5th Dec 202519th Dec 2025 by The Disney Purist

The Naughty Nine (2023)

BACKGROUND

The festive season is a time when we see a wide array of Christmas films coming to theatres and our television screens.

This movie selection covers a range of genres and age groups. Given the Hallmark and Hallmark-style movies I’ve already watched this year – and there have been plenty – we could also say the film options vastly differ in quality too.

It would seem that Christmas movies are being pumped out at break-neck speed when you think of the number that come out at this time of year, seemingly with very few story constraints and very little budget. Any idea will do; it just needs to be festive enough.

With all that in mind, you might think that Disney Channel would simply follow in the footsteps of other production companies and be able to throw out at least one new DCOM every year themed to Christmas. But that has not been the case, with there actually being very few Christmas-specific Disney Channel movies, only five in total over the years.

Only two have been released in the 2020s so far. One in this decade was Christmas…Again? (2021), a story very much inspired by Groundhog Day (1993) but a surprisingly touching one nonetheless. At least from my point of view. Not everyone agreed.

The other was released in 2023 and was technically labelled a Disney Original Movie. This film was The Naughty Nine, a holiday heist movie perfectly suited for children. It saw two kids lead a group of other naughty children, each with their own talents, to steal back their presents that Santa didn’t bring them because they are all on the Naughty List.

Sadly, I didn’t much care for The Naughty Nine. I’ve always liked heist films but this movie was obviously not aimed at me. I didn’t particularly enjoy the overall story, and it didn’t make me feel very festive. But that’s ok, because it is certainly not the worst Christmas movie I’ve watched this year and not the only one I won’t be rewatching!

PLOT

The Naughty Nine begins in the Principal’s Office of a typical school. It is the day before Winter Break and yet the principal is dealing with a student in trouble. This student is Andy who always seems to be in trouble. Deep down, the principal knows Andy is not a bad kid, and after he turns on the tears, saying he can change, he is sent back to class. However, Andy has no intention of heading back to class, and with his friend, Dulce, they have a mini-heist planned for the end of the school term. Andy has already stolen the keys for the Confiscation Bin, the place where all confiscated items are sent before being given to charity at the end of term. Dulce and Andy prepare for the heist to begin.

First, they tamper with the film that is showing to all the students in the hall, changing it to a recording of the principal, making it seem like she has told everyone to leave school early. Andy and Dulce use this distraction to bag up all the items from the bin and put them on a cart to get them out of the building. The principal catches the two of them leaving the school grounds with a big bag of stuff. She looks into the bag and finds…cookies. Andy says they were meant for all the staff. The principal thanks Andy for his kindness and takes them away. It is revealed that Andy swapped out the bags just before seeing the principal and hid their one in a bin. The janitor has since picked up the bin and taken it outside to the dumpsters, allowing Andy and Dulce to retrieve it. Outside, Andy and Dulce charge kids to get their confiscated items back. One, tech whizz Lewis, worries that this might cause him to go on the Naughty List. Another, Albert, manages to get his slingshot back for free by using a fake innocent look. Andy and Dulce try to tell them that returning confiscated items back to their rightful owners is actually a good thing. The two discuss their most wanted gifts for Christmas, with Andy wanting a games console, and Dulce wanting a bow and arrow. They hope that Santa will give them these gifts on Christmas Day.

Back at home, Andy’s sister Laurel tells their parents that Andy got sent to the principal’s office today, hoping for him to be punished. Andy says that he was actually helping the principal, and his parents say no more about it. Laurel hates the fact Andy never gets in trouble, despite obviously doing such bad things, and she warns Andy that one day, all his naughtiness will blow up in his face. Later that night, Andy overhears his parents talking about one of his father’s colleagues, a pilot, who allegedly hit a reindeer whilst on one of his routes. This reinforces to Andy that Santa is on his way.

On Christmas Day, Andy gets plenty of presents from his parents, but doesn’t get anything from Santa. Laurel, however, has a secret gift, an official tracksuit for her gymnastics, that seemingly was from Santa. Andy asks his friend Dulce if she got a gift from Santa, and she says she got nothing from him either. They go over to meet with their friend Lewis, to get information about Santa’s Naughty List, to see if they might be on it. Lewis has handily written an algorithm in order to find all the naughty list kids across the globe; there are apparently over a million of them. Andy is horrified that Santa has so much control over these naughty kids’ happiness and decides they must go to the North Pole and retrieve their gifts themselves. Lewis knows the exact location of Santa’s Village so now they just need to assemble the perfect team to help enact the plan.

Firstly, Lewis, Andy, and Dulce head to the park, where they recruit their getaway driver, a reckless go-karter, Ha-Yoon, who is on the naughty list for this reason, and animal whisperer Rose who will be useful in getting the reindeers at the North Pole on side. She is on the naughty list for illegally releasing captive animals. Next, they’ll need a gymnast for a very specific stunt. Andy goes to his sister’s gymnastics club and attempts to recruit the mean, snooty top gymnast Bethany, Laurel’s rival at the club. After some persuasion, and her desperation to get the top-of-the-range phone she wanted, she agrees to a meeting. They also find Jon Anthony, a young fashion designer who owns his own store selling his own original designs, who will create the elf disguises they’ll need to blend in at the North Pole. The fake innocent kid from earlier, Albert, is also added to the squad.

The group meet up at Andy’s house, in the basement, for a top-secret meeting to discuss the mission. A whole model of Santa’s village has been created to plan out the exact stages to the plan. At the location, Lewis will be tasked with shutting down the security cameras. The gymnast’s task is to flip over a large icy chasm to release the bridge from a centre platform to get over to the present vault. Bethany isn’t overly enthusiastic about joining a group of little kids, but she thinks the stunt will be simple enough. Laurel overhears this meeting taking place and tries to get her parents to catch Andy in the act of planning something naughty – but when they get down to the basement, Andy has already planned the perfect cover for this meeting: Recycling Club. His parents and Laurel leave. Andy then gives all the kids files with their alibis written inside. Each one will be at a different sleepover, with Dulce taking calls from the parents to make it seem these sleepovers are legitimate.

Now all they need is transportation to the North Pole. Andy goes with his father to work at the airport, where his father works as the cargo manager. Andy sneaks into the pilot’s lounge and finds Bruno, the pilot who saw a reindeer on one of his flights. Bruno is currently off duties for now, awaiting a psychiatric assessment. Andy tells him about their plan to steal from the North Pole and Bruno agrees to fly them all there, in the hopes of finding evidence that will prove to his colleagues that he is not crazy! But that’s not all because Bethany just dropped out of “The Naughty Nine” as her parents bought her the phone she wanted. Andy knows his best alternative is his goodie-goodie sister Laurel. Knowing she won’t agree to helping them because it is “bad”, he tells Laurel that Bethany doesn’t think she could’ve done the difficult stunt anyway, making Laurel join the group in an effort to prove she is just as good a gymnast as Bethany. Now they have a team.

On the day of the heist, the whole group board the plane with Bruno and they take off for the North Pole. En route, Jon Anthony has a crisis of confidence about his elf costumes as he admits he has never designed his own clothes before, instead just copying others and passing them off as his own – which is fraud, and the reason Jon Anthony is on the Naughty List. He is convinced to finish the costumes and the group actually really like his take on elf fashion. Bruno invites all the kids to look at the Northern Lights through the cockpit window, showing they are close to the North Pole, but an announcement comes over the radio saying they are flying into restricted airspace. Andy tells Bruno to lie about having a mechanical failure, but Bruno is a terrible liar and almost messes up the plan. Dulce grabs a part of the aeroplane and breaks it off, making them actually need an emergency landing at the North Pole! All the kids hide as officials board the plane and ask Bruno what he is doing here. Bruno shows them the broken piece and they say mechanics can fix this for him, telling Bruno to stay put. The kids then disembark the plane. They have two hours.

All eight children head off to Santa’s Village. Albert is told to go on alone to a security cabin and pretend to be lost. He is taken in by the security elf there. Lewis is sent to the control room to deal with the cameras, whilst Rose and Ha-Yoon head to the reindeer stables to make a getaway vehicle. The other four, Andy, Dulce, Laurel, and Jon Anthony, walk in the direction of Santa’s Workshop, coming across a party in full swing. After initially seeming suspicious of their strange outfits, Andy manages to blag their way into the party, and they are welcomed in by the elves. Andy quickly finds the door to Santa’s Workshop, but discovers that the other three are too distracted to notice. He is unable to get their attention when he is forced into dancing in a conga line!

Meanwhile, after some misunderstandings between Ha-Yoon and a reindeer, which Rose has to diffuse, the two manage to find a sleigh and have the reindeer lead it. Lewis has had some problems at the control tower as an elf interrupts his work and he must hide. The elf does not move, leaving Lewis trapped and unable to shut down the cameras.

Back at the party, Andy manages to grab the other three and they head through the door to Santa’s Workshop. After climbing what seems to be hundreds of stairs, they finally make their way to a rooftop – but they find that Lewis has not shut off the cameras! They start throwing snowballs to try and detach the camera. Dulce succeeds at doing this. They continue on to Santa’s Workshop. Inside, they see all their names on the official Naughty List and continue to the vault. They come across an icy tunnel and the huge chasm that Laurel must cross. Laurel initially prepares herself to do the huge stunt, however, she doesn’t think she can do it, and tearfully tells Andy she has failed his plan. Andy says they can always find another way in. As the others turn to go back to Santa’s Workshop, Laurel finds some inner motivation and proceeds to do the complicated trick. She succeeds and lands in the centre platform, releasing the bridge so the other three can cross over.

In the middle of this platform is some sort of coded lock. Dulce recognises the symbols on this lock as being birds. She starts to sing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and one symbol lights up. It quickly turns off as the others discuss this. They think that if they sing the song in full, they’ll be able to enter the vault, so they do just that. After singing the whole song, the vault opens and the four go inside, taking their presents out of the vault. However, we see that Laurel has succumbed to the dark side and has taken Bethany’s phone that still sits in the vault. They then hear the security alarm going off. Ha-Yoon and Rose set off in their sleigh to pick up the others, and Lewis runs out of the control room. Albert leaves the security cabin too. As Andy, Laurel, Jon Anthony, and Dulce run through Santa’s Village, pursued by security, they are picked up by the girls in the sleigh. Lewis finds himself inside an inflatable ornament and runs through the village. Dulce uses her bow and arrow gift to deflate a large inflatable onto security, giving them some time, although they find themselves at a dead end. Lewis then rolls into the Santa statue at the village, which collapses onto the security guards. The others pick up Lewis and Albert at this point and head back to the plane. On the way, Andy sees that Laurel picked up Bethany’s phone as a “reward” and starts to wonder if what they’ve just done was right at all.

They see the plane heading down the runway without them. Bruno’s plane was fixed quicker than expected and the officials told him to leave immediately so he was unable to wait. Bruno opens up the cargo door and Ha-Yoon speeds up the sleigh so they can all jump into the cargo hold from the sleigh. Each one does this, until it gets down to Ha-Yoon and Andy. Andy takes over the driving of the sleigh, and tells her to jump in. He then stops the sleigh and allows himself to be caught with the gifts as the plane takes off.

On board, the others feel like Andy has betrayed them, but Dulce says that is not the case, and that as her best friend, she cannot leave him behind. Andy is taken to Santa, who shows Andy that he and his seven friends are all on the Naughty List still. Andy pleads with Santa to put all the blame on him as it was his idea. Santa agrees to take some names off the list, but he leaves Andy and Laurel’s names there, due to the fact Laurel stole the phone that wasn’t even meant for her. Andy says he can get the phone back, so Laurel’s name can be removed from the Naughty List. The others, who came back for Andy, are then brought in to see Santa as well. Andy apologises to Laurel for turning her bad like him. Laurel apologises to Santa and returns the phone. Santa then gives them all a message: that they must earn the right to be on the Good List, and that if they can promise they will try and be good from now on, then he will remove their names from the Naughty List. They agree to do this. Bruno, being an adult, was never in danger of being on the Naughty List as it does not apply to him, but came back to help Andy with the others anyway. He asks Santa for a selfie as evidence that he wasn’t going crazy when he saw that reindeer!

They all return to their homes, where Dulce is surprised to find that her large family actually noticed she was gone. Andy comes clean to his parents about everything he did, but they don’t believe him. Him and Laurel decide to get along from now on too.

One year later, we are back at school with Andy and Dulce on the day before Winter Break again, where they appear to have turned a corner and are no longer “naughty”. However, Andy is called into the Principal’s Office yet again. He tries to say he hasn’t done anything wrong, when he discovers it is actually Santa in the principal’s chair. Santa says he needs Andy’s help urgently with a problem.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Andy is the ringleader of the Naughty Nine, and the one with all the plans. He doesn’t like that fact that Santa has taken away gifts from him and his friends, and wants to settle the score by stealing back his much-longed for games console, enlisting the help of seven other children – and one adult – to do this. Eventually, after their getaway goes wrong and he sees his sister acting naughty like him, by stealing that phone, Andy realises the error of his ways and admits what he planned to Santa, so he can protect his friends and his sister. Santa knows that sometimes kids make mistakes and won’t always make the right choices, with Andy promising that he will try and be good from that point on, so this doesn’t happen again. Winslow Fegley was cast as Andy in The Naughty Nine. For Disney, he has previously been cast as Timmy Failure in the Disney+ film Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made (2020) and appeared as Mel in the Disney Channel series Fast Layne (2019). Outside of that, Fegley played Young Jake Doyle in the HBO Max movie 8-Bit Christmas (2021) before starring as Josh Primm in Lyle, Lyle Crocodile (2022) with Javier Bardem.

Dulce is Andy’s best friend and second-in-command, so she is always willing to join Andy on his crazy schemes. She is very loyal to her friend, and even convinces the others that they have to go back to rescue Andy after he gives himself in to the North Pole security, because he was actually trying to protect them. Dulce is from a large family, and feels ignored most of the time, so that is probably why she has such a close friendship with Andy, because they are always there for each other. Dulce was played by Camilla Rodriguez. She played Angela del Toro in Daredevil: Born Again (2025-present).

Following on from that, we have Lewis, the IT expert in the group. Lewis actually kicks off this heist plan by showing Andy and Dulce his algorithm for finding those on the Naughty List and for discovering the exact location of Santa’s Village. His algorithm and data gathered from that is later used to find contenders to join The Naughty Nine team. Lewis’ task at the North Pole is to turn off the security cameras, something he does not succeed in doing. Being useful for one half of the plan isn’t bad, I suppose! Anthony Joo was cast as Lewis. He played Hudson Frickley on The Really Loud House (2022-24).

Jon Anthony is recruited to The Naughty Nine for his costume-making skills, as Jon Anthony is believed to be a fashion designer. His costumes are required so that they can be dressed as elves and blend in at the North Pole. It later turns out that Jon Anthony is on the Naughty List for fraudulently copying and then selling other designers’ work to the public, meaning he has no confidence in his own designing abilities. Once he sees the reaction to his elf costumes from the others though, he starts to believe he might actually be a great designer one day. Jon Anthony’s gift from Santa was meant to be a fancy sewing machine, which he retrieves from the vault. Jon Anthony was played by Deric McCabe, who had previously been cast as Charles Wallace Murry in Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time (2018). McCabe went on to play Wesley Witherspoon in Apple TV’s Home Before Dark (2020-21).

Albert is the youngest of the group and he uses his angelic face to get away with things, like getting his slingshot back from the confiscated items for free, and distracting the elf at the North Pole. He doesn’t actually have to do much in the heist, other than eat cookies and sit by the fire in the elf cabin, occasionally telling the elf not to call security, which must’ve been much less stressful than what the others were going through. Ayden Elijah was cast as Albert. He voiced AJ in Nickelodeon’s Blaze and the Monster Machines (2014-25).

Then we have the two members of the getaway team. Rose can communicate with animals, making her the ideal person to be able to convince a reindeer to lead their getaway sleigh. Rose is on the Naughty List for freeing animals in captivity, which doesn’t sound so bad in the grand scheme of things; she’s trying to do good after all, just not necessarily in the right way. Clare Stack was cast as Rose. Stack is currently appearing as Lilly Bainbridge in the HBO horror series, and a prequel to IT (2017), IT: Welcome to Derry (2025-present).

Ha-Yoon is in The Naughty Nine taskforce because of her insane racing abilities. They need someone who will drive fast and recklessly for when they have to get out of the North Pole fast. Luckily, Ha-Yoon doesn’t let them down by making some risky manoeuvres and outsmarting security. Ha-Yoon was played by Imogen Cohen, who played Zina Zacarias in the Paramount+ live-action series The Fairy OddParents: Fairly Odder (2022).

Finally, for the kids, we have the two gymnasts. Andy’s initial pick for his team is Bethany, Laurel’s rival in gymnastics, due to the fact she is already on the Naughty List for her conceited behaviour, and would want to join The Naughty Nine just to get the gift she wanted, which was a new phone. She later decides against joining the heist as her parents got her the phone she wanted. Talk about selfish! Liyou Abere was cast as Bethany, having previously appeared as Jamie in the Netflix series Locke & Key (2020-22) and as Janine in Amazon Prime’s The Boys (2019-present). Abere currently voices Lyla in the PBS Kids’ series Lyla in the Loop (2024-present).

Instead, Andy turns to his sister, Laurel, who is not someone who would normally break the rules. She only agrees to go along so she can beat Bethany at something, but she actually ends up liking the thrill of the heist, and in a moment of madness, takes Bethany’s phone from the vault, apparently as some sort of reward. She eventually comes to her senses after Andy is caught by the elves and taken to Santa, apologising for what came over her. Andy and Laurel end the movie with a much better brother-sister relationship than they had at the start of the film, where Laurel is trying to get her parents to see how much of a bad kid Andy is – kind of like how Candace is with Phineas and Ferb in the series Phineas and Ferb (2007-15, 2025-present). Madilyn Kellam was cast as Laurel. Prior to The Naughty Nine, Kellam had played Cindy in the Netflix sequel Full Out 2: You Got This! (2020).

For the adults, firstly, we have the only adult member of The Naughty Nine, Bruno. He is just the pilot who flies them all to the North Pole because apparently there were no kid pilots available – or Disney didn’t feel it was appropriate to show kids illegally flying planes. Since Bruno can’t be on the Naughty List as an adult, his motivation for joining is to prove that Santa is real after being mocked for apparently seeing a reindeer in the sky on one of his flights, with his job even being at risk for it. Bruno gets his proof though, by getting a selfie with Santa at the end of the film, just before they head home. Bruno was played by Derek Theler, best known for starring as Danny Wheeler in the Freeform series Baby Daddy (2012-17), alongside former Disney Channel stars Tahj Mowry, Jean-Luc Bilodeau and Chelsea Kane. More recently, Theler was cast as Blue Granite in the Disney Channel series The Villains of Valley View (2022-23).

Now, most Christmas films need a Santa Claus, at least those that take place at the North Pole. So, for The Naughty Nine, they got quite a surprise casting, by having Danny Glover play Santa. But Glover’s Santa is not the jolly, happy Santa we’d normally see. Here, Santa is very disappointed in The Naughty Nine, or eight since adults don’t come under his judgement, and he guilt trips the kids into trying to be good, by threatening them with the Naughty List. He seems quite strict, or just annoyed that he is having to waste his downtime disciplining more kids who seem to think getting on the Good List is some sort of right. Kids are just so entitled these days! Anyway, Santa ends up needing Andy’s deviousness by the end of the film, going to him for help with a problem we don’t know about.

Danny Glover is well-known for his role as Sergeant Robert Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise. He was later cast as Justice Thurgood Marshall in HBO’s Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fright (2013). More recently, Glover was part of the all-star cast, including names like Joan Cusack and Dermot Mulroney, who were cast in the Hallmark movie The Christmas Train (2017); Glover played Max Powers. This shows that The Naughty Nine was not his first television Christmas movie. This was also not the first time he had starred in a movie aimed at children either, as he voiced Jethro in DreamWorks Animation’s The Prince of Egypt (1998). Glover also played Milo Walker in Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), where Danny DeVito was also a new character for this sequel.

There is one other member of the cast that I’d like to mention, despite not being a main role, just because they looked familiar and now I know why. The Security Guard Elf in the cabin, who helps Albert by letting him stay in their cabin until they can find his parents, not realising this was actually just a distraction so The Naughty Nine could rob Santa, was played by Ci Hang Ma. Ci Hang Ma played Quinn, one of the marching band spirits, from Season 2 of the Paramount+ series School Spirits (2023-present).

PRODUCTION

The Naughty Nine was first confirmed to be in the works by Disney in February 2022.

At the same time, a sequel to Under Wraps, the 2021 remake of the first official Disney Channel Original Movie from 1997, was also announced. Under Wraps 2 came to Disney Channel in September 2022.

When discussing more details about the movie, The Naughty Nine was labelled a holiday heist movie, where Disney called it Ocean’s 11 at the North Pole. In this press release, a brief plot description was given, along with the name of the director and writers[1].

The director for The Naughty Nine was Alberto Belli. Before The Naughty Nine, Belli had directed the horror-comedy film Gatlopp (2022), which starred Emmy Raver-Lampman from Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy (2019-24) and Jon Bass from the anthology series Miracle Workers (2019-23). Belli has since directed Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado (2025), a live-action movie based on Dora the Explorer, for Paramount+ and Nickelodeon.

The writers of The Naughty Nine were Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, who already had some experience of working for Disney, Disney Channel specifically. Together, the duo developed, and wrote several episodes of, Raven’s Home (2017-23) for the channel, this being a spin-off of the very popular series That’s So Raven (2003-07). They also created the series Best Friends Whenever (2015-16) prior to that, and have more recently developed the sequel series to Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-12), titled Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (2024-present). This duo were therefore well-placed to write this Disney movie.

The Naughty Nine was filmed in Quebec, Canada, more exactly in and around the city of Montreal. The movie is said to have filmed some of its scenes in the Pointe-Claire area of Montreal. Many other Disney Channel movies have been filmed in Canada, including some films within their successful musical franchises Descendants, Camp Rock, and ZOMBIES. Shooting took around three months, going from February to April 2022. After the shoot was over and production had left the area, there were some complaints from the local residents of Pointe-Claire about the mess they’d made from all their productions vehicles. An area of green space was covered with gravel to use as a parking lot during filming and residents were not happy that this gravel was seemingly going to be left. The production company, Poutine, said they would repair the area during the spring. It made these residents very hesitant to allow any more filming to take place here in the future[2].

Despite filming taking place so early in 2022, a 2022 release date was not possible due to the amount of post-production required. As they had filmed The Naughty Nine whilst some of the world was still dealing with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, there had been a significant delay with the FX team involved, with their requirement necessary for this film. Since The Naughty Nine is Christmas-themed, this meant the release date of the movie had to wait until the next festive season rolled around in 2023.

Despite the need for some special effects, such as the CGI reindeer and the background at the North Pole, proven by the fact the getaway sleigh sequence was actually filmed in a studio in front of a blue screen – it couldn’t be a green screen as the cast’s costumes were green, the director Belli has stressed in interviews that around 70% of the film uses practical effects and real sets[3]. The Santa’s Village set, for example, was viewed as being very impressive by many audience members, due to its vast size and detail. The ice cavern with the vault entrance was also a real set that was built. The team working on The Naughty Nine enjoyed designing their own version of the North Pole for this film[4].

It was said to be extremely cold at the time the cast and crew were shooting, with this being made worse by the number of nighttime shoots there were. Still, the cast of mostly kids kept their spirits up during this time, by building snow forts in the snow, and Winslow Fegley building his own igloo, which later became an icy slide for the cast as it started melting. They also spent time together in the lobby of their hotel playing games and cards during their downtime, where they grew close as a group[5].

The costumes on The Naughty Nine were designed by Julia Caston, who had previously worked on such screen projects as A Bad Moms Christmas (2017) and the ABC sitcom The Middle (2009-18). Just a year after The Naughty Nine came out, Caston was the costume designer for another Disney Channel movie, Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024). Caston enjoyed designing the elf costumes for the kids. They had to be quite stereotypical, as this was what the children all believed elves to look like, so the costumes are primarily red and green, but they also had to suit each character’s specific skill. For example, Ha-Yoon’s costume looks similar to a racing suit, Andy is wearing a hoodie to suit his casual, no-fuss leadership style, and Laurel has a gymnastics leotard on underneath a thick fit and flare coat. Caston then had the opportunity to reinvent the typical elf look that we see all the time, to contrast the costumes that the children are wearing. These real elves of the North Pole wear a variety of colours and although their outfits are uniform in style, they are embellished with accessories. Santa also had to have a slightly different look for The Naughty Nine, because the events take place after Christmas, so during Santa’s vacation. In this case, they kept the classic red coat and hat, but you can see he is wearing loose fighting trousers and a white jumper, instead of the buttoned-up coat and matching red trousers[6].

MUSIC

The composer on The Naughty Nine was Kenny Wood, who has collaborated with director Belli on some of his other projects, by working on the music for Gatlopp and Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado. Wood has also worked as a musical arranger on films like F9 (2021) and Despicable Me 3 (2017), as well as on the CBS series Magnum P.I. (2018-22, 2023-24).

When asked about his inspiration for the music on The Naughty Nine, Wood said he was inspired by magical family Christmas movies like Home Alone (1990) and The Polar Express (2004), whilst also mixing in spy/heist music to complement the film’s genre[7]. You can hear this blend of themes in the opening and end titles of The Naughty Nine and during the scene where the children see Santa’s Village at the North Pole for the first time. Kenny Wood was nominated for The David Raskin Award for Emerging Talent at the Society of Composers and Lyricists Award in 2024 for his work on The Naughty Nine. The award was actually won by Catherine Joy and her work on the documentary Home is a Hotel (2023).

Alongside the score are a selection of songs that also feature within the music of The Naughty Nine. In movie order, whilst Andy and Laurel are opening their presents on Christmas morning, a jazzy version of “Jingle Bells” is playing. “Jingle Bells” was originally written by James Lord Pierpoint, but this rendition seems to have been performed by The Whispering Pines Holiday Orchestra. Following that, in Jon Anthony’s store, just before he gets recruited into The Naughty Nine, there is a song playing as background music. It is “Christmas Every Day” by the group Sweet Sundays.

At the North Pole in Santa’s Village, there is more music. At the security elf’s cabin, a piece of music is playing on the gramophone but we only hear it briefly, all I can say is that it seems to be some sort of take on “Jingle Bells”. Later, we return to this cabin and another song is playing. I didn’t know what this song was, but it seems to be “Hej tomtegubbar”, a traditional Swedish song that children sing at Christmastime. It is also used as a drinking song nowadays. Another song is also playing in this cabin later on and it is a version of “Silent Night”, but I’m unsure what language it is. According to the website I found much of this soundtrack information on, What-Song.com, it seems to be French.

At the elf party, there is even more music. As Andy, Dulce, Laurel, and Jon Anthony step into this party, the song “Holla for the Holidays” performed by Wizardz of Oz is playing – until the elves abruptly halt the party to check who these intruders are. This song was actually used in a routine that appeared on the Season 3 Christmas episode of Dance Moms (2011-19), performed by Abby Lee Dance Company’s biggest rivals, the Candy Apples. The party soon restarts and the song playing seems to be “Christmas Time of Year”, written by Dave Feldstein. A third song is heard at this party and it is “Share My Christmas with You”, from SATV Music, written by John Ross and Natalie Williams. There is also a Spanish song that Dulce sings with some other elves, but I do not know what this song is. A fourth party song also plays briefly, I also don’t know what that is, before the conga begins. This “Conga” was written and performed by Kenny Wood and is the only credited song here. I think this song is also used in the End Credits.

You can also hear “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, sung by the cast, within this film, as this is the way they open the vault, by singing this song in its entirety – but don’t worry, we don’t have to hear all of it; that song is way too long! “The Twelve Days of Christmas” was written by English composer Frederic Austin[8]. There is one other song playing towards the end of the film, as we move forward one year and Andy is called to the Principal’s Office again. This song is “Are You Ready for Christmas?”, by Karl Karlsson and Krissie Karlsson.

RECEPTION

The Naughty Nine first came to screens in November 2023.

After the teaser trailer was released on 28^th September 2023, Disney Branded Television announced the release dates for The Naughty Nine, as it would air on Disney Channel in the US and later come to Disney+ for international audiences to enjoy. It was decided that it would premiere on Wednesday 22^nd November 2023 on Disney Channel, before coming to Disney+ on 23^rd November 2023, which happened to be Thanksgiving Day that year[9]. The official trailer seems to have been released on 27^th October 2023.

Now that Disney Channel doesn’t exist in most countries, as they were shut down, with the majority of the content being available on their global streaming platform, Disney+, this is the way most Disney Channel Original Movies are being released, although in some cases, the gap between the Disney Channel and Disney+ premieres have been much larger.

The Naughty Nine received mixed reviews, as many Disney Channel-type movies tend to have. On the positive side, The Naughty Nine was compared to lots of different films, such as the children’s action movie franchise Spy Kids, and theOcean’s franchise. This film also reminded me of The Polar Express at times, specifically when the kids are secretly trying to get through Santa’s Workshop because there is a similar sequence in The Polar Express. The sets and costume design were also considered to be impressive, especially for a smaller, television movie, and many felt it was entertaining. Some preferred it to the other recent Disney Channel Christmas movie Christmas…Again?!, although I did not. The Naughty Nine was seen to be a fun, family-friendly film to watch over the festive season.

But this opinion was not shared by all viewers. Many felt The Naughty Nine showed a lack of real consequences for the children, despite their bad behaviour, and due to the number of characters in this film, many of which would be counted as main characters, there wasn’t much opportunity to give the characters their own backstories or any real depth, which led to some being boring and others being underused. Others also said The Naughty Nine didn’t feel particularly Christmassy, which I can agree with, although that doesn’t necessarily make it bad. Sometimes the standard Christmas movie events, like decorating, baking cookies, and family feuds can feel very overdone, so at least The Naughty Nine did not have that. There were comments that Danny Glover’s Santa was not kind enough to be Santa Claus. I can only assume the filmmakers wanted to take Santa in a different direction, and by making him strict and authoritative that might be the only way for The Naughty Nine to understand that what they were doing – trespassing and stealing – was very wrong. If the children had been younger, this type of Santa probably wouldn’t have worked, but these kids were older and could take the criticism.

There was one other very specific criticism of The Naughty Nine that irked some viewers, mostly parents, that I did read in various reviews online. This was around some “flirtatious” language used by the character of Jon Anthony. When we are first introduced to the character, Jon Anthony calls a slightly older male buyer a “hottie”. This upset some more conservative audience members, who felt this was an inappropriate comment to be coming from a child. Others didn’t feel this comment was so bad, likening it to teenagers having crushes on older celebrities. This all comes down to personal preference and what we individually consider to be appropriate in a family-aimed film. I personally didn’t even notice this line, only hearing Jon Anthony later call Andy “cute”, but that didn’t bother me. It was also a very minor line that didn’t add anything to the plot, or add much to the character, so you could argue for and against it; that it was a throwaway comment that didn’t need to be considered, or that because it wasn’t needed, the line could’ve been removed from the film[10].

Viewing figures for The Naughty Nine have not been made available from its Disney+ release, nor has Disney Channel confirmed its data from the premiere night, so it is unclear how well the film did from that aspect. But The Naughty Nine went on to be nominated for four Children’s and Family Emmy Awards, along with a large number of other Disney content. These nominations were in the categories of Outstanding Fiction Special; Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Live Action Program; and Visual and Special Effects. In the first category, it lost out to Apple TV+’s The Velveteen Rabbit (2023) and for the other two, it lost to the Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023-present). The Naughty Nine was also nominated for Best Sound Editing – Movies For Television & Mini-Series at the Directors Guild of Canada Awards, but the winner was the Showtime miniseries Fellow Travelers (2023) and its episode “White Nights”.

LEGACY

Disney Channel don’t have much of a reputation for making Christmas or festive-themed movies each year, and The Naughty Nine did nothing to change that.

Despite the fact Christmas…Again?! in 2021 was followed by The Naughty Nine in 2023 and seemed to be suggesting that Disney Channel were perhaps going to be producing more of these types of movies in the years to come, especially given the ease that new content can be released via Disney+, there have been no more Disney Original Movies announced for the holiday season in the last couple of years. In fact, the only movies they’ve confirmed so far are sequels to already established Disney Channel musical franchises.

