Get a dose of modern mad science in Project CC, part of the second wave of Disney’s Launchpad shorts streaming September 29th. Most of the entries in this series play like family-friendly independent shorts, but this one feels like it could’ve been a Disney Channel Original Movie. Of all the shorts produced to date, this is the one that feels the most aimed directly at kids.
(Disney)
Paris Browniee (Jessica Mikayla) is a whizkid, a 12-year-old junior in high school, and the youngest daughter of two scientists. Having just lost her best friend CC (Jordyn Curet) to a disease, Paris is about to conduct the biggest experiment yet – cloning CC! But things don’t go according to plan, and with her parents out of the house, her influencer sister Porfia (A’Lasia Simone) will need to pep Paris up to clean up the mess before mom and dad get home.
In many ways, Project CC reminded me of some of the DCOMs of my youth, particularly The Other Me, Genius, and The Poof Point, all of which were about brilliant kids getting up to some weird science. While the parents (Shelley Meche’tte and Rhomeyn Johnson) throw out some science fact in their brief scenes, the film mostly feels like a salute to stories like The Absent-Minded Professor (and its remake Flubber). It’s not how science really works, but it’s fun and a little madcap.
Director Cashmere Jasmine infuses Project CC with a lot of bright colors and flair, further strengthening the Disney Channel connection to its visual language. Written by Jasmine Johnson, the story quickly glosses over CC’s loss but tries to have a deep and profound moment of reckoning for Paris, which feels a little forced given the disconnected fun between losing her best friend and causing chaos when the wrong DNA sample gets into her cloning device. However, because of the pure joy and fun of the second act, Project CC is likely to be the Disney Launchpad short that kids want to watch over and over again.
(Disney)
The theme of this second wave of Disney Launchpad shorts is connectivity. Project CC achieves that through the story of a girl who loses her only friend but rediscovers the bond between sisters. And it earns points for having a very clever name, with “CC” being shorthand for carbon copy, most colloquially used in email, and the story being about trying to clone someone.
I give Project CC 3 out of 5 planetary earrings.
Project CC premieres Friday, September 29th, exclusively on Disney+ as part of Disney’s Launchpad.
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