I had no idea all the Cheetah Girls were originally black. That would've been so cool and would've been Disney's answer to groups like TLC and Destiny's Child. No hate on the actresses but I would love to see a more accurate casting if they ever decide to remake those films in the future.
having read the books imo a movie just isn’t the right format for the story. a tv series that follows the books more closely would be really cute though, i think. it would get a lot more time to focus on all the girls issues. though maybe they could cut the witchcraft subplot…
@@milo-ru3hc although I think the Cheetah Girls was originally going to have a TV show because the first Cheetah Girls movie was a huge success (not a big success like High school musical) and it was going to have all four of the Cheetah Girls but unfortunately that never happened because of Raven's commitment to her own show That's So Raven. But yes the cheetah girls getting their own TV show would have been really interesting
Disney changed The Cheetah Girls from all Black to "make more money" and be more relatable, yet Aqua was originally gonna be portrayed by Solange. Who is Solange's sister??? Beyoncé! And WHO was the biggest and most popular girl group at the time the movie was filmed and released??? Destiny's Child AN ALL BLACK GIRL GROUP 😭😭😭
thank god I wasn't only one who remembers the original cheetah girls books. I remember reading them back in my elementary and middle school days alongside Babymouse, Dork Diaries and Maximum Ride.
I read the books in middle school. I was definitely a fan. Bought a couple too. I always liked the movies but I remember thinking about and comparing them to the books. They were not the same.
Cheetah Girls is probably one of my favorite series of movies on Disney. I had NO idea they were all supposed to be all black! Thank you so much for making this video and educating me
I had no idea either, but as a kid I did thought they were all black in the film, I even thought the non-black members were light skin/biracial black girls😂
wow I'm mind blown I had no idea cheetah girls was based off a book or that aqua had a twin sister I honestly think Disney should've hired Deborah Gregory to direct the cheetah girls movies in my opinion because i feel like the movie would had better writing if Deborah Gregory was in charge of directing the films
Yes I love the cheetah girls I had all the books and I was disappointed when the movies came out and the group was not all black. The movies were nothing like the books and I knew that was a Disney thing. That's what they do.
just like how I'm excited that Disney cast Halle Bailey as the little mermaid because the Little Mermaid was based on a book that was published back in 1837 and it was never really specific if Ariel was black or white but due to the images that I have seen it look like she was Brown but disney created her as white for the cartoon version.
Yes. I remember being a kid and seeing The Cheetah Girls books in the library. All black girls. Also I honestly think that they casted Adrian and Keily in the movie because 3LW were going downhill after dumping Naturi and they needed to rebrand.
Keily wasn’t casted at all. Aqua was supposed to be solange. Keily got the job cuz solange dropped out last minute and she was the only girl they could get ahold of
While I like the idea of Disney having a girl group made up of different races/ethnicities, they shouldn’t have done it to an already established girl group where all the girls are Black. I wasn’t a big cheetah girls fan growing up so I had no idea about any of this, but now I honestly think someone needs to do a reboot where they’re all Black.
Exactly. They should have just made a separate story. I loved the movies as a kid but yeah, it wasn't how the books were structured or the story it was meant to tell.
I never realized how influential The Cheetah Girls was and how it changed so much to the point they had Disney whitewashed the black girl protagonists and it's so sad to see that most people will never really know about this when seeing the movies and the new books at first glance. I didn't even know of this series existing until you made this video. Thank you for making such insightful videos about many topics and shedding light on things people are usually quiet about :)
My mom actually read the books as a girl mom 😂 before the movie and was pissed! I just loved it I didn't care because I didn't know but she was livid. Rightfully so now that I know the Extent of it.
I grew up with The Cheetah Girls 1 and 2, and these two were my favourite Disney Channel Original Movies of all time, especially the first one, because they celebrated diversity, sisterhood, acceptance, and close familial and amicable ties. I knew that the first film was based off of Deborah Gregory's Cheetah Girls novels, but I never read them, and I would definitely love to have a gander at them when I have the time. Thanks to your video, I was surprised to know that the original Cheetah Girls by Deborah Gregory were an all-Black main ensemble. There were even some deep topics that you addressed from the novel series such as Chanel's eating disorder. Personally, Deborah Gregory's The Cheetah Girls could have also had a shot at being a television show because of the many topics it covered other than the Black experience in America revolving around young pre-teen to teenage girls as well as the possibility of being one example of a show that will never talk down to its audience. To this day, I still feel empathy for Deborah Gregory in terms of how her original vision was compromised by Disney Channel. There is no doubt that I still love the original Cheetah Girls movie, but I figure that Mrs. Gregory's Cheetah Girls novels could have benefited from being a serialised show.
i think a tv or streaming series based on the cheetah girls books would be really cool. that way they could follow the plot a lot more closely and include more of the characters who didn’t make it into the movies like anginette, princess pamela, and tiffany. they could also have time to really focus on the girls’ struggles, and i think also they could address a few issues i had within the books, like the occasional cattiness between the girls (casually insulting each other’s looks, intelligence, personal style, etc), and somewhat lacking character growth (especially for galleria). there’s a lot to love about the series but i just think that if we are going to preach girl power (or growl power) it should include being kind to our peers!
