19th Sep 202516th Jan 2026 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.

5th Sep 202523rd Jan 2026 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 202523rd Jan 2026 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.

18th Jul 202523rd Jan 2026 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.

11th Jul 202530th Jan 2026 by The Disney Purist

ZOMBIES 3 (2022)

BACKGROUND

Movie sequels are becoming increasingly more common in the film industry as studios look to potentially maximise their movie’s brand potential, as well as their profits, because it’s generally considered true that movie sequels bring in more viewers than the original.

Just look at Disney Animation or Pixar. Frozen II (2019), Moana 2 (2024) and Inside Out 2 (2024) beat their predecessors at the box-office, however, it is also worth noting that these sequels were met with more mixed responses than the original movies.

But if a movie franchise wants to do really well, at least financially, they tend to make three movies, if not more. This happens fairly frequently these days too, but at this point in a movie franchise, the “threequel” starts to become seen as pointless and unnecessary, going so far as to anger fans of the franchise and potentially even ruin its legacy.

I wish more studios knew when to give it a rest and find something new to make, but in this day and age when less people are visiting movie theatres, instead relying on their streaming services, which they have already paid for and will inevitably have those movies added to their catalogues at a later date, studios don’t want to take a risk on an original story that won’t bring in the audience.

So as much as it irks me that this happens, I can see why it does, and actually, I personally have enjoyed a few “threequels”, like Toy Story 3 (2010). Two more of these come from the Disney Channel Original Movie world and their most popular musical franchises. I’m talking about High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) and The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008), which were the final outings of both of these franchises. In fact, I love those two movies more than the originals and their sequels. But this is an anomaly.

There haven’t even been all that many trilogies in the realm of DCOMs, but I know two “threequels” that let me down immensely. One was Descendants 3 (2019), although it wrapped up its story nicely and was poignant in its own way.

The other was ZOMBIES 3 (2022). When I first watched it, I couldn’t find anything I liked about it, or any music that I remembered from it. I actually watched it pretty soon after it premiered too, but it was a big disappointment, and I’m not even the biggest ZOMBIES fan.

To be fair, when I rewatched it this week, I didn’t find it as bad, and I came away liking a couple of the songs, but still, in general, it wasn’t a great movie to watch, no matter how much you can see the cast enjoying themselves. I think the fact it was aliens coming to Seabrook just completely lost me. I know zombies don’t exist and nor do werewolves, but for some reason, the aliens were a step too far, and something I couldn’t get on board with.

PLOT

ZOMBIES 3 begins with an animated opening sequence, much like the first two movies, giving a brief recap of what has happened in Seabrook over the last few years. Basically, we had the lime soda incident that caused the zombie outbreak; the zombies then lived in harmony with humans in Seabrook; the werewolves arrived looking for their moonstone; human Addison helped them find their moonstone; and now the wolves live in Seabrook too. Today, Addison is hopeful that the first ever monster could be allowed to attend college, because if her boyfriend zombie Zed wins the Championship football game, then he will get a scholarship to Mountain College, and they can go to college together.

Things are changing in Seabrook. Eliza, Zed and Addison’s friend, is away on an internship at Z-Corp, the company that make the zombie Z-Bands. As the town gets excited for the Championship game, we see that the wolves’ moonstone necklaces are acting weird and meteors keep appearing in the sky. But there’s no time to think about that, because the group need wolf pack leader Willa’s help in rallying the team before they get on the bus to head to the football game. Recruiters for Mountain College have also arrived to watch Zed, despite the fact they are clearly terrified of monsters! More meteors fly across the sky, but nobody is particularly concerned.

Suddenly, as Zed attempts to speak to his recruiters, a huge UFO arrives in Seabrook, causing everyone to flee in terror. There is destruction as sparks and lightning fly everywhere, and technology cuts out all around. The residents of Seabrook are terrified, except for Addison who is fascinated. It soon becomes clear that aliens have landed in the town. The aliens find their scout ship and discover a video left behind by their Scout Commander, who tells them to find a new planet: Utopia. In Seabrook, the aliens must find the most precious thing there, as the map to Utopia is hidden within it. The aliens say they come in peace, and lie that they are here for the National Cheer Off, which Addison has organised, however, the town are suspicious and the aliens are arrested by the Z-Patrol.

Addison’s parents, along with others in the town, state that they should force the aliens to leave, but Addison says everyone is invited to the Cheer Off, so they should be allowed to stay. Despite being able to get out of their restraints, much to the surprise of the Seabrook citizens, the aliens comply with law enforcement and wait to be questioned. Zed talks alien A-Spen in an interview room, saying they need to leave because they’ve just ruined his chance of attending Mountain College. A-Spen mentally researches another way for Zed to be accepted into his dream college, and they say there is an exceptional student scholarship, without any discrimination against monsters, so Zed should just be exceptional! It is eventually decided that the aliens can stay, but only for the Cheer Off.

The next day, the aliens arrive at Seabrook High School, having turned off their “emotional suppressors”. The aliens are intelligent but clueless to normal life, even struggling to pull open doors. Addison’s classmates still don’t trust these aliens, but Addison tells them not to be concerned about them. However, Zed is concerned because he learns from Eliza – who is rolling around school in a robot body with a screen for a face so she can be around for her friends – that his grades keep changing and he is slowly dropping down in the class ranking, making him seem less than exceptional. He discovers this is because of A-Lan, one of the aliens. A-Lan keeps beating all Zed’s sports records too, because it turns out, without his suppressor, A-Lan is actually really competitive…Meanwhile, A-Spen is discovering what it feels like to have a crush. A-Spen goes to Addison to discuss this feeling further, where it is revealed to her, Willa, Wynter, and Bree that A-Spen has a crush on Zed! They quickly tell them they can’t feel like that, because Zed is Addison’s boyfriend. A-Spen lets it go, for now.

Addison and the cheerleaders then see the aliens practising an impressive cheer routine, shocking everyone since who knew aliens could be cheerleaders? The Seabrook Cheer Squad decide they have to do a really big trick in order to win the Cheer Cup. But the aliens don’t even care about the Cheer Off, and just want to find their map to Utopia, even if their feelings of love, competition, and destruction of humans in the case of A-Li, are getting in the way. They learn from Zed that the moonstone is allegedly the most precious thing in Seabrook, so they head straight for it in the town centre, where it is now based.

The moonstone is indeed precious to the wolves, so much so that they have a protective forcefield around it so nobody can touch it. A-Lan is hurt by this forcefield, but the aliens manage to figure out that there is no map here anyway. They get spooked by the arrival of the werewolves and ask their Mothership to beam them up, but it won’t help them, due to their rudeness and ungratefulness to her. The aliens hide from the wolves, until Mothership decides their suffering should be ended and does beam them up into the ship.

Except Addison is randomly beamed up too. Zed is here as well, although only because A-Spen invited him there. The two meet up with the three aliens, who tell them that they are searching for a new home after their home planet was destroyed due to environmental issues. Aliens don’t like conflict so nothing was done to solve these issues before it was too late. One of their scouts crash-landed in Seabrook and hid a map here to help them find a new planet. After Zed hits their computer, as it has been malfunctioning for a while, the scout’s video plays to them. She recounts that a man called Eli hid her in Seabrook after she was unable to return to their planet. She kept her identity hidden but learnt to live in Seabrook, even discovering a passion for cheerleading and created the Cheer Cup. It is also discovered that this woman’s hair was white and that her and Eli went on to have a daughter called Missy. This is a shock to everyone as Addison has white hair and her mother is called Missy. This can’t just be a coincidence; Addison is part-alien!

The aliens pass Addison something to see if she has any power like them. Sadly, Addison is shown not to have a spark, so is not a true alien and cannot travel with them. Addison and Zed leave the ship, with Addison feeling distraught at the rejection. The aliens look into the Seabrook Cheer Cup further, and find it is made up of materials from their planet, so this must be the map. They vow to win it so they can get to Utopia at last.

The next day is the day of Zed’s college interview but he’s stressed, feeling the pressure to get into Mountain College so he and Addison can be together. Everyone tries to to calm him down, reminding Zed that that he is definitely “exceptional” enough for Mountain College. The interviewer arrives looking scared and is invited into Zed’s home for the interview. However, to make everything go wrong, Addison’s alien spark randomly starts firing and her spark messes with Zed’s Z-Band, causing him to “zombie out”. The interviewer rushes out of Zed’s house, but is stopped from leaving Seabrook by Zed, who calmly pleads his case to her. She then leaves the town, with Zed’s college future uncertain.

At the Cheer Off, Addison realises that the Cheer Cup is important to the aliens and knows that whether she wins it or they win it, they’ll be able to find their way to Utopia. However, Bucky has picked up a piece of alien technology, which the wolves look over. They pass it to robot Eliza who tries to hack it but cannot. Wyatt tries using his moonstone necklace and it helps Eliza access the tech. This technology shows mind probe scans, which, amongst other things, reveal that Wyatt likes Eliza! Eliza says she likes him too. But most importantly, the scans prove that the aliens are lying; they aren’t in Seabrook for the Cheer Off. The group alert the Z-Patrol about the aliens. But Zed, who just got a call saying he got in to Mountain College, sees them arrive, and warns the aliens that they have to hide.

The aliens are disqualified from the competition for not getting on stage in time, so Addison starts to feel the pressure to win the Cheer Cup. Luckily, the squad is well-rehearsed and she lands her big trick. The Seabrook Cheer Squad are the winners.

Outside the competition, the wolves discover the aliens trying to escape and go to attack them. Addison comes over with the Cheer Cup and gives it to the aliens. However, there is no map to Utopia here either. They try to get the Mothership to beam them up but this power reacts with the wolves’ moonstones causing an outage. Zed and his sister Zoe start to zombie out, but Addison tells everyone to stop and reveals that she is an alien, like A-Lan, A-Spen, and A-Li. The alien technology properly transforms her into an alien, shocking the town. Addison’s mother, Missy, arrives to tell her the truth, that they are both part-alien. Her mother also says that Addison’s grandmother used to say Addison was “the most precious thing”. The aliens realise that Addison must have the map to Utopia in her DNA. Zed thinks this means everything is sorted and everything can go back to normal but apparently Addison can’t just delve into her brain and write down the co-ordinates to Utopia; the map is dynamic and always changing so she’ll have to leave with them.

Addison prepares to leave with the aliens, and is told they must leave soon as the Mothership is partially damaged. All of Addison’s friends arrive to say goodbye to her, with Zed stating if Addison has to leave, then he will go with her. The aliens say he’ll never survive the journey so he regretfully agrees that he’ll have to stay in Seabrook without her… But the Mothership still won’t take off, and the aliens don’t know how to fix it. Zed and the zombies and wolves come on board to try and help recharge the ship, using the power from their moonstones and their Z-Bands. But they need someone to direct the power. The aliens ask Addison to be the bridge to do this, since she is half-human so hopefully, she won’t die from the electrical charge…Huh? Addison gives it a shot, but she cannot do it on her own. So, Zed says he’ll help her, despite the fact he could also die…Great! Thankfully, there is no death and the ship is successfully recharged and about to set off. All the non-aliens hurry to get off the ship before it takes off, and Zed and Addison have a tearful kiss goodbye.

With the ship and Addison gone forever, the town feel very depressed about their friend leaving. A little while later, it’s time to get back to school for Graduation, though it’s not easy to feel very celebratory. The group get together and talk about what Addison did for them, and how she is the reason they are all friends.

Meanwhile on the Mothership, Addison tries to explain the concept of Seabrook to the aliens, by showing them some of their mind probes, which show memories from the last two years. Addison tells them that without the conflicts they’ve experienced, ironically, Seabrook would never have been as harmonious a place as it is now. They start to discuss what Utopia actually is, before realising that the map is showing Earth. Addison’s grandmother felt this is where the aliens should live. The Mothership makes a U-Turn.

Back in Seabrook, Zed and the others are shocked to see Addison back but are glad that she and the aliens are going to be staying, for good this time. An animated ending sequence shows the Mothership landing and becoming a house for the aliens. It also says that Seabrook has become a haven for all kinds of creatures, even mermaids! Everything has once again ended happily, with another species being welcomed to Seabrook.

In a brief end credits scene, we see Bucky board the Mothership and activates its launch so that he can bring cheer to all of the galaxy! Except, is Bucky part-alien or not? He claims he’s not, but he is Addison’s cousin, and if he isn’t then he won’t survive travel on the Mothership apparently. That could be Bucky gone for good… Oh well. Farewell, Bucky!

CHARACTERS & CAST

Once again, the majority of the cast of ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 2 returned to ZOMBIES 3, with the addition of three new characters of a different kind, this time being aliens.

Zed and Addison are still together by the time of ZOMBIES 3, which is seemingly taking place during their Senior Year, so it’s a lot of talk about college and wanting to go to the same college, as we see time and time again in teen movies. Addison has already been accepted to Mountain College, but as a zombie, Zed has more obstacles to overcome to get in to college. He plans to simply get a football scholarship but thanks to the aliens landing, that avenue gets blocked off. He then tries to show the college he is an exceptional student, but because of Addison’s weird alien powers, that interview is almost ruined too. However, as we all expected, Zed also gets into Mountain College. So, their future is set, right? Well, no, because once again, the aliens are trying to ruin Zed’s life, by taking Addison away, since she is revealed to be an alien. Addison decides she has to help the aliens find Utopia, so they make the decision to…I don’t really know. It’s not a break-up exactly, but I think another galaxy is probably a bit too long-distance to make it work! Anyway, they are apart for a couple of days, and then Addison comes back to Seabrook with the aliens and their plan to attend college together can still go ahead. Hurrah! Sorry if that sounds sarcastic, but their relationship has just become a little bit too perfect for me at this point. Adorable couple, but come on, Disney Channel; did you have to make it that easy for them? Even Troy and Gabriella had more conflict than this!

Anyway, after playing Zed and Addison in ZOMBIES 3, Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly’s stars have really been on the rise. Manheim went on to be cast in Season 2 of the Disney+ show Doogie Kameāloha (2021-23), appearing as Nico alongside Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who later both starred in the Disney Original Movie Prom Pact (2023). Outside of Disney, Manheim has been playing Wally in the Paramount+ series School Spirits (2023-present) opposite Peyton List, another Disney Channel alum. He was also cast as Ryan in the horror movie Thanksgiving (2023), and as Joseph in the musical nativity movie Journey to Bethlehem (2023). Meanwhile, for Disney, Donnelly was cast in the recurring role of Val in Season 3 of the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019-23). Outside of Disney, she was cast as Mary Campbell in the CW series The Winchesters (2022-23) and voiced Kara Zor-El / Supergirl in the animated superhero films Legion of Super-Heroes (2023) and Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths (2024).

For Zed and Addison’s friends, let’s start with Bree, Eliza, and Bonzo. Eliza is not seen in person in ZOMBIES 3, having decided to work as an intern at Z-Corp instead of attending school for her Senior Year. Not that that is a big surprise since she is a very smart, and driven character. Eliza is still on hand to help her friends figure out what the aliens are trying to do there, in her robot body. Bree and Bonzo are still in a relationship and both still on the Cheer Squad, but other than that, they don’t have a huge amount to do with the story of ZOMBIES 3 once again.

Carla Jeffrey and James Godfrey returned as Bree and Bonzo respectively, as did Kylee Russell as Eliza. There was actually a reason why Eliza was only seen virtually in ZOMBIES 3, and that is because Russell was pregnant at the time of ZOMBIES 3 being filmed in Summer 2021, so we only see her upper half for the most part. Now, before anyone starts to scream “scandal”, there was no scandal here. Russell was in her 20s at the time of filming; remember, she only plays a teenager on TV. Russell was working separately from the cast, making this a different sort of challenge for her, as she had to just talk to a screen and was not able to feed off the cast’s energy[1].

After the events of ZOMBIES 2, Willa, Wynter, and Wyatt are now living peacefully in Seabrook. They have gotten involved in school life; despite saying they had no intention of doing that in ZOMBIES 3, and they seem quite settled. Their precious moonstone is no longer hidden underground, but is displayed in the centre of Seabrook, being fiercely protected by the pack. The wolves are incredibly suspicious of what the aliens are doing in Seabrook, probably because they know that when they themselves first came to Seabrook, they hid their real motivation for being there from everyone else! They are initially concerned about what the aliens might do to the moonstone, but then they just want the aliens out of there, as they realise the aliens have been lying about what they’re doing in Seabrook and have been taking scans of people’s brains to gain information, which is sneaky and dodgy. In the end though, the wolves accept the aliens wanted to find themselves a new home and are glad to find that they have returned with Addison to Seabrook to live in harmony with them.

Chandler Kinney, Ariel Martin, and Pearce Joza returned to their roles of Willa, Wynter, and Wyatt respectively. After ZOMBIES 3, Kinney was cast as Tabitha Haworthe in the Pretty Little Liars reboot, which ran for two seasons from 2022 until 2024. She also appeared on Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) for their 33^rd season in late 2024, coming in third place. Ariel Martin was cast as Jasmine in the movie Oracle (2023) and as Megan Kaminski in Suncoast (2024). Joza is set to appear as Moose in the indie comedy movie Bad Counselors.

Bucky and his three Aceys also returned for ZOMBIES 3, although there seems to be some sort of divide between them now, since Bucky is Class President, and the Aceys are still part of the Seabrook Cheer Squad, which is now being led by Addison. Bucky still tries to take credit for cheerleading activities, like the Cheer Off, but the Aceys quickly point out that it is all thanks to Addison, proving this split between them. They also question Bucky about his “alien heritage”, which they’d never have done previously; you don’t talk back to Bucky!

Trevor Tordjman returned to play Bucky, and went on to be cast as Parker in the Disney Channel series Bunk’d (2015-24) from Season 5 until Season 7, its finale season. Emilia McCarthy returned as Lacey, going on to appear as Madison Van Camp in the Canadian medical drama SkyMed (2022-present). Noah Zulfikar came back to appear as Kevin. After ZOMBIES 3, Zulfikar could be seen as MK in the movie Village Keeper (2024). Jasmine Renée Thomas was also back as Lacey, rounding out the Aceys trio.

Now to the new characters, the three aliens: A-Spen, A-Lan, and A-Li. If you want to know how to pronounce their names, just pretend the hyphen isn’t there. I guess it just looks more “spacey” to put hyphens in the names!

Although the aliens’ primary mission is to find their map to Utopia, each of them can’t help but be distracted by some sort of “human emotion”. For A-Spen, that emotion is love, as they develop a crush on Zed. A-Spen has plans for Zed to potentially fall in love with them, since Addison may end up at a different college from him anyway, but A-Spen decides to “break up” with him, not wanting there to be any complications from their “relationship”. A-Spen is probably the alien we see the most of in ZOMBIES 3, as they seem to be the leader of the group, having the most to say, for example.

A-Spen is actually the first leading non-binary character for a Disney Channel movie, and was played by Terry Hu, who is a non-binary actor. After seeing messages from the fans, the milestone moment felt very real to them and they were glad to be a part of creating a character that resonates with a community[2]. Hu went on to be cast in the recurring role of Addison in Seasons 3 and 4 of the Netflix series Never Have I Ever (2020-23), which was co-created by Mindy Kaling, as well as be cast as Angie in the Hulu film Prom Dates (2024).

A-Lan spends much of his time giving in to the competitive emotion that he has found himself absorbed in during his time in Seabrook. He starts by completing multiple school courses in just a few minutes, which pushes Zed’s grades down in the overall school ranking, and then decides to take all of Zed’s school sport records, just for fun!

Matt Cornett was cast as A-Lan, having become well known for his role as E.J. Caswell in the Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019-23), though he had also been cast in the recurring role of Zach in the Nickelodeon series Bella and the Bulldogs (2015-16), even winning a Young Artist Award for this role, prior to that. Since ZOMBIES 3, Cornett has been cast as Max Warren in the Hulu film Summer of 69 (2025) and will appear as Grayson in the upcoming comedy film Bad Counselors, which will see him reunite with ZOMBIES 3 co-star Pearce Joza.

A-Li is a more intense alien, seemingly letting her emotions get the better of her down on Seabrook, as she frequently talks about destroying things and people. To be honest, A-Li seems to be the one we see the less of in the alien trio, which is a shame as I feel that with the werewolves, we had an equal amount of time with each of them, but I didn’t get to know A-Li, or even A-Lan, that well.

Kyra Tantao was cast as A-Li. Tantao has gone on to be cast in the recurring role of Nicole in the Disney+ reboot series Goosebumps (2023-present) and also appeared as Sonia Carter in a few episodes of The Better Sister (2025), an Amazon Prime series that starred Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks.

Finally, one other character to mention is the Mothership, who acts like a passive-aggressive mother, checking that her aliens have everything they need for school, and punishing them when they behave rudely! The Mothership was actually voiced by RuPaul, with this voice role only being announced just a couple of months prior to ZOMBIES 3 being released. RuPaul is best known for hosting the series RuPaul’s Drag Race, which has been airing in the US since 2009, but has since become a global TV franchise with numerous different series and spin-offs.

MUSIC

Personally, I think the soundtrack for ZOMBIES 3 is the weakest of the soundtracks when compared to ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 2. ZOMBIES 2 by far has the best soundtrack, with plenty of original songs, and the only reason I’m not a huge fan of the ZOMBIES soundtrack is because it relies on too many reprises, meaning there are actually only five original songs.

ZOMBIES 3 doesn’t quite match that, although there are three reprises, because it contains eight original songs that appear in the movie, and one other that is from the “Lost Song Edition” of the movie which aired exclusively on Disney Channel. A music video for it was released online. Overall, I like less songs on the ZOMBIES 3 soundtrack than the other two before it and it’s only after doing this review that I can say I like more than one song; a couple of others have since grown on me.

The soundtrack for ZOMBIES 3 was released on 15^th July 2022, the same day the film premiered on Disney+. Like the first ZOMBIES before it, the ZOMBIES 3 soundtrack hit the No. 1 position on the US Billboard Kid Albums chart, and charted at No. 3 on the US Billboard Top Soundtracks chart. However, it only peaked at No. 79 on the US Billboard 200 chart, whereas the ZOMBIES soundtrack peaked at No. 55, and ZOMBIES 2 hit No. 44.

Going in movie order, the first song we hear in ZOMBIES 3 is “Fired Up (Reprise)”, a song we heard in the first movie. To be fair, schools have their own songs, and cheerleaders use specific cheers for their school teams, plus I always did like “Fired Up”, so I’ll let them off on this one. “Fired Up (Reprise)” is a shortened version of “Fired Up” from ZOMBIES, written by Mitch Allan and Nikki Leonti, and was used for the pep rally prior to the big football game. It sees Addison and her cheerleaders pumping up the students and the team.

Next up is “Alien Invasion”, which explains how the Seabrook residents are feeling when a random UFO appears in the sky and aliens land in their town. It shows the town being destroyed by electrical currents, and the Seabrook students running in fear, although they do admit that it is kind of cool. I don’t like “Alien Invasion” at all, and found it a bit cringey to listen to, to be honest, especially when Addison calls Zed “boo” for the first time ever…I think the fact I already didn’t like aliens being introduced to this story did not help with my disliking of this song. “Alien Invasion” was written by Antonina Armato, Thomas Sturges, IN-Q, and Tim James. It was performed by the entire cast.

Then, we have “Ain’t No Doubt About It”, another duet for Addison and Zed, performed by Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly. Instead of this being a simple love ballad, this song talks about some of their insecurities the two of them have, as they potentially are not heading to college together, and how they hope their relationship will still be strong even if they don’t. But this song is still upbeat, and they only talk about their concerns in little asides that the other cannot hear! This song is one of the songs in the movie that grew on me. It was written by Josh Cumbee and Jordan Powers.

Following that is “Utopia”, written by Cas Weinbrun and performed by Matt Cornett, Terry Hu, and Kyra Tantao as aliens A-Lan, A-Spen, and A-Li. This song is used for the aliens’ Cheer Championship routine, which we hear when the “team” are rehearsing, and are actually pretty good, worrying Addison and the Seabrook Cheer Squad that they may not win the Cheer Cup. It’s not much of a song, with very few lyrics other than “Utopia”. I don’t have much else to say on it, really.

Then, there is “Come On Out”, which has become a favourite song of mine in ZOMBIES 3. I have always liked the wolves so maybe that’s why! “Come On Out” is performed by Chandler Kinney, Ariel Martin, and Pearce Joza as wolves Willa, Wynter, and Wyatt, and sees the wolves trying to sniff out the aliens who have been around their moonstone; they want to know what exactly the aliens have been doing to it. It was written by Dennis Baffoe, Tim Boomsma, Gustavo Branger, Sophia Ayana, Avalan, Galeyn Tenhaeff, Mohamed Alitou, Maruja Retana, and Candace Sosa.

After that, we get to my favourite song in the film, and that is “Exceptional Zed”. In “Exceptional Zed”, Zed is having a crisis of confidence before meeting with his college interviewer, with this being seen as his last chance to get into Mountain College to be with Addison, and become the first zombie to attend. All Zed’s friends and the town residents come out to tell him why he’s so great in a bid to boost his mood. It’s nice to see everyone coming out to help Zed after he has helped do so much for Seabrook. “Exceptional Zed” was written by Mitch Allan, Chantry Johnson, and Michelle Zarlenga, with Milo Manheim leading the performance of this song, although much of the cast join in too. This song is followed by “Exceptional Zed (Reprise)” after Zed’s interview goes wrong thanks to Addison’s new “alien spark”. Zed is pleading his case to the interviewer about why zombies and monsters are special and should not be pushed aside just because they’re different.

Next is “I’m Finally Me”, which is Addison’s song, talking about how pleased she is that she has found where she belongs, after learning she is part-alien. It also sees Addison feeling strong and powerful as she leads her cheerleading squad on to the stage for the Cheer Championships, ready to land that huge trick and win the Cheer Cup. The song was written by Karl Kimmel and Cas Weinbrun, and was performed by Meg Donnelly.

Following in the footsteps of ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 2, it wouldn’t be a ZOMBIES film without a new version of Addison and Zed’s love song “Someday”. In this case, we have “Someday (Z3)”, this being the first time a version of “Someday” is not sung only by Zed and Addison. This is a whole cast number, which they sing just after the town has said goodbye to Addison and she has flown off with the aliens. “Someday (Z3)” made a few tears jump to my eyes, I’m not going to lie, so I did actually like this one, probably more than the original version of the song. I like songs with some real emotion. “Someday” was written by Paula Winger and Dustin Burnett.

The final song in the movie is “Nothing But Love”, an upbeat finale number with all the cast, much like “One For All” in ZOMBIES 2. This is a pretty good song in the movie and it felt like a very fitting ending to the movie franchise, seeing all the aliens, wolves, zombies, and humans happy together. It’s very much a Disney Channel Musical song, and I mean that in the best way possible! “Nothing But Love” was written by Chen Neeman.

The other song to mention is that “lost song”, which was only released with the Disney Channel premiere of ZOMBIES 3 on 12^th August 2022. This song is “What is this Feeling”. Unlike with other “Lost Song Editions” of Disney Channel musicals, where a deleted song was basically just put back in to the film to make a bonus edition of the movie, “What is this Feeling” seems to have only been included as its own music video, premiering at the end of the Disney Channel movie, instead of during the scene where it would fit: when A-Spen talks to Addison, asking why she feels so strange. It turns out she has a crush on Zed, much to everyone’s surprise. But I can’t be sure because I don’t have access to the Disney Channel version. The song is playing as an instrumental in the background of this scene in the normal version of ZOMBIES 3 anyway. This music video sees Bree, Wynter, Willa, and Addison explaining to A-Spen what love is. I didn’t like this song at all. It just didn’t feel necessary. “What is this Feeling” was written by Theron Feemster, Jordan Powers, and Bekah Novi, and was performed by Carla Jeffrey as Bree; Chandler Kinney as Willa; Ariel Martin as Wynter; Meg Donnelly as Addison; and Terry Hu as A-Spen.

George S. Clinton and Amit May Cohen are credited as the composers of the score for ZOMBIES 3, continuing their work from the first two movies. A medley of the score of ZOMBIES 3 is featured as a track on the ZOMBIES 3 soundtrack.

PRODUCTION

The premiere telecasts of both ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 2 in 2018 and 2020 respectively ranked as TV’s No. 1 movie amongst the demographics of Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14 for the entire year they debuted. Music videos from both movies had amassed over 1 billion views on YouTube, and their respective soundtracks reached new heights on various album charts, including the ZOMBIES soundtrack debuting at No. 1 on the US Billboard Kids Albums Chart, and ZOMBIES 2 reaching No. 1 on iTunes Soundtrack Chart. ZOMBIES 2 content itself generated over 50 million views on digital platforms[3].

The ZOMBIES cast had also been featured in various Disney projects and promotional activities for their parks and resorts over the years since ZOMBIES premiered back in February 2018. That unaired and later reworked Disney Channel pilot Zombies & Cheerleaders had morphed into something so much bigger than was ever anticipated.

