Good God. Has it really been less than a year and a half since "High School Musical" originally debuted on the Disney Channel ?
Copyright 2006 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Back in January of 2006, Mouse House execs were just hoping that they hadn't wasted any of their promotional money on the innovative campaign that they'd mapped out for this Disney Channel Original movie. I mean, it's one thing to introduce the cast of "High School Musical" as part of that basic cable channel's New Year's Eve special. But quite another to blow tens of thousands of dollars on signs for bus shelters & mall kiosks that advertised free downloads of this TV musical's anthem, "Breaking Free."
But -- in the end -- this was clearly money well spent. For "High School Musical" went on to become a genuine phenomenon. The TV movie itself racked up record ratings. Then the "High School Musical" soundtrack went quadruple platinum and would eventually become the # 1 album of the year. As for the DVD version of "High School Musical" DVD, it became the best selling TV movie of 2006, moving 7.2 million units worldwide.
And let's not forget "High School Musical: The Concert." Which set off on a 40-city tour on November 30, 2006 and then proceeded to sell out enormous venues like the Toyota Center in Houston.
Copyright 2007 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Mind you, this doesn't take into account the more-than-a-1000 really-for-real high schools around the country that licensed the stage rights to this Emmy-Award winning TV movie in the past year. Or -- better yet -- the professional stage version of "High School Musical" that Disney Theatrical is sending out on the road later this month. Which will first preview at Detroit's Fisher Theatre in Detroit & Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts before officially opening at Chicago's LaSalle Bank Theatre.
All this. Plus the "High School Musical Pep Rally" theme park attraction. Plus the DVD board game. Plus the Troy & Gabriella dolls. Plus "High School Musical : The Ice Tour," which will feature music from from both of these TV musicals.
Yep. You read that right. I said " ... both of these TV musicals." As in: "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2."
And -- as you might expect -- even though we're still more than two months away from the debut of this Disney Channel Original, the Mouse has already begun a promotional campaign for this new TV movie. One that obviously targets the millions of fans that the first "High School Musical" film had.
Take -- for example -- the High School Musical : The Concert (Which hits store shelves on June 26th).
"High School Musical" fans who purchase a copy of this disc will then get to see an exclusive preview of the sequel to this ridiculously popular TV musical. Mind you, it's only a 30-second-long preview. But you do get to see Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens shooting "High School Musical 2" 's opening number, "What Time is It ?"
And what time is it as this new TV musical gets underway? Why, the end of the school year. And ...
... East High School hoops star Troy Bolton, A-student Gabriella Montez and the rest of the "Wildcats" are getting ready for a summer vacation. But all that changes when scheming drama queen Sharpay Evans uses her dad's connections to get Troy a job at their ritzy country club -- and a chance at a college basketball scholarship. The catch ? He'll have to turn his back on his friends and pair up with Sharpay in a musical extravaganza for the club' annual talent show. But when Gabriella and the Wildcats start making plans without Troy, he must decide where his loyalties lie. Copyright 2007 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved
... East High School hoops star Troy Bolton, A-student Gabriella Montez and the rest of the "Wildcats" are getting ready for a summer vacation. But all that changes when scheming drama queen Sharpay Evans uses her dad's connections to get Troy a job at their ritzy country club -- and a chance at a college basketball scholarship. The catch ? He'll have to turn his back on his friends and pair up with Sharpay in a musical extravaganza for the club' annual talent show. But when Gabriella and the Wildcats start making plans without Troy, he must decide where his loyalties lie.
You can find out even more about the plot of "High School Musical 2" by visiting the official website of this Disney Channel Original. As for the plot of "High School Musical 3" (Which is supposed to begin production this fall and then be released to theaters in October of 2008) ... I'm told that it deals with Troy & Gabriella's senior year.
Now where this gets interesting is that -- depending on how well "High School Musical 2" does -- Walt Disney Pictures is considering shooting "HSM3" in Digital 3D. With the hope that getting the chance to see the Wildcats dance in three dimensions might then be enough to entice "High School Musical" fans to come see this third musical in the series during its theatrical run. Rather than waiting for "High School Musical 3" to come out on DVD.
What's that you say ? You think that the Walt Disney Company is really milking this whole "High School Musical" thing. Funny you should mention milk.
I know, I know. There are those of you who read JHM who will immediately dismiss "High School Musical" as being just a fad. Something that the tweens will eventually grow tired of and then move on to the next big thing. But consider this : Just last month, the Latin American tour of "High School Musical : The Concert" was selling out 50,000 seat stadiums. And the only other groups to ever sell out these venues were U2 and the Rolling Stones.
