Do you remember your 16th birthday? You may not have had a lavish Sweet Sixteen blowout, but you probably remember it as a landmark year. In this sparkly pink Disney Channel comedy, it's the age that everything changes for Abby Jensen (Debby Ryan), all because of a set of magical candles.
This admittedly airy romp was a hit when it originally premiered in 2010, but it's been largely forgotten since then. It wasn't marketed as a Disney Channel Original Movie because it was actually produced by Canada's Family Channel and owned by another studio. So you won't find it on Disney Plus or any of the mainstream streamers. But there is one place you will find it: Tubi!
What's '16 Wishes' about?
Abby Jensen (Ryan) has spent most of her life building a list of everything she wants to happen by the time she turns 16. On her birthday, a strange delivery shows up: a set of sixteen candles that magically bring each wish on that list to life. She suddenly has the power to fix her wardrobe, humiliate her rival Krista (Karissa Tynes, get closer to her crush Logan (Keenan Tracey) and finally feel like the girl who has it all.
But maybe Abby should have been careful with what she wished for. One wish to be treated like an adult jumps Abby forward into a version of her life where she’s 22, past her high school days and drifting away from the people she cares about. Her best friend Jay (Jean-Luc Bilodeau) barely recognizes the girl she’s turned into, her relationship with Krista looks different than she imagined, and she no longer lives at home, so of course her parents "understand" her.
Abby has to face up to how selfish some of her wishes are and get things back to normal, until it's too late. Or else she'll spend forever wishing she were a kid again.
Why you should stream '16 Wishes' on Tubi
Really, how could you not love Debby Ryan in this early Disney flick? It’s a sweet, low-stakes fantasy about a girl who gets everything she thinks she wants, only to realize how messy that can be. Anyone can relate to that, right?
If you grew up on Disney Channel movies or anything in that lane, it also hits that same familiar groove without asking you to work too hard to keep up. It's not mean-spirited, it's got a great soundtrack, and it's genuinely fun.
It's easy to understand why it's worth watching in general. It's about jealousy, friendship, wanting to grow up faster than you should, and living it up as a teen. There’s enough heart to keep it from feeling disposable, but for me, it never stops being a comfort watch. If you’re in the mood for something light with a little bit of magic and a lot of nostalgia, head over to Tubi to check out "16 Wishes" now.
Stream "16 Wishes" on Tubi for free
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