If You Have A Low Threshold For Secondhand Embarrassment, You Probably Hate These 31 Awkward Scenes We Let Disney Channel Get Away With
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Look, I love Disney Channel. It was basically my entire childhood. But looking back...there were a few moments that I thought were cool that are actually reallyyyyyy cringey.
NBC
Like...so bad that I can't even watch them. But in case you'd like to suffer through, here are 31 super awkward Disney Channel moments that I just really can't believe we let them get away with.
I also included some noteworthy comments from BuzzFeed readers themselves!
1.Lizzie's "rhythmic gymnastics" scene on Lizzie McGuire:
Disney Channel
"Lizzie doing 'rhythmic gymnastics' with the ribbon to the score of Chariots of Fire and everybody in awe like she was Kerri Strug."
The music, the intensity of this scene, the guy trying to sabotage Lizzie's performance, Lizzie spinning around with a ribbon....iconic, yet very cringey.
Watch the scene here:
2.Shane's dancing when he taught the campers a routine in Camp Rock:
Disney Channel
"I love Joe Jonas, but...he can’t dance."
Watch the scene here:
3.When Phil and Keely decided to date on Phil of the Future, and it was just reallyyyyy awkward:
"We recently rewatched Phil of the Future (my husband's favorite '00s show, lol), and there are a lot of cringe moments. I think the worst was the last episode when Keely and Phil decide to date. I almost had to turn it off."
There's no clip for this, but if you want to watch it, it's the beginning of the series finale!
4.When Lizzie called the fireworks beautiful and Paolo replied, "Yes, you are" in The Lizzie McGuire Movie:
Just so bad.
5.Just *this* iconic face from Radio Rebel:
Disney Channel
WHY DID THE DIRECTOR NOT SAY ANYTHING?!? Also...her hair...
Watch the scene here:
6.When Mitchie's lie was exposed in Camp Rock, and it was just unnecessarily dramatic:
Suggested by 19biancahercules
Watch the scene here:
7.The extremely unfortunate rap battle in Adventures in Babysitting:
"My niece was watching a Disney movie called Adventures in Babysitting. They have a 'rap battle' scene. Oh, it is soooo cringe. Two little teen girls rap with their crew of kids. Oh, and I remember the chorus — yep, chorus — was like, 'She ain’t no quitter, she’s the babysitter.' Oh, so so bad! Why Disney, why!!!???"
Watch the scene here:
8.Everything about Troy running around the golf course in "Bet On It":
Disney Channel
I'm just imagining a group casually golfing and seeing this all happen.
9.But especially when he looks in the water at his reflection, which is literally the fakest reflection I have ever seen:
"'Bet On It' will never not be entertaining. And the incredibly fake reflection makes it all the more better."
Watch the full scene here:
10.Loretta's dance moves during "Nothing's Wrong With Me" in Pixel Perfect:
Disney Channel
Somehow, the crowd was loving it.
Watch the scene here:
11.Stella's weird off-rhythm clap-dancing in the detention scene in Lemonade Mouth:
Disney Channel
Honorary mention to Mo spraying the cleaning bottle in her face.
Watch the clip here:
12.The dance-off scene in Cadet Kelly:
Disney Channel
The confidence...
Watch the scene here:
13.When Oliver and Lilly accidentally pulled off a Black woman's wig in Hannah Montana:
First, Oliver gets his fingers stuck in it, then they rip it off, and it hits Hannah....ugh. Just bad.
I can't find the scene online, but it happens during Season 2, Episode 14, "Everybody Was Best Friend Fighting"!
14.Everything about Derek and Casey in Life with Derek, but ESPECIALLY this scene:
I cannot even watch this scene because I start rooting for them to kiss (which is 100% the way you're supposed to feel), and then I'm like, HOLD UP. THEY'RE STEP-SIBLINGS.
Watch the clip here at 7:41:
15.Speaking of...*all* the chemistry between Alex and Justin on Wizards of Waverly Place, but ESPECIALLY the episode when everyone except Alex forgot about Justin, and their mom kept telling Alex to date him:
"The writing and chemistry for Alex and Justin was more than brother and sister. In one episode where everyone but Alex forgets Justin, their mother says they’d be great dating each other, much to their horror. That one was actually written, not just two actors who work very well together."