In ZOMBIES 3, as with the other two ZOMBIES movies, something knew had to added to Seabrook. It was decided that this should be aliens – and with those meteors flying down to Earth at the end of ZOMBIES 2 and making Addison’s hair glow blue, it made sense. But in so many other ways, it made no sense to include aliens. Regardless, the writers David Light and Joseph Raso chose to focus their new story on these aliens. Because aliens have superhuman strength, different emotional capabilities, and highly advanced technology, it was felt that the humans could learn from the aliens in that respect, and the aliens learnt from the residents of Seabrook too, in terms of figuring out how to behave in this world, as well as learning about new emotions they hadn’t experienced before arriving there. It was said that the wolves in ZOMBIES 2 were meant to represent indigenous people, whose safety and security had been threatened by the arrival of settlers. ZOMBIES 3’s aliens could be seen as a metaphor for the arrival of asylum seekers, as the aliens here do not have a home due to environmental destruction and are searching for a new one. Also much like the other movies, the aliens add an extra layer of conflict to Seabrook, disrupting the high schoolers and potentially Zed’s college dream, as well as potentially taking Addison, their most warm-hearted and open resident, away from them[4].

Paul Hoen returned to work on ZOMBIES 3 as the movie’s director, having directed both of the other movies. Hoen has directed numerous Disney Channel Original Movies, both musical and non-musical, such as Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003), Jump In! (2007), Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010) and The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008).

Also just like the other two movies, ZOMBIES 3 returned to Ontario and Toronto in Canada to film. Since the area of Seabrook remains as the setting of this movie, I can assume that many of the filming locations remain the same. For example, The University of Toronto Mississauga once again was used to film some of the Seabrook High School scenes, as it was in ZOMBIES 2[5]. Sugar Beach in Toronto makes an appearance once again, most notably in the song “Exceptional Zed”. It would seem that the expanded Zombietown set was built on the border of Pickering and Markham, both towns in Ontario, Canada[6]. Cherry Beach in Toronto makes up the outside of Seabrook High in both the first two movies and as Seabrook High is still a location in ZOMBIES 3, I can only assume it was used here as well^[7].

With a new movie comes new sets including a growing Zombietown. Zombietown is now a town square, complete with new businesses, like the school football coach’s big froyo store, an upgrade from his cart in ZOMBIES 2, a bank, houses for the wolves, and a wolves’ hair salon. We get a proper look inside Zed’s house for the first time since the opening scene of ZOMBIES. It’s a bit cluttered and full of a real mix of furniture and ornaments. This is completely different from the alien spaceship, which is clean, minimalist, and decorated in silvers and blues, looking similar to the TARDIS in later series of Doctor Who[8].

With the addition of the aliens, new costumes needed to be created for them. As is fairly common when portraying aliens on screen, their costumes consist of silvers and blues, these being uniform and geometric in nature, with sharp angles and definitely style over comfort. They also each have hexagonal markings next to their left eyes. Addison gets a makeover to match them later on in the movie when she transforms into an alien. Meg Donnelly was pretty lucky, getting to be a cheerleader, and a wolf, and an alien! The only thing she never got to dress up as was a zombie. The aliens also have blue hair. Whereas Matt Cornett and Kyra Tantao settled for blue wigs, despite Tantao’s hair taking over an hour to fit into a wig cap, Terry Hu decided to dye their hair blue. It took nine hours to do initially and the chemicals in the dye made them feel ill after a while! On a cast day out to Niagara Falls on a particularly rainy day, Hu’s hair dye began to run down their face too. I think I would’ve just settled for the wig like the other too; much less hassle[9].

Everyone else’s costumes got a bit of an update too, like the wolves, with Wyatt wearing rings now, and Willa has a new faux fur neck lined hand painted purple vest. The zombies got new costumes once again, although still favouring those dark colours and customisations. Zed, for example, has a couple of different costumes in this film, including a tartan-printed jacket, and a letterman jacket to go along with the skinny jeans he seems to like. The cheerleading outfits have once again changed. For the Cheer Off, they are predominantly pink all over, instead of having that white skirt[10].

As ZOMBIES 3 was filmed in 2021, still when some COVID-19 procedures were being followed, in behind-the-scenes footage, you can see that the cast had to wear masks or visors whilst in hair and makeup and between scenes. The cast and crew had to be their own bubble as well to minimise any risk of being in contact with someone who had the virus.

Masks were also required during dance rehearsals. Draico Johnson was the choreographer on ZOMBIES 3. Terry Hu, Kyra Tantao, and Matt Cornett, the alien cast, were not known for dancing much before appearing in ZOMBIES 3 and were encouraged and motivated by Johnson’s choreographer. He was incredibly popular with the cast and was happy to take on advice or comments from the cast to help choreograph to their specific characters’ personalities[11].

RECEPTION

The premiere for ZOMBIES 3 was held on 11^th July 2022, with the blue carpet being rolled out at Barker Hanger in Santa Monica. This was the biggest ZOMBIES premiere that the cast had attended, with celebrities like Rachel Bilson, Tiffani Thiessen, and Hayden Christensen reportedly in attendance with their families, alongside Disney stars like Kylie Cantrall, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, and Dara Renée. After COVID-19 protocols, which the cast had been subject to whilst filming ZOMBIES 3, it was probably nice to see people at an event like this again[12].

Strangely for a Disney Channel movie, ZOMBIES 3 was actually released on Disney+ first, on 15^th July 2022. Now that many international Disney Channels have shut down, there is little choice but to premiere these types of movies on Disney+, however, it seems to be standard now that Disney Channel US will premiere the movie a day or two before it gets to Disney+. ZOMBIES 3 didn’t air on Disney Channel until 12^th August 2022.

According to the Nielsen Streaming Chart, ZOMBIES 3 was No. 7 in their list of Top 10 Movies for the week of 11^th to 17^th July 2022[13]. It would seem that ZOMBIES 3 did less well on its Disney Channel premiere, reportedly only gaining 0.3 million viewers. But I can’t find anything definitively stating that, and it wouldn’t be overly surprising after already being made available on Disney+.

In terms of reviews, once again, these were mixed for ZOMBIES 3, and even amongst fans, many stated that ZOMBIES 3 was the weakest film of the trilogy, something I most definitely agree with. Some were disappointed with the decision to add aliens to the storyline, as many had been expecting the inclusion of vampires. I too was unconvinced by the choice to include aliens in this movie, but not because I was hoping for something else. I just felt that aliens did not fit in this world that had been created; aliens are typically used in science-fiction films, whereas the ZOMBIES franchise felt very much like fantasy. The blending of the two genres simply didn’t work in my opinion. Alongside the storyline not being as good, many felt the songs were just not as good as the other two movies, and that ZOMBIES 3 wasn’t as funny. It was also mentioned that ZOMBIES 3 was an unnecessary movie, and even if it was meant to end the trilogy, it wasn’t a good enough ending.

On the other side, some audience members felt ZOMBIES 3 was a good ending. I would agree to a point, in that ZOMBIES 3 did wrap up the story of Seabrook and didn’t leave any unanswered questions for me. The chemistry between Meg Donnelly and Milo Manheim as Addison and Zed was praised once again, and there were some progressive moves towards diversity in ZOMBIES 3, such as the inclusion of a non-binary character, and the tiniest of suggestion that Willa and A-Li might like each other. ZOMBIES 3’s music was considered the best part of the movie for others as well.

Outside of reviews, ZOMBIES 3 was nominated for four awards. One of these was a GLADD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming – Live Action, however it lost to Netflix’s Heartstopper (2022-present), in what was quite a crowded category. At the CAFTCAD Awards, The Canadian Alliance for Film and Television Costume Arts and Design, ZOMBIES 3 was nominated for Excellence in Crafts – Costume Illustration, losing out to miniseries Station Eleven (2021-22). Like ZOMBIES 2 before it, ZOMBIES 3 was nominated for Best Editing in a Live Action Family Series or Movie for Lisa Binkley at the Canadian Cinema Editors Awards, being beaten by High School (2022). ZOMBIES 3 was also nominated at the 2^nd Children’s and Family Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, but this time it lost to the rebooted Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2019-22).

LEGACY

In order to build anticipation for ZOMBIES 3’s release, many new experiences and specials were created.

Much like the cast of ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 2 had done before, by competing in two Disney Holiday Magic Quest television specials for Disney Channel, which saw them complete tasks across the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida overnight, the same thing happened with the ZOMBIES 3 cast.

This time, because ZOMBIES 3 was being released over the summer, the special was called Disney Summer Magic Quest and it first aired in June 2022 on Disney Channel, before coming to Disney+ in August, once ZOMBIES 3 had already aired. The Disney Summer Magic Quest took place in Epcot this time, with the Special Olympics being the recipient of the charity donation. The cast who went head-to-head in this competition were Meg Donnelly and Pearce Joza, who play Addison and Wyatt, on one team, and Kylee Russell and Matt Cornett on the other; they play Eliza and A-Lan. Milo Manheim, who played Zed, led some of the challenges. In a change from the previous two specials, there were no Disney villains present here, and the team were doing the same challenges, instead of separate ones, with one team gaining an advantage over the other based on certain tasks. I think Disney Summer Magic Quest was probably also partly used to advertise the Walt Disney World 50^th Anniversary Celebration that took place between October 2021 and ran until early 2023. It saw the cast ride Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, which opened in October 2021, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which opened in May 2022 as well, so it could be seen as a way of promoting Walt Disney World’s two newest rides at the time. The finale of the quest also saw Harmonious, the Epcot fireworks show created for Walt Disney World’s 50^th Anniversary, being set off, alongside the lighting of the Beacons of Light at all four parks, which was also a 50^th Anniversary offering. These Disney Magic Quests were cross-promotion at their finest, but were still enjoyable to watch.

Continuing at the Disney Parks, to celebrate the release of ZOMBIES 3, there was a 20-minute stage show titled ZOM-BEATZ BASH which ran for a limited time at both Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, and at the Disney Springs Marketplace Stage at Walt Disney World. Since ZOMBIES 3 was airing on two different platforms on two separate occasions, ZOM-BEATZ BASH filled the month-long gap between the dates. This show ran at Disneyland from 29^th to 31^st July 2022, and then at Walt Disney World from 5^th to 14^th August 2022. The stage show included clips from ZOMBIES 3, as well as music from that movie, alongside fan-favourite songs from ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 2[14]. Chandler Kinney and Trevor Tordjman even showed up to surprise fans at Downtown Disney in Disneyland during the one weekend it was there, as did Matt Cornett and Pearce Joza when the dance party came to Walt Disney World. ZOM-BEATZ BASH made a return to Walt Disney World in 2022 as an offering for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom, and was housed at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. It returned again in 2023, but on the Rockettower Plaza Stage in Tomorrowland. It did not come back in 2024, being replaced by the DescenDance Party, as promotion for Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024).

ZOMBIES came back to Disneyland in 2024, in the form of the High School Musical / ZOMBIES Pep Rally. This was a mini-parade with dancers and one float that went along a parade route, stopping at regular intervals for a roughly 10-minute dance party with fans. It was not an entirely new idea as High School Musical Pep Rallies used to run at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida as well as Disneyland back in the late 2000s to advertise Disney Channel’s movie trilogy. In the High School Musical / ZOMBIES Pep Rally, the opening and closing song of the performance was a mash-up of High School Musical’s “We’re All in This Together” and ZOMBIES 2’s “Like the Zombies Do”. Other songs from the High School Musical franchise included “Get’cha Head in the Game”, “Breaking Free”, and “High School Musical”. ZOMBIES fans could sing along to “BAMM”, “Someday”, and “Fired Up” as Seabrook High and East High students went “head-to-head”. This pep rally only ran for the Disneyland After Dark: Disney Channel Nite on 5th and 7th March 2024. As Disney Channel Nite did not return in 2025, nor did the High School Musical / ZOMBIES Pep Rally, but it could always come back at some point.

Then, back to Disney Channel for another television special. In this case, it was ZOMBI-Thon with Big City Greens, which aired in August 2022, a few days after ZOMBIES 3 had premiered on the channel. This saw the characters from the animated series Big City Greens (2018-present) have some fun with the ZOMBIES 3 cast. After recapping the events of the three ZOMBIES films with a short animated segment, it was then discovered that the Green family had “kidnapped” Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly who appeared in this special in animated form. However, there were two short snippets that saw Cricket Green and Tilly Green “calling” members of the ZOMBIES cast, who answered as themselves, i.e., in live-action. There was also a “lip swap” segment, where the Big City Greens characters made up lines to match clips from the original ZOMBIES movie, as well as a “Broken Karaoke” parody song to “Ain’t No Doubt About It” from ZOMBIES 3. This 20-minute show ended with Meg and Milo parodying the Big City Greens theme tune, before leaving the area, being beamed up in a spaceship – despite Meg saying at the start of the show she wasn’t actually an alien.

The ZOMBIES 3 cast returned to promote their already-released movie at the D23 Expo on 10^th September 2022 as well, performing “Alien Invasion” and “Ain’t No Doubt About It” from the movie on stage at the expo, which was held at the Anaheim Convention Center. This was part of the D23 Expo’s Disney Branded Television panel. Meg Donnelly was not there with the rest of the cast, which included Milo Manheim, Chandler Kinney, Matt Cornett, Terry Hu, and Kyra Tantao. Many expected there to be an announcement for ZOMBIES 4 at this panel, but none came[15].

But ZOMBIES fans were already aware of a new spin-off that would be coming to Disney Channel and Disney+, because ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series had been announced at the Annecy Film Festival in June 2022. As you’d expect, this was an animated series, with many of the cast returning to voice their characters in the series, although it would seem that A-Lan and A-Li and the Aceys did not feature in this series. A first series of shorts was released from July to December 2023, with a second series of 20 episodes being aired from June to December 2024 on Disney Channel, being released to Disney+ shortly after. The series took place after the events of ZOMBIES 3, with A-Spen taking everyone back in time so they could re-do Senior Year together in the second series. The first seemed to be all about summer vacation. ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series was nominated for Best Web/App Series – Branded at the Kidscreen Awards in 2025, but lost to Disney’s How NOT to Draw (2022-present) and LEGO City: No Limits (2023-24). It would appear that ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series has since been cancelled.

Topping off the ZOMBIES legacy was the February 2024 announcement that a ZOMBIES 4 was in the works, with the full title ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires being announced in April 2024, giving those vampire-loving fans a reason to celebrate. It was also announced that Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly were set to return to their roles as Zed and Addison. Many former cast members did not return for this new movie, except for Chandler Kinney as Willa, and Kylee Russell as Eliza.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Perhaps ZOMBIES 3 really should have been the end of ZOMBIES.

It showed Seabrook becoming a truly diverse and inclusive place, welcoming all manner of creatures and fantastical species to the town, and it saw Zed and Addison graduating high school alongside their classmates, before heading off to college. Disney Channel rarely follow their characters after they leave high school.

So, why make another one? Well, maybe Disney Channel wanted to appease the fans who had been expecting, if not begging, for vampires to be included in the ZOMBIES world. Or are they actually planning to follow in the footsteps of Descendants: The Rise of Red and allowing ZOMBIES 4 to be a reboot of sorts, where other movies will be made with a new cast? That remains to be seen.

I don’t like saying this because I really do like the cast members in the first three ZOMBIES films, but I’m not expecting too much from ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires after the disappointment of ZOMBIES 3, and it feels unnecessary to have made another film.

I’ll have to see if ZOMBIES 4 surprises me, or confirms my fears: that ZOMBIES has become yet another Disney franchise that has been pushed too far.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Just Jared Jr, ‘Kylee Russell Opens Up About Filming ‘Zombies 3’ Away From the Rest of the Cast’, JustJaredJr.com, 15^th July 2022.

[2] Credit: Caitlynn McDaniel, ‘Terry Hu Talks First Leading Non-Binary Character in Disney’s ‘Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 3’, Gayety.com, 25^th July 2022.

[3] Credit: Disney, ‘“Zombies 3,” The Intergalactic Third Installment of Disney’s Hit Franchise Lands July 15, Exclusively On Disney+’, Press. DisneyPlus.com, 20^th May 2022.

[4] Credit: Fred Topel, ‘Milo Manheim says Disney+’s ‘Zombies 3’ promotes healthy conflict’, UPI.com, 13^th July 2022.

[5] Credit: Paige France, ‘Familiar Filming Sights As UTM Locations Rise To Stardom’, TheMedium.ca, 23^rd August 2021.

[6] Credit: Glenn Hendry, ‘Zombies spotted on movie set at Pickering-Markham border’, Insauga.com, 6^th August 2021.

[7] Credit: Varun Patel, ‘Where Was Disney’s ‘Zombies’ Shot?’, TheCinemaholic.com, 14^th February 2020.

[8] Credit: Mark Hofeling, ‘Disney’s Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 3’, MarkHofeling.com, date unknown.

[9] Credit: Fred Topel, ‘Milo Manheim says Disney+’s ‘Zombies 3’ promotes healthy conflict’, UPI.com, 13^th July 2022.

[10] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘ZOMBIES 3 Behind the Scenes I Who is the best dressed?! I Part 5’, Disney Channel Music YouTube Channel, 6^th January 2023.

[11] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘ZOMBIES 3 Day in the Life I Part 2 I Time to Dance’, Disney Channel Music, 9^th December 2022.

[12] Credit: Zach Johnson, ‘Three Cheers for the ZOMBIES 3 Premiere’, D23.com, 11^th July 2022.

[13] Credit: Roger Palmer, ‘“Zombies 3” Debuts On The Nielsen Streaming Chart’, WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com, 12^th August 2022.

[14] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘ZOM-BEATZ BASH Comes to Downtown Disney, Disney Springs’, SmallWorldVacations.com, date unknown.

[15] Credit: Just Jared Jr, ‘‘Zombies 3’ Cast Perform ‘Alien Invasion’ at D23 Expo (Video)’, JustJaredJr.com, 12^th September 2022.

4th Jul 202523rd Jan 2026 by The Disney Purist

ZOMBIES 2 (2020)

BACKGROUND

Some Disney Channel musicals are left to rock alone. No sequel, no problem – we still love them. Then again, sometimes Disney like to push their musicals beyond just the one movie.

ZOMBIES is one of those musical franchises that was felt to be popular enough, entertaining enough, and worthy enough of getting a sequel, which came to the channel two years after the first movie was released; a typical gap between sequels.

However, just because it makes business sense to develop and release a sequel, it doesn’t always mean that the story warranted a further film. I’m not blaming solely Disney Channel or Disney in general for that; it’s just how it goes sometimes, whether I like it or not.

Anyway, it could be argued that perhaps ZOMBIES didn’t need a sequel. It seemed like at the end of the first film, the humans and the zombies were able to co-exist, and everything ended happily between them. The plot was wrapped up nicely and it wouldn’t have been entirely obvious where Disney Channel would go with a ZOMBIES sequel.

But a sequel there was going to be, so where would it go now? At first glance, it would seem that ZOMBIES 2 was just going to be like the first movie, but instead of the zombies causing problems, a new creature species was going to arrive in their town of Seabrook. And that species turned out to be… werewolves. Hmm, random.

To be fair, these werewolves are actually pretty cool and I don’t have a problem with them being there, other than, like I said, it was kind of a random choice, especially as it turns out they’ve apparently been living in the Forbidden Forest around the town for years – and yet, they were never referenced in the first film.

On the other hand, the werewolves add a whole new dimension to the ZOMBIES franchise, and they aren’t there just because they want to go to high school. In actual fact, their addition to the movie is a bit more poignant, as it can be seen as a reference to the dangers of colonialism. The werewolves were native to Seabrook, before human settlers came to their land and started taking their resources. Now, where have I heard that before?

It’s an interesting spin on the franchise’s inclusion and integration concept and much deeper than I was expecting. I like ZOMBIES 2 more than the original for this very reason, and there are a few moments that bring a tear to my eye. The music and overall production value were also bigger and better. It’s clear ZOMBIES 2 was trying to outdo its predecessor.

PLOT

Similarly to the original ZOMBIES movie, ZOMBIES 2 begins with another animated sequence, giving us a bit more backstory into the characters’ hometown of Seabrook.

Many years ago, the settlers who founded Seabrook found monsters in the forest. The settlers fought off these mounters and found a power source, which they hid in order to harness its energy. The residents of Seabrook lived happily for years, forgetting all about monsters – until the day of the lime soda incident at the Seabrook Power Plant when some of Seabrook’s humans became zombies.

But the days of zombie apocalypses, and even restricting zombie rights, are behind Seabrook now as the humans and zombies learnt to live in harmony together. Now, the anti-monster laws that were in place back then have been abolished and humans and zombies can go anywhere in the town, with whoever they want, as explained by teenage zombie Zed. His football coach at school has even opened a froyo cart in the off-season, complete with flavours loved by humans and zombies alike. Zed goes on to say that there are plans to demolish the old power station, and his father is on the demolition crew. The aim is for a new cheer building to be built in its place, although Zed’s zombie friend Eliza is campaigning against the demolition, not wanting a piece of zombie history to be erased.

Meanwhile, Addison, Zed’s human girlfriend, is at Cheer Camp with her friend Bree, and Zed’s zombie friend, Bonzo, because zombies are now allowed on the cheer squad. However, their Cheer Captain, Bucky, despite seeming more open to the inclusion of zombies at the end of the first film, has apparently still not warmed to them, and decides to split the cheerleaders into two teams: the A-Team, and the Z-Team. The A-Team consists of veteran cheerleaders and Bucky loyalists, like the Aceys, Lacey and Stacey, with new member Jacey – real name Kevin – replacing Tracey from the first film. The Z-Team is full of newbies and zombies, with Bucky giving Addison the “privilege” of leading them in a race to win the Cheer Cup. Against all odds, Addison leads her team to victory and she leaves Cheer Camp on a high, and desperate to get back to Zed, who she has been attempting to write to all summer, however the Aceys shredded both of their letters and returned them to Addison in the form of pom-poms…Mean.

On the bus back home, being driven by a guy in a shrimp costume, also known as mascot Shrimpy, which I wouldn’t mention except for the fact that this is incredibly unsafe, Addison and others excitedly discuss Prawn, Seabrook’s version of Prom, because their team is known as the Mighty Shrimp. Not because Seabrook recently flooded and now everyone acts like crustaceans. You’re going to have to just go with this Prawn thing because it gets mentioned a lot! Addison wants to go to Prawn with Zed, and Bree wants to go with Bonzo, but both are waiting to be asked.

Luckily for Addison, Zed is setting up an elaborate “Prawn-posal”, with help from little sister Zoe, but for some reason, he decides to set this up across the road so Addison will be able to see it on the bus. It turns out Zed didn’t get his timings right though and as he stands on a ladder, hanging up some banners, he is hit by the bus. Zed stays on top of the bus for a little while before being thrown off, and the bus crashes into the Forbidden Forest, which, I’m just guessing here, is forbidden to enter. Addison, wanting to prove her leadership skills to Bucky, who is looking to replace himself as Cheer Captain because he’s running for Class President at school this year, orders everyone to keep calm and stay on the bus. Addison, however, chooses to leave the bus to check if Zed is ok. On walking into the forest though, she hears strange noises and finds herself surrounded by werewolves! Zed and others arrive and Addison tells them what she saw. They report back to Seabrook with the news. Seabrook declare an emergency meeting at City Hall, where the mayor, also Addison’s mother, announces that all anti-monster laws are effective once again, meaning, amongst other things, that the zombies will now not be allowed to attend Prawn. Bummer…

Later, we discover that a werewolf in disguise has been scouting out Seabrook and he, Wyatt, returns to his pack in the forest with news. We see that the wolves are all wearing glowing necklaces which are powered by something called the moonstone. Wyatt believes that Addison must be the Great Alpha with the white hair who will lead the wolves to the moonstone, allowing them to recharge their necklaces, since without that, the wolves will become ill and die. Wyatt’s sister, Willa, and leader of the pack, isn’t convinced that Addison is in fact the Great Alpha, but is willing to explore this more. They find a patch off Addison’s cheerleading uniform on a nearby tree and discover she is from Seabrook High. They go there in the dark of night and hide in the school, ready to talk to Addison the next day.

At school the next day, Zed has a plan to get the zombies back in to Prawn: by running against Bucky for Class President, so he can change the rule. Eliza thinks they should just crash the Prawn, but Zed, ever the peacekeeper, wants to play by the rules. At a school assembly, the two candidates for Class President announce themselves, but the festivities are rudely interrupted by the arrival of the werewolves, scaring everyone. They seem to want Addison so Zed orders the football team to form a wall to protect her. The wolves get ready to attack, until Wyatt tells everyone to calm down, as they just want to talk. The wolves lie and say they just want to be part of the school, like the zombies are. Everyone calms down and the wolves are allowed to attend high school, just like that.

Zed begins campaigning for Class President, and it turns out Zed thinks he needs the “wolf vote” to win, as the school is split down the middle. Zed tries to help the wolves fit in at Seabrook by telling them to follow how the zombies behave. The wolves pretend to try and fit in, but really, they just want to talk to Addison. Their opportunity comes when Addison is leading a cheer practice in a bid to become Cheer Captain. The wolves plan to just watch practice but Addison convinces them to join in. Zed sees Addison hugging Wyatt through the door and instantly becomes jealous. The two argue. Addison tells Zed she likes the unity of the pride and wishes she could feel like she belongs somewhere too, as the humans of Seabrook still haven’t fully accepted her for her white hair. We also see another of the wolves, Wynter, begin to cough uncontrollably and almost collapse. The moment passes, but the wolves know they need to work out if Addison is the Great Alpha sooner rather than later.

That night, the wolves wait for Addison outside her house. They say they need to talk to her at their den in the forest. Addison goes with them and learns of the wolves’ illness and their loss of power. They show Addison a vision of the Great Alpha, who, she has to admit, does kind of look like her. The wolves make over Addison to look like the Great Alpha, but as they do, Zed, Eliza, Bonzo, and Bree burst in to the den. They’ve been looking all over town for Addison and can’t believe she’d turn up here willingly. Zed takes off his Z-Band and goes into full zombie mode in a bid to protect Addison from them. She quickly retrieves the band and puts it back on him. Bree then pipes up and says she thought Addison was in trouble as she texted “HELP”. It turns out Addison just wanted help with homework. As Addison and the others are about to leave, the wolves tell Addison that if she really is the Great Alpha, then putting on a moonstone necklace will prove it, by turning her into a wolf. Addison asks for a day to consider this, as it’ll change her whole life if she really is a wolf. The den is then shaken by the demolition crew testing charges at the power station across town. Addison wonders if the moonstone could be the town’s secret energy source that powers the station, and says they have to stop the demolition or else it could be destroyed forever.

The next day, everyone, including Addison’s parents, are shocked by her new “wolf look”. The cheerleaders go so far as to tell Addison she can no longer be a cheerleader if she looks like that, but Addison doesn’t care, believing she really is part of the wolf pack. Addison tells Zed she wants to put on the necklace with the wolves, but Zed, fearing she’ll no longer be part of his life if she becomes a wolf, steals the necklace and heads to his Class President debate. At the debate, Zed discovers that Bucky has been deliberating playing up the zombie angle so Zed doesn’t get elected. But the debate goes well and Zed starts to win some voters back – until his Z-Band malfunctions, thanks to being in close proximity to the moonstone necklace, and Zed starts to destroy the room. Eliza tells him to remove the moonstone from his band and he returns to normal, but the damage is already done: Zed has lost the election and probably lost Addison too.

Addison catches up with the wolves who are planning to stop the power station demolition at 5pm. Addison wants to help and tells them she’s ready to put on the necklace, but she discovers she’s lost it. Willa is angry at Addison for that as it shows she doesn’t actually care about the pack. Willa and the wolves leave and go to the power station without her. At the demolition, the wolves trigger a security alarm and are arrested for trespassing. This sets off an alarm at the school. Addison rallies the others and says they all need to go to the power station to help the wolves.

At the power station, all the high schoolers come out to protest against the demolition of the power station. They explain that the wolves are fighting for their lives as they need the moonstone. Zed manages to convince his father to delay the demolition, and the wolves are freed. Zed also returns the moonstone necklace to Addison and admits he stole it from her. Addison is angry with Zed for doing that, and puts on the necklace in front of the wolves. She is excited for her transformation – but nothing happens. She wasn’t the Great Alpha after all…. To make things worse, the demolition malfunctions and the power station detonates. The town manages to flee just in time. The wolves’ necklaces instantly lose power and they collapse, becoming dangerously weak. They don’t have much time.

