, but were never destined to burn up and die in the sunshine. Even Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga vampires can exist in the sun; it just makes their skin sparkle like glitter, which would reveal that they are not humans like they pretend to be. Apparently, it was the 1922 silent film Nosferatu that first showed a vampire that was unable to exist in daylight, as Count Orlok vanished in a puff of fire when the sun came up in that film. As the years went on, it became a common truth that vampires and sunlight were enemies, however, over time, the lore around vampires has begun to shift again to say that vampires do not always fear sunlight[2].

In this case, the ZOMBIES 4 Vampires and Daywalkers aren’t much like we’d expect them to be at all anyway. These vampires do not suck blood, and although they live in darkness, they can exist in sunlight without crumbling to ash. They also have powers, which allow them to manipulate air and wind. Daywalkers, on the other hand, live in a city called Sunnyside, where they make the most of the sun’s rays. They also have magic, but they manipulate fire. The two groups have feared and vowed revenge against the other for centuries, as they fight over their shared food source, blood fruit. It is only thanks to the forced shared experience during a version of summer camp that these two groups are able to realise they can do more good by joining forces instead of warring against each other, a message that reaches the young people before it hits the Elders.

The story of ZOMBIES 4 feels very much like the three movies that came before it, by having two enemy sides come together to live in harmony with each other. But hey, I guess if a theme works, work it hard!

Paul Hoen returned to direct ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, having been the director on all three of the previous ZOMBIES movies. Hoen is a legendary director in the Disney Channel Original Movie world, having already directed The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008); Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010); Let It Shine (2012); Cloud 9 (2014); and Invisible Sister (2015), just to name a few, prior to his work with the ZOMBIES franchise.

Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly were executive producers on ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires too. The two got to be involved in the audition process, for example, basically helping to choose their replacements for a new Zed and Addison-style pairing! They enjoyed working on post-production too, being able to have input in this, and felt they were a good bridge between the production process and the acting process, as well as being able to guide the new cast through the experience of shooting a Disney Channel musical. It was overall a great experience for both of them as professionals in the movie industry[3].

As ZOMBIES 4 is not set in Seabrook, it made sense for the filming locations to be different. In this case, the cast and crew ended up in New Zealand, not Canada, for the majority of their shoot, which ran from around March to May 2024. It is thought that a few scenes were still filmed in Toronto though.

In New Zealand, King’s College, a school in the suburb of Ōtāhuhu in Auckland was the location for Mountain College. In the dance section of “Legends in the Making” specifically, this takes place outside the King’s College Centennial Centre. Bethells Beach and the Te Henga Cave, outside of Auckland, were used as we see Nova and Victor walk through the cave in the ending scene. I think you can also see the respective groups walk through this cave on the way to the original harvest that doesn’t happen. Speaking of Daywalkers, their city of Sunnyside was filmed at the Auckland University of Technology. With all the glass-fronted, high-rise buildings, it reminded me a bit of Erudite in the Divergent film series. At the blood fruit orchard, you can also see the Okiritoto Falls, located at Oneonenui Farm[4]. Other filming locations named are Piha Beach, on North Island’s West Coast within the Waitakere Rangers, with Lion Rock in the background, which seems to be the site of the Daywalkers practising fighting on the beach, when Zed first meets them. It would also seem that the Mākara Walkway, near Mākara Beach in Wellington, was the site for Zed and Addison’s moment on the hills, as well as potentially the location for “Dream Come True”, although this is hard to identify, being landscape and not a building[5]. The cast also had fun exploring what New Zealand has to offer. According to cast members’ Instagram accounts, they seem to have visited Hobbiton, the official movie set location for the The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, based in Matamata, as well as the mud baths in Rotorua on the Hell’s Gate Reserve.

The team working on ZOMBIES 4 were committed to using as many real-life locations as possible in their shoot, although in some cases, green screen or CGI was needed to create some settings. For example, the city of Sunnyside has been added to the hilly backdrop on the beach, and obviously, the overhead shots of both Sunnyside and Shadyside are not real. There is also some special effect usage, for the Daywalkers and Vampires powers, the pulses, and the blood fruit orchard being burnt up, for instance.

