Disney Channel is known for sharing extraordinary stories through original movies. Though many of the movies are not likely to mirror real life, some are actually realistic. Disney has a track record of using true stories as the basis for some of their movies, which may be feature films released in theaters or DCOMs that go straight to cable.
Whether real or pretend, plots might feature sports champions, underdogs, aspiring musicians, and kids still discovering their unique talents. Disney+ allows subscribers to access most Disney Channel original movies, and it's great to revisit them and see how they hold up. Here are ten of the most realistic DCOMs ever made.
Radio Rebel
Radio Rebel is a 2012 DCOM based on Danielle Joseph's book, Shrinking Violet. The DCOM is randomly on Netflix and, perhaps consequently, it is not on Disney+ at the time of this writing.
Tara Adams, played by Debby Ryan, is definitely one of Disney's underdogs. Tara is extremely shy, but she has a powerful voice and wants to speak her mind. She doesn't feel that she can speak out as herself, so she shares her wisdom with the public and goes live as Radio Rebel. Tara wants to end the status quo. We hear her at the beginning of the film (as Radio Rebel) saying, "once upon a time, being different was a good thing. Now, those differences just divide us."
When Radio Rebel rebels more and more against authority and popularity, Principal Moreno cracks down. Watch what happens as Tara learns to be herself, and as Radio Rebel tries to evade being discovered.
Lemonade Mouth
Featuring Bridget Mendler and Hayley Kiyoko, Lemonade Mouth (2011) is another tale about kids who come together despite being different. High school kids Mohini, Wendall, Stella, Olivia, and Charlie meet one another in detention. They find common ground through their love of music, so they form a band.
The film is based on the book Lemonade Mouth by Mark Peter Hughes. Sometimes overshadowed by Disney's other musical movies such as Camp Rock and the High School Musical franchise, Lemonade Mouth stands out because of its edge. It's quite realistic for kids to come together because of their music, and it's great when that happens in real life.
The Color of Friendship
Set in the 1970s, The Color of Friendship (2000) was an extremely real movie for the Disney Channel. It told the story of two teenage girls, Mahree Bok and Piper Dellums. Their lives are changed when Mahree lives with Piper's family as an exchange student. Mahree is a white South African, and the Dellums family is Black. While Mahree is living with the Dellums family in Washington, D.C., her own country is torn by Apartheid. Congressman Dellums offers Mahree and counsel, and he introduces her to the book Roots by Alex Haley. It is a highly recommended DCOM for people of all ages.
Double Teamed
Double Teamed (2002) is based on the real lives of Heather and Heidi Burge, former professional women's basketball players. Twins actually were not cast for these roles; Poppi Monroe played Heather, and Annie McElwain played Heidi.
In the film, the tall twins begin as volleyball players. Heidi is totally devoted to athletics, but Heather has other interests. When the twins' dad makes them switch to a bigger school in favor of their volleyball career, Heather is much more into the school's wide selection of extracurricular activities and is very happy in the drama club. Meanwhile, basketball accidentally finds Heidi one day, and helicopter dad makes both girls go out for the team.
Both parents in the movie love their kids, but the dad reflects an all too common trope of pushing his children towards his ideal career path for them. The Burge twins stick with their sport in the end, and the final scene of the movie shows them playing against one another in the WNBA.
Gotta Kick It Up!
Gotta Kick it Up! (2002) is about a dance team in a primarily Latin American junior high school. The new biology teacher, Ms. Bartlett, is persuaded to take over as coach of the team. She doesn't connect with her students or team right away and struggles particularly with the rebellion of Daisy Salinas (played by Camille Guaty). Daisy becomes a model team member, and Ms. Bartlett gradually opens up to Daisy and the other students, including Yolanda, played by America Ferrera.
The team bring together a lot of different personalities, some being more rebellious and temperamental, others being obedient and generally positive. The movie is pretty convincing in putting together dance competition scenes, and it's based on the journey of a real middle school dance team.
Motocrossed
Before She's the Man came out in 2006, there was Motocrossed in 2001. Andrea (Andi) and Andrew are twins who love motocross racing. Andi helps her brother get ready for a big race by going for a practice run with him, but, when he injures his leg, he's not racing again anytime soon.
The twins' dad won't hear of his daughter competing in the dangerous sport, so Andi goes behind his back to masquerade as Andrew in the race. A girl goes for her dream in spite of the resistance. It's one of the best DCOMs and still resonates with those who grew up watching it.
Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-off
It's another DCOM with a controlling dad, but the son's dreams are really inspiring. Eddie is a star baseball player, and his dad coaches his team, The Groundhogs. Eddie's culinary gifts come forth when he makes everyone "Eddie dogs" after games. He winds up in home economics as an elective and falls even more in love with cooking. Eddie enters a huge cooking competition set for the same day as his team's playoffs, but everything comes out okay in the end. This is a feel-good film, and Bobby Flay even gets in on the fun.
Go Figure
For some reason, Disney was obsessed with figure skating in 2005. In March of that year, they released Ice Princess in theaters, and Go Figure premiered on Disney Channel the following June. The movies are a little bit different.
Go Figure is a realistic DCOM because it presents another twist on dueling ions. Katelin Kingsford just wants to figure skate, but she can only work with her dream coach if she goes away to boarding school and s "the girls' hockey team to obtain a scholarship to the school," as Disney+ puts it.
The realistic part is that Katelin comes to actually enjoy hockey. Like Eddie with cooking and baseball, Katelin winds up with two big events on the same day: the hockey finals and the Senior Nationals for figure skating. With the vocal talents of now-disbanded Everlife providing the song "Go Figure," the movie is a good DCOM all around.
Tiger Cruise
Hayden Panettiere was pretty visible on the Disney scene (like in Ice Princess), and she is a versatile actor. In 2004, she played Maddie Dolan in Tiger Cruise. Bill Pullman played her father, Commander Gary Dolan. This is one of the most serious original movies in Disney Channel's history.
Maddie can't stand being a Navy brat, and she wants her father to come home for good. He invites her to come on a tiger cruise, which is when Sailors are permitted to bring a family member on board for a couple of days. Maddie's tiger cruise takes place during September of 2001. On September 11, the ship goes into alert and enters a holding pattern as the nation's terrorist attacks unfold. The target audience for this movie would have been quite young when the events of 9/11 occurred. Premiering just a few years after the attacks, the film captured emotions that were still very fresh for young viewers and their parents.
Quints
It can be hard for a kid to adjust to new siblings. Jamie Grover goes from being an only child to a being the sister of quintuplets. She loves her brothers and sisters, but she actually starts to miss all the attention her parents used to give her. Kimberly J. Brown's portrayal of Jamie was one of the highlights of 2000 because she makes the character so relatable.
