50 Disney Channel Original Movies, Ranked By Feminism

Girl power.

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If you grew up in the '90s and 2000s, Disney Channel Original Movies taught you how to navigate middle school, what to wear, and that your best friend of the opposite sex is definitely in love with you. Through the twin wonders of Netflix and YouTube, we recently rekindled our passion for this very specific art form. Some movies were just as awesome as we remembered, portraying male and female characters as equals in every way and showcasing kick-ass women that inspired us as awkward tweens. Others whipped us into a righteous feminist rage, with backward gender dynamics and objectified women.

We decided to combine these two passions — feminism and Disney Channel Original Movies — and rank the 50 DCOMs that have left the strongest impact on us through a feminist lens, looking at strong female characters, feminist messaging, and overall quality of each movie equally. We realize that feminism is a belief system that informs actions, not a scale upon which people or art can be ranked from "most " to "least." That said: In this genre that most might classify as somewhere between intellectual junk food and artistic garbage, there are a wide and nuanced range of feminist messages to be gleaned.

50. Horse Sense (1999)

49. Cow Belles (2006)

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48. Johnny Tsunami (1999)

47. ‘Twas the Night (2001)

46. Brink! (1998)

45. Starstruck (2010)

44. Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006)

43. Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011)

42. Don’t Look Under the Bed (1999)

41. Model Behavior (2000)

40. Quints (2000)

39. Girl vs. Monster (2012)

38. Alley Cats Strike (2000)

37. Camp Rock (2008)

36. Get a Clue (2002)

35. The Thirteenth Year (1999)

34. Mom’s Got a Date With a Vampire (2000)

33. Up, Up and Away (2000)

32. Twitches (2005)

31. Tru Confessions (2002)

30. Stepsister From Planet Weird (2000)

29. Geek Charming (2011)

28. Read It and Weep (2006)

27. Smart House (1999)

26. Zapped! (2014)

25. Radio Rebel (2012)

24. The Ultimate Christmas Present (2000)

23. The Color of Friendship (2000)

22. Pixel Perfect (2004)

21. The Luck of the Irish (2001)

20. The Even Stevens Movie (2003)

19. Zenon, Girl of the 21st Century (1999)

18. Right on Track (2003)

17. Rip Girls (2000)

16. Halloweentown (1998)

15. High School Musical 2 (2007)

14. Avalon High (2010)

13. How to Build a Better Boy (2014)

12. Kim Possible: So the Drama (2005)

11. Teen Beach Movie (2013)

10. Den Brother (2010)

9. Princess Protection Program (2009)

8. The Cheetah Girls (2003)

7. High School Musical (2006)

6. Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off (2003)

5. Lemonade Mouth (2011)

4. Gotta Kick it Up! (2002)

3. Double Teamed (2002)

2. Motocrossed (2001)

1. Cadet Kelly (2002)

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The hip-hop dancer in High School Musical is Martha. An earlier version of this post misstated her name.

The movie Brink is about in-line skating. An earlier version of this post misstated the topic of the movie.

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