''Alley Cats Strike'' is a
Disney Channel Original Movie
Many television films have been produced for Disney Channel, an American family-oriented basic cable channel and former premium television channel since its launch on April 18, 1983. Until October 1997, films were released under the banner nam ...
that premiered on March 18, 2000. Directed by
Rod Daniel
Rollin Augustus "Rod" Daniel III (August 4, 1942 – April 16, 2016) was an American television and film director, active from the late 1970s to the early 2000s. His films include the 1985 Michael J. Fox comedy film ''Teen Wolf'', which was a con ...
, it stars
Kyle Schmid
Kyle Schmid (born August 3, 1984) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles as Alex Caulder in History's ''Six'', Henry Durham in Syfy's '' Being Human'', Robert Morehouse in BBC America's ''Copper'' and Aaron Abbot in '' The Covenant'' (2006) ...
,
Robert Ri'chard
Robert Andrew Ri'chard (born January 7, 1983) is an American television and film actor, known for his roles as Arnaz Ballard on the UPN sitcom '' One on One'' and Bobby Walker on the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Cousin Skeeter''.
Early life
Ri'chard was ...
, and
Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress. After a series of supporting film and television roles in the late 1990s, she landed her breakthrough role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom ''8 Simple Rules'' (2002 ...
.
Plot
A junior high school basketball game between the cities of East Appleton and West Appleton ends in a tie. The two cities, both vying for a trophy known as The Mighty Apple, must determine the winner through a bowling competition. Alex Thompson and his friends, Delia, Elisa and Ken, are in West Appleton Junior High School's bowling club; they discover that Todd McLemore, a popular basketball player, is also a member of the club, as his friends Leo and Flip had signed him up as a prank.
At a bowling alley operated by Alex's father, Kevin Thompson, Todd reluctantly trains for the upcoming bowling competition with Alex and his friends. He criticizes Alex and his friends for not demonstrating a strong willingness to win, which they deem as overconfidence. Alex later attends a party with Todd, rather than train at the bowling alley with his friends, upsetting them. Todd's bowling improves, while Alex's bowling becomes worse as he continues to spend time with Todd.
The children later redecorate Kevin's bowling alley to bring in customers. Todd uses his popularity to convince various businesses to donate supplies such as paint and flashing lights for the bowling alley, where a party known as the "Bowling Ball" is held and attended by dozens of people. Delia, Elisa, and Ken leave the party early, as they feel betrayed by Alex now frequently hanging out with Todd and his friends. After the party, Alex overhears Todd's friends talking among each other and discovers that they are only pretending to be friends with Alex to increase the chances of their school winning back The Mighty Apple.
Jeff McLemore, Todd's father and the mayor of West Appleton, makes a wager with mayor Hanburger of East Appleton: the winning team, in addition to receiving The Mighty Apple, will also get to choose the name for a new school that is under construction. Hanburger hires Whipsaw McGraw, a bowling champion, to train his bowling team. From the city, the West Appleton bowling team receives low-quality team shirts for the bowling competition. The team is also told about the wager between the mayors, after which Alex quits the team out of anger.
Todd attempts to convince Alex to rejoin the bowling team, and reveals new shirts with the team's name, Alley Cats, on it. Kevin later tells Alex that he used to be friends with Jeff when they were younger, but ended their friendship after accusing the other of losing a baseball game, which they both believe resulted in the city losing The Mighty Apple. Kevin tells Alex to not let a dispute end a friendship.
Alex rejoins the bowling team for the competition the next day. At the end of the competition, Todd's bowling results in a 7-10 split, which he could never master during his training. Delia substitutes for Todd. Using her knowledge of physics, Delia rolls a spinner slowly down the lane and spares, winning the competition, to everyone's surprise. Todd tells his father that it does not seem fair for a school to be named over a game of bowling. Alex and his friends decide to compromise and name the new school Appleton Central.