I knew that The Cheetah Girls was originally a book series, but I never knew that Disney changed some of the characters’ ethnicities when they got adapted the movies! Disney is very wrong for doing that!
I remember when Cheetah Girls Two came out when I was little so so excited and when Cheetah Girls 3 came out, I was so hyped and a little bit disappointed because I am and still am a Raven Supporter but omg I still loved these movies because I felt so connected and seen BUT I didn't know one of the people behind them was anti black omg
I get wanting to give each girls different race for all the girls to relate but...WHY DO THAT TO THE CHEETAH GIRLS?! I'm Latina, and I still relate to Dorinda way more than I have with Chanel (who's Latina like me too, but do I have to relate to her? No, just cause we're both Latinas...it doesn't mean I have to relate to her only because of that) because we both grew up in poverty (but I didn't grew up in foster care but still -). Disney could've kept all of them black (and I think one of the black girls was also half-Japanese, Disney...why change that? We could've had a blasian rep in the movie!) and the girls can still relate to them because of their backgrounds, not for their race. I hope any other companies, if not Disney, can do a redo of The Cheetah Girls movie someday and give the original black characters the justice they truly deserve. :(
I did not know any of this information about the film, excluding Raven’s character. As an Afro-Latino, it makes me sad that an opportunity to have a brown or dark skin Afro-Latina (or biracial Afro-Latina too) on a major Disney franchise has been shut down. It’s mind blowing, but should I be surprised? I maybe buy the first book because this is wild to me. I do appreciate the impact of ‘The Cheetah Girl,’ but the truth is needed. Thank you for the work, Harriyanna😁‼️ P.S. - If they do make a remake that is ACCURATE TO THE BOOK, I’ll tune in🥲‼️
I still have my copies. I will not let my mother near my childhood books because I got some CLASSICS. Aqua and Angie were specifically so gorgeous to me. GORGEOUS black women and they had to go and whitewash that. From southern baked Mac and cheese to tuna casserole. 😐 I only have a few of the books, the little ones with the cheetah print covers, but I still cherish them with all of my heart. I'm glad you made a video about this. 💓
19:50 “That didn’t automatically mean that they had to be different races!” Yes! Exactly, thank you!! The reason I don’t agree with the excuse that they wanted diversity in the movies, is that the original Cheetah Girls WERE diverse! Galleria was mixed with African American and Italian (and she spoke Italian!), Chanel was Afro Latina (and we never get representation!), Aqua and Angie were dark skinned African Americans from Texas (while the rest of the girls were from NYC which caused some culture shock) and Dorinda had a whole thing about not knowing what she was mixed with because she was in foster care (she was kind of a foil to Galleria, who was very connected to both her parents’ ethnic cultures). You can have a movie about black girls and still have a very diverse cast!
I agree with alot of your points here. this was well put together and this is why i really want a proper reboot done for The Cheetah Girls that follows the books storylines more closely and that has an more accurate casting kinda similar to what Netflix did for The Babysitters Club especially considering Dorinda's story and alot of the girls issues get deep and this needs to be properly highlighted and Justice4Angie
It's been so long for me since the Disney Channel. The kids I know who ate relative to me watch it now when I catch glimpses of it on t.v. I watch 'hey Jesse' time to time whenever I run into a TV that happens to be around.
tbh, I never watched/read the cheetah girls. I was too young to really have those kinds of interests on my own and my parents never showed me them. but you’re genuinely thinking about making a fan film, just know I would totally watch it
I had NO IDEA. I was in my late teens and early twenties when the movies came out and I just liked the original movie. This makes me upset. Do you know how legendary that would’ve been for Disney and black girls at the time this movie was made?!! Disney is not good to us black girls.
I knew that the Cheetah Girls was all black girls. I remember seeing the books at the book fair in 2003 when I was still 13 at that time. I never could buy the books because they were selling out.
Wow, this is heartbreaking. I always knew the cheetah girls' films didn't follow the books in terms of casting. But man does it mean sting to hear about the change in book covers. I love the cheetah girls but like anything crafted by humans, it's sadly prone to error 😔😔.
I didn't even know the Cheetah Girls had books. I thought it was originally a movie that expanded into 3 movies + music careers. It's unfortunate that we didn't get to see the original versions of these characters because it sounds like a good book series. But, I doubt we will since Disney won't touch anything slightly negative, much less eating disorders, poverty, and the fucked up foster care system
Great video. I knew about the white washing of Aqua and Dorinda but I didn't even know about it happening to Chanel. Idk she was Afro-Latina & sported micro braids. I also found out Chanel's dad was Jamaican and Cuban, they left out her Jamaican heritage in the movies. For Disney to white wash the group to make them more appealing is crap cause they had DCOM's where the main cast were prominently Black with the films "Poof Point" & "Up, Up, and Away." Although I love TCG in the Cinematic Universe, would've loved a source material accurate casting. I do hope they do a reboot of TCG as a series, exactly like what they did with "Bel Air," cast prominently brown/ dark skinned people & bring back the actors from the original movies to play new roles.
