The wait is over for Disney Channel nostalgics. The original Under Wraps is now streaming on Disney+, arriving on the service October 9. The 1997 Halloween film was the first movie ever branded a Disney Channel Original Movie, launching a line of more than 100 DCOMs, and its absence from Disney+ has been one of fans’ longest-running complaints since the streamer launched in 2019.
The film follows three 12-year-olds, Marshall (Mario Yedidia), Gilbert (Adam Wylie) and Amy (Clara Bryant), who discover a mummy in the basement of a dead man’s house. Brought to life by moonlight, the bumbling 3,000-year-old mummy, who they name Harold (Bill Fagerbakke), must be returned to his sarcophagus by midnight on Halloween or he will turn to dust. Fagerbakke, the voice of Patrick Star on SpongeBob SquarePants, also plays Ted, Marshall’s mom’s boyfriend.
You can watch the original Disney Channel promo, which aired ahead of the film’s October 25, 1997 premiere, below.
Under Wraps was the glaring hole in Disney+’s Halloween lineup. While the 2021 remake and its 2022 sequel Under Wraps 2 have been streaming there for years, the original was nowhere to be found, and fans have been asking for it on social media since day one. The long absence is widely believed to come down to rights: the 1997 film was co-distributed by Hallmark Entertainment, which likely complicated Disney’s ability to put it on the streamer. Disney has never addressed the holdup publicly.
TikTok has been buzzing about the arrival since yesterday, with millennials who grew up on the film sharing their excitement that they can finally watch the real thing. The original cast is celebrating too: Adam Wylie, who played Gilbert, posted a reaction on TikTok saying he can’t believe it, tagging Disney+ alongside the film’s hashtag.
The timing could not be better. With Halloween three weeks away, the original now sits alongside the remake, giving families the full Harold experience in one place.
As Trevor Decker News previously covered in a look back at Disney Channel’s Halloween movies, Under Wraps holds a special place as the one that started it all for DCOMs.