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Lights, Camera, DCOM: My Top 3 Disney Channel Favorites

Posted 04/12/2025 by Evie Kindell

Starstruck, Good Luck Charlie: It’s Christmas, and Cloud 9 are the top three Disney Channel movies that I live by. graphic by Evie Kindell

A personal ranking of my favorite Disney Channel Original Movies and what makes each one stand out.

As someone who grew up watching Disney Channel obsessively, I’ve always been a big fan of Disney Channel Original Movies, also known as DCOMs. I would spend my summer nights watching all of the movies, and since that was such a prominent part of my childhood, I still enjoy watching those movies. Due to this, I decided to pick out my top three favorite DCOMs and explain why I love them.

To start off, my favorite DCOM of all time is Starstruck, starring Danielle Campbell and Sterling Knight. Starstruck is about a girl named Jessica who goes on a trip to California with her family. Her older sister is obsessed with famous pop star Christopher Wilde, but Jessica doesn’t understand the hype. While in California, Jessica runs into Christopher, and they don’t quite hit it off. Despite this, their paths continue to cross and eventually, after many ups and downs, they end up falling in love. The reason that this movie is one of my favorites is because of the complex relationship that forms between Jessica and Christopher. This movie follows the classic enemies to lovers trope, and I love it every single time. Besides the storyline, Starstruck also has an awesome soundtrack. The songs in the movie are very catchy and I could sing along to them for hours.

Now, my second favorite DCOM would probably have to be Good Luck Charlie: It’s Christmas! This movie follows a family from the popular Disney channel show, Good Luck Charlie. Growing up, Good Luck Charlie was one of my favorite shows so I might be a little biased on why this movie is one of my favorites. In this movie, the family goes on a trip to California to visit Amy’s (the mom of the family) parents. While on their flight, though, the oldest daughter, Teddy, gives up her seat on the plane in order to prove that she is responsible enough to go on a trip by herself. Not wanting to let her daughter be alone, Amy also gets off of the plane which causes many problems for their future and makes travel very difficult. The movie mostly focuses on Amy and Teddy’s adventures trying to get to California and the mishaps that happen along the way. It shows the complex relationship that a mother and daughter can have while also being very lighthearted. The movie is also filled with many twists and turns that keep you on your toes wondering what will happen next.

My third and final favorite DCOM is Cloud 9, starring Dove Cameron and Luke Benward. This movie revolves around snowboarding and follows a spoiled teen girl, Kayla Morgan, played by Cameron. Kayla is on one of the best snowboarding teams with her boyfriend, Nick Swift. That is, until Nick deliberately gets Kayla kicked off of the team by causing her to ruin former snowboarding star Will Cloud’s (Benward) dog sled at his doggy daycare. Nick then breaks up with Kayla and she learns that the only reason that she was on Nick’s snowboarding team was because her dad owns the resort. After this, she is sent to work with Will at the doggy daycare in order to pay for the sled she destroyed. Cloud 9 is yet another movie with the enemies to lovers plot between Kayla and Will. While their relationship develops, Kayla also helps Will to gain back his confidence in snowboarding which leads the two to form their own snowboarding team, eventually beating Nick’s team at the end of the movie. One of my favorite aspects of this movie is definitely how Kayla and Will each help each other grow. They both improve as snowboarders, but they also both grow as people. Much like Starstruck, I also believe that this movie is filled with a number of catchy songs.

DCOMs were a significant part of my childhood and still continue to bring me joy today. The three movies that I picked out as some of my favorites stand out to me not only because of the nostalgia that they give me but also because of the characters, complex relationships, and catchy soundtracks. Each of the movies that I selected shows growth and self-discovery in the characters, which is something that I love to see in movies. Revisiting and thinking about some of these movies has reminded me of my childhood and they will always have a special place in my heart.