Den Brother

Den Brother is a 2010 Disney Channel Original Movie starring Hutch Dano and G. Hannelius. The film premiered on August 13, 2010 on Disney Channel.
==Plot==
Alex Pearson (Hutch Dano) is an avid Lemon Oaks High School hockey player who is seeking the attention of Matisse Burrows (Kelsey Chow), the most attractive girl in school. All he wants is a car, but his father refuses to buy him one until his 'attitude' improves. After showing off at one of his games and getting suspended from the team, Alex's father is fed up with his son's attutude. Dad says Alex will be confined to home doing chores and babysit his much younger sister Emily (Genevieve Hannielius) until further notice. Emily runs into problems with her Bumble Bee troop. Their leader promptly resigns to move to Chicago as her husband just got a job there, and she has failed to find a successor, leaving the girls on their own. Alex takes over as leader, but does not have the authority. He registers with the Bumble Bee council under the alias "Mrs. Zamboni". To keep up the legitimacy, the girls disguise him as an old woman when they have inspections. When alone, an out-of-drag Alex tries to guide the girls.
The Bumble Bee troop has to work to be able to attend the Camporee, the most important Bumble Bee event of the year, by selling cookies and completing various badges. Originally the badges are made up by Alex for doing his chores, but after those are deemed unacceptable, he works to get the girl badges which have been approved by the council. At the same time, he also stands up for the other Den Mothers to Dina (Vicki Lewis), a very controlling Den Mother. The Bumble Bees and Alex finally earn enough to attend the event. However, the girls have exhausted their supply of cookies and still have insufficient funds to pay for the Camporee. Emily suggests going to the hockey game and selling muffins to make up for the difference. Meanwhile, Alex makes inroads with Matisse, who has much in common with Emily, as Matisse is a Bumble Bee who earned the top rank.
However, during the game, Alex's team is down, and the coach is wondering where Alex is now that his suspension is over. Alex puts himself in, but fails to realize he forgot to take off his "Mrs. Zamboni" disguise, and it is revealed that Emily's troop is not under command. Doing so renders Emily's troop unfit to participate in the camporee, alienates his best friend and teammate "Goose", and disappoints his sister and father. Afterwards, Emily refuses to talk to him and his father refuses to punish him, knowing that Alex will punish himself. While going for a walk to clear his mind, he sees a runaway dog, whom he returns to an elderly neighbor of his named Mrs. Jacklitts. Inside her house he sees old Bumble Bee certificates and a picture of his mother (who died two years prior) as a little girl with Mrs. Jacklitts, who was her leader.
Upon learning this, Alex makes a deal with her, where he will do chores for her singlehandedly. In exchange, Mrs, Jacklitts will take command of Emily's troop, being an authorized leader. After introducing herself to the troop, she says that while Alex's actions were indeed wrongheaded, there have been times the girls have misbehaved, and convinces them to forgive Alex. Alex, giving a pep talk before the final game of the season, apologizes to his team and offers the captaincy to Goose (David Lambert), who refuses, saying he wants Alex to be the real captain. During the game, Alex acts as a distraction instead of hogging the puck to himself, allowing his team to win. He sacrifices the winning shot to Goose, causing Goose to get the All-Star spot Alex wanted. The Bumble Bees show up with Alex's father; Matisse forgives Alex and reveals that they want Alex to be their Den Mother, to which Alex accepts.
At the Camporee, Alex is forced to put on the Bumble Bee uniform in order to be the Den Mother. Dina wants a stop to all this, but her husband, who was the referee who suspended Alex, is happy to see his change of attitude. He says there is one opening remaining on the All-Star team and offers it to Alex. Alex, thinking about Emily, is hesitant to consider, but accepts under the condition he will continue to commit to the troop. The girls cheer Alex for being their "Den Brother".
==Cast==
*Hutch Dano as Alex Pearson
*G. Hannelius as Emily Pearson
*Vicki Lewis as Dina Reams
*Kelsey Chow as Matisse Burrows
*David Lambert as Kalvin "Goose" Gustavo
*Kelly Gould as Rachel Caitlyn
*Taylar Hender as Abigail Danielle
*Kiara Muhammad as Ursula Mary
*Haley Tju as Tina Destiny
*Maurice Godin as Jasper Pearson
*Debra Mooney as Allie Jacklitz
*Hutch Dano's father makes a cameo as a flower delivery man.
=== Loop Group ===
* Cam Clarke
* David Cowgill
* Rachel Crane
* Lanai Chapman
* Elisa Gabrielli
* Jackie Gonneau
* Angela Haney
* Wendy Hoffman
* Karen Huie
* Art Kimbro
* Mark Robert Myers
* Melissa Osser
* Zoe Poll
* Grace Rolek
* Diana Sherman
* André Sogliuzzo
==Production==
The film was shot in early 2010 on location in Salt Lake City, Utah.
==Reception==
The movie premiere generated 3.7 million viewers. The film grew its audience from the beginning with 3.08 million viewers to eventually peaked with 4.3 million viewers in its final quarter-hour; it also topped its premiere night.
==Trivia==
*The film's credit contained a "blooper" of a scene where Alex is at a boutique trying to buy frumpy women's clothes to keep up the "Mrs. Zamboni" facade. Dina is trying to track down Mrs. Zamboni and in the same store, and Alex darts into a dressing room. The error was where a piece of clothing landed on Dina when Alex was rapidly changing clothes.
*This is the last movie to be aired on Disney Channel Taiwan before it ceased on New Year's Day in 2022.
==Gallery==
ToDenorNotToDen.jpg|The cast of Den Brother.
==External links==
*Official website
Category:2010 films
Category:Live-action films
Category:Disney films
Category:Films
Category:Films featuring Sports
Category:Disney Channel Original Movies
Category:Den Brother