As the humans ready themselves for Prawn that evening, Zed sees the wolves all struggling and convinces both wolves and zombies to crash Prawn. As Bucky is about to pull the monster alarm at school to stop them, Willa threatens to attack him. Bucky lets them go inside! There, Zed apologises to Addison for what he did, and explains he was scared of losing her. Addison accepts his apology. Suddenly, there is a huge earthquake, and the ground splits apart, revealing a huge chasm along a fault line. The group decide to follow the fault line, believing it will take them to the moonstone. Sure enough, they find the moonstone buried underground at the power station site. The wolves instantly recharge their necklaces on it, but it needs to be moved. Everyone comes together to try and move it, but they become trapped by a boulder. Zed removes his Z-Band so he can lift up the boulder and allow everyone else through with the moonstone. The moonstone is safely freed from the cave. However, just as everything seems rosy again, rocks begin falling and Zed disappears in a cloud of dust and rubble. The others hold their breath and wait to see what has happened to Zed. And Zed just calmly walks back to them, with his Z-Band back on!

Now, it’s time to get back to Prawn. At Prawn, as the group celebrate, Willa gives Addison a moonstone necklace to thank her for all her help. Bucky also decides to make Addison Cheer Captain now that he is Class President. Addison and Zed have their first kiss, and have their picture taken to go up on the Wall of Fame at school, being the first ever zombie-human couple to be on there.

But that’s not all. Just when you thought the movie was over, we see Addison asleep at home, and a glowing blue comet falls to Earth through her window. Addison briefly wakes up, and we discover that her hair is glowing blue! So, her hair does mean something!

CHARACTERS & CAST

Many cast members returned to reprise their roles from ZOMBIES.

This includes Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly who return as Zed and Addison. In ZOMBIES 2, Zed and Addison seem to be comfortable in their relationship, with Seabrook now accepting them as a couple since anti-monster laws are not being enforced anymore. They’re going to Prawn together and everything seems to be great. But they didn’t count on the wolves coming to the town. The wolves create friction between the two, as Zed first becomes jealous of Addison and her friendship with wolf Wyatt, and then when Addison starts to be welcomed into the wolf pack. Despite Addison wanting to find a family she belongs with, since her white hair means she can’t be just a boring human, Zed doesn’t understand that, and tries to stop her from getting close to the wolves. In the end, though, Addison isn’t a wolf and the two make up at Prawn, before helping their new friends with their quest to retrieve the moonstone, so they can be healthy once more.

Zed and Addison’s friends Eliza, Bonzo, and Bree also return to the sequel. This time, Bree and Bonzo are in a blossoming romance, this being another human-zombie couple, showing that progress has been made. Although this also means that with the monsters banned from Prawn, the two are struggling with the idea that they can’t go to the dance together either, just like Zed and Addison. Meanwhile, Eliza is also back to her rebellious self, protesting against the demolition of the power station, which seems to go down in her list of causes after the anti-monster laws are reenacted. Then, Eliza’s main cause is to help Zed become Class President, since he’s too square to crash Prawn like she wants, which is a much simpler option than trying to beat out Bucky to be Class President. I don’t think even if Zed had become Class President, it would’ve been that simple to get the zombies re-invited to Prawn. School councils seem to be more for show than real action.

To be honest, I don’t feel like we got to see very much of Eliza, Bonzo, or Bree in ZOMBIES 2, which is a shame, since they are each funny and interesting in their own ways. It seems like they got pushed aside, to allow for new characters to take the spotlight. That’s fair enough, but I still think there could’ve been a storyline written for these three. Kylee Russell, James Godfrey, and Carla Jeffrey returned to Disney to reprise these roles.

This wasn’t even the only group that didn’t get as much screen time as they had in ZOMBIES. Bucky and the Aceys didn’t appear too much either, other than at the beginning with the Cheer Camp stuff and then again at the Class President debate. Trevor Tordjman, who returned to play Bucky, has so much energy and star power that this was a real disappointment to me when watching ZOMBIES 2. He’s mean but funny at the same time, but we only really saw any of that in two or three scenes. I’m not as big a fan of the Aceys, especially after seeing them shred Zed and Addison’s letters – that’s cruel even for them – but again, them bouncing off Bucky’s personality was a highlight of ZOMBIES.

Lacey and Stacey were back in the Aceys trio, with actresses Emilia McCarthy and Jasmine Renée Thomas reprising their roles, but Mickeey Nguyen was not back as Tracey. Instead, a new Acey was added, this being Jacey, who reminds everyone that his name is actually Kevin. Bucky didn’t like that. Did Jacey not get the memo? When you change your name to be an Acey, that’s your identity forever. You can forget all about being Kevin! Anyway, Noah Zulfikar was cast as Jacey, or Kevin, having previously appeared as Kingston in the Canadian teen drama series The Next Step (2013-25) from Season 5 of the show, which aired in 2017. Trevor Tordjman played James in this same show.

Now on to the new characters who took the spotlight away from some of the originals. That might sound bitter but it’s not supposed to be, because I actually liked the werewolves’ addition to the ZOMBIES franchise. Meg Donnelly compared the addition of these new cast members as like attending a new school where everyone already knows each other, however, she said that the new cast were welcomed by everyone and they all became close really fast[1].

The leader of the wolf pack is Willa. She is a strong leader, and very outspoken. She wants to find the moonstone because the fate of the pack really does rest with her as their leader, but she is distrusting of Wyatt’s idea that Addison must be the Great Alpha because of her white hair. She doesn’t like Addison’s peppy optimism and doesn’t think she could possibly be their Alpha, at least initially. It’s quite clear as Willa spends more time with Addison that she starts to be hopeful that Addison is the solution to their problems, but when it turns out she isn’t, Willa can’t help but be disappointed. Luckily, neither the humans nor the zombies give up on the wolves, and together, they find the moonstone, allowing the wolves to return to full health. Also, now, they are welcome in Seabrook.

Chandler Kinney was cast as Willa. Prior to her role in ZOMBIES 2, Kinney had been cast as Catherine Dillman in Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street (2014-16) for Amazon Prime. She went on to play Riana Murtagh in the Fox series Lethal Weapon (2016-19).

Next, we have Wyatt, Willa’s brother, who seems to have tunnel vision, focusing solely on Addison as being their saviour. But this shows how much he cares about the pack and wants to be proactive. Instead of just sitting around watching the other wolves become weaker, he’d rather be out there pursuing one course of action even if it turns out to be the wrong one. Wyatt is also an adversary of Zed, as he develops a fairly close relationship with Addison quite early on, leading to Zed to believe that Wyatt is trying to steal his girl. Come on, Zed. The wolves have much bigger issues in their lives than messing with your love life.

Wyatt was played by Pearce Joza, who had been cast in the recurring role of Logan on the Nickelodeon series Legendary Dudas (2016) prior to his role in the ZOMBIES franchise. He also starred as Spyder in the Disney Channel and Disney XD science-fiction series Mech-X4 (2016-18) around the same time.

The other wolf pack member we focus on in ZOMBIES 2 is Wynter. Wynter is passionate, if a bit eccentric[2]! She has some odd suggestions, such as wanting to track Addison down with their “key sense of smell”, which is a bit creepy; and trying to prove that she can deal with her wolf allergy to silver by grabbing one of the school’s trophies, before it burns her hand and she has to let it go! She also eats Bree’s homework at one point, leading to the classic joke: “that dog ate my homework”. Except that’s really quite offensive to call a wolf a dog, surely. It is very Twilight Saga though.

Wynter was played by singer and social media personality Ariel Martin, who also goes by the name Baby Ariel. On screen, Martin appeared as Dru in Season 2 of the YouTube web series Chicken Girls (2017-23), and its spin-off series Baby Doll Records (2018). Also prior to her role in ZOMBIES 2, Martin was cast as Kenzie Messina in the television movie Bixler High Private Eye (2019) for Nickelodeon. She also won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Muser in both 2016 and 2017.

MUSIC

The soundtrack for ZOMBIES 2 consists of almost double the original songs that existed in ZOMBIES. This time, there are nine original songs, with eight of these appearing in the film, and a customary reprise of Zed and Addison’s love song, “Someday”.

Going in film order, the first song we hear is “We Got This”. This song details a bit of a recap into the lives of the humans and zombies at Seabrook, such as discussing the newly integrated Seabrook Cheer Squad, and the zombies discuss the planned demolition of the power plant and their increased freedoms, like going to Prawn. Although Zed and the zombies are perhaps talking about important topics in their parts of the song, I love this song mostly for the Cheer Camp sequences, especially that obstacle course – it has a zipwire; that makes it awesome, and is likely the predominant reason why this is my favourite song in the film! “We Got This” is performed by the main cast, excluding the wolves who we haven’t met at this point, and was written by Mitch Allan, Chantry Johnson, and Michelle Zarlenga.

Following that is “We Own the Night”, the introduction to the werewolves as they head to Seabrook High School in the dead of night. This song details their determination and focus on their desire to find the Great Alpha, who Wyatt believes is Addison, and find the moonstone so they can live peacefully again. This song is pretty cool and a good opening song for the werewolves. “We Own the Night” was performed by Pearce Joza, Chandler Kinney, and Ariel Martin, as Wyatt, Willa, and Wynter respectively, and the number was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, and Adam Schmalzholz. Due to the popularity of this song, Disney officially released a video of a mashup between “We Own the Night” and Descendants 3’s “Night Falls”.

This same writing team also wrote the next song in the movie, “Like the Zombies Do”. In “Like the Zombies Do”, Zed is trying to help the wolves integrate in Seabrook life by behaving “like the zombies do”, because he hopes if he does this, then the wolves will vote for him for Class President. It takes a while to convince the wolves, but in the end, they pretend to do this, so they can get closer to Addison without looking suspicious. This song sounds very much like the song “Uptown Funk”, or at least the beginning of it does. To be honest, this is one of the songs in ZOMBIES 2 that I’m not a big fan of, but I can see what they were trying to do, and it gave Milo Manheim an opportunity to show off his singing abilities as the lead performer of this song, who mentioned this song as being his favourite song in the movie. Kinney, Joza, and Kylee Russell also perform parts of this song.

A little while later, we hear the “break-up song” “Gotta Find Where I Belong”, written by Josh Cumbee and Jordan Powers, and performed by Manheim and Meg Donnelly as Zed and Addison. This was Donnelly’s favourite song in the movie, as it was a bit more of a challenge since this was the first song of its kind in the ZOMBIES movies. I do like this song, probably because it is a little bit like “Gotta Go My Own Way” from High School Musical 2 (2007), albeit a little bit quieter and less dramatic. The only issue I have with this song is the background performers, who start moving robotically in random parts of the number before moving on and walking away. This looks a bit weird to me, but I guess it was meant to show how at odds Addison feels with the other Seabrook humans, who live in a perfect world and all look and act the same.

The next song is another one for the wolves, “Call to the Wild”, also written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, and Adam Schmalholz. It was performed by Donnelly, Joza, Kinney, and Martin. This shows Addison being welcomed into the wolves’ den and letting her in on the fact she may be their Great Alpha. It’s a very catchy song and once again proves just how cool the wolves are. I also like the addition of tinikling, which is a traditional Philippine folk dance using bamboo poles to dance in and around, in this sequence. I had only ever heard of tinikling from an episode of the ABC sitcom The Middle (2009-18), where Sue Heck performs a tinikling routine to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” for P.E. credit, but it always looked fun to me.

Following that is a song clearly inspired by Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton as this is a rap battle. The song “I’m Winning” is performed by Milo Manheim and Trevor Tordjman, predominately, as Zed and Bucky as they battle for their classmates votes for Class President at the debate. Bucky is deliberately trying to bait Zed into showing the “true side” of zombies, whilst Zed is trying to prove he is a much better leader than self-obsessed Bucky. When I first watched ZOMBIES 2, I didn’t initially like “I’m Winning”, but I actually quite like it now. It’s not my favourite, but it’s quite funny. I especially like when Bucky says zombies eat brains, and Zed retorts that Bucky doesn’t have a brain so he’s safe. “I’m Winning” was written by Ali Dee Theodore, Ricardo Belfort, Doug Davis, Sarai Howard, Anthony Mirabella, Susan Paroff, James K. Petrie, and Jodie Shihadeh.

Close to the end of the movie we hear “Flesh & Bone”, which is one of the most liked songs from the ZOMBIES franchise amongst fans. At first, to me, it seemed a bit cheesy, but as the song progressed, and things start to look a bit nasty, with the wolves being arrested, and then Addison arrives with every from school, I actually started to well up. I think it’s the united front that gets me emotional, but it’s a pretty powerful song with a great chorus. “Flesh & Bone” was performed by the main cast, and was written by Tova Litvin and Doug Rockwell. In interviews, some of the ZOMBIES cast have said that although “Flesh & Bone” was a difficult number to perform, as it is quite high intensity in terms of the dancing, they loved it because it was great to see everyone together in a musical number[3]. “Flesh & Bone” was so popular that it was used as part of the short-form series Broken Karaoke for Disney Channel, where animated Disney Channel characters sing song parodies. This specific short saw the Green family, Cricket, Tilly, Gramma, and Bill, from the animated Disney series Big City Greens (2018-present) parody the song “Flesh & Bone” with a song called “Stuck at Home”. This was off the back of “Flesh & Bone” becoming a viral sensation[4]. Disney also released a mashup video of “Flesh & Bone” and “Someday” from ZOMBIES because of this.

At Prawn, we actually get two songs. The first is “Someday (Reprise)”, which Zed and Addison sing as Zed apologies for stealing Addison’s moonstone necklace and for generally not being supportive or understanding of her dream to find where she belongs. They are just about to kiss, when the ground splits open and they have to find the moonstone. “Someday” was written by Dustin Burnett and Paula Winger. It’s a sweet version of the song, and I know it’s Zed and Addison’s “love theme”, but I feel like we’ve heard this song so many different ways in just the first two movies!

The finale number is a big celebratory song at Prawn called “One For All”, where everyone is dancing together: zombies, wolves, and humans alike. Once again, like at the end of ZOMBIES, this song shows a more united Seabrook. We also see Addison becoming the official Cheer Captain, and getting a moonstone necklace from the wolves as a token of gratitude from them, and it ends with Zed and Addison’s first kiss. Although I don’t dislike any song in the movie, this is my least favourite song within ZOMBIES 2. “One For All” was performed by the entire cast, and was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, and Adam Schmalholz.

The actual final song on the ZOMBIES 2 soundtrack to mention is “The New Kid in Town”, performed by Ariel Martin, or Baby Ariel, and written by Jack Kugell, Hanna Jones, Matt Wong, and Paulina Cerrilla. This appears as the movie’s End Credits song, as well as appearing as a bonus track on the ZOMBIES 2 soundtrack. This song has nothing to do with ZOMBIES 2, although some of the cast appear in the official music video, and the “new kid in town” seems to be a werewolf. It’s quite amusing that they chose Booboo Stewart to be this guy, because he played a werewolf, Seth, in the Twilight Saga movie franchise. Stewart also played Jay, Jafar’s son, in the Descendants films. To be honest, this song isn’t for me.

The ZOMBIES 2 soundtrack was released on 14^th February 2020, the day of the movie’s premiere. It reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Top Soundtracks chart and the US Billboard Kid Albums charts. It hit No. 44 on the US Billboard 200 chart. In comparison to the ZOMBIES soundtrack, ZOMBIES topped the Kid Albums chart on its release, but only reached No. 55 in the US Billboard 200. It is also worth noting that specific songs from ZOMBIES 2, like “Flesh & Bone” and “Like the Zombies Do”, did incredibly well online.

George S. Clinton and Amit May Cohen are credited as the composers of the score for ZOMBIES 2. The score of ZOMBIES 2 was later released in November 2020, in the album Music from ZOMBIES (Original Score), which also includes the score from ZOMBIES.

PRODUCTION

The original ZOMBIES was based on an unaired pilot for a Disney Channel television series, titled Zombies & Cheerleaders. Little information is known about this pilot, other than it followed a zombie and a cheerleader as they fall in love whilst at high school[5].Disney Channel later decided to use this pilot as inspiration for ZOMBIES, and writers of the Zombies & Cheerleaders pilot episode, David Light and Joseph Raso, were tasked with reworking their material to fit the Disney Channel musical format.

Light and Raso returned to write ZOMBIES 2. The writing duo stated that the inclusion of the werewolves was to give a new challenge for the people of Seabrook, in order to challenge the town’s progress. However, to ensure this sequel was not just a rehash of the original – a trap many sequels fall into, unwittingly or not – the werewolf characters were made to be quite different from the zombies. Zombies wanted to integrate at high school, to feel like they finally belong in Seabrook. The wolves on the other hand aren’t interested in being at school and don’t want to play by the same rules as the zombies. They only pretend to integrate so they can get to Addison, and potentially the moonstone. Light and Raso were aware that zombies and werewolves are popular concepts for movies and television series, but their movies are different because they make their zombie and werewolves characters not scary, to appeal to children who otherwise would be unwilling to watch screen projects with those scarier characters. The writers were honoured to be back for a sequel, and were overwhelmed by the support they received for ZOMBIES. They were glad that the movie allowed for conversations to be opened up, particularly around difficult topics like fighting for freedom, and standing up for your beliefs[6].

Director Paul Hoen also returned to the world of Disney Channel’s ZOMBIES to lead the production of ZOMBIES 2. Hoen has directed numerous DCOMs over the years, including Let It Shine (2012); Cloud 9 (2014); Invisible Sister (2015); and Jump In! (2007).

Production for ZOMBIES 2 began in Spring 2019, after being announced in February 2019. ZOMBIES was cable television’s No.1 rated telecast among kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14 in 2018, gaining 12.8 million viewers over 10 showings of the movie, so naturally a sequel made sense in that respect[7].

Once again, production returned to Ontario, Canada for filming. Some of the locations from the first movie were used again in the sequel. Sugar Beach in Toronto was also seen in the sequel after appearing in the first movie, being used for the opening shot of ZOMBIES 2, when Zed is climbing out of the sand during a day at the beach with his family and friends. Cherry Beach in Toronto was another location, making up the outside of Seabrook High in both the first two movies[8].

There were a couple of other filming locations that were unique to ZOMBIES 2. Apparently, there was use of the Rockwood Conservation Area in Ontario, which was presumably used for their shots of the Forbidden Forest, where the werewolves reside. Another location was supposedly the North Building at the University of Toronto Mississauga. The song “I’m Winning” seems to have been filmed inside this building, so must’ve been used as the location for Seabrook High’s auditorium. The University of Toronto Mississauga was also used to film numerous scenes within another 2020 Disney movie, Secret Society of Second-Born Royals.

With an expanding Seabrook, new sets were needed, and this area was headed by production designer Mark Hofeling, who also returned to work on this ZOMBIES sequel.

Although we got to see some of Zombietown in the original movie, this was mostly limited to seeing just a few zombie residences. In ZOMBIES 2, Zombietown was expanded so viewers could see the businesses popping up around Seabrook which were being owned and operated by zombies. This is probably because zombies were not allowed to run businesses in the original movie, because of those anti-monster laws. This ever-increasing Zombietown demonstrates the increased freedoms the zombies have been experiencing since we last saw them at the end of ZOMBIES. These streets are still decorated with bright colours and makeshift furniture and ornaments, as the houses were in ZOMBIES.

In comparison, Seabrook hasn’t really changed all that much. The school is still sleek and pristine, repping the school colours of pink and green. The Cheer Camp also features these colours heavily, from the school bus through to the obstacle course itself. The school prom, or “Prawn”, is decorated with the signature pastels of pink and blue that we saw in the first movie. Many of the human residents still wear these signature colours too, showing that although Seabrook claim to be inclusive and have integrated zombies into their lives, they actually haven’t changed all that much themselves.

Then, we have the addition of the werewolves in ZOMBIES 2, who live very differently from both the humans and the zombies. They live in a den in the forest, not in houses on typical streets, so this was an additional challenge for designing sets. The wolves’ den is complete with a wooden roof, carved rocks and stones, as well as ornamentation that is themed to the moon and stars, very much matching the werewolf culture. The den is meant to look rustic, showcasing how it was built sustainably with nature in mind.

The final thing in production and sets I’d like to mention is the fault line and cavern holding the moonstone. A whole set had to be built of both of these. The ground had to look precarious and like it could all collapse at any second, but obviously be safe enough for the cast and crew to travel through in order to film the necessary sequences. The pink, glowing moonstone sits in the centre of a crumbling cavern. The behind-the-scenes footage and photos of this set are really cool, and I didn’t really consider the work that would’ve been needed to construct it as I was watching ZOMBIES 2[9].

Alongside this, some alterations to costumes from the first movie were required to match the evolving town of Seabrook, as well as the new costuming for the werewolves.

The zombies in ZOMBIES 2 now don’t have to wear their government-approved clothing. I will be perfectly honest and say this was not something I noticed, but looking back at footage from both movies, I can now see that Zed is in grey jeans, and Eliza is wearing a corduroy skirt in the sequel. I think the reason I didn’t notice is because the zombies are still wearing the darker colours they wore in the first film, like reds, greens, and blacks, obviously to differentiate themselves from the humans by showcasing the best zombie fashion trends.

The werewolves had to choose some other colour palette that wasn’t dark colours or bright pastels, because this new group had to have their own costuming style. This is why purples and golds – but no silver; wolves are allergic to silver – feature in the werewolves’ outfit, as well as to reflect regalness, since the werewolves are a very proud pack. They also wear some burnt oranges and blacks. Each wolf has their own markings too, and they had to consider how many the characters would have[10]. Just like the zombies, the werewolves customised their outfits too, with Wyatt wearing more leather and suede, Willa having a band around her leg to signal herself as the leader of the pack, and Wynter wearing a faux fur wristband. Each of their moonstone necklaces are slightly different from each other too[11].

The humans’ costumes haven’t changed much between movies, although the Seabrook Cheer Squad outfits are slightly different. The girls’ skirts and guys’ tracksuit bottoms are now white instead of pink, and they no longer wear long-sleeved tops. But at the heart of Seabrook still live a collection of humans who love their pastel blues and pinks, as we see by their prom outfits. Bree turns up in a light pink dress, and Addison in a light blue one, for example, whereas the zombies show up in their signature reds and greens, and the wolves in their golds and purples.

For the hair and makeup, it was a slight complaint of some of the cast members playing zombies that they spent over an hour, sometimes two hours, sometimes more, with the team getting ready for their day of filming since their skin had to be spray-painted to make it as pale as possible. Well, it seems that this time was able to be reduced to around 45 minutes to one hour, so I’m sure that made that section of the cast happy. However, this then meant that those playing the werewolves took longer, as their makeup routine was newer to the crew. Ariel Martin and Chandler Kinney stated that they took about three hours in hair and makeup every day, with specific attention being given to their unique wolf markings no doubt. Pearce Joza said that he did a makeup test at one point that took around seven hours! This time did eventually reduce as production went on[12]. But all three said they completely appreciated all the effort that was put into their costume, hair, and makeup, with Martin going so far as to say she felt powerful when she had her costume on[13].

The costume designer on ZOMBIES 2 was Trysha Bakker, who won a CAFTCAD (The Canadian Alliance for Film and Television Costume Arts and Design) Award for Best Costume Design in Film Sci-Fi/Fantasy for her work here. Bakker went on to work on the costumes for ZOMBIES 3 (2022), as well as the DCOM Spin (2021). Julia Valente returned to the set of ZOMBIES 2 after working on ZOMBIES as the makeup department head.

Again, the music of ZOMBIES 2 goes hand-in-hand with its choreography. Jennifer Weber, known for projects such as working on the musical & Juliet, and Off-Broadway’s KPOP, was tasked with choreographing for ZOMBIES 2. Weber had seen the first movie and loved its message of acceptance, so was glad to have the opportunity to choreograph the sequel. There were many different dance styles used in this movie, from commercial hip-hop, to breaking, street dance, and of course, the traditional cheerleading routines that are seen mostly in the opening song “We Got This”. Weber and her team collaborated with cheer coaches and choreographers Patrick Mislan and Megan MacLennan on these routines, and professional cheerleaders were on hand for the high tosses and the pyramids, as they were on ZOMBIES[14]. After auditioning dancers in Toronto for the film and to find crew to develop the choreography, work on drafting the nine musical numbers took roughly three weeks. This was followed by four weeks of rehearsal with cast before filming took place, which was a similar amount of rehearsal time as the cast had on the first ZOMBIES[15].

RECEPTION

ZOMBIES 2 premiered on 14^th February 2020, which just so happened to be Valentine’s Day, a perfect day to see the next instalment of Addison and Zed’s love story.

In preparation for the premiere date, some of the cast had been out and about promoting the film. For example, Kylee Russell and Trevor Tordjman went to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort to host the halftime show at the Pop Warner Super Bowl and National Cheer and Dance Championships. Here, they presented the halftime show which featured a performance by a cheerleading squad, dressed as both cheerleaders and zombies, to the song “BAMM” from ZOMBIES. There was even a dance battle between the “poms” and the “zoms”. Tordjman and Russell also gave a brief explanation of the plot of ZOMBIES 2, promising more music, more dancing, and more drama in the sequel in this promotional video[16]. This was very similar to when Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly presented the debut of a ZOMBIES-themed cheerleading routine at the grand opening of The Arena at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in 2018.

There was also ZOMBIES 2: The Collab, a collaboration between Disney Channel and various influencers and reality personalities. This was a short sketch which saw these influencers and reality stars performing as the ZOMBIES 2 characters, as Addison, Zed, and all the other Seabrook high schoolers see the werewolves arrive in their cafeteria, with Addison quickly introducing herself to them. I’m not particularly “on trend” with who was popular then. I’m not younger enough and I don’t care enough to know, but I did spot plenty of stars from Dance Moms (2011-19) in this video, like Mackenzie Ziegler as Addison; Kendall Vertes as a zombie; Chloe Lukasiak as a werewolf; and Nia Sioux as Willa[17].

On its release, ZOMBIES 2 once again received mixed reviews, although it does hold a 100% Critics’ Score on Rotten Tomatoes. Amongst fans, some said that ZOMBIES 2 was even better than original. I am one of those people. The music was generally considered better than the songs within the first movie, probably in part because there were double the number of original songs in ZOMBIES 2 than its predecessor, and the chemistry between the two leads continued to be praised. Other still positive but less glowing responses said ZOMBIES 2 was good for kids, or good in general, but nothing like High School Musical. Nothing will ever match up to those films so it’s best if we just all agree to stop comparing all Disney Channel musicals to them.

But then again, those who did not like ZOMBIES decided to watch the sequel and make the same points once again about why they didn’t like ZOMBIES 2, for example, because it’s “cringey” and “doesn’t make sense”. This is simply down to preference and I can’t make many comments on that. If you didn’t like the first ZOMBIES, you shouldn’t have chosen to watch the sequel, because it’s quite clear you’re going to get more of the same. Don’t watch sequels just to continue moaning about a movie franchise. Find something new to moan about instead!

Outside of that, there are a couple of negative comments that are worth pointing out. One is that ZOMBIES 2 shoehorns werewolves into the plot just to set up the same conflict that we saw in the original ZOMBIES film. I understand this point; it is quite a random addition, and something I spoke about in my introduction. I personally didn’t mind because I liked the werewolves as characters. There were also unanswered questions, such as: if Addison wasn’t the Great Alpha, then who is? And how did the wolves get to the moonstone without the Alpha? The biggest one is all about why Addison’s hair is the way it is, with the explanation to this being set up at the end of ZOMBIES 2, to tease a ZOMBIES 3. This irritated some viewers, not necessarily because they didn’t want yet another sequel, although that was also a complaint, but because ZOMBIES 2 had set up for Addison to become a wolf – and then she didn’t. This made ZOMBIES 2 seem pointless and like it was just filler in an overall trilogy. There were further comments that there were too many side plots, like Zed wanting to be Class President, and Addison wanting to be Cheer Captain, which ultimately didn’t deliver much, and meant that precious screentime was taken away from getting to properly meet the wolves, or catch up with other characters from the first ZOMBIES. I also agree with this comment in part, though I felt like we got to follow the plight of the wolves quite closely, even with the side plots.

There was also still no getting away from the comparisons between ZOMBIES and the Descendants trilogy, which in a way got worse, because Descendants 3 had come out in August 2019, just a few months before ZOMBIES 2 did, and felt like a fitting ending to the trilogy, not to mention that it was the last Disney movie fans were ever going to see with Cameron Boyce, who sadly passed away in July 2019.

ZOMBIES 2 allegedly reached nearly 5 million viewers on its premiere night, beating out the viewership of the first movie, and becoming the highest rating for Disney Channel since the premiere of Descendants 3[18]. However, I have also seen the figure 2.5 million online for the ZOMBIES 2 premiere viewership, so it’s unclear if 5 million viewers actually watched ZOMBIES 2 across its first 24 hours or something similar, instead of solely on its premiere. Who knows? Viewer numbers aren’t always easy to verify.

As well as its award for costuming, ZOMBIES 2 was also nominated for Best Editing for Lisa Binkley, at the Canadian Cinema Editors Awards and the Leo Awards.