Cheetah Girls, along with the Babysitters Club and Nancy Drew, got me into reading in the first place. And I always feel so mad that I didn't buy the books when I got a chance. Now it's hard to find them. And it really sucks that Disney Channel pays them dust. Much as I love HSM- that is my comfort movie series that got me through middle & high school-it's clear as day that the Cheetah Girls was the foundation for DCOM muscials. And they deserve their flowers. I think a reboot that does follow the books would be amazing and should have ALL BLACK GIRLS in it
Very good break down a lot of people really didn't read the books and that shows, I guess it's safe to say that the cheetah girls was like the Bratz movie just more successful
Thank you for making a video about this, i feel like its not talked about enough, and honestly i would love it if they rebooted it but actually make it closer to the source material, i mean they already have made so many remakes it wouldnt be far fetched or crazy for them to at least try.
And once again my mind is blown. Who knew the creators of the films were anti black? They damn sure had me fooled as a kid with the "thought to be" diversity
Honest Video on the history of The Cheetah Girls it was originally written by a woman named Deborah before it was a Movie made on the Disney Channel it was a Book series first then a film Franchise
I didn't know that the Cheetah Girls were black. I also didn't have regular access to cable TV, so I never saw the movies, but I saw commercials and heard the songs on Radio Disney (when that was still a thing). Knowing now that the story told in the films and the casting was very different from the books makes me feel like we got cheated out of a really good story
Scholastic probably didn’t drop the books. Disney acquired Hyperion books in the 90’s and incorporated them into their publishing arm of the company. Jump at the Sun/Hyperion is the part of the company that was specifically responsible for publishing books for African-American/Black children in the late 90’s to early 2000’s. Disney probably wanted to be the sole company to profit from their acquired property so they started publishing it themselves.
I was in middle school/Jr high when I read these. Dorinda at the Apollo is *stuck* in my head. I didn't *know much a outthe author, but true her and aspirational her were easy to see through some of thecharacters,the characters, sure.
I'm old. (Kinda lol) I remember getting my first cheetah girls book in the 3rd grade. That was in 2000. I didn't read the series until I was in 6th grade and got hooked. By that time that's when they started working on the first movie. I remember being so pissed seeing Sabirina in it cause Donrinda was black. I didn't mind Raven because she was THAT girl at the time and I loved 3LW (2LW then). The first movie took bits (VERY SMALL) of some of the story lines in the early books and I wished they would have just stayed with the book material for the rest of the movies. I was never really a fan of the 2nd of 3rd movie. Imagine The Cheetah Girls movie being done like the Harry Potter series. That would have been bomb. They had the material to do it.
if they REALLY wanna be all about tha money. they better make a move now 🤭 since they steady makin remakes id have no problem with a cheetah girls remake. especially an ALL BLACK GIRL SERIES...SHEEESH. they already now how we pulled up for black panther 😂 like fr. how they talk about bein inclusive when we got THREE main black casted movie out of a bazillion all white casted movies +shows 👀👀👀 they didnt even hide the prejudice. givin dark skinned girls like COCO a solid chance would get them all the ratings and money they need. its about time. Ill take their apology in the form of an all black cast please 💅🏾
Thank you Harriyanna for the history and next year will be the 20th anniversary of the first movie so they really need to get a reunion going. Adrienne and Raven already reunited on Raven's Home and Sabrina & Kiely are still best friends so prayerfully one day all 4 can reunite someday
"Look a mess right now" while still cute as hell. Okay lady lol. But yeah genuinely had no idea they were originally black. Kinda blowing my mind right now. Bit depressing that just the inclusion of black people in your movie is enough to lose you money. More so if the story is about them.
TCG was my entire identity I knew about the casting and race swaps but I still enjoyed it for what it was. I want a reboot with proper representation but they be doing black women and girls so dirty I almost don't even care to be seen in any and everything 🥴
No, I didn't have a clue that The Cheetah Girls were originally all black. Now I feel guilty for enjoying the films and music because I totally hate race swapping no matter what kind it is.
I never knew there were books, but I loved the first movie so much in middle school when it came out. I’m not shocked Disney whitewashed it, bc it’s Disney, they love to inaccurately portray characters of color to be white, but dang 😭
I did *not* know that the Cheetah Girls were all originally Black. I loved the first two movies, I never saw the third one. It's.... it's very *disney* of them to whitewash a story that was made for Black girls, about Black girls, and written by a Black woman author who had some of the firsthand experiences of one of her characters, a *Black* girl in the foster care system..... so fcking absurd the shit they do for "marketing". I rly do hope they get a proper remake/reboot sometime w/ correctly casted characters and w/o erasure of the deeper and more difficult topics addressed in the books.
I'm 16 and even I remember the books before they were whitewashed my sisters 20 and was obsessed with the show I was like where the other girls at and she was like they all right here (book characters ) and I used to Tease her like disney lied to u turn on disney xd
Recently I’ve been rereading the book series as an adult, so this video was perfect timing 😂 I loved reading them as a kid, and I picked up on how inaccurate the casting was
I swore that Raven said she wasn’t fully black. Like I could be wrong, but I swore she said she had white ancestry, though as I said, I have no proof to it, but I wanted to say something about it, especially since she used to heavily tan back in her Disney days.
