What does Autumn mean for me? Is it the memories of heading back to school, crunching my way through the fallen leaves in our local woodlands or cozying up in front of a warm fire with hot chocolate? It’s all of those things and more! The biggest tradition I have with Autumn and my siblings and cousins is all of us sitting down to watch the latest Disney Channel Original Movie! So, ahead of compiling my list of my favourite all time Spooktacular Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM), I thought it wouldn’t be fair without sitting down and checking out their latest additions to the iconic list that is my childhood!
Hey all! It’s Niamh here and trust me when I say the new era of Disney Channel Original Movies brings a lot of the cheesy factor, a sprinkle of nostalgia and most important… they really don’t make them like they used to! You’re probably thinking to yourself, ‘Niamh you’re a grown ass woman, why are you still binge watching Disney Channel movies like there is no tomorrow?’ Simple because 1. I love Disney and 2. The cheesy factor is sometimes worth it!
So, what’s their latest additions to the long list of movies? Well, dear readers, this year (around the end of Summer to Autumn half of the year) is all about Magic! As I live in Ireland, I had to wait for these to drop on Disney+ UK so the release dates were a few weeks later than America. First up, is the Secret Society of Second Born Royals, next is Magic Camp and lastly Upside Down Magic. So, if you enjoy a problem to be overcome, a group of kids wanting to prove themselves and a lot of interesting quirks and magic stay tuned.
When getting lost in the DCOM (now on Disney+ as Disney Channel is no more!) genre there are a few things to note because I, personally, think the parents of today may be expecting too much from these movies (this is my personal opinion after reading a number of reviews based on the parents telling other parents how good these movies are for their kids). DCOM usually have a low budget and they cater for a certain age dynamic but if you’re like me and want to just forget about the world around you for an hour and a half and enjoy the cheesy moments that only DCOM know how to do perfectly, these are the movies for you.
First up, is the Secret Society of Second Born Royal. I watched this one with Emma when she came to visit at the end of September. This movie looked like it had the most promise. So, before she arrived I warned there was a new DCOM and we were gonna watch it; much to my delight she agreed! So we grabbed a tonne of junk food and snacks before settling down to watch this movie!
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals follows the story of a group of second-born royals who find out that hidden within their genetic make-up are unquie superpowers that help them fight threats to their kingdoms and the world! The lead character Samantha hates being a royal and believes her Kingdom would thrive better with a chosen government. The movie begins with Sam rebelling against her mother and the crown by performing with her best friend in their band at a rally against the monarchy. To some, this may seem like a dangerous topic to allow younger children to see but, personally, I believe in fighting for what you believe in!
From here, a series of events happen when Sam sneaks away from a state function to see a band perform with her best friend and ends up getting into serious trouble! End of the world moment when she misses her end of year History test and ends up having to attend Summer School! Here’s where she meets the rest of the Second-Born Royals. Turns out Summer School is just a cover and boom they all have interesting superpowers to say the least. Summer school turns into intense training to enable them to join the Society and protect the world! Of course, nothing is ever that simple; the evil character they must defeat in this movie has a heart wrenching connection to one of the characters!
Overall, the movie was enjoyable to watch. A few overly cheesy moments, the reveal of who was helping the bad guy made me question my judgement of character and, despite what others say, I think the choice of superpowers worked because it is our choice to use our powers and our decision to use them for good and not evil which seems to be the true message of the movie. Will Disney Channel/Disney+ add a second installment? Who knows but they ended the movie in a way that they could add to it and I for one would watch a second movie! Out of all three movies this is the one I would recommend watching most.
Next up is Magic Camp. I’m not gonna lie, I watched this mainly because I adore Adam Devine and, secondly, because I love camp movies; they remind me of my two Summers working in Girl Scout Camp in America. This movie I would suggest is more aimed at the entire family and not just the kids. Out of the three movies, it made me laugh the most and, I won’t lie, I did get a bit teary towards the end. But, this movie, I feel had the most potential and didn’t quite cut it!
The movie follows two stories merged into one. Firstly, we meet Theo, a young boy whose father died recently. His father encouraged his love of magic and always made time to watch his latest tricks. After his death, Theo feels lost and has a mental block about performing his card magic for anyone. He gets accepted into Magic Camp and goes because he thinks his father applied for him before he died. Secondly, we meet Andy who is working as a taxi driver in Las Vegas but he is persuaded to return to Magic Camp as a counsellor. They are all thrown together in the Hearts Cabin at Camp.
Not going to lie, personally, I’d love to be a part of the Heart Cabin, they’re the outcasts of the camp but the ones with the biggest hearts and the best friendship! Ruth and Vera stole the show for me as the side characters but this movie is all about a cabin of kids working alongside their counsellor to win the end of Summer competition and win The Golden Wand. The movie clocks in at an hour and forty minutes. It’s a nice feel good movie but with it being filmed back in 2017 but wasn’t released until 2020 and with six screen writer’s you can only imagine what could have happened with the moments that fell short. Personally, I’d like to see this movie get a second one just to see the movies get some justice. A lot of kids are getting back into street magic and they deserve a fun movie franchise to watch.
Lastly we have Upside-down Magic! For me, this movie seemed the most predictable out of all three. The movie follows two best friends, Nory and Reina. They start their journey to Sage Academy to start their magical education. This movie reminded me of Harry Potter mixed with Divergent. As there are five houses and the UDMs; you are divided out into the houses based on your magical talent.
The entire movie is primarily a feel good movie with Nory being a positive bundle of light when she is placed into the UDMs – Upside Down Magic group and is told she is not allowed to practice magic because her magic is not normal! She decides never to give up and wants to prove to the Sage administration that she deserves to learn magic. As this is going on Reina is feeling isolated from her fellow flares and begins to doubt her magical ability more and more, all the while isolating herself away from everyone.
The big bad guy here is Shadow Magic which looms over the academy while the Upside Down Magic group decide their magic is just as valid as all other magic! A slight showdown happens towards the end of the movie but, personally, I felt it was extremely anticlimactic.
The overlying message of these movies is ‘friendship can overcome anything’. I think that is the true movie genre we all need to believe in and need to be reminded of during these difficult times, that’s the true magic!
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