If only "Cars" had been just a fraction as successful...

You forgot to mention the High School Musical Pep Rally, coming soon to DCA...

"So what do you folks think? Are you impressed at how quickly the Walt Disney Company has been able to cash on the 'High School Musical' phenomenon?"
----
Am I "impressed" by psychotic delusions?....Um, noooo.  :)

Someone's still forgotten to tell Disney's boardroom that it got the highest ratings for a CABLE movie, which means that a large section of the real-world audience has not only never heard of it in their life, but can ask "Should I have?"
This isn't going to end until Disney gets so full of its own publicity, they risk it all some really big and ill-advised mainstream stunt--we're talking "Teacher's Pet" and Warner's "Powerpuff Girls Movie", here--and get a big fat reminder of just where Cult-Cable ranks on the cultural food chain.
Until then, they're just building their own castles in the sandbox.

Masecaa, Jim mentioned the Pep Rallies in the last sentence!
I, for one, love "High School Musical", and, yes, if only "Cars" had been a fraction as successful, you're right, curmedgeon...that movie deserved it.  But, as far as HSM, it's some good, wholesome family entertainment...and it's bringing back the live-action movie musical.  "Newsies" is my favorite non-animated film, and Kenny Ortega directed it, and he did a great job, though not as good, I think, with HSM.  While watching it, I have noticed some tiny things, like a second of weird-looking lipsynching.  I think that making HSM available for schools to perform is such a great idea.  If only I were in high school again (not like I'd get a good part, but I could be one of the cafeteria kids!)...I'd go and watch it, though!  I wonder if Disney has thought about putting HSM on the big screen.  I mean, it's not like HSM started as a TV show...so I'm not sure if it'd work.  The music and choreography are excellent, IMO, and the story is a good story, too, which plenty of people can relate to.  I say, Good job, Disney!  The only thing I find overkill is rereleasing the soundtrack and DVD.  It *just* came out this year.  It may be good for those who didn't buy the CD or DVD when they first came out, but for those of us who went right out when they became available, unless you're totally obsessed, it's not worth double dipping.

The Disney Videos release calendar (http://disneyvideos.disney.go.com/calendar/2006-date.html) states the "High School Musical Remix Edition" (2 disc set, http://disneyvideos.disney.go.com/moviefinder/products/5327303.html) will be released on 12/5/06.

Oddly, the 11/08/06 release of "Cars" doesn't make the list.

My eleven-year-old sister is among the ranks of preteens who simply can't get enough of "High School Musical." You'd think by now that I would've seen the movie in full, considering that I get to listen to the soundtrack through my wall at least once a day. Truth be told, I've been avoiding "High School Musical" like the plague...because it's not just the preteens who are lapping it up, but also girls my age who have never seen a genuine musical in their life, so I severely worry about their judgement. I'm aware, though, that this is supposed to be focused at preteens, and that this is supposed to be merely a fun, optimistic look at high school, the kind of High School that ignores the exclusion and horrific drama, but rather how great it is to finally drive, to kick it back with your posse, to dye your hair repeatedly, etc., etc. The things that preteens long for and the things that Hillary Duff sings about ("My blonde hair is everywhere...").

I think this is just one way that the Disney Company is killing a great fraction of its audience. This is just one more way of encouraging kids to grow up faster, to count down the days when they can become genuine teenagers. A lot of kids these days are under the impression that they are teenagers, especially the young girls. A lot of these kids don't want to be caught having anything to do with Disney unless if it's the Disney Channel, which has totally transformed over the years to only produce formulaic sitcoms and picturesque *** stars who can be marketted to produce a CD at the drop of a hat. I'm not accussing Kenny Ortega of anything, because he really does seem to care about the project, but man, the Company is just irking me with this because they continue to lead these preteens around with what sells, not with what tells a story or a message.

Again, not passing judgement on Kenny Ortega or on the movie itself, but I do question the morality of the Company for blowing this project up. In my opinion Disney marketting is full of a lot of amateurs. Have they learned NOTHING from Stitch? If you take something successful and you throw sequels and a glut of merchandise at us before the film has even dried, then everyone is going to get very, very sick of it. When you're merchandising for something like this, it's best to teremember that for the most part, movies, characters, and phenomenons are like wine: they grow better with age.

If you wait a few months and then dangle say, three items like a CD, a DVD, and a music book, then you have people readily rushing out to get every single item, because it'll feel like they haven't spent their money on the franchise in a while, that they've been building up to this purchase for a long time. And then will they want more. However, if you throw all of these items into the stores all at once, or over the short course of eight months, then you've given the fans more of a choice, and more of a chance that they'll decline the bulk of the merchandise just so they can at least purchase a few of their favorite items.