You can’t even buy the 1st album on iTunes either. I mean it could be for certain songs (like Cinderella, since that was a song that existed before the movies, but I’m just assuming.
Coincidentally, i been on a 2000s heartthrob binge for the past week and just listened to strut for the first time in over ten years and the words came to me little by little. Of course I wish they would release a version of the song without the g word in it and without the random ass guy at the end. But I had no clue the girls was supposed to be Black but I remember thinking it would make more sense if they was. With people like Brandy being my frame of reference for the vocal delivery in the Cheetah Girl songs and the clothes being lowkey based off the stuff beyonce wore at the time (for better or worse) it never made sense to me. I didn't see non-Black people giving this package. So to now know that creeping suspicion was right all along? Thanks for this one Harri, you really been dropping hot ones lately too! Keep it up.
i LOVE the cheetah girls books & somehow missed the movies completely;; looked them up on youtube and was like what..... anyway rly good discussion, thank you for sharing
i know the majority say that movies and shows are not as good as books that start it all that the books are better than the movies and shows i respect if some think books are better than movies and shows and i also respect if some love movies and shows better than the book and some love both the book, movies and shows equally i respect everyone's difference honest opinions and i just disagree the books are better than the movies and shows because i love both books, movies and shows versions equally that's just me i love the cheetah girls 1 and 2 movies there was good decent movies to me i had no problem with how the way disney did the cheetach girls not being the oringial to the book because that never matter to me at all i don't see it as a disrespectful to me if it's the true story or not the true story in my honest unpopular opinion but i do agree about the cheetah girls 3 one world was bad because i also think that movie was bad it's trash to me it just wasn't the same without raven after she left the cheetah girls but i didn't know that the cheetah girls were oringially black
I'm tired of hearing ya'll complain. If you want an all black cast and filming in black countries and yada yada yada, you have to use your black dollars to create it. A white company, Disney, bought the Cheetah Girls and used their millions to make a movie that would appeal to everyone. If you want different, create more black studios, buy scripts from black writers, and use your black dollars to fund those projects. Then, you can call the shots. If ya'll worked as much as you complain, you'd be the richest group.
19:50 “That didn’t automatically mean that they had to be different races!” Yes! Exactly, thank you!! The reason I don’t agree with the excuse that they wanted diversity in the movies, is that the original Cheetah Girls WERE diverse! Galleria was mixed with African American and Italian (and she spoke Italian!), Chanel was Afro Latina (and we never get representation!), Aqua and Angie were dark skinned African Americans from Texas (while the rest of the girls were from NYC which caused some culture shock) and Dorinda had a whole thing about not knowing what she was mixed with because she was in foster care (she was kind of a foil to Galleria, who was very connected to both her parents’ ethnic cultures). You can have a movie about black girls and still have a very diverse cast!
I had no idea all the Cheetah Girls were originally black. That would've been so cool and would've been Disney's answer to groups like TLC and Destiny's Child. No hate on the actresses but I would love to see a more accurate casting if they ever decide to remake those films in the future.
having read the books imo a movie just isn’t the right format for the story. a tv series that follows the books more closely would be really cute though, i think. it would get a lot more time to focus on all the girls issues. though maybe they could cut the witchcraft subplot…
Seriously. Imagine how marketable it would've been given the era.
@@milo-ru3hc Or a Broadway show of ‘The Cheetah Girls’💯
@@milo-ru3hc although I think the Cheetah Girls was originally going to have a TV show because the first Cheetah Girls movie was a huge success (not a big success like High school musical) and it was going to have all four of the Cheetah Girls but unfortunately that never happened because of Raven's commitment to her own show That's So Raven. But yes the cheetah girls getting their own TV show would have been really interesting
You do realize that two of the TLC members are actually in the Cheetah Girls movies, right? lol. But I still get what you mean!
Dang Harriyanna is on the move. Literally NONE of my childhood shows are safe from political incorrectness 😭😭😭😭
shes slaying sorry
We're just tryna do better out here don't take it personal
Yeah, nothing is safe at all. It’s good to learn though and do better. I do the same thing on my channel, but differently😭💯
I mean you can still like and enjoy these shows, just recognize and acknowledge the bad parts of them and support changing that for future shows.
@@jyon7168 exactly like I still enjoy watching iCarly I'm not going to lie despite the fact of me knowing what happened to Jennette McCurdy
Disney changed The Cheetah Girls from all Black to "make more money" and be more relatable, yet Aqua was originally gonna be portrayed by Solange. Who is Solange's sister??? Beyoncé! And WHO was the biggest and most popular girl group at the time the movie was filmed and released??? Destiny's Child AN ALL BLACK GIRL GROUP 😭😭😭
solange is not darkskin so she shouldn't have been playing her anyway.
@@harriyanna this is true too
thank god I wasn't only one who remembers the original cheetah girls books. I remember reading them back in my elementary and middle school days alongside Babymouse, Dork Diaries and Maximum Ride.
