 I would watch this every Halloween. It reduces stress, it alleviates depression. And welcome back to my channel. If you're new here, my name is Megan and I am so excited! Are you on drugs? For today's video. You may remember a couple weeks back I did a video recommending books based on my favorite Disney channel shows from Back in the Day, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Wavy Place. That's so Raven. And today I'm doing the same for Disney Channel original movies. So these are the movies that were on the Disney channel, like weren't in cinemas or anything. So we're like a little bit low budget but we loved them for it, you know? I have gone with some of my favorites and some obscure ones as well. I was looking through the list of all of them and I was like, I love that film! Remember that? Yeah. Iconic. Before we get into it make sure you subscribe if you haven't already and tell me down below which Disney Channel original film was your favorite and then let's find out whether I recommend a book based off of it. If you're new here, like if you don't watch a lot of my videos you may not know like I don't read a ton of contemporary like high school contemporary and that's what like all the Disney Channel films are. So we're having to stretch our imaginations a bit. I read a lot of fantasy. I read a lot of murder mystery. And don't drag me for it. I think I've come up with some good links. Um, first is the best. The blueprint for everything that followed high school musical high school musical. I recently rewatched all three like a month ago maybe. And in my opinion, they stand a test of time. I watched them with Tom and Tom thinks that the second one was the best. I think the second one's the worst, but he as a non nostalgic viewer who really could not care less. He thought number two was the best. For me, the best thing about this is the cast of characters. Honestly, Troy and Gabriela can suck it. Like they are, if we're real, they are the weakest part. Well, maybe not Troy, but Gabriela especially rewatch is annoying as fuck. However, Kelsey, Ryan, Sharpe, Chad, oh my God. The ensemble is the best part of this. And it's just all about them learning how to be teenagers and work with what they've got and figure life out. And so something I think has major high school musical energy is the designer series by Libba Bray. Very disturbing. Go see a counselor. I'm not crazy. I think I'm right. Evie O'Neill kind of reminds me of Sharpe, but obviously Evie is our protagonist. And honestly, we all wanted Sharpe as a protagonist at some point. I mean, we did have Sharpe's fabulous adventure, but let's not speak about her. We don't need to. Like we don't need to touch on it. Basically, the designer series is very scooby gang vibes. You have this whole cast of characters who all meet in these circumstances and they have to fight evil. They don't have to fight the American high school system. They just have to fight evil. I love this series. I can't wait to read the third one. I know it's all out now. So King of Crows, which is the last one is out. I haven't got that yet. Sorry. Oh, I wasn't talking to you, but I still need to read the third one. I've only read the first two, but the way that these characters interact with each other and form close friendships really reminds me of High School Musical, but set in New York in the 1920s and fighting the devil. I remember that originally there was a leak. I think it was fake, but like Zac Efron and Kenny Ortega were photographed with a script that said High School Musical 3 Halloween or something. I don't think that would have been far off of this. I think Libba Bray saw the title of that script and thought, I've got it. I've got it. And the Diviners was born on the spot. High School Musical The Diviners, one and the same. If you think I'm wrong, you're wrong. The next one, possibly my most tenuous link or possibly my most genius link. I was gonna say you're the judge, but you're not. I just know I'm right. Delusion. Convince yourself. Camp Rock. Camp Rock. Mitchy, a bit of an outsider, a bit of a nerd, a bit different from everyone else. What? She gets to go to Camp Rock because her mum is the cook, so she's coming from like a poorer standpoint with all these rich kids. Mitchy? Honestly, just thinking about the book recommendation I'm about to give you, I think I'm genius. I'm genius. She's really good. You have the Jonas Brothers. So you have these three guys with like different dynamics to them. It's all about Mitchy coming into her own and finding herself. By the end of it, she is the one in the spotlight shining. So I was sitting there and I was thinking about all different parts and I started singing. This is a real, this is me. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now. Gonna let the light shine on me. And then I got it. Are we ready? Are we ready? The Poppy wall by R.F. Krang. Now listen, now listen, I'm a genius. Rin comes from poverty, has to take this really hard exam to get into the military academy. It's surrounded by all these rich kids. There's some guys there. We've got Kitai, Naja, Altan, the Jonas Brothers. And the whole book is about Rin coming into her own, coming into her power and blowing everyone away with her skills. Like Mitchy did at the show. And she's gonna let the light shine on her. I'm a genius. Mitchy is Rin. Rin is Mitchy. Tell me this isn't Rin and friends marching into battle. I dare you. I love the Poppy wall. I think I gave it like 4.75 when I read it, but honestly it's a five star. The way that this book, stepping away from the camp, pro comparison, but genuinely the way that this book deals with Chinese history and bringing it to light is so important. There's some really difficult parts of this, you know, trigger warnings for sexual assault, violence, death, murder, genocide, war. I think it just does it so well and it's such an important book that we all read. I remember I read a particularly difficult scene in this and it's a scene, you've probably heard about it, chapter 21 that everyone finds really hard. And although I did find it really hard to read in politics, I have studied a lot of things like that and the specific event that that is modelled around and everything that happens in that scene is true, has happened in real life, is happening now. I think that makes it even more shocking reading it through that lens and realising like this terrible stuff happens in real life, not just in fantasy books. And this does a great job as well of not