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Disney Gets Crossed Over By Luka And Boban For An Awesome Title Intro: Ranking The GOATs Of Disney Channel Movies

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The bubble food is suspect and the rooms resemble a Motel 6, but the players are having fun at Disney World. Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic (PG) and Boban Marjanovic (C) teamed up for the perfect Disney Channel Movie title intro. It made a big splash around the NBA and with Disney fans.

Luka and Boban hit their fellow millennials with a booming slam dunk of nostalgia with this awesome collab. Suddenly, I’m rooting for the Mavericks to be crowned champions of the Disney bubble. Who would have thought? I haven’t watched a Disney Channel movie since high school, which is longer ago than I am willing to admit. Consequentially, I’m partial to the OGs. Disney recently did a ranking of all 105 original Disney Channel movies. Here is my very biased power ranking of Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) GOATs.

10) Full-Court Miracle, 2003

This movie is somewhat of a Disney Channel Movie hidden gem. Full-Court Miracle is iconic in many ways, and very relevant right now in the wake of Desean Jackson’s anti-Semitic misstep.  An African-American man becomes the head coach of a struggling Yeshiva basketball team. It’s the only American movie off the top of my head that depicts Jewish day school. DJax and Julian Edelman should watch it when they get together for their historic trip to D.C. (if it actually happens).

9) The Luck of the Irish, 2001

Ryan Merriman stars in a coming of age story about an American boy who battles for a gold charm. He goes through a series of trials to keep his family from being controlled by an evil leprechaun. It’s just as bonkers as it sounds. However, it has basketball and is packed with slapstick humor and great cultural references. I’m a little more bullish on this Disney flick than most, but I thought the 9 spot was fair.

8) You Wish!, 2003

Alan Twitty from Even Stevens meets Miranda from Lizzie McGuire for a union of the sidekicks. A boy named Alex Lansing flips a coin and wishes he didn’t have a little brother. Lansing no longer has his little brother, Spencer Breslin, and becomes the focus of the family. It changes his life and catapults him to a life of fame, but is he really happy? The movie addresses some of the terrible realities of childhood stardom. Ironic, yet very fitting for Disney.

7) Camp Rock (Franchise), 2008, 2010

This franchise is a musical joy and is notable because it includes a bevy of Disney child stars that didn’t crash and burn. Alyson Stoner, The Jonas Brothers, and Demi Lovato. There isn’t much more to it than the title suggests but they are very enjoyable films, nonetheless. Also, this track is a banger.

6) Brink!, 1998

This is truly one of the Disney Channel Movie OGs. It’s a story about SoCal inline-skating teens dueling for sponsorship offers. There is quite a bit of action, but it’s also very light and cheerful. I recommend this one if you wanna get off the 2020 struggle bus and flashback to a simpler, happier time.

5) Johnny Tsunami, 1999

The top-5 could be in any order for me, but I’ll start with this surfer turned snowboarder flick. Johnny Tsunami moves from Hawaii to Vermont where he takes his skill on the waves to the slopes. Gnarly! It becomes a battle between private and public schoolers. Preps vs. townies, jocks vs. nerds: it’s an age-old clash that is done very well in this hit Disney Channel movie.

4) Halloweentown (Franchise), 1998-2006

Debbie Reynolds plays the grandma to three children who learn they’re part of a powerful magical family in an alternate dimension called Halloweentown. Their mother rejects magic for the real world, but the children unite to save the town from an evil(ish) mayor(?). It’s kinda corny, but it’s a blast from the past and makes for the perfect nostalgia bomb.

3) Smart House, 1999

A modern family suffers the loss of their mother and moves into a technology-equipped smart home that mirrors the personality of a ’50s-sitcom housewife and develops the evil-robot desire to control the family forever. Woah, hello Black Mirror. I didn’t appreciate this until adulthood, but it was directed by LeVar Burton. Kunta Kinte, behold the only thing greater than yourself!

2) The Color of Friendship, 2000

This could very easily be the GOAT of Disney Channel movies. I challenge you to find another kids’ movie that details the South African Apartheid. Based on a true story, a girl from South Africa stays on exchange with an African-American family. The movie gives you no choice but to stare in the face of the atrocities of racism. Excellent job Disney. (Why didn’t we watch this in schools growing up?) It was hard for me not to put this one in first, but I saved the best for last. And I think you all know what’s coming.

1) High School Musical (Franchise) 2006-2008

Vanessa Hudgens and the original cast of High School Musical reunited for a 10-year anniversary party that made me feel really old. That was four years ago, btw, if you didn’t do the math. This one has to be the GOAT of GOATs, and it really wasn’t terribly close. It launched the career of Zac Efron, who is arguably the most successful of the Disney child stars. High School Musical is pretty timeless. I have a special appreciation for it because it reassures me that passion for sports and musicals does not have to be mutually exclusive.

Congrats High School Musical, you’re the MJ of DCOMs! I guess that makes The Color of Friendship the LeBron. I’ll let you decide which you think is better.

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