Disney Channel Original movies were easily one of the best parts of my childhood. The ever so catchy "Let's Watch. A Disney Chan-nel Moooooovieee" song never failed to get my pre-adolescent self pumped up and I never cared if I had seen the movie a hundred times before. Unfortunately, other than the occasional showing of "Halloweentown" around Halloween, it's probably been almost a decade since I've seen most of the movies that shaped my childhood. Here's a list of some of the greats you may have forgotten about:
1. Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (1999)
Admit it, after watching this you thought you could pull off the Zenon hairstyle.
2. The Thirteenth Year (1999)
Am I the only one who was secretly wishing I would turn into a mermaid on my 13th birthday?
3. Smart House (1999)
Absolutely no college parties will ever live up to the expectations set by Ben's party.
4. Johnny Tsunami (1999)
I have a much easier time sympathizing with Johnny, who was forced to move to cold Vermont from beautiful Hawaii, given the fact that I now live in Binghamton.
5. The Color of Friendship (2000)
This movie was probably the first and last time a Disney Channel movie taught an important lesson while subsequently providing valuable historical information.
6. Quints (2000)
If you're an only child, I'll bet this movie made you happy about that.
7. Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire (2000)
Not a very relatable movie, but entertaining nonetheless.
8. Motocrossed (2001)
Disney Channel: destroying gender norms one movie at a time.
9. The Luck of the Irish (2001)
Nothing makes you feel better about awkwardly going through puberty quite like a boy who turns into a leprechaun instead of a man.
10. Cadet Kelly (2002)
Seeing Hillary Duff paint Christie Carlson Romano's hair in her sleep was the most bad ass thing ever.
11. Get a Clue (2002)![]()
As if "The Parent Trap" wasn't enough to already want to be Lindsay Lohan.
12. Gotta Kick it Up! (2002)
This movie taught me the most Spanish I have learned since Dora.
13. Pixel Perfect (2004)
If you weren't in love with Ricky Ullman, you're lying.
14. Stuck in the Suburbs (2004)
An incredibly original movie about a girl who has a crush on a celebrity and sings about it with her guitar in her bedroom!
15. Go Figure (2005)
Again with gender defying norms, you go, Disney Channel!
16. Twitches (2005)
Not only did they have magical powers, but they were also identical twins. Talk about goals.
17. Read it and Weep (2006)
She handles having her innermost thoughts being published into a book way better than I would have.
18. Jump In! (2007)
Five words: push. it. to. the. limit.
Hopefully, the wave of nostalgic that rushed over me while writing this came over you while reading this. After all, there's nothing quite like a corny TV movie that teaches a cheesy lesson.