However, The Naughty Nine ends on a cliff hanger, with Santa asking Andy for his help, and the matter seems to be quite urgent. No sequel to The Naughty Nine has been confirmed, despite the fact this ending was clearly meant to be building up to one. This annoyed some fans who said there is no point in setting up a sequel if there is no confirmation that one is going to happen. This is the same critique that was levelled at Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020), another Disney+ movie that had a cliff hanger ending leading up to a sequel that has not come to fruition.

The director of The Naughty Nine stated that he would like to make a sequel, shortly after The Naughty Nine was released, but Disney don’t seem to be making any moves to greenlight a sequel[11]. I think something would’ve been announced by now if they had plans to. It would seem that The Naughty Nine did not do as well as expected.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Naughty Nine was a different kind of Christmas film for Disney, although with other festive heist movies coming out in recent years, like Netflix’s The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star (2021) and Jingle Bell Heist (2025), maybe it wasn’t so different after all.

Still, the intent was there to try something new. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to have worked out that well for The Naughty Nine and that possible sequel that they teased at the end of the film does not seem to be coming.

So, where does this leave Disney Channel and their festive content now? I can only assume there will be another Christmas film from them someday, but who knows when!

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Alexandra Del Rosario, ‘Disney Orders ‘Under Wraps’ Sequel & ‘The Naughty Nine’ Original Movies For Disney+, Disney Channel’, Deadline.com, 7^th February 2022.

[2] Credit: John Meagher, ‘Disney movie shoot leaves Pointe-Claire neighbourhood stoney’, MontrealGazette.com, 20^th March 2022.

[3] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘Behind the Scenes of Disney’s The Naughty Nine I NEW Disney Christmas Movie’, Disney Channel YouTube Channel, 24^th November 2023.

[4] Credit: Roger Palmer, ‘Behind Disney+’s “The Naughty Nine” Newest Christmas Heist Movie With Director and Composer I Exclusive Interview’, WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com, 21^st December 2023.

[5] Credit: Just Jared Jr, ‘‘The Naughty Nine’ Cast Dish On What Went On Behind-the-Scenes While Filming the New Disney Holiday Movie (Exclusive)’, JustJaredJr.com, 22^nd November 2023.

[6] Credit: Spencer Williams, ‘Unwrapping ‘The Naughty Nine’: Behind the Costumes with Julia Caston’, TheArtOfCostume.com, 2023.

[7] Credit: Roger Palmer, ‘Behind Disney+’s “The Naughty Nine” Newest Christmas Heist Movie With Director and Composer I Exclusive Interview’, WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com, 21^st December 2023.

[8] Credit: What Song, ‘The Naughty Nine Soundtrack’, What-Song.com, no date.

[9] Credit: Disney, ‘Disney Original Movie ‘The Naughty Nine’ To Premiere Wednesday, Nov. 22, On Disney Channel And Thursday, Nov. 23 – Thanksgiving Day – On Disney+’, DetPress,com, 28^th September 2023.

[10] Credit: Zach Gass, ‘Disney Accused of “Sexualising Kids” in ‘The Naughty Nine’’, InsidetheMagic.net, 23^rd December 2023.

[11] Credit: Roger Palmer, ‘Behind Disney+’s, “The Naughty Nine” Newest Christmas Heist Movie With Director and Composer I Exclusive Interview’, WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com, 21^st December 2023.

18th Jul 202529th Sep 2025 by The Disney Purist

ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires (2025)

BACKGROUND

They say two’s company, three’s a crowd. So, what does that make four? A hot mess?

To be fair, this is supposed to apply to people, not film franchises. Although this kind of works for Jaws 4. Jaws: The Revenge was a real hot mess…But does it work for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires?

I should insert a spoiler warning here before I say much more. If you’re a big ZOMBIES fan, then you’ve likely already seen ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, but if you haven’t, you might want to watch the movie first before reading any further.

I stated that I found ZOMBIES 3 to be a real disappointment in a previous review, mostly for its inclusion of aliens as its new “monster” species, and for its lack of catchy music, at least compared to the previous two films. I felt the same with Descendants 3 (2019). These “threequels” didn’t match the uniqueness of the original or the energy of the second. They didn’t work for me, but I could find moments in these third movies that I liked after watching them again, so they were not total abominations to the franchises’ legacies.

When a movie franchise gets to its fourth entry though, especially if it has no source material as a basis – so don’t worry Twilight and Harry Potter; you’re safe from this critique – it generally starts to feel unnecessary and like the studio in question has run out of ideas, wanting to milk a franchise’s popularity dry. I feared the same for ZOMBIES 4, because if I already didn’t like the third film for this reason, then how could I like the fourth?

Well, when I started watching ZOMBIES 4, I was not impressed. I liked seeing Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza again but I didn’t like the opening song, and I wasn’t overly convinced by the plot of the movie, which I was already aware of beforehand: two subsets of vampires have fought for decades, and the “Seabrook Four” try to find ways to help them get along. It was going to be very much the same story as each of the ZOMBIES films has followed. At least I knew not to expect too much.

However, much like when I watched Descendants: The Rise of Red (2024), after the story got going, and I got used to the new characters and new locations, I began to enjoy it more. I can’t say that I will ever be a huge fan of ZOMBIES 4, but it wasn’t bad by any means. It was good – there were a couple of moments in particular that had me emotional – and it really felt like a “passing of the torch” from the original cast to a new cast.

PLOT

As we had with the other three ZOMBIES movies, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires begins with an animated opening sequence, recapping the history of Seabrook, where zombies, humans, aliens, and werewolves live together. This recap also lets us know that zombie Zed and human Addison did end up at Mountain College, where they are finishing up their Freshman Year. They love being at college, mixing with different types of people and hearing new stories, like how another moonstone apparently crashed onto Mount Rayburn, creating two new monster species, Daywalkers and Vampires. Over the years, the two groups began to fight over sacred blood fruit, which they need to survive, to the point they decided to lock themselves away from their enemies – until now.

At Mountain College, unlike high school where they were at the top of their sports teams’ hierarchies, Zed and Addison are struggling. Zed is on the bench for football, being told by his coach to attend an intensive football camp over summer to boost his chances of getting on the team for next year. Addison is focusing on her summer Cheer Camp so she can be one of the best cheerleaders again. Meanwhile, Eliza and Willa are also at Mountain College and both are adjusting well. Because they aren’t going to get to see much of each other over summer, the four decide to have a mini road trip together, so they bundle into a yellow VW Beetle and head off for the summer.

Then, we zoom over to Sunnyside to meet the Daywalkers, who are practising their fighting skills on the beach. They are getting ready to harvest more blood fruit, where they’ll likely come face-to-face with the Vampires, their sworn enemy. Nova is the daughter of Daywalker Leader Commander Bright, who tells Nova they need to be prepared to destroy the Vampires if they get in the way of their harvest. Nova isn’t so sure about this, having had visions about a boy from another area, who seems to be the key to something…But Nova’s friend Ray is enthusiastic and eager to please Commander Bright, so he tells Bright he is committed to his plan.

Over at Shadyside, the home of the Vampires, we meet Vargas, Vera, and Victor. Victor is the nephew of the vampire Eldress; however, Victor wants to leave this place and travel the world. He doesn’t want to fight and fear Daywalkers for the rest of his life. But it’s time for the harvest for the Vampires too, so it’s best he gets on board with the plan.

On their road trip, Zed is driving Addison, Eliza, and Willa through the woods, but is distracted with calls from his coach, telling him to spend all summer thinking about football. Eliza and Willa are planning their camping trip together but get increasingly annoyed by Zed’s calls, so Willa throws his headset out the window – because Disney sensibly had Zed talking on a headset, because they don’t want to encourage anyone to be holding their phones whilst driving. Don’t do it, kids! Anyway, Zed randomly “zombies out”, meaning his Z-Band malfunctions momentarily, whilst driving, which isn’t very safe either… I’m not sure zombies should be allowed to drive if this is a possibility. Because of this, Zed crashes the car, and it stops upside-down in the middle of the woods. Everyone’s alive, thankfully. They all get out of the car, where the four split up, with Willa and Eliza going one way, Addison in another direction, and Zed another.

Addison starts walking over a hill, where she stumbles upon a border that splits the land between day and night. Addison heads for a city in the nightscape. Zed ends up finding the daylight town, showing up on the beach. As he runs to a group of people, he is attacked by Nova, as the Daywalkers believe he is a vampire. It’s been so long they actually don’t even know how to distinguish a vampire from anything else. Zed tries to convince everyone he isn’t a vampire. Nova believes him, and proves to her father that he isn’t; by showing he has no fangs. Zed is instead tasked with helping them complete the harvest. Over at Shadyside, Addison is also accused of being a daywalker, and is hit by their magic. She is saved from possible destruction by Victor, and quickly says she is part-alien. Addison is also told to join the group for the harvest.

Both Daywalkers and Vampires head to the blood fruit orchard, through opposite locked gates. As the two groups see each other, they try to race to be the first to get to the fruit. Willa and Eliza also find their way here. Everyone arrives at a bigger gate that won’t open. It apparently needs three keys to open it. As the Daywalkers and Vampires are about to do battle to see who gets to find these keys, Addison and Zed come up with a better idea: that they will help the young leaders of both groups find the keys together, if they agree to split the harvest. The Elders both agree to this deal, however, it soon becomes clear that Commander Bright plans to double-cross the vampires, telling Nova that she will help find the keys, but once the gate is open, the Daywalkers will take all the fruit for themselves.

Zed, Addison, Eliza, and Willa take the young people to a camp in the middle of the woods, with sign posts directing them to it. That was handy! The camp is old and dusty, but it’ll have to do. The “Seabrook Four” tell the Daywalkers and Vampires to get some sleep. Zed and Addison then talk by the campfire, saying how it was a tough year at college, especially as they didn’t get to see much of each other. They’re also sad they won’t be in Seabrook this summer, to see Wynter, or Bree and Bonzo, or Bucky, who safely returned from space, having spread cheer to all the galaxy. So, he is part-alien after all, like Addison. Well, at least he didn’t burn up in the atmosphere!

The next morning, Nova and Victor say that they’ve been having visions about each other, but they aren’t sure why…But there’s no time to discuss that because the rest of the Daywalkers and Vampires are still at war with each other. Addison and Zed try to get the two groups to work together, but it’s a struggle! After the two groups use their powers against each other, they somehow manage to recreate a symbol that was on the gate, with the word “Gather” underneath it. In recreating this symbol, the first key is revealed. They put it in the gate, revealing another layer of gate underneath it that the next key will open. At the campfire that night, the Daywalkers and Vampires start to learn about each other, like the Vampires saying they don’t actually bite people and drink their blood, and how Daywalkers don’t eat soap to have “shiny insides”. How that rumour got going, we’ll never know… To begin this new era of co-operation, Nova and Victor both say goodnight to each other’s groups, much to the surprise of their friends.

With all the kids in bed, Willa, Addison, Zed, and Eliza talk about how Zed and Addison are too focused on their goals, and need to focus on spending time with people instead. As this conversation continues, a weird pulse goes through the camp, which messes with Zed and Eliza’s Z-Bands, as well as Willa’s moonstone necklace. Eliza decides they need to research this further, believing this pulse is so strong, it could reach Seabrook and endanger all the monsters there.

Nova and Victor secretly meet that night, where they find a cave that has symbols on the walls of both the Daywalkers and the Vampires, like much of the camp does. They believe this is evidence that both their groups used to get along, once upon a time. On looking at the cave walls further, they see that there are phases of the moon on the walls, and the colours of the rainbow on the ground, but both realise they are not in the correct order. Nova and Victor re-order the symbols and the second key is revealed. Victor puts the key in the gate. After he does this, and the final layer of gate is left, a hole in the ground begins to lower. It then rises up to reveal a huge stone ball, with the phrase “only one team can win” written beside it. The Daywalkers and Vampires fight over the boulder, as each tries to push it to their respective symbol: the sun or the moon. As the “Seabrook Four” try to get them to co-operate, a huge pulse comes through again, and Zed collapses, stopping the kids in their tracks. They take him back to camp.

There, Eliza, Willa, and Zed research the pulse further, and track it to a nearby hill. They believe the pulse must be originating underground, so Zed decides to go down into a hole in the ground. However, the rope carrying him snaps and the ground crumbles, taking Eliza and Willa into the cavern. Eliza finds that Zed is trapped under a rock, and both Eliza and Willa use their Z-Band and moonstone to shift the rock off him. They find blood fruit roots in this cave, which are being blocked by a ladder. The pulse seems to be coming from there, so the three try to move the ladders, but they won’t budge. Addison arrives with the Daywalkers and Vampires as they heard a noise, and they all work together to move it.

But the Daywalkers and Vampires are still fighting. Addison takes the opportunity to tell them all about Seabrook, and how they all learnt to get along. As they head back to camp, Ray takes Nova aside and reminds her that her father is expecting her to betray the Vampires once that gate is open. Nova doesn’t want to follow her father’s plan, but knows if she doesn’t, then he won’t let her lead. Vera overhears this conversation.

The next day, the two sides return to the stone ball, and work together to push it to one side. The third key is revealed, but this time, it is encased in amber. The Daywalkers attempt to use their fireballs to melt the amber, but it won’t work. The Vampires use their wind power to fan the flame, and the amber is eventually melted. They place the key in the gate – and it finally opens into the orchard. However, as the young leaders are about to head into the orchard, they find the Elders have also arrived there. It turns out Vera and Ray warned their leaders. The Elders fight, but their fighting results in much of the blood fruit being burnt. They declare camp over, as the warring sides ready themselves for war. As they leave, a new pulse comes over the area, and Zed, Willa, and Eliza become weak.

Back at camp, as the Daywalkers and Vampires get ready to leave, Eliza researches the pulse further, seeing that Zed is incredibly unwell. Eliza wants a clearer signal from the roots so returns to the cave. There, Zed fears that he will become a zombie forever if this pulse problem isn’t resolved. Addison says she’ll stay with him, no matter what. Eliza says the roots are struggling and the pulse is getting stronger. Nova and Victor then come to the cave, where Nova says she wasn’t going to betray him or the Vampires, knowing there is a reason why they were having visions of each other. They hold hands, at which point, they notice there are both white and black roots here, from each of their cities. They look up at the tower, and see that the top of it is meant to hold the moonstones from both Sunnyside and Shadyside. Nova and Victor know they have to steal their stones and bring them back here, to heal the roots. They fear this isn’t possible, but Zed and Addison tell them it is.

The other campers join Nova and Victor on their mission. Nova and Victor go to their respective cities and fight for their stones. The Elders return to the orchard to find there is no more fruit. Everyone arrives in the cave, but the Elders tell Nova and Victor to hand over their stones. They refuse, wanting to make peace. As the Elders go to attack them, their friends protect them. Nova and Victor ascend the tower, struggling against the powers. One of the ladders almost collapses in the battle, so Addison and Zed try to hold it up. Zed chooses to remove his Z-Band to find the strength to do this. It works and Nova and Victor get their moonstones in position, but Zed’s Z-Band is destroyed.

As the stones are safely in place, a storm comes over them, uniting the stones. Rain begins to fall, which heals the blood fruit roots, and stops Zed from becoming a zombie forever. The groups find that blood fruit is growing in the orchard again. It turns out all monsters are connected by moonstones, so by having the Daywalker and Vampire stones away from each other for too long, it caused the orchards to die and the pulse released affected the monsters. Nova and Victor declare that every year, at camp, they will bring their moonstones together. The Elders also decide that Nova and Victor are in fact ready to lead.

The movie ends happily with the Daywalkers and the Vampires coming together in celebration. We also see Zed and Addison reflecting on their strange and weird summer, saying they’ll be spending the rest of summer at Seabrook with friends and family. Them, Willa, and Eliza head their together. Then, Nova and Victor say goodbye to each other as they return to their cities. As they hug, a huge tornado of water shoots out of the ocean…

CHARACTERS & CAST

The ZOMBIES movies always liked to introduce new characters in their sequels, but ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires is a little bit different, as only four of this movie’s characters come from the original ZOMBIES trilogy: Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza.

These four have been attending Mountain College together, so they remain close, however, Willa and Eliza have noticed that Zed and Addison are spending too much time focusing on football and cheerleading, stressing themselves out and stopping them from spending quality time with people. This is evident in their summer plans, as Zed and Addison plan to be at cheerleading and football camp over the break, whilst Willa and Eliza are going on a camping trip. But as fate would have it, none of them get the summer they expected. Instead, they are drawn into an ongoing war between two different monsters that they’ve never met before: Daywalkers and Vampires. Using their experience of their time in Seabrook, where Zed and Addison managed to integrate not just zombies and humans into town life, but werewolves and aliens as well in just a couple of years, they decide to guide the Daywalkers and Vampires into living harmoniously together, through the bonding experience of… Summer Camp.

Zed and Addison spend the most time with the Daywalkers and the Vampires, especially Nova and Victor, who remind them of themselves. Nova and Victor don’t want to bow to pressure from their leaders when they know that the two groups must have a reason to work together. Zed and Addison were very much the same, pushing against the status quo because they knew segregation of their two groups was not right. The two also deal with Zed’s ever-complicated Z-Band, which is being weakened by a strange pulse, that Eliza and Willa work to figure out. Luckily, because of Zed and Addison persuading Nova and Victor to work together, bringing the Daywalkers and Vampires together, the pulsing soon sorts itself out, and Zed doesn’t have to fear becoming a zombie forever! Zed and Addison celebrate their steady relationship with a little dance on the hill by the Daywalker and Vampire territories, just before meeting up with Eliza and Willa to return to Seabrook for the summer. This set up a goodbye of sorts from these original four characters. I must say though, I was so happy that this moment with Zed and Addison did NOT result in a proposal, because I was concerned. Descendants 3 began with an engagement between Ben and Mal, which I thought was ridiculous as they were only 18 or 19, and it just seemed they were way too young. We then got Descendants: The Royal Wedding (2021) to tie this story up. Many Disney fans seem to want this for Zed and Addison too, and are still hopeful for it, but I am not. Please stop encouraging this, Disney; there’s plenty of time in life for marriage. You don’t need to rush off and marry your childhood sweetheart. Live a little first.

Anyway, Milo Manheim returned to ZOMBIES 4 to play Zed. In recent years, Manheim has starred in numerous stage musicals, such as playing Johnny in the Green Day musical American Idiot for a late-2024 Deaf West Theatre production in Los Angeles, and starred as Seymour in the Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors from February to June 2025. Manheim was recently announced as playing Peter in the star-studded Hollywood Bowl production of Jesus Christ Superstar, which will run from 1^st to 3^rd August 2025 and star Cynthia Erivo as Jesus and Adam Lambert as Judas.

Meg Donnelly also returned as Addison. Donnelly recently appeared as a contestant on Season 13 of The Masked Singer (2019-present), where she was Coral and came in third place. This season ran from February to May 2025. Chandler Kinney, as Willa, and Kylee Russell, as Eliza, were back for ZOMBIES 4 too. Coming up for them is a role as Kimberly in the 2026 series Elle, which is a prequel to the Legally Blonde franchise, for Kinney, and a role in the movie Savage Sistas for Russell.

Now, to the new characters. First, we have Nova. Nova is a Daywalker, meaning she lives in Sunnyside and has fire powers. Despite her father, Commander Bright, being determined to defeat the Vampires by any means necessary, keeping all the blood fruit for themselves, Nova doesn’t agree with her father, but doesn’t initially feel she can go against his wishes. She doesn’t tell her father she has visions of a boy, who is not a Daywalker, and wonders what this might mean. When she does meet this boy, Victor, who is a Vampire, she realises that they have no reason to fear the Vampires, and they should be working with them instead of against them. Thanks to her determination to do the right thing, and not bow to pressure, Nova manages to help revive the groups’ blood fruit orchards, as well as fix the pulsing that was troubling all the monsters.

Nova was played by Freya Skye, who was predominately known for singing prior to her role in ZOMBIES 4; this was her first movie role. Skye represented the UK at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2022, where she performed the song “Lose My Head” and finished in fifth place, which is very impressive, given the UK’s usual struggles at Eurovision! Skye has since released numerous singles throughout 2024 and 2025, with her song “Who I Thought I Knew” quickly gaining over 1 million views on YouTube.

Like Nova, Victor is having visions about a girl who is not a Vampire like him. However, unlike Nova, who is determined to become a great leader for her people in Sunnyside, Victor doesn’t see a future for himself in Shadyside and can’t wait to leave, wanting to travel the world. His aunt is the Eldress, with Victor being the one to replace her, but he lacks the discipline of good leadership, not feeling very bothered about being a great leader, and just generally being calm, cool, and laid back. But after he meets Nova, Victor realises the two need to work together to get the rest of the groups to co-operate and live harmoniously. After some struggles against their Elders, Victor and Nova find the courage to go against them, by retrieving their moonstones and combining them to heal the blood fruit roots – and inadvertently all the monsters. Nova and Victor end ZOMBIES 4 as friends, with a potential romance looming.

Malachi Barton was cast as Victor, having already had numerous roles on Disney Channel prior to his role in ZOMBIES 4. He was cast as Beast Diaz in the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle (2016-18), and then voiced the character of Lionel in the animated Disney Junior series Fancy Nancy (2018-22). Barton went on to star as Marshall in the Disney Channel Original Movies Under Wraps (2021) and Under Wraps 2 (2022), as well as appear in the series The Villains of Valley View (2022-23) as Colby / Flashform. Barton has recently been announced as a new cast member for the upcoming Camp Rock 3.

On to Nova and Victor’s friends. Nova’s friend in the Daywalker community is Ray. Ray is very committed to the group, wanting to impress Nova’s father Commander Bright with his dedication to the cause of fighting Vampires. Because of this, Ray does not come around to the idea of “playing nice” with the Vampires until late on in the film. Ray wants Nova to stick to the plan and take all the blood fruit for themselves, instead of cosying up to Victor and the other Vampires. When Nova makes it clear she won’t be doing that, Ray tries to show his leadership skills to Bright by telling him, and causing an all-out war in the orchards, which leads to their blood fruit being burnt up. So really, all he did was make things worse! Ray eventually apologises to Nova, believing he was doing the right thing initially and now knowing he didn’t, and he gets along with their new way of life.

Julian Lerner was cast as Ray. Previously, Lerner voiced the role of Lucas Reed in Season 1 of the PBS Kids animated series Alma’s Way (2021-present), going on to play Brad Hitman in the ABC series The Wonder Years (2021-23). In film, Lerner was cast as Evan ‘Nando’ Torres in the Netflix movie Yes Day (2021) which starred Jennifer Garner and Édgar Ramírez, and later as Eugene Wexler in Monster Summer (2024).

On Victor’s side are Vera and Vargas, two Vampires. Vera is the more serious of the two, not trusting Daywalkers, especially not after she hears Ray and Nova talking about their plans to betray the Vampires. Vera is the one to call on their Eldress to come to the orchard to stop this, much like Ray does for the Daywalkers. Vargas, on the other hand, is more playful and jokey, who comes to accept the Daywalkers more quickly than Vera.

Vera was played by Swayam Bhatia. For Disney, Bhatia had previously starred as Sofi Hanson-Bhatt in the Disney+ series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers. She had also appeared in the recurring role of Sophie Roy in the smash-hit series Succession (2018-23). Vargas was played by Mekonnen Knife, with ZOMBIES 4 being a breakout role for him.

For the strict leaders of the Daywalker and Vampire communities, we have Jonno Roberts as Commander Bright, who is also Nova’s father. Most recently, Roberts was cast as James Mallet in Season 2 of the NBC sci-fi drama La Brea (2021-24) and as Declan Stanwick in Season 3 of the sitcom Wrecked (2016-18). The Vampire Eldress, and Victor’s aunt, was played by Lisa Chappell. Prior to her role in ZOMBIES 4, Chappell was cast as Michelle Beaufort from Season 29 to 31 of the long-running New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street (1992-present).

MUSIC

The soundtrack for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was released on 11^th July 2025 and consists of 13 pieces of music, with eleven songs appearing in the film. Many of the songwriters from the previous ZOMBIES films came back to write songs for ZOMBIES 4. It is unclear how well ZOMBIES 4’s soundtrack has done on the album charts, like iTunes and Billboard so far, as it has only been out for a week, but these will be released in time.

I initially didn’t think I was going to find any songs that I liked in this movie, as it didn’t get off to a good start for me. However, I did find a few by the end of the film that I liked, more so than I did with the ZOMBIES 3 soundtrack. The most unexpected thing though was that I find my favourite song of the whole franchise in this film.

In movie order, the opening song of ZOMBIES 4 is “Legends in the Making”. It gives a recap of Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza’s Mountain College experience. I’m not sure what it is about this song, but I really didn’t like it. Maybe it was just too positive and upbeat for college; where were all the half-asleep students who don’t want to get up for lectures? That was my experience of college and I didn’t once see a flash mob! “Legends in the Making” was written by Tova Litvin and Doug Rockwell, and was performed by Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly, Chandler Kinney, and Kylee Russell as Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza.

Next up is “The Place to Be”, which is all about Nova and the Daywalkers showing Zed just why they are so awesome, with Victor and the Vampires showing Addison what makes them better as they both head to the blood fruit orchards for harvest time. It’s the perfect quick explanation as to exactly what the difference between these two groups is and shows what they are all about. No doubt this was the reason it was released as a single on 2^nd May 2025, to give fans a clear idea of what the new movie would be about. I quite liked it; it was like a typical Disney Channel group number with lots of energy and enthusiasm. The song was written by Mitch Allan, Chantry Johnson, and Michelle Zarlenga. It was performed predominantly by the new cast of Freya Skye as Nova, Malachi Barton as Victor, Swayam Bhatia as Vera, Julian Lerner as Ray, and Mekonnen Knife as Vargas.

Shortly after this, once the two groups have arrived at summer camp, the Daywalkers and the Vampires continue to fight against each other and show that they don’t want to co-operate with each other, no matter how much the original ZOMBIES characters tell them they ought to. It’s a proper face-to-face battle this time. This song is “Don’t Mess with Us”, which was performed by the entire cast, and written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, and Adam Schmalholz. It just shows how much effort Zed and Addison will have to put in to get these two groups to work together! This song was also released as a single prior to the movie’s release, on 13^th June 2025. It was another decent song, although pretty similar to “The Place to Be”.

Then, we get to my all-time favourite ZOMBIES song and that is “Dream Come True”. Initially, we hear a brief section of the song, with this being listed as “Dream Come True (Intro)” on the soundtrack. This “intro” took place before “Don’t Mess with Us”, and showed Nova and Victor confused about why they’ve had visions of each other. It is so short that it gave no indication to me of just how good the whole song was – but “Dream Come True” is amazing. It shows Nova and Victor understanding that there is a reason why they had visions of each other, and showing that they are willing to get past their group’s differences, culminating in a sort of ballet in the sky as they both fly through the breeze together. Freya Skye and Malachi Barton, performing as Nova and Victor, shot “Dream Come True” on wires and harnesses, running up and jumping off ramps to get that height to make it seem like they are flying[1]. It was a beautiful scene and it was the moment that made me really focus on this movie. “Dream Come True” was written by Jaheem King Toombs and Matthew Martinez.

This amazing song was followed by a song that I really didn’t like, and was the worst of the entire soundtrack for me. This is the hip-hop-style song “Kerosene”. I’m not a big fan of hip-hop, or whatever musical style this, but my real issue with “Kerosene” is the lyrics, which I found to be a bit cringey and random. “If it’s fire that we need, then I’m the kerosene” just didn’t impress me as a lyric. “Kerosene” was performed by the entire cast, during the moment that Zed, Willa, and Eliza are trying to stop the pulsing they keep feeling by moving a ladder off the blood fruit roots, with everyone coming to help them. “Kerosene” was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, Adam Schmalholz.

A bit later, after Nova is told by Ray to stick to Commander Bright’s plan, she feels conflicted about what is the best thing to do, culminating in the solo ballad “My Own Way”. “My Own Way” was performed by Skye as Nova and was written by Josh Cumbee and Jordan Powers.

Following that, we have “Possible”, performed by the entire cast as Nova and Victor figure out they need to combine their moonstones, and will need to steal them from their cities, to truly find peace, but they don’t think that is possible. It is up to Zed and Addison to convince that they can actually achieve this, even if it’s hard. This shows Zed and Addison’s mentoring of Nova and Victor to be successful, as Nova and Victor rally the campers to help them in their plan. I did like this song; it was quite moving to see everyone finally putting their differences aside and coming together. “Possible” was performed mostly by Skye, Barton, Manheim, and Donnelly, as Nova, Victor, Zed, and Addison, and was written by Antonina Armato, Tim James Price, Thomas Armato Sturges, Adam Schmalholz.

Then, we get the ZOMBIES 4 version of “Someday”, something that every ZOMBIES movie has had! This is “Someday (Reprise)”, even though we’ve already had three other “Someday” reprises! This is a very short one performed by Manheim and Donnelly as Zed and Addison, potentially for the last time. This is another heartfelt moment as Addison watches Zed get weaker and almost go “full zombie”. She vows to stay by his side regardless of what happens, but she is scared she’ll lose him after his Z-Band stops working. “Someday (Reprise)” was written by Dustin Burnett and Paula Winger.

After that, we get the typical cheery group finale number. In this case, the song is “Show the World”, written by Matthew Tishler and Shridhar Solanki, and performed by the entire cast. It shows the Daywalkers and Vampires collecting food and drinks to have a celebration at Camp Rayburn, their summer camp. I tend to like these finale numbers in Disney Channel musicals, and musicals in general. “Show the World” is no different.

Finally, we have the last musical moment within ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires and that is “Ain’t No Doubt About It (Reprise)”, a private moment between Zed and Addison as they reflect on their time with the Daywalkers and the Vampires and prepare to head back to Seabrook with Eliza and Willa. It’s a lovely farewell from Zed and Addison and I think it wrapped up not just their journey but also Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly’s journey with the ZOMBIES movies. It was very touching, and I liked their tap dance moment, which seemed to be a callback to their tap dancing in “Someday” in the first ZOMBIES movie. “Ain’t No Doubt About It (Reprise)” was written by Josh Cumbee and Jordan Power, and performed by Manheim and Donnelly, again, potentially for the last time.

There is then an End Credits song called “Together As One”, performed by the entire cast and written by Tim Boomsma, Gustavo Branger, Milo Branger, Louis Knight, and Mohamed Alitou. I didn’t like this song much, even if it is about unity between the Daywalkers and the Vampires. It’s just there, like End Credits song tend to be, not leaving very much impression because they don’t have a scene to give them proper context.

The score for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was composed by British composer Tom Howe. Howe is the composer on the popular AppleTV+ series Ted Lasso (2021-present) and has also collaborated with Aardman Animations on the music for a couple of their movies, including A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (2019), and Early Man (2018) with Harry Gregson-Williams. Howe is also the one behind the theme music for The Great British Bake-Off (2010-present). For Disney, Howe composed the score for the DCOM Upside-Down Magic (2020). An excerpt of Howe’s score is included as a track on the official ZOMBIES 4 soundtrack.

PRODUCTION

After three movies, with ZOMBIES 3 seeming to signal the end of the series, many may’ve been surprised to find that ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was in the works when it was officially confirmed that production had begun in March 2024.

This announcement contained information around the confirmed cast and crew. Writers David Light and Joseph Raso, who wrote the original unaired TV pilot Zombies & Cheerleaders which was the basis for the original ZOMBIES film, returned to for this fourth movie, after writing all three of the previous ZOMBIES movies. This time, though, they were joined by Josh Cagan for the screenplay. Cagan had previously written the screenplay for the teen comedy movie The DUFF (2015) and was no stranger to the world of Disney Channel movies, as he had also co-written the live-action DCOM Kim Possible (2019), and went on to work on the DCOMs Spin (2021) and Under Wraps 2 (2022) prior to ZOMBIES 4.

ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires’ story took a slightly different direction to that of the previous three films. This time, the ZOMBIES franchise was moving outside of Seabrook and its “monsters” who came to live there. Instead, they chose to take zombies Zed and Eliza, human and part-alien Addison, and werewolf Willa away from Seabrook, which they know so well, to a completely different location. Here, they discover the existence of two completely different species of “monster”: Vampires and Daywalkers.

To be perfectly honest, whenever I hear the term “daywalker”, all I think about is Cartman’s school report in the episode “Ginger Kids” in South Park (1997-present), where he said “daywalkers” are people with red hair who do not have pale skin and freckles. I can hear his speech even as I’m typing this, which isn’t relevant to this term at all and can be considered offensive so I’ll quickly move on!