With the introduction of new settings and new characters came new costumes. For the Daywalkers, they are dressed in whites and reds, to match their reliance on the sunlight and fire. They also wear relatively loose-fitting clothing, probably because they are known for being fighters. On the other hand, the Vampires, who are used to living in darkness, wear reds and blacks to signify that. The Vampires wear more punk-looking clothing, with leather-style jackets and emblazoned tees. Since both groups wear red, this is a uniting colour between the two, showing that they are linked in some way, because they are both a form of vampire and both rely on blood fruit to survive.

The original characters got a costume update too. This time, Addison is not in a cheerleading outfit for the majority of the movie! She wears a lot of blue here, no doubt to pay tribute to her alien heritage. Zed continues to wear dark colours, with jeans and jackets, but at the end of the film, he dresses up a little bit, with a smart jacket and tie. Eliza’s outfit isn’t overly different to previous ZOMBIES films either, but she stills looks cool. Willa is continuing to rep her werewolf look with her a top and at one point, she has a long blue/purple robe or cardigan too. All of their outfits show them growing up, and looking more like college students instead of peppy high schoolers.

For choreography, Draico Johnson, choreographer on ZOMBIES 3, returned to work on ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires. He liked working with new dancers and enjoyed choreographing for the new characters. There were opportunities to show the two go head-to-head in dance battles, particularly in the sequence for “Don’t Mess with Us”, when the Daywalkers and the Vampires are trying to show who is the best. “The Place to Be” also does this, although they aren’t face-to-face at this point, but they are still trying to prove their group is better than the other. Johnson particularly liked the energy of the song “The Place to Be” and used that for his choreography inspiration[6].

Some of these dances took place on the beach, which made dancing even more difficult as they had to work against the movement of the sand under their feet – although I think all of the dancing looks hard to remember and even more difficult to execute perfectly with each take, but I’m not a dancer! Other experiences that the actors went through on set were numerous lessons in fighting, specifically for Freya Skye as Nova, since her character seemingly has been trained to fight hand-to-hand combat for many years, and the original ZOMBIES cast members were strapped to a rotating machine for the scene where their car crashes in the woods, which was a struggle for some of them to get through as they tumbled upside down multiple times! This was the last shot of the whole movie too[7].

RECEPTION

Since ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires actually finished filming in mid-2024, there was a lot of buzz and anticipation for this film for an entire year.

Many debated when ZOMBIES 4 would be released, with many favouring the idea of a February release, as ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 2 had done, coinciding with Valentine’s Day. But the actual release date would end up being in July 2025, for a summer release, much like ZOMBIES 3 had. Summer releases in general are known to do well, so this made good business sense, I think.

Multiple behind-the-scenes clips and interviews were released in the months and weeks leading up to ZOMBIES 4 release, which was confirmed around April/May 2025 as being on 10^th July 2025 for Disney Channel, and 11^th July 2025 for a worldwide Disney+ release. These interviews featured a mixture of the cast, with some being solely Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly; others with these two and Freya Skye and Malachi Barton; and more with a combination of the old and new cast.

On 8^th July 2025, the official ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires premiere was held at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. As well as the cast of this movie appearing alongside loved ones, many fans were pleased to see the return of some of the original ZOMBIES cast here, such as Trevor Tordjman, who played Bucky; Pearce Joza, who played Wyatt; and Carla Jeffrey, who played Bree. Other Disney stars also walked the carpet, including Descendants: The Rise of Red stars Kylie Cantrall and Dara Reneé, as well as other Disney Channel stars, like some of the cast of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (2024-present), and even former Disney Channel actors like Jake Thomas from Lizzie McGuire (2001-04).

On 10^th July 2025, Disney Channel exclusively premiered ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, with the first three movies airing on the channel earlier in the day, ahead of the official premiere. Apparently, ZOMBIES 4 was watched by around 600,000 viewers on that night, with this being the most-watched Disney Channel Original Movie premiere since Upside-Down Magic (2020)[8]. It also beat out the premiere for ZOMBIES 3, which reached around 300,000 viewers on its premiere allegedly, although it was released on Disney+ first.

