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 ?
Gosh I think it's smart...maybe it's overdoing it, but what not strike when the iron is hot? I feel comforted that at least there's something the tweens (and older, like me) can find that's wholesome entertainment before the later teen years do their damage. I liked the music - so what if it's Broadway style? It's so much better than a lot of other music out there.
I've never seen HSM, but a friend of mine just directed a production at the school he teaches at. The show opened on a Wednesday night, and they sold out their 850 seat auditorium. Their second show was on Friday night, and they managed to somehow fit in at least 100 people more than they should have had in that auditorium.
Needless to say, I think it's smart for Disney to strike while the iron is hot, and it's also smart for theatre groups to follow suit, because this show appears to practically be a license to print money at the moment.
I nominate Greenyskp for Class President.
Everyone seems to be talking about the fact that tweens do in fact grow out of things. But then there becomes a whole new market for nostalgic older kids who were around when High School Musical jumped onto the scene and remember it being a fun time.
Anyways, outside of that, I love High School Musical. And I think the difference between HSM and Stitch was that Lilo and Stitch was already a problematic venture, whereas HSM has already proven to be ridiculously popular.
I think what some of us are saying is that we don't mind Disney's voracious greed if the original property doesn't suck as much as HSM.
what happened to al the comments?
The Original High School Musical was amazing.
I live in Arkansas, there are not a lot of productions for High School Musical going on around here.
I have no idea why many of you are whining. The movie was great, and people are reacting to it. IMMENSELY.
Many of the shows that Disney is making from High School Musical will not reach the whole world, just certain parts of the U.S.
For MANY tweens, teens and even adults, who cannot even see any of these shows, its excruciating, because we all wish we could.
Disney is smart for milking it. And if the new movie rocks, I'm pretty damn sure everybody will flock to see the third and last one.
Many of you on this site, must not be aware that Kenny Ortega, the creator of High School Musical, originally intended it to be a 3 part show. Which in case would mean, the third one will probably be the last.
As long as the music stays amazing and exciting, the story well-written, and the actors amazingly attractive, everyone will flock to see the third one. Especially if it is in 3D.
High School Musical 2 will more than likely break a lot of Disney Channel's Records, and will probably break a lot of Music records as well for the company. But then again, can the company pull it off?
Make an amazing sequel that can spur enough excitement to make fans clamor for a third one?
I couldn't care less for the franchise. From what I've seen and heard, it looks rather lame. Like something that will be forgotten and very dated in just a few years. And I am myself a senior in high school. But hey, fandoms young and old are more wastefully expended on worse films...
Yet should we complain at Disney for substituting artistry for capitalism? I would. Anything that substitutes pure artistry for something cheaper does irritate me. But in this case, I think I'll just ignore the entire thing.
Nice blog by the way. I'm heartily enjoying it.
My wife and I are adults with no kids, and we love HSM. We've got the soundtrack and the DVD, Heaven help us!
Looking forward to the next one, and hoping against hope that it will be as enjoyable as the first.
"And I think the difference between HSM and Stitch was that Lilo and Stitch was already a problematic venture, whereas HSM has already proven to be ridiculously popular."
"I think what some of us are saying is that we don't mind Disney's voracious greed if the original property doesn't suck as much as HSM."
Well, after comments like these there's not much left to say really.
I mean, I'm as fed up with the abundance of Stitch as anyone else, but to say that HSM is a better movie than the original Lilo & Stitch... I've caught glimpses of it on stores, and I can only thank the heavens for not having any girls, and for my boy to be young enough to not be peer-pressured yet.
One comment made earlier is actually the most accurate. Disney is right in miling this for way more than its worth, since the target audience will be gone in a heartbeat, as soon as they pass that wonderful age that makes things go from cool to embarassing.
Well, my wives and I are plants, and we say "The more the better!"
I can't wait for the theme park, the touring musical and the Imax version, and one of my wives is so excited that we had to stuff a wallet into her mouth to keep her from swallowing her tongue! I say: FIVE STARS UP!!!
My 2 cents
As a theatre actor & director (both musical and non) and drama teacher... I hated this movie. WITH A PASSION. But that's just me. It obviously is VERY SUCCESSFUL. I'm glad that Disney is making the most of it. That's their job. That's how they pay for new things. I wish them nothing but success with this franchise.
All that being said, I do think they have a history of running things into the ground. I hope that doesn't happen to this... but I fear they will do just that.
Too much of anything is not good.
I liked the movie, especially its totally unrealistic approach to High School. I mean, West High is the perfect school. No bullies (not really), no swearing, no kids with their pants SO LOW you can see their rear ends. It is so perfect, the decent people in the world want more so as to escape the morbid real-life schools of today. So, hoorah, Disney.
i <3 curmudgeon
I can't get remotely excited about HSM, but then I'm nowhere near the age of their target audience.
Is Disney milking it? You betcha. And as a stockholder, I've got nooooo problem with that.