My Top Ten Favorite Disney Channel Original Movies

They’re still some of the best movies ever.

I grew up watching Disney Channel and Nickelodeon as a kid.

Much of the that included Disney Channel Original Movies made just for the channel. They were cheesy teen films, but they make up a great amount of my childhood.

Over the years, Disney Channel has made somewhere north of 100 DCOMS. Here are my top 10 favorites:

“Read It and Weep”

This 2006 film follows a young girl with a diary. In what she thinks is just a school project turns into a massive best seller.

Her diary, in which she talks about everyone in high school, is published to great success. Everyone loves the book and her until they all find out it’s about them.

It’s a nice little movie about the power of friendship, honesty and loyalty. I try to watch it as much as I can.

It’s just that good.

“Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off”

This 2003 film follows a star baseball player who discovers his love of cooking. Now, he must try to convince his dad that there’s more to life than hitting home runs, that he has other interest in life.

I always thought the concept is a precursor to “High School Musical” but we can dive into that later. This movie is about breaking away from the status quo and doing what you truly want to do in life.

Passions change and so do people. It’s just a part of life sometimes.

“The Ultimate Christmas Present”

This 2000 film follows two middle school girls in Los Angelas who find an odd weather machine in the dumpster.

Little do they know it’s Santa’s machine and he’s using to have a gentle snow in the area. But when they cause the town’s biggest snowstorm in history, the girls must do everything they can to save Christmas.

And then back to the West Coast warmth.

“The Luck of the Irish”

This 2003 film follows a high school basketball star who discovers he comes from a family of leprechauns.

As he tries to not believe it, an evil leprechaun is trying to take his family’s treasure away and the boy can only stop him with the help of his estranged grandfather.

It’s a nice little movie that makes St. Patrick’s Day even better. This one is still a film I never grow tired of watching each year.

“Halloweentown High”

Ahh, Halloween.

This film is the third installment of the successful “Halloweentown” franchise of Disney Channel. This one follows a young witch who wants to connect the mortal and magical world by sending creatures of Halloween to school on earth.

She wants the world to come together, but not without a fight from evil forces at work. Her and her Halloween creature friends must do everything they can to stop the terror and help everyone realize they are normal people too.

It’s the best movie from the series. I never grow tired of watching it each October

“Now You See It”

This 2005 film follows a young producer on the search for her next great film. She follows a young magician as he discovers his magical powers might actually be real.

There are higher forces at stake when the boy learns his powers are rare, and some folks want them just the same.

This film is one of those ones it gets better each time I watch it. It was one of the best films of my childhood.

“Lemonade Mouth”

This more recent 2011 film follows a ground of high school outcasts who form a band together and compete in a competition.

As they battle the various cliques of high school and their parents’ ulterior goals for them in life, they teach everyone it’s okay to try new things. Man, again with that “High School Musical” concept.

It works though. It really does.

“Stuck in the Suburbs”

This 2004 film predates “Hannah Montana” as it follows a teen pop sensation as he just wants to live a normal life.

Thanks to having his phone switched with two high school girls, he realizes that he must continue to be himself as an artist, not an image his label wants. He and the girls help each other in discovering who they really are and they must embrace it.

Living a double life must be hard, and this film showcases it way before Hannah ever wears her wig.

“High School Musical”

You didn’t think I would forget this one, did you? It’s the movie that started it all.

This teen sensational series follows a basketball jock and brainiac who discover they love singing with one another. They break the status quo and teach everyone it’s okay to try new things in life.

Now that concept worked successfully in this movie. Kids resonated with it and no wonder why it was such a big hit.

It still is today.

“High School Musical 2”

With a premier of over 17.2 million viewers, it's safe to say the hype was real.

Everyone couldn’t wait for the sequel of this movie. It became part of our lives so much so and made our childhoods even better.

The film follows the same concept to a tee but a few twists and turns. Nevertheless, there’s a great plot, song and dance.

Who could ever want more from a kids movie?

Closing Thoughts

Some honorable DCOM mentions I should include are:

• “Camp Rock” and “Camp Rock 2”
• “Twitches”
• “The Even Stevens Movie”
• “Starstruck”
• “Cow Belles”
• “Jump In”

They didn’t make the original list, but they still hold a special place in my heart. Each film made up a great deal of my childhood.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Noah Nelson is a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in journalism with minors in political science and history. He serves as a senior columnist for The Daily Illini, a writer on Medium and the host of his blog called Nothing But Noah. “Life: A Collection of Short Stories” is his first book available now on Amazon. Like what you read? You can write for Medium too!