This figure of 0.6 million may not sound like much when compared to the premieres of other DCOMs like High School Musical 2 (2007) and Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009), but viewing habits are changing, with many preferring to watch new programming via streaming services instead of cable TV.

ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was added to Disney+ on 11^th July 2025, allowing it to be viewed by a global audience. Apparently, all four of the ZOMBIES movies occupied the top four spots in Disney+’s Top Five most-watched list in the first week of its release. ZOMBIES 4 topped this list, followed by ZOMBIES, then ZOMBIES 2, and finally ZOMBIES 3[9]. It is unclear if this is a worldwide Disney+ Top 5, or if it is solely in the US, but either way, this is quite impressive. I had seen on social media that ZOMBIES 4 was the No. 1 film on the platform both worldwide and in the US though, but as the movie has only been around for a week, I’ll wait for something more concrete on this.

Much like with the other ZOMBIES movies, and most DCOMs in general, ZOMBIES 4 received various comments, both positive and negative. On the positive side, the performances of Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly as Zed and Addison were praised once again. Many also said the music and dance numbers were fun. Others said it was a sweet farewell from the original cast, and a great outing for the new, fresh-faced cast. Fans of the ZOMBIES franchise were most likely to enjoy ZOMBIES 4.

However, some said ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires lacked a strong narrative and compelling characters, feeling that the film hopped from scene-to-scene at a break-neck speed which made the movie feel rushed. I quite liked the fact that ZOMBIES 4 didn’t settle on anything for too long, because it meant I was never bored, and if I didn’t like a particular moment or character, I knew we’d be moving on to something else quickly. There were also comments that ZOMBIES 4 was just repeating the same plot as the previous ZOMBIES movies, and that the franchise just continuously repeats the same story over and over again. Even Nova and Victor were created to be just like Zed and Addison, so ZOMBIES 4 wasn’t seen to be anything new, and if fans already felt ZOMBIES 3 was unnecessary, then a fourth movie was just ridiculous.

That was my opinion on ZOMBIES 4 for at least during the first half an hour that I was watching, but by the end of it, I actually found I enjoyed ZOMBIES 4 more than ZOMBIES 3, but that might just be because of “Dream Come True” grabbing my attention and me then being receptive to finding another moment in the film that did that again. There wasn’t really, until the very end with Zed and Addison’s moment on the hill, but still, ZOMBIES 4 felt like a movie that both fit within the ZOMBIES space, and could work without it, which I think is what it needed to be.

LEGACY

The earliest ZOMBIES 4 experience to come from the movie was actually first announced months before the film itself had even premiered.

At the D23 Expo in August 2024 in Anaheim, it was announced that there was going to be a new concert tour called Descendants / Zombies: Worlds Collide Tour, coming to arenas in North America over Summer 2025, where stars from both Descendants: The Rise of Red and ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires would be performing hits from their movie franchises. There was also a performance from the Descendants: The Rise of Red cast at this on-stage announcement too. Freya Skye, Malachi Barton, and Meg Donnelly met fans the following day at the D23 Expo.

During the following months, more details about this tour were revealed, and tickets went on sale in November 2024. It has since been revealed that cast members going on this tour are Freya Skye, Mekonnen Knife, and Malachi Barton from ZOMBIES 4, and Malia Baker, Dara Reneé, Joshua Colley, and Kylie Cantrall from Descendants: The Rise of Red. The tour began in San Diego on 17^th July 2025, just a week after ZOMBIES 4’s premiere. The tour will run until 16^th September 2025, where it will play its final show in Texas[10].

At Walt Disney World, in preparation for the ZOMBIES 4 premiere, a new costume exhibit went up on display in the Walt Disney Presents attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios around April 2025. There were four costumes worn in the film that were put on display: one for Nova, one for Addison, one for Zed, and one for Victor. There was also an informational plaque detailing a brief overview of the plot of the entire ZOMBIES franchise and ZOMBIES 4 specifically[11]. These displays are swapped out frequently based on whichever Disney movie is about to be released.

Closer to ZOMBIES 4’s release date, a rolling stage promoting ZOMBIES 4 was spotted at Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort. On this stage is a DJ, talking about the film whilst music from the franchise plays. It began in early July 2025 and will run until the start of August 2025, running daily from the late afternoon into the evening. There are also banners and photo-op boards around the area, promoting the film[12]. For some reason, this same experience doesn’t appear to have been at Disneyland.

