Classic Disney Channel Original Movie Stars Reuniting For 8-Week TV Event - Screen Rant

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Icons from the Golden Era of Disney Channel Original Movies are reuniting for a marathon event that's shaping up to be so the drama. To date, the Disney Channel has produced over 100 movies, which the network termed "Disney Channel Original Movies" in 1997. This re-naming and branding ushered in a decade of popular releases for which many millennials are now deeply nostalgic.

The first true hit DCOM was arguably 1998's Halloweentown, a seasonal fantasy about a family of witches that wrangled the illustrious Debbie Reynolds to play star Kimberly J. Brown's magical grandmother. Brown became a familiar face in the DCOM realm with another role in the 2000 family comedy Quints, while Halloweentown spawned a four-film series (that would later recast Brown's role with Sara Paxton). Brown was one a few young actors to appear in multiple Disney Channel Original Movies during their early days, along with Ryan Merriman, who starred in both Smart House and The Luck of the Irish. Many DCOMs drew on the network's strategy of recasting young actors in multiple projects, a practice that became a cornerstone of the channel's appeal in later years as it produced more films based on its TV shows.

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TVLine reports the Disney Channel has rounded up some of its most beloved stars for a televised movie marathon that will last eight weeks. Merriman will join Christy Carlson Romano, Kyla Pratt, and Will Friedle via webcam for DCOM & Dessert to reminisce about their classic movie roles. From April 5 to May 24, some of the channel's most popular movies including The Cheetah Girls and High School Musical will air every Monday at 7 p.m. A statement from the network says that current Disney stars Ariel Martin and Chandler Kinney will host a family-friendly baking segment to accompany the event:

DCOM & Dessert offers families an opportunity to come together and share in the legacy of Disney Channel Original Movies, a gold standard for inclusive and entertaining programming. It will also feature on-air baking segments each week, virtually hosted by Zombies 2 stars Ariel Martin and Chandler Kinney, as they offer interactive dessert recipes for kids and families to participate in and enjoy together.

MONDAY, APRIL 5 - 7 pm The Proud Family Movie

MONDAY, APRIL 12 - 7 pm The Cheetah Girls

MONDAY, APRIL 19 - 7 pm Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century

MONDAY, APRIL 26 - 7 pm Kim Possible Movie: So Not the Drama

MONDAY, MAY 3 - 7 pm Cadet Kelly

MONDAY, MAY 10 - 7 pm High School Musical

MONDAY, MAY 17 - 7 pm Smart House

MONDAY, MAY 24 - 7 pm Camp Rock

Merriman, Carlson Romano, Pratt, and Friedle each made major contributions to the channel's programming that many adults in their 20s and 30s fondly remember today. Carlson Romano played the endearingly uptight older sister Ren on Even Stevens as well as Hillary Duff's unforgiving military school commanding officer Jennifer Stone in the canonically queer masterpiece Cadet Kelly. Pratt and Friedle are best known for their vocal work playing Penny Proud and Ron Stoppable on the animated sitcoms The Proud Family and Kim Possible, respectively. In addition to providing representation for Black families and strong women, both comedies were genuinely funny and relatively sophisticated despite being made for teens. Pratt and Friedle both starred in DCOMs based on the two shows.

With Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century and Camp Rock rounding out the slate of can't-miss classics, the next two months of Mondays are looking slightly more bearable. The network's addition of baking segments geared toward "kids and families" (as opposed to baking shows for adults only) sounds like an opportunity for millennial parents to share the joy of watching a pained Zac Efron percussively bounce a basketball with their young ones. Much like Ren Stevens' stirring musical reminder of the time we went to the moon in 1969, the reunion will be a nostalgic trip down memory lane that should have Cheetah Sisters of all spots saying "Cetus-Lupeedus!"

Next: Every Upcoming & In Development TV Show Revival

Source: TVLine

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Roxie Pell (108 Articles Published)

Roxie Pell is a TV and Movie News Writer for Screen Rant and uses this as an excuse to binge-watch hours of television every day, which she did before anyway. She previously worked as the Social Media Editor of The Week, covered New York City news for Gothamist, and blogged about books at The Rumpus. Roxie once traveled to Estonia to review hotels and restaurants for Frommer’s Travel Guides and everyone over there absolutely adored her. She’s currently indoctrinating the youth of New York as a tutor for Varsity Tutors. She’s also—brace yourself—an actor and comedian, which unfortunately means that she does improv every now and then. Her favorite movies are Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, A Cinderella Story, Cinderella Man, and Cinderella. You can follow her on Twitter @roxie_pell if you want to.