High School Musical turns 20: Disney Channel’s tween franchise is still having an... - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 01-20-2026, 10:52 PM

...impact on Hollywood today

https://www.the-independent.com/arts...-b2901721.html

“Society shifted in 2006,” says Lydia Spencer-Elliott. “Jack Dorsey launched Twitter with ambitions for the platform to be nothing more than a lighthearted microblog. Facebook opened to the public for the first time. YouTube exploded and was bought up by Google for a billion dollars. In many ways, 2006 is considered to be the last ‘normal year’ before culture transferred online. Viral moments were shared by everyone rather than by personalised algorithms, music charts really mattered, and people still watched live TV programmes in their multi-millions; at the time shows were scheduled, without a second screen. Which is how I wound up cross-legged on the floor of my rich friend Jodie’s bedroom, staring up at her TV screen with the eager anticipation of, well, a 10-year-old girl who was about to see Zac Efron sing and dance in a slinky basketball jersey for the first time. Jodie had Sky TV at her house, which meant she had Disney Channel: the home of Kenny Ortega’s High School Musical. After years of Disney sitcoms like Lizzie McGuire and That’s So Raven, this was the first film aimed directly at pre-teens. So, here we were, at our artfully scheduled sleepover, dying for a glimpse of fantastical teenagedom and romance. Twenty years ago, before there was Justin Bieber, there was Efron’s Troy Bolton. Tanned and symmetrical with a huge sideswept fringe, he is the basketball captain of East High School’s Wildcats team in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We meet him, clad in a very middle-aged brown blazer, while on a ski vacation over Christmas break with his parents, when his mum tears him away from shooting hoops and towards the “young adults” New Year’s Eve party in the basement of the resort. Here, he is dragged on stage for karaoke alongside Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens), a bookish math and science whiz, who – unbeknownst to Troy – was about to transfer to East High from a school in San Diego the very next term. “Some days you guys might thank me for this,” the party’s host laughs – Efron and Hudgens certainly did, anyway. High School Musical propelled the duo – romantically involved both on screen and in real life – to stratospheric fame among tween fans.” ALSO: High School Musical cast members celebrate the 20th anniversary.

01-20-2026, 10:52 PM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,611	High School Musical turns 20: Disney Channel’s tween franchise is still having an... ...impact on Hollywood today https://www.the-independent.com/arts...-b2901721.html “Society shifted in 2006,” says Lydia Spencer-Elliott. “Jack Dorsey launched Twitter with ambitions for the platform to be nothing more than a lighthearted microblog. Facebook opened to the public for the first time. YouTube exploded and was bought up by Google for a billion dollars. In many ways, 2006 is considered to be the last ‘normal year’ before culture transferred online. Viral moments were shared by everyone rather than by personalised algorithms, music charts really mattered, and people still watched live TV programmes in their multi-millions; at the time shows were scheduled, without a second screen. Which is how I wound up cross-legged on the floor of my rich friend Jodie’s bedroom, staring up at her TV screen with the eager anticipation of, well, a 10-year-old girl who was about to see Zac Efron sing and dance in a slinky basketball jersey for the first time. Jodie had Sky TV at her house, which meant she had Disney Channel: the home of Kenny Ortega’s High School Musical. After years of Disney sitcoms like Lizzie McGuire and That’s So Raven, this was the first film aimed directly at pre-teens. So, here we were, at our artfully scheduled sleepover, dying for a glimpse of fantastical teenagedom and romance. Twenty years ago, before there was Justin Bieber, there was Efron’s Troy Bolton. Tanned and symmetrical with a huge sideswept fringe, he is the basketball captain of East High School’s Wildcats team in Albuquerque, New Mexico. We meet him, clad in a very middle-aged brown blazer, while on a ski vacation over Christmas break with his parents, when his mum tears him away from shooting hoops and towards the “young adults” New Year’s Eve party in the basement of the resort. Here, he is dragged on stage for karaoke alongside Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens), a bookish math and science whiz, who – unbeknownst to Troy – was about to transfer to East High from a school in San Diego the very next term. “Some days you guys might thank me for this,” the party’s host laughs – Efron and Hudgens certainly did, anyway. High School Musical propelled the duo – romantically involved both on screen and in real life – to stratospheric fame among tween fans.” ALSO: High School Musical cast members celebrate the 20th anniversary.