Daywalkers are actually like a subset of vampires. In folklore, daywalkers are basically just vampires that can exist in the sun. Back in the 19^th Century with novels like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, vampires were simply weaker in daylight, but were never destined to burn up and die in the sunshine. Even Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga vampires can exist in the sun; it just makes their skin sparkle like glitter, which would reveal that they are not humans like they pretend to be. Apparently, it was the 1922 silent film Nosferatu that first showed a vampire that was unable to exist in daylight, as Count Orlok vanished in a puff of fire when the sun came up in that film. As the years went on, it became a common truth that vampires and sunlight were enemies, however, over time, the lore around vampires has begun to shift again to say that vampires do not always fear sunlight[2].

In this case, the ZOMBIES 4 Vampires and Daywalkers aren’t much like we’d expect them to be at all anyway. These vampires do not suck blood, and although they live in darkness, they can exist in sunlight without crumbling to ash. They also have powers, which allow them to manipulate air and wind. Daywalkers, on the other hand, live in a city called Sunnyside, where they make the most of the sun’s rays. They also have magic, but they manipulate fire. The two groups have feared and vowed revenge against the other for centuries, as they fight over their shared food source, blood fruit. It is only thanks to the forced shared experience during a version of summer camp that these two groups are able to realise they can do more good by joining forces instead of warring against each other, a message that reaches the young people before it hits the Elders.

The story of ZOMBIES 4 feels very much like the three movies that came before it, by having two enemy sides come together to live in harmony with each other. But hey, I guess if a theme works, work it hard!

Paul Hoen returned to direct ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, having been the director on all three of the previous ZOMBIES movies. Hoen is a legendary director in the Disney Channel Original Movie world, having already directed The Cheetah Girls: One World (2008); Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010); Let It Shine (2012); Cloud 9 (2014); and Invisible Sister (2015), just to name a few, prior to his work with the ZOMBIES franchise.

Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly were executive producers on ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires too. The two got to be involved in the audition process, for example, basically helping to choose their replacements for a new Zed and Addison-style pairing! They enjoyed working on post-production too, being able to have input in this, and felt they were a good bridge between the production process and the acting process, as well as being able to guide the new cast through the experience of shooting a Disney Channel musical. It was overall a great experience for both of them as professionals in the movie industry[3].

As ZOMBIES 4 is not set in Seabrook, it made sense for the filming locations to be different. In this case, the cast and crew ended up in New Zealand, not Canada, for the majority of their shoot, which ran from around March to May 2024. It is thought that a few scenes were still filmed in Toronto though.

In New Zealand, King’s College, a school in the suburb of Ōtāhuhu in Auckland was the location for Mountain College. In the dance section of “Legends in the Making” specifically, this takes place outside the King’s College Centennial Centre. Bethells Beach and the Te Henga Cave, outside of Auckland, were used as we see Nova and Victor walk through the cave in the ending scene. I think you can also see the respective groups walk through this cave on the way to the original harvest that doesn’t happen. Speaking of Daywalkers, their city of Sunnyside was filmed at the Auckland University of Technology. With all the glass-fronted, high-rise buildings, it reminded me a bit of Erudite in the Divergent film series. At the blood fruit orchard, you can also see the Okiritoto Falls, located at Oneonenui Farm[4]. Other filming locations named are Piha Beach, on North Island’s West Coast within the Waitakere Rangers, with Lion Rock in the background, which seems to be the site of the Daywalkers practising fighting on the beach, when Zed first meets them. It would also seem that the Mākara Walkway, near Mākara Beach in Wellington, was the site for Zed and Addison’s moment on the hills, as well as potentially the location for “Dream Come True”, although this is hard to identify, being landscape and not a building[5]. The cast also had fun exploring what New Zealand has to offer. According to cast members’ Instagram accounts, they seem to have visited Hobbiton, the official movie set location for the The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, based in Matamata, as well as the mud baths in Rotorua on the Hell’s Gate Reserve.

The team working on ZOMBIES 4 were committed to using as many real-life locations as possible in their shoot, although in some cases, green screen or CGI was needed to create some settings. For example, the city of Sunnyside has been added to the hilly backdrop on the beach, and obviously, the overhead shots of both Sunnyside and Shadyside are not real. There is also some special effect usage, for the Daywalkers and Vampires powers, the pulses, and the blood fruit orchard being burnt up, for instance.

With the introduction of new settings and new characters came new costumes. For the Daywalkers, they are dressed in whites and reds, to match their reliance on the sunlight and fire. They also wear relatively loose-fitting clothing, probably because they are known for being fighters. On the other hand, the Vampires, who are used to living in darkness, wear reds and blacks to signify that. The Vampires wear more punk-looking clothing, with leather-style jackets and emblazoned tees. Since both groups wear red, this is a uniting colour between the two, showing that they are linked in some way, because they are both a form of vampire and both rely on blood fruit to survive.

The original characters got a costume update too. This time, Addison is not in a cheerleading outfit for the majority of the movie! She wears a lot of blue here, no doubt to pay tribute to her alien heritage. Zed continues to wear dark colours, with jeans and jackets, but at the end of the film, he dresses up a little bit, with a smart jacket and tie. Eliza’s outfit isn’t overly different to previous ZOMBIES films either, but she stills looks cool. Willa is continuing to rep her werewolf look with her a top and at one point, she has a long blue/purple robe or cardigan too. All of their outfits show them growing up, and looking more like college students instead of peppy high schoolers.

For choreography, Draico Johnson, choreographer on ZOMBIES 3, returned to work on ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires. He liked working with new dancers and enjoyed choreographing for the new characters. There were opportunities to show the two go head-to-head in dance battles, particularly in the sequence for “Don’t Mess with Us”, when the Daywalkers and the Vampires are trying to show who is the best. “The Place to Be” also does this, although they aren’t face-to-face at this point, but they are still trying to prove their group is better than the other. Johnson particularly liked the energy of the song “The Place to Be” and used that for his choreography inspiration[6].

Some of these dances took place on the beach, which made dancing even more difficult as they had to work against the movement of the sand under their feet – although I think all of the dancing looks hard to remember and even more difficult to execute perfectly with each take, but I’m not a dancer! Other experiences that the actors went through on set were numerous lessons in fighting, specifically for Freya Skye as Nova, since her character seemingly has been trained to fight hand-to-hand combat for many years, and the original ZOMBIES cast members were strapped to a rotating machine for the scene where their car crashes in the woods, which was a struggle for some of them to get through as they tumbled upside down multiple times! This was the last shot of the whole movie too[7].

RECEPTION

Since ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires actually finished filming in mid-2024, there was a lot of buzz and anticipation for this film for an entire year.

Many debated when ZOMBIES 4 would be released, with many favouring the idea of a February release, as ZOMBIES and ZOMBIES 2 had done, coinciding with Valentine’s Day. But the actual release date would end up being in July 2025, for a summer release, much like ZOMBIES 3 had. Summer releases in general are known to do well, so this made good business sense, I think.

Multiple behind-the-scenes clips and interviews were released in the months and weeks leading up to ZOMBIES 4 release, which was confirmed around April/May 2025 as being on 10^th July 2025 for Disney Channel, and 11^th July 2025 for a worldwide Disney+ release. These interviews featured a mixture of the cast, with some being solely Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly; others with these two and Freya Skye and Malachi Barton; and more with a combination of the old and new cast.

On 8^th July 2025, the official ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires premiere was held at El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles. As well as the cast of this movie appearing alongside loved ones, many fans were pleased to see the return of some of the original ZOMBIES cast here, such as Trevor Tordjman, who played Bucky; Pearce Joza, who played Wyatt; and Carla Jeffrey, who played Bree. Other Disney stars also walked the carpet, including Descendants: The Rise of Red stars Kylie Cantrall and Dara Reneé, as well as other Disney Channel stars, like some of the cast of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place (2024-present), and even former Disney Channel actors like Jake Thomas from Lizzie McGuire (2001-04).

On 10^th July 2025, Disney Channel exclusively premiered ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, with the first three movies airing on the channel earlier in the day, ahead of the official premiere. Apparently, ZOMBIES 4 was watched by around 600,000 viewers on that night, with this being the most-watched Disney Channel Original Movie premiere since Upside-Down Magic (2020)[8]. It also beat out the premiere for ZOMBIES 3, which reached around 300,000 viewers on its premiere allegedly, although it was released on Disney+ first.

This figure of 0.6 million may not sound like much when compared to the premieres of other DCOMs like High School Musical 2 (2007) and Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009), but viewing habits are changing, with many preferring to watch new programming via streaming services instead of cable TV.

ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires was added to Disney+ on 11^th July 2025, allowing it to be viewed by a global audience. Apparently, all four of the ZOMBIES movies occupied the top four spots in Disney+’s Top Five most-watched list in the first week of its release. ZOMBIES 4 topped this list, followed by ZOMBIES, then ZOMBIES 2, and finally ZOMBIES 3[9]. It is unclear if this is a worldwide Disney+ Top 5, or if it is solely in the US, but either way, this is quite impressive. I had seen on social media that ZOMBIES 4 was the No. 1 film on the platform both worldwide and in the US though, but as the movie has only been around for a week, I’ll wait for something more concrete on this.

Much like with the other ZOMBIES movies, and most DCOMs in general, ZOMBIES 4 received various comments, both positive and negative. On the positive side, the performances of Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly as Zed and Addison were praised once again. Many also said the music and dance numbers were fun. Others said it was a sweet farewell from the original cast, and a great outing for the new, fresh-faced cast. Fans of the ZOMBIES franchise were most likely to enjoy ZOMBIES 4.

However, some said ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires lacked a strong narrative and compelling characters, feeling that the film hopped from scene-to-scene at a break-neck speed which made the movie feel rushed. I quite liked the fact that ZOMBIES 4 didn’t settle on anything for too long, because it meant I was never bored, and if I didn’t like a particular moment or character, I knew we’d be moving on to something else quickly. There were also comments that ZOMBIES 4 was just repeating the same plot as the previous ZOMBIES movies, and that the franchise just continuously repeats the same story over and over again. Even Nova and Victor were created to be just like Zed and Addison, so ZOMBIES 4 wasn’t seen to be anything new, and if fans already felt ZOMBIES 3 was unnecessary, then a fourth movie was just ridiculous.

That was my opinion on ZOMBIES 4 for at least during the first half an hour that I was watching, but by the end of it, I actually found I enjoyed ZOMBIES 4 more than ZOMBIES 3, but that might just be because of “Dream Come True” grabbing my attention and me then being receptive to finding another moment in the film that did that again. There wasn’t really, until the very end with Zed and Addison’s moment on the hill, but still, ZOMBIES 4 felt like a movie that both fit within the ZOMBIES space, and could work without it, which I think is what it needed to be.

LEGACY

The earliest ZOMBIES 4 experience to come from the movie was actually first announced months before the film itself had even premiered.

At the D23 Expo in August 2024 in Anaheim, it was announced that there was going to be a new concert tour called Descendants / Zombies: Worlds Collide Tour, coming to arenas in North America over Summer 2025, where stars from both Descendants: The Rise of Red and ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires would be performing hits from their movie franchises. There was also a performance from the Descendants: The Rise of Red cast at this on-stage announcement too. Freya Skye, Malachi Barton, and Meg Donnelly met fans the following day at the D23 Expo.

During the following months, more details about this tour were revealed, and tickets went on sale in November 2024. It has since been revealed that cast members going on this tour are Freya Skye, Mekonnen Knife, and Malachi Barton from ZOMBIES 4, and Malia Baker, Dara Reneé, Joshua Colley, and Kylie Cantrall from Descendants: The Rise of Red. The tour began in San Diego on 17^th July 2025, just a week after ZOMBIES 4’s premiere. The tour will run until 16^th September 2025, where it will play its final show in Texas[10].

At Walt Disney World, in preparation for the ZOMBIES 4 premiere, a new costume exhibit went up on display in the Walt Disney Presents attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios around April 2025. There were four costumes worn in the film that were put on display: one for Nova, one for Addison, one for Zed, and one for Victor. There was also an informational plaque detailing a brief overview of the plot of the entire ZOMBIES franchise and ZOMBIES 4 specifically[11]. These displays are swapped out frequently based on whichever Disney movie is about to be released.

Closer to ZOMBIES 4’s release date, a rolling stage promoting ZOMBIES 4 was spotted at Disney Springs at the Walt Disney World Resort. On this stage is a DJ, talking about the film whilst music from the franchise plays. It began in early July 2025 and will run until the start of August 2025, running daily from the late afternoon into the evening. There are also banners and photo-op boards around the area, promoting the film[12]. For some reason, this same experience doesn’t appear to have been at Disneyland.

For the Halloween season, which begins in August at Walt Disney World, at the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, there will be a ZOMBIES 4 dance party for 2025, on the Rockettower Plaza Stage in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom, replacing the DescenDANCE Party from last year.

Finally, as ZOMBIES 4 ended on a cliffhanger, with Nova and Victor seeing that spiral of water coming out of the ocean, it is believed that a ZOMBIES 5 will be coming. There has been no confirmation of this so far, and no clue as to what this water thing could be, but if viewing figures and audience reaction remain positive, then a new movie can be expected.

FINAL THOUGHTS

From the moment that promotional activities began for ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, the two original stars of the ZOMBIES franchise, Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly, mentioned that this movie was a “passing of the torch”, that they were seeing this as an opportunity to introduce a new cast to take the ZOMBIES movies forward.

In a similar way to Descendants: The Rise of Red, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires allowed audiences to get to know a new set of characters, and a new crop of actors, whilst also letting them settle in to this new idea by still having some of their favourite characters around. It’s a clever idea, and one that I believe worked for the majority.

Yet, it was still a sad moment saying goodbye, potentially forever, to Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza, with the loss of “Zeddison” hitting fans the most. However, they were given a beautiful send-off, which gave them their own special moment within this film where they waved a metaphorical goodbye to us viewers and went off on their merry way.

With them gone, ZOMBIES has an opportunity to continue on with different characters and a different setting. Personally, I don’t think ZOMBIES 4 needed to be a part of the ZOMBIES franchise and could’ve sustained itself without any mention of Seabrook, but I can see the effort in trying to “reboot” the ZOMBIES franchise.

If I was younger, I probably would’ve been incredibly positive about this film – but this new cast are well over a decade younger than me, so they’re making me feel old! But still, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires surprised me, in a good way, and I appreciate this movie for giving the original cast the chance to help guide this new cast to greatness. I’m sure everyone involved is going to go on to do great things, both with and away from Disney.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney Channel, ‘ZOMBIES 4 Cast Watch Party! Snacks & BTS w/ Meg, Milo, Malachi & Freya’, Disney Channel Music YouTube Channel, 12^th July 2025.

[2] Credit: Kelly Faircloth, ‘How vampires became allergic to the sun’, NationalGeographic.com, 10^th July 2025.

[3] Credit: Good Morning America, ‘Milo Manheim, Meg Donnelly on their roles as executive producers in ‘Zombies 4’’, Good Morning America YouTube Channel, 16^th July 2025.

[4] Credit: Ra Moon, ‘Where was Zombies 4 filmed? Guide to (almost) all the filming locations’, AtlasOfWonders.com, date unknown.

[5] Credit: Naman Shrestha, ‘Where Was Zombies 4 Filmed? Dawn of the Vampires Shooting Locations’, MovieDelic.com, 10^th July 2025.

[6] Credit: TMilly Staff, ‘From Disney to Netflix: How Draico Johnson Shapes Stories Through Dance’, Blog.TMilly.tv, 28^th June 2025.

[7] Credit: Good Morning America, ‘Cast of ‘Zombies 4’ on hardest part of filming’, Good Morning America YouTube Channel, 15^th July 2025.

[8] Credit: Disney, ‘#ZOMBIES4: Dawn of the Vampires scored 600,000 viewers on Thursday Night’, ZOMBIES 4 Official X Account, 14^th July 2025.

[9] Credit: Nicole Sobon, ‘A Surprising Zombie Movie Franchise Is Dominating Disney+’s Streaming Charts’, ComicBook.com, 14^th July 2025.

[10] Credit: Disney, ‘Descendants Zombies Worlds Collide Tour’, DisneyConcerts.com, date unknown.

[11] Credit: Jamie Rowland, ‘‘Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires’ Props on Display at Disney’s Hollywood Studios’, WDWNT.com, 27^th April 2025.

[12] Credit: Luke Manning, Jeremiah Good, ‘Unleash Your Inner Monster: “ZOMBIES 4” Activation Comes to Disney Springs’, LaughingPlace.com, 7^th July 2025.

11th Jul 202529th Sep 2025 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 “Getcha 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 202529th Sep 2025 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.

16th May 202529th Sep 2025 by The Disney Purist

Thumbelina (1994)

BACKGROUND

Around the 1990s, it seemed that every movie that was animated had to be from Disney, just because Disney Animation had really taken the world by storm in this decade, after struggling for years on end after the death of Walt Disney.

It is actually not the case that every animated movie is from Disney, even if they are based on a fairy tale and are musicals, like Thumbelina.

I am fully aware that Thumbelina is currently on Disney+, so how can it not be a Disney movie? Well, that’s because technically Disney do own the film, BUT they had nothing to do with its production. Thumbelina was part of 20^th Century Fox’s catalogue at the time that Disney acquired it, so that is why it is on Disney+.

Anyway, for years, I’ve heard people claiming that things like Anastasia (1997) and Thumbelina are Disney movies. I try to just roll my eyes and ignore it, but I find it really irritating that people don’t want to do their research. And that’s where I come in.

Thumbelina was in fact created by Don Bluth and his animation studio. Bluth was a Disney animator back in the 1970s, but he subsequently left and made a variety of movies, some being remembered fondly and others less so. Thumbelina is in the “less so” group.

But I’ve always loved Thumbelina. I didn’t watch it at the cinema, and only remember viewing it on a VHS where we must’ve recorded it off the TV, probably from Channel 5. I remember Thumbelina sort of creeped me out a bit as a child as Thumbelina is continuously kidnapped and stalked by weird creatures, and yet, I still liked it. There’s also another reason I shouldn’t like Thumbelina. Not because Thumbelina isn’t a “progressive female lead” or because the story “drags” – those are other people’s problems. No, mine is because of the animation style.

I’m overly sensitive to colours and patterns, to the point that I have been known to avoid sitting on certain furniture if I don’t like the look of it. Weird, I know. It’s a good thing I didn’t grow up in the 70s! I don’t watch Pinocchio (1940) because the colours and illustration style just don’t work for me, plus, all the other weird stuff in that film that makes me not enjoy the story. Thumbelina has a similar illustrative look, i.e., a more traditional storybook style, and lacks the general vibrancy and light that makes me enjoy Disney animated films.

And yet, I still like it. I don’t really know why, I just know I really like this film.

PLOT

The opening of Thumbelina starts with a scene showing a windmill by a lake, before we zoom through the streets of Paris, seeing sights like Notre Dame Cathedral, as we follow a swallow to its home inside the cathedral. This swallow is called Jacquimo, and he claims to be a “swallow extraordinaire” and lover of beautiful things. He constantly talks about following your heart and saying how nothing is impossible. Inside his home, he has multiple books, all love stories about impossible problems, like Samson and Delilah, and Romeo and Juliet. Yes, such romantic stories with lovely happy endings… Anyway, Jacquimo actually wants to talk about the story of Thumbelina and as the storybook opens, he tells us the beginning of the story.

Once upon a time, there was a lonely woman who was desperate to have a child. She went to a good witch who gave the woman a tiny barley corn. The good witch told the woman to plant it. The woman did as she was told and after some time, a flower blooms from it. As the petals open up, they reveal a tiny girl – who is about sixteen-years-old though – who is the size of a thumb. Because of this, the woman names her Thumbelina.

However, Thumbelina soon learns that this world isn’t so great for someone of her height, finding herself smaller than all the farm animals that her “mother” owns, and almost ending up baked inside a pie. That night, her mother tries to tell her a story about a noble dog, obviously after her own pet, Hero, but Thumbelina asks her to stop, instead wanting to hear a story about someone small like her. Her mother shows Thumbelina a story about fairies who are a similar size. When Thumbelina asks if fairies are real, her mother’s response is unconvincing, leading Thumbelina to feel sad that she’ll never find where she belongs, and will never find love. Thumbelina wants nothing more than “to be big”, but her mother tells her not to wish to be anything more or less than she already is.

As Thumbelina is taken to bed, where she sleeps inside a walnut – random – she asks to be placed by the open storybook so she can look at pictures of the fairies whilst she goes to sleep. Her mother places her by the window with the book, and asks her dog to protect her overnight. Thumbelina wishes for fairies to be real, and pretends to have a conversation with one of the pictures. Suddenly, the page is cut open by someone with a sword. Terrified, Thumbelina goes to hide in a teapot. The intruder apologises for scaring her and tries to convince her to come out of her hiding place. Thumbelina does so and finds that the intruder is an actual, real-life fairy! Thumbelina is overjoyed to find someone as small as her, but Hero is woken by this conversation and starts to bark at the fairy. Thumbelina quickly begins formal introductions to show Hero the fairy is a friend. The fairy introduces himself as Cornelius, which Thumbelina finds to be a hilarious name. Yeah, because Thumbelina is such a normal name! Thumbelina starts to ask if he knows about a Fairy Prince. Cornelius says there is one and he’s very handsome. The two are interrupted by the buzzing of a bumblebee on the windowsill. That is Buzzbee, Cornelius’ bee that he rides around on. Cornelius asks Thumbelina if she wants to go for a ride and they fly off together.

On returning to Thumbelina’s home, Cornelius is about to kiss Thumbelina when he hears his name being called. He says his parents, the King and Queen of the Fairies, are calling him, because he missed the “golding of the leaves” that evening, when summer turns to autumn. Thumbelina learns that this must mean Cornelius is the Fairy Prince that he was talking about. Cornelius says that is true and asks whether he could come back tomorrow, to take her to meet his parents. Thumbelina would love to see him again, and Thumbelina gives him a necklace of forget-me-nots, so he never forgets her, and Cornelius puts a ring on Thumbelina’s finger. Wow, engaged after just an hour or two together. Interesting. Very fairy tale… Cornelius returns to the Fairy Court. However, as Thumbelina sleeps, she is kidnapped by a toad, who came in through the open window, just like Cornelius. Rookie error. Keep your doors and windows locked, people! Despite Hero the dog’s attempts to retrieve Thumbelina, her and the walnut are gone, as the toad floats them down the river.

Thumbelina wakes up the next morning, presumably after fainting from terror, to find herself on a boat. The toad who took her away, Mrs. Toad, tells Thumbelina that she lives on this boat with her three sons and that they are a very rich and famous singing group. Mrs. Toad heard Thumbelina singing with Cornelius last night and wants her to join their group, touring the world together. Thumbelina says she’s going to marry the Fairy Prince, but Mrs. Toad says that would be a big mistake and a waste of her life. Thumbelina is almost convinced to join them, until Mrs. Toad’s eldest son, Grundel, who also saw Thumbelina last night and became instantly infatuated with her, says he wants to marry Thumbelina. Mrs. Toad breaks the news to Thumbelina, who refuses, but Mrs. Toad won’t take “no” for an answer and leaves Thumbelina on a lily pad whilst they prepare for the wedding.

Since Thumbelina can’t swim, she is trapped on this lily pad. Until Jacquimo arrives. He hears about Thumbelina’s problems but is excited to hear she’s engaged to the Fairy Prince and helps her, by cutting the stem of the lily pad, so it starts to float. However, the lily pad starts floating to a huge waterfall. Thumbelina and Jacquimo panic as they try to stop Thumbelina from falling to certain death, but Thumbelina faints – again – and Jacquimo almost drowns himself. Instead, two fish and a group of bugs manage to rescue them both and get them to solid ground. Thumbelina wakes up, surrounded by bugs, who ask her if it’s true that she’s going to marry the Fairy Prince. She says she hopes it’s true but she needs to get home so she can see him again. Thumbelina thinks it’s impossible but Jacquimo tells her nothing is impossible, giving Thumbelina some motivation to get herself home. Three little bugs join her on the journey and Jacquimo tells Thumbelina he will find the Vale of the Fairies, as this is where Cornelius lives.

Cornelius is already at Thumbelina’s house though, and finds the room an absolute mess. Shocked, he asks Hero what happened. Hero manages to act out the incident, leading Cornelius to learn a toad took Thumbelina. He says he will find her. Cornelius then goes to his parents to ask them to delay the winter frost to give him time to search for her. The King and Queen tell him they cannot delay it for more than a day, and fear for their son’s safety. At the same time, Grundel is being teased by his toad brothers about how Thumbelina disappeared. He tells them he will marry Thumbelina and goes off to find her.

Thumbelina and her little insect friends start walking but they are soon stopped by a beetle who flies down and blocks their way. The little bugs run off scared. The beetle introduces himself as Berkeley Beetle. He heard Thumbelina singing, and insists she doesn’t talk and only sings to him. Thumbelina asks if the beetle can fly her up to a tree to see if she can see her house from there. He asks why he would do that for her, and Thumbelina responds that she’ll sing for him. This gives Berkeley Beetle an idea. Thumbelina won’t sing for him; she’ll sing at the Beetle Ball. The beetle takes her there against her will. Thumbelina is dressed up as a butterfly and made to perform alongside Berkeley and his beetle back-up dancers. The audience seem impressed with this new butterfly but after a spinning section goes too fast and most of Thumbelina’s costume falls off, it is revealed Thumbelina is not in fact a butterfly and the audience turn against her, calling her ugly. Berkeley Beetle goes with the crowd and rejects Thumbelina, ditching her. Alone and cold in a tree, Thumbelina is soon found by Jacquimo who tells her to forget about the beetle. She does not love the beetle so who cares what he thinks. They’ll resume their journeys tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Thumbelina’s little bug friends run into Grundel the toad who overhears them talking about a beetle. The bugs run off scared again, but Grundel now knows he needs to find this beetle. Cornelius is also still searching for Thumbelina through stormy weather. He asks some bugs where Thumbelina is. They say she is “out there, somewhere”. Cornelius heads back out into the harsh weather, knowing winter is almost here.

The next day, Jacquimo continues to ask around for where the Vale of the Fairies might be, asking a fox, a hare, and a bear, but nobody seems to want to talk to him. Jacquimo also ends up being slammed into a thorny bush, getting a thorn stuck in his wing. Luckily, he can still fly, even though it hurts him. Thumbelina finds herself cold and lost again though, with snow starting to come down thick and fast. Thumbelina sees an old shoe and sock nearby. She wraps herself up in there and falls asleep.

Grundel has managed to find Berkeley Beetle and starts to choke him, wanting information on Thumbelina. Berkeley says he doesn’t know what happened to her after the show, but does have a plan. If Grundel can get the Fairy Prince, setting up a trap for Thumbelina using the Fairy Prince as bait, then that’ll bring Thumbelina to him. Berkeley Beetle is told to find the Fairy Prince, with Grundel ripping off his wings, saying he will return them when he has brought back the Fairy Prince. Luckily, Berkeley Beetle and his friends quickly discover Cornelius frozen in a lake, having fallen off his bee into the lake in the bad weather. They cut Cornelius out of there as a block of ice and take it back to Grundel.

Back with Thumbelina, she has found herself in a warm tunnel underground. She was rescued by Ms. Fieldmouse and taken back to her home. Ms. Fieldmouse reveals she knows all about Thumbelina, like how she was engaged to the Fairy Prince, but blurts out that Cornelius was found “stone cold, frozen dead”. Thumbelina is distraught, not knowing this little important fact about her life. Ms. Fieldmouse says they need to go see her friend Mr. Mole, and forces Thumbelina to go even though she’s not feeling very much like socialising after finding out the love of her life is dead… Thumbelina meets Mr. Mole, who is completely blind and hates sunlight, but loves stories and singing. Ms. Fieldmouse encourages Thumbelina to sing for him, before the two are taken by Mr. Mole into one of his tunnels to see a dead bird. It turns out the dead bird is Jacquimo and Thumbelina runs over to him, but she hears a heartbeat and says she’ll come back that evening to see him again.

On returning to Ms. Fieldmouse’s home, she tries to convince Thumbelina to marry Mr. Mole, since the two had a conversation about how Mr. Mole has “been meaning to take a wife for some time” and will pay Ms. Fieldmouse if he can get Thumbelina to marry him. Gross. Thumbelina initially refuses to marry Mr. Mole and sneaks off to see Jacquimo. Jacquimo wakes up as Thumbelina tells him that she probably should marry Mr. Mole because Cornelius is dead and Ms. Fieldmouse told her that at least he’s rich! Thumbelina removes the thorn from Jacquimo’s wing but he vows to continue his search for the Vale of the Fairies, despite Thumbelina trying to tell him that the search is pointless since Cornelius is dead. Jacquimo won’t listen to her and flies away.

Grundel learns that the Fairy Prince is dead, going against his and the beetle’s initial plan, but he’s glad the Prince is dead. Berkeley Beetle then says that Thumbelina is underground and they go to find her. The little bugs from earlier overhear this and decide to build a fire to melt the ice, hoping the Fairy Prince will live again. He starts to wake up.

The next day is the day of Thumbelina and Mr. Mole’s wedding, though it’s not a happy day for Thumbelina, as she hears and sees Cornelius everywhere as she starts to walk up the aisle. When asked if she will take Mr. Mole to be her lawful wedded husband, she refuses. Grundel then comes in through the ceiling and says he will marry her, but Thumbelina manages to get away from him and runs through the tunnels, with Berkeley Beetle also attempting to stop her. As Mr. Mole, the wedding guests, and Grundel chase after Thumbelina, Cornelius arrives to battle Grundel. The two fall over a ledge, seemingly to their deaths, after Cornelius becomes distracted by a scream from Thumbelina.

Thumbelina is actually fine and has seen a way out of the tunnel, using Mr. Mole’s treasure to block anyone from following her. She comes back to the surface, happy to see the sun again. Jacquimo then arrives at just the right moment yet again, and tells her to get on his back so he can fly her to the Vale of the Fairies. They arrive at an area that just looks like a patch of frozen weeds, but Jacquimo tells her to sing. She does, unconvincingly, but Jacquimo sees an icicle break. He pushes her to keep singing, but she soon gets angry and says Cornelius is never coming back. At this point, Cornelius arrives and finishes Thumbelina’s song. Overjoyed and reunited, the two kiss, causing the Vale of the Fairies to defrost and the fairies to reveal themselves. Thumbelina even gets her own wings.

As so many fairy tales do, the story ends with Thumbelina and Cornelius getting married in the presence of the King and Queen, as well as Thumbelina’s mother and all her farmyard friends. Thumbelina and Cornelius fly off together on Buzzbee and Jacquimo tells us they lived happily ever after as the tiny storybook closes.

CHARACTERS & CAST

There are some big names in the voice cast of Thumbelina.

Let’s start with our main character. Thumbelina is very naïve to the world, though to be fair, although she was born a sixteen-year-old, she was only born right at the start of the film. She has no time to learn about anything before she is thrown into bizarre situations, like being kidnapped by a toad, and a beetle, and then being forced, or at least guilt-tripped, into marry a mole. It’s the strangest life that Thumbelina has lived within just a few weeks of being alive. Oh, and she managed to find her true love in only a day! Thumbelina is not a headstrong, independent female lead. Thumbelina is mostly just pretty, sweet, and kind, which is probably why everyone thinks they can walk all over her, but I still like her as a character, and she does have some inner strength to jilt Mr. Mole at the altar because she knows it’s wrong to marry someone else, someone she doesn’t love, just because Cornelius is dead. I think Thumbelina gets some harsh criticism in reviews of today.

Thumbelina was actually voiced by Jodi Benson, whose name, and voice, should be very recognisable to Disney fans. That is because Benson is the voice of Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989), having reprised the role multiple times, for spin-off films, television series, and theme park attractions over the years. Benson got the role having worked with Howard Ashman, the lyricist for The Little Mermaid, on the musical Smile in 1986, which flopped on Broadway and closed after only 87 performances. Benson became a Disney Legend in 2011 for her work for the company, which also included her voicing Helen of Troy in the television series spin-off Hercules (1998-99); Barbie in Pixar’s Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010); and appearing in the live-action/animation hybrid Disney film Enchanted (2007), which was a parody of Disney’s princess films, as Edward’s assistant, Sam. This is probably one reason why many people believe Thumbelina is a Disney movie, although Benson was asked to put on a higher pitched, more delicate voice for the character here, making it sound slightly different to Ariel’s voice.

