Adventures in Appletown

Decent watch, can't say I'm going to watch it again, but can recommend for younger audiences and mystery lovers.

So, because this is almost as interesting as the movie: apparently this was realeased in 2008 (IMDb) as "Adventures in Appleton", then was re-released in 2011 as "Kings of Appletown", and then released in 2013 as "Hidden Treasure of the Mississippi". Either Disney was desperate to get this to make money or their lawyers were very active.

The movie itself isn't great, it's a basic Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew story without any flair. Don't get me wrong, there are a couple small twists, but it's a weak b storyline and its hard to root for kids that have regular access to dirt bikes and jetskis but seem privileged enough to pay $3 for fair stuff, but still have to paint the fence themselves. Hell, he didn't even trick his friends into doing it (Go watch Huckleberry Finn).

The real problem is that it was obvious that Disney thought their names would draw viewership here, but they didn't market it as "Zach and Cody" and "Victorious" so I doubt it worked.

Being a Disney kid star spoils you, it rots your brain, at least a little, and not everyone bounces back into a good actor right away.