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Sabrina's Secret Life (2003)
And Keep it Secret, Sabrina
As I said on my Sabrina: Friends Forever! Review, I had a DVD of this show that I watched like it was my life support. Good times, however, nostalgia doesn't always mean good. I almost gave this a 5 star because I was clinging to the past, but I decided I should give this my actual rating.
Where do we begin? Sabrina is kind of mean spirited. Sure, I was kind of rude at 14 too but not to this extent. She was the same in the previous show but she was also 12, 12 year olds are a bit stupider. At 12 I would get mad at my friends because they didn't know how to make their facebook page look good. But the extent to this was unnecessary.
At the top of my head there's episode 11, "Pet Peeve". Sabrina accidentally summons a magic hamster that's actually some warlock guy or something. Salem didn't like him, because he's a villain. Sabrina was so mad at him to the point where she straight up told him to leave! SHE PREFERS A HAMSTER SHE ACCIDENTALLY SPAWNED AND ENDED UP TRYING TO STEAL HER POWER TO SOMEONE SHE KNEW HER WHOLE LIFE!!! She also wouldn't listen when THE ACTUAL AUTHORITIES warned her!!!
Apparently this show is supposed to teach lessons. What am I supposed to learn? Magic hamsters mean trouble and don't kick your family out for them or else you'll take an enchanted sleep? I'm telling you, this show makes no sense. It's not so bad that it makes me say "THIS SHOW KILLED MY DOG AND PEED ON MY YARD" or other ridiculous things that show my hatred. Forgettable at best, awful at worst.
Sabrina the Teenage Witch in Friends Forever (2002)
Average but Charming
I'll try to keep this spoiler free, but I don't know why I'm concerned about spoiling a 22 year old movie nobody cares about.
I never really had an interest in the Sabrina The Teenage Witch comics or sitcom, but I had DVDs of this, Sabrina, The Animated Series, and Sabrina's Secret Life. I watched all like it was my life support. I still really love Sabrina, The Animated Series and Sabrina: Friends Forever! (I don't like Sabrina's Secret Life anymore, but that's another review for another day) but, just like a chicken sandwich without cheese, they all have flaws.
For starters, it changes quite a bit about the original series. As stated in the movie itself, Sabrina is 13 instead of 12. Sabrina's friend Chloe, her rival Gem Stone, and her uncle Quigley are absent. The formers make sense, as they are probably at home and as mortals have no reason to be at a witch academy or a witch's birthday party, but Quigley isn't at Sabrina's birthday party in the beginning. This is apparently because Chloe moved away, Gem's in boarding school and Uncle Quigley somehow inherited an entire castle in Ireland. Now for the second change, which is even more bizarre.
Salem the cat not only got a different voice actor, Louis Chirillo, but had an entire design change as well. He's still a black cat, but wears a blue collar instead of golden/yellow and has an amulet attached to it. Due to his voice change his voice actor gives him a more high pitched voice compared to his deep voice before. This makes him sound more flamboyant and sassy compared to the egotistical sarcasm he usually has. No offense though, I think he's cute and he has charm, but it doesn't really feel like Salem. He's more like Salem's little cousin.
Now, for the actual movie itself. It's like one of those Disney Channel originals if they were animated. It apparently premiered on Nickelodeon in the states, but it feels more sick-day-home-from-school/I-slept-too-long-and-missed-school-so-I'm-gonna-stay-in-bed-and-watch-TV Disney Channel, stuff like The Princess Diaries or Starstruck. Like the title of my review says, it's a pretty average movie from a critical standpoint, as for a movie to show to children it ages fairly well. The animation is well done.
However, it intrigues me that the movie is called "Friends Forever" and we never see Nicole again. That friendship sure didn't last long.