Malachi Barton Movies and TV Shows: A Complete Career Guide
Child actors who keep working into adulthood are rarer than the industry’s constant supply of them suggests, and the ones who manage it tend to share a pattern: steady work across formats rather than one enormous role followed by silence. Malachi Barton has followed exactly that path, moving from a scene-stealing turn as a young sibling in a Disney sitcom through voice acting, original movies, and leading roles, with several major projects still ahead. Here is a complete guide to his career.
His Background and Early Roles
Malachi Daniel Barton was born on March 10, 2007, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and moved to Los Angeles in 2013. His mother is Felicia Barton, known for an American Idol appearance and for singing the DuckTales theme song.
The earliest Malachi Barton movies and TV shows are small guest parts. His first television role came in The Young and the Restless, and he appeared as Tiny Kid in Workaholics. In 2015 he took guest roles across See Dad Run, Instant Mom, and Henry Danger, playing Trevor in an episode of Instant Mom. These brief appearances led directly to the role that made his name.
Stuck in the Middle: The Breakthrough
The defining early entry among Malachi Barton movies and TV shows is Stuck in the Middle, the Disney Channel family sitcom in which he played Beast Diaz. The show premiered on February 14, 2016, ran for three seasons across 57 episodes, and concluded on July 23, 2018, with Barton appearing in every episode.
The series centered on Harley Diaz, played by Jenna Ortega before her later breakout, navigating life as the middle child of a large family. Barton played Beast, one of Harley’s younger brothers and twin to Nicolas Bechtel’s Lewie. Despite being among the youngest cast members, he consistently drew attention as a scene-stealer. The ensemble also included Ronni Hawk, Isaak Presley, Ariana Greenblatt, Kayla Maisonet, and Cerina Vincent.
Voice Acting: Fancy Nancy and Elena of Avalor
An often-overlooked strand of Malachi Barton movies and TV shows is animation. He voiced Lionel in Disney’s Fancy Nancy from 2018 to 2022, a four-year run alongside his live-action work, and voiced Leo in Elena of Avalor, which received multiple award nominations. Voice work has been a consistent thread rather than an occasional detour.
Dora and the Lost City of Gold
The most prominent feature among Malachi Barton movies and TV shows is Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019), the live-action adaptation, in which he played young Diego, the childhood version of Dora’s cousin. It gave him exposure to a major theatrical production and remains among the credits he is most identified with.
The Under Wraps Films
Two Disney Channel Original Movies form a significant part of Malachi Barton movies and TV shows. He starred as Marshall in Under Wraps (2021), a family Halloween comedy about children who discover a friendly mummy, and reprised the role in Under Wraps 2 (2022). Leading two DCOMs consolidated his position as one of the network’s recognizable young stars, and gave him leading rather than supporting roles.
The Villains of Valley View
A major entry among Malachi Barton movies and TV shows is The Villains of Valley View, in which he starred as Colby Madden, also known as Flashform. Beginning in 2022, it follows a family of supervillains living undercover as ordinary suburbanites. The role gave him a leading position in an ongoing series as an older teenager, marking his transition from child performer to young lead.
The Zombies Franchise
More recently his work has expanded into Disney’s Zombies franchise, one of the network’s most successful properties. He appeared in Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires (2025), with involvement continuing through Zombies 5 and the spinoff ZOMBIES: Locker Diaries. He also appears in the Descendants and Zombies Worlds Collide concert special. Joining a musical franchise expanded his range, requiring performance skills beyond straightforward acting.
Upcoming Projects
Several projects extend his slate. He has been cast as Fletch in Camp Rock 3, continuing Disney’s revival of another beloved musical property, and is set to play Jake in Coven Academy. The mix across musical, comedy, and supernatural material rather than repetition of one type is notable for a performer still in his late teens.
His Career Trajectory
What stands out across Malachi Barton movies and TV shows is consistency. Many child actors stall in the gap between childhood roles and adult work. Barton instead moved steadily from ensemble child roles, through leading DCOM roles, to headlining a series, and into major franchise work.
The mix of live-action and voice work gave him range and steady employment, since his animation roles ran concurrently with on-screen projects. Outside acting he is known for baseball and skateboarding, and he once held an unusual world record for the most pencils pierced through a water-filled bag in a minute, broken in 2018.
The bottom line on Malachi Barton movies and TV shows is that he has built a remarkably steady career for a young performer, beginning with guest roles on shows like Henry Danger and Instant Mom before breaking out as Beast Diaz across three seasons of Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle. From there he moved into voice work on Fancy Nancy and Elena of Avalor, the feature film Dora and the Lost City of Gold, leading roles in Under Wraps and Under Wraps 2, and a starring turn as Colby in The Villains of Valley View, before joining the Zombies franchise with further projects including Zombies 5, Camp Rock 3, and Coven Academy still ahead.
Key Takeaways
- Malachi Daniel Barton was born March 10, 2007, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and moved to Los Angeles in 2013.
- His mother is Felicia Barton, known for American Idol and for singing the DuckTales theme song.
- Early credits include The Young and the Restless, Workaholics, See Dad Run, Instant Mom, and Henry Danger.
- His breakthrough was Beast Diaz in Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle, appearing in all 57 episodes from 2016 to 2018.
- The series starred Jenna Ortega as Harley Diaz, with Barton playing her younger brother and twin to Nicolas Bechtel’s Lewie.
- He voiced Lionel in Fancy Nancy from 2018 to 2022 and Leo in Elena of Avalor.
- He played young Diego in the feature film Dora and the Lost City of Gold (2019).
- He starred as Marshall in the Disney Channel Original Movies Under Wraps (2021) and Under Wraps 2 (2022).
- He leads The Villains of Valley View as Colby Madden, also known as Flashform, from 2022.
- Recent and upcoming work includes Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, Zombies 5, Camp Rock 3 as Fletch, and Coven Academy.