I think the "HSM" phenomenon has gone overboard, and that yes, DerekJ is right: it is, after all, a high ranked CABLE movie.

blackcauldron85, I think Curmudgeon was goading Jim (aka he was being sarcastic).  I could be wrong, but that's the sense I got :)

You mentioned that music books are available, but I wanted to let you know that people can also buy and download each of the songs individually.  You can do so at the URL listed.

>>If you wait a few months and then dangle say, three items like a CD, a DVD, and a music book, then you have people readily rushing out to get every single item, because it'll feel like they haven't spent their money on the franchise in a while, that they've been building up to this purchase for a long time.<<

If you do that to a *** fad like HSM, then you have a dead fad and a 90% return rate on your three items.  Understand the difference . . . HSM is not Stitch, it's Big Mouth Billy Bass.  They have to strike fast, or it's all over.  No legs on something like this, regardless of release schedule.

If anything, I think they're planning too far in advance.  HSM 3?  Those 13 year olds will be at the ripe old age of 15 by then.  HSM will be about as cool as New Kids on the Block.

The moderation bleeps teen (short for teenager)?  Oh, now, come on.  How are we even supposed to discuss this?

The movie was not bad, but seemed very very typical and uninspiring.  And don't forget it also spawned a Virtual Magic Kingdom quest at the parks and online.

I'd like Disney to take some of that money and invest it in a new channel.  So that besides The Disney Channel and Toon Disney we could have Disney Classic, which would show the old black and white shows (Swamp Fox, Mickey Mouse Club, etc.), classic cartoons, and, on Sunday nights, The Wonderful World of Color.  This channel might not make as much money, but let the teenyboppers subsidize the channel for us oldyboppers.

I dunno, I thought it was cute. It would be very easy to dismiss the movie as formulaic (because it is), but it's very well done, and the intended audience responds nicely to formula anyway. Solid performances, good message. blackcauldron's reference to the show being "good, wholesome family entertainment" shouldn't be passed over. There's a shortage and a lot of people are looking for stuff like this.

Also, I think we're past considering this just a cable movie. I don't have cable, and my kids, 6 and 3 mind you, wanted to rent it as soon as it was on video. That rental was good for about 4-5 performances at our house before we had to tear it away from them and return it. I think they noticed it from it's promo every 3 minutes in the Disney Store.

I would add one other noticable franchising of the picture: cross-marketing with Dancing with the Stars. Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, and Corbin Bleu showed up on the show last week in support of their HSM alumus and DWTS contestant, Monique Coleman (DWTS will be returning the favor this week by having three of their dance professionals appearing on Zack & Cody).

The significance of this is in that Monique's ONLY qualification for being referred to as a "star" is her supporting-role appearance in HSM, and success on DWTS is largely dependant on popularity (although she's doing well so far in terms of quality, too). It will be interesting to see how well HSM fan base comes through for her.

blackcauldron85 said:
"I wonder if Disney has thought about putting HSM on the big screen."
----
"Thought about it"?...Ohh, yeah, they've "thought about it"--
As part of the marketing campaign, even started one of those cunningly disguised "whisper" campaigns on the Internet, recruiting fans to post, "Do you want to petition Disney to show HSM on the big screen?"
The result, so far, from those mainstreamers who have bothered to respond, has either been "Huh? Isn't it on disk?" or a resounding "....NO!!!!"

And that's what we're talking about here, and the article even touched on:
Disney has created its own little isolated-world success, with its own t-shirts, its own sequels, its own DVD's, its own stage adaptations...Is anything missing?  Oh, yeah--THE AUDIENCE!!  Y'know, the breakout non-fan audience that doesn't watch Disney Channel anyway?
The cold shock of the Real World should have happened by now, but as the article pointed out, it keeps getting postponed--The "movie deal" didn't go over before it started, the tours were cancelled...Fate has kept stepping in to protect Disney from making a costly public fool of itself.
(Think of "The Emperor's New Clothes":  We've got Disney all set to show off their new "success", and we've got the little kid in the crowd ready to shout out "But you're just a stupid -cable- movie, who's ever heard of you?"...It's just that the darn PARADE keeps getting rained out!)  :)

The last public mainstream test is whether the park "Pep Rally" fails to go over with baffled parents, and for the crowning irony, whaddya wanna bet the DCA -park- will get the blame for that one, and not the source material?  -_-

Elera said:
"because it's not just the preteens who are lapping it up, but also girls my age who have never seen a genuine musical in their life, so I severely worry about their judgement. I'm aware, though, that this is supposed to be focused at preteens, and that this is supposed to be merely a fun, optimistic look at high school, the kind of High School that ignores the exclusion and horrific drama, but rather how great it is to finally drive, to kick it back with your posse, to dye your hair repeatedly, etc., etc. The things that preteens long for)."
---
Bingo, Elera--Why didn't I think of that?  :)
Think 90% of the "success" we are talking about is teens getting a taste of "old-school" [NPI] musicals for the first time, and thinking Disney invented them...