glorifying war. I think war can often be like really glorified in fantasy books like, oh, we're just going off for a little jaunt to, you know, take over some kingdoms, kill some people, hey. But war is horrible and brutal and terrible and I think that the Poppywatch does a great job of showing that. But yeah, Mitchie and Ren, Rebecca, Rebecca, listen, I'm right, aren't I? I just need her approval, I'm right. Same character arc, exactly same character arc. You can plot it, one is just a Disney movie, one is a book about war. Next is a book ahead of its time, Halloween Town. I watch this every year at Halloween. Spooky shit occurs, bit like Buffy the Vampire Say-A-Light, you know, like for young kids. I just loved it, I would watch this every Halloween. It reduces stress, it alleviates depression. For this, I'm gonna be recommending, if you're wanting a bit of spooky vibes, The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman, volume one. So this is a graphic novel adaptation of, I think there is a book called The Graveyard Book, but this is a graphic novel version of it, which I really, really love. I have got the second volume of this, but I've only read the first currently. This is about a young boy whose parents are murdered, but I think he manages to crawl out of the house before the murderer finds him. And he crawls into this graveyard where the ghosts elect to protect him and to save him from the murder and to look after him and to raise the child. So he is essentially raised by all of these ghosts and I think he's called Silas as well. Yeah, Silas. So Silas is not a ghost, he's kind of like an undead figure who is the boy's main mentor. And what this takes you through is just like little events in his life. I think there's like four chapters, five chapters, and we'll just kind of the paranormal stuff that he gets up to. And what I really actually like about this is that each chapter is illustrated by different artists. So you get a wide range of artistic styles to see. This is just perfect for the upcoming festive. Oh, you guys got dragged me for this, huh? Okay. Halloween is, well, some people see it as festive for the upcoming spooky period. I'm sure you're getting involved in lots of readathons and so I think a graphic novel is a great choice. Next is the film that I was reminded of when looking through the list and it is Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-O. I love this film. I used to watch it all the time. I think it's about a baseball player, isn't it? I think it's baseball. He's definitely some kind of sports player and he just falls in love with cooking and it's about him learning to cook and like not being great at it at first and learning how to do it. For this, I decided to go the recommendation where the character loves to cook and I've gone with Heartless by Marissa Meyer. I have taken the sleeve off just because I really love the hard cover as it is. Bling, bling, bling. Bitch, is this mad? This is a Queen of Hearts retelling where Kath loves to bake. She loves to bake and all she wants to do is open a bakery with her best friend. However, she's an eligible girl in this kingdom and the king wants to marry her and she's like... Because like the king ain't it. The king is... I really, really loved this. I think Marissa Meyer just has... She has a way with retellings. The woman knows how to write that kind of stuff. Listen, Marissa Meyer ain't some kind of niche author. She is making her coin but I just was really surprised with how much I enjoyed this and I also had this on my physical TBR for so long so I was so glad to finally read it when I did. Basically, because it's Queen of Hearts, you know it's going one of two ways. You know, either she's turning into the Queen of Hearts that we know or it's kind of like a twist and she doesn't turn into that. And you... Depending on your vibe, depending like if you love the Poppy Wall you might be hoping... Come on, let's get full villain here. Or you may be hoping that she doesn't go down that path and so it's really interesting because you're thinking the whole entire time. Even when there aren't necessarily hints of it in the story, what way is our gal gonna go? I just loved the baking, the atmosphere. I feel like I could smell the cakes. Hmm, I can't but like the smell. And then lastly is Princess Protection Programme with Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. The plots do evade me a little bit. Like it has been a long time since I've watched a lot of these but I believe Demi Lovato is a princess and she has to go and live with Selena Gomez like as an exchange student to protect her. I wanted to get a book that reminded me of the vibes of the film which is these two girls meeting and coming together and learning about each other and learning to get along and be friends. Although the example I'm about to talk about is sisters. I think it has a lot of the same vibes and it is Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. This is about two sisters who don't know that each other exists. They come from very different lives just like Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato do in the film and they find out that they're related when their father dies in a plane crash and it's about them coming together, learning about each other, learning about family, coming to terms with how this man that they both loved ultimately lied to them and did them a disservice in some ways in their lives and like learning that when a person is gone is a very difficult thing to do and Elizabeth Acevedo just does family so so well. I'm constantly amazed by how incredible her familial relationships are and this is told in verse. Not all of her books are but this one is. Elizabeth Acevedo's way with words. I think she is one of the best contemporary authors if not the best one of the best contemporary authors that we have at the moment. Just their relationship and the growth of their relationship is really really great to see. So yeah, we definitely recommend this. So there we have it. That is all of my recommendations based on Disney Channel original movies. Let me know which of these films was your favorite back in the day and if you agree with some of my genius, genius recommendations like The Poppy War, honestly, when that came to me, it was a moment. It was a moment. I hope you enjoyed this video. Also, let me know if you want to read any of these books, if you're going to be picking any of them up soon. And yeah, I will see you very soon in another video. Bye.