I read the books in middle school. I was definitely a fan. Bought a couple too. I always liked the movies but I remember thinking about and comparing them to the books. They were not the same.
Cheetah Girls is probably one of my favorite series of movies on Disney. I had NO idea they were all supposed to be all black! Thank you so much for making this video and educating me
I had no idea either, but as a kid I did thought they were all black in the film, I even thought the non-black members were light skin/biracial black girls😂
wow I'm mind blown I had no idea cheetah girls was based off a book or that aqua had a twin sister I honestly think Disney should've hired Deborah Gregory to direct the cheetah girls movies in my opinion because i feel like the movie would had better writing if Deborah Gregory was in charge of directing the films
I 100% agree that one day there should be a Cheetah Girl's remake done the RIGHT WAY and told how it SHOULD be told.
Yes I love the cheetah girls I had all the books and I was disappointed when the movies came out and the group was not all black. The movies were nothing like the books and I knew that was a Disney thing. That's what they do.
just like how I'm excited that Disney cast Halle Bailey as the little mermaid because the Little Mermaid was based on a book that was published back in 1837 and it was never really specific if Ariel was black or white but due to the images that I have seen it look like she was Brown but disney created her as white for the cartoon version.
Yes. I remember being a kid and seeing The Cheetah Girls books in the library. All black girls. Also I honestly think that they casted Adrian and Keily in the movie because 3LW were going downhill after dumping Naturi and they needed to rebrand.
I think in a lot of ways I think Adrienne even knew she was at fault too for Naturi's departure
Keily wasn’t casted at all. Aqua was supposed to be solange. Keily got the job cuz solange dropped out last minute and she was the only girl they could get ahold of
While I like the idea of Disney having a girl group made up of different races/ethnicities, they shouldn’t have done it to an already established girl group where all the girls are Black. I wasn’t a big cheetah girls fan growing up so I had no idea about any of this, but now I honestly think someone needs to do a reboot where they’re all Black.
Exactly. They should have just made a separate story. I loved the movies as a kid but yeah, it wasn't how the books were structured or the story it was meant to tell.
I never realized how influential The Cheetah Girls was and how it changed so much to the point they had Disney whitewashed the black girl protagonists and it's so sad to see that most people will never really know about this when seeing the movies and the new books at first glance. I didn't even know of this series existing until you made this video. Thank you for making such insightful videos about many topics and shedding light on things people are usually quiet about :)
My mom actually read the books as a girl mom 😂 before the movie and was pissed! I just loved it I didn't care because I didn't know but she was livid. Rightfully so now that I know the Extent of it.
I grew up with The Cheetah Girls 1 and 2, and these two were my favourite Disney Channel Original Movies of all time, especially the first one, because they celebrated diversity, sisterhood, acceptance, and close familial and amicable ties. I knew that the first film was based off of Deborah Gregory's Cheetah Girls novels, but I never read them, and I would definitely love to have a gander at them when I have the time.
Thanks to your video, I was surprised to know that the original Cheetah Girls by Deborah Gregory were an all-Black main ensemble. There were even some deep topics that you addressed from the novel series such as Chanel's eating disorder. Personally, Deborah Gregory's The Cheetah Girls could have also had a shot at being a television show because of the many topics it covered other than the Black experience in America revolving around young pre-teen to teenage girls as well as the possibility of being one example of a show that will never talk down to its audience. To this day, I still feel empathy for Deborah Gregory in terms of how her original vision was compromised by Disney Channel. There is no doubt that I still love the original Cheetah Girls movie, but I figure that Mrs. Gregory's Cheetah Girls novels could have benefited from being a serialised show.
I agree with you, Antoni👏🏾‼️
i think a tv or streaming series based on the cheetah girls books would be really cool. that way they could follow the plot a lot more closely and include more of the characters who didn’t make it into the movies like anginette, princess pamela, and tiffany. they could also have time to really focus on the girls’ struggles, and i think also they could address a few issues i had within the books, like the occasional cattiness between the girls (casually insulting each other’s looks, intelligence, personal style, etc), and somewhat lacking character growth (especially for galleria). there’s a lot to love about the series but i just think that if we are going to preach girl power (or growl power) it should include being kind to our peers!
I knew that The Cheetah Girls was originally a book series, but I never knew that Disney changed some of the characters’ ethnicities when they got adapted the movies! Disney is very wrong for doing that!
I remember when Cheetah Girls Two came out when I was little so so excited and when Cheetah Girls 3 came out, I was so hyped and a little bit disappointed because I am and still am a Raven Supporter but omg I still loved these movies because I felt so connected and seen BUT I didn't know one of the people behind them was anti black omg
harriyana is FORREAL popping off these days
I get wanting to give each girls different race for all the girls to relate but...WHY DO THAT TO THE CHEETAH GIRLS?! I'm Latina, and I still relate to Dorinda way more than I have with Chanel (who's Latina like me too, but do I have to relate to her? No, just cause we're both Latinas...it doesn't mean I have to relate to her only because of that) because we both grew up in poverty (but I didn't grew up in foster care but still -). Disney could've kept all of them black (and I think one of the black girls was also half-Japanese, Disney...why change that? We could've had a blasian rep in the movie!) and the girls can still relate to them because of their backgrounds, not for their race.
