Why ‘The Cheetah Girls’ Still Means So Much, 20 Years Later

In 2003, the Disney Channel was at the height of its powers. With Disney Channel Original Movies playing regularly, and shows like That’s So Raven, Lizzie McGuire, and Kim Possible in the lineup, pre-teens and young adults flocked to the channel for their daily dose of TV. Raven Symoné of That’s So Raven was a standout star, so it was no surprise when she was cast as the lead in the movie adaption of Deborah Gregory’s book The Cheetah Girls.

The movie assumes the structure of many other popular movies for kids of the time. It follows four teenage girls—Galleria (Raven Symoné), Aqua (Kiely Williams), Chanel (Adrienne Bailon), and Dorinda (Sabrina Bryan)—who form a girl group that aspires to perform at and win their school’s talent show as freshmen. After a successful audition, the girls meet alumnus Jackal Johnson who promises to make them stars.

As is suggested by his name, Jackal is not the best guy, but more importantly, the rise to fame and the pressure of recording their first song together puts added tension on the girls’ friendship, causing them to snap at and criticize each other at every turn. Galleria becomes the de facto leader of the group, which also causes a rift between the four.

Eventually, as things tend to do in Disney Channel movies, the girls come back together after rejecting a deal by Jackal Johnson that would make them lip sync their own songs and not allow them to be the face of their own band. The movie ends with them singing a song for New York City onlookers, bonded by their love of music and each other.

I was 11 when The Cheetah Girls came out, so I was the target demographic for the film. Already a fan of Symoné, I watched the movie every time it was on. I memorized the lyrics to the songs, and even the choreography. For young Black girls like me, stars like Symoné and Williams showcased a change in the tides. Black girls were no longer the quippy, punchy sidekicks; we were the leaders in cool bands and the center of TV shows.

Unless you were watching a show where all the characters were Black, the representation for Black people in white-led shows was usually pretty lacking. Take, for example, another popular show at the time, Lizzy McGuire. The core cast didn’t have a Black star, and the Black characters were usually teachers or passing students with very few lines. Usually, their stories that revolved around the core cast and their daily high jinks.

So, when shows like That’s So Raven became popular, it was a breath of fresh air. In fact, the show kind of flipped the stereotype on its head, making Chelsea (Anneliese Van der Pol) the sidekick to Symoné’s psychic teen Raven. The same can be said for The Cheetah Girls. While Galleria making herself the leader of the group is a point of contention in the movie, it was pretty clear that Symoné was the biggest star out of The Cheetah Girls. Already established and beloved as a child star, her performance really stuck out and captured the attention of viewers.

Kiely Williams was also a household name by that point, as she was part of the R&B group 3LW. Adrienne Balon (who is Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian) was also in 3LW but wasn’t really known as an actress at the time.

Though Galleria’s character can come off as pushy in the movie, it was her strength and self love that made her stand out to me and other Black girls who watched. When Jackal comes to the girls with his bogus deal, it’s Galleria who first takes a stand, recognizing the deal as unfair. She walks out while the other girls stay to presumably hear what Jackal has to say to justify his deal. For all the flack she gets for being self-centered, Galleria is the one to see that the girls are being played; she’s not overcome by the possibility of stardom like the other girls are.

Galleria is bold, not willing to shrink herself to play second fiddle to the other girls in the group or to Jackal’s vision for the crew. Another super important aspect of Symoné’s casting as Galleria was that, by 2003 standards, Galleria’s character was not your average teen star. Where other leads in movies and TV shows were commonly a size 0, Galleria stood out as someone who was not.

This was a plot point in season 2 episode 8 of That’s So Raven, in an episode where Raven designs her own line of clothes for a fashion show. In one of her characteristic visions, Raven sees the organizer of the show saying she doesn’t have the right body type for the clothes. In typical Raven fashion, she crashes the show wearing the clothing she has designed as onlookers applaud.

I can’t recall if Galleria’s size was ever called into question in The Cheetah Girls like it was in That’s So Raven. In some ways, it didn’t even have to be called to attention. Galleria was confident, her clothes always on point, her hair and makeup perfect. For a young Black girl who was also not thin, this representation really got me in the heart. If Galleria could love herself, so could I.

The music in the first movie was also a big driver for why the film was so popular. The soundtrack was #33 on the Billboard 200 and went Double Platinum. Songs like “Cinderella” that declared, “I can slay my own dragons, I can dream my own dreams, my night in shining armor is me,” were some of my earliest introductions to feminist sentiments.

“Girl Power” and “Cheetah Sisters,” the song they sing at the end of the movie, also have the same feminist messages, that girls can make their own way in life and don’t need to find a boy to give them purpose and meaning. Also, the enduring message that friendships between women and girls are a source of power.

August 15, 2023 was the 20th anniversary of the film’s release. Re-listening to the songs and rewatching the music videos, they all have a familiar effect on me and make me feel like a kid again. The YouTube videos for their more popular songs are filled with comments from millennials who still love these tracks. It’s fun to walk down memory lane and remember how important these films were to me, but especially that first film. I saw myself reflected onscreen for probably the first time, and anyone can tell you how vital that feeling is for young kids, but especially young Black girls.

(featured image: IMDB)