Well, somebody's gotta revive the glory of the movie musical, and it might as well be Kenny Ortega and Disney Channel. The folks who gave us the phenomenon called "High School Musical" - and how many times has that January hit repeated so far? 17? 750? - are back tonight with "The Cheetah Girls 2." Which means all's right with that genre's gloriously artificial world. Not that director-choreographer Ortega's Disney team hasn't updated the format. "Cheetah 2" unfolds in a real place, Barcelona, Spain, with location filming showcasing its old-world grandeur. And it has real-world concerns aimed specifically at its youthful audience: Can four best friends keep tight, true and focused amid such distractions as new pals, boyfriends, diverging career interests and their own control-freak tendencies? Disney creators get what's always made the movie musical click, so they provide it in spades. The title high schoolers are also a singing group of "international superstars in training." (Gotta have the glitz.) Their musical numbers are knockouts of catchy pop and bouncy dance steps. (Gotta have the hooks.) The settings are dreamy - elegant estates, gorgeous old theaters, high-fashion boutiques, cobblestone boulevards. So are the guys - a dashing count who just wants to dance, a curly-haired guitarist who seems to stroll up everywhere, like some guardian angel. Named An-hel, of course. And there's the big goal the girls are after - which is no longer The Guy, thank goodness, but their own dreams, as propounded in the Deborah Gregory books (now 22 of them!) that inspired Disney's original 2003 TV movie and tonight's what-took-you-so-long sequel. These girls have gumption, expressed in growling, fierceness and other Cheetah-licious ways - even their mellifluous names - which they use to further their show-biz dreams. So what if they're not aspiring brain surgeons? At least they've advanced beyond moping after some guy, which is pretty much all that's done by the mom whose ring pursuit takes the entire team to Spain in the first place. While mom Juanita (Lori Alter), awaiting a proposal, lolls about her rich beau's estate, daughter Chanel (Adrienne Bailon) makes the most of multiculturalism by getting out and speaking Spanish with local songbird and new best bud Marisol (Mexican star Belinda Peregrin). Blonde Dorinda (Sabrina Bryan) gets close with that dancing count, while Aquanetta (Kiely Williams) delves into her design flair with the high-fashion friends of chaperone mom Dorothea (Lynn Whitfield). That leaves Dorothea's own drill-sergeant daughter, Galleria (Raven-Symone), pouting back at the piano, trying to lead a group whose members have flown the coop. They were supposed to compete in a Barcelona music festival. Will they reunite in time? Can they rehearse enough? Does Disney know how to sell something? La respuesta es sí. Golden-age Hollywood's old MGM musical stable has nothing on Disney these days. The Mouse House is building its own company of diverse and bouncy young stars, showcased in everything from series to TV movies to bestselling CDs and then in mass merchandising. Fast-growing "Cosby Show" kid Raven is Exhibit A, appearing on weekly "That's So Raven" adventures, series DVDs, music CDs, video games, junior novels, a Barbie doll, cologne spray, branded Mix Stick MP3 players and assorted other ways to consume a kid's allowance. Parents can quibble with the bill, but not with the quality of the media product. While "The Cheetah Girls 2" may seem a bit slickly delivered for grown-up sensibilities (adults should be two steps ahead of the plot at all times), it's also wildly entertaining. Even its cliches are tried and true, delivered with conviction for a new generation. The stick-in-your-head songs are beautifully produced, packed with hooks and transitions, and backed by choreographic editing that sweeps you onto the floor (while cleverly disguising the performers' terpsichorean limitations). The numbers' R&B oomph makes them strangely reminiscent of the girl-power glory days of Janet Jackson. That means not her sexpot Super Bowl self, but the late '80s era of "Control," when Janet kept her ample body covered and let her sassy spirit make the more potent impression. Cheetah power emanates from the inside. And that gives both kids and parents something to sing about.
