Recently, I decided to visit my childhood by rewatching some of my favorite shows from that time. I currently have a list of shows that I want to rewatch from the early Disney Channel years. During this past month, I rewatched Wizards of Waverly Place; and, this time, it was a whole different experience for me. As most of you know, Wizards of Waverly Place aired on Disney Channel in 2007, and released its final season in 2012. It’s been 14 years since it aired, and I barely remembered what it felt like to watch it. I needed to reminisce on that great show and that’s why I ultimately decided to rewatch all 4 seasons. Now that Disney+ exists, it is so much more accessible to rewatch all of these great throwback shows that were once the highlights of my childhood.
When the show aired, I was around 6 years old. In reality, I started watching this show way after it aired. Therefore, I never truly watched the whole show; and if I did, I probably never watched it in the correct order, since Disney Channel would always play the shows in random order. Although I started watching this show a couple of years after it aired, I was still a huge fan of the three wizardly Russo siblings. I began to watch the show because of my older sisters; I was very young at the time, therefore, I would only watch bits and pieces with them. Soon after, I developed an obsession with the show, which paved the way for the show to become my favorite teenage sitcom.
If you haven’t watched the show, it’s about three teen siblings who are Wizards. They are trained knowing that one day they will compete to win sole custody of their family’s powers. The show’s main storyline is centered on Alex Russo, played by Selena Gomez, a girl that frequently uses magic in her everyday lifeーat times, a bit irresponsibly.
What really got me into rewatching the show again is quite interesting. I actually enjoy watching shows during my free time a lot. Recently, I haven’t been having enough time to do so. I either fall asleep too fast, or simply don’t get the chance to watch more than 15 minutes, and Disney shows are short and funny. So, I thought to myself, “why not watch Wizards of Waverly Place?”. While rewatching the show, I noticed that the show does, in fact, teach many valuable lessons. I noticed that Alex is a normal stubborn teenager whose main goal is doing things the easy way or cheating her way through life by using magic. However, when she does these sorts of things, they don’t always go as expected, which made me reflect on my own life experiences and how I cope with tough day-to-day situations. Sometimes we are stubborn and want things to go the way we want; however, when they don’t, we often feel lost or hopeless. Alex is a great example of overcoming oneself in the face of adversity because, even though she often makes mistakes, she still finds a way to fix them and learn from them.
While rewatching the show, I remembered why I loved it so much as a teenager. It’s full of adventure and important life lessons. One of my favorite morals from the show is that, though we may often feel dismayed by the idea that time has passed, we can still relearn certain things or practice other skills or hobbies that we are passionate about. Every day is a new day to learn and fix our mistakes. In a way, I think that we can all agree that Wizards of Waverly Place shaped our childhood in one way or another. This show is definitely nostalgic and worth watching. If you have Disney+ and are considering rewatching your favorite childhood show, I highly encourage you to do so.