Review: ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series “Re-Senior Year / I Scream Zoda” ; “Rage Against the Vending Machine / Young, Wild, and Free Period”

In the year 2024, it’s hard to believe kids shows like this are even a thing. In an era where social content is probably far more appealing to the target demographic of this series, why Disney Channel even bothers to produce content like this is really a challenge for me to understand.

Inspired by Disney’s Zombies franchise which has logged 253 million hours watched across linear and streaming since launch when you include the multiple films and even the soundtrack is bringing in nearly 3 billion streams, so somewhere there’s engagement happening.

“ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series” follows the daily lives of Zed, Addison, and the entire Seabrook crew. Using A-spen’s alien time warp technology, Zed and Addison start their senior year all over again, so they can redo it with all their friends. And they want this senior year to be the best one ever, with the crew hanging out, having fun, and doing everything from saving the town to saving their favorite drink in the cafeteria. “ZOMBIES” franchise stars Milo Manheim and Meg Donnelly reprise their roles as Seabrook’s star-crossed zombie/cheerleader couple, Zed and Addison, in the series. Also returning are: Terry Hu as outer space alien, A-Spen; Chandler Kinney, Pearce Joza and Ariel Martin as werewolves, Willa, Wyatt and Wynter; Carla Jeffery and Trevor Tordjman as cheerleaders, Bree and Bucky; and Kylee Russell and James Godfrey as lovable zombies, Eliza and Bonzo. In addition, Kahyun Kim joins the cast as Dae, a witch/alchemist, who is awkward in a quirky, upbeat, “adorkable” way.

The aesthetic of the series is fine, but really this is a run-of-the-mill cash grab from Disney squeezing what’s left of a six-year-old franchise that has probably seen better days. None of the songs featured in the premiere episodes were anything to write home about, and most of the premises of the episodes were rudimentary and cliched. Nothing is really interesting about this series and it certainly belongs on the Saturday morning market where Disney can continue to pretend that kids still hang out.