Loosely based on the 2007 young adult novel by Mark Peter Hughes, Lemonade Mouth begins with Mesa High School freshmen in detention: Olivia White (Bridgit Mendler), Mohini “Mo” Banjaree (Naomi Scott), Charlie Delgado (Blake Michael), Stella Yamada (Hayley Kiyoko), and Wen Gifford (Adam Hicks). It is through this chance meeting, and the encouragement of detention administrator and music teacher Ms. Reznik (Tisha Campbell-Martin), that the kids decide to form a band, “Lemonade Mouth.”
Each of the teenagers landed in detention for fairly minor offenses. While there, each of them gets a glass-bottle lemonade from the schools all-lemonade vending machine. Charged with cleaning the music room, the kids pick up instruments and start jamming. Olivia starts singing a song she wrote.
Right away, it becomes clear that each teenager has a unique personality, and potentially difficult domestic situation—expressing some of their emotions through music could be just what the doctor ordered. Olivia, the bands lead singer, is living with her grandmother, and struggling to come to terms with her mother’s death; bassist Mohini “Mo” Banjaree is from a traditional Indian family that frowns upon anything that doesn’t involve preparing for college; Drummer Charlie Delgado isn’t interested in living up to his much admired older brother’s soccer legacy; lead guitarist Stella Yamada, the black sheep in her brilliant biracial family, is also a new student at Mesa; keyboardist Wen Gifford is not happy that his just divorced father is dating a 28-year-old community college student.
Led by the Segway riding Principal Stanley Brenigan (Christopher McDonald) Mesa High School’s main focus is sports. While Brenigan proudly unveils the spacious new gymnasium (sponsored by a sports drink), anything that doesn’t generate revenue—such as the music program—is relegated to the dark, dank basement, alongside the detention area.
The formation of “Lemon Mouth” hits some initial roadblocks: Olivia is afraid to sing in front of crowds. They also have to deal with threats from the high school’s resident favorite band, “Mudslide Crush.” Through it all, they persevere and adopt their name “Lemonade Mouth.” While they continue to be outsiders, their status as a band does gain them a measure of respect. More importantly, each of the members is finally able to deal with some of their personal baggage.
With most of the stars of the High School Musical franchise grown up and looking to advance beyond The-House-of-Mouse, it seems clear that Disney is looking to create a new franchise. Lemon Mouth first aired on April 15, 2011, attracting 5.7 million viewers, a far cry from the numbers on the Camp Rock and High School Musical movies, but a bit better than most other recent Disney Channel movies. Given all of that, and the success of the films soundtrack, a sequel seems likely.
Lemonade Mouth comes to DVD in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio of its high-definition broadcasts. Despite the fact that this is not a Blu-ray release, the transfer is topnotch. Some occasional artifacting is noticeable, but it doesn’t affect the overall viewing experience.
The audio is presented in in English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1. The soundtrack is front and center-channel driven, with crowd ambiance utilized through the surround channels. While the dialogue is clear, the highlight of Lemonade Mouth is the film’s music.
We get limited special features:
- Rock-Along: Rock with the band to all your favorite songs while watching the film. During the music scenes, karaoke style subtitles are displayed on screen.
- Exclusive Scene: (5:31) The band members of Lemonade Mouth is interviewed for a television show.
- Digital Copy
