Disney Channel original movies, or DCOMs for short, were probably a strong building block in your childhood. Nowadays, the movies the channel produces are not as inspirational or educational (there's an actual movie about a girl having a bad hair day before prom and an FBI agent helps her out) but at least we can look back at some of the classics and hope that they are on Netflix to watch later.
1. Halloweentown (1998)
Everyone's favorite Halloween movie that started the entire series (who could forget Halloweentown marathons with Kalabar's Revenge, Halloweentown High, Return to Halloweentown). 1998 was also the first year Disney Channel Original Movies became official thing!
2. The Thirteenth Year (1999)
This movie made every kid wish they would turn into a mermaid on their thirteenth mermaid.
3. Smart House (1999)
We all wanted to live in this computerized smart house named Pat, until she went kind of crazy.
4. The Luck of the Irish (2001)
It seemed like Ryan Merriman was in every single DCOM and this time, he turned into a leprechaun! This is the best movie to watch to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, of course.
5. Gotta Kick It Up! (2002)
This movie will have you yelling '¡Si se puede!' for hours afterward. Also, it features a younger America Ferrera!
6. The Even Stevens Movie (2003)
Disney has tried many times after this movie to create other movies based on Disney Channel shows but none come close to this one. Shia LaBeouf recently watched it again as part of an art project, where it seemed like he really enjoyed it.
7. Stuck in the Suburbs (2004)
This perfectly embodies the early 2000 Disney Channel, where the obsession with celebrities and wanting to be famous (Hannah Montana especially) became the basis for almost all of their shows. A lot of people also forget that SNL's Taran Killam is in this movie as a teenage pop star, which makes me wonder if he cringes whenever this is brought up.
8. Now You See It... (2005)
This movie. Where to even start? It was smart, it was mysterious and the plot twist at the end was incredible! Suddenly every kid thought magic was super cool.
9. Life is Ruff (2005)
Why was this a movie? I'm not even sure if Kyle Massey knows why it's a movie. We can just pretend it never existed like we pretend "Cory in the House" never happened, either.
10. Jump In! (2007)
Now suddenly every kid thinks double-dutch is cool. Corbin Bleu is the absolute best (so is Keke Palmer of course).
11. Minutemen (2008)
Can you believe this movie is 8 years old? It's weird that there wasn't really a time-travel specific DCOM before this one, but it does a great job.
12. Lemonade Mouth (2011)
Probably one of the most recent DCOMs that was funny, had a great message and was a musical that wasn't necessarily obnoxious. Plus, the music was actually good! Who would have guessed?
