Four teen girls form a music group and practice their hip-hop tunes and their dancing skills so that they can achieve their primary goal: winning the Manhattan Magnet School talent contest, in which the grand prize is no less than a demo cut in a real recording studio.
Meanwhile, a Manhattan Magnet School graduate, who also just happens to be a record executive, coincidentally drops by the talent show’s auditions and discovers the four girls. He thinks they can make it big, but internal conflict and misrepresentation by some shady characters in the “industry” threaten the group’s success and the survival of their friendships. In the end, though, the girls realize that their bond is their greatest asset.

Sound like a Disney movie? It is. Galleria, Chanel, Dorinda and Aqua are the four teens who form the music group “Cheetah Girls” in the Disney Channel movie of the same name. Raven, a former Cosby Show veteran who now has her own show on the kid-oriented cable channel, stars as Galleria in a movie which avoids violence, profanity and most suggestive content, as is the Disney way. The movie’s message may not be an adult’s cup of tea, but parents don’t have to worry about censoring this act.

But, the Cheetah Girls are more than just a fake singing group in a Disney Channel original movie. In fact, the Cheetah Girls didn’t make their debut in a movie. Actually, the movie is based on a 16-book series by Deborah Gregory. In writing the Cheetah Girls series, Gregory aimed for the “tween” market, that age when girls are not yet teens and yet no longer little kids.
However, the television movie’s success spawned an actual all-girl group which sings such pop/hip-hop infused tunes as “Five More Days ‘Til Christmas” and “Cheetah-Licious Christmas.” The girl group also tours, and Cheetah Girls concert tickets are a popular item among the “tween” and young teen set.