Cornelius is the Fairy Prince who finds Thumbelina singing to herself and decides it’s perfectly alright to go into her room just so he can meet her. This guy must’ve been taking lessons from the Prince in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). But fairy-tale world is a very different world from reality so I’ll cut him some slack. Cornelius is the answer to all Thumbelina’s prayers. She wanted to meet a fairy and she wanted to find love; Cornelius was both of those things. Although it was very much a whirlwind romance, with the two of them falling in love over a song and a moonlit flight on a bumblebee, it is clear how much Cornelius cares about her, so much so that he is willing to risk his life to find her and save her from this horrible toad who took her, and Cornelius does almost die in the process a couple of times. But he does not die and manages to reveal he’s actually alive in the most theatrical of ways, before marrying Thumbelina so they can be together forever. Aww.

Gary Imhoff voiced Cornelius. Imhoff went on to voice the character of Harry Osborn / Green Goblin II in Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1995-98) originally for Fox Kids. He also appeared in a small role in The Green Mile (1999).

Then there is Jacquimo the swallow, who is both the narrator of Thumbelina as well as a big figure in the story. Jacquimo first comes across Thumbelina when she is stuck on the lily pad after the toads have left her momentarily. Because Jacquimo acts before he thinks, he helps Thumbelina by cutting the stem of the lily pad but then almost kills her when the lily pad starts heading towards the waterfall. Jacquimo also gets himself in trouble by asking lots of predator animals where the Vale of the Fairies is because he is so desperate to bring Thumbelina and Cornelius together again. Jacquimo gets a thorn stuck in his wing and is believed to be dead, but this brings Thumbelina to him and he once again finds renewed energy to search for the Vale even when Thumbelina thinks it’s not worth it anymore. Jacquimo stays loyal to her and her love throughout and keeps Thumbelina believing that anything is impossible, even if the most difficult circumstances.

Gino Conforti was cast as Jacquimo, having previously been seen in the recurring role of Felipe Gomez in the last few seasons of the sitcom Three’s Company (1977-84). He went on to appear as Cardinal Pugini in Angels & Demons (2009), the sequel to The Da Vinci Code (2006). Unlike Jacquimo, Conforti is not French and is actually of Italian descent, meaning that his French accent is quite obviously exaggerated. It’s fairly stereotypical, perhaps offensive to some, but I think he tried his best!

Thumbelina’s mother and Cornelius’ parents, the King and Queen, both feature in Thumbelina but they are not overly prominent figures in this story. Thumbelina’s mother is initially seen at the beginning of the movie, telling Thumbelina not to wish she was bigger, and is seen to be devastated when Thumbelina is taken. However, after the initial ten minutes or so of the movie, Thumbelina’s mother is only seen briefly in a couple of other places, though it is good to see the two reunited at the end of the film for Thumbelina’s wedding. Thumbelina’s mother was voiced by Barbara Cook, a singer and stage actress, who originated the role of Marian in The Music Man on Broadway in 1957, opposite Robert Preston as Professor Harold Hill. Cook won a Tony Award for her performance. She also had leading performances in other stage shows, including as Anna Leonowens in The King and I around 1960, and as Fanny Brice in the 1967 performance of Funny Girl.

The King and Queen of the Fairies are first seen as the fairies turn the leaves gold for autumn, where the Queen realises their son, Cornelius, is not there for the ceremony, and is worried about how much he buzzes around on his bumblebee. The King tells her not to worry and that’s just what sixteen-year-olds do. They are then seen again when Cornelius asks them to delay the winter frost, but they are unable to hold it off to prevent Cornelius from becoming frozen in the lake. We then don’t see the King and Queen again until Cornelius and Thumbelina’s wedding at the end, but I’m sure they were pleased that their son came home safely and managed to find the girl of his dreams again.

Kenneth Mars was chosen to voice the Fairy King, King Colbert, with Mars’ voice again being familiar to Disney fans since he voiced Triton in The Little Mermaid franchise. Outside of that, Mars appeared in two of Mel Brooks’ most famous films: as Franz Liebkind in The Producers (1967) and as Police Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein (1974). Mars also voiced Grandpa Longneck in the series of The Land Before Time direct-to-video sequels, from 1994 to 2006. Mars passed away in 2011. June Foray voiced the Fairy Queen, Queen Tabitha. Foray is well-known for her voice work, voicing numerous characters for Looney Tunes, such as Granny and Witch Hazel, as well as Rocky the squirrel, and others, in Rocky and Bullwinkle (1959-64). She also had some history with Disney, “voicing” Lucifer the cat in Cinderella (1950) and Grandmother Fa in Mulan (1998).

Now let’s get to the villains of Thumbelina, of which there are many. First up, let’s talk about Berkeley Beetle. Berkeley Beetle scares Thumbelina by just appearing in front of her as she’s minding her business and trying to get home. Berkeley Beetle then proceeds to try and charm her, by kissing her arm and calling her “toots”, something Thumbelina doesn’t like, although she does like him saying she’s beautiful. He seems quite taken with Thumbelina, but when she is revealed to not be an insect during his performance with her at the Beetle Ball, the peer pressure soon makes him reject her. He is later forced to work with Grundel the toad to help him find her, which he isn’t thrilled about doing, but does so, nonetheless, wanting the wings back that Grundel ripped off his back. Ouch.

Once again, the voice of Berkeley Beetle should be familiar to Disney fans, since Gilbert Gottfried voiced the character, and he is well-known as the voice of Iago, Jafar’s fast-talking parrot sidekick in Aladdin (1992), reprising the role often. Gottfried began his career as a stand-up comedian, before moving into film roles. Some of these earlier credits include Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) as Sidney Bernstein, and the 1990 film Problem Child and its 1991 sequel as Mr. Peabody. In 1994, he also had a small role as Bert Banner in Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. Gilbert Gottfried continued to appear in television and film projects throughout his life. Gilbert Gottfried passed away in April 2022.

On to the toads, or “The Singers de España”. Mrs. Toad hears Thumbelina singing with Cornelius and instantly decides that kidnapping her and convincing her to sing with them is a good idea. Mrs. Toad and her three sons, Mozo, Gringo, and Grundel want Thumbelina to be part of their group, but none more so than Grundel, who also saw Thumbelina with Cornelius the night before and has somehow fallen in love with her after she blew him a kiss. After Thumbelina manages to escape them, Mrs. Toad doesn’t seem bothered and is not seen again, however, after being mocked by his brothers, Grundel becomes obsessed with the idea of finding and marrying Thumbelina, getting others to help him with his plight. Grundel is a very creepy character in this movie. I quite like Berkeley Beetle, and Mrs. Toad is funny, but I don’t like Grundel at all.

Grundel was voiced by Irish actor Joe Lynch. Yes, once again, that was not a real accent you were hearing! Lynch appeared in various series over the years, including as Ron Mather in Coronation Street (1960-present); and in the main role of Dinny Byrne in Glenroe (1983-2001). He was also cast as Blazes Boylan in the 1967 film adaptation of Ulysses. Lynch passed away in 2001. Mrs. Toad was voiced by Spanish singer, actress, and television personality Charo. Recently, Charo was cast as the Queen of the United Kingdom in the disaster film Sharknado 5: Global Swarming (2017) and makes regular appearances on RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009-present). Charo was also a contestant on Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) in 2017 and even appeared in one episode of Disney Channel’s The Suite Life on Deck (2008-11), being cast as Esteban’s mother.

Finally, we have Mr. Mole and Ms. Fieldmouse, the final two characters that Thumbelina finds herself in the company of. Ms. Fieldmouse initially doesn’t seem too bad; she does save Thumbelina from catching her death out in the cold, but she also tells Thumbelina that Cornelius is dead without even thinking and then proceeds to force Thumbelina to spend time with Mr. Mole, using the fact she “saved Thumbelina’s life” to guilt her in to it. Mr. Mole is a bit of a miser, and hoards money and treasure throughout the tunnels he calls home. Him and Thumbelina aren’t exactly compatible – she loves the light and he loves the dark and cold, for example – and yet he is desperate to marry her. Get in line, mate; there are two others vying for Thumbelina’s attention at this point! Mr. Mole asks Ms. Fieldmouse to convince Thumbelina to marry him, which is just disgusting, with Ms. Fieldmouse only happy to do so, since he did pay her! Thumbelina is essentially guilt-tripped into the wedding, but refuses to go through with it. Any normal person should have just let Thumbelina leave, but no, Mr. Mole and Ms. Fieldmouse have to go and chase her down. What were they going to do if they caught up to her? Tie her up and make her go through with it? Grim.

Anyway, despite their unpleasant characters, the voice actors for both Mr. Mole and Ms. Fieldmouse are both legends in their respective fields. Mr. Mole was voiced by British actor Sir John Hurt. Hurt starred in major movies such as Alien (1979); The Elephant Man (1980), for which he was nominated at the Academy Awards in the Best Actor category and won the BAFTA for; and The Midnight Express (1978), where he was nominated at the Oscars for Best Supporting Actor, and won it at the BAFTAs. Hurt was no stranger to voice acting either, voicing Hazel in Watership Down (1978); Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings (1978), and The Horned King in Disney’s The Black Cauldron (1985). Later in his career, he also played Ollivander in the Harry Potter film series and voiced The Great Dragon in the BBC series Merlin (2008-12). Sir John Hurt sadly passed away in January 2017.

Ms. Fieldmouse was voiced by stage performer Carol Channing. I didn’t actually know who Carol Channing was until many years after I first watched Thumbelina. I looked her up after seeing Ryan Stiles impersonating her on Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1998-present), something which he has done a few times on the shpw. It was specifically after seeing the infamous clip where Stiles is pretending to be “Carol Channing whose head keeps getting stuck to things” and ends up slamming his head into host Drew Carey’s desk and breaking the glass! But Channing did much more in her career, other than being impersonated by comedians. She played the part of Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! numerous times on stage from the 1960s into the 1990s, being the first person to play the character in the 1964 original Broadway show and winning a Tony award for her performance. She was also part of the original Broadway cast of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes back in 1949, playing Lorelei Lee, and went on to be cast as Muzzy Van Hossmere in the film adaptation Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), starring Julie Andrews in title role. Channing won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for this role. Because of her commitment to the stage, she also earnt a Tony Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. In voice acting, Channing had previously voiced the character of Granny Frump in the animated ABC series The Addams Family (1992-93) prior to Thumbelina. Channing died in 2019.

A fun fact about Ms. Fieldmouse is that allegedly Betty White had recorded the lines for the role first, but Channing was asked to come in and record the lines instead after White’s performance was deemed not right for the character. However, White had not been informed of this until after finding out from Channing herself that Channing had been hired instead. Don Bluth, director of Thumbelina, apologised to White for the misunderstanding[1].

MUSIC

Perhaps unsurprisingly after that star-studded voice cast, Don Bluth headed for another big name to work on the music for Thumbelina.

Bluth approached singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, famous for hits in the 1970s like “Mandy”, “I Write the Songs”, and “Copacabana”, to write the music for Thumbelina. Manilow had wanted to write Broadway musicals early on his career but somehow found himself going in a different direction in the world of music. Working on an animated musical like Thumbelina was a good opportunity for this dream to come true. Manilow was also given the opportunity to compose the score for Thumbelina, something he had not done before, alongside William Ross, who also wrote the music for another movie in 1994, The Little Rascals, as well as working as an orchestrator on other 1990s movies like The Bodyguard (1992), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991); and the animated movie FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992)[2].

For the songs, Manilow collaborated with lyricists Jack Feldman and Bruce Sussman, who had worked with Manilow on his song “Copacabana”. All three had also written the song “Perfect Isn’t Easy” performed by Bette Midler as poodle Georgette in Disney’s Oliver & Company (1988), before working on Thumbelina. Jack Feldman even went on to work on the music for the Disney direct-to-video sequel The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998) and contributed to some of the songs in Disney’s live-action remake Snow White (2025) – but let’s not get in to that disaster right now; that’s a story for another time. Following Thumbelina, Manilow and Sussman worked with Don Bluth again for his next movie, The Pebble and the Penguin (1995).

Thumbelina consists of seven original songs. The first one that was written, and my favourite in the film, was “Let Me Be Your Wings”. Manilow handed a demo tape of this song to Don Bluth and Bluth boarded the sequence for it himself[3]. “Let Me Be Your Wings” is a romantic love song between Cornelius and Thumbelina, as they dance in the moonlight, on the river, and, randomly, on a pumpkin on the same night they meet for the first time. It’s a beautiful song and a beautiful piece of animation, with the highlight really being when Cornelius sings “and I’ll never let you fall”, proceeding to drop Thumbelina as he gets lost in the music, having to swoop down and rescue her since he is the only one who can fly! Luckily, Thumbelina’s eyes are closed at this point and she doesn’t even seem to notice.

“Let Me Be Your Wings” is really the anthem of the movie, appearing in the Opening Credits as an instrumental piece; in a reprise known as “Let Me Be Your Wings (Sun Reprise)”, when Thumbelina sings about her love of the sun, actually a metaphor for her love for Cornelius, to Ms. Fieldmouse and Mr. Mole; and then at the end of the movie. Thumbelina sings it in the Vale of the Fairies and is reunited with Cornelius. These versions of the song were performed by Gary Imhoff as Cornelius and Jodi Benson as Thumbelina. Finally, there is a special arrangement for their wedding, performed by a chorus. It also appears in the End Credits, this time performed by Barry Manilow and Debra Byrd, who was one of the vocal coaches in the first ten seasons of American Idol (2002-present).

I might as well now go through the remaining songs in my own order of preference, so following “Let Me Be Your Wings” we have “On the Road” performed by Charo, Joe Lynch, Danny Mann, and Loren Lester as Mrs. Toad and her sons, a.k.a. The Singers de España, with the addition of Jodi Benson as Thumbelina. This song is a fun, flamenco-inspired number with lots of fast lyrics and dance beats. It is all about the toads trying to convince Thumbelina to go on tour with them as part of their singing group. I just think it’s so upbeat and funny at the same time, even if it might be a bit stereotypically Spanish… The best bit is really when Mrs. Toad stomps on Thumbelina’s foot to get her to “sing” with them, though really, she is just screaming in tune.

Another song I really like in Thumbelina is “Yer Beautiful, Baby”, which is Berkeley Beetle’s song that he performs at the famous Beetle Ball, so it’s a number fit for the stage, with backing dancers and big, elaborate costumes, such as the butterfly costume Thumbelina is put in, before it flies off her after an erratic spinning section of the dance. The song is interrupted by complaints from the audience about how Thumbelina is ugly since she isn’t an insect like them, and they feel duped. Despite Berkeley Beetle being voiced by Gilbert Gottfried, he did not sing this song. The singer was Randy Crenshaw, who did a good job of imitating Gottfried’s distinctive voice; I never really noticed it wasn’t Gottfried. Additional vocals are provided by Irish vocal group Anúna.

The next song in my list is “Soon”, Thumbelina’s “I Want” song – all the best musicals have them. This is where she sings about wanting to find love, preferably with a fairy or someone small like her. It’s a lovely song, giving Jodi Benson a proper opportunity to show off her wonderful singing voice in the first of Thumbelina’s only two solos. This song is later reprised, being performed by Barbara Cook as Thumbelina’s mother as she hopes for Thumbelina’s safe return to her, twisting Thumbelina’s “I Want” song into her own. Since Cook had a long history as a performer in stage musicals, this gave her the chance to showcase her singing talents as well.

Then, we have “Follow Your Heart”. It’s one of my least favourite songs in the movie, even though following your heart is one of the main messages of the film. It just a bit too “in-your-face” for me, especially since the main performance of this song consists of birds can-canning like they’re in A Chorus Line or something; it’s too much but it is at least happy and positive to counteract some of the darkness in the story. This main performance is primarily sung by Gino Conforti in that overly French accent that Jacquimo has. Anúna once again contribute to this song both here and when it appears again at the end of the finale song. “Follow Your Heart” is also performed briefly by Jacquimo when we are first introduced to him in the opening scene, and in the End Credits.

Now, we’re getting to songs I don’t like, although there are only two left. The first is “Thumbelina” which is our introduction to Thumbelina and her struggles of being in this world where everything is too big for her. It’s mostly performed by Thumbelina’s mother’s farmyard animals who tease Thumbelina about her height and narrate as she gets herself into scrapes, like falling into the animals’ drinking trough and almost gets baked into a pie. The performers of this song are listed as Jodi Benson, who laments her height in this song, and Anúna who must sing all the other parts. The song “Thumbelina” seems to have been shortened for the movie, as I heard a version with lines I’d never heard before that seemingly came from the original soundtrack.

Finally, we get to “Marry the Mole”, performed by Carol Channing as Ms. Fieldmouse. This song is all about Ms. Fieldmouse telling Thumbelina that marrying for love is a mistake and she should marry Mr. Mole for his money… Hmm, that’s a strange message for a children’s movie. Thankfully, Thumbelina proves that you should in fact marry for love and not money. Ms. Fieldmouse is just a gold-digger apparently. Maybe she should go marry Mr. Mole if he’s so great! Anyway, “Marry the Mole” is not a good song, and in my opinion, is the weakest in the soundtrack, probably because it’s just plain weird. But I don’t think it was Razzie Award-worthy.

At the 15^th Razzie Awards in 1995, the award for Worst Original Song went to “Marry the Mole”. Thumbelina gained itself a lifelong reputation by becoming the first animated movie ever to win a Golden Raspberry Award, the Oscar parody where awards are given for the “worst” in cinema instead of the best. It was up against “Under the Same Sun” from On Deadly Ground (1994), and “The Color of the Night” from the 1994 movie Color of Night, which strangely enough was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. It lost to “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from Disney’s The Lion King (1994). The Worst Original Song category was presented at the Razzies from 1980 until 1999, with one final award presented in this category in 2002 for Britney Spears’ “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” from Crossroads (2002), before the category was retired.

But don’t worry. Thumbelina may’ve been the first animated movie to win a Razzie, but The Emoji Movie (2017) would top it, by winning four Razzie awards, including Worst Picture and Worst Director, so it’s not so bad!

PRODUCTION

I’ve already mentioned some Disney Animation connections in Thumbelina’s voice cast, but there is another more important one, and that is Don Bluth, the writer and co-director here.

Many devout Disney fans view Bluth harshly, with much criticism levelled at him over the years. Clearly Don Bluth is a difficult character in the history of animation but there are two sides to every story. Bluth says that he spent about a year working at the Disney Studios, specifically on Sleeping Beauty (1959), right after he graduated from high school. He then went off to college and returned to the studio in 1971 and worked on Robin Hood (1973). At this time, he met Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy, who would become key collaborators in the years to come. Goldman was the other co-director on Thumbelina, for example. Bluth and others were then asked to work on The Rescuers (1977), but Bluth was starting to feel like they weren’t making great movies at Disney Animation anymore and when younger artists from CalArts arrived, a friction was created between the two “camps” of animators: those younger, new arrivals and these more experienced animators, who were still a level lower on the hierarchy than some of Walt’s “Nine Old Men” who were still working at the studios. Eventually, Bluth found his creativity was being stifled and did not like working with the younger artists so he and his group left the company[4].

Those who were at Disney and continued to remain at Disney after Bluth left tell a different story. Bluth had many creative differences with the team during production on The Fox and the Hound (1981), choosing to resign from the Disney company in 1979 to set up his own company, taking fifteen other animators with him; this was around 17% of the total animation workforce. Naturally, this caused the release date of The Fox and the Hound to be pushed back by six months from Christmas 1980 to Summer 1981[5]. His departure was viewed as being purely down to arrogance at his animating ability, believing himself to be better than the other animators at the Disney Studios, and he was not forgiven for leaving them in the lurch during one of Disney Animation’s most troubling times.

Although Bluth perhaps could’ve picked his timing a little bit better, and maybe had a less dramatic departure, it is a well-known fact that not every animator, talented or otherwise, is able to get on with Disney’s way of making movies. If they do leave, it doesn’t make them bad animators, bad creatives, or even bad people. Just look at Tim Burton. His animation style didn’t gel with Disney and he left the company, doing amazing things thereafter. Whichever side of the story you believe, the basics of it is that, for whatever reason, Bluth left Disney, took his friends with him, and they made their own movies.

Don Bluth and his team now had to learn how to make animated movies on their own, but they were free to do it their way. They first chose to adapt the book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, written by Robert C. O’Brien and published in 1971, for their first animated feature made under the new studio Don Bluth Productions. Bluth made his feature film directorial debut with The Secret of NIMH (1982), which just so happened to be released during Disney’s troubled production on The Black Cauldron (1985). The Secret of NIMH was well-received, putting more pressure on the Disney artists. Bluth’s success and overshadowing of Disney Animation continued with his second movie, An American Tail (1986), another “mouse movie”, released just four months after Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective (1986). It beat out The Great Mouse Detective at the box-office by $22 million. At the time, An American Tail was the highest-grossing non-Disney animated movie in history.

From this point, Bluth and his team went on to make The Land Before Time (1988), at which point the team moved their studio from the US to Dublin, starting the company Don Bluth Ireland Limited, allegedly due to financial concerns. They went on to make All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) and Thumbelina in Ireland[6].

For Thumbelina, the filmmakers decided to adapt another story, this time it was Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina. The original 1835 tale was titled Tommelise in Danish with “Tomme” meaning inch. It was first published as part of Hans Christian Andersen’s second volume of Fairy Tales Told for Children. It was first translated into English in 1847.

Thumbelina had previously been adapted a few times prior to Bluth’s 1994 movie, including a 1964 Russian movie; a 1992 Golden Films movie; and two anime Japanese films, including the 1992 series Thumbelina: A Magical Story, which was edited into a movie in 1993. Since 1994, Thumbelina has continued to be made into movies, including The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina (2002); Barbie Presents: Thumbelina (2009), and even a 2021 short film called Tulip, a modern version of the tale which was shown at the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Don Bluth’s Thumbelina kept quite closely to the original Hans Christian Andersen tale with some additions and few changes. One of the biggest was that Mrs. Toad in the original story only has one son, and the toads are not singers. Because of the little detail given to these characters in the book, it was decided to make the toads a Spanish singing group, giving Mrs. Toad two other sons and having them travel around on a house boat. Bluth had Charo in mind for the role of Mrs. Toad, and had worked with her before, loving her entertaining personality. When Charo agreed to voice the role, Mrs. Toad was “glammed up” to fit her actual image. Another change was that the Fairy Prince does not appear in the story until the very end of the movie. The two are instantly married and Thumbelina is proclaimed the Queen of all the flowers, given wings and the new name Maia. Random. If audiences were already moaning that Thumbelina and Cornelius fell in love too quickly in Bluth’s film, keeping this original ending would’ve been even more criticised.

There is a swallow in the original tale, but he is not called Jacquimo, is not French, and doesn’t meet Thumbelina until she is shown the “dead” swallow in Mole’s tunnel. Thumbelina does help revive it, and the swallow plans to fly her out of there when spring comes. Spring does come and the swallow flies away, leaving Thumbelina to marry Mole, but he does return for her on the day of her wedding to take her away. Other changes include: only the fish get Thumbelina off the lily pad when she meets the toads; there is no Beetle Ball, although the ugly comments still exist; and Thumbelina approaches Field Mouse for food and is allowed some if she promises to clean Field Mouse’s home and tell her stories, meaning Field Mouse does not save her life in this original story[7].

Thumbelina was probably influenced somewhat by the Disney animated movies of the 1990s, because it is a fairy tale, adapted into a musical, and this was something Disney had a huge amount of success with. Thumbelina’s voice cast even uses five actors who had voiced characters for some of Disney Animation’s greatest movies previously. However, Don Bluth’s An American Tail was also a musical, so this was not the first time he had made an animated musical movie. Thumbelina also uses some early computer animation, something Disney were dabbling with at the time as well. The most obvious use of this is in the opening scene where we follow Jacquimo as he flies through Paris[8]. I was sadly disappointed by the simplistic view of Notre Dame Cathedral in this sequence, but as it is not the focus of the film, I guess it would’ve been pointless to make a completely accurate animation of it. The opening shot of the toads’ houseboat also appears to be CGI.

When Thumbelina was getting ready to be theatrically released, according to an article from the Los Angeles Times in June 1997, Warner Bros., who ended up distributing the movie after Bluth’s deal with MGM fell through due to concerns around the stability of Bluth’s studio, held two separate test screenings of Thumbelina. At the first screening, the movie was shown just as it was and the audience reaction was flat. Sneakily, at the second screening, the movie was played with the Disney logo being shown to the audience at the start. This led to the movie getting a more favourable audience reaction, which proves a bias in society towards Disney and their animated movies, as well as their stellar reputation[9]. Still, it’s a bit sad, really, that other animated studios have to try so much harder to sway public opinion. I’ll admit I’m as guilty as anyone else of favouring Disney though…

RECEPTION

Thumbelina was released in US theatres on 30^th March 1994, which is not prime time for new movie releases, especially not those geared towards children. It appears that Thumbelina was meant to be released by MGM during Thanksgiving in 1993, but their distribution did not go ahead, and Warner Bros. stepped in instead.

Thumbelina was released alongside the Animaniacs short I’m Mad (1994), however, this was seen by some reviewers to have been better than Thumbelina. Animaniacs (1993-98) was an animated series about the three Warner siblings who live in the water tower at Warner Bros. Studios. I’m Mad later aired as part of Season 2 of the series. Although Don Bluth had been competitive with Disney back in the 1980s, his movies since All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) had struggled against the movies from the Disney “Renaissance Era”, and Thumbelina was included as one of those that was “not good enough”.

Others also said Thumbelina was odd, unexciting, a Disney “copycat”, and a “fever dream”. I will admit Thumbelina is a strange story, but that’s because Hans Christian Andersen wrote it that way, not because of how it was adapted. Some said Thumbelina was a bit too pathetic; she may seem like that in comparison to Disney’s Belle or Ariel, who are quite brave and resilient. Despite the big names in the voice cast, they were seen to have had their talent wasted, perhaps because it was said the plot was rushed and muddled, with some of these characters not getting enough screen time. Something that I do agree with is that there were some racial stereotypes in Thumbelina. I don’t believe it was meant to be offensive to anyone, but I see how it could be to some.

Then again, Thumbelina does have its fans, especially those who loved it as a child. In particular, the songs are seen to be catchy and some of the animation was praised, such as the swopping CGI sequence, and all of “Let Me Be Your Wings”. Others said Thumbelina was not the best animated movie, but that it is better than the negative reviews say.

Perhaps if Thumbelina had been released in 1993, a year when Disney Animation did not release a new movie, it may’ve done a bit better, however, in 1994, Disney Animation released The Lion King, a movie still loved three decades later and a favourite of many. In fact, The Lion King topped the worldwide box office in 1994, with the No. 2 spot going to multiple-Oscar-winning movie Forrest Gump. Thumbelina only took in around $17 million against a reported budget of $28 million. The movie would obviously come to VHS over the coming years though where it would find an audience. Around 2002, distribution rights were moved over to 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment, allowing it to be part of the same “family” as another of Don Bluth’s movies: Anastasia (1997).

LEGACY

Although Thumbelina was not particularly well-received, there does appear to have been some merchandise that was available to purchase around the time of the film’s release, including movie posters, books, and a play figure set, as well as dolls of Thumbelina and Cornelius. There is also a piece of “lost media” relating to Thumbelina and that is the 30-minute behind-the-scenes documentary Back to Enchantment: The Making of ‘Thumbelina’ that never appeared on a DVD release and is unavailable to view online.

But the biggest continuation of Thumbelina’s legacy comes from Disney’s purchasing of 21^st Century Fox for $71.3 billion on 20^th March 2019. Disney now owns Fox’s entire TV and film libraries, from the likes of 20^th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, FX, and National Geographic[10]. This has opened up a huge catalogue to viewers who otherwise may not have ever watched these series or films. The purchasing of 21^st Century Fox is why Thumbelina appears on Disney+, despite it not being a Disney movie. Disney+ now contains all sorts of movies and programmes, like The Simpsons (1989-present) and the Ice Age film series, because they were made by Blue Sky Studios, Fox’s animation company.

Despite Disney buying up 21^st Century Fox, and other companies, it is important to differentiate what Disney actually made themselves and what they have simply purchased, to give proper credit to those who made it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The tale of Thumbelina is a strange one, but one that tells you that regardless of personal circumstances, you can achieve in life, especially when you believe that anything is possible.

Unfortunately, Thumbelina did not become a major part of animation history, being dwarfed by Disney’s The Lion King. No movie in the world could’ve competed against that; it was unlucky timing for Thumbelina.

However, the obvious bias towards Disney animated movies would not have helped either. At the time, Thumbelina was discarded because it was not from Disney, and yet nowadays, we have people believing that Thumbelina is from Disney, just because it is an animated musical story. It irritates me when the tiniest bit of research can correct these statements, but the same falsities then become “truths” to some. It’s important that we give credit to the filmmakers who make the movies we watch. In the case of Thumbelina, that was Don Bluth and his team.

It’s also important to remember that not everything Disney make is wonderful, and not everything any other animated studio makes is awful. We should be able to make a judgement on whether we like something based on how it makes you feel and what you get out of it, not simply because of the name attached to it.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Black Case Diaries, ‘The Case of Don Bluth’, BlackCaseDiaries.com, 16^th April 2024.

[2] Credit: Bob Strauss, ‘Manilow Follows Heart To Score Movie’, Deseret.com, 20^th April 1994.

[3] Credit: Credit: Bobbie Wygant, ‘Don Bluth “Thumbelina” 1994 – Bobbie Wygant Archive’, The Bobbie Wygant Archive YouTube Channel, uploaded 17^th April 2021.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘In His Own Words: Don Bluth on His Early Career’, CartoonResearch.com, 3^rd September 2021.

[5] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Fox and the Hound (1981)’, pp. 70-72.

[6] Credit: Carlos Aguilar, ‘Don Bluth made animation history by leaving Disney. Looking back, he has no regrets’, LATimes.com, 21^st August 2022.

[7] Credit: BBC Bitesize, ‘English KS1 / KS2: Tales of Hans Christian Andersen – 1. Thumbelina’, BBC.co.uk, date unknown.

[8] Credit: Bobbie Wygant, ‘Don Bluth “Thumbelina” 1994 – Bobbie Wygant Archive’, The Bobbie Wygant Archive YouTube Channel, uploaded 17^th April 2021.

[9] Credit: Michael Lyons, ‘Small World: The 30^th Anniversary of “Thumbelina”’, CartoonResearch.com, 1^st March 2024.

[10] Credit: Emily St. James, ‘Here’s what Disney owns after the massive Disney/Fox merger’, Vox.com, 20^th March 2019.

9th May 202529th Sep 2025 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.

31st Jan 202514th Nov 2025 by The Disney Purist

Upside-Down Magic (2020)

BACKGROUND

Fantasy novels have always been popular with adults and children alike.

They give people an opportunity to escape from the mundanity or the stress of real life and enter a new world where those problems don’t matter, paling into insignificance when compared to the troubles of mystical lands.

Within the world of fiction, some major fantasy series from the years include Discworld by Terry Pratchett; The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis; Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy; and of course, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. But the fantasy world is always open to new writers, and one new novel to hit the shelves in September 2015 was Upside-Down Magic, the first in a series, which Disney optioned straight away.

There have been other occasions when Disney Channel have made movies based on books, such as Read It and Weep (2006), which was based on the novel How My Private, Personal Journal Became a Bestseller by Julia DeVillers, and Twitches (2005), which was based on the T*Witches book series, by H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld.

Using a novel as a basis for a movie is a good way of introducing books to younger audiences, because, if they enjoyed the film, they may want to read the book it was based on. Or it gives the book’s fanbase a new way of enjoying their series. Since the first book in the Upside-Down Magic series had been published five years prior to the release of the movie, Disney Channel were probably hoping that the readers of the books would be excited by the making of this movie.

I wasn’t expecting much when I watched Upside-Down Magic, and I certainly was not looking forward to it. I thought I’d find it boring and childish, and, since I’d never heard of this film or the book series it is based on, I couldn’t imagine that it was any good. In actual fact, I did quite like Upside-Down Magic, despite not being the target demographic. It was a good mix of fantasy, mystery, and coming-of-age drama, although it missed the mark with others, who felt it resembled a certain series a little too much.

PLOT

Upside-Down Magic begins with the main character, Nory, saying how her mother used to tell her that everyone has their “something”: a talent. Nory’s mother died when she was only seven-years-old. At this age, Nory discovered she had magical talents after turning into a cat one afternoon just by looking at it through a window.