LEGACY

Following on from ZOMBIES 2’s initial success, for the Halloween season, a series of animated shorts premiered on Disney Channel in October 2020.

This series was titled Zombies: Addison’s Moonstone Mystery, with production of this being announced shortly after the ZOMBIES 2 premiere. In this series, set after the events of ZOMBIES 2, there were eight roughly five-minute short videos, which saw Addison, Zed, and the others trying to discover what new girl, Vanna, is hiding about herself. This series was met with positive reviews, so a second animated series of six shorts titled Zombies: Addison’s Monster Mystery aired a year later in October 2021. It followed the group trying to save Seabrook High’s Halloween Fall Ball from a “Monster Shrimpy”. The main cast of Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Eliza Russell, Pearce Joza, Ariel Martin, and Chandler Kinney returned to voice their characters from ZOMBIES 2 in these series. Songs from the movie as well as some original songs apparently featured in the animated shorts.

There was also a live-action and animated series titled Zombies 2: Wolf Tales which aired in March 2020, just after ZOMBIES 2 aired. It is meant to take place I suppose during the events of the song “Call of the Wild”, since it sees Addison trying to ask the wolves questions about their history and about the moonstone in their den after she has had her makeover to look like the Great Alpha. But instead of answering Addison’s questions, the pack tell random stories that are of no use to her! Meg Donnelly, Pearce Joza, Chandler Kinney, and Ariel Martin reprise their characters of Addison, Wyatt, Willa, and Wynter respectively in this very short series, where each episode is only about a minute long.

Outside of these specific ZOMBIES 2-related shows, the ZOMBIES 2 cast made other appearances in Disney projects. One of these is the Disney Holiday Magic Quest series, with two of these being made in 2020 and 2021. These both aired on Disney Channel before being added to Disney+.

The Disney Holiday Magic Quest in 2020 was hosted by former Disney Channel star Raven-Symoné, and saw Milo Manheim and Kylee Russell go up against Ariel Martin and Pearce Joza as they competed in challenges across a night at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World Resort in order to stop Maleficent and the Evil Queen from stealing the “holiday magic” and to raise money for the charity Toys for Tots. Meg Donnelly and Ariel Martin’s family also appeared on video calls to help with the teams’ challenges. This all culminated in a final showdown on an obstacle course in front of Cinderella Castle.

The Disney Holiday Magic Quest in 2021 was hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown, and saw Milo Manheim and Kylee Russell return to compete in challenges across the night at Walt Disney World, but their opposition this time were Meg Donnelly and Trevor Tordjman. In this special, they had to retrieve the star from atop the Holiday Tree which Maleficent divided into three pieces and hid throughout Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Toys for Tots were once again the charity the stars were raising money for. Video calls from Ariel Martin and Trevor Tordjman’s family featured this time in two challenges. This Disney Holiday Magic Quest also seemed to be partly promotional for the Walt Disney World 50^th Anniversary celebration. These TV specials a little bit cheesy, for adults at least, but I’m all for seeing celebrities running around Walt Disney World, or any Disney Park for that matter, so I liked them.

Meg Donnelly also made another Disney appearance, at the Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade in 2021, performing “Jingle Bell Rock” this time. Her introduction briefly mentioned that Donnelly would be starring in the upcoming ZOMBIES 3. That’s right. Arguably the most important thing to come after ZOMBIES 2 was the March 2021 official announcement that ZOMBIES 3 was coming. We could already assume that ZOMBIES 3 would look further into why Addison has white hair, since we saw it glowing blue at the end of ZOMBIES 2. We would just have to wait and see what else ZOMBIES 3 had in store for us.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Personally, I have a history of liking sequels more than the original movie. There are obviously exceptions to that, but definitely in the DCOM musical world, I tend to prefer a movie’s second film to its first.

I don’t really know why that is, but perhaps it has something to do with the concept of the movie feeling more solid in its second outing, or just because the cast are more comfortable in their characters and can up their performances. It could simply be that Disney Channel trust in the original movie’s popularity, and want to please fans by making their second movie bigger and better in all aspects, particularly the music.

ZOMBIES 2 is not an exception to this for me. I like the music of ZOMBIES 2 so much more; I think the werewolves are a great addition to Seabrook; and it feels like the cast are happy in their roles. It’s a great film that fans of the original should have been proud of.

Now, my track record of liking the third movie in a trilogy is mixed. I’ll be honest, I did not like ZOMBIES 3 when I first watched it in 2022. I’ll have to see if it can sway my opinion after rewatching.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Zach Johnson, ‘Everything You Need to Know About ZOMBIES 2’, D23.com, 10^th February 2020.

[2] Credit: Zach Johnson, ‘Awoo! Meet the Werewolves in Disney Channel’s ZOMBIES 2’, D23.com, 11^th February 2020.

[3] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘Puppy Q&A Challenges with Meg, Milo, and Ariel! I Compilation I ZOMBIES 2 I Disney Channel’, Disney Channel Music YouTube Channel, 27^th April 2020.

[4] Credit: Avery Thompson, ‘‘Big City Greens’ Crew Parodies ‘Zombies 2’ Hit ‘Flesh & Bone’ For ‘Broken Karaoke’ – Watch Sneak Peek’, HollywoodLife.com, 17^th June 2020.

[5] Credit: IMDB, ‘Zombies and Cheerleaders’, IMDB.com, date unknown.

[6] Credit: Paul Perrello, ‘“ZOMBIES 2” Prowls Onto Disney Channel’, LaughingPlace.com, 14^th February 2020.

[7] Credit: Bruce Haring, ‘Disney’s ‘Zombies 2’ Sequel Heads Into Production With Returning Stars, Directors, Writers’, Deadline.com, 11^th February 2019.

[8] Credit: Varun Patel, ‘Where Was Disney’s ‘Zombies’ Shot?’, TheCinemaholic.com, 14^th February 2020.

[9] Credit: Mark Hofeling, ‘DISNEY’S Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 2’, MarkHofeling.com, date unknown.

[10] Credit: Zoe Hewitt, ‘How Disney Channel’s ‘Zombies 2’ Production Team Made Monsters Kid-Friendly;’, Yahoo.com, 21^st February 2020.

[11] Credit: Stacey Grant, ’11 Shocking Zombies 2 Secrets from Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, & Ariel Martin’, Seventeen.com, 18^th February 2020.

[12] Credit: J-14, ‘ZOMBIES 2 Cast Shares Funny Behind-the-Scenes Memories’, J-14 Magazine YouTube Channel, 12^th February 2020.

[13] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘Puppy Q&A Challenges with Meg, Milo, and Ariel! I Compilation I ZOMBIES 2 I Disney Channel’, Disney Channel Music YouTube Channel, 27^th April 2020.

[14] Credit: Ruthie Fierberg, ‘Watch: Inside the Cheerleading-Meets-Hip-Hop Choreography of Disney Channel’s Zombies 2’, Playbill.com, 13^th February 2020.

[15] Credit: Cadence Neenan, ‘Choreographer Jennifer Weber Shares What It Was Like on Set for “ZOMBIES 2”’, DanceSpirit.com, 11^th February 2020.

[16] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘ZOMBIES Pop Warner Super Bowl! I ZOMBIES 2 I Disney Channel’, Disney Channel Music YouTube Channel, 12^th January 2020.

[17] Credit: Mackenzie Ziegler, ‘ZOMBIES 2: The Collab’, kenzie YouTube Channel, 2^nd February 2020.

[18] Credit: Sarah Jae Lieber, ‘RATINGS: ZOMBIES 2 Delivers 1.9 Million Kids and Nearly 5 Million Total Viewers for Disney Channel’, BroadwayWorld.com, 2^nd March 2020.

27th Jun 202516th Jan 2026 by The Disney Purist

ZOMBIES (2018)

BACKGROUND

In the 2010s, it was becoming more and more obvious to Disney Channel that viewers were responding well to their musicals.

Disney Channel movie musicals have been popular ever since High School Musical (2006) and they’ve spent years trying to match, or surpass, that fame. In 2015, they came close with Descendants – but not close enough.

So, where next for a Disney Channel musical franchise? A girl band? No, done that. Something set in high school? There’s always room for those but we need something a bit more, a bit extra. Hey! How about zombies? Uh, what?

We’ve all seen movies and television series about zombie apocalypses, from one of the original zombie movies, Night of the Living Dead (1968), and the terrifying but critically-acclaimed series The Walking Dead (2010-22), to the horror-comedies Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Zombieland (2009).

Now Disney Channel wanted to put their own spin on this theme, in some way. But don’t worry. Disney Channel weren’t going to be making a musical horror film, were they? No, their zombies aren’t like real zombies. They’ve been tamed, so they don’t kill humans, and there’s only the tiniest references to brain-eating so it’s all good!

I watched ZOMBIES on Disney+ for the first time a few years after it first came out and I was surprised at how much I liked it. I think I was looking for some non-scary Halloween movies to watch and sure enough, Disney+ has a whole collection every year of Halloween content that is child-friendly – and me-friendly. I hate scary movies.

I didn’t like ZOMBIES as much as Descendants or the High School Musical trilogy, I will admit that, but what I did like was the catchy music and the movie’s perfectly cast leads. They were so enthusiastic and clearly up for the challenge of fronting a Disney Channel musical. That’s no easy feat, especially if you don’t already have the experience of leading a Disney Channel original series beforehand.

There were high hopes at Disney Channel for ZOMBIES to do really well but it didn’t quite match up to the original Descendants trilogy. Whether that’s down to bias or not, that’s for you to decide. It seems to me that Disney Channel wanted to create another musical franchise, and they were going to do whatever it took to make ZOMBIES a success.

PLOT

ZOMBIES begins with an animated opening sequence. It reminds me of the animated portions that exist at the start and end of Disney’s live-action movie Sky High (2005). This opening sequence gives us a quick introduction and backstory to the town of Seabrook.

Seabrook used to be the perfect town, the perfect community, until a lime soda incident at the town’s power station caused a green haze to descend over the town and its people, turning those exposed to it into brain-eating zombies. A barrier was soon built to protect the “normal” citizens from these zombies. This all happened around fifty years ago.

In present day, zombies are still separated from the humans of Seabrook, living in a place called Zombietown, as explained by teenage zombie Zed. They also have to submit to rules and regulations, such as a curfew and wearing government-approved coveralls. Now, they also must wear “Z-bands”, which send electromagnetic pulses into their bodies to stop them wanting to eat brains. Because of this newfound technology, zombie life is getting better. Zed is excited that zombies can now attend regular high school and don’t have to be segregated any longer. Zed’s father is concerned about this, worried that the humans will still not be accepting of zombies, but Zed’s got a positive outlook on life and knows things will be better for him and his little sister, Zoe.

On the other side of Seabrook’s town barrier lives Addison, a teenage girl who desperately wants to be a cheerleader for the Seabrook Cheer Squad. Although Addison looks like all the other humans in Seabrook, with perfect hair, a perfect smile, and an all-round perfect demeanour, she is hiding a secret. Addison is forced to wear a wig to hide the fact she has white hair! Oh, say it ain’t so! Having white hair shouldn’t be a big deal but in Seabrook, apparently it would make Addison stand out too much and she’d become a social pariah…So, the wig stays on the head. To make everything even harder, Addison’s mother happens to be Seabrook’s mayor and her father is head of the Zombie Patrol taskforce, making sure zombies stay in line, so Addison knows she has to do whatever it takes to fit in.

At high school, Zed and his fellow zombies Eliza and Bonzo are surprised to find that there is a barrier separating them from the human high schoolers. There are even separate entrances for them, and the zombies will only be taught in the basement by the janitor, not being allowed to leave the room under any circumstances. This is disappointing for Zed who wants to try out for the school’s football team, but this is not allowed. So, Zed does the rational thing – and sneaks out of the basement to attend try-outs. The only problem is he is spotted by a human, who hits the nearby zombie alarm, sending the school into a panic. Zed finds himself in the Zombie Safe Room so he isn’t caught being out of the basement. Addison happens to find herself there too, and the two talk briefly, about their loves of football and cheerleading. But as Addison gets closer to Zed, she realises he’s a zombie and punches him in the face. It turns out just to be a reflex though, as she’s never met a zombie before. She quickly apologises to Zed. At that moment though, Cheer Captain, and Addison’s cousin, Bucky, a zombie hater, arrives with some of the cheerleaders to save Addison from this monster. Bucky warns Zed to stay away from her. Zed eventually finds his way to football try-outs but the coach informs him zombies cannot be on the team.

Back with Addison, and cheer try-outs are about to begin. Bucky is a tough taskmaster and him and his three sidekicks, Tracey, Stacey, and Lacey, a.k.a. “The Aceys”, come down hard on the wannabe cheerleaders. This is enough to upset Addison’s new friend, Bree, who wants to be a cheerleader, but doesn’t think Bucky wants her on the team. Addison smashes her try-out though and is welcomed to the team by Bucky. She then insists that Bree is allowed on the team too. Bucky agrees. However, now they are on the team, they’ll have to take part in a little Cheer Initiation test.

That evening, Bucky drives Addison and Bree to Zombietown and tells them to egg one of the houses there. Addison refuses to do that. Bucky is scared off by a zombie coming up to his van, and Addison and Bree duck down by a porch to make sure they aren’t seen. But they are spotted by Zed who seems confused and a bit disappointed that they are here. His father asks if anyone is there, and Zed lies, saying there isn’t anyone by their house.

The next day at school, Addison goes down to the school basement to apologise to Zed for last night. She reiterates that she wasn’t going to do anything and has nothing against zombies, even inviting Zed to the pep rally that afternoon. Eliza jumps in and says zombies don’t go to pep rallies, but Zed says they’ll think about it. Sure enough, Zed arrives at the pep rally with Bonzo and Eliza in tow. Bucky has a big routine planned for the cheerleaders, complete with sparklers to upset any zombies who may’ve walked into the crowd, because some are scared of fire. Bonzo begins to freak out, and Zed tries to calm him, but he is knocked to the ground and his Z-band malfunctions. The pep rally descends into chaos and Zed sees Addison doing a twist in the air, with no-one to catch her. Finding himself overcome with strength he didn’t know he had, Zed pushes through the bleachers and rushes to catch Addison before she falls. Zed’s Z-band then reverts back to normal.

The football coach sees all this and wants Zed on his team. Principal Lee is suspicious of zombies but allows Zed to join the team, on the proviso that they actually win some games because the team has never been good. Zed says he’ll join if the principal agrees to let the zombies have more freedoms. She says that can happen if they win games, but for now, the zombies will have to settle for being allowed to eat in the cafeteria.

In the cafeteria, Addison lets Bree know that she likes Zed. Bree wants Addison to follow her heart, but knows the cheerleaders don’t want anyone fraternising with zombies. Addison hears Zed call her name and goes over to his table to talk to him. Well, she can’t be rude now, can she? However, the cheerleaders soon come to remove Addison, and tell her once again that she has to choose sides: cheerleader or zombie. Addison still wants to be a cheerleader, and the cheerleaders are starting to suspect she’s different from them, so she vows to try harder to hide her true feelings about zombies. Addison runs out of the cafeteria, but Zed follows her. She says they can’t be seen together, so they go in to the Zombie Safe Room to talk, where they admit they have feelings for each other.

Later, it is Zed’s first football game, and his teammates already aren’t behind him, letting him be tackled to the ground by the opposition. Principal Lee threatens Zed, saying if they don’t win, the zombies will be going back to the basement. Coach wants to see some of that strength from the day before, so Zed asks Eliza to hack his Z-band, to allow him to go “more zombie” and be tougher. Eliza isn’t sure they should be doing this, but goes along with the plan for the greater good of zombiekind. Sure enough, the hack works and the team win. Because of this, the school barrier is removed the next day, and zombies are now popular with the human high school students, although Bucky and his cheerleaders still despise them. As Zed helps the team win more games, this popularity only grows, but Addison and Zed can only communicate through notes. Addison gets a note later that day from Zed, asking her to meet him by the town barrier that night.

Scared but intrigued, Addison finds herself in Zombietown meeting up with Zed. She thinks he doesn’t look quite right, so he tells her about his Z-band. It turns out messing with the technology that pulses electromagnetic fields through your body makes you not feel so good! But there’s no time to talk about that because Zed is taking Addison to an underground zombie party. The party goes well, and Addison even speaks to Zed’s little sister a bit, because Zoe is a cheerleading fan, and Eliza starts to think she’s cool. But as Zed and Addison talk together, and Addison shows Zed her natural hair colour, showing she is also different, the police come to arrest the zombies for breaking curfew. Addison is mortified to find that Police Officer Gus, who obviously knows Addison’s father and therefore her, has come to break up the party. Gus takes her home to her parents who are furious. However, they believe she was just out late meeting a boy, and want to meet him soon. Ok, this could get complicated…

At Homecoming Game Day, Eliza starts to get really worried about Zed and his Z-band. Zed tells her that it’s just one more game and they have to do this. The cheerleaders overhear this and dish the dirt to Bucky, who has an idea of how to get revenge on them. The Aceys start talking to Eliza, inviting her to a spa day in an effort to distract her whilst they steal her laptop. Now, they have access to Zed’s Z-band. Just before the game, Zed swipes right on his Z-Band, something Eliza told him never to do, and turns up at Addison’s parents’ house. Swiping right on a Z-Band can turn zombies human, so they are impressed with Zed. Addison quickly gets him away from her parents, and asks Zed what he’s doing. He wants to take her out on a real date before the game. Aww. They go to the local ice cream shop.

Then, it’s time for the game. Addison goes against Bucky and gets the crowd to cheer for Zed, leading to her and Bree being kicked off the team. With only three seconds left on the game, the Aceys decide it’s the perfect time to strike, and access Eliza’s Z-band program again. They corrupt Zed, Eliza, and Bonzo’s bands, taking them offline, causing them to go into full zombie mode. They start to tear up the stadium and threaten the other students. Bucky finds himself face-to-face with Zed under the bleachers, but surprisingly sees Zed assert some self-control and not attack him. The Zombie Patrol come shortly after and take Zed, Eliza, and Bonzo away. Disappointed in how quickly the town turned on zombies, Addison tries to show that everyone is different by revealing her natural hair colour. Instead of the crowd accepting this, they boo her and Addison is left to deal with the fall-out from her reveal, which has embarrassed her parents.

Eliza, Bonzo, and Zed are returned home from Zombie Containment some time later, with everyone’s Z-bands now updated to avoid any attempted hacking. Eliza is furious though and wants a Zombie Uprising, and plans something for the Cheer Championships. On the day of the Cheer Championships, Bucky culls any zombie sympathisers from his squad, leaving just a few others outside of him and the Aceys. Zed and Bonzo are concerned that they cannot find Eliza and find a plan in her locker to sabotage the Cheer Championships. They rush over there to stop her.

At the Championships, the Seabrook Cheer Squad struggles to complete their routine with so few people. Addison watches on and then sees Zed and Bonzo. She follows them and finds that they are looking for Eliza. Eliza says she is planning on sabotaging the event and Addison tells her she should go ahead and do it, because this town is a fickle place. Zed speaks from a place of reason and says if she goes through with this, then life for zombies will only get worse. They can’t stoop that low. Eliza accepts this, and they all go out to watch the Seabrook Cheer Squad, but they are failing terribly. Bucky flounces off stage and their routine is over. Or is it? Zed’s little sister Zoe then comes out on to the stage and starts to cheer, but she is booed by the human crowd. Addison decides to get everyone – humans and zombies – on stage to join her. She tries to convince Bucky, by telling him that he needs to accept change and he rejoins the squad for this routine.

Unfortunately, this routine did not win the Cheer Championships but it led to Seabrook becoming a more tolerant place. The movie ends with a block party at Zombietown where all are welcome, showing how far the town has come.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Zed is an enthusiastic, positive, and upbeat teenager, who lives with his overprotective father, Zevon, and his little sister, Zoe. Despite being bound by restrictions on their zombie lives, Zed is excited to finally be given the chance to attend human high school – something that has apparently taken years to be allowed – because he wants to be a football player. The trouble is zombies are still discriminated against, even though they are allowed at school, so Zed has to change himself to be accepted on the team, and ironically, he has to make himself more “zombie” to do that! In the end, Zed realises that he and the other zombies should be allowed to be accepted for who they are, and with the help of his human girlfriend Addison, they manage to create a more harmonious life in Seabrook for zombies and humans, by forcing everyone to look at themselves and see what they are doing to each other by reinforcing negative stereotypes.

Milo Manheim was cast as Zed and was a relative unknown prior to his role in ZOMBIES. Manheim had starred as Milo Reynolds in the Off-Broadway production of Generation Me, a musical exploring the impact of teen suicide, which won numerous awards at the New York Musical Festival Awards for Excellence, and won the most awards of any other show at these awards in 2017. Manheim himself won the award for Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role, alongside two others[1]. Strangely, Manheim had not been a Disney star before his leading role in ZOMBIES, however, any Hannah Montana fans may have seen his actress mother Camryn Manheim on the channel, as she was cast in the recurring role of Margo, manager of singer Mikayla, played by Selena Gomez, in the series.

Addison is very similar to Zed, in that she is also upbeat and positive, wanting there to be full integration in Seabrook between zombies and humans. The only difference is that Addison is a human, and one with parents who are very much against integration. Addison’s mother is Mayor of Seabrook, and her father is Chief of the Zombie Patrol, so not much chance of a healthy, non-biased discussion around the dinner table there! Her parents are hypocrites though, since Addison is not like everyone else, and doesn’t fit into this cookie-cutter mould of the Seabrook residents. Addison has white hair, a colour not like everyone else’s hair colour, so she is forced to hide her hair under her wig. After Addison meets Zed, she is even more determined to fight intolerance against zombies and thinks revealing her true self will help make Seabrook more progressive. That action doesn’t succeed in that, but with her, Zed, and the other zombies working together with some of the more empathetic cheerleaders, they come together and make the town to think differently.

Addison was played by Meg Donnelly, who was also not a star on Disney Channel at the time. However, at the time of her role in ZOMBIES, Donnelly already had a main role in an ABC sitcom: the role of Taylor Otto in American Housewife (2016-21). Donnelly and Manheim got on incredibly well throughout their audition process, and their friendship and chemistry is evident in the movie and in promotional videos for the film[2]. Manheim even joined Donnelly on American Housewife, appearing in the recurring role of Pierce, Taylor’s love interest, in Season 3 of the programme, which aired a few months after ZOMBIES.

Zed’s fellow zombie high school friends are Eliza and Bonzo who are very different from each other. Eliza is suspicious of humans initially, and just when she thinks the cheerleaders actually want to be friends with her, she finds that all they really want is her laptop so the cheerleaders can corrupt her, Zed, and Bonzo’s Z-Bands, setting zombie freedoms back. Eliza is rebellious, and wants zombies to be free from all restrictions. She’ll do whatever it takes to get there too, even going so far as threatening to sabotage the Cheer Championships, until Zed manages to talk her out of, because he favours the “kill them with kindness” method, as opposed to fighting with force. Eliza was played by Kylee Russell, who had been cast in a DCOM many years before as a child. Russell was cast as Karin Daniels, Izzy’s little sister in Jump In! (2007). Corbin Bleu starred as her brother Izzy.

Bonzo doesn’t seem to be the sharpest tool in the zombie shed. He is still scared of fire, even though most of the other zombies try to think about this fear rationally now, causing chaos at the pep rally, and he only speaks in zombie language, which can make him seem less intelligent because we assume he can’t speak English. Bonzo is just doing his bit to ensure his native language doesn’t die out, obviously! Bonzo also just wants to be accepted by humans, and like Zed, thinks the best way to do this is to be nice to the humans. James Godfrey was cast as Bonzo, having previously played Porter in the DCOM The Swap (2016) alongside Peyton List and Jacob Bertrand.

On the human side, Addison has her friend Bree, who she meets on the first day of school and they bond over how much they want to be cheerleaders. Bree’s initial try-out doesn’t go brilliantly, as Bree lacks some self-confidence, but thanks to Addison, she manages to get on the squad. Bree is more welcoming to the zombies than other humans, and even seems to quite like Bonzo, or she at least finds him intriguing. Bree is encouraging of Addison’s blossoming romance with Zed, despite the hostility around them. Carla Jeffrey was cast as Bree, having had guest roles in Disney Channel series like Good Luck Charlie (2010-14) and Shake It Up (2010-13) prior to ZOMBIES. Back in 2007, Jeffrey was cast in the recurring role of Keysha Black in Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000-24) for two seasons.

Then, there is Bucky, Addison’s cousin and Cheer Captain. He hates zombies and does not want them to have an easy ride at high school now the humans are being made to study alongside them. He has plans to ensure the zombies don’t get on at school and it is his idea for his cheerleader sidekicks, The Aceys, to tamper with the Z-bands to hopefully get the zombies kicked out of school. Bucky basically wants to live in his own perfect world where he is popular, loved by everyone, and cheerleading is everything. He rules that squad with an iron fist, and is mean, but more in a funny way than a cruel way. Bucky was played by Trevor Tordjman in a brilliant casting choice. Prior to ZOMBIES, Tordjman was known for his role as James in Canadian teen drama The Next Step (2013-present).

The Aceys, consisting of Lacey, Stacey, and Tracey are veteran cheerleaders and sidekicks to Bucky. They are incredibly loyal and are actually meaner than he is. Maybe sidekicks is the wrong term for them; hitmen might be more appropriate! Lacey is really the leader of The Aceys, as she is the more spiteful one, despite coming across as a bit ditzy at times. Stacey is the smart one, so she was the one to corrupt Eliza’s Z-band program. Tracey is the biggest fan of Bucky within the group of three. It turns out Bucky is so determined to keep this group The Aceys that he gets people to change their names. In a deleted scene, it is shown that Lacey’s actual name is Jenny, and that Bucky wants Addison to become an “Acey” by changing her name to Casey; Addison refuses[3].

Lacey was played by Emilia McCarthy who had previously appeared as Taylor in the DCOM Zapped (2014) which starred Zendaya, and was cast as Abby Ackerman in the Nickelodeon series Max & Shred (2014-16). Stacey was played by Jasmine Renée Thomas, who went on to play Kelly in the festive movie Falling in Love at Christmas (2021). Tracey was played by Mickeey Nguyan. Before ZOMBIES, he was cast as Alex Phan in Make It Pop (2015-16) and went on to play Mags 2 in the Canadian sci-fi series Utopia Falls (2020).

MUSIC

The music of ZOMBIES isn’t overly unique compared to other Disney Channel musicals, consisting of a mix of pop music, musical ballads, and some hip-hop and rap to make them more “contemporary”. I actually like all the songs in ZOMBIES and they are very catchy, which I can’t say for most Disney Channel musicals, although there are certain songs from other DCOM musicals that I like more.

The soundtrack for ZOMBIES was released on 16^th February 2018, the same day as the movie’s premiere. It topped the US Billboard Kids Albums chart and reached No. 55 on the US Billboard 200 chart

In the order they appear in the film, the first main song is “My Year”, which gives us some background into the differences between Seabrook and Zombietown at the start of the film. The humans of Seabrook live in picture-perfect houses on clean streets, whereas the zombies live in more cluttered and grimy surroundings. But the two sides have two things in common: they can both sing, and both seem to like big group dance numbers! This is a very positive song, that states how excited everyone is for this new year at school, with both the humans and zombies thinking everything is going to be great. “My Year” was written by Jack Kugell, Hanna Jones, and Matt Wong and was performed by the entire cast. It is later reprised as “Our Year” during the End Credits, again performed by the cast.

Following on from that, we have the high-energy song “Fired Up”, which is used for the cheerleading try-outs. It gives us an insight into how fussy Bucky and The Aceys are about who can be on their squad, with them making brutal cuts to the squad there and then, literally removing them from the gymnasium if their face doesn’t fit! It’s a really great song and one of my favourites in the whole ZOMBIES franchise. It must’ve been so difficult to get through the whole performance of that. It was written by Mitch Allan and Nikki Leonti Edgar. “Fired Up (Competition)” plays during the Seabrook Cheer Championships routine.

Then, we get the typical love song that most Disney Channel musicals have between their two leads. This song is called “Someday”, performed by Milo Manheim as Zed and Meg Donnelly as Addison, and takes place in the Zombie Safe Room as Zed and Addison look to find a place to talk where Addison won’t be harassed by the cheerleaders and told to stay away from zombies. This is Addison and Zed having some fun, without feeling paranoid that they are being judged for their friendship. I particularly like the line “Girl, you look delicious. Oh, I mean gorgeous” – it’s a nice twist on typical teenage flirting, because, you know, zombies like to eat humans. This song is reprised as a ballad just before the Zombie Patrol come to break up the zombie party that Addison has been brought to by Zed. “Someday” was written by Dustin Burnett and Paula Winger.