Cast
*
Kyle Schmid
Kyle Schmid (born August 3, 1984) is a Canadian actor, best known for his roles as Alex Caulder in History's ''Six'', Henry Durham in Syfy's '' Being Human'', Robert Morehouse in BBC America's ''Copper'' and Aaron Abbot in '' The Covenant'' (2006) ...
as Alex Thompson
*
Robert Ri'chard
Robert Andrew Ri'chard (born January 7, 1983) is an American television and film actor, known for his roles as Arnaz Ballard on the UPN sitcom '' One on One'' and Bobby Walker on the Nickelodeon sitcom ''Cousin Skeeter''.
Early life
Ri'chard was ...
as Todd McLemore
*
Kaley Cuoco
Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress. After a series of supporting film and television roles in the late 1990s, she landed her breakthrough role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom ''8 Simple Rules'' (2002 ...
as Elisa Bowers
* Mimi Paley as Delia Graci
* Joey Wilcots as Ken Long
*
Matt McCoy as Mr. Kevin Thompson
*
Hardee T. Lineham Hardee T. Lineham is a Canadian actor.Martin Morrow, "Ex-Calgarian wins Best Actor award". ''Calgary Herald'', July 7, 1993. He is most noted for his performance in the 1996 film ''Shoemaker'', for which he was a Genie Award nominee for Best Suppor ...
– Principal Morris
* Evan Noble as Leonardo "Leo"
* Gino Giacomini as "Flip"
*
Tim Reid
Timothy Lee Reid (born December 19, 1944) is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as Venus Flytrap on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–82), Marcel "Downtown" Brown ...
as Mayor Jeff McLemore
*
Daphne Maxwell Reid
Daphne Etta Maxwell Reid (née Maxwell; July 13, 1948) is an American actress, comedian, designer and former model. She is best known for her role as the second Vivian Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from 1993 to 1996.
...
as Mrs. Cathy McLemore
*Phillip Williams as Louis "Sweet Lou"
* Rodger Barton as Mayor Hanburger
* Roman Podhora as Coach Fetters
*
David Reale
David Reale is a Canadian actor. Reale gained fame at the age of 16 for voicing Kai Hiwatari from the original ''Beyblade'' anime series, which ran from 2001-2005. From 2010-2013, Reale provided the voice of another Beyblade character, Tsubasa Ot ...
as Baron McKay
*
Laura Vandervoort
Laura Dianne Vandervoort (born September 22, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Sadie Harrison in the CTV teen drama series ''Instant Star'', Arla "The Bolt-Gun Killer" Cogan in the Syfy supernatural drama series '' ...
as Lauren
* Joan Gregson as Ms. Jenson
* Janet Bailey as Nancy
*
Alisha Morrison
Alisha Morrison (born April 23, 1986) is a Canadian actress known for roles in ''Harriet the Spy'' and ''Mean Girls''.
Biography
Morrison was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She started acting in film at age seven and has continued to act into ...
as Gina
* Marcello Meleca as Bubba
*
Bill Lake
Bill Lake ( W.F. Lake) is a Canadian actor whose career began in Vancouver and who has appeared in many movies, television movies and series, stage plays and commercials. He has over 175 credits in a variety of productions since the 1970s.
Caree ...
as "Whipsaw" McGraw
* Booth Stephenson as Bobby Nagurski
* David Talbot as Corning
*
Mary Lu Zahalan
Mary Lu Zahalan is a Canadian rock singer and actress.
Born in Renfrew, Ontario and raised in Oakville, Ontario, Zahalan was a Miss Canada finalist in 1976 before embarking on a career as an entertainer. She is a performing arts teacher at Oak ...
as Ms. Johnson
* Paul Constable as Bowling Referee
* Rufus Crawford as Ken's Dad
* Elizabeth Lennie as Mrs. Thompson
* Terry Doyle as Grandpa
Production
Filming of ''Alley Cats Strike'' began on , 1999.
Popular culture
In 2014, the movie's
English Wikipedia
The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of
, has the most arti ...
article gained attention for having the longest film plot summary on the English-language version of the site.
Soundtrack
References
External links
*
*
Alley Cats Strike! – The Wikipedia Summary
{{Rod Daniel
2000 television films
2000 films
Ten-pin bowling films
Disney Channel Original Movie films
Films directed by Rod Daniel
American teen films
American comedy-drama films
Films shot in Ontario
American drama television films
2000s American films