Six years later, Nory is preparing to go to Sage Academy to learn all about magic. She is luckily going with her best friend Reina, who has fire magic. Nory is incredibly excited about going to Sage Academy, but Reina is nervous about it. Nory tells her it’s all going to be great and that Reina’s magic is amazing. Nory, on the other hand, struggles to control her magic and shapeshifts into strange hybrid animals.

Nory and Reina go to the bus stop to get to their new boarding school. Many other magical kids are waiting too. Here, we learn that Nory’s mother was a student at Sage Academy. Suddenly, a random guy comes out of the bushes and sends the parents away, saying he is there to take the children to the school. Because that’s not weird at all when you’re going to magic school, I guess. The grumpy guy escorts the kids through the forest, telling them not to use magic on the way. Soon, they arrive at a mess of twisted branches with a hole in the middle. This is apparently the entrance to the school, but there seems to be nothing beyond it. The moody guide walks through the gap – and disappears. Nory and Reina hold hands, take a deep breath, and step through too, arriving at a beautiful school.

At Orientation, the children meet their headmistress, Ms. Knightslinger. She tells them that Sage Academy consists of five different “schools” based on different types of magic: “Fuzzies” are those who can communicate with animals; “Flickers” are those with telekinesis; “Flares” have fire magic; “Flyers” can fly, of course; and “Fluxers” transform into animals. Each one of them must go through a placement test to see if they are talented enough to be placed into the Honours Programme for their type of magic.

For the Flares, students must light a candle from six feet away. The Fuzzies must answer questions about a dog. Flickers have to bring a vase towards them. Flyers are instructed to fly three feet in the air, hover, and then land. Fluxers must turn themselves into a tabby cat, hold the form for six seconds, and return to normal. Throughout the placement tests, there are a mixture of performances. For example, in the Flares test, Reina does perfectly but a student called Elliot can only create smoke. In the Flickers’ exam, a girl called Pepper can only push the vase away from her, not bring it to her. In the flying test, a boy called Andres flies up too high and gets stuck on the ceiling. And then, there’s Nory, who transforms into a cat briefly – but then transforms into a cat with dragon wings…

In the quad, each student is given their results on a card. Nory and Reina look at theirs together. Reina has been admitted into the Flares Honours classes, but Nory’s card simply says “UDM”. As the other students head off to get their uniform, Nory is pointed towards the forest and follows the signs to “UDM”. Her new “school” is situated in an underground cave and is led by the grumpy man who took them to the school, Mr. Skriff. He is both the school’s groundskeeper and the teacher of the UDM programme. Nory sees she is joined by Elliot, Pepper, and Andres. Mr. Skriff tells them that these four are here because they have what is called “upside-down magic”, basically meaning their magic is defective so there is no place for them at Sage Academy as they cannot do magic “the Sage Way”. In the UDM programme, they will not be learning magic, but will be doing real school work or other tasks around the grounds as they wait for their magic to disappear.

As Nory protests against this, Ms. Knightslinger arrives to tell them that they are unteachable and their magic is of no use to the world. Nory asks why they can’t be given a chance to correct their magic. Ms. Knightslinger tells them about a former Flares student called Reginald from Sage Academy in 1939. He had upside-down magic and was soon a target of “Shadow Magic”, a type of magic that consumes someone and is difficult to defeat because of its darkness. Ms. Knightslinger says that those with upside-down magic are the targets for Shadow Magic, so they are separated from the others to both protect the world and themselves from this possibility. Nory is devastated.

Meanwhile, Reina in Honours Flares class is told that she must continue to be great or risk being demoted to Basic Flares class. Her teacher, Professor Argon, also tells the class about Founders’ Day, where the best student from each magical school is given the opportunity to present their magic at a ceremony. To decide who that is, the two top students from each school of magic compete against each other in the Sage Match. Reina is nervous, especially without Nory there to boost her confidence, but gives her first lesson a go: popping corn. Reina does well, until she hears a scoff from a kid in her class, which distracts her so she then burns the corn. Professor Argon warns her she’ll need to do better than that.

Nory is sad to be separated from Reina, especially as she learns that the UDM students have to clean the school with Mr. Skriff. As Nory is sweeping, she stumbles upon a Fluxer lesson, where she hears about the Sage Match and Founders’ Day. Nory is determined to fix her magic by the day of the Sage Match, so she walks into the Fluxer lesson and tries to transform herself into a cat. It doesn’t work and she instead becomes a strange mix of an elephant and a bird. Mr. Skriff rushes over to calm Nory down so she can turn back to normal. He escorts her away, reiterating that the rules are there to protect her.

Throughout the days that follow, the UDM students learn that they are being segregated from the other students, so Nory and Reina cannot talk often. Reina continues to struggle with the pressure of the Flares programme, whilst Nory, with help from her fellow UDM classmates, tries to control her magic in secret, ready for the Sage Match. After a particularly difficult class for Reina, she bumps into a girl who tells her that she is much more powerful than Philip, the top student in Reina’s class. This girl is called Chandra who tells Reina to come find her if she wants help harnessing her power. Hmm, how cryptic… Nory then gets to talk to Reina briefly, where they both lie that they are having a great time at Sage Academy. Reina later heads to the library where a book on Shadow Magic appears to her. Scared by this book, which seems to follow her, Reina runs away. But the book appears in her room later that day, as she practises her corn popping. The book automatically opens to a page called “Manifesting Your Untapped Power”. Before Reina knows what’s happening, the Shadow Magic engulfs her.

At the Sage Match the next day, Reina easily beats Philip in the Flares test and is the winner; she will now get to present her magic at Founders’ Day. Now, it’s Nory’s turn, who has gate-crashed the event. Nory seems to be doing well turning herself into a cat, but she struggles to keep the form and morphs into a mix of a cat and dragon, a “dritten”, once again. Reina tries to make a “sparkle fireball”, Nory’s favourite type of magic, to calm her, but something goes wrong and the fireball strikes Nory. She falls and returns to normal. Reina apologises to Nory for hurting her, not knowing why her magic seems so strong.

Mr. Skriff and the UDM students arrive at the Sage Match to get Nory back to class. Ms. Knightslinger threatens Mr. Skriff with dismissal from his job if he can’t control his students, saying the UDM class is now banned from attending Founders’ Day. Annoyed at his mistreatment by the headmistress, Mr. Skriff tells the kids that he is just like them. He is a Fuzzy, but instead of talking to animals, he can only sing to them. He no longer wants to be a part of the UDM programme, as it makes kids feel bad for being different, so Mr. Skriff vows to teach them how to do magic the “UDM Way”, not the “Sage Way. But before doing this, Nory goes to Reina to talk to her about her uncontrollable magic. The Shadow Magic reappears to Reina in her room, and she tells Nory to leave. Hurt, she does and throws herself into UDM lessons.

During these lessons, Mr. Skriff helps Nory by getting her to visualise different hybrid animals and tells her to make them into topiaries. Now, she’ll be able to morph into any strange creature she wants. For Andres and his flying, Mr. Skriff ties a hosepipe to him to see how high he can fly. He can fly above the treetops, but the real issue is how quickly he launches off the ground; this is something Andres learns to control. Pepper is taught how to use her “push” ability by clearing leaves from the forest, whilst Elliot’s smoke power comes in handy for getting rid of bees’ nests.

The night before Founders’ Day, Reina is annoyed that Chandra has turned up again, telling her about the wonders of Shadow Magic. She shouts at Chandra to leave her alone, which concerns the other Flares who think Reina is talking to herself as they cannot see anyone near her. Reina runs into the school but Chandra follows her, telling her that she is even more powerful than Reginald, the previous Sage student who gave in to Shadow Magic. Reina accepts the magic just as Nory comes in to the room. Nory tells Mr. Skriff about Reina and they decide the Shadow Magic is waiting until the right moment; it’s waiting until Founders’ Day so it can cause the most amount of chaos.

At Founders’ Day, sure enough, during the presentation of the talents, Reina starts to create a fireball, which consumes her and becomes a huge shadow figure. Ms. Knightslinger is horrified to find that a student with “normal” magic could’ve been taken in by Shadow Magic. The Sage students are ordered by their teachers to collectively use their magic to stop it. The Flares try launching fireballs at it; the Fuzzies get birds to attack; the Fluxers are…useless, turning into farmyard animals and cats; the Flyers cannot launch off the ground; and the Flickers manage to tear the shadow figure into four, making it worse.

The UDM kids then burst in to the ceremony to use their magic instead. Pepper uses her “push” ability to push the four shadow figures back into one. Elliot then uses his smoke ability and Andres flies up to it. These two abilities confuse the shadow who begins to twist as it tries to catch Andres. Nory then transforms into her “dritten”, the cat-dragon hybrid, and flies around, twisting the shadow further and making it fall to the ground. The Flare students are about to launch a fireball to destroy the shadow, but Nory shields the shadow. Mr. Skriff tells the teachers to remember that the shadow is still Reina. Nory is given the chance to plead with Reina to fight the Shadow Magic. Reina begins to form her sparkle fireball, pushing against the force of the Shadow Magic. She manages to create and launch it, destroying the shadow once and for all. Reina is alright and her and Nory reunite.

After this event, Sage Academy has learnt to accept UDM kids, discontinuing the programme and letting them join normal lessons with the other students, meaning that Nory, Pepper, Elliot, and Andres are accepted for their different abilities in their respective schools at last. Mr. Skriff has even become a teacher for the Fuzzies. There is no “Sage Way” anymore. But there is one final thing. The Shadow Book is revealed to still be in the library, showing that it still remains. Will any student be safe from it?

CHARACTERS & CAST

Nory is the main character of Upside-Down Magic, being a Fluxer at Sage Academy, as she can transform into animals. However, she knows before she even gets to school that her magic is not quite right, as her animal transformations are not regular animals. Because of this she is labelled as having “upside-down magic”. All Nory wants to do is to be accepted at Sage Academy so she does everything in her power to fix her magic, but it doesn’t work. Those with “upside-down magic” can never be “normal”; they have to accept that and work on the type of magic they do have. Nory is a very upbeat, optimistic character, who doesn’t wallow in self-pity when she learns the school of her dreams wants her to lose her magic forever. Instead, Nory gets the other UDM kids to believe that they are worthy of the school and their magic, and that together, they can prove they are valuable.

Izabela Rose was cast as Nory, this being her breakout role. Rose was later cast as Quinn in The Curious Case of Dolphin Bay (2022), which is sort of a DCOM, sort of not, as it was another co-production with Disney Channel. After Upside-Down Magic, Rose also appeared as Young Jess in the Disney Channel series Secrets of Sulphur Springs (2021-23).

Reina is Nory’s best friend and she is part of the Honours Flares programme at Sage Academy. Reina is nowhere near as confident as Nory, needing Nory to boost her self-esteem before they even get to Sage Academy. Reina had nothing to worry about though as her fire magic is considered to be one of the best. However, without Nory, Reina lets self-doubt and other students’ abilities get in her head so she starts to struggle in her classes. That is why she becomes a target for Shadow Magic, because she thinks she needs it to be great and the Shadow Magic is only too happy to make Reina think that. Thanks to Nory, Reina manages to fight against the Shadow Magic. Hopefully after that event, Reina has learnt to have more self-confidence because it’s not Nory’s job to talk her up every day.

Reina was played by Siena Agudong. Agudong had previously appeared in the recurring role of Natlee in the Nickelodeon series Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn (2014-18), as well as playing the title character of Nick in the Netflix series No Good Nick (2019). After Upside-Down Magic, Agudong went on to appear as Young Billie Wesker in the Netflix series Resident Evil (2022) and as Melody in The 4:30 Movie (2024).

Elliot is another Flare, like Reina, except he has never been able to conjure fire. Instead, Elliot only conjures smoke, which is seen as completely useless to the Sage teachers. Elliot is the joker of the UDM class; despite clearly not liking the fact he has been confined to a basement for his schooling at Sage Academy. Like the other UDM students, Elliot learns that making smoke can have its uses. Elliot was played by Elie Samouhi, who had previously played Chewy in the Netflix series Team Kaylie (2019-20) and was also cast as Rodney in Season 3 of Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark (2016-19).

Pepper is a Flicker, except she can’t use her powers to bring anything towards her, only away from her. To be honest, although I understand how this doesn’t fit the “Sage Way”, I don’t quite understand why anyone with telekinesis would only want to bring things towards them. Surely, the Flickers should be able to both push and pull things? I also didn’t even realise this was a problem during Pepper’s placement test. I thought she just lacked discipline and decided to throw the vase at the teachers in protest against the discriminatory aspect of the placement test. Obviously not! Pepper is still the rebellious one in UDM class though. She was played by Alison Fernandez, who had previously played Lucy Mills in Season 7 of the ABC series Once Upon a Time (2011-18). She also appeared in the Netflix Team Kaylie (2019-20) as the character Amber.

The final UDM student to mention is Andres who is a Flyer, however, he has become so scared of his flying abilities, that he can’t control, that he wears a backpack filled with bricks to keep him on the ground at all times. Thanks to Mr. Skriff, Andres does manage to control this and should be seen as superior to the other flyers who can’t fly anywhere near as high. Andres is quite shy at the start of Upside-Down Magic, not wanting to talk to Nory when she tries to on their walk to the school at the start of the film, but comes out of his shell as he gets to know the UDM students. Max Torina was cast as Andres, who appeared as Ramon in the Disney Channel series Raven’s Home (2017-23).

Chandra, the personification of Shadow Magic, lurks the halls of Sage Academy, looking for opportunities to talk to Reina. The Shadow Magic has obviously picked Reina for her strong magical ability and lack of confidence, making her the prime target. Chandra is a necessary character, as Reina is not making friends at Sage Academy. If Chandra can make Reina feel like she is a valuable asset to the school, Chandra will be able to talk her round to accepting the Shadow Magic. Sure enough, this scheme works. Chandra was played byYasmeen Fletcher, who had previously appeared as Kaitlin in the Disney Channel series Andi Mack (2017-19). After Upside-Down Magic, Fletcher was cast as Nakia Bahadir in the Disney+ and Marvel series Ms. Marvel (2022).

Now to the teachers. Mr. Skriff is the groundskeeper and teacher of the UDM programme. Mr. Skriff isn’t a happy teacher, being very matter-of-fact with his role at the school and the fact that UDM kids are not “wanted” there. This is because Mr. Skriff knows this all too well, having been a UDM student himself, but being allowed to work at the school after the UDM programme finished for him. Mr. Skriff did not allow his “Fuzzy” powers to disappear either, practising them in secret. He turns out to be a really great teacher, after he decides to go against Sage Academy’s rules and help out the UDM kids, as his teachings allow the Shadow Magic to be defeated once more. Kyle Howard was cast as Mr. Skriff. Prior to his role in Upside-Down Magic, Howard had previously starredas Oliver Weston in the sitcom Your Family or Mine (2015), as well as being cast as Dr. Paul Van Dyke in the comedy drama Royal Pains (2009-16).

Ms. Knightslinger is the strict headmistress of Sage Academy. She is quite harsh on the UDM students when she is informing them that they are a danger to the world; that they must not practise their magic so that they will cease to be special; and will have to go off into the real world and have normal lives. You’d think you’d want to let the UDM students know about this is a gentle way, but no, Ms. Knightslinger would rather just escort them off the grounds straight away, but with their magic still being “upside-down”, she has to allow them to stay there for the time being. Luckily, after the UDM class take down the Shadow Magic, Ms. Knightslinger comes to her senses and shuts down the UDM programme, making Sage Academy an inclusive place. Ms. Knightslinger was played by Vicki Lewis, who has some history with Disney, having played Dina Reams in the DCOM Den Brother (2010), as well as appearing as Ms. Bitterman in a few episodes of the Disney Channel series Sonny with a Chance (2009-11). Lewis is also the voice of Deb in Finding Nemo (2003) and its sequel Finding Dory (2016).

Finally, we see two other teachers in Upside-Down Magic. One is the Fluxer teacher, Professor Han. Nory walks in on Professor Han’s lesson and tries to get involved, but it all goes terribly wrong. Professor Han seems scared by Nory’s hybrid animals and does nothing to try and calm her down. Professor Han does seem like a kind teacher though, unlike Reina’s teacher, Professor Argon, who is incredibly strict and hard on Reina. The way she talks during those corn popping lessons you’d think Reina was about to be demoted to the Basic Flares programme, but instead, she is picked as the second-best student in the Honours programme. Maybe it’s one of those teacher things where they see you have potential and decide to be very hard on you to make you achieve it, which could go either way depending on the student you’re talking to.

Professor Han was played by Elaine Hao who appeared as Anne Roche in Seasons 2 and 3 of Snowpiercer (2020-24). Professor Argon was played by Cynthia Kaye McWilliams who plays Cathy Montgomery in the dark comedy series Average Joe (2023-present). She had previously been cast in the recurring role of Kacee Franklin in Seasons 1 and 2 of Prison Break (2005-17), and as Trina Shaw in Real Husbands of Hollywood (2013-22).

MUSIC

Upside-Down Magic is not a musical, therefore, the score is heavily relied on to get across moments of wonder and hope, like during the scenes of Reina and Nory’s arrival at Sage Academy; times of mystery, such as those around the Shadow Magic; and in scenes of peril, for example the big Founders’ Day showdown scene with Reina and her Shadow Magic.

For me, I found the piece of music at this point the best in the whole film, particularly the moment when the UDM student make their grand entrance into the Founders’ Day ceremony and are the ones to defeat the Shadow Magic. This track is named “Shadow Magic Showdown”. The entire score is available on the Upside-Down Magic official soundtrack, which was released on 23^rd October 2020.

The score 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).

There was a song that apparently followed the End Credits; however, this is not the case on Disney+. The End Credits simply use a track from the score, so I’m guessing this song only appeared during Disney Channel airings of the movie. It was a cover of the song “Everything’s Magic” by Angels & Airwaves, released in September 2007. It peaked at No. 11 on Billboard’s US Hot Modern Rock Tracks. For Upside-Down Magic, the main cast, Izabela Rosa, Siena Agudong, Alison Fernandez, Max Torina, and Elie Samouhi, all appeared in a music video for this song. This music video was uploaded to the DisneyMusicVEVO YouTube Channel on 31^st July 2020, the date of the movie’s premiere. To be honest, after hearing the Angels & Airwaves original version, I much preferred that to the Disney cover of the song; it’s a much more polished performance, but it looks like the cast had fun anyway.

Then, we get to Mr. Skriff’s weird animal songs that come out of nowhere, very loudly and very abruptly. I would say it’s strange but then this is a Disney film; they’ve built a legacy on film characters singing to animals! He sings the first one when he proves to the UDM students that he is one of them, with the animals only coming to him or doing what he says when he sings to them; they don’t do anything if he just talks. Mr. Skriff sings again when Elliot cannot use his smoke powers quickly enough to smoke out the bees from their nest; Skriff sings to the bees to stop them wanting to stinging them and to apologise for ruining their home. Mr. Skriff launches into a quick song during the final scene too, as Nory explains that Mr. Skriff has become a teacher to the Fuzzies. Jeannie Lurie is credited as the creator of the original songs, so I’m assuming this applies to Mr. Skriff’s songs. Lurie has written songs for other DCOMs and Disney productions including some songs within Hannah Montana (2006-11), including “True Friend”; the song “Fearless” in Girl vs. Monster (2012); “You’re My Favourite Song” in Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010); and “Something About the Sunshine” in StarStruck (2010).

The only other song to mention is The DNC’s song “Upside Down”. A brief excerpt is first heard as the movie title is revealed on screen. It returns for the montage of the UDM students perfecting their magic their way.

PRODUCTION

The production for Upside-Down Magic, alongside its cast and crew members, was announced around August 2019, though Disney had optioned the first Upside-Down Magic story for development in 2015. The first book was published in September 2015[1].

Since that first story, the Upside-Down Magic series has spanned eight books, with seven being published by the time the DCOM premiered, becoming a New York Times bestselling series. The books were co-authored by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins. All three had co-authored the Young Adult book How to Be Bad, published in 2008, prior to writing Upside-Down Magic[2]. The Upside-Down Magic series centres on a collection of kids who have magical powers that go awry quite often whilst at school because their magic is “wonky”. They are put in the “Upside-Down Magic” class.

Upside-Down Magic the movie, was filmed in Vancouver during the summer of 2019, with one of the filming locations being Shawnigan Lake School, a boarding school on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. Many of the campus buildings were turned into Sage Academy for the movie, including their chapel, library, and quad, as well as other school buildings. There were even opportunities for some of the actual school’s students to be extras in the film[3].

The rest of Upside-Down Magic’s scenes mostly take place in the forest surrounding Sage Academy, as this is where the UDM class is based. Director Joe Nussbaum said that they wanted to embrace the organic nature of magic, so most of their magic is based on the elements such as fire for the Flares, air for the Flyers and Flickers, and animals for the Fuzzies and Fluxers. The production designer on the movie, Bill Boes, stated that to match this specification, they could only use natural materials such as bark and wood, and there would be no metals or stainless steel in the production. As a contrast between the elite of Sage Academy, and the wonkiness of the Upside-Down Magic class, Sage Academy has clean, organised, bright classrooms, whereas UDM is housed in an industrial-looking, underground basement in the forest.

Joe Nussbaum has directed other teen and tween-centric movies such as Sydney White (2007), which starred Amanda Bynes; Sleepover (2004); and the Disney movie Prom (2011). Nussbaum was also one of the executive producers on the Disney Channel series Gabby Duran & the Unsittables (2019-21). He is credited as an executive producer on Upside-Down Magic too, alongside Susan Cartsonis and Suzanne Farwell. Farwell had previously worked with Nancy Meyers on some of her movies, including The Parent Trap (1998); The Holiday (2006); and It’s Complicated (2009) before starting up the production company Resonate Entertainment alongside Cartsonis[4].

The DCOM Upside-Down Magic was written by Nick Pustay and Josh Cagan. Pustay had written the screenplay for Ramona and Beezus (2010) with Laurie Craig prior to his work on Upside-Down Magic. Josh Cagan had written the screenplay for the teen comedy movie The DUFF (2015) and co-written the live-action DCOM Kim Possible (2019). He went on to work on the DCOMs Spin (2021) and Under Wraps 2 (2022).

Upside-Down Magic features more Special Effects than most television movies because of all the magic effects. The actors liked working with the Special Effects team on their characters’ magical abilities, being given sketches and help from the stunt co-ordinators to tell them what was meant to be going on during the scenes, because, in most cases, they weren’t going to be seeing any of these effects in person, although Max Torina did have to be hoisted up by cranes as part of Andres’ flying ability, and Siena Agudong had wires through her clothes and tapes on her hands to produce Reina’s fire magic[5].

RECEPTION

A teaser of Upside-Down Magic was first shown during the premiere of ZOMBIES 2 on Disney Channel on 14^th February 2020. It was going to be their next DCOM release after all, so excitement had to build. A full trailer was later released on 18^th June 2020, announcing that Upside-Down Magic would premiere on Disney Channel on 31^st July 2020.

On its premiere date in the US, Upside-Down Magic is said to have drawn in around 1.3 million viewers. When you consider that High School Musical 2 (2007) got 17.2 million viewers on its debut, remaining the top most-watched DCOM of all time, this looks quite bad for Upside-Down Magic. It certainly sounds negative in comparison, but Disney Channel Original Movies have struggled to reach anything close to those numbers since 2017, when Descendants 2 was released. The top viewed DCOM of 2020 was ZOMBIES 2, with 2.5 million viewers, so compared to that, Upside-Down Magic did not do badly.

Anyway, views aren’t everything, although reviews were mixed for Upside-Down Magic too. On the positive side, some viewers liked the overall message of the movie, about being yourself and not underestimating people, and said the movie had better than expected special effects. The general consensus is Upside-Down Magic is a good movie for children, especially those unfamiliar with Harry Potter.

Anyone who was familiar with Harry Potter though seemed to hate Upside-Down Magic, with the term “rip-off” being used. Although Reina and Nory’s characters were mostly enjoyed, the other characters, both students and teachers, were seen to be quite one-dimensional, with the teachers just being mean and the UDM kids being stereotypical. I don’t agree with that statement particularly, although so much of the story was focused on Nory and Reina that the UDM kids didn’t get much screen-time in total, so we learnt less about them. The teachers were quite cruel to be fair and with little reason why.

But the biggest complaint was just how much Disney had changed the source material when making their film. For one thing, the characters in the original stories attend Upside-Down Magic classes at Dunwiddle Magic School, not Sage Academy. In book seven, released just before the movie, it seems that the characters of the book move to Sage Academy. Whether this was the authors adjusting their story to fit Disney Channel’s movie plot, or if it was Disney getting information about the seventh book prior to writing their screenplay, I don’t know. Another change is that Elliot does not produce smoke when he attempts to conjure fire in the book, but instead makes the fire freeze. Flickers turn objects invisible, and don’t have telekinesis. Pepper in the book is also not a Flicker; she is a Fierce, where animals are scared of her. Other UDM students were omitted from the movie. That is usually necessary in any book-to-film adaptation. Mr. Skriff replaced the character of Ms. Starr, who was Nory’s teacher in the book. Reina was original to the movie[6].

Basing something on known source material is usually a lose-lose situation for anybody, as you’ll get complaints if you stray too much from source material; if you stick too closely to it; or if you cut too much out of it. Having said that, although I have not read the books, looking at the number of changes that were made, I can kind of understand what the readers might have been upset about.

LEGACY

The ending of Upside-Down Magic left the movie open for a sequel, as the Shadow Magic book came back, showing it could target another student.

However, there has not been any talk of a sequel coming from Disney Channel. Some fans have said that they would like an Upside-Down Magic 2, but it’s already been five years since the first movie was released, so it’s looking less and less likely that there will be one. It’s possible this was due to the negative reviews that the movie received, especially those concerning the differences between the DCOM and the book series.

This isn’t the first time a DCOM has suggested a sequel movie that has never come. Just two examples of this are Girl vs. Monster (2012) and Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020). For whatever reason, these two movies did not lead to sequels. Upside-Down Magic was not the first DCOM to have an open ending and it won’t be the last. Disney Channel could theoretically revive any of these potential movie franchises, but given the amount of time that has passed, they’d either have to re-cast all the characters or set it however many years in the future, with these kids now being adults. If you liked the movie of Upside-Down Magic but hadn’t read the books though, there are eight of those to enjoy, with seemingly the final book in the series being published in 2021.

One other thing to come out of Upside-Down Magic was the game Magic My Way, which launched on the DisneyNOW app. In the game, you could play mini games based on each of the five magic schools in Sage Academy. The app was discontinued in September 2024; however, the website is still available. DisneyNOW has clips, movies, and full episodes of programming from the channels Disney Channel, Disney Jr., and Disney XD on its website still, even with Disney+ being around.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I had never heard of Upside-Down Magic before this week, and I surprised myself by quite liking it. The story wasn’t particularly unique, I’ll accept that, and even I managed to guess who was going to be the one to succumb to Shadow Magic, which is saying something because normally I’m too absorbed in films to guess ahead, but again, I didn’t care that it was predictable. I think what I liked was the familiarity of the story and setting.

And yet, Upside-Down Magic opened itself up to negative comparisons between it and the Harry Potter movie franchise that couldn’t be shaken. The Harry Potter books continue to be loved and cherished by readers, and the film franchise opened the world of Hogwarts up to an even larger audience, with some of these viewers never actually having read a Harry Potter book. I’m a big fan of the Harry Potter movies, but I haven’t read the whole series of books.

Anyway, this isn’t about Harry Potter, but the franchise is a good example of how a movie adaptation of a book can launch the story to new heights. I’m assuming this is what Disney Channel hoped to do with Upside-Down Magic, just on a smaller scale.

Personally, I didn’t even think of Harry Potter whilst I was watching. Upside-Down Magic was more similar to Disney’s Sky High (2005) for me, with the placement tests and one group of students being considered lesser than the others, i.e., the heroes and the sidekicks, but the lesser group coming to save the day against all expectations.

Upside-Down Magic might have hoped to be the Harry Potter of its generation, but it did not happen that way. Despite its message about being true to yourself and not letting anyone tell you you’re aren’t worthy, Upside-Down Magic as a film did not live up to expectations and was not able to differentiate itself in a market full of fantasy series.

That’s the way it goes in the entertainment industry sometimes and proves that making a movie or series based on a well-known novel is just as risky as going with a completely original story.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Denise Petski, ‘Disney Channel Sets Cast For ‘Upside-Down Magic’ Movie As Production Begins’, Deadline.com, 19^th August 2019.

[2] Credit: Broome Shearouse, ‘Meet the co-authors of Upside-Down Magic’, OomScholasticBlog.com, 29^th September 2015.

[3] Credit: Shawnigan Lake School, ‘Disney Magic’, Shawnigan.ca, 29^th July 2020.

[4] Credit: Alexandra Whyte, ‘From Nancy Meyers flicks to turning Disney Channel upside down’, KidScreen.com, 20^th July 2020.

[5] Credit: Disney, ‘Inside the Magic I Upside-Down Magic I Disney Channel’, Disney Channel YouTube Channel, 2^nd August 2020.

[6] Credit: Sarah Mlynowski, ‘Upside-Down Magic’, SarahM.com, no date.

6th Dec 20245th Dec 2025 by The Disney Purist

Christmas…Again?! (2021)

BACKGROUND

I’m a big fan of Christmas films.

I make sure to watch all my favourite ones every year. But I also like to give the television Christmas movies a go, things from Lifetime and Hallmark for example, though, as anyone who has watched these types of movies will know, they are generally quite hit-or-miss and vary widely from unwatchable to amazing.

However, although some of my favourite Christmas films are Disney, such as The Santa Clause trilogy, I have not seen any Disney Channel Original Movies which are Christmas-themed. Luckily, there really aren’t many, so I haven’t missed out on much.

Two of them were released in the early 2000s – The Ultimate Christmas Present (2000) and ‘Twas the Night (2001) – a little bit early for me to have been watching the channel. Ten years after that – yes, a whole decade – Disney Channel premiered their next Christmas-based DCOM, Good Luck Charlie, It’s Christmas! (2011). Though I liked the series, I wasn’t an avid watcher of it, so, once again, I missed the boat on that one.

It wasn’t for another ten years that the next Christmas DCOM would come into existence, this being Christmas…Again?!, a movie about a girl who gets stuck reliving Christmas over and over again until she learns the true meaning of the holiday. You’d think such a leader in children and tween programming would want to prioritise Christmas as a theme in its original movies like other channels, but, for whatever reason, they have not.

Christmas…Again?! was yet another average Christmas movie for me, however, unlike the Hallmark-style of Christmas movies, Christmas…Again?! was not aimed at someone my age. It is best suited for those under 16, and I’m sure those kids really liked it. It has its moments of comedy; it represents modern-day families; and lots of children probably wish it could be Christmas every day. It is relatable for them.

Going into seeing this movie for the first time, I really thought I wouldn’t like it at all. That did not turn out to be the case. In fact, the first twenty minutes were alright, with the original Christmas scene, and the last twenty minutes, where the main character breaks her time loop, were fine too. The problem with time loops in movies is that they can get old and boring really quickly. Christmas…Again?! fell into that category in my opinion. I don’t think the movie needed to be 90 minutes long, and some of the middle section could’ve easily been reduced. If that had happened, I might have liked this film more than I did.

PLOT

The movie begins late at night on Christmas Eve. Rowena, also known as Ro, is talking to her mother about her Top 5 Christmas memories and talking about how she wants to relive all of them this year. There is just one problem with that; this will be Ro’s first Christmas with her father’s new girlfriend, Diane, and her son, Louie, so it’s going to be different this year.

On Christmas Day, Ro is scared awake by Louie who is standing by her bed, dressed up as a ghost. This causes Ro to stumble backwards, knocking over a glass of juice onto a laptop. She then goes downstairs and tries to talk to her father about all the cool things she wants to do this Christmas, but he is too distracted by Louie to listen. Ro follows him into the kitchen and finds that Diane has eaten the special Christmas chocolate that was meant for her – gasp! Ro’s grandparents and uncles soon arrive at the house for a big family Christmas but as the day goes on, Ro finds herself and her Christmas traditions being ignored, plus things start to go wrong, like her uncles’ dog peeing on Ro’s belongings; an antique bowl being broken; the dog knocking all the food off the table; and then just when Ro thinks she can get some peace to watch the annual Christmas ice hockey match she likes, Louie starts messing with the remote control and turns the TV off. Ro chases Louie to get the remote back, but accidentally gets caught up in the decorations and they all fall to the ground with a crash. Ro is blamed by the whole family for ruining Christmas – oh yeah, and destroying her sister, Gabby’s laptop with that morning juice spill…

Ro is furious at this as she feels like her family has ruined Christmas for her, so she storms outside and starts throwing snowballs at a statue of Santa as payback for her terrible Christmas. Surprisingly, a man in a Santa suit appears from behind the statue and asks Ro why she isn’t having a great day. She tells him what’s been going on and he then asks Ro if she’d like a Christmas do-over. She says she would and wishes for one.

