“We get one step closer each and every day, and we’ll figure it out on the way!“

Can you believe that this absolute iconic Disney Channel show is already 25 years old? If you were a 90s kid, or an early 2000s kid who had older siblings (like me) you definitely grew up watching Hilary Duff on the Television. Lizzie McGuire was one of those first quintessential shows from Disney that depicted adolescent life, and the pains of being a tweenager.

The show began airing in 2001, with it’s first episode premiering on January 12th. Now in 2026 and 25 years later, we’re heading back in time to Middle School to celebrate one of the most iconic TV shows that Disney Channel has offered! It might shock you that the powerhouse that is Lizzie McGuire actually only aired for two seasons, with the show ending in 2004. In my mind, I thought the show ran for so much longer! However, the popularity of the show did lead to only one of the biggest and best DCOMs ever (Disney Channel Original Movie, duh!), The Lizzie McGuire Movie. But we’ll get to all that later . . .

This is probably the first and only time this author is voluntarily heading back in time to junior high—talk about a school-wide awkward stage! Pull out that old matching tracksuit, style those butterfly clips, and jam on those wedge flip-flops, because we’re traveling back to Hillridge Junior High. This is what dreams are made of!

2-4-6-8, WHO’S THE GIRL WE LOVE TO HATE? LIZZIE!

Despite what the cheerleaders in her school think, we could never hate Lizzie McGuire. As a spunky teen, Lizzie McGuire brought her own personality, charm, and flaws, to the Disney Channel and into our lives. Like any coming-of-age story, Lizzie has to make mistakes, she has to run into problems with her friends, and deal with the agony of having crushes in Middle School. Sometimes when we’re younger, we watch shows and movies that are supposed to imitate the things we face every day. And most of the time, the media we’re exposed to is just plain wrong. There isn’t always band geeks and jocks, and sometimes a jock is a band geek; we’re looking at you, Troy Bolton.

What Lizzie MGuire does is show representation for the average tweenage girl, who makes mistakes and has to pick herself back up again. Lizzie was never a geek to us tweens—she had cool hair and outfits, two friends that always stayed by her side, and a family that loved her. What’s fun about Lizzie McGuire is that it also shows kids what being a parent is like, because we can’t leave out all the work Mom and Dad are doing! The show gives us the perspective of how parents have to handle situations too, and by doing that, kids watching can view those plot lines and apply them to real-life situations in their own life at home.

And having to handle Middle School with an annoying little brother at your side? Say less, Lizzie knows all about it. While Matt might not have always been the best little sibling, Lizzie and him have their moments where they both realize that sometimes you have to put your siblings first. As Lizzie learns and grows and develops, so does her audience. Those of us with siblings, problems dealing with helicopter parents, or even silly schoolgirl crushes, got to watch how Lizzie handled those situations. It’s all just a part of growing up.

Check out the first episode of Lizzie McGuire below, posted from the Disney Channel YouTube account as part of the anniversary celebration!

HEY NOW, HEY NOW!

Now, it wouldn’t be a proper article and celebration of Lizzie McGuire without mentioning the pivotal phenomenon that was The Lizzie McGuire Movie. This movie is on the list of top DCOM movies in Disney Channel history—at least, that’s this author’s opinion. Like most younger siblings, my older sister and I watched this film on repeat after it premiered on the Disney Channel in 2003. Lizzie is abroad in Rome, finding love, performing in the Roman Colosseum, and falling for her best friend, Gordo. Talk about a handful.

My favorite part? The montage scene, of course! At that time, nothing could beat watching Hilary Duff strut awkwardly to RuPauls “Supermodel (You Better Work)”. I guess I can thank The Lizzie McGuire Movie for my first ever introduction to RuPaul.

Seriously though, watching Lizzie live out her best international dreams was a game changer. All of us who watched that movie growing up still remember the final song Lizzie sings, because that’s what dreams are made of! It’s also what inspired us to all go study abroad in Rome and ride a moped with an Italian man.

I have to mention too—I only just realized that Hilary Duff 100% played both the roles of Lizzie and Isabella (Lizzie’s superstar doppelgänger). They totally had me convinced there was someone else out there who looked and sounded like Hilary Duff. This is a very funny realization to have twenty years later . . .

TURN BACK THE CLOCK

My household loved Lizzie McGuire so much that we eventually got the DVD set of both seasons, and the movie. I remember binge watching the show on sick days, on my sisters old laptop. If it wasn’t clear already, this show has lots of nostalgia for us 2000s babies.

This year, it’s time to roll back your inner clock, and head back 25 years to when Lizzie McGuire first premiered on the Disney Channel. Relive a little but of your inner childhood this year with Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda!

Lizzie McGuire and The Lizzie McGuire movie is currently streaming on Disney+