August 13, 2010 – The Disney Channel Original Movie Den Brother Premieres
“Don’t trust Alex? Why, that’s absurd. The sweet lad is as honest as the day is long, or my name isn’t Edna Mae Zamboni!”
On August 13, 2010, the Disney Channel Original Movie Den Brother premiered. The movie was the highest rated program the night of its premiere, with a little over 3.7 million viewers tuning in to watch. The movie was filmed in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was written by Michael Horowitz and James Krieg, and directed by Mark L. Taylor. The film stars Hutch Dano as Alex Pearson, G. Hannelius as Emily Pearson, Vicki Lewis as Dina, Kelsey Chow as Matisse, David Lambert as Goose, and Debra Mooney as Mrs. Jacklitz.
A huge crowd has turned out for the Lemon Oaks High School hockey game, and team captain Alex Pearson is hogging the puck once again, which, although giving him another record for shots, causes the team to lose. Alex thinks only of himself, much to the annoyance of his friends and family. He arrives home to take care of his sister Emily, running into his professor father, who has once again missed Alex’s game. For the most part, Alex and Emily get along, although they fight over control of the remote. The next day, Alex goes to pick up Emily at her school after a Bumble Bee troop meeting, and finds Emily upset that her troop will have to be disbanded as their den mother is moving to Chicago, and none of the other moms can take over. The troop is upset that, even if they did find a new den mother, they still wouldn’t have her in time to make the Camporee, an important Bumble Bee event.
After being tasked with taking care of the Bumble Bee troop, Alex takes them to an ice skating rink to learn how to play hockey
The troop begs Alex to run the meeting, but although he refuses, they finally convince him to stay. He starts by changing the rules, and decides to take the troop out to the skating rink nearby to learn how to play hockey. While there, Alex is mocked by his rival from the other high school, Titus. The two begin to fight, and Alex ends up with a black eye. When they get home, Emily admits to Alex that it was the best Bumble Bee meeting ever. At school, Alex has a crush on classmate Matisse, although his best friend Goose tells him that she doesn’t care about him at all. When he goes to talk to him, she shuts him down, not caring for his attitude. He believes that if he had a car, she would want to date him, but Goose remains firm that Matisse doesn’t want to date him, ever. Alex then shows up with great fanfare at the hockey game, annoying his coach and the referees. Thanks to his antics, Alex is suspended from the hockey team.
Alex’s father is furious that Alex pulled a stupid stunt, and punishes him by making him do chores around the house. Emily then enlists Alex’s help in taking care of the Bumble Bee troop, and when he finds that Matisse is the leader of a buddy troop, he agrees to help them out. He notices one den mother named Dina who seems to be more than a little high maintenance. She disapproves of all of Troop 57’s craft baskets, and once she finds out that Troop 57 has no den mother, she makes it her mission to get rid of Troop 57. Alex creates a den mother named Mrs. Zamboni to keep Dina at bay, and tells the troop that he will be the den mother. He tries to worm his way back on the team, but his coach tells him that not only is Alex suspended for two weeks, he’s offended the coach of the All-Star team that Alex is dying to be on. Stuck at home taking care of his sister, Alex is once again roped in as acting den mother for Emily’s troop. He gets the troop to do his chores for him for their patches. His father thinks that Alex has taken initiative, and awards Alex with a car, although the car needs a lot of work. He then gives Alex a much larger list of chores as a way of “challenging” him.
Through a bit of quick thinking, Alex convinces the troop to do his chores in exchange for badges
Alex then has to help the girls get badges, and convinces them to do all of his chores for “badges” he creates. As the girls work on fixing Alex’s car, Dina appears, looking for their den mother. In a bit of quick thinking, they disguise Alex as a woman having a facial, with the girls pretending to have a home spa day. Finding out that Alex will be heaving to the Bumble Bee leadership meeting with Matisse, Emily and the troop decide to “help” him prepare for the trip (calling it a date), surprising him with the finished car. He runs into his neighbor Mrs. Jacklitz, who seems disappointed in the fact that he is using the Bumble Bees. Alex brushes her off and goes to pick up Matisse for the leadership meeting, and the two share a tender moment, with Matisse admiring Alex for stepping up and helping his sister. At the meeting, Dina bullies the other den mothers in selling Bumble Bee cookies, but Alex refuses to be bullied, and has the other den mothers back him up. Matisse is even more impressed with Alex, and gives him a kiss on the cheek when he drops her off.