A few years before all this, someone pointed out that the old '78 John Travolta "Grease" was becoming a huge cult hit again on video-rental every generation or so with sleepover teens who A) had never seen a good old-style musical with stage-dancing moves (Rydell's prom dance can beat up Eastside's prom!), and B) wanted a squeaky-clean Fantasy High School straight out of the Archies, where everything was fun instead of angsty.
If they haven't seen it yet, try it back to back with your own HSM fan, and see which one has the more professional polish...Could be that Disney's "success" is fueled by an audience that, well, just doesn't know any better.
(And not like us adults are innocent either:  Remember a while back, how many were raving about the attention-deficited monstrosity "Moulin Rouge" being "a return to classic musicals", and then "Chicago" came along the next year to show us how it was -really- done?)  :)

Excuse me, but it's not just the PRE-teens that like HSM!! I'm 14 and most of my friends and I love it! Sure its cheesy, but its still good and can appeal to everyone if they gave it a chance.

I live in the UK and so haven't seen the extent of their advertising campaign. But it seems to me like its worked! My sisters (7 and 9) were very exited about the prospect becauseof the non stop adverts on TV leading up to the UK premiere.

I'm looking forward to a sequel to HSM although I do hope that like you said, they don't go much firther with this movie.

This movie wasn't aimed at most of the commenters. It was aimed at their kids. It's THEIR movie, not ours.

Can't the kids have SOMEthing of their own without boomer parents either appropriating it or pooh-poohing it?

I'm sure YOUR parents weren't all that crazy about whatever it was that lit up your world when you were a ***, either, but it was

>>If you do that to a *** fad like HSM, then you have a dead fad and a 90% return rate on your three items.  Understand the difference . . . HSM is not Stitch, it's Big Mouth Billy Bass.  They have to strike fast, or it's all over.  No legs on something like this, regardless of release schedule.<<

Point taken, mawnck. For a moment there I guess I simply mistook HSM for a fad that could age and last longer than a year. Silly me. ;)

>>Bingo, Elera--Why didn't I think of that?  :)
Think 90% of the "success" we are talking about is teens getting a taste of "old-school" [NPI] musicals for the first time, and thinking Disney invented them...<<

*Shudders* It's this phenomenon that scares me the most.

>>And not like us adults are innocent either:  Remember a while back, how many were raving about the attention-deficited monstrosity "Moulin Rouge" being "a return to classic musicals", and then "Chicago" came along the next year to show us how it was -really- done?)  :) <<

My thoughts exactly! When I first saw "Moulin Rouge" I really wasn't blown away like everyone else seemed to be. Cute, clever, and glam as it could be, it still wasn't a full return to old-school musicals on the big screen. I mean, the music wasn't even originally written for the movie. "Chicago," though, now there was a gem. I think what disturbs me about HSM is that it seems to have that "Moulin Rouge" effect, or that effect that the latest "Phantom of the Opera" movie had...you get a bunch of excited teenagers and young adults who suddenly think they're experts on musicals, and will follow these movies to the ends of the earth, and yet still refuse to invest time in ingenius musicals such as "Les Miserables" and "Fiddler on the Roof" (I actually grew up on "Phantom" the genuine musical, though...so that might be the main reason why the movie made me want to wretch).

>> This movie wasn't aimed at most of the commenters. It was aimed at their kids. It's THEIR movie, not ours.

Can't the kids have SOMEthing of their own without boomer parents either appropriating it or pooh-poohing it? <<

I've pretty much concluded that by the time I become  a parent I probably will be one of those old, bitter parents, chattering about CDs like a granny does about vinyl...anywho...

That's a very good point, zube, and it's true. A parent shouldn't deny their child of the latest hype, because you're absolutely right, this is what's fun for them. If I had a child I wouldn't deny them HSM or anything else that's just good, clean fun for a ***. What I'm saying is that this is the ONLY thing, the only image that Disney Channel presents to their audience: this same perspective over and over and over and over. If I were a parent I wouldn't deny my child their right to partake in what their generation's entertainment has to offer, but I certainly would also introduce them to a wide variety of media that has influenced and built our culture into a more aesthetic and intelligent organ.

Elera said: "I think this is just one way that the Disney Company is killing a great fraction of its audience. This is just one more way of encouraging kids to grow up faster, to count down the days when they can become genuine teenagers."
The princesses, you could argue, "force" little girls to grow up faster.  These 16-year-old princesses or princesses-to-be all fall in love and since it always happens to these princesses, it must be the only way to live.  Jasmine even had to be married by her next birthday.  HSM and other Disney Channel shows alone aren't forcing kids to grow up faster- most media in general has that affect, too.

