The biggest movie of the year is 'High School Musical'?

Posted Monday, May 15, 2006 at 11:36 AM Central

by Tim Briscoe

How can it be that the biggest film of the year is a music-and-dance, made-for-TV movie that aired on the lowly Disney Channel? First let's look at the stats.

High School Musical debuted on the Disney Channel Jan. 20 to nearly 8 million viewers. That made it the top basic cable TV show that week. A repeat the next night pulled 6 million viewers, the second-most-watched show of its kind that same week. Over the course of its 10 telecasts, the movie has been seen by 34 million unique total viewers in 18.8 million households. The show has been the biggest hit with its ironically pre-high school target audience -- 10.0 million kids aged 6-11 and 10.5 million "Tweens" 9-14.

The show's CD soundtrack made Billboard's Top 10 within two weeks of its release and made it two number one a few weeks later. It fell out of the number one ranking and then reclaimed the top slot. Nine -- count 'em -- nine songs were on the singles chart simultaneously. The CD was the first time a TV soundtrack had made it to number one since 1985's Miami Vice. Hitting number one from the bottom-up was the most amazing feat in an age when CDs debut high and then decrease.

Last, but most definitely not least, the DVD for the movie musical is coming May 23. Dubbed High School Musical: Encore Edition, the release will contain two versions of the film, the original and a sing-along, karaoke version. Viewers can also learn the dance moves with director and choreographer Kenny Ortega. There will also be behind-the-scenes footage and a never-before-scene music video. The DVD is sure to be one of the biggest sellers of the year.

These are all impressive facts but the question remains -- why is it so big?

It was an unexpected hit, according to Disney Channel's president of entertainment Gary Marsh. The goal was to create "Grease meets Romeo and Juliet," but it grew into much more -- even among non-tweens. "I knew we had something when everybody around the office was asking for a copy of the CD before the movie came out, wanting to play it in their cars and take it home to their kids," he told the Associated Press.

Disney crafted a clever marketing campaign which featured music video interstitials before the TV premiere and deployed an extensive online presence -- which was key for this Neopets-loving demographic. Plus it was well-timed at the beginning of the year when kids had lots of holiday gift cash in hand to buy the soundtrack.

Also, it's a pretty good show. The movie's story is simple but fun. Jock Troy falls for brainiac Gabriella but their respective groups of friends -- not to mention drama queen Sharpay -- try to keep them apart. Catchy tunes like "Getcha' Head In The Game" and hot dance moves make up the rest for one entertaining product.

And it's got stars. Well, the names Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, and Ashley Tisdale are anonymous to anyone older than 15 but well known to tweens. Heartthrob Efron is a favorite of Tigerbeat readers and starred in "Summerland," a series on The WB. Hudgens was in the teen movie Thunderbirds. Tisdale is one of the stars of Disney Channel's hit sitcom The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. All three stars' names have become top web site searches on the Internet, including this site where they are continually in our top celebrities sought after.

What's in the future for High School Musical, aside from the DVD? Well, an obvious sequel for one. It's currently in the works. There's also a two-disc special edition CD soundtrack coming on the same day as the DVD. "High School Musical: The Junior Novel" arrives in bookstores June 1. A stage production and possibly even a touring concert are being discussed. Plus, High School Musical goes international in June when it makes debut in 23 other countries.