''The Cheetah Girls'' is a 2003 American musical

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

based on the book series of the same name by

Deborah Gregory Deborah Gregory is the author of the book series '' The Cheetah Girls''. She was co-producer of the Disney Channel Original Movies '' The Cheetah Girls'' and ''The Cheetah Girls 2'' and an executive producer for '' The Cheetah Girls: One World'' ...

. This film marks the first Disney Channel Original Movie as a musical.

Plot

Four teen girls in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Galleria, Chanel, Aqua, and Dorindaperform at a children's birthday party as The Cheetah Girls. After the performance, Chanel rushes home to tell her mother about the show, but her mother is preoccupied preparing for a date with her new

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

ian boyfriend. Galleria comes home to her parents, who chastise her for not taking phone messages for her mother or walking their

Bichon Frise A bichon is a distinct type of toy dog; it is typically kept as a companion dog. Believed to be descended from the Barbet, it is believed the bichon-type dates to at least the 11th century; it was relatively common in 14th-century France, wher ...

dog, Toto. Meanwhile, Dorinda attends to her job, doing

janitor A janitor (American English, Scottish English), also known as a custodian, porter, cleanser, cleaner or caretaker, is a person who cleans and maintains buildings. In some cases, they will also carry out maintenance and security duties. A simil ...

ial work at a community center. The girls hope to become the first

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

to win the

talent show A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, poetry, comedy or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather ...

in their school's history. After a successful audition for the talent show, a famous

alumnus Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

of the school, Jackal Johnson, expresses interest in signing The Cheetah Girls to his

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. Galleria introduces herself as the founder and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

of The Cheetah Girls, which is not appreciated by the group's other members. While Galleria's mother, Dorothea, is initially hesitant to let The Cheetah Girls pursue the opportunity with Jackal, she eventually allows the girls to have a meeting after being encouraged by Galleria's father. The meeting is a success, and despite some ongoing concerns from Galleria, the girls begin to prepare to record their first song. Without asking the group's other members for opinions, Galleria suggests that The Cheetah Girls should not make time for the talent show due to their record deal, and criticizes Dorinda for repeatedly wearing the same dull clothing. Aqua encourages Chanel, Galleria's oldest friend, to speak to Galleria about her behavior. Meanwhile, Dorinda has the opportunity to take a dance audition at the center where she is employed. She is offered a paying role because of her work, but taking on the role would require her to leave the Cheetah Girls. Later, Chanel becomes distressed after overhearing a

voicemail A voicemail system (also known as voice message or voice bank) is a computer-based system that allows users and subscribers to exchange personal voice messages; to select and deliver voice information; and to process transactions relating to ind ...

suggesting that her mother was planning to sell their New York City apartment to move to Paris with her boyfriend. Feeling neglected, Chanel takes advantage of having her mother's credit card to go on a shopping spree on

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...

. In an act of kindness, Chanel purchases a cheetah jacket for Dorinda who reveals her financial troubles: She is a poor

foster child Foster care is a system in which a underage, minor has been placed into a ward (law), ward, group home (Residential Child Care Community, residential child care community, Treatment centre, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-ce ...

who lives in a 10-child household with a mother whose husband is a superintendent for the building. Chanel assures Dorinda that they will remain friends and she will always be a Cheetah Girl. At the next meeting between The Cheetah Girls and Jackal Johnson, Jackal reveals that a marketing team has developed a new image for the group that will require them to wear masks and

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

. Galleria is devastated by this and declares that the group refuse the offer, but the other girls stay behind due to their frustrations with Galleria's attitude. Galleria leaves under the impression that the other Cheetah Girls have taken the deal. Chanel arrives home where her mother reveals her credit card was declined due to Chanel's shopping spree. Chanel breaks down after thinking about how grateful she is for her mother given Dorinda's current status as a foster child, and Chanel's mother agrees to make more time for her daughter. Later, Galleria's dog Toto falls into an obstruction on the Manhattan streets. This attracts a great deal of attention, including a live news story, which alerts the other Cheetah Girls members about what is going on and causes them to come to Toto's rescue. Their singing helps calm Toto down and allow for his safe removal from the obstruction. This act of bonding ultimately causes the girls to repair their friendship, and they go on to sing a new song on the news for all of New York to see. Jackal Johnson calls, voicing his regret trying to change The Cheetah Girls, but the girls refuse an offer with him. The Cheetah Girls end up winning the talent show, and the girls renew their commitment to achieving their dreams and maintaining their friendship.

