15 best Disney Channel Original Movies ranked

10. The Cheetah Girls

The kickoff of another musical series by Disney, this boasts a great cast of Raven and Adriene Bailon. A quartet of friends try to make it as a musical act, bound to work together. That leads to the obvious challenge when they're offered a big contract that might mean compromising their principles. The four are marvelous with some very catchy songs and a good message of friendship through everything. It's no surprise it inspired a few sequels as the Cheetahs roar loudly as Disney Channel favorites. 

9. The Thirteenth Year

This early Disney Channel original film remains one of their best. A teenager loves swimming and his adoptive family but starts to notice odd things like generating electricity and growing scales. He learns his mother was a mermaid, and so the challenge of avoiding water even as a big swim meet is coming up. The effects are dated, but not the fun banter and the theme of the kid choosing between his adoptive family on land or his true life under the ocean. That charm makes it still loved today and a good story for any kid wrestling with changes at a certain age.