Next up, we have “BAMM”, which is another high-energy performance, and takes place at the secret zombie party. As a musical performance, it’s the best within the movie, especially when they start doing flips and moves on a bouncy floor; it looks very impressive and must’ve taken a lot of work to perfect. It was performed by Manheim, Donnelly, and Kylee Russell as Eliza. “BAMM!” was written by Ali Dee Theordore, Sergio Cabral, Julian Davis, Sarai Howard, and Anthony Mirabella. It is later reprised right at the end of the movie by the whole cast during the block party at Zombietown, showing that zombies, humans – and cheerleaders – are now happy living side-by-side.

Finally, there is “Stand”, which is a moving song mostly performed by Meg Donnelly as Addison, as she reminds the crowd of their hypocrisy at cheering on Zed when the team were winning the football, but instantly turned against him and the other zombies when their Z-bands malfunctioned. We’re supposed to expect that this song will work and that the crowd will instantly change their ways – but they don’t. Flashbacks of the movie are shown during this scene too, reminding Addison of the reasons why change needs to happen now. However, one person who is starting to change their mind about zombies in this song is Bucky, as he states how confused he is about this new world they’re all living in, so Trevor Tordjman performs this section of the song. “Stand” was written by Matthew Tishler.

“Pep Rally”, written by Ali Dee Theodore, and performed by the cheerleaders during the pep rally, obviously, is listed as a separate track on the soundtrack, although I wouldn’t necessarily count it as an actual song; it’s mostly just chanting “Go, mighty shrimp!”.

George S. Clinton is credited as the composer of the score for ZOMBIES. Clinton has also composed the score for movies like Disney’s The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006), and for the Austin Powers trilogy of films. Clinton won BMI Film Music Awards for his music in The Santa Clause 3, and the last two Austin Powers films. The score of ZOMBIES was later released in 2020, in the album Music from ZOMBIES (Original Score), which also includes the score from ZOMBIES 2.

PRODUCTION

Some Disney Channel movies are based on books. Others are based on original stories. ZOMBIES was actually based on an unaired pilot for a Disney Channel television series. It was probably also inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

This pilot was for a show titled Zombies & Cheerleaders. It starred Luke Benward as zombie Zed, and Maia Mitchell as cheerleader Addison. Benward was no stranger to Disney Channel at this time, having previously starred as Charlie Tuttle in the DCOM Minutemen (2008). He was later cast as Ryan in Girl vs. Monster (2012) and Will in Cloud 9 (2014). Maia Mitchell starred as Mack in Teen Beach Movie (2013) and Teen Beach 2 (2015).

Since this was an unaired pilot, there are very few details about the episode apart from a basic outline, which more or less follows the plot of ZOMBIES, i.e., a zombie and a cheerleader fall in love whilst at high school. On IMDB, there are a couple of other pieces of information about the pilot, such as a few photographs from the production, and a brief description of the pilot, which states that the zombies wear “z-packs”, the technology that keeps the zombies from wanting to eat human brains. As we know, in the movie ZOMBIES, this technology is called a Z-band. It would seem that this pilot was filmed around 2012. IMDB also states that this pilot was “music-driven” [4].

Many pilots for television series are filmed in a year, and many never see the light of the day, so for Zombies & Cheerleaders not to have been progressed with at Disney Channel is not unusual. For whatever reason, Disney Channel later decided to use this pilot as inspiration for their new musical movie ZOMBIES. The writers of the Zombies & Cheerleaders pilot episode, David Light and Joseph Raso, were tasked with reworking their material to fit the Disney Channel musical format, though how much needed to be changed or was added is unclear as the general public has had no access to the original pilot. Light and Raso went on to write all the ZOMBIES sequels, and co-created and co-wrote another Disney musical, Sneakerella (2022).

Production for ZOMBIES began in May 2017. Paul Hoen came on to the project as the movie’s director. Hoen has directed numerous Disney Channel Original Movies, 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, not including the entire ZOMBIES movie franchise, he directed Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010) and The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008).

As Descendants (2015) and Descendants 2 (2017) had done beforehand, along with many other Disney movies, ZOMBIES was filmed in Canada. Specifically, this movie was filmed in and around the province of Ontario and the city of Toronto. Keith Street near Wentworth Street North in Hamilton was used for Zombietown, with homes in the street being painted in bright colours just for the movie, and random decorations like tyres, lights, bird cages, and chairs were added to the homes’ porches[5]. The exterior of Aga Khan Museum in Toronto was used for the location of the Cheer Championships. Sugar Beach in Toronto was another location seen briefly, during the song “My Year” when the humans are dancing on the beach. It was also used for a deleted scene, where we see Zed and Addison watching Zoe playing with a dog on the beach. Zoe really wants a dog but we’re told at the start of the film, zombies aren’t allowed to own dogs[6].

These locations had to match the world of Seabrook and the fact that there are two separate areas that look and feel very different. Seabrook’s main town where the humans reside is mostly designed with clean, straight edges, which is matched by the look of their houses. Pastel colours are generally used here, such as light blues, pinks, and greens. Zombietown, on the other hand, looks gritty and grubby in places, kind of steampunk, with darker colours being used, with an emphasis on a darker green. The production designer on ZOMBIES was Mark Hofeling, who has had a history of working on Disney Channel movies, being the production designer throughout the High School Musical and Descendants movie franchises, for example, and working on ZOMBIES 2 and ZOMBIES 3 as well.

Hair, makeup, and costuming also had to be carefully chosen to match the production aesthetic and demonstrate the differences between the humans and the zombies. Initially, Addison’s wig colour was a topic of discussion, although it was always clear that Addison’s natural hair would be white. Meg Donnelly tried all manner of coloured wigs out for her character, before it was decided to choose a colour that matched Donnelly’s natural blonde hair colour. The style of Addison’s natural white hair then had to be decided, with a sort of pixie cut being chosen, which I’m not a fan of, to be honest, as it looks a bit like Rapunzel’s hair in Tangled (2010) after Flynn cuts it off and it turns brown. It just looks messy and unstyled. But don’t worry, Addison’s hair gets better in the ZOMBIES sequel!

Milo Manheim had similar hair issues for his character, zombie Zed. It was first decided to give Zed a multitude of colours in his hair, with additional blue and yellow streaks, but that didn’t work, so they tried a bright neon green. That also wasn’t right, so they eventually settled on the dark green. The zombie characters have very pale skin, which meant the actors had to have any bare skin spray painted. This meant that hair and makeup for these characters could take around two hours, or more, to complete in total, with extra time needed to remove it at the end of the day. The humans in ZOMBIES are mostly seen wearing pastel colours, with the cheerleading uniforms being pink and white with light green accents. The zombies are forced to wear dark colours, like greys, reds, blacks, and dark greens. Their outfits are, according to Zed in the movie, government-enforced, however, the younger zombies have managed to customise their outfits to suit their own personalities. Costume Designer Rita McGhee worked on ZOMBIES, having previously worked on the series Empire (2015-20).

Since ZOMBIES is a musical, and a Disney Channel one at that, the dance routines and musical numbers had to be dynamic, to match up to other movies of its kind. Rehearsals for the movie took around four weeks, with roughly one week being dedicated to each dance number. Choreographers Christopher Scott and Jeffrey Hornaday were on hand to put the actors through their paces. Hornaday is both a director and choreographer. His choreography credits include the Disney Parks attraction Captain EO, a 3D short film which starred Michael Jackson; the 1983 movie Flashdance; and the 1985 film adaptation of the musical A Chorus Line. In directing, Hornaday directed the non-musical DCOM Geek Charming in 2011, before moving on to direct both Teen Beach Movie (2013) and Teen Beach 2 (2015) for Disney Channel, as well as being on hand as the movies’ choreographer. Christopher Scott was also a choreographer on the Teen Beach movies, as well as on In the Heights (2021) and even Wicked (2024). Scott and Hornaday were happy to work with the actors on some of these routines, with Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly adding input into their “Someday” routine, such as putting the colander on the lamp to turn it into a disco ball, as well as their tap steps. Manheim was seen doing back flips when the cast were working on the “BAMM” routine, so these were added into the dance.

There was also additional training needed for the cast. For example, Manheim had no experience playing real football, so he had to learn how to play the game, and how to run in all that heavy gear that football players wear. A stunt double was used whenever Zed was tackled in the movie. Donnelly had never been a cheerleader either, but luckily, production hired a cheerleading team and their coach from Toronto to come and train everyone. Donnelly had a lot of fun doing the cheerleading routines, and the only part of Addison’s cheerleading that was done by a stunt double was the twist in the air that she does just before Zed catches her at the pep rally[7].

RECEPTION

ZOMBIES premiered on Disney Channel in the US on 16^th February 2018, presumably to coincide with Valentine’s Day, since ZOMBIES is a love story. It later came to other international Disney Channels in the coming weeks.

The movie was heavily promoted on Disney Channel. Promotional videos included behind-the-scenes clips, music videos, and interviews with the cast, giving them challenges and asking them questions to allow the viewers to get to know the actors. This was actually quite important because in a move very unlike Disney Channel, the cast of ZOMBIES had not been in a Disney Channel series, whereas usually at least one of the main cast would’ve been in a Disney series beforehand, so they would’ve been unknown to most viewers.

Another way of publicising the movie’s release was for Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly to present the debut of a ZOMBIES-themed cheerleading routine at the grand opening of The Arena at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The performance was aired on Disney Channel on 26^th January 2018 and was choreographed by Varsity Spirit. The routine was completed by Florida’s Barstow High School Varsity Co-ed Cheer Squad, who were the 2016 champions of Varsity Spirit Universal Cheerleaders Association National High School Cheerleading Championship. The song they performed to was “BAMM” from the ZOMBIES movie and the cheerleaders were dressed up to look like zombies and cheerleaders from the film too. This performance was later made available on YouTube and made up part of the telecast of the 2018 UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships.

This was followed by the announcement of the ZOMBIES Spirit Challenge which ran from 26^th January to 6^th February 2018 to allow Disney Channel watchers in the US to participate in ZOMBIES-themed photo challenges, like showing your best zombie hair, outfit, cheer pose etc., for the chance to win a screening party with a Disney Channel star[8].

ZOMBIES reached around 2.7 million viewers on its premiere date, with this figure rising to 10.3 million over the eight re-runs of the movie that took place over that weekend, which happened to be Presidents’ Day Weekend[9]. This was much less than Descendants 2’s premiere in 2017, just a year before, which gained 5.8 million viewers. However, it is worth noting that viewership for Disney Channel movies had been declining throughout the 2010s, with only the musicals tending to hit a figure over 5 million. By the time ZOMBIES was released in 2018, the only movie to top their figure of roughly 2.7 million afterwards was Descendants 3 in 2019 with 4.6 million. Now that Disney+ is available in most countries, and with many Disney Channels shutting down internationally, the viewership of Disney Channel movie premieres are no longer wholly reliable figures to base a movie’s popularity.

As with most DCOMs, the reviews of ZOMBIES were mixed. Some said they liked the music and the choreography, and felt there was good chemistry between the two leads. It was also a welcome change to see some fresh faces on the channel for a change.

On the other hand, some did not enjoy the production design and its “excessive” use of colour. A lack of representation and diversity in the cast did not go unnoticed, and the story was seen as predictable and unoriginal, with it being seen as a bad metaphor for racism. Some went a bit over-the-top with their analysis of the movie from a zombie apocalypse point of view, saying that the bands the zombies wear would be too basic a control mechanism and would not have worked. Personally, I think those people have watched a little too much of The Walking Dead and have lost touch with reality. This wasn’t meant to be a movie about the potential or danger of a zombie apocalypse; it was simply about inclusion and integration.

The biggest issue for ZOMBIES though was that it was compared to the Descendants franchise, which was very popular with both Disney Channel and Disney Animation fans alike, as it referenced popular Disney Villains and their animated movies. ZOMBIES was even being called a rip-off before it was released, with many viewers saying they would not be watching it. Sadly, Descendants was directed by Disney Channel royalty, Kenny Ortega, the man behind High School Musical, so there was a sense of loyalty to the “Golden Age of Disney Channel” I suppose[10]. After ZOMBIES was released, Descendants fans were quick to comment that the songs were worse, and the characters and overall concept were generally lacking.

To be honest, I think it’s quite hypocritical for Descendants fans to be up in arms about ZOMBIES being a rip-off of their beloved musical franchise, since it could be seen that Descendants is simply another attempt at Disney Channel to reach the standard they hit with the High School Musical trilogy, or even that Descendants “ripped off” Disney Animation movies, and sanitised their villains. These days, everything on screen has been influenced or inspired by something, so to moan about a lack of originality is laughable.

Frankly, Disney Channel didn’t even give ZOMBIES a good sporting chance of being able to shake-off the Descendants comparisons, because Descendants 3 was officially announced during the premiere of ZOMBIES on 16^th February 2018, despite Descendants 3 not even been released until Summer 2019[11]. It’s incredibly unfair how and where Disney decided to announce Descendants 3. Were the cast and crew of ZOMBIES really not allowed their own moment in the spotlight? Could the Descendants 3 announcement not have waited a few months?

Anyway, ZOMBIES did eventually manage to find its fanbase, so it’s all good. The movie was nominated for two awards. One for Children’s Teleplay at the Humanitas Prize, however, it lost out to Netflix’s Alexa & Katie (2018-20). The other was at the Canadian Cinema Editors Awards for Best Editing in Family, Television Movie or Series, losing out to Odd Squad: World Turned Odd (2018).

LEGACY

After ZOMBIES was released, much of the cast continued to be involved with Disney in some way. For instance, Milo Manheim competed on Season 27 of Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) in October 2018, and finished in second place. His appearance on this no doubt helped to advertise ZOMBIES further. Dancing with the Stars airs on ABC, a television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company.

The cast of ZOMBIES also took part in a roughly 20-minute television special called ZOMBIES Halloween Cast Party in October 2018, which saw them perform songs from their movie and complete different Halloween-themed activities, liking making costumes and playing pranks They also engaged with a live audience of kids and tweens. This was the first Halloween since ZOMBIES had been released, so this was likely a way of getting Disney Channel viewers to watch the movie for Halloween, because zombie movies are perfect for the Halloween season and Disney Channel can promote this one because their zombies are all-singing, all-dancing!

Kylee Russell and Meg Donnelly later took part in the Disney Parks 25 Days of Christmas Holiday Party in 2018, with Russell helping to surprise a family with a VIP visit to Walt Disney World, and Donnelly performing “Mele Kalikimaka” on stage.

During the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade in 2019, Meg Donnelly performed the song “Home for the Holidays” before her and Milo Manheim introduced a sneak-peek at the upcoming Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction, which opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in March 2020.

This was potentially a use of cross-promotion, as Manheim and Donnelly were likely gearing up for their press tour that would be talking about the sequel to ZOMBIES, ZOMBIES 2, which was first announced in February 2019, a year after the first movie came out. The initial announcement stated that Manheim and Donnelly would return as Addison and Zed, but this time, the town of Seabrook would be dealing with the arrival of a pack of werewolves in the area. ZOMBIES 2 premiered in February 2020.

FINAL THOUGHTS

ZOMBIES was another musical in a long line of Disney Channel musicals. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it is a well-known fact that Disney Channel’s musical movies have always been their most popular and the ones that have generally done the best in terms of viewership, reviews, and chances of creating a franchise.

It’s not right that ZOMBIES was not given a fair chance of doing well because it was released in such proximity to the Descendants movies, which had gained a popularity similar, but not as great, as that of High School Musical; it was really the closest Disney Channel had come in almost a decade though.

Still, the door to the ZOMBIES fandom will always remain open to Descendants fans should they want to come and join the zombies and cheerleaders party! It’s not too late!

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: A.A. Cristi, ‘New York Musical Festival Announces 2017 Winners for NYMF Awards for Excellence’, BroadwayWorld.com, 7^th August 2017.

[2] Credit: Stacey Grant, ’15 Shocking “Zombies” Secrets from Stars Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly’, Seventeen.com, 20^th February 2018.

[3] Credit: Disney ZOMBIES, ‘ZOMBIES Deleted scenes Compilation’, Disney ZOMBIES YouTube Channel, 28^th March 2021.

[4] Credit: IMDB, ‘Zombies and Cheerleaders’, IMDB.com, date unknown.

[5] Credit: CBC News, ‘Disney movie shoot transforms north Hamilton homes into zombie fantasy’, CBC.ca, 5^th July 2017.

[6] Credit: Disney ZOMBIES, ‘ZOMBIES Deleted scenes Compilation’, Disney ZOMBIES YouTube Channel, 28^th March 2021.

[7] Credit: Stacey Grant, ’15 Shocking “Zombies” Secrets from Stars Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly’, Seventeen.com, 20^th February 2018.

[8] Credit: BWW News Desk, ‘Stars of Disney’s ZOMBIES Present ‘Zombies’-Themed Cheer and Announce Launch Nationwide ZOMBIES Spirit Challenge’, BroadwayWorld.com, 26^th January 2018.

[9] Credit: R. Thomas Umstead, ‘Disney Channel’s ‘Zombies’ Scares Up 2.7 Million Viewers for Premiere’, NextTV.com, 20^th February 2018.

[10] Credit: Emily Brozyna, ‘It’s Goin’ Down: Kylee Russell Really Just Wants ‘Descendants’ Fans To Give ‘Zombies’ a chance’, J-14.com, 29^th November 2017.

[11] Credit: Ariana Brockington, ‘Disney Announces ‘Descendants 3’ for 2019’, Variety.com, 16^th February 2018.

13th Jun 202516th Jan 2026 by The Disney Purist

Rip Girls (2000)

BACKGROUND

Back before Disney Channel elevated the idea of what a television movie could be with their surprise success High School Musical (2006), Disney Channel Original Movies used to be low-budget events, more about teenage and family life, and not the over-the-top, show-stopping musicals that Disney Channel seem to favour now.

It’s a well-known fact that the most memorable DCOMs tend to be those musical movies, with many gaining one, two, or even three sequels. Other non-musical DCOMs that are still remembered by the majority of viewers years after their release tend to feature a rising star of the time, like Hilary Duff in Cadet Kelly (2002).

Unless you are a die-hard Disney Channel fan, if you look at a list of all the DCOMs that have been released since 1997, when they were officially named that, there will likely be plenty of films that you’ve never heard of. For me, those films tended to be anything released before 2003, probably because 2003 was about when I started watching Disney Channel.

Rip Girls was just one of many pre-2003 DCOMs that I had never heard of until I perused the ever-growing Disney Channel Movie list, and I’d like to think that I’m not the only one who didn’t even know about it, let alone hadn’t seen it.

Released in 2000, along with eleven other DCOMs, Rip Girls is a movie set in Hawaii, and featuring a thirteen-year-old girl as she learns about her family heritage, whilst also learning how to surf. Yes, Rip Girls is yet another one of those earlier “sports movies” from Disney Channel, following in the footsteps of Brink! (1998), a movie about skating, and Johnny Tsunami (1999), another surfing movie.

I can’t say I enjoyed Rip Girls particularly. I’ve never been that excited about surfing, or sports in general, with very few of Disney Channel’s sports films interesting me, and I felt like the story was something I’d already seen before. Rip Girls is mostly meant to be centred around the teenage girl, Sydney, and her family heritage, but linked to that is a whole subplot about the family deciding whether or not to sell their inherited family home to realtors so that a huge resort can be developed in the area, something the locals obviously don’t like.

Rip Girls tries to include details about Hawaiian culture, but these become lost in amongst some of Sydney’s teenage angst and her tense relationship with her father. But I’ve seen online that Rip Girls is an underrated gem for many Disney Channel fans, so I’ll try to go easy on it. It wasn’t all bad; I’ve probably just been spoilt by the DCOMs of my childhood.

PLOT

At the beginning of Rip Girls, teenager Sydney is on a flight just about to land in Hawaii. She tells the audience that she was born in Hawaii so this is like her returning home. She left Hawaii with her father, Ben, at a very young age after her mother died. Sydney and her father now live on the US Mainland, with her father’s new wife, Elizabeth.

After landing, the three arrive at a big house. It is an old plantation called Makai that Sydney has recently inherited. The future of this land is why Sydney, Ben, and Elizabeth are here. Sydney takes the opportunity to explore the area and take photographs, with photography being a hobby of hers. She eventually ends up at the beach and watches people surfing. Sydney would love to learn how to surf, but her overprotective father doesn’t allow her to do “risky” things like that. Sydney doesn’t feel brave enough anyway.

Sydney then goes inside the house to explore. It is old and dusty – and she is soon spooked by a random black cat! Elizabeth finds she likes the place, especially some of the pillow fabrics, but Ben reminds her that they agreed not to take anything home with them. Their Hawaiian lawyer, Bo, then arrives to welcome them to the island. He tells the family they must stay on the island for two weeks, as a pre-requisite of Sydney inheriting the land. We also learn she is the sole heir. The plantation is rundown, but the locals are hoping that Sydney and the family might be willing to start it back up again. Ben is adamant that neither he nor Sydney want to do that, preferring to simply renovate the house and sell it.

Sydney later finds an old family photo album in the house and starts flicking through it. She finds a photo of her mother with a surfboard. Sydney tries to ask her father about her mother, but he won’t talk about it; he never talks about her. Sydney likes the picture though, and decides to stick it to the mirror in her room. She has little to no memories of her mother, but at least she now has a photograph.

The next day, Sydney sees that black cat again and follows it to an old shed. It is seemingly full of old equipment for the plantation, but Sydney finds a surfboard at the back, with the word “Naniloa” painted it on. She is headed to the beach with the board when she knocks over a girl on a bicycle. This girl is initially annoyed with Sydney, but her attention is then drawn to the cool surfboard. The girl introduces herself as Gia. Gia knows all about her family history and why Sydney is on the island, which makes Sydney feel a bit insecure… Sydney invites Gia back to the house, and starts showing Gia some of the photographs she’s taken since they arrived here. Gia thinks they are really cool and says she should take some photos of the surfers whilst in the water. Sydney isn’t so sure her dad would want her to do something like that though.

However, Sydney chooses to go to the beach the following day, despite her father wanting the three of them to have a family day together. He isn’t happy about her walking to the beach alone, and meeting up with people he doesn’t know. But he allows her to go, as long as she promises not to go in the water, because she doesn’t understand how dangerous the rip tides and currents can be. Sydney promises not to go in the water.

Sydney pretends to leave for the beach with only her camera, but once Ben and Elizabeth have gone inside, with two real estate agents, Sydney sneaks back to grab the surfboard she found yesterday and goes to the beach. There, she meets up with Gia, who introduces her to some of her friends. One of these friends is a boy called Kona, who is not able to surf at the moment because one of his arms is in plaster after a skateboarding accident. He stands on the beach and talks to Sydney about different surfboards, before realising that Sydney has never surfed before. Gia, Kona, and the others say they have to teach her how to surf.

After some practice on the board on sand, Gia thinks Sydney is ready to go in the water. Despite Sydney feeling scared, as well as her promise to her father, she follows Gia in to the ocean. Tut-tut; your dad is going to be so mad at you, Sydney! Unsurprisingly, Sydney wipes out almost immediately, but she’s fine. However, we then see that someone is higher up the beach watching Sydney and Gia through binoculars…Creepy… When Sydney comes home, she lies to Elizabeth about the surfing she did that day, and then changes the subject by asking about why her dad seems so stressed out right now. Elizabeth tells Sydney not to worry about it; it’s just “grown-up stuff”.

It soon becomes clear why Sydney’s father is stressed out and that’s because of Sydney’s inherited land. The real estate agents from the day before invite the family to their office to discuss plans. It turns out these realtors are only too excited to have a teenager inherit the land with a father who has no desire to stay in Hawaii and actually needs money from the sale. Prime targets for a scam. Well, to be fair, the realtors aren’t con artists, but they don’t care about this community. It turns out they want to use Sydney’s land to build a huge resort complex, something they’ve wanted to do for a while but the previous owner, Sydney’s great-aunt, would never sell, so they were unable to. The realtors show off their grand plans, but Sydney isn’t interested and leaves the adults to talk. Sydney just wants to practise her surfing.

Once the meeting is over, Sydney goes down to the beach to meet up with Gia. Sydney finds that her surfing is definitely improving as she manages to stand up on the board for the first time! Gia and Sydney then watch Kona skateboarding, where Sydney tells Gia she likes Kona. Gia plans to tell Kona immediately, but Sydney begs her not to say anything. The girls then go back out in the water, but Sydney catches a bad wave and struggles under the water. Gia can’t get to her quick enough. Luckily, Kona has seen Sydney struggling and runs into the water to save her. Together, Kona and Gia get her to the shore.

Sydney is alright but has a small cut on her head. Gia says they should take her to her mother, Malia. Sydney must’ve passed out or something because she later wakes up in Malia’s house. She tells Malia that it was like she had an out-of-body experience. Malia gives her a herbal drink to make her feel better. Sydney still feels scared to go back in the water though, so Malia tells Sydney that she knew Sydney’s mother. They both loved to surf, and that board Sydney has, which got damaged in the near-drowning-incident, was Sydney’s mother’s, with “Naniloa” being her mother’s nickname. Sydney wants to know more about her mother, so Malia takes her to a mountaintop overlooking a sacred beach. Malia tells her that this is where she used to go with Sydney’s mother, as this is where the whales come sometimes and when they do, there is a ceremony for the event. Sydney hopes to be able to experience that during her stay in Hawaii.

Sydney then returns home to find that Elizabeth and Sydney’s father have been incredibly worried about her since she hadn’t come home on time. Sydney’s dad was out looking for her, but comes back to see she has returned home, but he is not at all happy. Sydney tells her father she hurt herself surfing, causing her dad to freak out and start shouting at Malia who brought Sydney home. It’s clear there is bad blood between the two of them, but Sydney has no idea why, making it even more obvious to her that her dad is keeping secrets.

The next day, Sydney talks to Gia on the beach about what happened the night before with Gia’s mother and her father. Gia lets it slip that Sydney’s mother was in a surfing accident, but when she sees that Sydney didn’t know, Gia backtracks, saying she probably has gotten it all wrong and that’s not even what happened. This leads Sydney to do some research. She finds an old article about her mother and goes to tell Gia about it, but she’s busy praying for better waves. This is soon interrupted by a group of boys starting a water fight… Sydney goes to Kona to talk instead. First, Kona shows Sydney a picture he drew of her surfing; Sydney loves it. Then, Sydney asks if he can take her to Kaala Loa, which was mentioned in the article. He says it’s abandoned and they’ll have to get there on horseback but they can definitely go. Sydney walks around Kaala Loa and feels like she remembers being in one of the bedrooms; it turns out this was Sydney’s mother’s childhood home.

Later, Sydney and her family find that the realtors have agreed plans for their new resort and promise a good price for the land. They will need an answer about the sale soon. Back home that night, Sydney isn’t sure what to do about the sale, when Kona and Gia come to take her to that sacred beach for a luau as the whales are coming back. At the party, Kona and Sydney kiss for the first time, but the evening takes a turn, when, whilst watching the whales, Sydney asks Malia to tell her about her mother’s accident. Malia isn’t sure whether she should be the one to tell Sydney but does so anyway. One day, Malia and Sydney’s mother went out surfing together, and the waves were great; everything was fine. As they headed back to the beach though, Sydney’s mother was struck by multiple huge waves and nobody was able to save her from drowning… Instead of getting closure, learning about the accident makes Sydney angry, angry with her mother for leaving her, and angry at her father for keeping her mother’s death a secret for so long. Sydney has a heart-to-heart with her father when Sydney has calmed down a bit, and says he doesn’t like to talk about it because he feels guilty that he wasn’t at the beach that day and wasn’t able to save her. He then felt even more guilty when he found love with Elizabeth so struggled to talk about it. They then talk about the sale of the land. Her father says it is Sydney’s decision on the house, and not his, but he can’t lie; the money from the sale would be good for the family.

Sydney goes to meet up with her friends again, but she cannot find Gia anywhere, and Sydney learns that the whole community is mad at her because the local paper has printed a story saying that the resort is coming. Sydney tries to tell them that nothing has been decided yet, but she is ignored. Sydney then goes to speak with Malia, but only finds Kona there. Kona is helping Malia fix up Sydney’s surfboard, by putting his drawing of Sydney on to it. Kona tells Sydney that Gia stood up for her in front of the others, and lets Sydney know where Gia might be.

She finds Gia on a small stretch of beach; this is Gia’s hiding place, somewhere she goes when she’s trying to work things out in her mind, like why her father doesn’t visit her more often. Talk soon turns to the resort complex, and the fact part of the beach is going to be designated for tourists only. Sydney says the lagoon with the whales will be preserved, but Gia reminds her the whales won’t come with all the increased tourism. Gia says she hoped that by showing Sydney the island she wouldn’t want to sell the land. Gia says that her mother wanted her to do that. Sydney then accuses Gia of only being her friend to stop the sale of the land. Gia tries to say that she really is her friend, but the conversation turns into an argument, and Sydney walks off, saying she’s definitely selling the land now and can’t wait to get off this island. At the realtors’ office, paperwork is laid out in front of Sydney. She only has to sign on the dotted line. Sydney sees her former friends outside and wonders if she’s doing the right thing.