Cast

Raven-Symoné Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman-Maday () (née Pearman; born December 10, 1985), also known mononymously as Raven, is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She has received several accolades, including five NAACP Image Awards, two Kids ...

as Galleria "Bubbles" Garibaldi *

Adrienne Bailon Adrienne Eliza Bailon-Houghton ( née Bailon () ; born October 24, 1983) is an American television personality, singer, and actress. She is a former member of the girl groups 3LW and The Cheetah Girls. From 2013 to 2022, Bailon was a co-host o ...

as Chanel "Chuchie" Simmons *

Kiely Williams Kiely Alexis Williams (born July 9, 1986) is an American singer, dancer and actress. She is known for her membership in the girl groups 3LW, The Cheetah Girls (group), the Cheetah Girls and BluPrint. Career 1999–2002: Career beginnings and 3 ...

as Aquanette "Aqua" Walker *

Sabrina Bryan Reba Sabrina Hinojos (born September 16, 1984), known professionally as Sabrina Bryan, is an American dancer, choreographer, actress and singer. She was best known as a member of the girl group The Cheetah Girls, and starred in the Disney Chann ...

as Dorinda "Do" Thomas *

Lynn Whitfield Lynn Whitfield (''née'' Smith; born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a ...

as Dorothea Garibaldi, Galleria's Mother *

Juan Chioran Juan Chioran (born June 18, 1963) is an Argentine-born Canadian actor primarily associated with stage roles at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada. He is based in Stratford, Ontario. Chioran is also known for his voice acting roles, such ...

as Francobollo Garibaldi, Galleria's Father * Lori Anne Alter as Juanita Simmons, Chanel's Mother *

Vince Corazza Vincent Corazza (born December 6, 1972) is a Canadian actor, known for playing the role of Alden Jones in the television series ''Braceface'' and Darien Shields/Tuxedo Mask in the anime ''Sailor Moon''. Career Corazza began acting at the age o ...

as Jackal Johnson, Record Producer and The Film's Antagonist * Sandra Caldwell as Drinka Champane, the music teacher *

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 Derek, Galleria's love interest and rapper of Sonic Chaos * Kim Roberts as Mrs. Bosco, Dorinda's foster mom * Caitlyn Williamson as Danielle Thomas, Dorinda’s youngest sister * Kyle Saunders as Pucci Simmons, Chanel's little brother *

Ennis Esmer Ennis Esmer (born December 29, 1978) is a Turkish-Canadian actor, comedian, voice actor, writer, producer and presenter. He is best known for his roles as Osman 'Oz' Bey in ''The Listener'', Kurtis 'Maz' Mazhari in ''Private Eyes'', Nash in '' ...

as Rick, a comedian

Production

During casting auditions for the film, executives at Disney dropped the character Anginette Walker from the books, because couldn't find the right twin girls to play both her and Aqua. According to author Deborah Gregory,

Tia TIA or Tia may refer to: Aviation * Tampa International Airport, US, IATA code TPA * Texas International Airlines, US, ICAO code * Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza, Albania, IATA code * Trans International Airlines, former U.S. airl ...

and

Tamera Mowry Tamera Darvette Mowry-Housley (née Mowry) () (born July 6, 1978) is an American actress, television personality, and former singer. She first gained fame for her teen role as Tamera Campbell on the ABC/ WB sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (opposite he ...

's names were brought up in the meeting, but were considered to be "too sophisticated" for the roles. The singer

Solange Knowles Solange Piaget Knowles (; born June 24, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, performance artist, and actress. Expressing an interest in music from an early age, Knowles had several temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, wh ...

was originally cast to play the role of Aqua. However, she pulled out of the film's production due to the promotion and release of her debut album ''

Solo Star ''Solo Star'' is the debut studio album by American singer Solange, released by Columbia Records and Music World on December 26, 2002 in Japan and January 21, 2003 in the United States. It debuted and peaked at number forty-nine on the U.S. ''Bi ...

''. The role was then given to Kiely Williams, who was in the girl group

3LW 3LW (initialism of "3 Lil Women") was an American girl group formed in 1999 by Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Naturi Naughton. Jessica Benson later replaced Naughton after she left the group in 2002. 3LW was signed to the label Epic Recor ...

with Adrienne Bailon at the time.