The next day, Ro wakes up and is surprised to find the same things happening to her, like getting scared by Louie, spilling the juice, and having all the family over again. Ro plays along for a bit but soon gets fed up with this and accuses everyone of playing a prank on her to get back at her for “ruining Christmas”. The family have no idea what she’s talking about. The next day, Ro realises that, although it is still apparently Christmas, the exact same things have not happened that day, for example, the juice didn’t spill on her sister’s laptop this time. Ro figures out she is reliving Christmas and she can change it to do exactly what she wants; she thinks she’ll enjoy this time loop she’s stuck in.

The next day, Ro decides to do things differently and orders herself a limo. When the car comes to pick her up, the man dressed as Santa from the other night – who Ro calls Tall Santa – is her driver. He asks her why she is alone and Ro simply states she wants to have a normal Christmas even if that means doing it all without her family. She goes sledging one day; goes to the pier for a Christmas event; goes to the museum; and goes to the Santas vs. Elves hockey game, eventually competing in it herself, to start ticking off her Top 5 Christmas memories list, redoing everything as she’d always planned. Ro also starts to get her own back on her family, getting up early to scare Louie instead of the other way round, and threatening Diane for the Christmas chocolate. She also decides to have some fun by pretending she’s psychic, since she knows what’s going to happen in the day, having witnessed it numerous times. Ro sets up more fun for herself by asking everyone questions and uses this information the following day to “prove” her psychic abilities.

One day, she takes the limo back to the hockey game again, but notices her neighbours acting out their same movements from the days before, like two kids having their charity money stolen by a local bully; a family putting up posters about their lost cat; and a woman dropping her groceries. Ro is then at the food stall at the hockey game and sees Tall Santa at the counter. Ro tells Tall Santa she knows what’s going to happen to all these people around her today, to which Tall Santa asks if she ever warns them if it’s something bad that happens. Ro says she doesn’t and that this do-over is just about getting her Christmas list done. Tall Santa reiterates that she should be spending time with family, even if it has changed. However, Ro doesn’t want things to change – but Tall Santa did give her an idea; her Christmas doesn’t need to change if she can get her parents back together!

This task then becomes Ro’s focus, spending days on this. She has to make sure Diane and Louie are out of the way first, so she covers Diane’s clothing with the cat hair from the neighbourhood’s lost cat – which she found but didn’t return to its owners – as she’s terribly allergic, and sits Louie in the bathtub with a laptop, saying he can watch whatever he wants. Ro then starts to get her mum and dad to relive their favourite Christmas Day, as they both told Ro on a previous day all about it. Gradually, Ro starts to piece together the perfect moment for her parents to reunite. One night, Ro and her sister dance with her parents in the living room, before leaving as their wedding song plays. Ro then dangles mistletoe above them. This doesn’t result in a real kiss and the parents start to suspect Ro is trying to get them back together. They both sit her down and tell her that they aren’t getting back together, as Ro’s father has asked Diane to marry him and she’s said yes. This devastates Ro and now her Christmas is tainted with bad memories forever…

As the time loop continues, Ro just wants everything to go back to normal and for this wish of hers to stop. She tries to destroy her penguin alarm clock which plays “Jingle Bells” to her every morning but it doesn’t work, and simply reappears each morning. Ro starts acting up during the day, saying she now relates to Scrooge in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and doesn’t see the point of Christmas anymore, worrying her family. Ro also tries writing to Santa to get him to stop the time loop and even yells at the Santa statue outside, but nothing works and she continues to live out Christmas Day.

Eventually, Ro has a heart-to-heart with Gabby who tells her she misses the old times too, but that her parents weren’t happy together so it’s better this way really. Ro was younger when the divorce happened so she doesn’t necessarily remember any of that. Ro realises she should be spending Christmas with family and needs to stop living in the past.

Over the next few Christmas Days, Ro sets her sights on helping others. For her family, she is kind to everyone, including Louie and Diane; saves the antique bowl from breaking; and brings a mariachi band to the house for them all to enjoy. The family even sit and sing “Silent Night” together. Within the neighbourhood, Ro helps two kids with their charity money as they exchange jokes for donations and even convinces the local bully to contribute to the money instead of stealing it. She also returns the lost cat to its owners; helps the woman with her groceries; and even saves an engagement from going wrong.

That Christmas evening, as Ro and her family spend time together, the neighbours and local people that Ro helped all come to the house with food to thank Ro for her help that day. This turns into a big party and Ro gives a speech telling everyone that this was her best Christmas ever and that Christmas really is about spending time with the people you love.

The very next day, Ro expects it to be Christmas Day again, especially as her clock radio is still playing “Jingle Bells”, but it turns out it is the 26^th December. Ro is very happy that the time loop is over but is surprisingly sad to see her father, Diane, and Louie packing up their things to head back home. She says goodbye to them. Shortly after, a limo arrives, with Tall Santa still driving it. He asks Ro about her Christmas list, which she completed but found didn’t make her as happy as helping others and being with her family. As he is about to leave, Ro notices Tall Santa has his own list in the limo. This is the “Second Chance List”, not the Naughty List though, making her wonder if he was the real Santa after all. As Tall Santa drives away, Ro’s name vanishes from the list.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Rowena is only twelve years old so it’s quite understandable that she would want to spend her Christmas doing things she wants to do, like going to Winter Fest and seeing the Christmas hockey match. Although I’m not sure we’re meant to sympathise with Rowena too much, it must be difficult to have to spend Christmas with a new stepbrother and stepmother, with all Ro’s usual traditions going out the window because you have to incorporate other people into the day. I admire Rowena’s dedication to Christmas with all her lists and planning, and I’m glad she got to go out and do everything she wanted during the time loop, even if that wasn’t the way to break it! It was quite obvious that the way Ro was going to stop the time loop was by being more selfless but it was still a nice message.

Rowena was played by Scarlett Estevez who had previously been cast as Megan in the movie Daddy’s Home (2015) and its 2017 sequel. She also appeared in the series Lucifer (2016-21) in the role of Trixie, before being cast as Gwen in Season 4 of the Disney Channel series Bunk’d (2015-24). Estevez went on to star as Ultra Violet in the Disney series Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion (2022). For her role as Rowena in Christmas…Again?!, Estevez was also nominated in the Best Young Actor category at the 2022 Imagen Awards.

Rowena’s parents are loving and supportive of Ro, and, despite the divorce and the added awkwardness of a new partner and son coming along, they are determined to have a nice family Christmas altogether. It’s quite common to think that divorced couples can’t even bear to be in the same room as each other, but that certainly isn’t the case here. Rowena’s mother, Caroline, is welcoming to Diane and Louie and there is no sign of animosity between them. However, Ro struggles with the fact she is no longer the centre of attention with her parents, as they are surrounded by other family members to consider, and Louie is now the youngest child in the house. Caroline and Mike, Ro’s father, try to keep Ro involved in the usual activities, but Ro is seemingly uninterested to begin with. Regardless of how Ro behaves over those various Christmas Days, her parents are honest and open with her, and clearly love her, even though they aren’t still together.

Alexis Carra was cast as Caroline, having previously appeared as Cynthia Molina in the teen drama Recovery Road (2016), and as Jessica in the sitcom Mixology (2014). Mike was played by Daniel Sunjata who some may recognise as James Holt in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), and as Brad in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009). Sunjata also starred as Franco Rivera in the series Rescue Me (2004-11). Recently, he was cast as Detective Karadec in the crime drama High Potential (2024-present), alongside Kaitlin Olson.

Rowena’s grandparents are Abuela Sofia and Abuelo Hector. Their arrival causes a bit of chaos in the household on Christmas Day as Sofia struggles with an upset stomach after eating at a greasy spoon earlier that day, and Sofia asks Ro if she liked the sweater they got her for Christmas, assuming that presents had already been opened – they hadn’t. Sofia and Hector are doting, loving grandparents, as you’d expect them to be.

Abuela Sofia was played by Priscilla Lopez, who originated the role of Diana Morales in A Chorus Line in Broadway in 1975. She was also cast as Camila Rosario in the musical In the Heights on Broadway in 2008. Lopez also played the roles of Fastrada and later Berthe in performances of the musical Pippin. Lopez was cast as Veronica, the mother of Jennifer Lopez’s character, in Maid in Manhattan (2002) too. Abuelo Hector was played by Tony Amendola, who appeared in the recurring role of Geppetto/Marco in Once Upon a Time (2011-18). He was also cast as the character Bra’tac in Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007). Recently, Amendola appeared as King Levitica in the movie Rebel Moon (2023).

Then there is Diane, Rowena’s stepmother. She is trying her best to get Ro to like her, but to no avail, which is a shame because apart from eating Ro’s sacred chocolate, she seems like a kind person. Diane just wants Ro to like her and get on with her, so at the start of Christmas…Again?!, it is quite sad to see Ro being mean or dismissive towards her. Their relationship is much better by the end of the movie though, as Ro realises Diane shouldn’t be blamed for making their Christmas different this year, and that as long as Diane makes her dad happy, Ro should make an effort to get on with her. Diane also brings her son, Louie, to the family who starts off as a seemingly bratty little stepbrother to Rowena, scaring her when she wakes up and taking the remote control away from her when she wants to watch her hockey match. I think these were just cries for attention from Ro though, because when she starts to actually spend some time with him, they get on perfectly well.

Beth Lacke was cast as Diane, after appearing in other Disney projects previously. One of these was Teen Beach 2 (2015) where Lacke played Brady’s mom, and she was also cast in the recurring role of Lynne Bowen in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (2019-23). 7-year-old James McCracken was cast as Louie in his first big screen role.

Rounding out the family are Gabby, Rowena’s sister, and her uncles Gerry and Bruce. Gabby is the older sister, so naturally, she doesn’t always get along with Rowena, and that is made even worse when Ro spills juice on her laptop at the start of the film. The biggest moment between the two of them in Christmas…Again?! comes when Gabby tells Rowena about how Christmas might not be the same but that change isn’t always a bad thing. She wants Ro to know she feels the same about things being different, yet she knows that their parents not being together is the best thing for the family. Gabby doesn’t get a lot screen time, but she makes a lot of sense. Ashlyn Jade Lopez was cast as Gabby here.

For the uncles, Gerry and Bruce also don’t get much screen time, though each has a moment with Ro when she’s trying to make amends with her family after having some difficult Christmases with them during the time loop, which they obviously don’t remember Uncle Gerry is interested in stand-up comedy and on that first Christmas Day, he attempts to deliver some of his routine to the family, however Rowena interrupts him and critiques him making Gerry even more nervous about it. Rowena gives him some encouragement as he’s about to do this routine again later in the time loop. Uncle Bruce teaches Rowena martial arts during one of the Christmas Days, so she can use it on the neighbourhood bully for stealing charity money. Uncle Gerry is played by Gabriel Ruiz, and Bruce by Sean Parris.

Finally, we have Tall Santa. Tall Santa is the one who makes all this happen and is Rowena’s guide, trying to show her the real meaning of Christmas with his occasional appearances during her Christmas activities or with crypt messages. It takes quite a lot of time – we see Ro go through so many Christmas Days in Christmas…Again?! – but eventually the message about family and helping others sticks and Ro is able to stop the time loop. We also learn that Tall Santa was the real Santa, who had wanted to give Ro a second chance at Christmas, to realise what it’s really about.

Tall Santa was played by Gary Anthony Williams. I was so happy when I saw him in this movie as I am a big fan of Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1998-present) and Gary Anthony Williams is a regular cast member in that show – and one of my favourites. For Disney, he voiced Mufasa in The Lion Guard (2015-19) prior to this movie and went on to voice the character of “Pops” in the animated series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023-present). He is also set to voice a character in the Eyes of Wakanda Disney+ series, which is scheduled to be released sometime in 2025.

MUSIC

I was quite surprised to find that a soundtrack for Christmas…Again?! was released on the same day as the movie, consisting of five songs. Only one is these is an original song for the movie, with the other four being covers of traditional Christmas songs and carols.

The original song here is called “Christmas Again”. It was written by Sam Hollander, Josh Edmundson, and Charity Daw, and is performed by Scarlett Estevez. It is played as Rowena goes on her various jaunts around Chicago, ticking off her Christmas Wishlist, going to the museum, the aquarium, and the Santas vs. Elves hockey game, just to name a few. It’s quite an upbeat, catchy song for Christmas.

Then there is the radio track that is played every morning, “Jingle Bells” by Frankie Rodríguez. I already don’t like this song much, as I hear it too much over the festive season, but this version is at least a jazzier version of it, so I don’t mind it, though I’m sure if I had to listen to it every morning as I relived Christmas Day however many times it would get old really fast! This song is also played during the End Credits.

There is also the instrumental version of “Joy to the World” performed by Mariachi Son de Fuego. This scene takes place after Gabby has a heart-to-heart with Rowena about their new family. Rowena decides she should be making new Christmas memories with her family instead of living in the past, so she seemingly hires a mariachi band to come and play outside their house for all the family to enjoy. I do like mariachi bands so I like this number.

The final songs on the soundtrack are two family singalongs performed by the cast. The first is “Noche de Paz”, a Spanish version of “Silent Night” because this movie is based around a Latino family. This is played shortly after Rowena’s turnaround, as the family spend a happy Christmas Day evening together. Later on, there is a performance of “Silver Bells”, which isn’t a Christmas song I like, and is heard in this movie on the final Christmas Day, when all the neighbours and Rowena’s family are celebrating the day together. It’s nice to hear these two songs in the movie as singing feels like a typical Christmas activity for this family, so it felt natural.

Alongside the official soundtrack, there are four other songs that appear during Christmas…Again?! The first of these appears during the Opening Credits, as family photos pass across the screen. This song is “Little Bit of Christmas” by Juliet Roberts. Like “Christmas Again”, it is quite an upbeat, positive song. I did quite like it.

Some time later, the song “It’s Christmas“ by Clooney can be heard as Ro goes to Navy Pier and attends some sort of Christmas event there. This is more of a pop-rock song, perhaps showing Ro’s rebellion against the Christmas her family are trying to impose on her at home; instead, she’s out doing what she wants to do.

When Ro decides to get her parents back together this Christmas, two different songs play. The first is the dance tune “Epa Boom Boom” by Zalento. This is heard as Ro and Gabby dance with their parents in the living room. The girls then make a quick disappearance so that the song “Never Been In Love” by Lewis La Medica can be played instead, giving the parents a slow song to dance to. Although I liked the dance tune, I could barely hear “Never Been In Love” through all of Ro’s matchmaking shenanigans! Listening back to it now, it is good. It sounds similar to a Michael Bublé song in my opinion, like a swing-era sort of number.

The final song to mention is “My Christmas Wish” by Devin Jay Hoffman, Rhett Fisher, and Skip Armstrong, which is played during the montage of Ro attempting to destroy her penguin radio in a bid to end this Christmas time loop once and for all. Much like Ro’s attempts to get her parents back together, this does not work either. The cheeriness of this song is in complete contrast to Ro’s frustration at this point in the movie.

Outside of musical numbers, there is the score to mention. The score in Christmas…Again?! is actually quite noticeable, which I can’t always say with Disney Channel Original Movies, and that is because there are quite long stretches in this movie where there aren’t any songs. So, the score has to represent the confusion, frustration, happiness, etc., that Ro is feeling throughout all of these Christmas Days she has to experience. The score in particular does the heavy lifting during the first Christmas Day, to get across Rowena’s feelings of annoyance and sadness at the change to her normal Christmas, as well as the scene of Tall Santa granting her do-over wish. The score was composed by Nathan Wang. Wang had previously composed the music for other DCOMs including Hatching Pete (2009); Minutemen (2008); and Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006), amongst many other non-Disney projects.

PRODUCTION

It was confirmed that production on Christmas…Again?! had begun in November 2020. At the same time, the cast members were announced, as was the director, Andy Fickman, the screenwriter Doan La, and the executive producer Betsy Sullenger. The basic premise of the story, about the Christmas time loop and Ro’s wish to have a Christmas like she’d always had before her father got a new girlfriend, was also revealed[1].

It is known that Christmas…Again?! took inspiration from a couple of places. One of these was from the 1892 short story Christmas Every Day, written by William Dean Howells, where a child wishes for it to be Christmas every day, and relives the day through a time loop which only ends when the true meaning of Christmas is learnt. This story had already been used in a prior Disney project, this being the segment Donald Duck: Stuck on Christmas, which features within Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (1999). For this segment, Donald Duck’s nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie are the centre of the story.

Others see Christmas…Again?! as mostly being inspired by the movie Groundhog Day (1993), potentially one of the most memorable movies to feature a recurring time loop. In this case, Bill Murray’s character, Phil, only manages to stop this time loop by learning the importance of love and in doing so, becomes a better version of himself. Some moments of Christmas…Again?! do imitate those with Groundhog Day. For example, Rowena’s clock radio plays “Jingle Bells” to her every morning to wake her up, in the same way that the radio plays Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe” every day to Phil, letting him know it’s Groundhog Day yet again. Both radios also play the same song even after the time loop is broken, just to give a moment of doubt to the characters and viewers that this might still be the same day. Also, when Rowena is getting fed up of reliving the same Christmas Day over and over, she tries to destroy her penguin radio to get it to stop. It simply reappears the next morning. For Phil in Groundhog Day, he gets so bored that he starts to do very reckless things, like driving off a cliff and committing robbery because he knows he’ll just wake up the next day.

Andy Fickman was chosen to direct Christmas…Again?! He had directed the movies She’s the Man (2006) and Parental Guidance (2012) before Christmas…Again?! and was no stranger to Disney Channel, as he had also directed numerous episodes of the series Liv and Maddie (2013-17). Fickman said that he had always liked Groundhog Day and the concept of that film so was happy to make a Christmas-themed movie that took inspiration from that same type of story. He also responded to the central blended family within the story and their challenges in navigating that with new partners and their children. Fickman said he enjoyed working with Scarlett Estevez as she was so enthusiastic. Most of the cast mostly just acted out the same motions during each time loop, but Estevez had a more difficult challenge, by having to base her performance around how her character was feeling in each and every time loop, of which there were apparently around 50[2]. I wouldn’t know because, funnily enough, I didn’t count them!

Christmas…Again?! was filmed from November to December 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, so that added another layer of difficulty to the production. Cast and crew were required to wear masks when not filming and production would have to shut down for days at a time if anyone tested positive for the virus.

The movie was filmed in and around Chicago in Illinois. Illinois and Chicago are popular places for Christmas movies to be set, however, not too many of these are actually filmed there too. Two that I found that were both set and filmed in Chicago are Home Alone (1990) and While You Were Sleeping (1995), although this second one may not be considered a Christmas movies by some. Regardless, Christmas…Again?! takes full advantage of Illinois for its filming locations, as well as its wintry weather. Some areas that are seen within the movie include Navy Pier, the Museum of Science and Industry, and Millennium Park, all in Chicago. The Shedd Aquarium and the 360 Chicago Observation Deck in the John Hancock Center are also shown. The cast supposedly loved filming in Chicago as the LA locals got to experience some snowy, cold weather at Christmastime[3].

RECEPTION

A sneak peek of Christmas…Again?! was first shown around July 2021, showing the scene of Rowena asking Tall Santa for a Christmas do-over. It was confirmed at this time that the movie would be released in December that year[4].

Christmas…Again?! premiered on Disney+ and Disney Channel on the same day, 3^rd December 2021. It reportedly drew in 0.5 million viewers from its Disney Channel premiere, but exact figures are difficult to find. This might sound low, however, with the release of Disney+, it is likely that many families have turned away from watching live television and now fully focus on the streaming service instead. Viewing figures for the Disney+ release of Christmas…Again?! were not announced so it is unclear how popular it was at the time.

In terms of reviews, these were easier to come by. With all the Christmas movies that are shown on television or on streaming services every year, both old and new, Christmas…Again?! had a lot of competition. Viewers who enjoyed the movie said it was charming if somewhat predictable. Given that the movie was based on a typical plot point of a time loop, as well as being inspired by a hugely recognisable 90s film, the story was quite easy to guess. Others also said they thought Estevez did well in the lead role, especially as the whole movie revolved around the character of Rowena so she really had to hold it all together. The general consensus was that Christmas…Again?! was not a bad Christmas movie, but that it was not the best one either.

On the downside, some felt the movie could’ve benefitted from giving the other characters more screen time, to give more balance to the plot, as it was just focused on Rowena. Others said it was boring and not that funny, and did not appreciate that it was a “rip-off” of Groundhog Day. I don’t have a problem with movies using similar ideas as other films, so the Groundhog Day similarities didn’t bother me, however, I would agree that Christmas…Again?! was a bit boring in places. I felt that some of the time loop montages were too long and could’ve definitely been edited. I also did not find the movie particularly funny, but I am aware that I am not the target audience.

Although I personally don’t plan on watching Christmas…Again?! again, I think for families, this would be an enjoyable film to sit down and watch together over the holiday season as it wasn’t a terrible film, just a bit average.

LEGACY

Christmas…Again?! was Disney Channel’s first Christmas-themed movie in a whole decade. Since there have only been a handful of Christmas-themed DCOMs, this means that Christmas…Again?! is featured in the Disney+ Christmas Collection every year.

It also appears within the typical movie ranking articles that come out at this time of year. For example, in 2023, Christmas…Again?! ranked at No. 24 on Cosmopolitan’s “Top 40 Christmas Movies on Disney+” list[5]. It ranked at No. 37 on Good Housekeeping’s list[6]. For the record, I don’t agree with most of the rankings within either of these lists. Personally, I think they need some serious rearranging.

After Christmas…Again?!, Disney Channel did release another Christmas-themed movie, The Naughty Nine (2023), which premiered on Disney+ a day later. Perhaps this is showing that Disney Channel are trying to get more involved in the Christmas movie space now, especially with the added bonus of the streaming service’s availability. Many television channels and streaming platforms release new content for the holiday season, with Netflix potentially being Disney’s biggest competitor. Netflix markets their content very well – although their 2024 Christmas movie selection was quite disappointing – so if Disney+ want to entice new viewers, they need to up their Christmas game!

FINAL THOUGHTS

The message of Christmas…Again?! is that Christmas is all about family and helping others, something that children can forget if they get consumed by thoughts of presents – or in Rowena’s case, checklists.

This is a lovely idea and very true to most people. Spending time with family at Christmas can be magical, and being thoughtful of others does make you feel warm inside. However, this movie presents the image of a perfect Christmas that many cannot replicate.

Although Christmas is an amazing time for some, it is not for others. As adults, most of us lose that child-like wonder for the holiday season, instead being consumed with worries and pressures of the day. Is there enough food for everyone? Are there going to be arguments? Can I put up this joyous exterior for a full 24 hours even though I don’t feel the same inside? Or simply, how will I get through the day?

Whatever the reason, Christmas or the general holiday season is not always easy and we shouldn’t be telling people how to celebrate it because there is no “one size fits all” way of doing this. I struggle with Christmas at times. I enjoy the build-up to it, with the movies, music, and TV specials but when the day arrives, I feel consumed by all this pressure to have the best Christmas ever.

What we should be telling people is you should spend Christmas however you want. Spend it with family or don’t, if you find that difficult. Treat it like a normal day or fill it with fun and frivolity. You can even just do your best to ignore it if it’s a really hard time for you.

Whatever the plan, make Christmas how you want it to be. Christmas…Again?! makes Rowena seem selfish for wanting to have her own plans for Christmas, but in actual fact, it’s not always selfish. Sometimes it’s healthy and necessary to take time for yourself, even during Christmas.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Alexandra Del Rosario, ‘Disney Channel’s ‘Christmas Again’ Kicks Off Production, Reveals Cast For Holiday Time-Loop Flick’, Deadline.com, 10^th November 2020.

[2] Credit: James Mercadante, ‘‘Christmas Again’ Director on How Scarlett Estevez Helped Shape the Movie’s Time Loops’, TVInsider.com, 1^st December 2021.

[3] Credit: Jason Beeferman, ‘Every day is the holiday in Chicago in new Disney movie ‘Christmas Again’, ChicagoSunTimes.com, 29^th November 2021.

[4] Credit: Disney, ‘Christmas Again?!’ I Sneak Peek I Disney Channel Original Movie I Disney Channel YouTube Channel, 11^th July 2021.

[5] Credit: Leah Marilla Thomas, ‘The 40 Best Christmas Movies on Disney+’, Cosmopolitan.com, 20^th November 2023.

[6] Credit: Marisca Lascala and Lilli Iannella, ’41 Best Christmas Movies on Disney+ Filled With Holiday Magic’, Good Housekeeping.com, 16^th November 2023.

22nd Nov 202429th Sep 2025 by The Disney Purist

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020)

BACKGROUND

When Phineas and Ferb ended in 2015, after eight years of airing on the Disney Channel across four seasons and one movie, the creators and the fans felt satisfied that this chapter was over, and they could all move on.

Just kidding! This is Disney; if something works, you work it hard, so naturally, the final episode of Phineas and Ferb, “Last Day of Summer”, which premiered on Disney Channel on 12th June 2015, was never really the end, although fans had to wait a few years before anything else happened with these beloved characters.

They would have to wait five years in fact for a second movie to be released. This second movie was called Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, and would not premiere on Disney Channel. Instead, it debuted on Disney+, Disney’s streaming app, which launched in the US on 12^th November 2019.

In that time, the world had changed quite a lot, not only from the point that Phineas and Ferb finished, but also from the time that Candace Against the Universe was in development. This movie debuted in August 2020, so we all know what that means: it debuted over the pandemic, as so many other movies did. Luckily, with Disney+ slowly being released to other countries outside of the US, and with Disney Channel not being quite as popular as it used to be, this meant Candace Against the Universe was going to be able to reach its target audience perfectly, and extend its reach to other Disney+ users who perhaps were not familiar with Phineas and Ferb already, or who might not have been huge fans of it.

To be honest, though, I hadn’t heard of this film until last year when I was compiling a list of Disney Channel Original Movies to review. It had completely missed me, but I wasn’t a big fan of Phineas and Ferb, as I talked about in my review of their first movie, Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2^nd Dimension (2011), so that might not be a surprise. My sister was the Phineas and Ferb fan, and since I didn’t live with her anymore, I didn’t find out about it from her, and didn’t watch it with her either.

I watched Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe for the first time this week. I’m sorry to all Phineas and Ferb die-hard fans, but I didn’t like it all that much. It’s not that the movie was bad; it’s not that it wasn’t funny; it just seemed to be missing something that Across the 2^nd Dimension did have. Maybe I was disconnected from the series, since I hadn’t watched it in so long, and didn’t have the privilege of watching it with someone who truly loved the series, as I had with Across the 2^nd Dimension.

I don’t know, but the music wasn’t as good as I would’ve expected, and despite being a big fan of Candace, it seemed like making a whole movie about her meant sacrificing a lot of Phineas and Ferb’s screen time, so the usual format was slightly off-balance. But like I said, I didn’t say it was bad, and I still found myself chuckling at certain jokes that are just so Phineas and Ferb.

PLOT

The movie starts with Candace riding her bike home, trying not to think about what crazy things Phineas and Ferb might be doing. Sadly, this resolve doesn’t last long when Candace sees a giant robot clown in her back garden. She calls her mother to quickly come and see it – but at the same time, their pet platypus, Perry, also a secret agent, is battling his nemesis Dr. Doofenshmirtz, and stopping his latest invention, the Power-Vacuum-inator, which turns objects into lint and then vacuums it up. As per usual, Candace’s attempt has failed as the Power-Vacuum-inator is accidentally directed at the giant robot clown. It is turned to lint and vacuumed up, like it never even existed. Candace is distraught; she was so close.

Phineas and Ferb, seeing that their sister is upset, decide they should make her a gift, as it turns out she hasn’t been having as great a summer as they have been. Candace later vents her frustrations to Vanessa, Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s daughter, saying how the universe is against her and won’t let her bust her brothers. Vanessa tells Candace that maybe she isn’t actually upset by her brothers’ inventions and instead feels jealous of their success. At this point, Candace sees a new object in their front garden. Assuming it must be a Phineas and Ferb creation, she angrily hits it, but her and Vanessa are sucked in. Phineas and Ferb see this object take off into space and notice Candace is stuck inside it; they have to rescue her. Perry also gets notified by his boss, Major Monogram, that Candace has been abducted by aliens and he must save her – without blowing his cover that he’s an agent to the boys, or that he’s a pet to Dr. Doofenshmirtz. That could be tricky…

Using a photograph taken of this supposed space shuttle by Ferb, they read its license plate and discover it is from the planet Feebla-Oot in the Vroblok Cluster. They know they have to create a portal to this planet, so with help from Baljeet, Isabella, and Buford, their friends, they successfully do this. All of them proceed through the portal but they don’t end up in Feebla-Oot, but at Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s headquarters – they haven’t even left Danville! Dr. Doofenshmirtz tells the kids that he is also trying to get to that planet, to save his daughter, Vanessa, who the kids also know. He had built his own portal to the same planet, but neither portal can get there because Feebla-Oot is surrounded by ion barrier so they can’t teleport there. They need a space shuttle.

Luckily, Dr. Doofenshmirtz happens to have a space shuttle, except it is called a Galactic-Travel-inator,– but it is basically the same thing. The group board the spaceship – sorry, Galactic-Travel-inator – with random items they might need, like a canoe and a Chicken-Replace-inator. Perry sneaks in too, just before take-off. The take-off sets Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s headquarters on fire, but Candace and Vanessa are more important.

In space, Candace and Vanessa’s shuttle has connected to the mother ship, where they see a map of the area, via the ship’s voice assistant which handily speaks English. The two find that a ladder should lead them down to the escape pods. As they make their descent, the girls are thrown off the ladder by some intense turbulence, falling down into a room full of escape pods, but they’ve been spotted. Candace tells Vanessa to get into a pod and she’ll be right behind her, but the escape pods all launch at once before Candace has the chance to get in. She is captured by the aliens.

The gang on the Galactic-Travel-inator hit an asteroid field on the way to Feebla-Oot and believe they won’t make it out alive. However, Perry goes out in a spacesuit and knocks all the asteroids out of the way, allowing them to get through unharmed. The ship later approaches an ion barrier, but with no shield, again, they think all looks lost. Baljeet is then inspired by an episode of his favourite space travel show, Space Adventure, where they once got through an ion barrier by spinning their ship. Although they get through the ion barrier, the ship spins out of control and crash-lands on Feebla-Oot. At least they got there! Meanwhile, Vanessa’s escape pod has also crash-landed on the planet, being pre-programmed to navigate to its planet. She sees the mothership land by a fortress and Candace being escorted inside by aliens. The gang, on another part of the planet to Vanessa, also notice the alien fortress and head straight for it.

Inside the fortress, Candace is introduced to the alien leader, Super Super Big Doctor. Despite Candace’s name being the same sound that these aliens make when they explode from the waist up – random, right? – Super Super Big Doctor welcomes Candace to her planet, saying she is The Chosen One, as she radiates something called Remarkalonium. Candace is treated like a queen and bonds with Super Super Big Doctor over their annoying brothers and their desire to be special.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz and the kids head towards the fortress, but Doofenshmirtz doesn’t want Isabella in charge as he’s older. They argue who should be the one in charge and Dr. Doofenshmirtz wins even though he doesn’t have a clue where he’s going. But at one point, he does save them from a flying dragon by using, of all things, the Chicken-Replace-inator, which swaps the dragon with the nearest chicken. The nearest chicken was at a farmer’s new theme park, called Dragon Land, which had no dragons. Well, it does now!

Candace and Super Super Big Doctor go on the planet’s daytime talk show. Their appearance is rudely interrupted by Phineas, Ferb, and the gang who have found their way to the fortress, finally. Candace doesn’t want them here as she’s finally found a place where she belongs. Super Super Big Doctor offers to take care of them for her, and she does – by taking them to a nice suite, before dropping them through a trapdoor into the back of a van, headed towards their prison! Inside the van are lots of other aliens, who look really scared.