After the meeting, Sydney heads to Gia’s house and talks with Malia, who says it was probably unfair to expect this of someone who left the island so young, but that she’d hoped Sydney would have felt at home here and wouldn’t have wanted to sell. Malia gives Sydney a locket, which contains a photo of Sydney and her mother together. Sydney then tries to find Gia, but Kona doesn’t know where she is. Sydney then has a horrible thought: that Gia has gone surfing alone. Sydney runs to the place where she found Gia the other day, and finds all her stuff on the beach and her board in the water. Sydney grabs Gia’s board and swims out in to the sea, where she sees Gia struggling in the water. She manages to get Gia on to the board and paddles back to the beach with her. Gia has hurt her arm but she’s mostly alright. The two apologise for their fight, and Sydney tells her the good news: that she didn’t sign the contract and that her and her family are going to live here now! Malia and Ben, Sydney’s father, also make amends for the past.

The movie ends with Sydney out in the ocean, where she drops a lei into the water. She says this is a memorial to her mother, and hopes that by staying in Hawaii, she’ll continue to learn about her and feel closer to her.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Sydney Miller is only thirteen-years-old, but she’s found herself in the position of owning a former plantation in Hawaii, thanks to family connections on her mother’s side. Sydney is excited to be back in Hawaii, as she left when she was very young and hopes to be able to feel closer to her mother by being there. But instead of being involved in boring property discussions, Sydney wants to hang out with people her own age and learn how to surf, something her father would never let her do normally. This is Sydney being rebellious, I guess! Sydney soon learns that inheriting land here comes with quite a responsibility. Sydney is already aware of the community’s thoughts on the situation, and knows about the dangers of destroying natural environments, so she realises that she doesn’t want to sell, and would rather stay in Hawaii, wanting to learn more about her mother. When Sydney realises that she was being manipulated by Gia and her mother to get her to reconsider selling the land though, she feels betrayed and wants to sell out of spite – but she just can’t do it. She loves life on the island, and luckily, her father and stepmother are happy to stay.

Camilla Belle was cast as Sydney, having already acted in a few small roles prior to Rip Girls. One of these was appearing as Jane in A Little Princess, the 1995 adaptation of the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. She was then cast as Cathy Bowman in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), the first (of many) Jurassic Park sequels. Around the time of Rip Girls, she also starred as Lizzie in the television movie Back to the Secret Garden (2000). Belle may also be known for her role as Nora in the film From Prada to Nada (2011), which starred former Spy Kids actress Alexa Vega as her sister, Mary. More recently, Belle appeared as Melyssa in the comedy series Dollface (2019-22), and in the recurring role of Pearl Serrano in Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021-present).

Ben Miller is Sydney’s father. He does not want to be in Hawaii with all those bad memories of his wife’s death, and only wants to be there for the required two weeks. In that time, he seemingly pushes for the sale of the land, despite their lawyer’s attempts to get them to consider starting up the plantation again, or at least stay in the house permanently. It doesn’t work, and that is partly due to financial concerns. Although Ben tells his daughter that the decision on whether to sell the land or not is up to her, Ben is certainly the one calling the shots with all the realtor meetings, and clearly doesn’t expect Sydney to consider staying in Hawaii. He probably hoped that if he never told Sydney about her mother and their life on the island, then she’d have no ties to the area and wouldn’t want to stay, but it’s because of his secrecy and overprotective nature that Sydney starts to dig deeper in to learning about her mother. When the truth is revealed, Ben tells Sydney he never told her about her mother because he felt guilt that he couldn’t save her on that day. He does also say that the choice of selling the land is solely up to her, and that they could talk about staying if that’s what she wanted. Well, she did want to stay, so Ben had to learn to get through the difficult moments of the past and move forward!

Ben was played by Dwier Brown. He was cast as John Kinsella in the movie Field of Dreams (1989), which starred Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones. He later appeared as Dr. David Herlihy in Season 3 of ER (1994-2009) and guest starred in many other series.

Elizabeth Miller is Ben’s second wife and Sydney’s stepmother. She is the only mother that Sydney has ever really known, however, the three of them are not a particularly close family unit. It seems like Elizabeth is quite wary of not acting too much like Sydney’s mother, and she tries to explain away some of Ben’s overprotectiveness. Elizabeth also states during Rip Girls that she has always felt like the ghost of Sydney’s mother has been following them around, because Ben is so determined to keep the circumstances of Sydney’s mother’s passing a secret. In the end, Ben manages to move past this and they both seem happy with Sydney’s decision to stay in Hawaii.

Elizabeth was played by Lauren Sinclair. Sinclair had previously been cast as Agent Winters in the movie Face/Off (1997), starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage, and starred as Emma in the thriller The Mystery of Spoon River (2000).

Soon after arriving on the island, Sydney literally bumps into Gia, knocking her off her bike. It looks like these two have a real friendship, bonding over surfing and Gia showing Sydney around the island, however, it later is revealed that actually Gia was initially pretending to be Sydney’s friend in the hopes that Sydney might decide not to sell her family’s land, not wanting further development on the island. This causes an argument between them as Gia tries to say it started off that way, but now she knows Sydney, they have become friends. Sydney doesn’t believe her and storms off, threatening to go ahead with the sale. Knowing that Gia has upset her friend, she decides to go surfing alone to clear her head, but this turns out to be a big mistake as she is knocked off her board and injured. Luckily, Sydney shows she is still Gia’s friend by coming to her rescue, and the two reconcile, apologising for their fight. Gia was played by Stacie Hess.

Gia “pretending” to be friends with Sydney was her mother, Malia’s, idea. But Malia wasn’t doing this to be mean or even doing this solely to protect the community. She actually did this because she wanted Sydney to learn about her family heritage, because if she knew more about it, then she might feel connected to the area and would want to stay. This probably wasn’t the way to go about it, and this causes friction between Sydney and Gia, as well as friction between Malia and Ben, who accuses Malia of putting Sydney’s life in danger when Malia brings her home after Sydney’s surfing incident. In the end, Malia and Ben put the past behind them, and decide to be friends again now that Sydney and her family are planning to stay on the island. There is also something that was never resolved in Rip Girls and that is the identity of the person watching Sydney surfing with Gia on the beach early on in the film. We’re led to believe that this is a big mystery that will be revealed later – but then it’s not. It’s not really known who this person is, but I believe it is most likely to be Malia, checking that Gia was doing as she was told.

Jeanne Mori was cast as Malia. She had previously guest starred in episodes of series, such as Night Court (1984-92); Sister, Sister (1994-99); and ER (1994-2009). She was also cast as Helm in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).

Sydney’s love interest in Rip Girls is skateboarder Kona. Kona clearly likes Sydney, as he dives into the ocean to save her from drowning, despite his arm being in plaster, which was completely ruined afterwards. No doubt Kona’s doctor was not happy with him about that! The two also kiss at the luau, however, we don’t see very much between them after this point, with the plot’s focus moving to Sydney’s mother and the sale of the land. I’m sure with Sydney choosing to stay in Hawaii, they managed to rekindle their teenage romance! Kona was played by Brian Christopher Stark, who went on to be cast as Zack in Season 5 of the MTV anthology series Undressed (1999-2002).

We also have Bo, the Miller’s lawyer on the island. Bo makes it obvious that he doesn’t agree with the Miller’s plan to sell, or with the realtors’ plans to build a huge resort complex on the land, but he is not paid to give his opinion so he doesn’t actually say very much in the movie after his initial introduction. I guess he was glad that they decided not to sell. The reason I mention Bo is because actor Keone Young appeared in another DCOM: Return to Halloweentown (2006), where he was cast as Silas Sinister. Young also has links to other Disney projects, including voicing Lord Qin in the direct-to-video Disney sequel Mulan II (2004); voicing additional characters in Disney Animation’s Wish (2023); voicing the character of Luong Lao Shi in Disney Channel’s animated series American Dragon: Jake Long (2005-07); and voicing characters in Disney XD’s Star Wars Rebels (2014-18).

PRODUCTION

Despite being set in Hawaii, strangely, Rip Girls was filmed in Queensland, Australia.

I’m not sure why this would be, especially as other Disney productions have filmed in Hawaii before. Johnny Tsunami (1999) is just one of those. Although not set or filmed entirely in Hawaii – some of the film is set in the snowy mountains of Vermont – the portions of the movie that are set in Hawaii were filmed there[1]. This was just one year prior to Rip Girls. Hawaii is closer to the USA than Australia too, so it seems an odd decision. I can only assume it was a budgetary reason. The good news is Disney now do tend to use Hawaii for their Hawaiian-set movies and television series, including the Disney+ series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (2021-23), and the 2025 live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch.

In terms of specific filming locations in Queensland that Rip Girls used, these details are hard to come by, with only Cabarita Beach being specifically mentioned[2].

Rip Girls was directed by Joyce Chopra. Chopra is known for directing the movie Smooth Talk (1985), which starred Laura Dern and Treat Williams and won the Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic) at the 1986 Sundance Film Festival. The screenplay was written by her husband, screenwriter and playwright Tom Cole. Chopra then directed The Lemon Sisters (1990), starring Diane Keaton. Chopra went on to also direct some episodes of television series, such as Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001-11) and Everwood (2002-06).

Rip Girls was written by Jeanne Rosenberg, who had previously co-written the screenplay for the Disney live-action film White Fang (1991). Rosenberg was later credited with working on the story for Bambi II, the direct-to-video sequel of Disney Animation’s Bambi (1942), alongside director of the film Brian Pimental.

MUSIC

Much like many Disney Channel movies, Rip Girls’ soundtrack consists of mostly pop music.

This film’s most famous song was actually removed from the Disney+ version of the film. This song was “Rev It Up”, performed by Irish girl group B*Witched, known for their 1998 single “C’est la Vie” amongst others. They even performed “Rev It Up” at a 1999 concert filmed at Disneyland, as well as some of their biggest hits – as did UK boy band Five. However, probably due to copyright issues, the song has been removed from Rip Girls, as it appears on Disney’s streaming service. It was played during the scene when Sydney manages to stand up on her surfboard for the first time. The song that replaced “Rev It Up” was “I Know You Can Do It” performed by Tyler van den Berg. I think this song is just as much fun as “Rev It Up” and suits the scene.

Another piece of pop music used in Rip Girls, when Sydney is at the beach with Gia and she introduces Sydney to her surfer friends, is apparently called “Girltoy” and performed by the band Girltoy. Randomly, it comes from the 1988 album titled Seeking the Death Penalty; not exactly a song you’d expect to hear in a Disney film!

There is also the song “It’s Like That” performed by The Sha Shees, featuring Doc One, and written by Stanley A. Smith and Michael Layne. This song plays as Sydney finds Kona working to fix Sydney’s surfboard at Malia’s house. “It’s Like That” was credited in the End Credits of Rip Girls.

The only other song actually credited in this movie is the song “No Ke Ano Ahiahi”, performed by Moe Keale from “South Sea Island Magic”. This is a traditional piece of Hawaiian music, which is being played as Sydney, Gia, and Kona arrive at the luau ceremony. “Hukia Mai A”, another traditional Hawaiian piece, is used when Sydney meets up with Gia and her friends again after the initial meeting at the realtors’ office, discussing plans for this new resort. It was performed by Kapono Beamer & Mac Prindy.

Then, there is background music playing when Sydney approaches Gia’s friends and they confront her about the news article stating her and her family are selling their land. This song is not easily audible over the dialogue, so I’ve been unable to find it.

Phil Marshall is credited as being the composer for Rip Girls. He worked on the music for multiple 1990s and early 2000s Disney Channel Original Movies, including Zenon: Girl of the 21^st Century (1999) and its 2001 sequel; Johnny Tsunami (1999); Stepsister from the Planet Weird (2000); The Ultimate Christmas Present (2000); and Pixel Perfect (2004).

RECEPTION

Rip Girls first aired on Disney Channel on 22^nd April 2000.

It is not known how well Rip Girls did in terms of viewing figures on its premiere date. This is the case with many of the older Disney Channel Original Movies from the late 1990s and early 2000s. It looks like around 3 million was around the average for this time.

Judging by the audience reviews I’ve read for Rip Girls, the majority of them are positive. It seems that few people know about Rip Girls, but those that do love it.

Many said it was a decent movie from Disney Channel, showcasing Hawaiian culture and its great scenery. Yes, all that great Australian scenery… I guess it’s not that obvious if you haven’t been to either place, like me; I wasn’t able to tell it wasn’t filmed in Hawaii. Others also said it handled some mature themes well, such as the death of a family member, and the responsibility we all have to understand and appreciate our heritage, as well as environmental concerns about staying connected to the land and nature. Many say that Rip Girls is an underrated DCOM.

On the other hand, though, some didn’t like the predictable plot and felt that the communication issues between Sydney and her father were unbelievable, saying that Sydney’s father was written poorly.

I personally did not enjoy much of Rip Girls, finding that the storyline was a little overly dramatic, like why would Gia go out surfing alone when she knew the risks? Or, how could Sydney have let her father keep secrets about her mother for this long, only for chance encounters with strangers to have them all come out? I also didn’t like Sydney’s father much; he was really pushy with the sale of the land, only to then say “it’s completely your decision – but we really do need the money”.

Camilla Belle and Stacie Hess were both nominated at the 22^nd Young Artist Awards for their performances in Rip Girls, in the categories of Best Performance in a TV Movie (Drama): Leading Young Actress and Supporting Young Actress. Belle actually lost out to Shadia Simmons for her role in another 2000 Disney Channel film, The Color of Friendship.

LEGACY

Rip Girls is regularly compared with fellow DCOM Johnny Tsunami (1999), which happened to be released only a year before and also features a young teenage surfer, only in this case, the main character is a teenage boy, and in Johnny Tsunami, the lead character moves away from Hawaii, whereas Sydney moves to Hawaii in Rip Girls.

Others have said that Universal’s movie Blue Crush (2002) was a failed copy of Rip Girls. Although Blue Crush is about a group of female friends learning to surf in Hawaii, it does seem quite different to Rip Girls, with its maturity level being a big differentiator. Another is that it was based on a 1998 article by Susan Orlean about young surfer girls in Maui, and therefore could not have taken ideas from Rip Girls’ story.

Now, there are over 100 Disney Channel movies, of all different genres. Yet, despite Rip Girls premiering in a time when Disney Channel seemed to favour quantity over quality, at least in terms of production value, not necessarily story, Rip Girls has managed to make it onto lists ranking some of the top 50 or even top 40 DCOMs. For example, it was ranked at No. 39 in a Top 40 list for Entertainment Weekly, with other Disney Channel “sports movies” like Brink! (1998) and Johnny Tsunami being favoured ahead of it. Rip Girls was said to be forgettable but enjoyable; not the best review tagline, but it’s still good for Rip Girls to make it onto this Top 40 list[3]. Rip Girls was also included on a Teen Vogue list without a particular order of the best 48 Disney Channel movies[4].

Rip Girls recently celebrated its 25^th anniversary in 2025, however, as not too many people have heard of it, there wasn’t much fanfare around the milestone date, apart from the odd comment on social media and online.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It would seem that I began watching Disney Channel just as the tide was turning around their original movies. Their movies became high budget affairs, with more star quality, from around 2003/2004.

Rip Girls was from a different era of DCOM, and one that I don’t particularly like. It’s not the movie’s fault; it’s just not the type of movie I’m used to seeing from Disney Channel.

But if you did watch Rip Girls or Disney Channel movies in the late 1990s and early 2000s, then chances are you remember this movie, or others similar to it. It tells a story about family and heritage, which is important; encourages kids to listen to their own intuition; as well as touches on the necessity of respecting our natural environment.

I’m sure Rip Girls encouraged a generation to try out surfing too!

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Revealed Travel Guides, ‘Lesser-Known Hawaii Movies and TV Shows’, RevealedTravelGuides.com, date unknown.

[2] Credit: D23, ‘Ask Archives’, D23.com/ask-dave, date unknown.

[3] Credit: EW Staff and James Mercadente, ‘The 40 best Disney Channel Original Movies, ranked’, EW.com, 1^st July 2024.

[4] Credit: Kristi Kellogg and Liv McConnell, ‘The 48 Best Disney Channel Original Movies We’ll Never Outgrow’, TeenVogue.com, 20^th February 2023.

30th May 20256th Feb 2026 by The Disney Purist

Geek Charming (2011)

BACKGROUND

How many high school movies base their whole story around prom, or someone wanting to be Prom Queen? I’ll give you a hint: A LOT.

Disney Channel’s Geek Charming is no different, although instead of wanting to be Prom Queen, the main character wants to be Blossom Queen, seemingly the springtime equivalent. It’s either completely different or exactly the same, depending on how cynical you are. Regardless, we’re supposed to think that being Blossom Queen is super important.

I’m very cynical about prom and that’s probably got something to do with the fact I’m British and prom here is not the same as prom in the US, so this emphasis on how exciting prom is and how crucial it is to be crowned Prom Queen means very little to me. I was also not one of the popular girls at school so I would’ve had little to no chance of being voted Prom Queen even if it had been a thing at my school.

Maybe all this combined is why I didn’t like Geek Charming. The whole story revolves around “Queen Bee” Dylan’s drive to become Blossom Queen but when she invites a “geeky” boy into her social circle, she slowly changes and becomes unpopular. That sounds like a very tame version of Mean Girls (2004), doesn’t it? Perhaps more like Mean Girls 2 (2011), its sequel that was led by Disney Channel stars and lacked all the bite of the original.

That’s how I felt watching Geek Charming. This wasn’t even the first time I’d watched it. I didn’t watch it the year it was released, because I was drifting away from Disney Channel around that time, but I watched it a few years later on Disney Life, that UK and Europe streaming app that turned out to be a precursor to Disney+. I don’t remember liking the film, but I didn’t think I hated it. That just shows how much things can change over the years, because I actually really didn’t like Geek Charming and couldn’t wait for it to be over.

It dragged on and on, taking ages to get to an ending we’d already managed to play out in our heads before it was confirmed on screen. The story was predictable, the characters were not particularly likeable – I didn’t even manage to figure out the names of most of the minor characters – and I didn’t laugh once, not even out of awkwardness or embarrassment, as I have watching plenty of other DCOMs I didn’t like. This movie didn’t make me feel much at all to be perfectly honest. I understand that Geek Charming is not aimed at adults, and I could see it trying to have a deeper meaning to it, by giving Dylan a less shallow side to her, but that wasn’t enough for me to get on board with it.

PLOT

Dylan is a popular teenage girl, who is dreaming of becoming her school’s Blossom Queen, so much so she is literally daydreaming about that moment of winning the crown when we first meet her.

We then find that Dylan is at school, being asked if she would like to sign up to run for Blossom Queen. She most definitely does and adds her name to the list. Dylan and her two friends, Hannah and Lola, head to the lunchroom where they survey the area, although they know exactly where they’ll be sitting: up on a ramp with all the other populars, so they can literally feel mightier than the lowly crowd below them. Dylan spots her closest competition for Blossom Queen – Nicole, a cheerleader – on her way to her table.

But as Dylan and her friends discuss this, some “geek” spills his lunch all over Dylan – how dare he! Dylan proceeds to scream at him in front of everyone, with this “geek”, Josh, struggling to defend himself. The movie cuts to show Josh and Dylan talking about how they reacted to this incident. These little cuts happen quite frequently; it’ll all make sense at the end. We then see what really happened. Josh was walking behind Dylan and her friends with his lunch tray when Dylan sprayed her perfume all around herself, with some getting into Josh’s eyes, causing him to bump in to them, so it was all an accident. Dylan storms off to her table.

Josh meets up with his three friends, who are all part of Film Club, and Josh is their president. Josh starts to wonder about the world of the populars, but is quickly distracted by his crush, cool girl Amy, walking past. His friends tell him Amy is way out of Josh’s league. Josh basically agrees with this and turns the conversation to a film competition Josh wants to enter so he can win a spot at Hollywood Film Camp. Josh goes to his teacher, Mr. F, with his initial idea: to make a documentary on robot voices. Mr. F doesn’t think this is challenging enough and thinks Josh should do a documentary on something human.

Later that day, Dylan is with her dad, a real estate owner, at the mall where he is talking about a potential new store. Dylan waits for a gap in the conversation to ask if she can have some help with marketing for her Blossom Queen campaign. Her father refuses to do this and rushes off to a meeting. Dylan talks to her friends instead, but soon drops her very expensive handbag in the mall fountain. Dylan cries for security to turn off the fountain and retrieve it, but nobody cares enough to listen. You know, First World problems and all that. Luckily, Josh was working at a phone store nearby and hears the commotion. Josh comes to the rescue by striding into the fountain and returning Dylan’s bag to her. Dylan takes it and walks away without even a “thank you”, leading Josh to go after her. Josh snatches “Mr. Sanchez” back – yes, Dylan names her bags – and asks for a favour instead. He pitches the idea of Dylan starring in his documentary film which will be all about popularity. Dylan decides that if this film is good, it’ll be even better publicity for her Blossom Queen campaign than anything Nicole cab come up with, so she agrees – with some strict rules, for example, Josh can only be around her during filming times. Nice.

At home, we learn that, although Dylan lives in a big, fancy house, her life is very lonely. It’s even worse today because their housekeeper, Marta, is out at the dentist. Dylan throws her soaked handbag into the dryer and eats her dinner alone, before going to her room. In her room, she looks at a photo of herself and Amy. It turns out those two used to be best friends before high school. It’s also revealed that Dylan’s mum has died, as we see Dylan look over some of her old things, including a dress. In contrast, Josh comes home to a loving dog and a doting mother, who might have some wacky culinary skills but is there for him nonetheless. Josh tells his mother about his new documentary and how the subject will be popular girl Dylan. She is excited for him. Mr. F also approves the idea so it goes ahead.

The next day at school, Josh sits with Dylan and her friends at lunch, up on that ramp, though his way to the table is almost blocked by jocks who don’t understand why a geek would be sitting in their sacred area. Josh begins filming. Dylan tells the camera that being popular is not easy, and that she has a lot of things she has to keep up with, like making sure she’s looking pretty and fashionable at all times, as well as doing “charity work”, which, for Dylan, involves helping tragic “fashion victims”. Dylan introduces her boyfriend, Asher, who is a volleyball player. Dylan adores Asher, but he doesn’t seem all that in to her…

After school, Josh continues filming Dylan as she goes shopping, which is crucial to helping the country’s economy, of course! Dylan trashes cheerleader Nicole on camera too, saying how she is only “cheerleader popular”, whatever that means. She later trashes her friends, Lola and Hannah, saying that her popularity is contagious and that is why they hang out with her, in the hope that some of that popularity will rub off on them. When Dylan goes into the changing rooms, Josh takes the opportunity to talk to Lola and Hannah about Dylan. They tell Josh that Asher only likes Dylan because she worships him and that Dylan is a total drama queen. I’m pretty sure Josh had already worked that one out for himself! As they leave the store and head to a diner, Dylan is asked what her life goals are. She says becoming Blossom Queen is her only goal because if she doesn’t achieve that, then her life is over. She also talks about how people have to stay in their correct social circles and cannot mix outside of them, otherwise terrible misunderstandings could happen, like how Josh might think that he can ask Dylan out just because he is hanging out with her, leading to potential embarrassment for him. Wow.

Josh reviews his footage that evening and tells his mum how he is struggling to get anything deeper from Dylan, believing her to just be as shallow as she appears. Josh’s mum tells him that probably isn’t the case and the only way to get Dylan to reveal her true self is to dig deeper, like all good filmmakers do.

The next day, Josh is invited to film Dylan at a beach party. Josh brings along his Film Club friends, Steven and Ari, to help with the documentary, by shooting some “B-roll”. Josh sees Amy litter-picking around the beach and stars to talk to her, but Dylan sees the attention is not being focused on her and throws a ball at Josh, telling him to return to her so they can get back to the documentary. Dylan talks about Amy with Josh, saying how she isn’t popular enough for Dylan to hang out with anymore. Asher’s volleyball team, although losing initially causing Asher to be rude and moody with Dylan, end up winning their match and announce they are going out to get pizza, despite the fact Dylan has already booked for everyone to go to a sushi restaurant. Nobody wants sushi so they all leave to get pizza.

As Dylan heads back to her car, she sees it is being towed for unpaid driving tickets. Josh says he’ll give her a ride home. Dylan doesn’t want to get into his old, rundown car but has little choice, however, as they try to leave, Josh finds his car battery is dead and they’ll need to walk to a gas station. Josh tells Dylan she’s welcome to wait in the car but she doesn’t want to be seen by anyone in his car, so she walks with Josh. On the way though, Dylan hurts her ankle and makes Josh carry her. They then get into an argument as Josh calls Dylan a diva. Josh quits the documentary, as does Dylan.

Josh talks to his teacher back at school, wanting to change his documentary subject but he is told it is too late to change subject. Also at school, Dylan is canvassing for votes to be Blossom Queen but her speech is interrupted by Nicole who starts doing cheers and handing out free cupcakes. This seems to work as girls who Dylan was sure would vote for her now seem to be planning on voting for Nicole. Dylan realises she needs Josh’s documentary or she has no chance of winning. Dylan finds a leaflet for a Film Night in the bag of one of Josh’s friends, Caitlin. She decides to go there and apologise to Josh.

At the movie, Dylan surprises Josh by making an appearance. She pretends to like science-fiction films and shocks Josh and his friends by actually liking the movie they watched and even has some smart comments about it. Dylan is about to catch the bus home, since she still doesn’t have her car, but Josh says he can drive her home. They talk about restarting filming on the documentary since they both need each other. Josh agrees as long as Dylan stops acting like a diva.

Josh is invited into Dylan’s house and he learns that Dylan’s mum died and the real reason Dylan wants to be Blossom Queen so badly is because her mum was one too. Josh says his dad lives in San Diego so he kind of understands what it’s like to not have a parent around. Dylan decides to show Josh how to make the best ice-cream sundae and they mess around making those. Talk soon turns to each other’s love lives, with both of them disapproving of the others choices. Dylan changes the subject by saying she thinks Josh needs a makeover. He agrees to her plan. They go out shopping and to the salon, and turn Josh into a cooler version of himself. Josh takes Dylan to his house for dinner where his mother believes the two of them are dating. Dylan says they are not, although she thinks Josh is a good guy, but she has a boyfriend.

Dylan walks to school with Josh the next day so he can debut his new look. The girls all seem to love it, although Josh’s friends don’t like who is becoming. He continues to ditch his friends to eat lunch with Dylan and the populars, creating a divide between them. Dylan spending so much time with Josh is irritating her friends and Asher too. Dylan convinces Josh to ask Amy out on a date, proving that Dylan does not have a crush on Josh, nor does he on her, like everyone thinks. Amy agrees to a date on Saturday.

At work that day, Josh meets Dylan’s father who invites him to dinner at their house as he also believes the two of them are dating. Dylan comes home to find her father watching sci-fi films and eating junk food with Josh. They again reiterate that they are not together. Dylan’s dad is a bit disappointed as he likes Josh much better than Asher, and Dylan is much more herself around Josh as is proven by her competing in a burping contest with both of them, something Josh caught on camera, along with other silly antics. A rough cut of Josh’s documentary is needed soon but is progressing well.

On Saturday, Josh tries to figure out where to take Amy but it turns out they don’t have much in common. Josh takes her to Asher’s party, where Dylan suggested they went. At the party, Amy tries to get Josh to dance with her but he seems more interested in spending time with Dylan so she tells him to talk to her. Dylan, meanwhile, is upset after Nicole calls her a loser, believing she’ll lose out on Blossom Queen. Josh finds Dylan sat alone and they talk about Amy. It turns out Dylan ditched Amy when they were younger, believing Dylan would forever be in Amy’s shadow. Dylan then tells Josh he needs to flirt with Amy, and starts to show him how to do that. Who should come in and see them both sat so close together but Asher and Amy. Dylan rushes after Asher, and Josh leaves with Amy. He asks her to the dance but Amy says no, since it’s quite clear he likes Dylan.

The next day, Dylan oversleeps and loses a contact lens. She decides to try her luck at school without wearing her glasses, because they’re so uncool, but when she gets a note from Asher, she puts her glasses on to read it, shocking her friends. It’s a note breaking up with her. Asher tells Dylan she’s changed and should just go to the dance with Josh. Dylan tries to talk to Josh at lunch but he has a strict film deadline to meet so he says he can’t spend time with her right now. Josh goes back to sitting with his friends who tell him that they voted in Caitlin as Film Club President because Josh hadn’t had time for them. Dylan also learns she has lost her seat at the cool table. To make things worse, Dylan sees Lola and Hannah shopping for the dance without her after school. They tell her they didn’t invite her because she’s always with Josh. Dylan goes home and has a quiet dinner with her father and his girlfriend. She believes that Josh’s film will be worth all this.

