‘Magical Rewind’: Will Friedle & Sabrina Bryan Reminisce About Disney Channel Original Movies

Did you grow up on Magical World of Disney and Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM)? Then Will Friedle and Sabrina Bryan’s new podcast Magical Rewind is a welcome trip down memory lane.

The two certainly have the cred to host such a show. Friedle is known for Boy Meets World, voice roles and let’s not forget the 90s-riffic My Date with the President’s Daughter. He also hosts the popular “Pod Meets World” and “I Hear Voices” with fellow Kim Possible co-star Christy Carlson Romano. Sabrina Bryan gained worldwide fame through Disney’s The Cheetah Girls movies and as a fan favorite on Dancing with the Stars.

Together they sit down to revisit and watch DCOMs starting with their own. Fredle describes it as the show that makes you grab your friends, your PJs, and your popcorn. To go back to the time when all the houses were smart, the waves were tsunamis and the high schools were all musical. Here the pair reminisce about their experiences.

What are some of your favorite Disney Channel original movies? 

Sabrina Bryan: I’ve become a giant Descendents fan. It was my first time watching it, and it’s in the Top 3 for me. I’m such a huge fan of the first one. It wasn’t that I ignored it before, but it was right at the end of The Cheetah Girls stuff, but now that’s one of the top ones. Johnny Tsunami is my ultimate top one.

Will Friedle: I like Johnny Tsunami, but I wouldn’t put it at the top. I’m holding some of my list because Sabrina has seen a lot of these, but I have not. This is one of the things I love about this podcast. She is going in for the nostalgia attached whereas I’m going in older just watching. Sometimes that’s not the best thing in the world because a lot of times the nostalgia is what makes it such a good movie.

I’m trying to imagine putting myself in the mindset of you’re watching this younger with your friends. There are some I’ve heard about that are legendary. Things I’ve heard of for years but hadn’t actually seen yet. Brink, I had a stumbling block and realized the full force of the fandom of DCOMs out there. When you do an episode where you go,” liked Brink, but it wasn’t my favorite.” People had their opinions about that. The attachment of memory and nostalgia to these movies is such an important aspect of them. It has been a ride. That is for sure.

What have been the common threads you’ve noticed from watching the movies back?  

Will: There are certainly a lot of Disney tropes we’re seeing. In the first couple of movies, there is a really annoying little sister.

Sabrina: Yes, a lot of times they are not needed. The character is not built. I’m assuming they go back to keeping the main character not as an only child because an only child has a different relationship with their parents. They always throw in an annoying sibling. They don’t serve a purpose most of the time.

Will: It was the same thing with the little sister in Boy Meets World. Lily [Nicksay] and Lindsay [Ridgeway]. It wasn’t that Morgan was annoying, but they weren’t as developed as the other characters. It also brings in a different age group to the show. You might get a six or seven-year-old watching specifically for that character. Disney has been good about hitting the different generations. The other trope we’ve been seeing is usually the dad. The father is standing in the way of whatever the dream is until the end where they are on board. The parent that is not for the kid’s dream then has to overcome that themselves so the kid can succeed.

THE CHEETAH GIRLS, Sabrina Bryan, Raven-Symone, Kiely Williams, Adrienne Bailon, 2003. (c) Disney Channel original movie

Has this spurred talks of working together? 

Sabrina: You know what’s funny as we were developing what this podcast was going to be. We met through the coming of this podcast. Both of us didn’t want to put on a persona as though we had known each other for so long. We wanted it to be very organic. We prepped where we talked about getting to know each other through the podcast and our opinions.

Through the little bit of prep work that we did leading up to that first taping and then the first taping, everyone that was in on the producing side listening said it sounded like we knew each other so well. That chemistry you don’t get all the time. It would be easy for us to do a project in the future because of what we’ve done so far. There is a huge respect on both levels for what we’ve done and how we view the industry. It’s been fun to get to know each other and see how easy it is. Our spouses haven’t met. I have this idea that when they do, they will be laughing at us and rolling their eyes. They seem very similar. We would be an easy friendship group.

Will: We decided to lean into not knowing each other. That we are different generations and have different attachments to these movies. The thing that connected us is we are very easygoing people. We’re easy to make fun of and shoot a joke at. When you have that banter the rest will build around that….The first time she said, “We’ve got to talk about your hair in My Date with the President’s Daughter.” I knew we would be good. If she can make fun of me for stuff like that and is comfortable with that, we’re good.

Sabrina: When you throw it out, you also got to let it come back your way. I was ready for The Cheetah Girls episode. He isn’t the biggest musical fan as far as bursting into song. I was like here we go. It was so much fun.

Will: You can’t watch these movies as I’m going to sit down and criticize them as a film. So you got to figure out a way to watch it the way it was intended to be watched. I think that’s a difficult balance for me. I saw that when we did Brink. I laid into the movie a bit and people clapped back. They are right, and I was wrong. You have to watch these movies like when you’re running home from school, you are at a pajama party, hanging with your friends. That’s the way they were intended to be watched.

Sabrina, there was a point where The Cheetah Girls were headlining concerts opened by Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers with the Obama kids in attendance. Will, you were in your fame with Boy Meets World when My Date with the President’s Daughter. Does revisiting this time make you appreciate the success more?

Sabrina: That’s one thing we talked to Christina Vidal from Brink. She had this incredible character. The only girl skater in the movie. She had the same answer. In the moment you don’t realize this huge platform you’re on, able to inspire so many kids and young minds and give them the thought process that their dreams matter. They are capable of making your dreams come true. When we were doing this on the Disney channel you were just excited that you had booked this awesome job. You’re living the dream.

A big deal but do not realize the huge effect you have on the fanbase. I’m looking back on it and thinking about the tours you mentioned. I’m so proud of the work we did and so happy I’m happy to have that pocket of time knowing I worked really hard and kept the movement going by pushing the message of girl power and living your dreams. Looking back I have pride. I have big smiles thinking of all of the amazing memories. I loved rewatching the first movie and thinking about being in Toronto for the first time as an adult actor at 18. I loved it. It was so much fun.

Will Friedle and Elisabeth Harnois (IMDB/ABC)

Will: Being a child actor is a strange thing. When you see a home movie of yourself at your fifth and sixth birthday party you don’t remember the party so much. But when you watch the video, memories flood back. As a child actor, you just have more home movies. They were just professionally shot and you’re playing someone else. As you’re watching old shows and movies, you do not remember the movie and the response that came out. You remember the things you were doing while you filmed it. It’s a strange feeling to watch again. The thing I love is not just watching the movies but bringing the actors back and having them go through that experience as well.

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What movies are you doing next? Susie Q is my recommendation if it counts. 

Sabrina: I love Susie Q! It’s definitely on the list. We want to do big ones, small ones, and classic ones that have this strong little fanbase, I know we want to do the Halloweentown movies for sure. We have not done High School Musical. That will absolutely happen. We have the Smart House. That was a great one a lot of people.

Will: Motocrossed. I want to see that one.

Sabrina: I can’t wait to watch that one in 2024. It would be so big now.

Will: The one thing we’re finding is that for every High School Movie, there is a Hatching Pete. That’s not to say one is good and another is bad. One is super popular and everyone knows about it and one is Hatching Pete. That’s the joy. We are always wondering when we are going to find that gem nobody knew was there and bring it out.

Sabrina: Back right around Johnny Tsunami time there were DCOMs once a month. Coming out so fast. Then you’ll get Gotta Kick It Up! and others. Some overshadow but others are still great movies. We want to help bring attention to those too.

Listen to “Magical Rewind” on the iHeartRadio app and anywhere podcasts are heard.