I hope any other companies, if not Disney, can do a redo of The Cheetah Girls movie someday and give the original black characters the justice they truly deserve. :(
I did not know any of this information about the film, excluding Raven’s character. As an Afro-Latino, it makes me sad that an opportunity to have a brown or dark skin Afro-Latina (or biracial Afro-Latina too) on a major Disney franchise has been shut down. It’s mind blowing, but should I be surprised? I maybe buy the first book because this is wild to me. I do appreciate the impact of ‘The Cheetah Girl,’ but the truth is needed. Thank you for the work, Harriyanna😁‼️
P.S. - If they do make a remake that is ACCURATE TO THE BOOK, I’ll tune in🥲‼️
I still have my copies. I will not let my mother near my childhood books because I got some CLASSICS. Aqua and Angie were specifically so gorgeous to me. GORGEOUS black women and they had to go and whitewash that. From southern baked Mac and cheese to tuna casserole. 😐 I only have a few of the books, the little ones with the cheetah print covers, but I still cherish them with all of my heart. I'm glad you made a video about this. 💓
19:50 “That didn’t automatically mean that they had to be different races!”
Yes! Exactly, thank you!!
The reason I don’t agree with the excuse that they wanted diversity in the movies, is that the original Cheetah Girls WERE diverse!
Galleria was mixed with African American and Italian (and she spoke Italian!), Chanel was Afro Latina (and we never get representation!), Aqua and Angie were dark skinned African Americans from Texas (while the rest of the girls were from NYC which caused some culture shock) and Dorinda had a whole thing about not knowing what she was mixed with because she was in foster care (she was kind of a foil to Galleria, who was very connected to both her parents’ ethnic cultures). You can have a movie about black girls and still have a very diverse cast!
i had no idea that it was orignally a book or that the girls were all black
Same
I agree with alot of your points here. this was well put together and this is why i really want a proper reboot done for The Cheetah Girls that follows the books storylines more closely and that has an more accurate casting kinda similar to what Netflix did for The Babysitters Club especially considering Dorinda's story and alot of the girls issues get deep and this needs to be properly highlighted and Justice4Angie
It's been so long for me since the Disney Channel. The kids I know who ate relative to me watch it now when I catch glimpses of it on t.v. I watch 'hey Jesse' time to time whenever I run into a TV that happens to be around.
tbh, I never watched/read the cheetah girls. I was too young to really have those kinds of interests on my own and my parents never showed me them. but you’re genuinely thinking about making a fan film, just know I would totally watch it
I had NO IDEA. I was in my late teens and early twenties when the movies came out and I just liked the original movie. This makes me upset. Do you know how legendary that would’ve been for Disney and black girls at the time this movie was made?!! Disney is not good to us black girls.
I knew that the Cheetah Girls was all black girls. I remember seeing the books at the book fair in 2003 when I was still 13 at that time. I never could buy the books because they were selling out.
Wow, this is heartbreaking. I always knew the cheetah girls' films didn't follow the books in terms of casting. But man does it mean sting to hear about the change in book covers. I love the cheetah girls but like anything crafted by humans, it's sadly prone to error 😔😔.
The soundtrack for this video is immaculate.
I didn't even know the Cheetah Girls had books. I thought it was originally a movie that expanded into 3 movies + music careers. It's unfortunate that we didn't get to see the original versions of these characters because it sounds like a good book series. But, I doubt we will since Disney won't touch anything slightly negative, much less eating disorders, poverty, and the fucked up foster care system
Damn I thought the superbooks were the original book covers. I enjoyed books 1-12. The first film will always be my favorite!
Great video. I knew about the white washing of Aqua and Dorinda but I didn't even know about it happening to Chanel. Idk she was Afro-Latina & sported micro braids. I also found out Chanel's dad was Jamaican and Cuban, they left out her Jamaican heritage in the movies.
For Disney to white wash the group to make them more appealing is crap cause they had DCOM's where the main cast were prominently Black with the films "Poof Point" & "Up, Up, and Away." Although I love TCG in the Cinematic Universe, would've loved a source material accurate casting.
I do hope they do a reboot of TCG as a series, exactly like what they did with "Bel Air," cast prominently brown/ dark skinned people & bring back the actors from the original movies to play new roles.
I was aware of some of the changes to The Cheetah Girls, but I wasn't aware they were THIS drastic! Thank you for making a video on this.
Cheetah Girls, along with the Babysitters Club and Nancy Drew, got me into reading in the first place. And I always feel so mad that I didn't buy the books when I got a chance. Now it's hard to find them.
And it really sucks that Disney Channel pays them dust. Much as I love HSM- that is my comfort movie series that got me through middle & high school-it's clear as day that the Cheetah Girls was the foundation for DCOM muscials. And they deserve their flowers. I think a reboot that does follow the books would be amazing and should have ALL BLACK GIRLS in it
Very good break down a lot of people really didn't read the books and that shows, I guess it's safe to say that the cheetah girls was like the Bratz movie just more successful
I was ready for this one!!
