The One Thing About "Johnny Tsunami" You Definitely Don't Remember

The timeless Disney Channel snowboarding classic has a surprising twist.

Posted on January 14, 2015, 21:46 GMT

Matt Kiebus

BuzzFeed Staff

You remember Disney's made-for-TV cinematic classic Johnny Tsunami, right?

Okay, well here's a quick refresher...

It's a story about a Hawaiian surfing prodigy who has the perfect life.

Plus his grandfather is a Hawaiian legend and most likely the coolest dude in the universe.

He was given an important medal for saving the lives of tourists drowning in the ocean during a terrible storm.

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But his dad is an asshat who tells him surfing isn't a viable career.

Meanwhile, Johnny's dad gets a job opportunity in Vermont and uproots their family to the snowy Northeast...

Where Johnny attends a stuffy private school filled with pretentious skiers (and one babe that totally digs him).

Soon enough Johnny becomes BFFs with a super cool snowboarding bro from the nearby public school named Sam.

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Because Johnny's such a natural athlete he learns to snowboard after one important tip...

Then he gets a really cool hat.

Soon enough, Johnny races some smug skier named Brett down the mountain, victoriously breaking the skiing-only mountain rule and allowing snowboarders to use the slopes.

And then Johnny swoops in and steals Brett's girl.

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Johnny Tsunami went on to spark our nation's snowboarding craze* and made children of every Disney Channel subscriber want this hat.

*Unconfirmed.

Fuck yeah, Johnny Tsunami!

Only, that's NOT Johnny Tsunami...

That's right, the title character in the film is ACTUALLY the uber-cool grandfather.

Tsunami was his nickname.

Our little Hawaiian snowboarding hero was actually named Johnny Kapahaala.

~ mind. blown. ~