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A still photograph captured from the first Cheetah Girls film, “The Cheetah Girls” while the group is in their preshow huddle. They each are wearing some cheetah print as a tribute to their group name.1
Cheetah Girls
Galleria Garibaldi, Chanel Simmons, Dorinda Thomas, Aquanetta Walker
The Tween Market and Disney
Despite their commercial success, the Spice Girls phenomena came to an end in December 2000, a year after Geri Halliway broke away from the group. This sudden departure from the market left their young fanbase reeled as they found no suitable replacements for the Spice Girls’ girl power infused pop music. It was Disney that ultimately exploited this new “tween” girl market with its targeted TV programming. The concept of tweens refers to “the boundary between childhood innocence and adolescent or adult independence [that] is fraught with moral panic around sexuality.”3 Scholars agree that “as a conglomerate that produces extremely popular media texts targeted to and featuring girls, Disney relies on the exploitation of girlhood to grow and sustain its position in the industry.”4
In a departure from more traditional Disney animated, family-oriented movies like Lion King, their TV programming, like Lizzie McGuire began featuring female protagonists whose conflicts revolved around friendship, romance, and social standing. In one of Disney’s most successful projects in the early 2000s, the Cheetah Girls emerged as a diverse group modeled off the Spice Girls and borrowing heavily from their “girl power”.
This is the Disney Channel logo that appears in the corner of the TV screen before a program begins.2
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A promotional photograph of the Cheetah Girls from a photoshoot.5
Cheetah Girls
Disney released three Cheetah Girls films between 2003 and 2008 on TV all featuring the fictional characters. Building off the intersectionality of the Spice Girls, each member exhibited a distinct characterization. When asked about their success, the girls said “You can look at any one of us and see that we come from completely different backgrounds, and yet we accept each other.”6
Raven Symone’s Galleria is a curvy black teenager whose bold style demonstrates her confidence, and, at times, her cockiness. Adrienne Bailon depicts a Latina teenager, Chanel, whose outfits show her feistiness, and who struggles to handle living with a single mother. Sabrina Bryan’s character, Dorinda, who lives in a foster home, struggles with her socioeconomic background. Finally, Kiely Williams plays Aquanetta, a black teenager, in an upper-middle class family, wearing sophisticated clothing. Each girl speaks to a specific demographic of fans allowing them to find success among Disney’s diverse audience. The Cheetah Girls saw the Spice Girls as the “big sisters of girl power” and an important musical influence.7
“Cheetah Sisters”
This can be seen in an analysis of “Cheetah Sisters” a song from The Cheetah Girls. This song is performed at the end of the movie following a serious conflict between the members. They sing the song in a public square as both an apology and forgiveness to one another. As the song progresses, the members physically move closer to one another and eventually begin a clearly choreographed routine.
Lyrically, the song emphasizes close female friendship, without any mention of romantic relationships. The chorus, “We make up one big family though we don’t look the same / our spots are different,” functions to accentuate the individual differences of each member while also including the fan base within this family. This occurs via the use of plural personal pronouns. The acceptance of others, despite differences, situates the Cheetah Girls within the context of intersectionality and “girl power.” The confidence and pride within the lyrics, “got the brains, got the power and we speak the truth,” elevates their agency over themselves and their lives as a central tenet of girl power.
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A promotional photograph for the second Cheetah Girls film with coordinating outfits.10
Musical Analysis
A musical analysis furthers the argument that the Cheetah Girls can be read alongside the Spice Girls. “Cheetah Sisters” begins with a slow tempo and a thin texture of only piano and vocals. An electric guitar solo, a rock music signifier, signals a change for the song by blending the genres of pop and rock. Following the solo, the music comes back with a faster tempo and a thicker texture. It undeniably becomes a pop dancing song that Cheetah Girls and Spice Girls fans were both familiar with. The form AABA follows this pattern as well.
The syncopated beat adds a funk element that encourages dancing but the melody is relatively simple, drawing emphasis to the lyrics. These musical elements mirror the Spice Girls sound from the 1990s which serves to make “girl power” accessible to a larger base through Disney Channel. The Cheetah Girls’ close vocal harmonies, similar sounds, and choreographed routine complicate their standing as individuals, but the familial relations attached to the song’s title can ease this issue. As sisters within a family, they are similar, and working in harmony, but only to better support one another as individuals.
- Ilana Gelfand, “Why the Cheetah Girls Have Great Style,” 2016.
- “21 Shows From Your Childhood That You Almost Forgot About,” 2017.
- Tyler Bickford, “Tween Intimacy and the Problem of Public Life in Children’s Media: ‘Having It All’ on the Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana,” 2015, 66.
- Morgan Genevieve Blue, “The Best of Both Worlds?: Youth, Gender, and a Post-Feminist Sensibility in Disney’s Hannah Montana,” 2013, 6.
- Victoria McNally, “The Definitive Ranking Of ‘Cheetah Girls’ Movie Songs,” 2015.
- David Caplan et. al, “The Cheetah Girls.” 2007, 32.
- Marco R. Cava, “Cheetahs vs. Spice: A Girl Power Overload,” 2007, 1.
- “Disney Channel Original Movies.”
- The Cheetah Girls, “Cheetah Sisters,” 2004.
- “Adrienne Bailon.”