Johnny Tsunami

About Johnny Tsunami

Johnny Tsunami is the 10th Disney Channel Original Movie and was released in 1999. It is the predecessor to "Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board", released in June, 2007.

The movie starts out when Johnny Kapahala (Brandon Baker) is living in Hawaii. Johnny has good friends, a great family, and a grandpa who is a surf legend. But then, his dad gets a job transfer and makes his wife and Johnny move to Vermont.

In Johnny's new town, there are two schools: one is a private school where the students are all skiers, and the other is the public school where all the students are snowboarders. Although Johnny goes to the skiers' school, he would prefer to snowboard because he thinks it is more like surfing. Although he has a hard time at first, Johnny eventually learns how to snowboard with some help from Sam Sterling (Lee Thompson Young). While at his new school, Johnny meets a girl named Emily (Kirsten Storms), whom he becomes good friends with. However, a skier named Cory likes Emily as well. During one incident in the mountain, the Urchins (the students from the public school) decide to ride the side of the mountain that belongs to the skiers and are confronted by the Skies (the private school students). A quick fight ensues between Johnny and Cory, but is immediately dispersed when a snow ranger arrives. When Johnny arrives home after a meeting with his parents and the principal concerning the fight with Cory, Sam tells Johnny that he is moving to Iceland, as are his father's orders since he is a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. Intent on doing something to prevent the move, Johnny and Sam fly to Hawaii on a cargo plane to stay with Johnny's grandfather. Johnny and Sam have a great time in Hawaii surfing and enjoying the warm weather, but they decide to come back to Vermont along with Johnny's grandfather, the famous Johnny Tsunami. Johnny, to his amazement, finds out that his grandfather has great snowboarding ability and they decide to ride the skiers' side of the mountain, where the best rides are. Cory and his gang meet Johnny and his grandfather and they decide to have a one-race challenge between Cory and Johnny. If Johnny wins the race, then the skiers must share the mountain with the snowboarders. If Cory wins, then he is awarded the Tsunami Medal, a prize given to the best surfer in Hawaii. Johnny goes on to defeat Cory, allowing him and Emily to begin a relationship.