Moonliner said:
"I'd like Disney to take some of that money and invest it in a new channel.  So that besides The Disney Channel and Toon Disney we could have Disney Classic."
Yes, please!  I've wanted something like that for a long time!

AdriaRose said:
"Excuse me, but it's not just the PRE-teens that like HSM!!"
I'm 21 and grew up with Disney musical movies and love them.  HSM is my least favorite if you compare it to all of the Disney animated movies and "Newsies", but I still like it.

Elera said: "My thoughts exactly! When I first saw "Moulin Rouge" I really wasn't blown away like everyone else seemed to be. Cute, clever, and glam as it could be, it still wasn't a full return to old-school musicals on the big screen. I mean, the music wasn't even originally written for the movie."

Huh? Who said "a full return to old-school musicals on the big screen" was what they were going for? Is old-school the standard just because it's old-school? Moulin Rouge was supposed to be innovative, not a return to anything. I think that's why this thread seems to be dogging on HSM so much - it's being maligned for not measuring up to a standard that it wasn't even shooting for.

"Someone's still forgotten to tell Disney's boardroom that it got the highest ratings for a CABLE movie, which means that a large section of the real-world audience has not only never heard of it in their life, but can ask "Should I have?"  "
---------

It seems a little delusional to claim that HSM has been anything but a huge success.  This isn't something that's big by cable standards.  It has set CD and DVD sales records.  Selling those kinds of numbers is almost unimaginable for a TV show or movie.  The numbers of live productions are absolutely unprecedented, nothing else has ever even been in the same ballpark.

Disney may go overboard and burn out fans, but there's no question that this is a cash cow, and there's a ton of demand for HSM related stuff.

Hey there!

mawnck said: "HSM 3?  Those 13 year olds will be at the ripe old age of 15 by then."

i'm 15, and i love HSM! and i can guarantee that anyone with a kid aged 5-16 in the house will have heard of it too. its a phenomenon.

After just getting back from WDW, I have seen that there is pleanty of HSM merchandise available there, and in tomorrow land, they are staging a "high School Musical Pep Rally" performance. It had not started when I was there, but I'm sure it will attract a lot of the tweens and teens to see it.

Hi guys, I agree with Elera. Basically, I knew about HSM before my anyone in my school, or mostly, did, because it had not come out in singapore yet. I saw a copy of it, and basically, I was like, "Okay, it's okay and it stops there." but another part of me went "thats it?" like the whole movie ended at the auditions. The songs were nice, I admit, but by the time everyone else had heard them I was a bit sick of them. the movie, is okay, but it really really stops at there. I think it is highly overrated, and somehow, even the performance wasn't that great. I mean, the film could have used a bit of touching up, especially the singing part, because I though that the miming to the music wasn't great at all.
I don't understand, I think that the plot is a bit... well....... come, on I've seen better flopped movies. Even Aquamarine, which actually didn't seem to take off that much, I think the storyline is much better, if not more realistic. when I read the part about HSM3, about the prom, I was scoffing. I mean, the prom, come on! A lot of succesful movies have made it about the prom, involving the prom, but lets face it, its just not cut out for HSM. I also don't blame Disney for taking full advantage, but I think quickly making a sequel is only going to raise more eyebrows. No offence, or anything, but I think the stars, are being a bit ridiculous, like vanessa Anne hudgens and Zac Efron are NOT together, thank god, but somehow in intwerviews I see, she seems to have thought it over and maybe add a little bit of, suspicion, shall we say? Like, I don't know, I don't really bother to keep up, but my friend does, and somehow its getting a bit irritating, the mania.
Especially when Disney decided to produce an asian version, which in the eyeys of my friends, failed miserably. I was quite suprised that Disney would actually carry out this. I mean, such a popular song that is highly requested reproduced by people who don't sound as nice, in fact, not that nice at all, in my opinion? Do you really think people would accept such a song that is not of original quality and nothing to do with the original singers? It was bound to flop. Well, to me it has anyway.
I agree that this movie has appealed to younger teens and tweens. Elera, I like what you said about tweens trying to be teens. I agree, because I used to be one. That of course, was before HSm, I'm now going on 15 soon. I do regret growing up early and coming out of my childhood days early.
Also, could I please add, that I think the whole plot of one, two and three is a bit far-fetched. I mean, come on...
I don't know if I can stand another HSM movie with all the singing and mania, and everything. Its so...annoying. I hoped it would stop at 1, but sadly, no its continued to be a trilogy. They make it sound so grand, like LOTR trilogy, and come, on, hey are no where NEAR that sort of full-scale standard.

I LOVE HSM and they are comin out with a second , so ha to all the people who hate it!!