Thank you for making a video about this, i feel like its not talked about enough, and honestly i would love it if they rebooted it but actually make it closer to the source material, i mean they already have made so many remakes it wouldnt be far fetched or crazy for them to at least try.
I believe the whole cast has made up since. Raven and Kiely did a livestream together during lockdown and talked out their problems.
And once again my mind is blown. Who knew the creators of the films were anti black? They damn sure had me fooled as a kid with the "thought to be" diversity
Honest Video on the history of The Cheetah Girls it was originally written by a woman named Deborah before it was a Movie made on the Disney Channel it was a Book series first then a film Franchise
HOW DID NONE OF US KNOW THIS
I didn't know that the Cheetah Girls were black. I also didn't have regular access to cable TV, so I never saw the movies, but I saw commercials and heard the songs on Radio Disney (when that was still a thing). Knowing now that the story told in the films and the casting was very different from the books makes me feel like we got cheated out of a really good story
Scholastic probably didn’t drop the books. Disney acquired Hyperion books in the 90’s and incorporated them into their publishing arm of the company. Jump at the Sun/Hyperion is the part of the company that was specifically responsible for publishing books for African-American/Black children in the late 90’s to early 2000’s. Disney probably wanted to be the sole company to profit from their acquired property so they started publishing it themselves.
Never been this early! Love you😩🖤🖤
I was in middle school/Jr high when I read these. Dorinda at the Apollo is *stuck* in my head. I didn't *know much a outthe author, but true her and aspirational her were easy to see through some of thecharacters,the characters, sure.
I'm old. (Kinda lol) I remember getting my first cheetah girls book in the 3rd grade. That was in 2000. I didn't read the series until I was in 6th grade and got hooked.
By that time that's when they started working on the first movie. I remember being so pissed seeing Sabirina in it cause Donrinda was black. I didn't mind Raven because she was THAT girl at the time and I loved 3LW (2LW then).
The first movie took bits (VERY SMALL) of some of the story lines in the early books and I wished they would have just stayed with the book material for the rest of the movies. I was never really a fan of the 2nd of 3rd movie.
Imagine The Cheetah Girls movie being done like the Harry Potter series. That would have been bomb. They had the material to do it.
if they REALLY wanna be all about tha money. they better make a move now 🤭 since they steady makin remakes id have no problem with a cheetah girls remake. especially an ALL BLACK GIRL SERIES...SHEEESH. they already now how we pulled up for black panther 😂 like fr. how they talk about bein inclusive when we got THREE main black casted movie out of a bazillion all white casted movies +shows 👀👀👀 they didnt even hide the prejudice. givin dark skinned girls like COCO a solid chance would get them all the ratings and money they need. its about time.
Ill take their apology in the form of an all black cast please 💅🏾
Hi! Can you talk about the monster high reboot especially about clawdeen and the problems with the original mh franchise
Someone told me whitney had something to do with the cheetah girls.
they must of gotten it confused with Cinderella cause what-
I got the pink ones, it was freaking weird to read it after watching all the movies. Why did they change them so much smh
Thank you Harriyanna for the history and next year will be the 20th anniversary of the first movie so they really need to get a reunion going. Adrienne and Raven already reunited on Raven's Home and Sabrina & Kiely are still best friends so prayerfully one day all 4 can reunite someday
kiely and adrienne have a beef and don’t talk to each other anymore so unfortunately that’s unlikely 🥺
Is it me or do I just watch videos from Harriyanna about shows, movies, or books that I know nothing about but still watch?
"Look a mess right now" while still cute as hell. Okay lady lol. But yeah genuinely had no idea they were originally black. Kinda blowing my mind right now. Bit depressing that just the inclusion of black people in your movie is enough to lose you money. More so if the story is about them.
TCG was my entire identity I knew about the casting and race swaps but I still enjoyed it for what it was.
I want a reboot with proper representation but they be doing black women and girls so dirty I almost don't even care to be seen in any and everything 🥴
I LOVE the mini-commercial you include for your bonnets I never skip it ❤🖤
i was about to guess who the celeb is but then i realized i dont watch alot of netflix
No, I didn't have a clue that The Cheetah Girls were originally all black. Now I feel guilty for enjoying the films and music because I totally hate race swapping no matter what kind it is.
I never knew there were books, but I loved the first movie so much in middle school when it came out. I’m not shocked Disney whitewashed it, bc it’s Disney, they love to inaccurately portray characters of color to be white, but dang 😭
Wait…. Not you having the myscene song that lives rent free in my head 24/7 on ur intro…. #subscribed tf
I did *not* know that the Cheetah Girls were all originally Black. I loved the first two movies, I never saw the third one. It's.... it's very *disney* of them to whitewash a story that was made for Black girls, about Black girls, and written by a Black woman author who had some of the firsthand experiences of one of her characters, a *Black* girl in the foster care system..... so fcking absurd the shit they do for "marketing". I rly do hope they get a proper remake/reboot sometime w/ correctly casted characters and w/o erasure of the deeper and more difficult topics addressed in the books.
