The Cheetah Girls Pounce on a Sequel

"When you wish upon a star. Makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires, will come to you."

Little did Jiminy Cricket know, when he pulled Pinocchio aside and sang him that song, that his words would still be echoing through the House of Mouse some 60 years later. Well, the cricket may be retired now, but there are a handful of cheetahs eager to carry on the sentiment.

The Cheetah Girls are back, to thunderous applause from their cheetah-lirious fans, with a second Disney Channel original movie. These four high school divas dream of making it big someday. They love to sing, to dance ... and to shop. In fact, their names almost sound like a shopping list. There's Galleria (the musical one played by Raven), Chanel (the sassy one played by Adrienne Bailon), Aquanetta (the smart/artsy one played by Kiely Williams) and Dorito ... er, Dorinda (the dancing one played by Sabrina Bryan).

The Cheetah's Second Tale
In Cheetah Girls 2, Chanel and her single mom are going to Spain over summer vacation, where Mom hopes for a marriage proposal from her Castilian amour. However, poor Chanel is a mess. Not only will this break up her girl group for the summer, but it could mean that she'll be moving to Spain permanently. So, Galleria and the other kitties leap into action (literally wishing on a star) and find a way to be accepted into the Barcelona music festival. It's perfect. They can wing their way to Spain, help Chanel, shop in Europe (!) and possibly get their big break, all at the same time.

But once the "growl power" girls get to España, things are definitely not cheetah-licious for Galleria. Not only can't she find a solution to Chanel's problem, she can't even get the girls together to rehearse. Dorinda is off with a handsome dancing count (you don't meet one of those every day), Aqua is drawn to the beauty of Spain and designing her own fashions, and Chanel is creating sweet Spanish music with her new friend, Marisol. To add injury to insult, Marisol's controlling mom tricks the girls into violating festival rules and gets them kicked out of the competition. They'll have to find their way through all these problems, or it could be the end of the Cheetah Girls.

Of Stars ...
But if you think that will happen, then you just don't know friendship ... or Disney. Mickey's gang has a simple, old-school recipe for success that they believe will bring tween girls back to the table time and again: Give the kids what they want. (And keep it clean—at least if it's on Disney Channel.) In this case, Cheetah 2 centers on two things that just about every young girl dreams of: having loving friends and being seen by others as special.

Although in Cheetah, the girls' dreams of being "special" can sometimes have a self-aggrandizing American Idol feel (complete with adoring crowds and hip fashions). There's no language coarser than "oh god" and "omigosh," and nothing physical beyond one chaste and abbreviated kiss, but more than a few families will think the girl-power siren-call to "strut your stuff" is a little over the top. In fact, when you add in loosely lip-synced songs, too-slickly choreographed dialogue and an inch-thick coat of saccharine, most folks over 14 (or male) will probably stumble out of the room in search of pain relievers.

... and Sisters
However, if your constitution is either iron-clad or tween, you'll find that the girls do end up making good choices. When Chanel realizes that her negative attitude is driving a wedge between her mom and her future father, she apologizes and works to bridge that gap. Likewise, at different points in the movie all the girls apologize when they find that they've wronged someone, and they choose to do the honorable thing, even when they know they've been unfairly tricked.

Along with that, most of the peppily benign music supports those positive choices. Songs speak of self-confidence ("Don't hesitate to live your dreams/It's more than worth it/... You've gotta believe in yourself all the way"), staying hopeful ("Whenever the tear drops/Don't let the hope stop in your life/Things happen for reasons"), individuality ("Because you're beautiful just the way that you are/Not everybody has to bling-bling superstar") and especially friendship ("What could be better than/Knowing someone will be there when/You gotta pour your heart out").

And maybe that's why I didn't turn Cheetah Girls 2 off half-way through. In this love-'em-and-leave-'em world, these friends are devoted to each other, no matter the struggle or the sacrifice. Moreover, average girls will probably identify because the Cheetahs delivering the message aren't your typical toothpick-thin model/actresses. They're racially mixed, cute, real-looking girls who could live just down the street. And be your friend.

All these years later, Jiminy's advice about stars and wishes rings a bit sentimental and sappy. But you've got to admit, he was offering a little hope and sticking by his friend through thick and thin. It's hard to fault him, or the Cheetahs, for that.