Zapped (originally called Unleashed) is a 2014 Disney Channel Original Movie based on the tween fiction novel Boys Are Dogs. It began production in early August 2013 in Vancouver, Canada and premiered on June 27, 2014 in the U.S., Family Channel in Canada, and U.K. It features Zendaya and Spencer Boldman in the starring roles.
Plot[]
Zoey Stevens (Zendaya) is an average 16-year-old girl who has just moved in with her mother and four other boys. Her brother Adam (Adam DiMarco) is always in a rush due to being captain of the basketball team. The youngest one Ben (William Ainscough) is always getting dirty. The middle child: Zach (Conner Cowie) has a habit of making disgusting mixtures (like Pancake Mix). Their dad: Ted (Alexis Paunovic) is the basketball team's coach who wakes everyone up at 6:30 a.m. to be prepared. When Zoey arrives at her high school, Adam quickly abandons her and she makes an unlikely friendship with Rachel (Chanelle Peloso) who shows her to her class.
However, Rachel leads Zoey to the wrong side of the school and she walks in on a science class. She is escorted by Jackson Kale (Spencer Boldman) to the correct room (East 242) and is watched by Taylor Dean (Emilia McCarthy), who becomes jealous of her. Later she arrives at dance tryouts but learns that the pancake mix that Zach made is all over her shoes. When Zoey mixes Taylor's dance routine with her own, Taylor shows her up and sends Zoey and Rachel to the J.V. (Junior Varsity) Team. She goes home to find out the family dog, Humphrey, destroyed her room. Her phone later drops into a bathtub of water, gets thrown out the window, slides down a solar panel and lands in Humphrey's food bowl. The phone dries out overnight in a bowl of rice that Zoey's mother recommends.
The next morning, the phone seems to be working again. Zoey then tries to use a dog app she downloaded previously on Humphrey but to her dismay, it was malfunctioning. However, she noticed that her brothers seem to obey her commands using the app. Zoey uses the app on her brothers and stepfather, making them quieter, more focused, cleaner and healthier. She also uses the app to improve the behaviors of the boys at her school. Later that day, Zoey arrives at dance practice and was elected as the captain. Her group dances horribly. Luckily, besides Rachel and her, the other members are boys. She uses the app on her team and they dance amazingly. She goes to the principal and proposes a dance-off competition between the Junior Varsity team and Varsity team. The principal schedules the Dance-Off for the night of the Basketball Tournament.
Everything seems to have been changed for the better thanks to the app. However, as time passes by, it seems that the boys are starting to become lifeless due to being forced to do things. Zoey tries to reverse her commands with new commands and during dance practice, Taylor mocks the J.V. team's lifeless and robotic dancing. Zoey gets mad and uses the app to mess up the Varsity team's dance practice. When Jackson walks in and sees Zoey showing Taylor up, he leaves and Zoey chases him. Zoey catches up to him and (accidentally) uses the app to make him kiss her. Jackson becomes baffled and goes away. Zoey returns to the team and decides to end the practice. At the girls restroom, Taylor steals the phone while Zoey washes her face.
When Zoey learns that Adam has college scouts coming to his basketball game, she tries to reverse the app's effects but doesn't know how. The principal schedules the Dance Off for the night of the Basketball Tournament. When Taylor steals Zoey's phone, she tries to find out how Zoey controls boys but fails until Yuki (Louriza Tronco) figures it out. At the game, moments before it starts, Taylor walks in and controls every male in the room. Zoey steps in (and one by one the rest of her family come in) and persuades Taylor to use it on her. At the end Rachel tackles Taylor and the game begins. Zoey figures out how to reverse the app with the word Release, smashes her phone and throws it out, much to Taylor's shock. The basketball game begins and Adam's team wins. The Dance Off begins and as it turns out, the J.V. Team wins with their own creation. At the end, it is shown that Zoey and Jackson are dating and Zoey and her stepfamily have finally adjusted to each other. Even though it is not actually shown in the movie, it is commonly believed that after losing the Dance Off, Taylor is suspended.
In a post-credits scene, two students in detention find the phone and it turns on, and it shows the app.
Cast[]
- Zendaya as Zoey Stevens
- Spencer Boldman as Jackson Kale
- Emilia McCarthy as Taylor Dean
- Chanelle Peloso as Rachel Todds
- Adam DiMarco as Adam Thompson
- Louriza Tronco as Yuki
- Lucia Walters as Jeannie Stevens
- Aleks Paunovic as Ted Thompson
Trivia[]
- Zapped is based off of the fiction novel Boys Are Dogs.
- Zoey's friend, Rachel, references Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie when she says "You know how in movies when the main character gets magic powers and everything gets wrong like when they travel back in time and stop their dad from meeting their mom, removing themselves from existence... do you think that's happening now?"
- This is the first Disney Channel Original Movie to not say "A Disney Channel Original Movie" at the beginning, instead saying "Disney Channel Presents".
- The US premiere garnered 5.7 million viewers.
- Zendaya was the co-star of the Disney Channel Original Series, Shake It Up, as well as a minor character in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
- Spencer Boldman stars in the Disney XD Original Series, Lab Rats.
- In the book, the main character's name was Annabelle, she didn't have any stepbrothers, and Rachel and Jackson were brother and sister. She did not have an app and instead used a book.
- This is currently the only Disney Channel related movie to still be available on other streaming platforms besides Disney+.
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