Twenty years in the past, Raven-Symoné, Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan, and Kiely Williams starred in The Cheetah Ladies, a Disney Channel Authentic Film that formed a technology.
Earlier than the Cheetah Ladies have been delivered to life as a pop and R&B woman group in 2003, they existed on the pages of Deborah Gregory’s Cheetah Ladies ebook sequence. Gregory was sought out by Hyperion Books for Kids’s “Leap on the Solar” imprint, which launched in fall 1998 with the mission of “celebrating the African-American expertise and tradition.”
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Gregory’s first Cheetah Ladies ebook for the imprint hadn’t been revealed but when her idea caught the eye of producers. Debra Martin Chase, who co-executive produced the movie with Whitney Houston, instructed The Hollywood Reporter that Disney Channel rejected her unique imaginative and prescient of a Cheetah Ladies TV show. “They stated, ‘We will’t promote this. Principally, nobody goes to consider that these women — these Black women residing on Park Avenue — exist.’ I used to be livid. To his credit score, Gary Marsh [former president of Disney Branded Television] stated, ‘Look, I can’t management sequence however I do management the flicks. If you happen to flip it right into a film, I’ll make it,’” Chase recalled.
The primary movie to be marketed as a Disney Channel Authentic Film was Northern Lights starring Diane Keaton in 1997, however DCOMs quickly turned far more tween-centric. “The place we received was [when] we got here and centered on younger individuals,” says Tina Treadwell, former VP of expertise growth, casting and various programming at Disney Channel. That very same yr, Treadwell developed a sequence of In Live performance specials that includes former Mousketeers Britney Spears, *NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, and different family names. In Live performance ended, Treadwell explains, as a result of it was not “evergreen” and will solely be rerun for therefore lengthy. Nonetheless, a film or sequence with unique music would have extra longevity and will create synergy for Disney.
“Each Monday, proper after certainly one of these concert events would air, the gross sales figures for no matter artist it was would undergo the roof, after thousands and thousands of individuals watched their dwell live performance particular and heard about their life,” says Steven Vincent, senior VP of music and soundtracks for Disney Branded Tv. “So it was like, properly, that is making a complete bunch of cash for all of those exterior firms, however actually, possibly there is a means to try this and have it profit Disney and create our personal pop stars.”
Jay Landers was senior VP of A&R at Walt Disney Data, trying to revitalize the label within the 2000s. He mentions that Annette Funicello was “absolutely synergized all through the corporate earlier than that time period was extensively used. So, I believed possibly the most effective place to get issues going right here at Disney Data could be to show the Disney children, the celebrities from the Disney Channel, into singers.” The primary piece of the puzzle was Hilary Duff, whose reputation because the star of Lizzie McGuire was simple. “I made a take care of the Disney Channel to place out a Lizzie McGuire soundtrack,” says Landers. Duff was additionally included on the primary Disneymania soundtrack earlier than her debut Santa Claus Lane album. Although Landers’ plan wasn’t fashionable at first, it labored — and the remainder is historical past.
The place Hilary Duff was Disney Channel’s first main in-house solo artist, The Cheetah Ladies have been the primary group to convey music to the forefront of the Disney Channel Authentic Film model.
Assembling a solid that mirrored the range of Gregory’s characters — and of Disney Channel’s viewers — was necessary. “It was sort of a no brainer that Raven could be part of The Cheetah Ladies, as a result of she was the face of the community. She sang, she danced, she acted, did all these issues,” Treadwell says. Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams additionally had a relationship with Disney Channel, having appeared on an episode of The Jersey whereas within the woman group 3LW. Solange Knowles was initially going to painting Williams’ character, Aqua, however was unable to proceed with the venture.
The group was accomplished with Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda. Bryan recollects, “Being on the channel was just like the it factor. After all, reserving any TV show could be nice. However the channel was simply this epic purpose that I believe anybody that was auditioning had.” She remembers seeing Christy Carlson Romano on the twenty first flooring of the Disney Channel constructing, the place auditions came about. “You are identical to, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s made it. That is it,’” Bryan says. Though she was requested to learn for all 4 components, she related with Dorinda and was thrilled to sing, dance, and act.
“On my private albums, it was extra R&B and somewhat bit slower,” says Raven-Symoné. She loved the pop parts within the music as she had the woman group expertise for the primary time. “Usually after I’m doing music, I’ve a complete bunch of man dancers with me. So I am used to that masculine power. And I used to be like, ‘Okay, I’ll be the dude on this state of affairs. Understood.’ It was enjoyable to have the ability to share the stage with different actually proficient females and never have to carry the load of the world on solely my shoulders. I might share the stage,” she says.