And all of this -- the best-selling CDs & DVDs, the sold-out concert tours, the hot theater tickets as well as the eagerly awaited ice show -- comes on the back of a TV movie that only cost $5 million to produce.
Oh, sure. Capt. Jack Sparrow hauls in a lot of loot with his "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. But given that the combined production & promotion costs of "Dead Man's Chest" and "At World's End" are reportedly to be over $650 million ... The profit-to-pay-out ratio on those Jerry Bruckheimer productions isn't as quite as great as you might think.
Whereas the "High School Musical" franchise (According to folks that I've spoke with within the Walt Disney Company) has already generated well north of a hundred million dollars worth of pure profit for the Mouse House. With tens of millions more yet to come off of the sale of "High School Musical 2" DVDs & soundtrack CDs, "Ice Tour" tickets, plus all of those licensing fees from both the professional & amateur versions.
Which you have to admit is pretty good for a show that got its start by giving away free music downloads on bus shelter signs.
But what do you folks ? Do you think that the Mouse is "milking" it a bit too much with its "High School Musical" franchise ? Or do you applaud the Walt Disney Company for taking the ball and running with it here ? Cashing in on this TV musical in every way possible ?
Your thoughts ?
I'll be the first to admit that, as a 19 year old male, I've never seen High School Musical. But, that being said, I do think Disney is milking it, but I don't hink that that's a bad thing. I'm not saying HSM is just a fad (which, as a general musical lover, I hope it does last) but Disney should strike while the proverbial iron is hot. The only thing which could backfire IMO, is theatrical movie, but who knows...
Disney is rather smart. EXTREMELY SMART. I'M EXTREMELY HAPPY THAT THEIR EXTREMELY SMART.
I'm 16, I have 12 & 11 year old sisters. They are dying over High School Musical 2, I was forced to pre-order a copy of the "What Time is it?" CD Single, they JUST HAD TO HAVE the updated version of the Original High School Musical DVD (which my mom so easily caved into, because she herself is a fan, we gave the old DVD away, by old I mean 3 months old), and we just yesterday bought tickets for a production of High School Musical at a local high school...
Disney's not stupid. I am freaking 16, and I'm excited about the movie. I have tons of other friends as well that are uber excited about this next film. And from seing the first Music video, "What time is it?" I'm EXTREMELY excited as well! This film is generating tons of money. And personally, if the 3rd one was done in Digital 3D, I'd go watch it 23,002,234 times. Ok maybe an exageration, but I'd definitely go see it as many times as I could.
I love the film. It's good, they has good music, good morals, and really attractive Characters. Disney's doing awesome with the film. Sometimes, you really want to buy a pen from high School Musical, if they had sheets, shoot, i'd probably had already bought em for my sisters. their crazy for it.
And please, do not tell me my sisters are the only ones crazy for it. Apparently the rest of the world is as well. this film isn't a fad to be just dismissed...
It's a cultural TV phenomenon that needs to be treated as one. And Disney knows just how to treat it. By giving it a name for itself. A loooonnnngggg time from now I'm pretty sure my child will watch a DVD or Blu-ray version of High School Musical, and I'll tell him about how popular it was. It'll be remembered for A LOONG TIME. It's a great film, with great music, that will be around for a long time.
EVERYBODY ALREADY KNOWS WHAT HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL IS. WE ALL KNOW THE NAME, WHAT IT IS, AND HOW GOOD IT IS TOO. And if they don't know, I'm sure they've heard of it.
I'm glad to say, this is an amazing Disney Musical, "The Disney Musical," which I'm sure 50 years from now will be their Generation's "Grease."
I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!
Sure Disney is milking it. And why not! It's a proven sucsess.
I've never seen the movie, so I think its overrated for now.
What? No mention of HAUNTED HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL?
That's already being prepped for production.
Please, Disney, milk this for all you can - in fact do to HSM exactly what you did to Stitch. Overreacting to his popularity created a character that is percieved more as a nusance than a friend. While being slightly amused by watching it with my daughter, I could not take and had to leave the overloaded 'pep-show' at the Magic Kingdom (now at the Studio). I do appreciate the work of the cast who were giving their best, but the volume was way too loud and overpowered all else in Tomorrowland while it played (similarly, I knew then to avoid it at Star Wars Weekend - by being on the other side of the park). So much for 'attractions for the whole family'.
So to Disney marketing, keep it up. And soon the interest in HSM will be as long as the lines for Stitch's Great Escape.
blueohanaterror, I think the theatrical film Jim mentioned is "Haunted High School Musical".