The next day, Troop 57 arrives at the mall to compete in a cookie blitz, with the winning troop winning the opportunity to sell cookies at the mall for the rest of the season. Dina’s troop puts up a good fight, but Troop 57 comes up with inventive ways to sell their cookies. Dina starts looking for Mrs. Zamboni, and Alex runs into a nearby store, hiding in a dressing room. Matisse enters the store, wishing to talk to Mrs. Zamboni. Alex then talks himself up to Matisse, winning her approval again. When Alex exits the store, he finds that their troop one. Dina’s troop starts bullying Troop 57, as the badges they thought they earned don’t count towards eligibility for Camporee. Disappointed, the troop leaves, and Matisse expresses her disappointment in Alex. Dejected, Alex heads to the hockey rink, where he runs into his friend Goose, and confides that Emily hates him for what happened with the badges. Goose finally lets Alex know that Alex makes everything about him, but Alex misses the point and decides to make it look like he’s trying to help the troop rather than actually help them.
The girls follow the map that Alex left them, although they still refuse to talk to him
Troop 57 gathers for a meeting at their school, all agreeing to never talk to Alex again, when member Tina notices a pair of binoculars and a map hanging from the wall. The girls follow the map to find that Alex has set up a campsite for the girls where they earn enough badges to qualify for Camporee, although they are still short on funds. The girls then decide to have a muffin sale at the hockey game to make up the difference. The girls decide to dress Alex up as Mrs. Zamboni, in case they run into any den mother at the game. As the girl sell the cupcakes, they run into Dina, who tries to bully the troop. As Dina starts to report the troop, Alex appears in disguise as Mrs. Zamboni, scaring her off. The troop then sets to work selling their muffins, although he gets a bit distracted by the game. Unbeknownst to Alex, his father appears at the game; at the same time, his coach angrily declares that if Alex were there, the suspension would be over so Alex could help the team win the game. Without thinking, Alex quickly puts on a helmet and gets in the game. Although he scores the winning shot, he disappoints everyone, as Goose is mad that Alex once again made it about himself, and Dina reports to Bumble Bee HQ that Troop 57 has no den mother, leaving the girls unable to attend Camporee. Emily refuses to talk to Alex, and his father and Matisse express their disappointment.
As Alex sits outside, Mrs. Jacklitz’s dog runs into his arms. When he returns the dog, she invites him in, and he spots Bumble Bee sashes on the wall. He then sees a photo of his mom as a Bumble Bee, and Mrs. Jacklitz tells Alex that she was in her daughter’s troop. She then agrees to be the den mother for the troop if Alex will do some chores around her house – and he has to perform the chores, not the Bumble Bees. He finds the troop the next day and apologizes, but the troop doesn’t want to hear it. When he brings in Mrs. Jacklitz, the girls are impressed, and are excited that she has agreed to be their den mother. She convinces the girls to forgive Alex. That night, at the hockey game, Alex admits that he’s been selfish and apologizes to the entire team, and offers his captain position to Goose, although Goose refuses it, saying that all he wants is for Alex to be a good captain. Alex’s rival Titus starts taunting Alex, and misses the fact that Goose has the puck instead. After Alex passes the puck to Goose, Goose scores the winning goal and the spot on the All-Stars team. Goose apologizes, but Alex says he wanted Goose to get the spot. The troop then starts cheering Alex on, effectively forgiving him. They then tell him that they want him to be their den mother and take them to Camporee. Alex agrees, and they head to the huge event. Dina then tries to bully the troop again, but the troop refuses to be bullied. Matisse then steps in to help Alex dress for the occasion in full Bumble Bee uniform, much to Dina’s horror. As Dina demands that her husband put an end to this, he instead invites Alex to be a part of the All-Star team, as he is the coach. Alex agrees, on one condition: his Bumble Bee troop’s schedule comes first.
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