For the Halloween season, which begins in August at Walt Disney World, at the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, there will be a ZOMBIES 4 dance party for 2025, on the Rockettower Plaza Stage in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom, replacing the DescenDANCE Party from last year.

Finally, as ZOMBIES 4 ended on a cliffhanger, with Nova and Victor seeing that spiral of water coming out of the ocean, it is believed that a ZOMBIES 5 will be coming. There has been no confirmation of this so far, and no clue as to what this water thing could be, but if viewing figures and audience reaction remain positive, then a new movie can be expected.

FINAL THOUGHTS

From the moment that promotional activities began for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, the two original stars of the ZOMBIES franchise, Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly, mentioned that this movie was a “passing of the torch”, that they were seeing this as an opportunity to introduce a new cast to take the ZOMBIES movies forward.

In a similar way to Descendants: The Rise of Red, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires allowed audiences to get to know a new set of characters, and a new crop of actors, whilst also letting them settle in to this new idea by still having some of their favourite characters around. It’s a clever idea, and one that I believe worked for the majority.

Yet, it was still a sad moment saying goodbye, potentially forever, to Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza, with the loss of “Zeddison” hitting fans the most. However, they were given a beautiful send-off, which gave them their own special moment within this film where they waved a metaphorical goodbye to us viewers and went off on their merry way.

With them gone, ZOMBIES has an opportunity to continue on with different characters and a different setting. Personally, I don’t think ZOMBIES 4 needed to be a part of the ZOMBIES franchise and could’ve sustained itself without any mention of Seabrook, but I can see the effort in trying to “reboot” the ZOMBIES franchise.

If I was younger, I probably would’ve been incredibly positive about this film – but this new cast are well over a decade younger than me, so they’re making me feel old! But still, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires surprised me, in a good way, and I appreciate this movie for giving the original cast the chance to help guide this new cast to greatness. I’m sure everyone involved is going to go on to do great things, both with and away from Disney.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘ZOMBIES 4 Cast Watch Party! Snacks & BTS w/ Meg, Milo, Malachi & Freya’, Disney Channel Music YouTube Channel, 12^th July 2025.

[2] Credit: Kelly Faircloth, ‘How vampires became allergic to the sun’, NationalGeographic.com, 10^th July 2025.

[3] Credit: Good Morning America, ‘Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly on their roles as executive producers in ‘Zombies 4’’, Good Morning America YouTube Channel, 16^th July 2025.

[4] Credit: Ra Moon, ‘Where was Zombies 4 filmed? Guide to (almost) all the filming locations’, AtlasOfWonders.com, date unknown.

[5] Credit: Naman Shrestha, ‘Where Was Zombies 4 Filmed? Dawn of the Vampires Shooting Locations’, MovieDelic.com, 10^th July 2025.

[6] Credit: TMilly Staff, ‘From Disney to Netflix: How Draico Johnson Shapes Stories Through Dance’, Blog.TMilly.tv, 28^th June 2025.

[7] Credit: Good Morning America, ‘Cast of ‘Zombies 4’ on hardest part of filming’, Good Morning America YouTube Channel, 15^th July 2025.

[8] Credit: Disney, ‘#ZOMBIES4: Dawn of the Vampires scored 600,000 viewers on Thursday Night’, ZOMBIES 4 Official X Account, 14^th July 2025.

[9] Credit: Nicole Sobon, ‘A Surprising Zombie Movie Franchise Is Dominating Disney+’s Streaming Charts’, ComicBook.com, 14^th July 2025.

[10] Credit: Disney, ‘Descendants Zombies Worlds Collide Tour’, DisneyConcerts.com, date unknown.

[11] Credit: Jamie Rowland, ‘‘Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires’ Props on Display at Disney’s Hollywood Studios’, WDWNT.com, 27^th April 2025.

[12] Credit: Luke Manning, Jeremiah Good, ‘Unleash Your Inner Monster: “ZOMBIES 4” Activation Comes to Disney Springs’, LaughingPlace.com, 7^th July 2025.