16.Oh, and by the way, that episode also includes Justin getting naked in the living room (after he turns invisible):
Literally just standing naked next to his sister.
17.As well as his dad sitting on him, Justin putting a pillow over his crotch, and his mother making a joke about the pillow drawing her eye to his...you know what:
All good family fun!
Again, I don't have a clip, but it's Season 1, Episode 12, "Justin's Little Sister"!
18.When the girls rescued Toto by singing to him at the end of The Cheetah Girls:
Toto couldn't hear the girls shouting, but when they start singing quietly, the firefighter's all like, "OMG, IT'S WORKING"?!? I just can't deal with the cheesiness. At the time, I thought this was realistic and sweet.
You can watch a (low-quality, sorry!) version of the scene here:
19.When Caitlyn did a weird little dance and played awful keyboard sounds, and Mitchie genuinely went "she's really good!" in Camp Rock:
Was she, though? Was she?
Watch the scene here:
20.And when Mitchie calls Tess's bracelet "so blingalicious," also in Camp Rock:
Demi, I love you, but this writing wasn't doing you any favors.
There's no video, but it happens soon after Mitchie meets Tess!
21.Last Camp Rock one...this weird dance/march scene from Camp Rock 2:
Disney Channel
You may have seen this on TikTok, where people hilariously edit it into other scenes.
Watch the scene here:
22.When Troy gave Gabriella a necklace with his first initial on it in High School Musical 2:
This was so weirdly possessive to me?? And she was so flattered?? Also, that necklace was ugly as hell.
Watch the scene here:
23.When Lizzie screamed about how she wanted a bra on Lizzie McGuire:
Look, I appreciate that Lizzie McGuire talks about real preteen issues, but I still cringe at "I WANT A BRA! WE WANT A BRA!"
Watch the scene here:
24.And everything about the Aaron Carter kiss on Lizzie McGuire:
I remember freaking out over Aaron Carter kissing Lizzie in Lizzie McGuire when I was younger, but looking back...it is one of the most awkward things I've ever seen. The look he gives her before! The fact that they do not even seem to kiss, and then he SHUTS THE DOOR IN HER FACE!!!
Wacth the scene here (starts at 1:55):
25.When Zuri and Jessie switched bodies and Luke said he was attracted to his sister in disguise on Jessie:
Oh man, this scene. Luke being attracted to Jessie was already cringe; then you add on the fact that it's actually Zuri here and he's attracted to her personality, and THEN you add on the fact that Debby Ryan as Jessie is imitating a Black character in a pretty caricatural voice...this scene is too cringe.
I can't find the clip, but this is from Season 2, Episode 13, "To Be Me, or Not to Be Me."
26.Also on Jessie, when Luke wouldn't stop flirting with Jessie and at one point revealed he'd set up a camera in her room:
:/
Again, I can't find the clip, but it's during Season 4, Episode 1, "But Africa Is So... Fari!"
27.AND this super weird joke from Jessie:
Why were there so many suggestive jokes on Jessie???
This one happens in Season 4, Episode 19, "The Fear in Our Stars."
28.When Zack and Cody formed a physical link in The Suite Life Movie (so they could feel everything the other felt), and started hitting themselves to hurt the other one:
Disney Channel
29.Also, when they turned into weird, glowing versions of themselves and fought for twin superiority:
This movie is a fever dream.
30.And when Cody ran his fingers down a machine in the lab and affectionately (and kinda sexually???) said, "Shh, baby, don't speak":
Disney Channel
My friend and I still quote this to each other.
I can't find clips for these, but you can see a few of them in the trailer for this truly bonkers film:
31.And finally, the most awkward Disney Channel moment of — Hilary Duff's "You're watching Disney Channel" outtakes:
Disney Channel / Via youtube.com
Iconic.
Watch them here:
What Disney Channel moments always make YOU cringe? Let us know in the comments below!
Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.
