by Mary Polleys
½ cup school spirit
1 cup catchy tunes
¼ cool dance moves
2 tablespoons cute boys
1 teaspoon Disney magic
And voila! The phenomenon that is High School Musical is born. And if you think only children through pre-teens are entranced by the film, think again. High schoolers, to college students, to fully developed adults fall prey to its trap.
Just saying the name High School Musical immediately prompts an outbreak of “We’re All in This Together,” by some fan or another. Zac Efron as Troy Bolton, practically household names due to the Disney channels far reaching influence.
Disney is even already advertising a High School Musical sequel, where the viewers supposedly get a choice in the major twists in the plot.
So what made this Disney movie so much more successful than the others? The fact that it was a musical was surely a factor, seeing as most Disney channel originals are not musicals. The story line seemed far more thought out, and the actors more carefully chosen, naturally because they had to act, sing (or pretend like they were), and dance.
High School Musical is the Grease of our generation. The story is of a boy and a girl, who meet on a vacation outside of school and (go figure) end up singing. The boy however, is the captain of the basketball team and doesn’t want his buddies to know that he’s found a new passion in singing. They have to overcome the cliques formed at their high school (“Break Free,” so to speak) to achieve their goals and end up together again for the happy ending. Sound familiar?
Despite its similarity to Grease and predictable nature, it has become the kind of movie that you watch over and over again, while memorizing the lyrics and learning the dance moves. Ipods allow you to have the entire songs complete with music videos with you at all times, and many people take advantage of that opportunity.
If you tune into popular adolescent shows at all, you’d know a couple of the characters from the shows. Sharpay is also known as Ashley Tisdale who is also known as Maddie on The Suite Life of Zach and Cody. Troy Bolton, also known as Zac Efron, played a supporting role of Summerland, a television show that also starred music star Jesse McCartney. Chad Danforth, also known as Corbin Bleu, went on to star in the Disney Channel original movie Jump In! With their all star cast and award winning director and choreographer Kenny Ortega, money machine High School Musical will not soon be forgotten.
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1 comment:
Much more clearly identifiable than the harry Potter post. This is a good review which addresses a film/show which is relevant to your (Pembroke High School) audience. The balance could be emphasized a little more because it is very predictable and very "Grease"y. You might want to elaborate on the "money Machine" comment you make at the end- HSM onstage, HSM the concert, HSN on ICE! Also try to minimize the snide parenthetical comments(what were you thinking!?). Don't talk down to your readers.
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