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Technical Information
Studio: Buena
Vista Home Entertainment
Year of Theatrical Release: n/a
Disc Format: 1
single-sided, Dual Layer
Image Format: Full
frame
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Region
Encoding: 1
Sound
Format: Dolby
Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 (pro logic)
Running Time:
93 minutes
Director: Oz
Scott
Stars: Raven,
Kiely Williams, Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan, Lynn Whitfield,
Kyle Schmid
MPAA Rating: G
Disc
Supplements:
- Alternate Ending
- Behind The Spotsfeaturette
- Music Videos
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In all honesty, when it comes to Disney TV,
there will always be two perspectives: That of kids, who live
to see the same sappy show over and over again, and that of
the adults who have to hear the same sappy show over and over
again.
Now, with Disney releasing their TV movies
on DVD, we not only have to see the movie 8 billion times on
the Disney channel, but also over and over again on DVD. Do
you see the pattern? Over and over and over again. This is where
the kid vs. parent perspective comes in. For the kids, Cheetah
Girls just gets better every time they watch it. For the adults,
it wasn’t really that bad the first time (the
"first time" being the key here).
Here, four teens from New York have formed
their own “band”, and they call themselves The Cheetah
Girls. There is their wealthy, spunky, self-proclaimed leader
Galleria (Raven), wealthy, too-cool-to-ride-the-subway Aquanette
(Kiely Williams), wealthy, but serious and caring Chanel (Adrienne
Bailon) and the poor-but-nobody-knows-it, dancer Dorinda (Sabrina
Bryan). It’s best not to think too much about their names…
Like all teen band movies, there is a talent
show, a possible record deal, a supportive teacher/mentor, one
member with a big head, one member with a big secret, a love
interest, lots of cool matching clothes, a fight, a tragedy
that brings on a reconciliation, and of course, quite a few
catchy teeny-bopper songs. Also like all Disney movies, the
lessons taught are as subtle as the matching cheetah-print outfits.
For what it’s worth, however, Disney does a great job
of packing those lessons between catchy songs creating a lively,
upbeat movie that kids really want to watch.
Unfortunately, in some ways, The Cheetah Girls
is the Barbie of TV movies. These girls are perfect, too perfect
in fact. The clothes, the hair, their family, their support
system, and even the music are Barbie-doll perfect. They sing
perfect self-composed songs, without rehearsal, to full music
arrangements that seem to come from nowhere. This doesn’t
seem to bother the kids but I find it a bit unnerving. Such
a concept may work for films like Grease, but this isn't in
that league.
:::back to
top |
As a made-for-TV movie, the picture
quality isn't great, but it isn't up to film standards, either.
Colors are bright, sometimes almost painfully so, and there are
good, solid darks with OK detail. There didn't seem to be any digital
problems with the image, but there was just a bit of edge enhancement.
:::back to top |
As with the picture quality, the
sound quality is perfectly fine for a TV movie. There's nothing
really spectacular, but the songs sound pretty good in 5.1 surround.
Other than the music, there aren't too many surround effects and
most of the sound is coming from the center speaker.
:::back to top |
There’s not a ton of extras
on this disk, but for the DVD release of a TV movie, it’s
not too bad.
First up is a featurette, a “Behind
the Spots” look at the making of The Cheetah Girls.
I’m told by the kids that this is new, not something that
was shown on the Disney Channel. It’s only about 5 minutes
long but does include a quick look behind the scenes and comments
from the cast.
Next is an alternate ending,
which was shown during one of the many Disney Channel showings.
This is not much of an alternate ending though, mainly just a slightly
different path leading up to the same ending.
Probably the best of the special
features is the music videos. Included are the
songs “Cheetah Sisters”, “Girl Power”, “C’mon”,
“Supernatural” and “True To Your Heart”.
The songs are fun and catchy and embed a decent moral thread. I
could have skipped the movie and just watched the videos.
:::back to top |
The Cheetah Girls is a decent Disney Channel
TV movie, with a truly talented cast and catchy original songs.
Remember, though, that the kids are going to love it and want to
watch it over and over again..
:::back to top |
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| The family might enjoy
this together the first time, but after that it's strictly just for
the kids. |
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| -- By Jennie Austin. Copyright
© 2004. |
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