Since its launch on April 18, 1983, American cable and satellite television channel Disney Channel has released a number of original television films. These were named Disney Channel Premiere Films until October 1997, when the current Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) branding was introduced. For a period from March 2023 to August 2024 the Disney Original Movie moniker was used, before the network reverted to the earlier branding.
Most of these films were subsequently released on home video formats such as VHS, DVD, or more recently, Blu-ray, while others were not. Beginning with Princess Protection Program in 2009, releases of DCOMs on DVD months following their television premieres got reduced to a week after television premieres. The 2009 television film also became the first DCOM to appear in high-definition widescreen, although DCOMs have been produced in such a format since the release of Go Figure on June 10, 2005.
The highest-rated premiere for the banner/brand came in August 2007, when High School Musical 2 set a record for basic cable with 17.2 million viewers. The second highest-rated premiere is held by Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, which premiered with 11.4 million viewers. DCOMs include sequels-turned-franchises such as Under Wraps, Halloweentown, Zenon, Twitches, The Cheetah Girls, High School Musical, Camp Rock, Teen Beach, Descendants and Zombies.
During the Memorial Day holiday weekend of 2016, Disney Channel began to air many older DCOMs in a specialized marathon programming block in celebration of its 100th film, Adventures in Babysitting, starting off with the 51 most popular films airing over the four-day weekend from May 27, 2016 and concluding on June 24, 2016 with the premiere of the aforementioned 100th Disney Channel Original Movie.
From April 5 to May 24, 2021, Disney Channel hosted an eight-week event called "DCOM & Dessert", where a Disney Channel Original Movie would air every Monday night at 7:00 PM. Zombies 2 stars Ariel Martin and Chandler Kinney hosted this event and had their own baking segments where they would make interactive dessert recipes that families could make at home.
Disney previously made many of these films available for streaming on Disney+. However, in 2024 the company removed 20 DCOMs from the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) regional library.
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Disney Channel Premiere Films (1983–1997)
The Disney Channel Original Movie branding was not established until 1997. Prior to this the channel used the label "Disney Channel Premiere Films"; this was applied to the following 44 films.
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Disney Channel Original Movies (1997–2022)
The following films were released during the original use of the label- starting with the channel rebrand in 1997, and running until its brief retirement in 2022.
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Disney Original Movies (2023–2024)
A brief rebrand was in effect during this period, amid the rise of Disney+ and declining viewership of the channel. The DCOM moniker was set aside in favour of the "Disney Original Movie" label.
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Revived Disney Channel Original Movie label (2025–present)
The network returned to the earlier label amid a general rebranding of the channel in 2025.
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Related films
The branding has at times been inconsistently applied in promotional material; this section lists some of those edge cases.
Films that did not originally premiere under the "Disney Channel Original Movie" label, but were later promoted as such:
Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars (March 26, 2010)
16 Wishes (June 25, 2010)
Back of the Net (June 15, 2019)
The Curious Case of Dolphin Bay (June 11, 2022)
Films that were produced by Disney Channel, but premiered on Disney+ without the branding:
Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (August 28, 2020; premiered on Disney Channel on April 8, 2023)
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (September 25, 2020; premiered on Disney Channel on February 26, 2023)
Sneakerella (May 13, 2022; premiered on Disney Channel on August 13, 2022)
Films based on Disney Channel shows or Disney Channel Original Movies, but premiered theatrically. Some later aired on the Disney Channel:
The Lizzie McGuire Movie (May 2, 2003; premiered on Disney Channel on November 26, 2005)
Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (February 1, 2008; premiered on Disney Channel on July 26, 2008)
High School Musical 3: Senior Year (October 24, 2008; premiered on Disney Channel on April 4, 2010)