The chill in the air can only mean one thing: it’s time to rewatch every single Disney Channel Original Movie. So, basically, just all of Kenny J. Ortega’s masterpieces. High School Musical, Hocus Pocus, Descendants—the list goes on and on and on. But—and this came as a total shocker to me freshman year—I’ve come to realize that not everyone grew up watching the likes of Zac Efron and Miley Cyrus after school. Not everyone was raised by the Sprouse twins, Jonas brothers, or the one and only Selena Gomez.

As a born-and-bred Disney fanatic, I’ve taken it upon myself to rectify this injustice, forcing all of my suitemates to watch my childhood classics until they can quote the lyrics to every original song. I even have a four-hour-long Spotify playlist titled “the soundtrack of my childhood” that I assign as homework to my wannabe cultured pupils. If you or someone you know has been impacted by a general lack of Disney Channel-induced joy and whimsy, I am here to be a guiding light. Your very own Disney guru. Heed my sage advice and watch the movies listed below if you want to reach peak enlightenment…

1. Girl vs. Monster

This movie inspired this whole article. When I’m really down in the dumps, the only thing that gets me through my funk is thinking about 15-year-old Skylar Lewis discovering she is a fifth-generation monster hunter. Talk about being an OG nepo baby. From high-stakes monster hunts to Halloween bashes and riff-offs that rival the Barden Bellas, this movie is peak fall. Hearing Olivia Holt belt “Fearless” heals my soul in ways nothing else has in the past 21 years (second to a pint of berryline, maybe). If you need a confidence boost or a reminder of why you are ready for a showdown with whatever comes your way (cough cough midterms), this is the film for you.

2. Cheetah Girls

You cannot talk about early 2000s culture without mentioning the greatest girl group to ever exist. Nope, not the Spice Girls. I’m talking about the Cheetah Girls: Galleria, Chanel, Aqua, and Dorinda. As an aspiring child actor, I obsessively rewatched this 2003 film, thinking it would give me the competitive edge I needed to become a triple threat, serenading all of New York as I danced atop Manhattan’s steaming manholes. Spoiler alert: that career path didn’t work. But what the Cheetah Girls taught me friendship, fashion, and family makes up for what I would’ve made in residuals.

3. Cow Belles

Okay, if I’m being honest, this is kind of a niche, performative pull. So before anyone comes for me for not listing Teen Beach or Lemonade Mouth, just know that I am trying to indoctrinate expose the youth to DCOM gems so they watch the other ones on their own. With that disclaimer out of the way, I will say that Cow Belles deserves more hype than it receives.

Starring sister duo Aly & AJ, best known for their song “Potential Breakup Song” (yup, the one written about Joe Jonas #disneyincest), the film follows two spoiled sisters who are forced to work at their dad’s dairy factory and learn the value of hard work. Although the ending is predictable (the girls become down to earth!), the movie is the perfect change of pace from big-city DCOM stars. Not everyone can be a struggling artist in NYC. Some of us have got to hold it down in small-town Nebraska.

4. Frenemies

She is beauty, she is grace. She is Zendaya and Bella Thorne, our favorite Disney Channel best friends turned unknown (lowkey maybe frenemies…the 2012 film’s title may have predicted it all). Beyond my obsession with the Disney show Shake It Up, which both Zendaya and Thorne starred in, this movie really struck a chord with seven-year-old Ava, who wanted her own blog and to go viral on the worldwide web — which I guess she technically accomplished with Flyby. But without any big choreographed dance scenes or catchy original songs, this movie falls a bit flat. Still, it’s a good homage to the Golden Era of Disney stars who escaped onto bigger and better things like The Odyssey.

5. Cloud 9

The best for last. I could probably write a summa cum laude thesis on how much I love this movie and why it should be required viewing in middle schools around the country, but I’ll restrain myself. All I’ll say for now is that Dove Cameron can do no wrong and I owe her my childhood. Her journey from a wayward snowboarder to perfecting the Cloud 9 and working at the local resort kennel is much more heartwarming than it sounds. If you’re still recovering from that nor’easter chill, this movie is the perfect cure. Like hot cocoa to the soul. Watching this movie for the first time really must be how it feels to fly (iykyk).

There you have it. Five very long-winded confessions of a DCOM-obsessed child at heart. Whether you’ve never heard of these films or you have seen clips on TikTok, I urge you to invest an hour of your free time this weekend scrolling on Disney+. I can assure you that you won’t be disappointed. This is important cultural knowledge that should be preserved for generations to come. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.