Jurnee Smollett Jurnee Diana Smollett (born October 1, 1986) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, including ''On Our Own (1994 TV series), On Our Own'' (1994–1995) and ''Full House'' (1992–1994). Sh ...

also auditioned for the film at one point. The film was directed by

Oz Scott Osborne Scott (born September 16, 1949) is an American film director, television director, television producer and theatre director. He is most known for ''Mr. Boogedy'', the award-winning short film. Life and career Born in Hampton, Virginia, ...

and produced by

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

Debra Martin Chase Debra Martin Chase (born October 11, 1956) is an American motion picture and television producer. Her company, Martin Chase Productions, is affiliated with Universal Television, a division of NBCUniversal Television Group. It was affiliated with ...

and Co Producer Cheryl Hill. The script was written by Alison Taylor and the music was composed by

John Van Tongeren John Warrington Van Tongeren is an American keyboardist and composer for films and television. Biography Van Tongeren's career in the entertainment business began as a keyboardist, with one of his earliest projects being the band Q, featuring ...

and

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...

. It was shot during October and November 2002 in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Soundtrack

An original motion picture soundtrack containing songs from and inspired by the film was released on August 12, 2003, by

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its r ...

and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. The soundtrack went to #33 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and was certified Double Platinum.

Awards

* 2004 – Nominated; Black Reel: Television Best Actress (Raven-Symoné) * 2004 – Nominated; Black Reel: Television Best Supporting Actress (

) * 2004 – Nominated; DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs (Oz Scott) * 2004 – Nominated; Image Award for Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Program (Lynn Whitfield) * 2012 – Nominated; Vision Award for Best Dramatic Performance (Lynn Whitfield)

Reception

The movie premiered with 6.5 million viewers. The DVD sold 800,000 copies.

Video games

* ''

The Cheetah Girls The Cheetah Girls may refer to: * The Cheetah Girls (franchise), a series of young adult novels by Deborah Gregory and the spin-offs made from the novels, including a film series ** ''The Cheetah Girls'' (film), a 2003 Disney Channel Original Movie ...

'' was released in 2006 by Disney for

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...

. * '' The Cheetah Girls: Pop Star Sensations'' was released in 2007 by Disney for

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

. * '' The Cheetah Girls: Passport to Stardom'' was released in 2008 by Disney for Nintendo DS.

Film sequels

''The Cheetah Girls 2''

The Cheetah Girls 2 ''The Cheetah Girls 2'' (also known as ''The Cheetah Girls: When In Spain'' in the working title) is a 2006 American film and the sequel to the Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), '' The Cheetah Girls.'' Directed by Kenny Ortega, the ...

'' was released August 25, 2006. The sequel follows the same main characters as the first film. They travel to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

to compete in a musical performance competition and continue pursuing their dreams of pop superstardom. Its premiere received a total of over 8.1 million viewers. The movie begins at a

graduation party Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is al ...

for the

Magnet's Class of 2006. While having a sleep-over at Galleria's apartment, Chanel tells the girls that her mother, Juanita, is planning a trip to Barcelona, where they will visit Juanita's long-term boyfriend. In an effort to spend summer together, the girls enter a music competition in Barcelona. Once there, a fellow competitor's mother conspires to break up The Cheetah Girls to increase her daughter's chances of winning. The whole movie is shot in Barcelona, including the parts that took place in

''The Cheetah Girls: One World''

The third film in the series,'' The Cheetah Girls: One World'', was released August 22, 2008. It premiered with 6.2 million viewers. Chanel, Dorinda, and Aqua are cast in a

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

that will be shot in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, India. Once they arrive in the exotic city, the girls receive an unpleasant surprise: the movie's director must choose only one of them. The announcement puts a strain on the girls' friendship. However, the happy ending has all three of them dancing in the film. This movie was shot in

Udaipur Udaipur () (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic capit ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Raven-Symoné did not reprise her role as Galleria, resulting in her character attending college off-screen. Raven-Symoné passed on the film due to her negative experience during ''The Cheetah Girls 2''. She has described her co-stars as having acted " clique-ish", and recalled feeling "excluded." Instead, she preferred to concentrate on her solo music career.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheetah Girls, The 2003 television films 2003 films 2003 comedy-drama films 2003 in American television 2000s buddy comedy-drama films 2000s female buddy films 2000s musical comedy-drama films 2000s teen comedy-drama films American buddy comedy-drama films American female buddy films American musical comedy-drama films American teen comedy-drama films American teen musical films The Cheetah Girls films Comedy-drama television films Disney Channel Original Movie films Films about girl groups Films about orphans Films based on American novels Films based on young adult literature Films directed by Oz Scott Films set in New York City Films shot in Toronto Musical television films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films