At the Film Festival, the whole school, including Dylan, is there to watch Josh’s movie, titled “The Popularity Project”. Dylan starts watching and is horrified to learn that Josh has made her look like a mean, bitchy bimbo and everyone is laughing at her. Dylan walks out before the movie ends. Josh goes after her but Dylan is too annoyed at him to listen. She hates her old self and all he has done is embarrass her in front of everyone.

Amy, who did watch the whole film, goes to Dylan’s house the next day with a DVD of the film. She tells Dylan to watch it all, to understand what Josh was trying to do. It turns out everyone loved seeing the vulnerable, smart, goofy side of Dylan. Dylan apologises to Amy for ignoring her for all these years. Amy says she understands and that even though Dylan stopped being her friend, Amy didn’t stop being hers.

At Spring Formal, Dylan shows up wearing her mother’s dress. All her old friends, like Hannah, Lola, and Asher, who dropped her so quickly just a couple of days ago, are now desperate to be her friend again after Josh’s documentary turned out to be a hit. Blossom Queen is soon announced and Dylan has won it. She makes a speech talking about how it’s better to be yourself and not to change to please others. Dylan appreciates having true friends, like Amy and Josh now. Dylan then finds Josh and apologises to him for what she said about his movie. She actually really liked it and appreciated it. The two kiss and dance together, becoming an official couple.

The end of the movie shows Dylan and Josh talking to the camera, saying how that was the story of how the “princess” and the “film geek” met. So, now all the weird reaction cuts make sense; this whole film was meant to be a documentary. Josh and Dylan apologise for the names they called each other, and the two walk off together.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Dylan initially comes across as a snobby, entitlement little rich girl at the start of Geek Charming. All she cares about is being popular and pretty, so that she can become Blossom Queen at her school’s Spring Formal. She has her two sidekicks, Lola and Hannah, and her jock boyfriend Asher to complete the cliché. Dylan is completely self-centred and quite bitchy to those she feels are lesser than her – which is pretty much everyone, even her two friends. Gradually, we learn that this is just a façade that Dylan has put on because she never felt her actual self would get anywhere in life. Dylan is actually intelligent, thoughtful, and has her geeky moments, like everyone. She also lost her mother at a young age, and the only reason she wants to be Blossom Queen is because it’ll make her feel closer to her. I wish she had a different way of feeling closer to her mother which wasn’t about winning a popularity contest, like trying to get into the same college as her mum or something; that might’ve made me feel some empathy towards Dylan. The message of the movie just doesn’t work with this goal, because Dylan figured out that having true friends is better than being popular by winning a contest that’s all about who is the most popular! It would have been better for Dylan not to win Blossom Queen, so she could learn you don’t always get what you want. Although Dylan as a character has grown by the end of the movie, I still find her difficult to understand and like.

Sarah Hyland was cast as Dylan. She is most known for her role as Haley Dunphy in the ABC sitcom Modern Family (2009-20). She has also had roles in romantic comedy films, like playing Ava in Date and Switch (2014); Mara in The Wedding Year (2019); and Kelly in My Fake Boyfriend (2022), which also starred Disney Channel alum Dylan Sprouse. More recently, Hyland appeared as Heidi in Peacock’s Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin (2022), a spin-off to the film series, and is currently starring as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby on Broadway, alongside Ryan McCartan from Disney Channel’s Liv and Maddie (2013-17).

Then we have “geek” Josh. Josh’s first encounter with Dylan in this movie is when he spills his lunch over her. It isn’t actually his fault; it is Dylan’s erratic perfume spraying that caused it, but Dylan certainly makes him suffer, by screaming at him in the middle of the cafeteria. Josh doesn’t care though. He doesn’t even like Dylan. He has his Film Club friends and his crush on Amy. Josh is only focused on making his documentary, so he can achieve his dream of making movies on Hollywood. Josh later manages to convince Dylan to show her true self, which helps her self-confidence and proves to be more likeable than her diva routine, but his documentary could be seen as being a bit exploitative and mean-spirited, especially as he films Dylan burping, which doesn’t seem like something most girls would want broadcast to the world, or worse, their whole school.

Josh was played by Matt Prokop. He guest starred in some episodes of Disney Channel series, such as Hannah Montana (2006-11) and Good Luck Charlie (2010-14), but is best known for his role as Jimmie “Rocket Man” Zara in High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008).

Dylan’s “friends” are Hannah and Lola, who, according to Dylan, hang out with her in the hopes that they might become popular. It’s quite clear Hannah and Lola don’t like Dylan, as they talk about her behind her back to Josh and his camera. Dylan orders them about all the time, so I don’t really blame them, but if they had some self-respect and didn’t care about being popular, then they would’ve ditched her, so it’s kind of their own fault. They also aren’t nice people either since they do ditch Dylan, but only after they’ve decided she’s “uncool” for spending so much time with Josh. Hannah and Lola then try to suck up to Dylan once again at the Spring Formal as they discover that Dylan is popular once again – only to find that Dylan doesn’t want their fake friendship anymore. That’s karma for you.

Hannah was played by Vanessa Morgan, who was cast in the role of Marion in the Disney Channel-affiliated movie Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars (2010). She had previously appeared in the teen sitcom The Latest Buzz (2007-10) as Amanda Pierce, going on to star as Sarah in the 2010 movie My Babysitter’s a Vampire, and its subsequent series, which ran from 2011 to 2012. More recently, Morgan was cast in the role of Toni Topaz in Riverdale (2017-23) and stars as Max Mitchell in the Canadian series Wild Cards (2024-present). Lola was played by Lili Simmons, who went on to appear as Rebecca Bowman in the action series Banshee (2013-16), and Lila Stanton in the horror series The Purge (2018-19). More recently, she starred as Claudia Flynn in the Starz series Power Book IV: Force (2022-25).

For Josh’s friends, there are three in his Film Club: Ari, Steven, and Caitlin. We don’t get to see too much of Josh’s friends in the film and they aren’t overly important to the story, apart from them being annoyed at how much time Josh is spending with Dylan instead of them. Caitlin was probably the more interesting of the characters, since she had a crush on Josh, but this was resolved quickly at the end of the film with Caitlin choosing to dance with Steven, the more “uncool” of the three, who is a bit clumsy and acts and speaks without thinking first. Ari is the more serious one of the group, and is very focused.

Kacey Rohl was cast as Caitlin. Rohl went on to appear in the recurring roles of Abigail Hobbs in Hannibal (2013-15) and Marina Andrieski in the Syfy series The Magicians (2015-20). She was also cast as Alena Whitlock in Arrow (2012-20) from Season 5 to Season 7. Steven was played by Jimmy Bellinger, who later appeared in the recurring roles of Edwin in the ABC sitcom The Middle (2009-18), and Artie Smalls in Disney Channel’s Liv and Maddie (2013-17). Recently, he was cast as Mason in Not Dead Yet (2023-24). Ari was played by David Del Rio, who was cast as Manny in A California Christmas (2020) and its 2021 sequel A California Christmas: City Lights for Netflix. He currently stars as Billy Martinez in Matlock (2024-present).

Josh’s crush, Amy, is a former best friend of Dylan’s. Amy is a musician in a band, and is kind to everyone. She doesn’t seem to believe in labels or popularity, talking to anyone who wants to talk to her, including Josh. Though Dylan does help Josh pluck up the courage to ask Amy on a date after giving him a makeover, I don’t think the makeover had anything to do with Amy saying yes to this date; she probably would’ve said yes anyway because she seems to like talking to Josh. Amy later proves to be a good friend to Dylan when she explains how Josh’s documentary hasn’t ruined Dylan’s life. Dylan showed no kindness to Amy for years, and yet, Amy decided she should continue to be a friend to her.

Amy was played by Sasha Pieterse, who was best known for her role as Alison DiLaurentis in Pretty Little Liars (2010-17) at the time of Geek Charming’s release. Pieterse reprised her role in the short-lived spin-off Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (2019). Prior to Geek Charming, she appeared in the recurring role of Amanda Strazzulla in Season 4 of Heroes (2006-10). In recent years, she was cast in the dual role of Anna and Zoe in the thriller film The Image of You (2024).

Finally, let’s talk about the mean characters in Geek Charming. One of these is Asher, Dylan’s boyfriend, then ex, who was never much of a boyfriend to Dylan, only taking her praise and affection and never giving any in return. Dylan is shocked when Asher breaks up with her for spending time with Josh, but it was for the best. Asher is a complete jerk. Jordan Nichols was cast in this role, having previously guest starred in a few episodes of the Disney Channel series Shake It Up (2010-13) and Good Luck Charlie (2010-14). He also appeared in a few episodes of Supah Ninjas (2011-13) for Nickelodeon.

The other mean character to mention is Nicole, a cheerleader and Dylan’s toughest competition for Blossom Queen. She clearly despises Dylan, calling her a loser at Asher’s party and interrupts Dylan’s campaign trail with her free cupcakes, essentially buying votes, but hey, all’s fair in love and high school popularity contests! She also later goes out with Asher after he dumps Dylan. Nicole was played by Andrea Brooks, who went on to be cast as Eve Teschmacher in the superhero series Supergirl (2015-21). Brooks is currently playing Faith Carter in the drama series When Calls the Heart (2014-present).

MUSIC

Geek Charming’s soundtrack features a mix of music styles.

During the montage of Dylan making over Josh, the song “Hey, Princess” performed by Allstar Weekend is played. It’s an upbeat song that is relatively catchy. The song was written by Zachary Porter, Nathan Darmody, Sam Hollander, and Dave Katz and was originally released as part of Allstar Weekend’s debut extended play Suddenly in 2010.

After Dylan gives her speech as Blossom Queen, the song playing is “Words” by indie rock band Doves. This song then plays throughout the ending of the film, all the way to the End Credits. It is a pleasant piece of music to wrap up the movie. “Words” was part of the Doves’ album The Last Broadcast, released in 2002. The song was written by band members Jimi Goodwin, Andy Williams, and Jez Williams.

There are some excerpts of classical music that appear in Geek Charming too. One is “The William Tell Overture”, composed by Rossini, which is used for the life-or-death situation where Dylan’s handbag has fallen into the mall fountain and Josh gallantly wades in to the water to retrieve it for her. I’m assuming this music was used as a contrast between the expressiveness of the music, and the comical rescue of the purse.

Another use of classical music is “Ride of the Valkyries” by Richard Wagner, which is used as the soundtrack for the in-movie film that precedes Josh’s at the Film Competition. The movie is about a vicious hamster so I guess that music works with that idea!

Those are the most obvious songs within the film, but there are a few others, used mostly for background noise. One that I managed to work out was the song “Come On Now” by Miss Anami, which is the second song heard at Asher’s party. But despite having audible lyrics, I’ve been unable to figure out what is the first song playing, when Amy and Josh first arrive. This was a similar problem I had to the song that is playing when Dylan is home alone early on in the film, and the first song at Spring Formal. None of these songs are credited in the End Credits of the movie. Online, some sites claim to have found songs matching these scenes, however, I don’t believe they do match.

Nathan Wang is credited as the composer for the score of Geek Charming. Wang composed the music for other DCOMs including Hatching Pete (2009); Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006); and Christmas…Again? (2021), amongst many other non-Disney projects.

PRODUCTION

Geek Charming is another case of a Disney Channel Original Movie being based on a book.

This book is the young adult novel Geek Charming by Robin Palmer, published in 2009. I have not read the book and there isn’t a huge amount of information online comparing the movie and the book’s plot and story; however, it would appear that one major change is that the book appears to be set in Los Angeles, however, the DCOM is supposedly set in Seattle, Washington. The school’s name is different as well, changing from the novel’s Castle Heights High, to Woodlands Academy[1].

Although Geek Charming the film is said to be set in Washington, it was actually filmed in Vancouver, Canada, as so many productions seem to be, especially Disney ones. Some specific filming locations include a house on Celtic Avenue in Southland, Vancouver, used as Dylan’s house, and Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, Vancouver being the location of the mall with that fountain that Dylan’s poor designer handbag ended up. The beach scene was filmed at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver.

Another story change is that the character of Amy was quite different between the novel and the film. In the book, Amy and Dylan apparently stopped being friends as Amy started dating a boy that Dylan had a crush on. Amy does still prove herself to be a good friend to Dylan by helping her deal with the fallout from Josh’s documentary, but instead of Amy accepting that Dylan and Josh should be together, Amy goes to the dance with Josh and those two are dating by the end of the book[2].

Apparently, Robin Palmer, author of Geek Charming, wanted nothing to do with the production of Disney Channel’s Geek Charming and didn’t even read the script. Of course, Palmer was still credited in the Opening Credits though.

Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy adapted Palmer’s novel for the screen. The two continued to collaborate on the screenplays for other movies after Geek Charming, including the Netflix movies La Dolce Villa (2025) and Falling Inn Love (2019).

Jeffrey Hornaday directed Geek Charming. Hornaday is both a director and choreographer. His choreography credits include the Disney Parks attraction Captain EO, a 3D short film which starred Michael Jackson; the 1983 movie Flashdance; and the 1985 film adaptation of the musical A Chorus Line. After Geek Charming, Hornaday directed both Teen Beach Movie (2013) and Teen Beach 2 (2015) for Disney Channel, as well as being on hand as the movies’ choreographer.

Hornaday was nominated at the Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directing – Children’s Program for Geek Charming. He lost out to Amy Schatz who directed HBO’s A Child’s Garden of Poetry. The directors of both Lemonade Mouth and Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure, two 2011 Disney Channel movies, were also nominated in this category.

RECEPTION

Geek Charming premiered on Disney Channel in the US on 11^th November 2011.

The DCOM’s premiere was preceded by something called “Geek Chic Week”, which was a Disney Channel event, going from Monday 7^th November up to Geek Charming’s premiere on 11^th November. The event focused on showing movies and episodes of series celebrating “geeks”, such as episodes of Phineas and Ferb (2007-15), and movies like Lemonade Mouth (2011) and Princess Protection Program (2009). Behind-the-scenes clips of Geek Charming were also shown during this week[3]. I’m not sure how much I agree that their choice of programming was really focused on “geeks”.

On its premiere, Geek Charming apparently achieved viewership of 4.9 million viewers. In 2011, Disney Channel released six DCOMs, with Geek Charming being their second-to-last one of the year. Its viewing figures matched that of Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure, the High School Musical spin-off movie, however, 4.9 million was actually the lowest viewership for Disney Channel movies that year, although not by much, and this was an average figure for Disney Channel at the time, before their numbers would drop off in the late 2010s. Disney Channel’s highest figure of 2011 for a movie was 7.6 million, achieved by Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2^nd Dimension.

In terms of reviews, as is pretty typical for Disney Channel movies, Geek Charming received some highly positive reviews and some more negative ones.

On the positive side, Geek Charming was seen to be a fun, cute movie, perfect for its target age range of kids and tweens. These comments also stated that it had some heartfelt moments, some laughs, and a positive message of being yourself and not caring about being popular. Its two leads were generally considered to have done a good job with the material they were given. Having a star of Modern Family and a star of Pretty Little Liars also helped to bring in the target audience.

However, Geek Charming did not avoid the general negativity that these television movies tend to receive, about being cheesy and cringey. Alongside this though, the story was criticised for being unoriginal, shallow, and clichéd, which I would have to agree with. I feel like the whole “wanting to be Prom Queen” dream has been done to death in teen movies, and even with the attempt to make this dream seem less shallow, by having Dylan want to become Blossom Queen because her mother was, it didn’t work for me.

LEGACY

Although at the end of Geek Charming, Josh says that him and Dylan should think about doing a sequel, there was never a sequel to Geek Charming. Dylan didn’t want to do one anyway, stating that sequels are never as good as the original, which isn’t always true, but I see her point. Not many non-musical Disney Channel movies get sequels, so really, it was not a surprise that the Geek Charming story ended here.

Something that is a bit surprising is that neither of the two leads, Sarah Hyland or Matt Prokop, became big Disney Channel stars, not going on to appear in multiple DCOMs or in series after Geek Charming premiered. This doesn’t always happen with the leads of DCOMs but for the most part, it would. Hyland did, however, become a major name thanks to her role in the ABC sitcom Modern Family, with ABC being a Disney-owned channel.

Prokop, on the other hand, has not acted since 2014, and there is a reason for this. Hyland and Prokop were in a relationship when they were making Geek Charming, reportedly being together from 2009. In September 2014, it came to light that Hyland had gone to court to secure a restraining order against boyfriend Prokop for abusive behaviour. Prokop had apparently attended rehab prior to the restraining order being granted[4].

I’m not about to go into details about what was alleged to have happened as that is a private matter and not relevant to this movie review; this isn’t a gossip column after all. The only reason I have chosen to mention this is because I read so many comments online when looking for an overview of opinions on Geek Charming that mentioned this incident. These comments were from people who said they used to love the movie, but now they know about the alleged abuse, they cannot like Geek Charming anymore, signalling that the two will forever be linked.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Much like any other Disney Channel Original Movie, Geek Charming has its die-hard fans; others who thought it was just alright; and those who hate it. I will say that on the whole though, I did read more positive than negative comments about the film itself.

Disney Channel movies are looked back on with a feeling of nostalgia. They help us remember simpler, happier times in our lives, since these memories and feelings can be tightly linked with whatever we watched at the time.

Sadly, we also have to remember that the people we see in these movies are actually real people who perhaps did not enjoy the DCOM or series they were in, or who did at the time but now cannot look back on it fondly, for whatever reason.

It just goes to show that Disney Channel, although wanting to help you navigate life, cannot shield you, its viewers, or even its young stars, from the troubles of this world forever.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Goodreads, ‘Geek Charming’, Goodreads.com, date unknown.

[2] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Amy Loubalu’, GeekCharming.Fandom.com, date unknown.

[3] Credit: Pinch Raccoon and Milady Lover, ‘Disney Channel Geek Chic Week Promo (November 2011) (4:3)’, Pinch Raccoon and Milady Lover 2002 YouTube Channel, 15^th March 2025.

[4] Credit: Esther Kang, ‘Julie Bowen Recalls Supporting Modern Family daughter Sarah Hyland During Previous Allegedly Abusive Relationship’, People.com, 4^th June 2024.

9th May 202516th Jan 2026 by The Disney Purist

Sneakerella (2022)

BACKGROUND

The story of Cinderella is incredibly well-known and has become one of the most adapted stories of all time, with new versions popping up every few years.

Disney has created three popular versions of the tale of Cinderella alone, with their 1950 animated version still being watched decades after its release. We also have the 1997 version starring Brandy, based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, along with the 2015 live-action remake, with Lily James in the title role.

Outside of that, there are various other studios who have adapted the story of Cinderella in both modern and traditional ways, such as Ever After (1998), Amazon Studios’ Cinderella (2021), Hilary Duff’s A Cinderella Story (2004), which spanned a film series of five other movies, and even Maid in Manhattan (2002) starring Jennifer Lopez.

Versions of Cinderella have to have some sort of twist now to keep the viewer interested because it’s been done so many times before. In the case of Sneakerella, Disney once again looked at adapting Cinderella, but this time, they were going to do something different: a gender swap. You’ve got it; Cinderella became a boy named El – not Sneakerella, that would be too random a name for audiences to get on board with – who is an aspiring sneaker designer and stock boy at his mother’s shoe store, and Prince Charming turned into Kira King, the daughter of a basketball legend with his own business empire.

There haven’t been many versions of a gender-swapped Cinderella movie before, with one being Cinderfella from 1960, starring Jerry Lewis in the lead role. You could also technically look at the story of Aladdin, at least Disney’s version of it anyway, as being a take on Cinderella with the gender roles reversed.

Sneakerella promised to do things differently though, by being a modern version of the story. There are no royals here, not in the literal sense, nor do we have talking animals and pumpkin carriages. All those iconic moments of Cinderella are instead grounded in reality, to make Sneakerella feel real. And I think it worked. Although I don’t know much at all about “sneaker culture” – people who have a deep love of sneakers – outside of watching Air (2023), the movie all about the original Air Jordans and how they came to be, I liked the gender swap in Sneakerella and I felt that it was an appropriate retelling of the story for young people of today.

As an adult though, with little to no interest in shoes, especially sneakers, or trainers as I call them, Sneakerella was just ok for me. I like the story of Cinderella, having watching numerous versions of the story on screen, and I was pleasantly surprised to find Sneakerella was a musical. My biggest issue was just how long Sneakerella was. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to watching it, and if I have to watch a movie I’m not sure about, I want it to be 90 minutes or less. Sneakerella was closer to two hours, which made the story drag, especially in the last half an hour or so, sadly.

PLOT

Sneakerella begins in the Queens borough of New York City, where El, now living with his stepfather and two stepbrothers after his mother died, works as a stock boy in his mother’s old shoe store, Laces. El’s stepfather, Trey, has taken over the running of the business, but finds it very stressful balancing that along with regular family life. Trey prioritises the needs of his children, Zelly and Stacy, over El, making El work extra shifts should those two not feel like working that day or have other plans, even if El may have plans of his own.

On a day just like that, El does have plans, to go to a sneaker launch with his friend Sami, but he is told to work in the store, making sure it is clean and tidy, ready for Trey to have a meeting there at 7pm that night. El pretends to start work, but as soon as Trey, Zelly, and Stacy have left to go about their days, El simply switches the sign on the shop door to say “Closed” and catches the train into Manhattan with Sami, almost missing it as El couldn’t not help neighbour Gustavo carry soil to the community garden.

On the train, El and Sami discuss their excitement at buying this exclusive pair of sneakers, with the two seemingly planning to share them as they are pricey. Sami then talks about the sneakers she’s wearing, which have a fingerprint stain on them. El starts to customise her sneakers on the train. El wants to be a sneaker designer, even drawing designs in his spare time. Sami is overjoyed with her new shoes, and the two head to the sneaker launch. There, the two see a huge line to get into the store to purchase the shoes, and are accused of cutting in line when they mistakenly believe they are at the end of the line and in fact are not. The girl stood by them lets them in the queue next to her, pretending that El is her cousin. The girl introduces herself as Kira and the three talk about their love of sneakers, with Sami mentioning that El has a “superpower”: he can know details about people just from looking at their shoes. Kira demands to see the “sneaker psychic” in action and El manages to correctly deduce information about two people. Kira is impressed.

However, the group soon find that these limited-edition sneakers are all sold out, and to make things worse, El and Sami are rumbled by people further back in the queue, as they notice that Kira and El are not cousins so they did cut in the queue. The three split up, with Sami heading away from the group of chasing guys on her skateboard, and El taking Kira to the nearest train. They all manage to get away safely. El then decides to show Kira around Queens, taking her to restaurants and to meet his neighbours. They end up at a huge spray-painted mural which has been added to over the years. El encourages Kira to paint something on there. Kira sprays a simple white frame and takes a photo of the two of them inside it, so she can remember this day. As the two talk about El losing his mum and their connection through a shared love of shoes, Kira asks El to do a “reading” of her from her shoes. El says, to be honest, her shoes are quite basic and don’t say much about her at all. Although most people would probably be offended by being called “basic”, Kira laughs it off. As El and Kira lean in for a kiss, Kira’s phone starts ringing, and El realises it’s 7:25pm – he’s late and never cleaned up the shop! El rushes away to get home.

At the store, Trey is naturally furious with El for shirking his responsibilities, and for ignoring the fact Trey had an important person coming for a meeting there. He is given all next week’s shifts and is grounded as punishment, much to the delight of Zelly and Stacy. The stepbrothers then show El that they’ve left the store room in complete disarray for him to clean up too! As El tidies up, he remembers all the memories with his mother in the store, from the positives of his mother teaching him all about shoes, to the negatives of his mother’s illness and eventual death… El really misses his mum right now.

Kira returns home late as well, having missed dinner and a meeting about “gala prep”. Kira is the daughter of former basketball player, now sneaker entrepreneur Darius King. Kira’s sister, Liv, starts discussing how they need to get their sales figures up and believes the way to do that is by releasing a whole new design at Sneaker Con. Liv believes sleeks, a thinner, cleaner design of sneaker, are the way to do this, having done copious amounts of research on the market. Kira, however, thinks they need to find a new designer, someone who will push boundaries, to design their new shoe. Darius isn’t so sure, but tells Kira if she can find an experienced designer by the night of the gala, they will go with that.

The next day, El and Sami realise that the girl from yesterday was in fact Kira King, after seeing a photo of the King family on the front of the newspaper. El is horrified at learning he dissed the shoes of someone so famous! Sami tells him not to worry and starts planning a way for them to get into the King gala so the two can meet up again. Sami says they can sneak in through the service entrance, disguised as waiters, since she knows two people who will be working there that night. Before El can get excited about this plan, he realises something is going on with Trey. Trey says he’s tried everything to make the store a success, bringing in new styles, but it hasn’t worked so he’s planning on selling the store, potentially to Foot Locker. El is devastated, as this is his mother’s store and wants to keep it open, but Trey tells El this is the real world, and hard decisions have to be made sometimes.

Later that night, El discovers old tools in the store, along with his old sneaker designs. He begins to design and make his own pair of sneakers, planning to wear them at the gala. On the night of the gala, El inadvertently makes his stepbrothers suspicious by making dinner for them and generally being overly nice. They spot El trying to leave the store and lock him in the store room. El tries to leave through the back shutters, but his brothers lock those too; El is trapped. El knows he’s running out of time to get to the gala but doesn’t know what to do. As he sits up against a drawer, and whacks his head against it in frustration, lines from his designs magically fall off the piece of paper and float across the street. Suddenly, Gustavo appears and opens the shutters to let him out. He knows El has somewhere important to be, and tells him to put on his new sneakers. Sami then arrives to tell El they’ve missed their lift to the gala. Gustavo offers them the use of his orange classic car and tells them to go to the gala, but to return by midnight. El and Sami head off.

At the gala, El and Sami are asked for tickets and magically El realises he has two in his jacket. They are allowed inside. El says he has to find Kira, leaving Sami to enjoy all the hors d’oeuvres that waiters bring by her! Sami is then approached by two guests, who ask about El and his fancy sneakers. Sami lies and says El is a very famous designer but can’t possibly give them any more details about his career, which leads to the guests asking everyone else at the gala if they know anything about this designer. Word gets around quickly. El eventually finds Kira, who is happy to see him again. Kira takes El to the King “Sneaker Hall of Fame”, and El geeks out over all the exclusive sneakers. El then shows Kira his sneakers and she realises he must be the designer everyone is talking about at the party. El pretends to be a famous designer like they all say. Thinking El can be the King brand’s new designer with all his experience, Kira wants to introduce El to her father, but he notices it is already midnight, meaning him and Sami have to leave. Confused, Kira tries to run after him, but after a chaotic escape, all El leaves behind is one of his shoes, which became stuck on an escalator. Kira shows the sneaker to her father, who wants to chat with this designer. Kira tells her sister that she doesn’t have his number. Liv decides to help her find him, via a huge social media campaign, dubbed #wheresmyprince.

Outside the gala, El and Sami see their car being towed away; they were too late leaving. El then gets angry at Sami for feeding those rumours about him being a famous designer. Sami simply says it’ll all work out and personally, she thinks he could be a famous designer anyway. The next day, Sami chastises El for not responding to Kira’s social media campaign. He says he’s scared about his lies getting out and hurting her. Sami says he shouldn’t be scared, and the two take a photo of El’s other sneaker at the mural where Kira painted that frame all those days ago. They send it to Kira, who calls them, asking if El will have a meeting with Kira’s father. El agrees to it.

What El doesn’t realise is that his stepbrothers have heard El and Sami talking about how El is going to be the next big designer for Darius King out on the street. They can’t let that happen, and search El’s room for the shoe. They can’t find it, but soon discover it in the secret closet with all the old tools. The two steal it and take it to Darius King, telling him that El isn’t a designer at all, but just a stock boy at his mother’s shoe store.

On the morning of El’s meeting with Darius, he oversleeps and finds his sneaker has gone. Sami tells him to go without the shoe and to bring his new designs instead. However, as El arrives at the King office building, he sees Zelly and Stacy leaving; he knows something’s wrong. When El gets to the meeting room, he sees that Kira is upset, knowing that El lied to her about his design experience. Darius King talks to him and says he is simply a scammer, trying to use Kira and the family brand for fame. El is warned to stay away from all of them. El then learns back home that the store has sold and they will be moving away, back to New Jersey where Trey and his family previously lived. As El throws out all his designs, the design that he had created for a potential Sneaker Con shoe blows out of a bin and makes its way over to Gustavo.

On the day of Sneaker Con, El wakes up to see his design is now an actual pair of sneakers. How did that happen?! El sees his stepbrothers loading up the removal van as they are moving that day. El sees Sami on the street and asks her to stall his brothers so he can get out of the house without being seen. Sami happily obliges, giving El a head start to the King Sneaker Con launch, but it’s not long before Kelly and Stacy realise that El has left the house and know where he must’ve gone. They commandeer the moving van, telling their father not to worry. Trey is confused and annoyed at his sons for doing this. Sami tells Trey that he needs to see El as the talented kid he really is and tells him where they’ve gone.