The soundtrack for The Cheetah Ladies was launched August 12, 2003. “We weren’t even positive if we have been going to do a soundtrack album as a result of it was sort of the primary one. After which it was like, ‘Properly, if we’re ever going to do one…’” Vincent says. “‘It is unique music. We have 4 or 5 songs after which a few licensed songs that we will add to the album. , let’s simply see what occurs.’ And the label was on board to be companions for that. However no person knew what this was going to be.”
Greg Cham labored as a music supervisor alongside his brother, the late music producer Ray Cham. The duo had years of business expertise and had labored with Disney Channel on the 2002 DCOM Gotta Kick It Up! Greg remembers that for The Cheetah Ladies, “Everybody concerned with the venture had a specific type of concept of what the music ought to sound like.” It was necessary to strike the best steadiness between pop and R&B. Future’s Youngster, En Vogue, and TLC have been inspirations.
“Ray all the time had a house studio, so the entire pre-production came about in these studios. And I am fairly positive he recorded the entire dwell instrumentation in his studio, as properly,” Greg says. “The one factor that we recorded exterior of his studio have been sometimes the group’s vocals. And we labored with Tal Herzberg, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful engineer.” The Cheetah Ladies recorded at Hertzberg’s studio in Studio Metropolis. The film was shot in Toronto.
Within the very first scene of the movie, The Cheetahs carry out “Collectively We Can,” written by Will Robinson, Steve Lee, and Walter Turbitt. The energetic quantity rolls together with pulsating rhythms and imaginative lyrics: “Collectively we will shoot the moon, cease the rain, even trip a hurricane.” The music was initially written for Inspector Gadget 2 however had not been utilized in that movie.
“We got here up with what we thought was actually a cool, enjoyable, up-tempo, vibey music,” says Robinson, who remembers laughing along with his co-writers as they created these “zany, wacky lyrics” for the Inspector Gadget installment. A couple of yr later, Brian Rawlings, former VP of music publishing at Disney, referred to as him about utilizing the music for The Cheetah Ladies, with a couple of lyric rewrites. Robinson was invited again as a co-writer for The Cheetah Ladies 2, working with Jamie Houston on “Amigas Cheetahs.”
“Cinderella” had different lives earlier than it turned a Cheetah Ladies music. It was initially sung by a world woman group referred to as i5, then by the Swedish woman group Play (whose “Us Towards the World” had been featured on Lizzie McGuire).
Lindy Robbins co-wrote the pop hit and got here up with the lyrics and melody in her automobile, a capella. Robbins says, “It simply popped into my head, which is how I write most of my songs. They only come to me.” Kevin Savigar labored on tracks and helped formulate chords, setting the scene with minor-key arpeggiated accompaniment. Jay Landers was in contact with Debra Martin Chase and helped “Cinderella” discover its strategy to The Cheetah Ladies. In variations sung by different woman teams, the refrain contains the road, “I don’t wanna be like Snow White ready for a good-looking prince to come back and save me.” For The Cheetah Ladies, that line was modified to “I don’t wanna be like somebody ready for a good-looking prince to come back and save me.”
“[Roy E. Disney] had this very, very hard-line angle that the Disney characters shouldn’t acknowledge one another, that they need to all be in separate universes,” says Landers, explaining that this mentality carried over to the pop music. Regardless of the change, the lyrics have stood the check of time.
Filming “Cinderella” for the expertise show audition scene made an enormous impression on Sabrina Bryan. “There weren’t lots of people within the viewers. We have been creating the power of that music throughout the 4 of us. Actually it was simply the crew that was within the viewers,” Bryan remembers.
Raven-Symoné’s mother noticed the magic in “Cinderella” straight away. “She loves ‘Cinderella’ a lot that she watched and listened to that music on repeat,” Raven-Symoné says, singing a little bit of the refrain. “It was so fascinating as a result of after I was singing it, I did not hear the phrases. I simply sang it as a result of I knew I had a job to do and I needed to get it completed. I am going again now and I am like, ‘Oh, snap. Speak about woman energy.’”
The group subsequent sings “Lady Energy,” by Ray Cham and Rwaana M. Barnes, once they’re making an attempt to get a file take care of Jackal Johnson. A glimmering piano line is juxtaposed with wealthy, percussive bass – an ideal mixture for stylish however highly effective teen stars.