I'm a HUGE HSM fan, and I'm 22. I am SOOO excited for the sequel to come out...66 days and counting (according to the official website). I'm listening to the HSM soundtrack as I type. I don't go overboard by buying both versions of the CD or DVD, but I enjoy it just the same. I'm a big fan of musicals (especially Disney ones) and choreography (I'm also a big "Newsies" fan), so I knew from just the initial commericals that I would like HSM. The first was well-made, has an interesting plot line, and amazing song-and-dance numbers. The characters are great...everything just works. I hope the franchise lasts for a while. Since, in a few years, the actors won't look like high school kids anymore (and, if what Jim said was true, that HSM3 would deal with their senior year), I can see Disney pulling a "Saved By the Bell: The New Class", with an updated class. It would also be eaten up with a spoon. I can't wait to see where the future of HSM lies.
My tween daughters love the movie & we drove 3 hours each way to the live concert in January.
I think Disney is smart to make the most of HSM while the iron is hot. The stars are young and they won't be able to play high school age for very long. Also the age range of the fans is narrow and they will grow out of it. I think the key to HSM's quality is the music. The songs all quite good and in the best tradition of the musical theater, most move the plot forward. Not easy to achieve and I hope they can manage another good soundtrack.
I see the point about them shoving Stitch down our throats until we were tired of him. But I think this is a different scenario. Stitch, Lilo, and Cobra Bubbles will never go out of style, and their fans will never outgrow them, just like most people of all ages will admit to being huge fans of characters like Dumbo, Cinderella, and Ariel. These characters will be around forever, and so will their fans.
The problem with the tween crowd is that they go from being very enthusiastic to very embarassed very quickly. I remember when I was that age. One day I loved certain things, and the next I didn't want my friends to know I even knew what those things were, be it a movie, tv show, or band.
"High School Musical" is a very trendy movie. I saw a little of it, and what I saw was impressive. But the target audience outgrows things very quickly.
Disney's success is going to rely a lot on their ability to judge when to drop this--If they can keep the fans from disowning future movies, they can rely on the nostalgia of those same fans to bring them back to purchase special edition, anniversary collections--once they're old enough to be themselves again.
An addendum to feathers's post...
I agree with everything he/she said, but there's another factor that should be considered here: eventually, the actors are going to either become too old to pull off high schoolers (not every actor can manage that until they're 27) or they're going to lose interest and attempt to move on, like Zac Effron supposedly has.
Hey Jim, didn't you write about that too? :¬)
Anyway, since Disney's got the fanbase and the cast ready, and since they won't if they wait months or years to try and strike again, this is one instance where milking it might not only be a good idea but the best strategy.
I don't care about the High School Musical franchise, and it's quite surprising that the Disney Channel has found a genuine hit this day and age.
But in another way, it's probably better that they're going with something a little more original. Whereas with Lilo & Stitch, currently their last major triumph in 2-D animation, they milked the crap out of that when they were barely gaining a profit from their other animted films.
As long as The Disney Channel can continue to shoot for stuff that's more original, and provides for more than just the tween crowd, this doesn't sound like a real problem.
The trend with Disney now is to find something that is a success and run it into the ground.
They did it with Millionaire. They are doing it with Pirates. They are doing it with HSM.
I love chocolate, but too much will make me vomit. Right now, I'm feeling nauseous.
Disney has a long tradition of overthinking their productions, determining them a loss before they come out, and then not being prepared when they turn into bonified hits. And then when they figure it out, they overmarket, and cram the stuff down peoples throats.
I hated High School musical. I thought it was awful. The music is lame, etc etc. But then im not much of a contemporary broadway fan. I didnt like the finding nemo muscial either. Just dont get whats up with stage today - anyway they proved with Stitch too much of a good thing is.. well a bad thing. Putting him in with the fab five on merchandise was just dumb and stitch is one of my fav. characters.
Their currently doing this with Pirates, and I cant say im happy. Because when the 1st movie came out, i went to disney READY to buy a set of Aztec coins and they didint have any merch until the 2nd came out.
Are they milking it? Of course. But can you blame them? They are making an absolutely huge amount of money, and if the tweens are throwing it by the bucket at Disney can you blame them for taking it?
Sure, it only appeals to kids and teens. Sure, it's not great music or film. But if there's an audience, and there is a huge one, might as well keep giving them what they want.
>>> blackcauldron85 said:
blueohanaterror, I think the theatrical film Jim mentioned is "Haunted High School Musical".<<<
Oh yep. You're probably right.