As far as Disney Channel original musical franchises go, I will eat my keyboard if you’ve never heard of High School Musical. Descendants is also big enough that you may have heard of those misbegotten movies and the multimedia franchise they spawned. And the Teen Beach Movie duology has maybe come across your desk if you were really digging into the history of Ross Lynch after seeing him shirtless on Instagram. But one of the most exciting Disney Channel musical franchises, ZOMBIES, is relatively unknown among modern childless adults, possibly due to its more recent vintage. I’m here to fix that today.
A quick note: The titles of the movies are technically stylized as Z-O-M-B-I-E-S, but I wouldn’t want to torture my poor fingers by sticking to that bit of grammatical nonsense throughout the entire piece.
What On Earth Are the ZOMBIES Movies?
The ZOMBIES movies (2018’s ZOMBIES, 2020’s ZOMBIES 2, and 2022’s ZOMBIES 3) all take place in a town called Seabrook, populated by both humans and zombies, where Zombietown is separated from the rest of the population by an enormous wall. You may notice that this sounds a little like apartheid. The franchise begins on the day when zombie teens are finally allowed to attend the human high school. You may notice that that sounds a lot like American school reintegration. You may also notice that all of this sounds like a variety of other race-related social issues. You’re great at noticing things. These movies have a lot of progressive social metaphors on their minds. In fact, they have so much on their minds that the overstuffed central metaphor immediately shoots out of their grasp like an over-lathered bar of soap.
The first movie follows the Romeo & Juliet-inflected love story between the wannabe football player zombie Zed (Milo Manheim) and the human cheerleader Addison (Meg Donnelly), who is hiding her own secret from the too-perfect town of Seabrook: she secretly has white hair. Gasp! Addison’s search for an identity and the couple’s struggle to stay together while coming of age will form the spine of the two sequels.
All three movies were written by David Light and Joseph Raso and directed by Paul Hoen (who drapes the world of Seabrook in garish colors, typically pinks and greens, that clash horribly but deliver a vibrant live-action cartoon feel) with music by George S. Clinton and Amit May Cohen. The rest of the ensemble cast is mostly notable for not being notable, but the trilogy has also featured social media star Ariel Martin, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series alum Matt Cornett, enby icon Terry Hu, and – somehow – a voice-only cameo from RuPaul.
How Do the Zombies Work in ZOMBIES?
The zombies at the center of the franchise were created fifty years ago by a vague incident at the Seabrook Power Plant involving soda. Surprisingly, in spite of how Disneyfied the monsters are, they actually are bloodthirsty cannibalistic revenants at their core. Their base urges to eat brains are controlled by Z-bands, which are Apple Watch-like devices strapped to their wrists, and kept at bay by eating vegan cauliflower brains. However, these devices can be hacked, either partially (to give Zed a boost while playing football, Teen Wolf style) or entirely (at which point the characters begin to mindlessly chase down any humans in their vicinity).
It’s a concept that is less toothless than you’d expect, though of course nobody ever actually gets eaten. And forget about them having any ability to turn humans into zombies, via biting or any other means. This is never addressed and doesn’t seem to be possible in this universe.
Naturally, the dangerous side of the characters is largely kept in the background. The way to recognize a zombie in ZOMBIES is the fact that they all have green hair and their names all have Z’s in them. The zombies also have their own language, to the point that one character, the himbo Bonzo (James Godfrey), only speaks Zombie.
How do zombie parents have children who are also zombies who seem to be able to grow up? And why does Zed have an absent mother, as is Disney tradition, in spite of the fact that she certainly couldn’t be dead considering the fact that she’s a zombie? It’s best not to pull at those threads.
Oh, and did I mention that both Zed and Addison have the ability to directly address the camera like they’re a couple of Fleabags? There is simply too much to cover in just one article, but I shall bravely soldier on.
What Other Monsters Can Be Found In The ZOMBIES Universe?
So here’s the thing. So far, each movie in the ZOMBIES trilogy has introduced a new type of monster to the franchise. The original movie had a West Side Story vibe, with two ensembles on opposite sides squaring off against one another. So the filmmakers figured why stop there? When ZOMBIES 2 introduces werewolves, there’s a whole new ensemble of characters joining the returning cast, with three new main characters leading the pack. Ditto when aliens are introduced in ZOMBIES 3, overflowing the ensemble cast in a way that perfectly evokes the already overstuffed plotting of the franchise.
Naturally, these creatures are largely differentiated by their hair. The werewolves (a deeply iffy metaphor for Indigenous Americans) all have W names and white streaks in their hair. Their powers are less authentic than the zombies, as they mostly just involve roaring and having some vague CGI fang and eye effects applied to their faces. Then there’s the aliens, who have blue hair and A names. They are a metaphor for… immigration? Model minorities? Look, the screenwriters are really trying their best here.
What’s the Music of ZOMBIES Like?
Let us never forget that, on top of everything else, these movies are musicals! The music itself is generally unexceptional bubblegum pop mixed with clunky hip-hop as performed by overeager theater kids. However, as the franchise goes on, it brings in musical motifs for its new monsters that add more variety to the songs including peppering them with R&B and dubstep flavors.
But the choreography? Now here’s where things get really interesting. There’s a reason Milo Manheim blasted past the competition when he was on Dancing with the Stars at age 17. The boy can move. So can the rest of the cast, despite the spotty acting and uneven rapping. The untenably massive size of the cast finally becomes a strength when it comes to showing dozens of bodies moving in unison with tremendously satisfying, athletic choreography.
The franchise also frequently busts out some keen visual ideas that prove that somebody behind the camera was actively trying at all times. This includes an incredible trampoline floor sequence in ZOMBIES’ “BAMM” and the Looney Tunes mayhem of the ZOMBIES 3 number “Ain’t No Doubt About It,” which sees Zed and Addison dancing and accidentally avoiding peril at every turn while trying to mask their doubts about the future of their relationship.
What’s Next for the ZOMBIES Franchise?
Currently, the new release spinoff Zombies: The Re-Animated Series is streaming on Disney+, if you’ve ever wanted to see poorly rendered CG versions of your favorite characters jerkily do dance moves that aren’t really impressive considering their bodies are made of pixels. Fortunately, the proper sequel, ZOMBIES 4: Dawn of the Vampires, is right around the corner. Probably out of necessity, the cast has been severely cut down this time, but it does feature the return of Zed and Addison (on a post-high school road trip), many of their friends, and vampires who are sure to be a clunky metaphor for… something. I can’t wait!