Perry didn’t fall for this trick and takes control of the van, despite being told by Major Monogram not to harm the creatures of this planet or damage its environment – oops… But the prisoners are free and Phineas, Ferb, and the others are taken to the aliens’ sanctuary, Cowardalia. They learn that Super Super Big Doctor came to Feebla-Oot and enslaved all of them using a special plant that emitted mind-controlling spores. The plant has been dying and has stopped releasing spores, meaning that the aliens are slowly becoming free of her and fleeing. Candace is the one who will help the plant regain its strength.

Back at the fortress, Candace is coming to the realisation that she is being used for something, and comes to a room where this plant is being held. Super Super Big Doctor explains that her evil plant needs Remarkalonian to survive and reveals that this element is called carbon dioxide on Earth. Candace reveals that all humans release carbon dioxide, giving Super Super Big Doctor a new plan. She needs to conquer Earth! Candace is strapped to a treadmill and prepared to load back on the spaceship. She feels betrayed by her new “sister”, who it turns out has also imprisoned her brothers.

Meanwhile, Phineas and the others have managed to convince the aliens of Cowardalia to battle Super Super Big Doctor, despite their cowardly nature. They manage to get into the alien fortress, but see Candace being loaded onto the ship. Super Super Big Doctor and her minions follow suit. Phineas and the gang quickly board too. Dr. Doofenshmirtz decides to stay as he still hasn’t found Vanessa, with her social media profile revealing she never got back to Earth like Candace thought, but is still on this planet.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz searches for Vanessa and almost gets himself killed. Again, Perry is here to save the day, but as both of them are about to fall to their deaths, they are saved by Vanessa who is riding on the back of one of the planet’s dragons. Dr. Doofenshmirtz is pleased to be reunited with Vanessa, however, they have no idea how to get back to Earth. Doofenshmirtz wants to use his Chicken-Replace-inator again, however, the chicken that was teleported to Feebla-Oot earlier is still here so they don’t move far. Doofenshmirtz wants to kill the chicken but Vanessa says they can’t. They think some more.

The gang on the ship try to get the spaceship to stop before it reaches Earth, but they end up falling out of the ship. They use Buford’s canoe and some random debris to build a boat, which also transforms into a glider, getting them home. The spaceship lands in Danville Stadium, destroying a new statue of the Tri-State Area founder, John P. Trystate, upsetting all the on-lookers, but there’s no time for tears as Super Super Big Doctor is about to enslave them all. Phineas, Ferb, and the others try to stop her by using robots of themselves but they are destroyed easily by thermal cannons. Phineas and Ferb get Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet to distract Super Super Big Doctor and her minions, while they get Candace. They find her on the treadmill and manage to free her, but Candace runs away in tears. The brothers follow her, where Candace reveals she feels bad for spending her whole summer trying to bust them. Phineas and Ferb don’t care and finally get a chance to give their gift to her. It’s a mug with World’s Best Sister written on it. But that’s not the best part; it projects holograms of all the fun moments they’ve had all together this summer. Candace is touched but now they have to fight back against Super Super Big Doctor.

Candace sees that they were giving away free t-shirts at Danville Stadium today and grabs the t-shirt cannon. If she can fire it at the aliens, then they’ll become so excited by the freebie, that they’ll explode from the waist up. It works, however, they soon run out of free t-shirts. The plant is now at full strength and begins to emit its spores once again. Phineas and the others put on gas masks to stop themselves being controlled. They are still captured though, leaving only Candace to face Super Super Big Doctor. Candace tells her that perhaps all of desires to control people come from the fact she is jealous of her brothers and has low self-esteem. This gives the leader a breakthrough but before she can mend her ways, the plant eats Super Super Big Doctor…It then goes after the others who run.

They are soon saved by Vanessa, Perry, and Dr. Doofenshmirtz on the flying dragon. They got back to Earth by changing the setting on the Chicken-Replace-inator to be the furthest chicken instead of the nearest. Who knew it had so many settings? The plant then battles with the dragon, but it’s not enough. Candace gets the idea of shooting the plant with the Chicken-Replace-inator, using the furthest setting, and sends it back to Feebla-Oot. On Feebla-Oot, the plant shrivels and dies, spitting out Super Super Big Doctor in the process who is arrested by the cowardly aliens.

Back in Danville, the mind-controlling spores dissipate. Candace then realises her mother is nearby and she could bust her brothers now at last, since all of Danville is in chaos. Candace runs over to her mother, but just as we think she’s about to bust Phineas and Ferb, she instead tells her mother to go out and get pizza, so she doesn’t see any of it. As they celebrate, they hear Perry get a call from Major Monogram, congratulating him on his mission. Perry quickly muffles the call as Phineas, Ferb, and Candace look confused!

In a mid-credits scene, Ferb’s father stumbles upon the portal to Feebla-Oot in the garden. He walks through it and ends up in Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s headquarters which is still on fire. He runs back home and the portal self-destructs.

CHARACTERS & CAST

In Candace Against the Universe, Phineas and Ferb are not the main attraction, and spend most of their time working with their friends to save Candace. This movie feels quite different to a typical Phineas and Ferb episode where they are front-and-centre and the whole plot is about them and what they are doing. Still, they have a big role to play in Candace Against the Universe, not just by saving their sister, but also by building up her self-esteem and showing that the brothers love her.

Phineas was voiced by Vincent Martella. Martella is also known for his role as Greg Wuliger in Everybody Hates Chris (2005-09), for which he was nominated for a Teen Choice Award and two Young Artists Awards. Although Thomas Brodie-Sangster voiced Ferb in the main series and in the first movie, he was replaced on this movie, reportedly due to scheduling conflicts. Ferb is instead voiced by David Errigo Jr., who has voiced characters in series such as Ridley Jones (2021-23) and Tiny Toons Looniversity (2023-present) in recent years. Although Ferb sounded a bit different here, I didn’t notice the voice actor had changed; I’d just assumed that the fact it had been five years since the series ended meant some of the actors’ voices were a bit different.

At the start of Candace Against the Universe, Vanessa tries to tell Candace that she might be feeling a bit inferior to her brothers and that just busting them won’t really make her happy in her life because she’s not happy in herself. Candace doesn’t really listen and later relates to Super Super Big Doctor and feels wanted on this planet. Everything is going fine until Candace realises that she is being used to strengthen a mind-controlling plant and that the element she thought was unique to her is actually just carbon dioxide, meaning any human could’ve been The Chosen One, which makes Candace feeling even worse about herself, not to mention the fact she was mean to her brothers when they tried to save her. Thankfully, Phineas and Ferb don’t mind Candace’s outbursts because she’s their sister and they love her, no matter what, and they show her that whenever they can.

Candace was voiced by Ashley Tisdale, best known for her role as Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical franchise, at least amongst Disney fans, reprising her role in the movie Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011). Also for Disney, Tisdale starred as Maddie Fitzpatrick in the series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (2005-08). In more recent years, she was cast as Kayla in the Netflix series Merry Happy Whatever (2019), and was a panellist on The Masked Dancer (2020-21). Tisdale was nominated for an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting for her role in Candace Against the Universe.

Candace Against the Universe begins quite normally for Perry the platypus, who stops Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s latest scheme and latest invention, the Power-Vacuum-inator. He then takes the rest of the day off, but is interrupted by the alert that Candace has been abducted by aliens and he must save her. Through his clever spy skills, he manages to follow the group undetected to Feebla-Oot and saves them from numerous difficulties without being spotted by Phineas, Ferb, or Candace, keeping his cover safe – unlike in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2^nd Dimension. Perry is always there at just the right time, ready to save anyone that needs it. He really is an unsung hero in this movie.

Perry is “voiced” by Dee Bradley Baker, who has had a long career in voice acting. He has voiced characters in series such as Johnny Bravo (1997-2004); Dexter’s Laboratory (1997-2003); The Powerpuff Girls (1999-2005); SpongeBob SquarePants (1999-present); and The Fairly OddParents (2001-17), all non-Disney projects. For Disney, he has voiced the character of Turner for Handy Manny (2006-13), and Tick-Tock the Crocodile in Jake and the Never Land Pirates (2011-16), as well as various characters for animated Star Wars series.

Although he doesn’t have quite as much screen-time in Candace Against the Universe as normal, my favourite character continues to be Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. Dr. Doofenshmirtz has to forget his plans to conquer the Tri-State Area in this movie, knowing that his daughter is more important than anything else. They’ve had a bit of a difficult relationship since Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Vanessa’s mother divorced, but he cares about Vanessa a lot. His funniest moments in Candace Against the Universe are when he is talking about “adulting”, arguing with Isabella about why he should be leading them all to the alien fortress, solely because of his age and not because of skill or intellect, and when he is using the Chicken-Replace-inator. The Chicken-Replace-inator is quite a typical Dr. Doofenshmirtz invention, so when he decides to take it to Feebla-Oot, that seems like a nice little Phineas and Ferb joke to make you laugh a little. But then it becomes part of the plot and a way of transporting themselves, which is even more random and very Phineas and Ferb! Dr. Doofenshmirtz was voiced by the other creator of Phineas and Ferb, Dan Povenmire.

Outside of these main characters, there are numerous others that appear in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe. These include Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford. Isabella takes much of the leader of their quest to the alien fortress on Feebla-Oot, citing her various Fireside Girls badges as evidence of her experience, and Baljeet uses his knowledge of Space Adventure and physics to make sure their journey to the planet is successful. Buford doesn’t do much, but he brings a canoe! Isabella was voiced by Alyson Stoner, who was cast as Caitlyn in Camp Rock (2008) and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010), after appearing as Max in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and as Sarah Baker in Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) and its 2005 sequel. Buford was voiced by Bobby Gaylor, who was one of the story writers on the show; and Baljeet was voiced by Maulik Pancholy. Pancholy had previously appeared as Jonathan in the comedy series 30 Rock (2006-13).

Then there is Vanessa, Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s daughter. After failing to appear in the final edit of Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2^nd Dimension, only showing up in two deleted scenes, she makes quite a return in Candace Against the Universe. As well as Candace being abducted by aliens, Vanessa is taken along for the ride. Though she has a slightly easier time of it, not being held captive by the alien leader, she doesn’t avoid all the troubles. She thinks she’s headed back to Earth in an escape pod, only to find she’s just ended up at the same planet she was trying to get away from, and then she finds herself face-to-face with a big, scary dragon. Because Vanessa is calm, cool, and collected, she manages to turn this dragon into a pet of some sorts, and instead of being the “damsel in distress”, she saves both her father and Perry the platypus. She also helps the group finally defeat the mind-controlling plant, with her pet dragon, Vlorkel, as their protector.

Olivia Olson returned to voice Vanessa in this movie. Olson is known for her role as Joanna in the movie, Love Actually (2003), with this character being the love interest of Sam, played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster, the original voice of Ferb. Around the time of the Phineas and Ferb series, Olson also voiced the character of Marceline the Vampire Queen for the series Adventure Time (2010-18). As well as acting, Olson is also known for her singing talents, having released the album Nowhere Land in 2018. Shortly after, she competed in The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019.

The villain of this movie is Super Super Big Doctor, the alien leader of Feebla-Oot. She came to this planet looking to rule over it and its people, using a mind-controlling plant to do so. Super Super Big Doctor is not as kind and caring as she seems early on, when she is manipulating Candace into believing that she is special and should remain on this planet; it was all a ruse so she could continue to be a dictator. Though Candace and Super Super Big Doctor bonded over their shared experiences having two brothers, Candace would never do the things Super Super Big Doctor is capable of, liking forcing the alien group, the Cowards, to work for her and wait on her; anyone not willing to do that is sent to prison. Super Super Big Doctor almost has an epiphany about her evil ways towards the end of the movie, but she’s eaten by her plant too quickly for the message to fully absorb. I’m sure she’d learnt her lesson by the time she was spat out by her plant and captured!

Stand-up comedian, writer, and actor Ali Wong was cast as Super Super Big Doctor. She wrote and starred in the 2019 movie Always Be My Maybe, and was cast as Doris in American Housewife (2016-21) prior to Candace Against the Universe. She has also voiced characters in other animated movies, such as Betty Bird in The Angry Birds Movie (2016); Felony in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018); and Gore in Onward (2020). Most recently, Wong starred as Amy Lau in the hit Netflix series Beef (2023), winning numerous awards for her role, including a Critics’ Choice Award, a Golden Globe award, and an Emmy award.

Then there are Gamoz and Borthos, two of the Coward aliens. Gamoz was voiced by Thomas Middleditch, who had previously starred in the series Silicon Valley (2014-19) as Richard Hendricks, and went on to star as Drew Dunbar in the sitcom B Positive (2020-22). Diedrich Bader voiced alien Borthos. He was known at the time for his role as Greg Otto in American Housewife (2016-21), but had also voiced characters in Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure (2017-20); and Harley Quinn (2019-present).

Other voice actors credited in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe include Wayne Brady, best known for being a regular cast member on improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? (1998-present) as Stapler-Fist, one of Super Super Big Doctors’ minions, and Tiffany Haddish is even credited as “The Sound Someone Makes When They Explode from the Waist Up”. Haddish was apparently a fan of the show and happy to be involved in the movie; she just wanted some Phineas and Ferb t-shirts with Perry on them[1]!

A few other characters make their usual appearances in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, however, they do not feature much. Two are Candace’s best friend Stacy, and her boyfriend, Jeremy. They only appear in the movie at Danville Stadium and Stacy discovers that Jeremy is involved in Live Action Role Play, or LARPing, which she finds very funny. Jeremy was voiced by Mitchell Musso, known for his role as Oliver in Hannah Montana (2006-11), and as King Brady in Pair of Kings (2010-13). Stacy was voiced by Kelly Hu. Hu had previously been cast in Martial Law (1998-2000), as Detective Grace Chen, and as China White in Arrow (2012-20). She also voiced the role of Adira in Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure (2017-2020).

Phineas, Ferb, and Candace’s parents also make brief appearances here. Phineas and Candace’s mother, Linda, is voiced by Caroline Rhea, well-known for her role as Hilda Spellman in Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-2003). Richard O’Brien voiced Ferb’s father, Lawrence. O’Brien is best known for writing the musical, The Rocky Horror Show, before starring in the 1975 film adaptation. For UK viewers, he is also known as the original host of the game show The Crystal Maze (1990-2020). Lawrence is only seen in the mid-credits scene, and Linda is seen at the start and end of the film.

PRODUCTION

Phineas and Ferb quickly became one of Disney Channel’s most popular series, gaining millions of viewers in the years since its first broadcast. It was created by Jeff “Swampy” Marsh and Dan Povenmire.

After working on different animated series, Marsh and Povenmire had started working on an idea for a new series together around 1993. The idea for Phineas and Ferb was developed after noticing that kids didn’t seem to go out and do anything anymore, this becoming the whole premise of the show. Disney agreed to move forward with the series around 2006[2]. The series debuted its first episode on 17^th August 2007, with its first season finishing in February 2009. It was then followed immediately after by a second season, which aired from February 2009 to February 2011. A third season began in March 2011, ending in November 2012, with Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2^nd Dimension premiering partway through this season in August 2011.

Shortly after the release of Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2^nd Dimension, there was talk about a new Phineas and Ferb movie being developed that would be theatrically released sometime around Summer 2013, however, this movie was quietly removed from Disney’s production schedule[3]. But that’s fine, because Phineas and Ferb Season 4 was still airing. It began in December 2012 and ended with a one-hour finale episode titled “Last Day of Summer” on 12^th June 2015 to wrap up the entire show.

Four years after Phineas and Ferb had finished airing on Disney Channel, Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, was announced in 2019. It was not going to be a theatrically released movie though but I’m sure that was not a concern for fans.

However, one thing that many questioned was when would Candace Against the Universe be set amidst the events of the series. Although Phineas and Ferb had four seasons’ worth of episodes, all of those episodes are set in one summer so this made fans question whether this movie would be taking place in that summer, a different summer, or not even during summer at all – though that last one would be unlikely. It was soon confirmed that Candace Against the Universe is set within the same summer of the whole series, meaning it takes place at some point before the Season 4 finale episode.

It was confirmed that Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe was in production during the D23 Expo in 2019 with a premiere date scheduled for some time in 2020. A brief description of the movie was given, with most of the voice cast announced to be reprising their roles from the series. The new voice actor for Ferb was also confirmed at this time[4].

In 2020, it was reported that the movie would premiere on Disney+ on 28^th August 2020. In preparation for the movie’s release, to build excitement and anticipation for fans, Disney XD aired all episodes of the series as well as Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2^nd Dimension from 25^th August up to the premiere date[5].

The creators, director of the movie Bob Bowen, Ashley Tisdale, Vincent Martella, Dee Bradley Baker, and Maulik Pancholy, then announced a few behind-the-scenes details about the new movie at their virtual panel for San Diego Comic Con on 25^th July 2020. One of these was that the cast had to finish recording their dialogue and songs at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns in many countries[6]. After five years away, everyone seemed happy to be back in the world of Phineas and Ferb.

Within the movie, as usual for a Phineas and Ferb project, there are plenty of running gags and Easter eggs. The usual gags, like the jingles for Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Perry the platypus, as well as the conversation about where Perry is, remain in Candace Against the Universe. Given this is a science-fiction-themed movie, there are also plenty of space-themed Easter eggs. For example, Space Adventure, the show that Baljeet is a big fan of and gets much of his space travel information from, is a spoof on the popular, long-running franchise Star Trek. There is also a quick reference to Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), when Isabella is talking about bypassing the compressor system in Doofenshmirtz’s “Galactic-Travel-inator”; this is something Rey said in that movie. There is also a parody of Amazon Alexa in the alien mothership, which Candace engages with. As we all know, voice assistants are far from perfect when it comes to communication and understanding!

There were other references to modern day elements that did not exist in the Phineas and Ferb series since the world of technology and pop culture moves very fast these days. There is a song about “adulting” for example, a very annoying phrase that took off in the late-2010s by millennials who apparently need praise for doing basic “grown-up” tasks, like managing your finances, doing laundry, and cooking food… I don’t like this term so it was nice to have it poked fun at in Phineas and Ferb! Social media also makes an appearance, with Vanessa’s posts being a way of Dr. Doofenshmirtz figuring out she’s stuck on Feebla-Oot. Again, this is something that is seen all over social media, like “Help, I’m stuck in a terrifying place and don’t know what to do, but here’s a selfie to show just how terrified I really am!”. Not a good use of time if you really are lost or trapped somewhere. Put your phone away and use your brain – or just call someone. Flossing, as in the dance move, not the dental kind, shows up in this movie too.

Another detail that I found very clever is seen when the gang are travelling at twice the speed of light whilst stowed away on the mothership. Baljeet says he read a theory that says if you exceed the speed of light, your whole existence starts to break down. At this point, we see these animated characters turn into line drawings, then storyboards, and then we see Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh explaining this scene, breaking down the whole animation procedure to the audience. I really liked this small part of the movie.

MUSIC

Original music once again features prominently in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, as it did in the Phineas and Ferb series, as well as in their first movie, Across the 2^nd Dimension. The soundtrack for Candace Against the Universe was released on 28^th August 2020 to accompany the movie’s premiere. It consists of eleven original songs.

The opening song in Candace Against the Universe is “Such a Beautiful Day”, performed by Candace as she rides her bike home and tries to forget about what her brothers might be doing with their day, though she has limited success with her thoughts. Although this is the first song to feature in the movie, it was actually the last to be written, to replace an original opening scene of Candace busting her brothers as she normally does. It was felt that this would be too harsh an opening scene for non-fans of the show as the audience would need to be on Candace’s side to appreciate the story that was to come. This song was performed by Ashley Tisdale who said it was her favourite song in the film. “Such a Beautiful Day” was written by Dan Povenmire, co-creator of Phineas and Ferb, and screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick, who was a writer on Disney’s The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Aardman Animations’ two Chicken Run movies, just to name a few credits.

This song was my favourite in the movie – I liked how it was all happy and positive one moment, and then angry the next – and one of few that I actually remembered the next day, because to be completely honest, I was not a fan of this whole soundtrack. “Such a Beautiful Day” was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song.

Another song I liked was “Unsung Hero”, performed by Olivia Olson. It plays as Perry is pushing all the asteroids away from the group in their spaceship so they don’t die. It was quite funny, particularly when the song refers to the fact Perry isn’t really an unsung hero anymore because he has a song about him that’s being sung right now! This song was written by both creators of Phineas and Ferb, Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh.

Following on from that, I didn’t mind the song “Adulting” because it was making fun of a phrase that I really don’t like. It was performed by Povenmire, as Dr. Doofenshmirtz, and Alyson Stoner, as Isabella, as they argue about who should lead the group to the alien fortress: Doofenshmirtz because he’s older, or Isabella because she has the skills and knowledge. This song was written by Povenmire and longtime Phineas and Ferb songwriters Martin Olson and Michael Culross Jr.

Outside of that, I wasn’t really bothered by the other songs in Candace Against the Universe. They were kind of amusing at the time, but I didn’t remember much of them afterwards. So, let’s start with “Meet Our Leader”, performed by the aliens as Candace arrives at the fortress to meet with Super Super Big Doctor. This was going to be a scary moment for Candace, but then she is greeted with a mini-Broadway-style production and this planet suddenly doesn’t seem so bad anymore! It was performed by Phineas and Ferb songwriter Danny Jacob, and frequent singer on Phineas and Ferb Laura Dickinson. It was written by Povenmire, Olson, and comedian Kate Micucci.

Another song performed with the aliens is “Girls Day Out”, when Candace spends the day with Super Super Big Doctor. It was sung by pop singer Sarah Hudson, and written by Povenmire and songwriter and producer Emanuel Kiriakou, who has collaborated with the likes of Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, and Jason Derulo. Then there is “This is Our Battle Song”, which is a song performed by the cast as they trick Super Super Big Doctor into getting into the fortress to save Candace. It was written by Povenmire and Phineas and Ferb writers Joshua Pruett and Robert F. Hughes.

There are two songs that reference the universe here too, which is quite apt given the title of the movie. The first is “The Universe is Against Me”, which Candace sings briefly in the movie when Vanessa is talking to Candace, as she feels so annoyed that she can’t bust her brothers successfully. It later appears as the second song in the End Credits. It was performed by Tisdale and written by Povenmire. It’s an angry rock song. In contrast, “Us Against the Universe” is the big finale number, as everyone comes together to celebrate their victory against the aliens. It’s an upbeat number and a fitting ending to the movie. It is performed by the whole cast and was written by Povenmire and Marsh.

Finally, there are two other End Credits song. The first is called “Silhouettes” and was performed by Robbie Wyckoff, a regular singer of Phineas and Ferb songs, written by Povenmire and Jacob. It is a rock ‘n’ roll song that didn’t appeal to me, much like how “Kick It Up a Notch” didn’t either in the End Credits of Across the 2^nd Dimension. The third End Credits song is “We’re Back”, which seems to have also been used as the promo song for this movie too. It was quite a fun song, and works very well as a marketing tool. It was performed by Tisdale as Candace, Vincent Martella as Phineas, and Povenmire as Doofenshmirtz and was written by Povenmire and Marsh.

So, that’s it for full songs heard in the movie, however, there are three other songs to mention. The first is the theme song to Baljeet’s favourite show, “Space Adventure”, which is played whenever Baljeet mentions events from the show. It’s a nice little tune, and clearly makes references to other space-set television series. The second is “Chop Away at My Heart”, originally written for Milo Murphy’s Law, and is meant to be a parody of typical boyband songs. It does sound quite like One Direction. In the movie, it is heard when the spaceship’s voice assistant mishears Candace saying “chop” not “stop” and plays the song for her. Both of these songs were performed by Danny Jacob.

Finally, there was one deleted song entitled “Step into the Great Unknown”. It was meant to take place in the movie at the time that Baljeet explains to the others just what scenario might be waiting for them on the other side of their portal to Feebla-Oot. This song was meant to be Phineas’ way of encouraging the others to help him and Ferb save Candace. It was performed by Phineas, Isabella, Baljeet, and Buford’s voice actors, written by Povenmire and Olson. I don’t think I needed this song in the movie so I’m glad it was cut.

This song still features on the movie soundtrack though. The soundtrack reached No. 22 on the US Billboard Kids Albums, and No. 18 on US Billboard Soundtrack Albums, which is quite a bit lower than the No. 3 and No. 4 reached on these charts by the soundtrack for Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2^nd Dimension.

RECEPTION

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe was released on Disney+ on 28^th August 2020. Being able to release this movie on the streaming platform meant it could reach viewers in multiple countries on the same day for a change. Candace Against the Universe was also the first animated Disney+ Original film.

I’ve used the term Disney+ Original film here, and not Disney Channel Original Movie. This is the factually correct term for Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe, however, since its predecessor, Across the 2^nd Dimension was a Disney Channel Original Movie and because Candace Against the Universe was still produced by Disney Channel, and based on a Disney Channel series, it would’ve been unfair to miss it from my list of DCOM reviews. It is part of the same category as other movies such as Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020) which debuted on Disney+ on 25^th September 2020, but later debuted separately on Disney Channel. Candace Against the Universe premiered on Disney Channel much later than its Disney+ premiere, on 8^th April 2023.

Like Across the 2^nd Dimension, Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe received 100% on Rotten Tomatoes from official critics’ reviews. Audience reviews were a bit more mixed, however, fans of the series were likely to enjoy it.

Many fans would have been disappointed about the series ending, but having even a standalone movie to recapture the nostalgic feeling of seeing Phineas and Ferb again would have been a welcomed treat for them. The positive reviews also said they liked that it was more adventurous with its sci-fi elements and that it had more an emotional, heartfelt message to it, like Candace realising she’s not been a good sister and her reunion with Phineas and Ferb when they finally save her from the aliens. Yet the same specific humour from the series remained, even with new characters and new storylines.

However, others said that Candace Against the Universe was not as good as Across the 2^nd Dimension, which I do agree with; I definitely laughed less at Candace Against the Universe. Some didn’t like that Phineas and Ferb, as well as Perry the platypus, weren’t in this story as much. If you didn’t like Candace, her being the centre of the movie would’ve made watching the movie less enjoyable. Some also picked up on the fact that the storyline here felt similar to Season 1 episode “Unfair Science Fair Redux (Another Story)” where Candace goes through a portal and ends up on Mars, becoming beloved by the Martians and dubbed their queen. There was a mixed reaction to the music in Candace Against the Universe, with some loving the music and others not. I didn’t find much of the music particularly memorable so it failed in that respect for me.

This movie may also have been a victim of pandemic boredom, where people were watching anything and everything that was new on streaming, whether they normally would’ve watched it or not, and had time to pick apart all the reasons they didn’t like it. There’s not a problem with doing this – everyone is entitled to their opinions – but I do think some movies unnecessarily suffered in their reviews because of these types of behaviours.

Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe did, however, still win a Daytime Emmy award for Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Animated Program on this movie. It was also nominated at the Kids’ Choice Awards for Favorite Animated Movie, but lost out to Pixar’s Soul (2020).

LEGACY

Despite having some breaks from being on our screens, Phineas and Ferb refuses to go away completely, having spin-off series and even Disney Parks appearances.

As well as the first movie, Across the 2^nd Dimension, there was also a series called Take Two with Phineas and Ferb, this being a spin-off short-form series which debuted in December 2010, running until November 2011, where Phineas and Ferb interviewed live-action celebrities. This series only lasted for one season. There were also two crossover episodes of the show which as part of Season 4, with these being called “Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel”, airing on 16^th August 2013, and “Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars”, airing on 26^th July 2014. These capitalised on the popularity of Phineas and Ferb, as well as Disney’s 2009 acquisition of Marvel, and their 2012 purchase of Star Wars, which led to a new movie in 2015: Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

After the conclusion of Phineas and Ferb, Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh went on to create the series Milo Murphy’s Law (2016-19) for Disney Channel, which saw “Weird Al” Yankovic and Sabrina Carpenter lead the voice cast. Vincent Martella and Alyson Stoner, voices of Phineas and Isabella respectively, also voiced characters in this series, and some of the Phineas and Ferb characters made appearances in this series too in a crossover episode.

Moving away from TV, Phineas and Ferb even had a US live tour, entitled Phineas and Ferb: The Best LIVE Tour Ever. The original tour took place from August 2011 to April 2012, however, due to its popularity, a second tour began in August 2012, running until April 2013. The live shows featured some of the most loved musical numbers from the show with all the characters from the series, live on stage[7].

At Walt Disney World, there were a few Phineas and Ferb experiences. In Epcot, there used to be Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure, which was an interactive game where gamers could complete challenges in many of the World Showcase country’s pavilions. Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure ran from 2012 until 2020. The game was later rethemed to be DuckTales World Showcase Adventure, beginning in December 2022.

For meet-and-greets, there was one at the Once Upon a Toy store in Disney Springs. Phineas and Ferb, and Agent P met guests here from around 2010. This likely closed when a permanent meet-and-greet experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios with Phineas and Ferb began in May 2011.. This meet-and-greet closed in January 2016 to make way for construction work to build Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Phineas and Ferb were also spotted at Disney California Adventure Park at Disneyland; they could be seen during Phineas and Ferb’s Rockin’ Rollin’ Dance Party from 2011 to 2014.

In more recent years, Phineas and Ferb have been seen again, this time at Disney Hollywood Studios’ festive event Jollywood Nights both in its debut year in 2023, and in 2024. Also at Disney World, at Typhoon Lagoon, the two returned to the H20 Glow Nights event in Summer 2024, having been spotted at this after-hours event the year before.

There was also a Phineas and Ferb Dance Party at Disney Channel Nite at Disneyland Resort in March 2024. At Disneyland, but this time at Disney California Adventure Park, Dr. Doofenshmirtz made his debut at the Oogie Boogie Bash, Disneyland’s Halloween event. Dr. Doofenshmirtz was situated on a treat trail in a recreation of his headquarters. He appeared as a face character with lots of prosthetics, which made him look a bit disturbing to be honest…Finally, Phineas and Ferb seemed to have been at a special Passholder Night event at Disneyland Paris in 2024.

The most exciting news for Phineas and Ferb fans came in 2023, when new episodes of Phineas and Ferb were announced, 40 in total, to be split across two seasons. It will take place in a new “104 days of summer vacation”, presumably just the year after the events of Season 4. Further details have since been released throughout 2024. At New York Comic Con in October 2024, the voice cast for this new season was announced. It would consist of the same names as the series, and David Errigo Jr. was confirmed to be the permanent new voice of Ferb. It was also confirmed that it would premiere in 2025 on both Disney+ and Disney Channel, although a specific premiere date is still yet to be disclosed[8].

As Phineas and Ferb will be making a comeback very soon, it is likely these two characters, as well as possibly others from the series, will continue to make appearances at the Disney Parks. Those involved with the show would even like a theme park attraction based on the show to be created[9]. Only time will tell if that comes true.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Because of the popularity of Phineas and Ferb as a series, in 2011 a first feature-length movie was made, to include all the best moments and elements of the show and to give their viewers a whole new story, and even a new dimension to experience.

Thanks to the success of Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2^nd Dimension, the series continued to air for another four years, before ending in 2015. But that was not the end of the story, as Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe came to Disney+ in 2020, giving fans yet another feature-length movie to watch, to see their favourite characters once more, five years after the series had ended. And still, that was not all because in 2024, it was announced that Phineas and Ferb would be returning to our screens in 2025.

For whatever reason, Phineas and Ferb has been a favourite Disney series for many for years, with the love for the show continuing from childhood into adulthood. Judging by the reaction to the revival of the show, it’s quite clear that the mania surrounding this show is not going away any time soon.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Anna Menta, ‘Yes, Tiffany Haddish Voices “The Sounds Someone Makes When They Explode” In the ‘Phineas and Ferb Movie’, Decider.com, 30^th August 2020.

[2] Credit: Stuart Dredge, ‘Phineas and Ferb co-creator: ‘children are much more intelligent than people give them credit for’, The Guardian.com, 4^th July 2013.

[3] Credit: Steven Zeitchik, ‘‘Phineas and Ferb’ gets the ‘Toy Story’ treatment’, LATimes.com, 27^th October 2011.

[4] Credit: Jessica Figueroa, ‘”Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against The Universe” Currently In Production for Disney+’, WDWNT.com, 25^th August 2019.

[5] Credit: Michael Schneider, ‘‘Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe’ Lands Premiere Date on Disney Plus’, Variety.com, 2^nd July 2020.

[6] Credit: Alex Reif, ‘Comic-Con@Home: What We Learned from Disney’s “Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe” Panel’, LaughingPlace.com, 25^th July 2020.

[7] Credit: Madeline Roth, ‘Disney’s Phineas And Ferb Live: The Best Live Tour Ever!’ To Adventure To Columbus’, TheLantern.com, 23^rd October 2012.