Greg Cham recollects, “There was all the time the will from the label to make it possible for every woman had the suitable period of time in every music as a function.” That purpose is achieved in “Lady Energy,” giving every Cheetah a closeup shot on her designated line. “Curiously, it was somewhat little bit of the child model of Intercourse and the Metropolis in that some women noticed themselves as a Galleria, some noticed [themselves as] extra of a Dorinda. As a result of the ladies have been very distinct characters,” Vincent says.
From its enchanting descending scale on the piano to its depraved electrical guitar solo by Rob “Fonksta” Bacon, “Cheetah Sisters” is the final word finale to this Cheetah chapter. Brian Rawlings requested Jamie Houston to come back on board to jot down a theme music shortly for deadline functions; Houston wrote “Cheetah Sisters” in a day, first creating the melody, then the lyrics, then singing the demo himself.
After studying the script, Houston explains, “I knew that it was, ‘these women have been a group and so they have been gonna tackle the world collectively’ kind of factor.” 20 years later, the music is an anthem.
Greg Cham says director Oz Scott “made positive that the spirit of the music was evoked within the movie.” The finale happens proper after the feuding Cheetahs – coincidentally clad in coordinating Cheetah-print tracksuits – work collectively to rescue Galleria’s canine, Toto. Their nighttime efficiency lets the drama construct to a crescendo. Toto is saved, and the ladies are about to go their separate methods when Galleria begins singing, “There’s a time after we all select…” The women end her sentence one after the other, launching into superior choreography and stunts. Their punchy declaration echoes all through Disney Channel historical past: “We’re Cheetah Ladies, Cheetah sisters.”
“By the top of the film, they went out into the streets of New York and out of the blue we had a giant finale,” Vincent says. “It sort of then set the desk for issues that adopted and even set the desk for the second and third film, which turned break-into-song motion pictures.”
Brian Rawlings says, “You consider the place we have been when MMC occurred and the expertise that was on that show that we let depart Disney and go to different file firms and go on with their careers. That is the place we have been on the Disney Channel in 1991.” Every part modified within the 2000s, and Rawlings considers every step “an iteration greater than it’s a full redirection.” There have been gradients of musical involvement in DCOMs, even proper after The Cheetah Ladies, with Caught within the Suburbs and Pixel Good.
The remaining 4 songs on The Cheetah Ladies album are Hope 7’s optimistic (and lovably 2000s) “Breakthrough,” Christie Mac’s tenderly-sung “Finish of the Line,” Char’s trendy “Girlfriend” (Raven-Symoné’s favourite), and a rap spoof referred to as “C’mon,” for the expertise show opponents Sonic Chaos.
These concerned within the 2003 DCOM and its soundtrack agree that The Cheetah Ladies made Excessive Faculty Musical attainable. Raven-Symoné says, “I like being first. I will simply say that. It is a terrific factor to have that sentence of, ‘You paved the way in which.’ It is fascinating as a result of not solely have been we music-forward, however we have been additionally brown and Black.”
Sabrina Bryan says, “What I like essentially the most is to now see the ladies that have been tiny women again then which might be boss women now and doing what they wished once they have been little watching us. Like, every time that spark got here of their thoughts, to know that we have been somewhat bit behind that sparkle of claiming, ‘You are able to do this. If that is what you need, work your butt off. You are able to do this.’ I do not assume very many individuals get to essentially say that of their profession. And it simply looks like such a privilege to know that I used to be a giant a part of such an enormous factor in so some ways.”
The soundtrack’s success was additionally rewarding. “First week was possibly 5 thousand models, it is like, ‘Okay, okay, it is simply getting began, and it is getting promoted on the channel.’ Subsequent week was possibly ten thousand models. It is like, ‘Hey, we’re transferring up the ladder,’” Greg Cham says. Gross sales began climbing, finally hitting “100,000 models every week,” Cham provides. Whereas working at a tanning salon, Bryan acquired a telephone name from Debra Martin Chase herself, congratulating her on the album’s platinum standing. There are images of Raven-Symoné celebrating a platinum plaque along with her household, songwriter Lindy Robbins, and Disney executives. Billboard later reported that the album had offered 2 million copies, so it truly went double-platinum.
Over the following 5 years, the Cheetahs took their goals and their expertise to Spain in The Cheetah Ladies 2 – and Williams, Bryan, and Bailon turned an actual, touring woman group, making the DCOM franchise a trilogy with The Cheetah Ladies: One World. The flicks and the music have a good time girlhood, however in addition they have a good time inclusivity on an excellent deeper stage.
As Bailon’s Chanel says, “You’re a Cheetah Lady due to who you might be and what’s in your coronary heart.” Thousands and thousands of individuals everywhere in the world are Cheetah Ladies at coronary heart, nonetheless singing alongside to “Cinderella” after twenty years.
