We all grew up on Disney Channel Original Movies. Maybe you didn’t wait each month full of eager anticipation for the newest one (OK, well, I did), but you can name the big ones ("High School Musical," "Camp Rock," "Cadet Kelly," etc.). Since there’s nothing college students love more than nostalgia (except maybe free food), I’ve compiled a list of Disney Channel Movies you’ve probably forgotten:
1. "Susie Q" (1996)
Okay, so “Susie Q” isn’t technically a Disney Channel Original Movie — it originally aired on German network Super RTL — but it did air on Disney Channel in the US all throughout the '90s. The movie is about a teen named Zach moving to a new town after the death of his father. He finds an old bracelet in his new house. Little does he know that bracelet belonged to Susie Quinn — a young girl who died in the '50s and still has some unfinished business. The bracelet allows Zach to see Susie’s ghost and together they try to figure out why she hasn’t moved on yet. Five-year-old me was forever envious of Susie’s pink dress. Besides, who could forget that scene where she rips most of her dress off to get Zach’s attention?
2. "Wish Upon a Star" (1996)
Again not technically a Disney Channel Original Movie, but “Wish Upon a Star” was a staple of the channel back in the '90s. The popularity of it and “Susie Q” definitely led to the creation of DCOMs. "Wish Upon a Star" features a young Katherine Heigl, wearing the best collection of '90s fashion outside of “Clueless," as Alexia, a dumb and popular girl who doesn’t get along with her smarter sister Hayley. The two wish on the same star and switch bodies a la “Freaky Friday." Hilarious hijinks ensue, such as Hayley going to school in full dominatrix gear and dancing seductively on the lunch table (seriously, who could forget that scene?).
3. "Don’t Look Under the Bed" (1999)
The first “scary” movie for many of us, “Don’t Look Under the Bed” had everything — mystery, jump scares and a real "Goosebumps" feel to it. Franny, a brilliant and overprotective girl, starts experiencing a series of weird things around her. All of the clocks in the town are set forward a few hours, someone filled the gym pool with Jello and she’s started seeing a man named Larry whom no one else can see. Larry claims to be an abandoned imaginary friend and convinces Franny to help him fight off the Boogeyman before the Boogeyman ruins Franny’s life. The scene where they go under the bed into the Boogeyman — sorry, Boogeyperson’s — lair still looks amazing after all of these years.
4. "The Thirteenth Year" (1999)
Forget about mermaids, Disney gave us one of its first mermen with “The Thirteenth Year." On his 13th birthday, Cody, who was found on his parents’ boat as a baby, has bigger problems than puberty — he’s growing scales every time he encounters water. It turns out Cody is a merman, and now he has to keep his secret and find his real mother. The scales on his arms always looked so uncomfortable to me.
5. "Step-Sister from Planet Weird" (2000)
“Step-Sister from Planet Weird” was, well, weird. Megan, a normal girl, is upset when her mother gets engaged to a weird man with an even weirder daughter named Ariel. Ariel dresses strangely, is afraid of the wind and hates everything. Ariel and her father turn out to be aliens. Ariel and Megan team up to split their parents up but end up becoming friends when they have to fight the alien government from Ariel’s home planet. This was one of those movies I was always reluctant to watch, but it won me over in the end. I still dramatically quote, “I fear the wind,” whenever it’s a particularly blustery day.
These are only a few forgotten DCOMs. There are plenty, and a lot of them are available on Youtube. So go, ignore your papers or studying for finals, and bury yourself in nostalgia for a little bit.