[8] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Disney’s ‘Phineas and Ferb’ Cast Announced at New York Comic Con’, TheWaltDisneyCompany.com, 17^th October 2024.

[9] Credit: Eva Miller, ‘D23 Reveals Ambitious Plans for ‘Phineas and Ferb’ Theme Park Attraction’, InsidetheMagic.net, 10^th August 2024.

11th Oct 202429th Sep 2025 by The Disney Purist

Prom Pact (2023)

BACKGROUND

The 80s are having a bit of a moment right now. Whether that’s in movies, music, fashion, whatever, the 80s are back and people are loving it, both young and old-er.

I don’t know what caused this resurgence initially. Perhaps it was the series Stranger Things (2016-present). That’s set in the 80s, isn’t it? I wouldn’t know, I’ve never seen it. Much too scary for me. Or maybe it’s just the right time. Every decade seems to become fashionable again at one time or another.

I’ve had my own “journey through the 80s”. It started with music and my dad’s CDs, then I moved over to movies, starting with comedies like ¡Three Amigos! (1986) and Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), before going over to some of the teen movies like The Breakfast Club (1985) and Pretty in Pink (1986). I’ll just ignore the fashion; it’s not for me.

Once there’s a new trend afoot, everyone wants a piece of the pie – and that includes Disney. Prom Pact is their tribute to the iconic movies of the 1980s.

Prom Pact was released to Disney+ just a day later than its Disney Channel premiere. It is labelled a Disney Original Movie, and not a Disney Channel Original Movie. Now that many international Disney Channels have since shut down, the humble DCOM title has become something a little bit different as the majority of us have to rely on Disney+ for all our Disney Channel content, making the DCOM name redundant and inaccurate.

Surprisingly, I did watch Prom Pact very soon after its Disney+ release, which is odd for me as most of the time new films just sit on my watchlist and are normally removed a few months later, unwatched. A big draw for me watching Prom Pact was the two lead actors: Milo Manheim and Peyton Elizabeth Lee; both Disney alumni that I know and like. But that wasn’t all. I was also taken in by its 80s references, hoping to see nods to some of the best 80s movies as well as hear some great music. I wasn’t disappointed. I also find the whole American concept of prom fascinating, so over-the-top and everyone’s way too over-excited about it. I’m probably jealous. My prom here in Britain was terrible. My school didn’t even organise it, so everyone ended up at a village hall and just got drunk. Such a waste of time.

Prom Pact happens to be a very funny movie too, and a more adult one from Disney, moving into rom-com territory at times, alongside the usual teenage coming-of-age material. It was so grown-up that two different versions of the film actually exist: one for Disney+, and one for its original Disney Channel premiere, which edits out some dialogue.

PLOT

Prom Pact begins like so many teen-centric movies: in a high school gym, at a pep rally. Except our main character is not at the pep rally. No, Mandy is sat outside, refreshing her college application status, hoping that Harvard, her top choice school, has accepted her. She is disheartened to find it has not changed and instead turns her attentions to helping those less fortunate, by attempting to take the contents of the Lost and Found bin to donate to the homeless. The school guidance counsellor, Ms. Chen, tells Mandy to stop what she’s doing and orders her to go to the pep rally. Begrudgingly, Mandy does as she’s told.

Inside, she attempts to vent to her best friend, Ben, about how all these basketball jocks are dumb and will never succeed in later life, but Ben actually wants to focus on the pep rally as they are about to announce the theme for their senior prom. Mandy isn’t at all bothered by this, but shuts up so Ben can listen. The theme is announced to be – drum roll, please – the 80s! Almost immediately after this, the student body hears the Ghostbusters theme start up. Oh yes, it’s time for the first promposal of the year. Mandy doesn’t find this at all sweet or cute and basically rolls her eyes at it. I am with you there, Mandy! I don’t like that sort of thing in marriage proposals, let alone promposals. Since when did all special life moments have to be so elaborate and public, full of props and prying eyes? Ugh.

Ben is struggling to accept that he and Mandy have spent so much of their time in high school missing out on big events and opportunities to mix with others who aren’t just each other, with the two of them spending every Friday at the bookstore, then the movies, then the waffle house. Sounds pretty good to me – apart from the waffles, I’m not much of a dessert person – so I don’t know what Ben is complaining about. Nor does Mandy but she can see how much missing out on parties is bothering Ben so she does something corny that she never expected to do. She writes “PROM?” in ketchup on the restaurant placemat and asks Ben to go to prom with her, as friends. There are some rules though: no limos, no slow dances, none of that naff stuff. Ben accepts the conditions of this “prom pact”.

The next day at school, disaster strikes. Mandy finds she has been waitlisted by Harvard. Distraught, she goes to Ms. Chen and declares that her life is over. Ms. Chen tells Mandy it’s time to think about back-up schools. This is answered with a flat “no”. So, the only other route is to get a really good letter of recommendation from someone. Mandy suddenly has an idea: the basketball captain’s father is a senator, and he also went to Harvard. If she can get a recommendation from him, then Harvard will have to accept her. The only problem is, she’s never actually talked to Graham Lansing before…

With their two friends, Zenobia and Charles, who are much more socially mobile than Ben and Mandy, they discuss how Mandy can get close to Graham. Mandy is told that Graham should be at a party tonight and is currently failing his psychology class, so a plan is enacted. Mandy and Ben go to this high school party to find Graham so Mandy can offer to tutor him, since she did that class last year. The two split up to find Graham, with Ben stumbling upon a conversation with cheerleaders. He happens to have a crush on one of them, LaToya Reynolds, and Ben being the socially awkward person he is tries to include himself in the conversation, only to get nervous and start cleaning up all the empty cups around them. Mandy doesn’t have any luck either, and only finds Graham standing behind her after she basically calls him a grunting neanderthal. They make a quick exit.

Luckily, Ben did overhear that Graham is meant to be going to a community garden project tomorrow so Mandy knows she’ll have to go too. At the community garden, Graham goes over to help Mandy use a nail gun, and she apologises for what she said to him. She then offers to tutor him in his class. Graham is uncertain why a girl he’s never spoken to would want to help him, but he agrees to tutoring sessions.

At their first session, Graham is five minutes late and is too distracted by more promposals going on around him to pay attention. Mandy’s normal teacher approach won’t work on Graham so she uses a language she knows he’ll understand: basketball. This works so well that Graham decides it’s time for him to teach Mandy how to play basketball, with a simple four-letter word: BEEF. Balance, Eyes, Elbows, Follow-Through. It actually works. Graham then takes Mandy to a youth team that he coaches and Mandy learns that she’s the only girl he’s ever brought there, making Mandy feel just a little bit special.

The next Friday night, Mandy tells Ben that she’ll be tutoring Graham at his house so she won’t be able to do their usual Friday night routine, but she’s determined to get there for the movie. However, at Graham’s house, Mandy is invited to stay for dinner and believing that Graham’s father will be there, she stays put, ditching Ben. Ben is about to return her movie ticket when he sees LaToya Reynolds in the queue ahead of him. Ben has recently learned that LaToya does know of his existence and awkwardly invites her to take the spare ticket and watch the movie with him. She happily accepts.

At dinner, Graham’s father is busy with work so isn’t there, but Mandy tells Graham’s mother all about her dreams of attending Harvard. Graham’s mother then invites Mandy to come to a fundraiser event next weekend, so that she can actually talk to Graham’s father about Harvard and get some tips.

But next Saturday starts to roll around and Mandy remembers that Saturday night is supposed to be the night she goes to dinner with Ben for his birthday. Ben is annoyed that Mandy is ditching him yet again, so to soften the blow, Mandy tells Ben he should ask LaToya to go with him. He isn’t sure about that, but he does ask, and she agrees to go out with him. Mandy also tries to make it up to Ben by giving him gifts and balloons whilst at his Saturday job at the grocery store. Everything is still good between them. For now.

At the fundraiser, Graham and Mandy slow dance together and they kiss. Mandy realises that she’s fallen for Graham, so when she gets the chance to talk to Graham’s father and learns that he is disappointed in Graham for being “dumb”, she tells him that Graham is a very special person and that actually she doesn’t need anything in return for her tutoring. But as she’s about to find Graham, she overhears his brothers talking about a girl who was over at their house earlier that day. Graham’s brothers think he’s only brought Mandy here to impress their dad. Mandy is humiliated and runs out of the room. She didn’t bring her phone though so uses the venue’s phone to call Ben, the only number she knows – you don’t know your home landline, Mandy? – and interrupts his date. As she sounds so upset, Ben rushes out of the restaurant, leaving LaToya with the bill and the humiliation of having her date run out on her. What Ben should’ve done here is ask to pay the bill now, and then offered to walk LaToya to her car or take her home first. Come on, Ben – use your brain, dude!

Ben picks Mandy up from the fundraiser and she apologises for ignoring him and missing his birthday. Ben’s ok with it and they still have prom anyway. The next day at school though, things aren’t ok between Mandy and Graham, or Ben and LaToya. Ben says sorry to LaToya and says he shouldn’t have just left her. She forgives him for that and then asks him to go to prom with her. Torn between friendship and the girl he likes, Ben has to refuse LaToya’s invitation and say he’s already going with Mandy. Unsurprisingly, that doesn’t go down too well. Mandy, meanwhile, is asked to prom by Graham, who says that the girl his brothers were talking about was just helping him plan his promposal to her. Mandy seemingly forgets all about her “prom pact” and says she’ll go to prom with Graham. Mandy excitedly tells Ben, but again, unsurprisingly, that news doesn’t go down well with him. Ben angrily calls Mandy out in the school car park, saying she was only using Graham to get that recommendation letter. This bust-up happens to have been recorded by some other student, so naturally, Graham sees the whole argument, and breaks up with Mandy – before handing her the letter of recommendation his dad wrote for her. Ouch.

Mandy doesn’t know what to do with this letter, as it’s exactly what she wanted but now she just feels guilty. She returns the letter back to Graham and knows she has to make things right with everyone. Luckily, it’s prom day. Mandy drives to see Ben first and does a poorly choreographed dance on his driveway, which makes Ben feel uncomfortable enough to accept her apology just to get her to stop! Mandy tells Ben to get dressed because they have some stops to make before prom: the bookstore, the movies, and the waffle house. They eventually make it to prom – and discover that no-one else is dressed in 80s-style prom outfits, making them feel awkward once again. They try to ignore that and enjoy the dancing regardless.

Soon, it’s time for Prom King and Queen to be announced. LaToya is announced as Prom Queen, and Prom King goes to – Ben?! The Prom King and Queen have to dance together but obviously with everything that went down between them, it’s a little awkward. Ben publicly apologises to LaToya once more and they finally kiss.

Mandy catches up with Ms. Chen at prom and thanks her for rigging the vote for Ben to win Prom King. She tells her to never speak of it again. LaToya and Ben then order Mandy to check her Harvard application. Mandy reluctantly does so and is surprised to find she’s been accepted! It turns out Ms. Chen wrote her a letter of recommendation; it might not have been from a fancy Senator but it still worked out.

At graduation, Mandy gives her Valedictorian speech – oh sorry, I mean, Salutatorian speech; Mandy only got a 94 in P.E. so I guess that’s not good enough for Valedictorian? I don’t know; I’m not American. That’s besides the point anyway. Mandy publicly says how much Graham helped her that year and then proceeds to give everyone the same piece of advice he gave her: BEEF. Make sure your life is balanced, you keep your eyes open, keep your elbows safe, and follow through with your actions and promises.

At the end of graduation, Mandy says goodbye to Ben as she will be spending the summer at Harvard, but that’s ok because him and LaToya are now an official couple. Graham also comes to talk to Mandy, telling her he’ll be attending a college chosen for him by his dad. The two leave on good terms.

Some time later, Mandy is in a bar on campus and surprisingly sees Graham there. He tells her he decided to take a year out to do some non-profit work in the city instead of going to college. Mandy is overjoyed to see him and they reconcile with a kiss.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Mandy Yang doesn’t care about high school and spends her senior year only thinking about getting into Harvard, the only college she’ll even think about going to. Mandy doesn’t care about prom, or sports games, or parties. Her focus is on Harvard and only Harvard. Although there’s obviously a determination to achieve a dream here, which is admirable, Mandy’s life is completely out of balance, forgetting that life doesn’t only start when you get to college and that she’s actually missing out on some big life moments during high school in her pursuit of Harvard. It’s not until she discovers that Graham, part of a group Mandy likes to call “The Everests” because their life has supposedly already peaked, is actually a good guy and much more ambitious and kind than she expected does Mandy let her guard down a bit and start to enjoy life. But she only fully accepts that she needs more in life than college after she’s lost all of her friends and has to spend her day at prom making amends with everyone. And then karma strikes in the best way and she gets accepted to Harvard anyway! Mandy’s a tough cookie, and she represents the pressure that so many high schoolers put on themselves to get accepted to “the best” colleges. It’s not worth the stress and there are so many other options. When you’re 17, 18, it’s never the end of the world; it just feels like it.

Peyton Elizabeth Lee was cast as Mandy. Lee said that, since she had been acting since the age of 10, she understood Mandy’s drive to succeed and her ambitious nature, but Lee tries to find a good balance in her life between her career and having fun, so she’s different from Mandy in that way. Lee is well-known for her portrayal of the titular character in the Disney Channel series Andi Mack (2017-19). She also voiced the recurring character of Rani in The Lion Guard (2016-19) and then starred in the Disney Channel-aligned movie Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020). Lee also starred as Lahela Kameāloha in the Disney+ series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (2021-23).

Ben Plunkett is a bit socially awkward and resentful of the fact he hasn’t been brave enough to experience all that high school has to offer. Ben has felt comfortable and happy in his friendship with Mandy but as the end of senior year approaches, he realises that Mandy will be going off to Harvard and he’ll be left in this town with the fellow high schoolers who either ignore him or vaguely pick on him – he was given the unfortunate nickname of “No Nuts” Plunkett after an allergic reaction on a school trip…Kids can be so cruel. Ben wants to experience the last few moments of high school with everyone else, by going to parties, going to prom, and maybe, just maybe, finally talking to his crush, the popular cheerleader LaToya Reynolds. Luckily, Mandy going off and tutoring Graham gives Ben just the push he needed to get out there and live his own life.

I can totally see Peyton Elizabeth Lee being similar to Mandy – ambitious, driven, strong, and opinionated, just perhaps a bit less judgemental! On the opposite side, Milo Manheim, who played Ben, does not strike me as the awkward and shy type. In fact, Manheim stated that he had first auditioned for Graham, which would have matched Manheim’s previous “leading man” roles, but was cast as the best friend[1]. This didn’t hold him back though, I don’t think, and Ben turned out to be a sweet guy and a loyal friend, as well as the funniest character in the film. I laughed out loud multiple times during Ben’s embarrassing interactions with LaToya. Milo Manheim is best known to Disney fans for playing Zed in the Disney Channel musical franchise ZOMBIES. He also competed in Dancing with the Stars (2005-present) in 2018 and came in second place. Recently, Manheim secured the role of Wally on the Paramount+ series School Spirits (2023-present) and was cast alongside Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Nico in Season 2 of Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (2021-23), which arrived on Disney+ on the same day as Prom Pact.

Graham Lansing is the “dumb jock” who happens to not be so dumb after all. Mandy judges Graham based on his popularity and his basketball skills, but when she gets to know him properly as she tutors him in psychology, Mandy learns that there’s much more to him. He likes to do basketball coaching for one thing, and he actually struggles to fit in with his academically-focused family. Graham’s father is a senator, and he judges his sons on their academic abilities and nothing else, so for Graham to be the popular, sporty one in the family, that stands for nothing. Graham’s father doesn’t think his son is smart and thinks Mandy is doing a huge favour by taking time out of her day to tutor Graham, as it must be a tough job. This shows how difficult Graham’s home life must be, especially when we learn that Graham’s father has selected an “appropriate” college for Graham to go to, so as not to embarrass the family.

Graham was played by Australian actor Blake Draper in his first major film role, after having smaller roles in series like Clickbait (2021) and the Aussie soap Neighbours (1985-present) in 2018. Draper was recently announced as the star of the upcoming biopic A. Rimbaud about the French poet Arthur Rimbaud.

So that is the three main characters of Prom Pact, but there are definitely some more to mention. One is the school guidance counsellor Ms. Chen, who is less empathetic than you might expect a guidance counsellor to be, being quite direct and blunt with some of her advice! Ms Chen is also quite happy to rig the vote for Prom King just because Mandy asked her to do it to help fix Ben’s relationship with LaToya. Margaret Cho was cast as Ms. Chen. Cho started out her career in stand-up comedy before moving into acting roles. Some of these include All-American Girl (1994-95) as Margaret Kim; Drop Dead Diva (2009-14) as Teri Lee; 30 Rock (2006-13) as Kim Jong II, for which Cho was nominated for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series; Good on Paper (2021) as Margot; and as Charlie Utada in Season 2 of The Flight Attendant (2020-22).

For the students, LaToya Reynolds, the cheerleader who isn’t snobby and stuck-up like so many are on screen, was played by Monique A. Green. One of Green’s earliest roles was in An American Girl: Summer Camp, Friends for Life (2017) as Jordan. She went on to be cast as Olive Cooper in Season 1 of the Disney+ series Big Shot (2021-22) prior to her casting in Prom Pact. Green also appeared in a few episodes of Black-ish (2014-22) as Niecy. Mandy and Ben’s two other friends at school, Zenobia and Charles, were played by Arica Himmel and Jason Sakaki. Himmel is most known for her role as Rainbow “Bow” Johnson in the Black-ish spin-off Mixed-ish (2019-21).

Finally, I’ll briefly mention Mandy’s supportive but outspoken parents, Tom and Alyssa. David S. Jung was chosen for the part of Tom Yang. He had previously been cast as the recurring character Rip Tide in Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., alongside Peyton Elizabeth Lee. Wendi McLendon-Covey was cast as Alyssa. She is well-known for her roles as Rita in Bridesmaids (2011) and Beverly Goldberg in The Goldbergs (2013-23). I also know her from the sitcom Rules of Engagement (2007-13) where she played Liz, and McLendon-Covey also voices the character of Nancy Green in the Disney Channel series Big City Greens (2018-present) and its subsequent movie.

MUSIC

The soundtrack for Prom Pact consists of a lot of songs, some are modern hits, others are 80s songs and 80s movie themes.

Some of these 80s movie themes were easy to place as they were mostly used for the various promposals that took place throughout Prom Pact. These include the Ghostbusters theme by Ray Parker Jr.; “Old Time Rock and Roll” by Bob Seger from Risky Business (1983); and “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes from Dirty Dancing (1987).

At the prom, we also hear numerous well-known 80s songs, since it is an 80s-themed prom after all. A cover of “Love is a Battlefield” from Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim; “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie; “Mony Mony” by Billy Idol; “Only You” by Yazoo; and “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston are clearly heard during these scenes. Just before prom, to make amends, Mandy also does a promposal-redo for Ben, whilst dancing awkwardly on his driveway, to the song “Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats.

Another 80s song that is heard briefly is “Addicted to Love” by Robert Palmer. I think a student is singing it as part of a promposal whilst Mandy and Ben are at the waffle house. The final piece of 80s music to make its way into Prom Pact is “The Promise” by When in Rome, used in the final scene of Graham and Mandy reuniting at a bar near Harvard.

Of the more modern tunes, Ben and Mandy can be seen and heard rocking out to “Believer” by Imagine Dragons in Ben’s car. Milo Manheim has confirmed that he was not driving in this scene, but that the car was being towed[2]. That’s good because it’s quite clear that neither of these two are focusing on the road during this scene! Another contemporary music hit played during Prom Pact is “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish which is used during a montage of Mandy’s tutoring sessions with Graham. Just after, when Graham takes Mandy to see the basketball team he coaches, “Shooting Star” by Michelle Lewis, Randall Cooke, and Mia Bojanic can be heard.

At the party that Mandy and Ben attend to try and talk to Graham so Mandy can offer to tutor him, a few modern songs are heard: “Art of the Strike” by Numbs; “Coincidance” by Handsome Dancer; and “Like Dat” performed by Marquise Butcher. The song “Reinvent Urself” by Robbie Nevil features as Mandy and Ben mess about looking for prom outfits. This song is also used in the End Credits of Prom Pact.

You’ll also hear “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction during Graham’s promposal to Mandy, along with the song from Risky Business, as Mandy was a childhood fan of One Direction, though she doesn’t like to admit it. The song “Fall on Me”, performed by Great Big World and Christina Aguilera is used as the slow dance song at Graham’s father’s fundraiser where Mandy and Graham have their first kiss. As Mandy is getting dressed for the fundraiser, “Feeling Butterflies”, by Meaghan Smith is playing. Mandy’s life soon starts to fall apart after the fundraiser, and the song heard as Ben drives her home is “Don’t Cry”, originally performed by Seal, but performed by Alice Lee here. As Mandy realises that Graham and Ben are both annoyed at her and she debates what to do about Harvard, Nazareth’s “Love Hurts” also performed by Alice Lee can be heard.

Then there is the song “Bulldogs United” by The Newton Brothers, which I can only assume is an original song, written to be the school song and used in their pep rally. Only four songs are credited in Prom Pact with “Bulldogs United” being one of those. The other three are the two Alice Lee songs mentioned above and Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim’s cover of Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield”.

There were apparently plans to have many more songs included in Prom Pact, however, there was not enough movie to fit them all in so compromises had to be made[3]. I have probably missed some because there were so many, or ones that I simply couldn’t place – like two pieces of jazz music playing at the fundraiser, for example – but this is the majority of the Prom Pact soundtrack. I am quite disappointed that “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” by John Parr from St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) didn’t make it though. I love that song.

PRODUCTION

The idea for Prom Pact came from a story written by Anthony Lombardo with input from Julie Bowen and Rachael Field, who were executive producers on this film.

Julie Bowen is well-known for starring as Claire Dunphy in the ABC sitcom Modern Family (2009-20), winning the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in both 2011 and 2012 for this role. Bowen was also Adam Sandler’s “leading lady” in the Halloween comedy film Hubie Halloween (2020) and is set to appear in Happy Gilmore 2 (2025). Bowen had met both writer Lombardo and producer Field whilst working on Modern Family.

They all worked on the premise for Prom Pact together, wanting to make a modern twist on the 80s teen movies. Bowen stated that she had grown up watching John Hughes movies so wanted this to be a tribute to those, whilst also acknowledging the more outdated themes within them and find a way of correcting them in this new movie. Some of these are discussed in one scene where Ben, Mandy, Zenobia, and Charles are talking about the problems with certain 80s movies during lunch. For example, The Breakfast Club (1985) might be about being yourself, but suggests that you have to look a certain way to get a guy to like you, and Weird Science (1985) is about two guys creating the perfect woman on their computer who is basically a pin-up model, showing that 80s movies were very sexist at times. Mandy also mentions how disappointed she is that her parents treasure a picture of her dressed up as Tom Cruise’s character Joel in Risky Business (1983) when she was little, despite that movie being about a teenager running a brothel from his parents’ house, which isn’t exactly inspirational – or shouldn’t be anyway.

Lombardo pitched the idea of a feminist senior being more obsessed with Harvard than prom and parties, so this character would be pushing back against the common 80s movies tropes. It was also important to the group that they showed the importance of purely platonic friendships between girls and boys, instead of just focusing on romance, as many 80s teen movies do.

Prom Pact was first announced by Disney Branded Television in February 2022. Melvin Mar was named as one of the producers, having previously worked on Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. and Fresh Off the Boat (2015-20). Anya Adams was announced as the director, having also worked on Fresh Off the Boat. A brief description of the plot was given, and Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim were listed as the two leads[4].

Bowen stated that she had never been to a prom before, as she went to a small boarding school in Rhode Island which did not have a prom. She was obsessed with the idea of prom being this huge rite of passage because she had never experienced it[5]. But she was certainly not the only one on set who had never been to a “normal” high school prom. Peyton Elizabeth Lee, having worked on Disney projects for so much of her childhood, didn’t get the chance to go a normal prom either. During the premiere of Prom Pact, some of the cast did discuss the “Disney Prom”, which appears to be an annual event held for all those child and teen actors who work for the company. Lee said she went to three or four of these proms but never went to a real one. Milo Manheim said he first met Lee at one of these Disney Proms with the prom that year being named The Emerald Ball[6].

Prom Pact was filmed in Vancouver and there were a variety of different measures taken on set to make this production more sustainable, which would’ve matched Mandy’s environmentalist nature. These included reducing emissions and minimising waste to make a greener production. Electric vehicles were provided for crew and refillable water stations were available for use. Electric generators were used at times instead of just diesel-powered ones too. In catering, plant-based options were available and compostable food ware was provided. Signage across the set detailed small actions that anyone could take to reduce their environmental impact[7].

RECEPTION

After Prom Pact’s initial details and some cast and crew members were announced in February 2022, Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Milo Manheim then attended the 2022 D23 Expo in September of that year to give fans a closer look at the new movie.

The Hollywood premiere was held on 24^th March 2023, complete with a pink carpet – not red – to match the Prom Pact movie poster and the 80s movie Pretty in Pink (1986), I presume, before the first five minutes of Prom Pact were revealed on Disney Channel’s YouTube channel early on 30^th March.

This led to the official premiere of Prom Pact on Disney Channel on 30^th March 2023. 182,000 viewers are said to have tuned in for the actual premiere, which pales in comparison to some of Disney Channel’s other movies, but Prom Pact was still the highest-viewed kids’ television broadcast on that day. It’s likely that more and more people are moving away from cable TV and exclusively using streaming services now so that is potentially why the viewing figures may seem lower than usual.

Because of this, it made good business sense for Disney to release Prom Pact on to Disney+ just a day later on 31^st March 2023, to give the movie a much larger audience. However, this did require two different versions of the movie. For anyone who has watched Prom Pact on Disney+, you’ll have noticed that there are some comments made around sex, as well as some scenes of underage drinking and small uses of swear words. This isn’t a big deal for teenagers or adults, obviously, but it’s not exactly child-friendly in places. This is why the Disney Channel version edited out some scenes and dialogue to fit their usual target audience. This “other version” may have come as a surprise to parents who might have only had access to the Disney+ version of Prom Pact but had still expected to see a typical DCOM. Apparently, Prom Pact became Disney Channel’s first TV-14 rated original movie with this Disney+ edit of the film. It is unclear how well Prom Pact did on Disney+ in terms of viewing figures, although some media outlets have stated that Prom Pact was the fifth most-watched film across all platforms in the US during its first week of release. Prom Pact later aired on Freeform on 4^th May 2023.

Reviews for Prom Pact were generally positive, although the Disney+ version of the movie was a bit of a shock to some. I was surprised at some of the content, but it didn’t bother me. Prom Pact felt more like a Netflix teen coming-of-age movie, on the lines of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) or The Kissing Booth (2018) rather than something like High School Musical (2006), which isn’t a bad thing but it did feel different.

Some of the more negative reviews focused on the fact that the character of Mandy was quite off-putting and unlikeable and that the movie itself felt a bit clichéd. Others also said it was odd to be aiming a movie at tweens and teenagers who have probably never seen any of the John Hughes movies it was trying to represent. I don’t think that necessarily matters because the nostalgia of the decade is not being aimed at them; it is being aimed at the adults or parents that may have chosen to watch it. The whole point of Prom Pact was to make a movie that is a tribute to 80s movies but felt contemporary and realistic.

Another big complaint was in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot. Quite close to the beginning of Prom Pact, during the pep rally, rows of students on bleachers can be seen. The front row are real human extras, however, in the row behind, a line of expressionless CGI characters can be spotted clapping. I personally did not see this whilst watching the movie, although looking at it online, these characters do look quite disturbed and some quite rightly likened their appearance to Sims 2 characters. It’s quite funny but probably not for the filmmakers. Many were quick to point the finger at Disney for using AI, but it is actually just low-quality CGI being used here[8]. The AI debate strengthened online though due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes that were ongoing at the time, with just one area of discussion being around the use of AI in the entertainment industry and the lack of protections for actors and writers. This caused many to label Disney as hypocritical. But they weren’t because, again, this was CGI, not AI. Bad CGI characters will always be a thing as long as the technology exists. I’d be more afraid of these CGI babies coming to the new live-action Rugrats film[9]…

On the positive side though, many felt Prom Pact was cute, entertaining, charming, and light-hearted fun. These viewers also liked this more mature movie from Disney. Looking at reviews of other teen-centric Disney Channel Original Movies, teenagers felt that those movies were too sanitised and did not reflect a true high-school experience. No doubt Prom Pact was at least a step closer to creating a more accurate account of school life in the US. The chemistry between the three lead characters also did not go unnoticed.

Prom Pact went on to be nominated for Outstanding Fiction Special at the 2^nd Children’s and Family Emmy Awards. It lost to The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), also from Disney. It’s a shame for Prom Pact but I don’t even like Marvel movies and I liked that Guardians Holiday Special a lot! Prom Pact did, however, win the Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie in the Tweens/Teens Programming category at the Kidscreen Awards.

LEGACY

Since Prom Pact was a standalone story that ended with a definitive conclusion, it should not be a surprise that a sequel has never been released.

But if viewers wanted more from Milo Manheim and Peyton Elizabeth Lee, they didn’t need to look far because they were both in Season 2 of Doogie Kameāloha, M.D., which will suit anyone who was hoping for those two to get together in Prom Pact.

Despite Prom Pact specifically being about platonic friendships and not romance between the two characters, because they arrived to prom looking like Duckie and Andie from Pretty in Pink (1986), some viewers might have been hoping for Mandy and Ben to suddenly end up together – though I accept that this was not the point and wouldn’t have made much sense given the events of Prom Pact.

But I did really want Duckie and Andie to get together in Pretty in Pink and I was so sad when they didn’t. And then I was even more sad when I found out that the original ending had the two together, but then test audiences booed and complained about it, wanting Andie to end up with Blane, so that’s what they got. Way to bow to peer pressure, John Hughes.

Anyway, what was I talking about?

FINAL THOUGHTS

Oh yeah, Prom Pact.

I liked Prom Pact even more the second time I watched it. It was funny, it was sweet, it had some very likeable characters, and everything was tied up nicely in a little bow by the end of the film. Mandy got the guy and the college, and Ben got his girl too.

I also enjoyed the references to 80s movies, which I had thankfully seen so I understood some of the Easter eggs and nods to these films. I don’t think I would’ve felt particularly out-of-the-loop if I hadn’t anyway.

The 80s as a trend are still not going away with many more television and film reboots in the works to keep the masses satisfied. I’m not a fan of reboots so Prom Pact was good because it was a love letter to the 80s without feeling like a rip-off of some other film.

This trend will likely dissipate soon enough, making way for some other decade, but as long as we have high school and prom, the quintessential teen movie will still be around.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Alex Reif, ‘The Making of Disney’s “Prom Pact”’, LaughingPlace.com, 30^th March 2023.

[2] Credit: Shine on Media, ‘PROM PACT Cast Share Favorite Memories & Dance Moves at Premiere I Interview’, Shine on Media YouTube Channel, 26^th March 2023.

[3] Credit: Rania Aniftos, ‘‘Prom Pact’ Soundtrack Jam-Packed with 80s Hits From David Bowie, Whitney Houston & More: Exclusive’, Billboard.com, 28^th March 2023.

[4] Credit: Nellia Andreeva, ‘Peyton Elizabeth Lee & Milo Manheim To Headline Disney+ Movie ‘Prom Pact’ From Julie Bowen & Melvin Mar’, Deadline.com, 6^th February 2022.

[5] Credit: Dana Rose Falcone, ‘Julie Bowen Says Disney’s ‘Prom Pact’ Is ‘Not a Movie About Dresses and Limos’ – See the First Trailer’, People.com, 24^th February 2023.

[6] Credit: Shelby Stivale, ‘Exclusive: Is Disney Channel Prom Real? Milo Manheim and Peyton Elizabeth Lee Spill the Tea on ‘Great’ Memories’, J-14.com, 28^th March 2023.

[7] Credit: Disney, ‘Sustainability on Set: Behind the Scenes with Disney Original Movie “Prom Pact”’, Disney.com, date unknown.

[8] Credit: Inga Parkel, ‘Disney Plus viewers notice ‘horrible CGI’ in new movie Prom Pact: ‘They look like Sims 2 characters’, Independent.co.uk, 5^th April 2023.

[9] Credit: Rebecca Rubin, ‘‘Rugrats’ Live-Action Movie in the Works at Paramount With CGI Babies’, Variety.com, 2^nd October 2024.