‘The Cheetah Girls’: 1 Iconic Musical Scene Was Almost Ruined by Rain
In the early 2000s, 3LW singers Adrienne Bailon and Kiely Williams became part of a new Disney band called The Cheetah Girls. Joined by Raven-Symoné and Sabrina Bryan, the group starred in three popular Disney Channel Original Movies. And like every other movie, they faced some production challenges along the way.
The Cheetah Girls starred in 3 Disney Channel movies
The Cheetah Girls first aired on the Disney Channel in 2003 and quickly became a beloved new girl group. With songs like “Together We Can” and “Cheetah Sisters,” the fearsome foursome were one of the most bankable names for the network.
In 2006, the group returned for the sequel The Cheetah Girls 2. The film centered around a music festival held in Barcelona, Spain that the group decides to compete in, and chronicled the Cheetah Girls’ trip there with their families and the drama that ensues.
Two years later, Bailon, Williams, and Bryan starred in The Cheetah Girls: One World, which saw the group travel to India to appear in a Bollywood musical. After the film’s premiere, the singers parted ways at the turn of the last decade.
‘Amigas Cheetahs’ from ‘The Cheetah Girls 2’ was difficult to film because of weather
The Cheetah Girls 2 remains a fan favorite because of its songs such as “Amigas Cheetahs,” “Strut,” and “Step Up.”
The film’s iconic last scene features the group performing “Amigas Cheetahs” at the music festival. But making the visual come to life was easier said than done: according to Academic and statements from group members in the past, filming had to stop multiple times because of rain. Because of the inclement weather, the stage had to be dried before filming could begin again.
According to IMDb, there were other snafus behind the scenes while filming. In “Amigas Cheetahs,” for example, Raven-Symoné’s hat kept falling off, so they modified the look by cutting out the top and putting the brim around her head. And during the “Strut” number, Bailon’s shoes kept falling off, with the crew solving the issue by taping her feet to the shoes.
The Cheetah Girls’ legacy
The Cheetah Girls have lived on in the years since the films first aired on the Disney Channel. Bailon and Raven-Symoné have reunited on Bailon’s talk show The Real. Bailon even joined Raven-Symoné on her Disney series Raven’s Home as recurring character Alana, Raven-Symoné’s childhood bully in the original series That’s So Raven (also played by Bailon).
“We did the first Cheetah Girls movie when I was 19, and now I’m 38, so we’ve stayed friends for almost 20 years,” Bailon told TVLine. “We laugh at the fact that we were playing the high school students… and now we’re playing the parents. It’s so bizarre!”
Bailon wouldn’t close the door on the prospect of returning for a reboot, citing the popularity of The Cheetah Girls with younger generations on TikTok and Disney+. One of The Cheetah Girls’ most prominent young fans: North West.
“Kim Kardashian told me that North is obsessed with the Cheetah Girls and wants to introduce us. In the back of my mind, I’m like, ‘She’s going to wonder why I’m so much older!'” she said. “So I do love that there’s a resurgence, but my only concern would be ruining it. I don’t want to kill the memory of something so great. But I’d always be down. Maybe Bubbles and Chuchie are grown with kids of their own and they start the next generation of Cheetah Girls.”
