‘Anti-pressure for kids’

Entertainment | High School Musical becomes a billion-dollar juggernaut by not pushing the boundaries | Megan Basham

Fred Hayes/©Disney Enterprises, Inc.

It's easy for adults without children in the tween demographic (8- to 14-year-olds) to dismiss Disney's High School Musical phenomenon as yet another passing fad. And truth be told, it probably is. But what the retro-musical series has managed to accomplish during its relatively short time in the spotlight is impressive.

Filmed on a modest budget in 2006, the original made-for-TV musical about a high-school jock and the girl who convinces him to participate in the drama department became Disney's highest-rated show (a record that was eventually broken by High School Musical 2). The soundtrack also became the year's best-selling album, selling more than 4 million copies.

Since then, High School Musical has become a billion-dollar juggernaut complete with merchandising, reality spin-offs, touring ice shows, and fans as far flung as Egypt, France, and the Philippines. Now that the third installment, set to premiere on the big screen rather than the Disney Channel, is breaking early sales records, it looks as if the beat will go on at least a little while longer.

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November 01, 2008, Vol. 23, No. 22

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