I don’t think I even knew they were based on a book series and not the other way around
Another thing about Book Dorinda is that she was 12.
I'm 16 and even I remember the books before they were whitewashed my sisters 20 and was obsessed with the show I was like where the other girls at and she was like they all right here (book characters ) and I used to Tease her like disney lied to u turn on disney xd
I had know idea cause I never read the book, but I was obsessed with the movies
Recently I’ve been rereading the book series as an adult, so this video was perfect timing 😂 I loved reading them as a kid, and I picked up on how inaccurate the casting was
I swore that Raven said she wasn’t fully black. Like I could be wrong, but I swore she said she had white ancestry, though as I said, I have no proof to it, but I wanted to say something about it, especially since she used to heavily tan back in her Disney days.
You can’t even buy the 1st album on iTunes either. I mean it could be for certain songs (like Cinderella, since that was a song that existed before the movies, but I’m just assuming.
Coincidentally, i been on a 2000s heartthrob binge for the past week and just listened to strut for the first time in over ten years and the words came to me little by little. Of course I wish they would release a version of the song without the g word in it and without the random ass guy at the end. But I had no clue the girls was supposed to be Black but I remember thinking it would make more sense if they was. With people like Brandy being my frame of reference for the vocal delivery in the Cheetah Girl songs and the clothes being lowkey based off the stuff beyonce wore at the time (for better or worse) it never made sense to me. I didn't see non-Black people giving this package. So to now know that creeping suspicion was right all along? Thanks for this one Harri, you really been dropping hot ones lately too! Keep it up.
I had no idea that there were books. Well I know my new reading material.
your videos are always so amazing
thank you so much!
The Cheetah Girls is a book series? I can’t, wtf 😳
GIRL GIRL GIRL! Yt unsubscribed me and I didn’t even notice until now 😔
Fun fact the girl group Before Dark made appearances in the Cheetah girls book covers.
I feel lied to.
I think adrienne is from latin parents from a puerto rican mom and ecuatorian dad
3:18 what song is this?
I would love to be apart of a fan film. I live in Maine though 😓
i LOVE the cheetah girls books & somehow missed the movies completely;; looked them up on youtube and was like what..... anyway rly good discussion, thank you for sharing
I remember the books! Thank you for this video!!!
I Used To Like The Cheetah Girls 2003
Yes , I had all the books. There’s 5 members and they’re ALL BLACK lol
I knew it!!!! Makes so much sense
thank you for sharing this
Kiely Williams is also biracial in real life
wait WHAT
Really?
@@lreneewell9154yes, her dad is black.
@@b3achmm505 I thought both of her parents were black
love your videosss
thank you so much!!!
They only adapted so little in the original fruits basket cause the mangaka hated it so much lmao 😭
i know the majority say that movies and shows are not as good as books that start it all that the books are better than the movies and shows i respect if some think books are better than movies and shows and i also respect if some love movies and shows better than the book and some love both the book, movies and shows equally i respect everyone's difference honest opinions and i just disagree the books are better than the movies and shows because i love both books, movies and shows versions equally that's just me i love the cheetah girls 1 and 2 movies there was good decent movies to me i had no problem with how the way disney did the cheetach girls not being the oringial to the book because that never matter to me at all i don't see it as a disrespectful to me if it's the true story or not the true story in my honest unpopular opinion but i do agree about the cheetah girls 3 one world was bad because i also think that movie was bad it's trash to me it just wasn't the same without raven after she left the cheetah girls but i didn't know that the cheetah girls were oringially black
Wow I never knew this bro they lied to us 😭😭
What's the song at 12:40 👀👀
If it’s lovin’ on Your Mind by the Spice Girls
bink bonk
What exactly is a white Latina?
It’s when ur ethnicity is Latina and ur race is white
Great video
Adrienne Bailon is Afro-Latina, I don't see what the problem is there
adrienne is not black. therefore, she is not afro latina.
@@harriyanna Seriously I thought all this time I thought she half black.
@@monaalona4744 same here
I'm tired of hearing ya'll complain. If you want an all black cast and filming in black countries and yada yada yada, you have to use your black dollars to create it. A white company, Disney, bought the Cheetah Girls and used their millions to make a movie that would appeal to everyone. If you want different, create more black studios, buy scripts from black writers, and use your black dollars to fund those projects. Then, you can call the shots. If ya'll worked as much as you complain, you'd be the richest group.
19:50 “That didn’t automatically mean that they had to be different races!”
Yes! Exactly, thank you!!
The reason I don’t agree with the excuse that they wanted diversity in the movies, is that the original Cheetah Girls WERE diverse!
Galleria was mixed with African American and Italian (and she spoke Italian!), Chanel was Afro Latina (and we never get representation!), Aqua and Angie were dark skinned African Americans from Texas (while the rest of the girls were from NYC which caused some culture shock) and Dorinda had a whole thing about not knowing what she was mixed with because she was in foster care (she was kind of a foil to Galleria, who was very connected to both her parents’ ethnic cultures). You can have a movie about black girls and still have a very diverse cast!