El arrives at the King sneaker launch just as Darius is doing a musical performance. El shows Kira his newly designed shoes and apologises to her for what happened. Kira apologises for putting pressure on El to lie about his design experience. Kira then convinces her father to let El tell his story to the crowd. As El starts to talk about what happened, Zelly and Stacy arrive, once again reiterating that El is nothing but a fraud, however, they are stopped by Trey. Trey apologises to El for being so hard on him since his mother’s death and for not understanding how much the store and designing meant to him. He asks for a second chance at being a father to El. El accepts. Darius King then announces that El will be the new designer for the King sneaker brand.

The movie ends one year later, where we see that El and Kira are now a couple and El has been able to keep his mother’s shoe store, renaming it “El-evate”. He sees that he is now inspiring others with his shoe designs and is happy that he finally fulfilled his dream, as well as continued his mother’s legacy.

CHARACTERS & CAST

El is struggling with his family life, now that his mother has died and he’s been left to fend for himself, with a stepfather and two stepbrothers who don’t seem to care at all about him. El is forced to work exceedingly long hours at his mother’s shoe store, but in actual fact, he doesn’t want to be selling shoes; he wants to be making them. Although he has had some experience in customising his own sneakers, and Sami’s, El has no real design experience and doesn’t seem to have ever made his own pair of sneakers. It’s not until he meets Kira King that he wants to show off his talent, whether to impress her or to make some use of her father’s connections – or a bit of both – I’m not sure. But El does design a pair of sneakers that gets people talking and he starts to think this might be the making of him. Sadly, his stepbrothers come in to ruin his opportunity, and El starts to lose faith in his ability. Thanks to friend Sami and neighbour Gustavo, who push him to take advantage of his talent, El plucks up the courage to apologise to Kira and Darius King, revealing that he is a good person with genuine talent and belief, allowing El to get his dream of being a real sneaker designer.

Chosen Jacobs was cast as El. Jacobs had previously appeared as Will Grover in a few episodes of Hawaii Five-0 (2010-20) before landing the role of Mike Hanlon in horror movie It (2017), reprising his role in It Chapter Two (2019). After Sneakerella, Jacobs went on to be cast as Frankie in the Netflix film Purple Hearts (2022) and Alex in the Hulu original film Darby and the Dead (2022).

Helping El overcome a lack of confidence is his best friend Sami. Sami is a very loyal friend who is always there for El and has his best interests at heart, even if that means pushing him to do something difficult or uncomfortable, such as planning to attend the King gala and making El respond to Kira’s social media campaign, despite El’s worries about how his lies may backfire on him. Those lies did in fact backfire on El, but Sami was there to tell him how much she believed in him and his talent, making him think that he could go to the King Sneaker Con launch to make things right, even providing the diversion to get him there.

Sami was played by Devyn Nekoda, who had previously been cast as Mackenzie in the DCOM The Swap (2016). Outside of Disney, Nekoda was cast as Anika in Scream VI (2023) and as Sage 5 in sci-fi series Utopia Falls (2020). She also appeared as Riley in Season 1 of Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia (2021-present).

Also there to help El, in some quite magical ways, is Gustavo, El’s neighbour. Gustavo is El’s “fairy godfather”. It’s not specifically shown that Gustavo has magic, as in he doesn’t cast spells or anything, but he always shows up at just the right moment, like when El is trapped in the store on the night of the gala. Apparently, some drawings leapt off their page and flew across the street, alerting Gustavo to the fact El was stuck and needed help. Gustavo also happens to have a car to give to El and Sami, tells El to put on his fancy shoes for the gala, and then seems to make El’s Sneaker Con design a reality at the end of the film. Having seen El’s mother succumb to illness, Gustavo clearly has some sort of feeling of responsibility to look after El and keep him safe and happy in his difficult family situation, however, he doesn’t make this too obvious and it’s not entirely clear whether El is aware of Gustavo’s “influence” or whether he thinks everything is purely coincidental!

Juan Chioran was cast as Gustavo. Although Chioran has primarily acted on stage and not on screen, with roles in many productions over the years at the Stratford Festival, held in Stratford, Ontario in Canada, winning a Gemini Award for his 2000 performance as Count Dracula in Dracula: A Chamber Musical, Chioran may be familiar to Disney Channel fans from playing the role of Francobollo Garibaldi, Galleria’s father, in The Cheetah Girls (2003). He also has experience in voice acting, recently voicing the recurring role of Señor Tapir in the PBS Kids series Elinor Wonders Why (2020-present).

Then we have El’s love interest, Kira King. Kira doesn’t seem to fit in well with her superstar family, as we see when Kira is stood in line like an ordinary person to try and buy sneakers from her own father’s brand. She doesn’t want handouts and she’d rather not have people know she is the daughter of Darius King in case it changes someone’s opinion of her. This is why she doesn’t reveal this to El when they first meet. Kira wants her father’s sneaker brand to be more about sneakers that tell a story instead of just being plain ones that can make a lot of money, whereas her sister, Liz, is focused on finding a style that will sell. Kira is ecstatic when she “discovers” that El is an experienced sneaker design, because not only does she like him, but he’s just the type of person she promised her father she could find before Sneaker Con, to give them a better design than Liv’s boring sleeks. Kira is devastated to learn that El lied about his sneaker experience, but she soon realises that the pressure she felt to find a great designer for the company led to her putting pressure on El to lie about who he was. Kira takes some responsibility for what happened between her and El, so when they make up, she convinces her father to listen to El’s apology and his story.

Kira was played by Lexi Underwood. Prior to Sneakerella, Underwood was cast as Pearl Warren in the Hulu series Little Fires Everywhere (2020), which starred Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. She went on to portray Malia Obama in the series The First Lady (2020). More recently, Underwood starred as Isabella LaRue in Season 2 of the series Cruel Summer (2021-23). Kira’s sister, Liv, was played by Robyn Alomar, who had previously been cast as Aliyah 5 in Utopia Falls (2020).

Kira’s father is Darius King. Darius was a former basketball player and has now started a sneaker “empire”, creating a huge brand which is popular with many sneaker fans, with El and Sami being two of these fans. Darius isn’t shown to be a money-crazed entrepreneur, and instead, encourages his business to be run as a family enterprise, with everyone having equal say, which is why he allows Kira the opportunity to find a designer to come and work with the brand, to give their sneakers some much-needed expression. After being informed that El, Kira’s chosen designer, lied about his experience, due to Darius’ protective nature, he tells El to stay away from his family, not wanting them to be duped by a “scammer” and a fraud. Darius is, quite rightly, sceptical of El’s motives for getting close to his daughter, believing that El wants fame, but by the end of the film, Darius learns that is not the case and sees El for the talented designer he is.

Darius King was played by former professional basketball player John Salley, whose career ran from 1986, when he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons, and ended in 2000, retiring after a spell with the Los Angeles Lakers. During his basketball career, Salley became a four-time NBA champion, being the first player in NBA history to win championships with three different teams. After basketball, Salley turned to the screen, as other basketball players have also done, being cast as Fletcher in the movie Bad Boys (1995), reprising the role in 2024 for Bad Boys: Ride or Die. He also came in third place in the US version of the reality series I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! back in 2009.

For El’s stepfamily, we have Trey, the stepfather, and Zelly and Stacy, the stepbrothers. Trey doesn’t mean to be cruel to El with his work in the shoe store; he is simply stressed and overworked trying to keep the store afloat now that he is running it single-handedly without El’s mother. He tells El that his sneaker designing dreams are just a folly and that El needs to start living in the real world. Things between the two of them really hit rock bottom when Trey says he is selling the store and moving all of them back to New Jersey, much to the delight of Zelly and Stacy who apparently hate living in Queens. Zelly and Stacy don’t initially seem to be “wicked” stepbrothers, however, their villainy progresses beyond just messing up the store room for El to clean up and generally seeming to ignore El and his needs. Instead, they go out of their way to ruin El’s chance of being a designer for King just to make him miserable. Stacy seems to be the mastermind behind these schemes, being the brother with the brain, whereas Zelly is the “less smart” one who goes along with whatever Stacy says. In the end though, Trey learns of El’s talent and stops his sons from ruining El’s opportunity. It’s not clear whether the four of them become “one big, happy family” because we don’t see it, but I’m sure Trey now keeps his sons in line.

Trey was played by Bryan Terrell Clark, who has been cast in the recurring roles of Pastor Logan in Season 2 of Snowpiercer (2020-24) and as Dr. Dermatologist in Hulu’s Saint X (2023). He also appears as Mr. Tea in the series Diarra from Detroit (2024-present). Hayward Leach was cast as Stacy. Leach played Freddie in Season 2 of Love Life (2020-21) and went on to appear as Roy in Elsbeth (2024-present). Kolton Steward was cast as Zelly. He had previously played Jarvis in the Canadian sitcom Some Assembly Required (2014-16), and appeared as Owen in the DCOM The Swap (2016), going on to play the role of Tyson in the Disney sequel Disenchanted (2022). Steward currently voices Rory in the animated Netflix series Unicorn Academy (2023-present).

PRODUCTION

The start of production on Sneakerella was announced in October 2020, where the three main actors, of Chosen Jacobs as El, Lexi Underwood as Kira, and John Salley as Darius King, were announced. A brief plot of the film was also described, and an expected premiere date was set to be sometime in 2021[1].

Because filming began at the end of 2020, although clearly the film industry was back at work by then, the cast and crew would’ve been required to comply with certain restrictions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This included crew members wearing masks and face coverings, and cast having to do so when not on camera. Social distancing and ways of restricting contact with those outside of production were likely enforced too. It was also the case that cast and crew could not explore the surrounding areas properly either. Devyn Nekoda is from Ontario and she stated that she was disappointed that she was unable to show her American castmates the area properly whilst they were filming there, meaning they spent their downtime mostly hanging out in their apartments together[2].

Specific filming locations in Canada used for Sneakerella include the Hamilton International Village District, with its shops and city blocks being repurposed to look like the Astoria neighbour in Queens, New York City, where El and his stepfamily live. King Street East in Hamilton, Ontario was reportedly used as the location of the big street art mural that El takes Kira to on their afternoon in Queens together[3]. The Bay Adelaide Centre in Toronto appears to have been used as the location of Darius King’s business headquarters[4]. Due to the fact that Sneakerella’s production took place in Canada, but the story is set in New York City, some CGI enhancement was likely used to represent certain areas of the famous city. To be honest, when watching Sneakerella, I quite easily believed it was filmed in New York, although admittedly I have never been to either New York City or any part of Canada. I’m sure anyone familiar with either place would’ve easily known the truth of its filming locations.

Sneakerella was directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, who had previously directed the movie Ramona and Beezus (2010), which starred former Disney Channel actress Selena Gomez, and some episodes of Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (2019), which featured Descendants star Sofia Carson. Rosenbaum and Carson worked together again for Netflix’s 2022 movie Purple Hearts.

The writers of Sneakerella came from a variety of places. Two of these were from the world of the DCOM, these being David Light and Joseph Raso who worked on the first three ZOMBIES films. Another screenwriter was Tamara Chestna, who had previously co-written the screenplay for After (2019), the first in a series of movies based on the novels by Anna Todd. Chestna is also set to be a writer for the upcoming fifth instalment of Disney Channel’s Descendants franchise. The other writers on Sneakerella were Mindy Stern, and George Gore II, who is perhaps best known for his role as Michael Kyle Jr., or just Junior, in the sitcom My Wife and Kids (2001-05).

Continuing in the pattern of having crew that have history with either Disney Channel or teen dramas, Jane Startz, who produced the film Ella Enchanted (2004), itself a take on the traditional Cinderella tale, was a producer on Sneakerella, as was Rachel Watanabe-Batton, a producer on the Mr. T series I Pity the Fool (2006). From the world of musicals, Christopher Scott was another credited producer, who was a choreographer on In the Heights (2021) and even Wicked (2024). Scott was also a choreographer on ZOMBIES (2018) for Disney Channel. The choreographers on Sneakerella were Emilio Dosal and Ebony Williams, who both worked on In the Heights, the film adaptation of the stage show.

Although Disney and musicals were a key part of Sneakerella’s production, another important feature of the movie is, of course, “sneaker culture”. I had very little prior knowledge of sneaker culture before watching Sneakerella, other than the fact I knew exclusive, limited-edition sneakers were bought and sold, and that Nike fought to have Michael Jordan sign with them to create the famous Air Jordans. I had to do some research.

The origin of the sneaker goes back to the 1860s where in England, they were used for the sports of tennis and croquet. Their use was entirely functional and had nothing to do with fashion. Sneaker culture likely began with the rise of athlete-endorsed shoes in the 1970s and 1980s, with the most popular designs on the basketball courts being Puma, Adidas, and Converse around this time. In 1985, the public release of Nike and Michael Jordan’s sneaker collaboration, the Air Jordans, was the biggest thing to transform sneakers. Despite only being a rookie on the basketball scene at this time, Nike and Adidas fought for Jordan to sign with them. Eventually, Nike won and Jordan signed a five-year, $2.5 million endorsement deal with them. Nike were incredibly radical with their design because NBA guidelines stated that sneakers had to be 51% white to be used on the court for games. The Air Jordans were actually “illegal” shoes, with mostly red and black colouring. Nike chose to pay the $5,000 fine that was set for any players that came on to court with shoes that went against the guidelines rather than change their design. Luckily, it paid off for everyone involved, because Michael Jordan became one of the best and most famous basketball players in the world, with his sneakers following suit.

It wasn’t only basketball and sports stars that contributed to this culture either. Hip-hop was a contributor as well. Hip-hop group Run-D.M.C. released the single “My Adidas” in 1986, which led to them having an endorsement deal with the brand. Kurt Cobain of Nirvana later made Converse a symbol of youth and rebellion. Other celebrity and luxury brand sneaker collaborators led to further hype with their limited-edition releases. By the mid-2010s, sneakers had become a status symbol. Singer Drake even commissioned a one-of-a-kind pair of Air Jordans in 2016 that were wrapped in 24-carat solid gold[5].

Sneakers aren’t only about collections now; they are supposed to tell a story about yourself, this being something that El is a clear believer in, as is his friend Sami. El even likes to guess people’s personalities from their shoes. Sneaker culture has also built a community for some sneaker lovers, and I learnt that Sneaker Con is a real thing, not something that was made up for Sneakerella. Sneaker Con was founded in August 2008, by Alan and Barris Vinogradov and Yu-Ming Wu. Its inaugural event took place in Times Square Arts Center in New York City, hosting over 3,000 people in March 2009. Sneaker Con now goes all over the world, having had events in cities outside the US, like London and Sydney[6].

Even with all that talk of sneakers, Sneakerella doesn’t forget to honour its fairy-tale source material. During the opening song of Sneakerella, “Kicks”, bubbles appear during the sequence. This a nod to the song “Sing Sweet Nightingale” from Disney Animation’s Cinderella (1950) where Cinderella sings whilst cleaning, and bubbles form around her, showing her image inside of them. The orange convertible that El and Sami are given by Gustavo to get to the gala has this license plate: PMPKN XPRS, as in “pumpkin express”, which is a clear reference to Cinderella’s famous pumpkin carriage. There is also a brief glimpse of graffiti art versions of two of the bluebirds from Cinderella as El is making his “glass” sneakers for the gala. Speaking of these sneakers, with their plastic soles meant to resemble the original glass slippers, they were designed by Eske Schiralli, a designer who founded his own footwear and garment design house, Mad M.F.G. in 2017 and has collaborated with Adidas and Nike, as well as Disney now[7]. The famous clip from Cinderella of the glass slipper being placed on Cinderella’s foot in the animated movie can also be seen during Kira’s social media campaign to find her prince. Finally, some of the character names reference the 1950 movie, such as Trey being a shortening of Tremaine, like Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s stepmother; and Zelly and Stacy being shortened versions of Drizella and Anastasia, Cinderella’s stepsisters[8].

MUSIC

Much like other versions of the Cinderella story on screen, Sneakerella was a musical, although due to its modern setting, its music is heavily based in R&B, hip-hop, and rap, unlike the majority of other Cinderella movie musicals. Many of these songs go alongside big dance numbers, featuring dance styles like hip-hop and breakdancing, which is quite different to most other Cinderella adaptations too.

The opening song of Sneakerella is “Kicks”, which introduces us to the character of El, as well as his neighbourhood, and the collective love of sneakers within the community. I liked “Kicks” in terms of it being a good opener for the audience. A brief snippet of “Kicks” is also used in the End Credits. I did find that it sounded kind of similar to the music in Disney Channel’s ZOMBIES and Descendants movies. This was a thought I kept returning to throughout Sneakerella. “Kicks” was performed by Chosen Jacobs as El, and was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, and Adam Schmalholz.

Following on from that, we have “Best Ever”, which is performed by Jacobs as El and Lexi Underwood as Kira. “Best Ever” is the song used when El takes Kira to Queens and shows her around his neighbourhood, before ending their day at the street art mural. This is the first hint that Kira and El are falling for each other. There is a reprise of this song just a bit later, as they sit by the mural. “Best Ever” and its reprise were written by Clyde Lawrence, Gracie Lawrence and Jordan Cohen.

After that great day with Kira, El comes back to find that his stepfather is angry at him for not cleaning up the shoe store. At this point, El sings the song “In Your Shoes” as he thinks about all the memories he had in this store with his mother, going from happy moments to the saddest, most painful ones as his mother succumbs to illness. This song was quite moving, in part for the music itself, as well as for the flashbacks that are shown on screen of El’s life with his mother. “In Your Shoes” was written by William Behlendorf, Jason Mater, and Brandon C. Rogers.

A more positive song, “Work Up”, also performed by Jacobs as El, follows this a few scenes later, as El makes his own pair of sneakers for the King gala. This was an upbeat, hip-hop-style piece, showing that El finally has some confidence in himself and he’s going to achieve his dream of being a sneaker designer. A brief snippet of “Work Up” is used in the End Credits. “Work Up” was written by Anthony Ferrari, Sean Turk, and Dewain Whitmore.

One of the most well-known songs from Disney Animation’s Cinderella is “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”, where Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother gets her ready for the ball. Sneakerella has its own version of this, “Life Is What You Make It”, where Gustavo, El’s “Fairy Godfather”, helps him and Sami get ready for the gala, giving them new clothes and even a car to get them there. To be honest, I didn’t like this song much, feeling that it went on a bit long and took away from some of the urgency about getting to the gala. It was performed by Juan Chioran as Gustavo, Devyn Nekoda as Sami, and Jacobs as El. “Life Is What You Make It” was reprised at the very end of Sneakerella as we see how everything ended up for El, as well as being used for the beginning of the End Credits. It’s another big dance number here too. This song was written by Tora Litvin and Doug Rockwell.

There was actually a song from Disney’s 1950 Cinderella that was adjusted to fit into Sneakerella. This is “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes”, which was originally written by Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston, and Mack David. It is used for the scene where El and Kira see each other at the gala, and there is even a contemporary dance that the two do together, although this is seemingly shown to be a daydream. Personally, I prefer the original version of “A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes”, but it was an interesting, modern update to it. This song was also remixed, although this does not feature in the movie, only on the soundtrack.

After the gala, where El left Kira without an explanation or talking to her father about his sneakers, Kira and her sister have a plan to launch a social media campaign to “find” El and get him to meet her to discuss his sneaker designs. The song used for this scene is “Perfect Fit”. Again, this wasn’t the best song from the movie for me. It was performed by Lexi Underwood as Kira, and Robyn Alomar as her sister, and it was written by Greg Bonnick and Hayden Chapman.

Following on from that, El’s stepbrothers Zelly and Stacy learn that El is close to becoming a famous sneaker designer, and out of jealously and a desperate need to get their father to move them back to New Jersey, the brothers launch a plan to ruin El’s life by stealing his “glass” sneaker and telling Darius King that El is a fraud, and not a designer at all. The song Hayward Leach and Kolton Stewart perform here as Stacy and Kelly is “Shut It Down”. I actually quite liked this song, probably because it was the “villains’ song”. “Shut It Down” was written by Farrah King.

The final song to appear in Sneakerella is a rap battle simply titled “Finale”. This shows El trying to convince Darius King about his potential to be a great designer for his business. There is a bit of back-and-forth between the two, before Kelly and Stacy burst in to call him a fraud, with Trey, El’s stepfather, telling them to back off as he apologises for not paying enough attention to El’s life and wanting to be a better father figure to him. I probably would’ve preferred this whole tie-up of the storyline to have taken place through dialogue and not a rap battle, but that’s just me. The rap battle suits the musical styling of the movie. “Finale” was written by Theron “Neff-U” Feemster, Jordan Power, and Frankie “Rank” Wood.

Theron “Neff-U” Feemster also wrote another song for the Sneakerella soundtrack, and performed it alongside Julia Pratt. This song is “Fly Higher”, which was not used in the film.

The score was composed by Elvin Ross, who has collaborated with Tyler Perry on the music for some of Perry’s projects, including the sitcoms Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (2006-25) and Meet the Browns (2009-11).

Sneakerella did win an award for its music: a Children’s and Family Emmy award for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Live-Action program. Two of the movie’s songs were also nominated at the same ceremony for Outstanding Original Song. These were “In Your Shoes” and “Kicks”.

RECEPTION

Although production on Sneakerella took place during the last few months of 2020, with many news outlets listing a 2021 Disney+ premiere for the movie, for some reason or another, the release of Sneakerella was delayed a few times.

The first trailer for Sneakerella dropped on 12^th November 2021, with a release date listed as 18^th February 2022[9]. However, February 2022 came and went; there was no Sneakerella on Disney+. It seems that a new trailer was then released on 8^th April 2022, with a release date of 13^th May 2022. This time, the trailer was correct and Sneakerella did come to Disney+ on this date. It’s been said these delays were due to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite filming already being completed by 2021. Perhaps Disney were just trying to find the best time in their schedule to release Sneakerella, so that it wasn’t overshadowed by some other Disney+ release coming in the days or weeks around it.

Sneakerella received mostly positive reviews from critics after its release, although the audience reaction was more mixed.

On the positive side, Sneakerella was seen as a modern take on Cinderella which was appreciated for its fun spin on the story and its diversity. Others liked the musical soundtrack, likening it to other Disney Channel hits like ZOMBIES and Descendants. The leads of Chosen Jacobs and Lexi Underwood, as El and Kira, were generally well-received, as was Devyn Nekoda as Sami. It was also considered better than the average Disney Channel movie by some.

On the other hand, a further adaptation of Cinderella, so soon after Amazon Prime’s 2021 version with Camila Cabello in the title role, was considered unnecessary. Some criticised certain story aspects, such as Kira’s social media campaign to “find” El. In the original story, Prince Charming doesn’t really know what Cinderella looks like and certainly doesn’t know where she lives, making his journey to find her seem realistic, whereas in Sneakerella, Kira already knows what El looks like and knows that he lives in Queens, since he took her there on the day that met. It was queried why Kira didn’t just go to Queens and ask around for him. I thought this too when I watched it, but obviously, in the movies, everything needs a level of tension and drama or there is no point to it. Some also picked up on the fact that a gender-swapped Cinderella is really just a version of Aladdin, which made Sneakerella less unique than originally advertised. Another comment was simply that Sneakerella was just too long and dragged in places. I agree with this, as I was relatively focused on the movie up until they got to the gala and then I found myself getting bored and wondering why the ending was being dragged out so much. Sneakerella was about twenty minutes longer than the average DCOM so that’s probably why it bothered me. I am capable of watching movies longer than 90 minutes, I swear.

As Disney don’t release viewing figures for every Disney+ release, unless it has done exceptionally well, like the premieres of their new animated movies or those of Pixar, it is unclear how many people watched Sneakerella on its release.

Although Sneakerella feels like a typical Disney Channel Original Movie, being produced by Disney Channel and being a musical reminiscent of the ZOMBIES or High School Musical franchise, it wasn’t labelled as a DCOM.

That is because Sneakerella did not premiere on Disney Channel; it premiered on Disney+. This has started to become the norm and I believe the simple reason for this is because many of the international Disney Channels have since shut down. Nowadays, it seems that most “Disney Channel movies” premiere on Disney+ and the US Disney Channel within a few days of each other, making the label Disney Channel Original Movie inaccurate. Sneakerella was in a similar situation to Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020) which premiered on Disney+ in 2020 but did not come to Disney Channel until 2023. Sneakerella apparently premiered on Disney Channel on 13^th August 2022, three months after its Disney+ date. Viewing figures for its Disney Channel premiere were also unavailable.

Despite not having viewing data to judge the popularity of Sneakerella, the movie itself did win numerous awards at the 1^st Children’s and Family Emmy Awards, held on 10^th and 11^th December 2022, proving that it was appreciation by industry professionals. The awards won were in the categories of: Outstanding Fiction Special; Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Live-Action Program; Outstanding Editing for a Single Camera Program; and Outstanding Choreography.

Sneakerella was also nominated for other awards here, including Outstanding Art Direction; Outstanding Cinematography for a Single Camera Program; and Outstanding Directing for a Single Camera Program. In total, Sneakerella won four awards, and was nominated for eleven in total. These eleven nominations meant that Sneakerella tied with The Mysterious Benedict Society (2021-22), a Disney+ series, for most total nominations at this event. Production designer Elisa Sauvé won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Production Design for a Television Movie at the Directors Guild of Canada Awards.

LEGACY

Although Disney Animation’s Cinderella was followed by two direct-to-video sequels with varying levels of success, there was no sequel for Sneakerella. This isn’t a surprise since Sneakerella tied up its story neatly just like any other adaptation of Cinderella. “Sneakerella” met his “princess” and started his dream career as a sneaker designer. Everything worked out for him and we are led to believe that El and Kira lived “happily ever after”.

Instead, Sneakerella continued the legacy of the Disney musical, more specifically the Disney Channel musical. The first Disney Channel musical was The Cheetah Girls, released in 2003, two decades prior to Sneakerella. After Sneakerella, the DCOM musicals that followed it were ZOMBIES 3 (2022) and Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024), with further movies from these franchises coming over the next few months and years.

Sneakerella did also become another movie in a long list of screen adaptations of the classic fairy tale of Cinderella. But with so many of these over the years, potentially Sneakerella did not do enough to be remembered in the years and decades to come.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I can’t say I disliked Sneakerella. It had its moments where it was quite clever and it did feel new and fresh, not a scene-by-scene repeat of Disney’s 1950 animated film.

I think I am, however, too old and “uncool” to fully appreciate Sneakerella. For one thing, I don’t have a love of sneakers. If El looked at my shoes, I don’t think he’d have much to say about them, which would basically mean he thought I was “boring”. Probably fair. I’m also not a fan of hip-hop or rap so the soundtrack wasn’t something I found overly memorable or enjoyable.

But I appreciated the attempt by Disney Channel to do a gender-swap of Cinderella for the young people of today. Many parents claim that they won’t let their children watch some of Disney Animation’s older movies, including Cinderella, due to their “outdated” views on society, including the role of women.

Sneakerella tries to represent the culture of young people today, giving them more of an accurate view of their lives compared to some of the more traditional Cinderella stories we see on screen. I think putting Sneakerella on Disney+, a platform with so much more variety than that of Disney Channel, meant it may’ve struggled to find its audience. But it only came out a couple of years ago; maybe it can be found again.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Denise Petski, ‘‘Sneakerella’: Chosen Jacobs, Lexi Underwood & John Salley To Star In Disney+ Movie’, Deadline.com, 21^st October 2020.

[2] Credit: Elisabetta Bianchini, ‘Canadian cast of Disney+ ‘Sneakerella’ welcomed Americans ‘with open arms’ during COVID-19’, News.Yahoo.com, 13^th May 2022.

[3] Credit: Michael Kras, ‘This new movie musical on Disney Plus was filmed all over Hamilton’, Cekan.ca, 27^th May 2022.

[4] Credit: Cormac O’Brien, ‘The First ‘Sneakerella’ Trailer Just Dropped & The Ontario Is Fully Showing Throughout’, Narcity.com, 13^th November 2021.

[5] Credit: Starlight Williams, ‘How sneaker culture took over the world’, NationalGeographic.com, 27^th April 2023.

[6] Credit: ‘About’, Sneakercon.com.

[7] Credit: Noel Ransome, ‘Eske Schiralli on Building the Sneaker for Disney’s ‘Sneakerella’ and Drake Rocking His Clothes’, Complex.com, 13^th May 2022.

[8] Credit: Sarah Sterling, ‘5 Dreamy Animated Cinderella References in Sneakerella’, D23.com, 13^th May 2022.

[9] Credit: Cormac O’Brien, ‘The First ‘Sneakerella’ Trailer Just Dropped & The Ontario Is Fully Showing Throughout’, Narcity.com, 13^th November 2021.