How Disney's Cult-Classic Musical Is Making A Comeback For Its 20th Anniversary

Disney is no stranger to musical movies, but one, in particular, changed everything for the Mouse House 20 years ago. Disney has various titles among the best movies of all time, both live-action and animated, and across different genres. However, Disney also has some game-changing movies that don't rank among those lists.

One of Disney's branches, Disney Channel, is home to some of the studio’s best TV shows, and it also has some popular movies. The most successful one of all is High School Musical, directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. High School Musical is now trending on Disney+, right on time for its 20th anniversary, which was on January 20.

High School Musical Changed Disney Channel Forever

High School Musical tells the story of Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens), who meet at a New Year’s Eve party at a ski lodge when they are called up to sing a karaoke duet together. When Troy returns home and to school, he’s surprised to see that Gabriella has just transferred to his school.

Although Troy is captain of the basketball team and Gabriella is recruited for the scholastic decathlon, they decide to audition for the school’s musical; however, popular girl and drama club president, Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale), won’t let anyone get in the way between her and the lead role in the musical.

Even though it currently holds a 67% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, High School Musical was a huge success, becoming a worldwide phenomenon. Not only did High School Musical launch the careers of its young cast, but it also completely changed Disney Channel and its legacy.

High School Musical turned the attention to Disney Channel’s original content, and established the network as a pop-culture powerhouse (maybe not as big as Disney Studios, but enough to produce something as big as High School Musical).

Thanks to this, Disney Channel franchises like Camp Rock, Descendants, and Zombies were possible, and while they aren’t at the level of High School Musical, they are also very popular and successful.

High School Musical Spawned One Of Disney’s Most Popular Franchises

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the huge success of High School Musical, the movie ended up spawning a popular franchise. The following year, High School Musical 2 was released on Disney Channel, and a year later, High School Musical 3: Senior Year was released in theaters.

In 2011, the direct-to-video spinoff Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure was released, and it followed Sharpay after graduation and her efforts to star on Broadway. High School Musical also got international remakes in Argentina, México, Brazil, and China, though none of them could match the success of the original movie.

In 2019, High School Musical got a spinoff TV series titled High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which ran for four seasons until 2023. There was also a reality competition, titled High School Musical: Get in the Picture, that flew under the radar in 2008, with the winner appearing in a music video in the credits of the third movie.

What’s Next For The High School Musical Franchise?

A fourth High School Musical movie was announced to be in development in early 2016, but the project never really took off. The closest there has been to a fourth High School Musical movie with the original cast was a fictionalized reunion in the fourth season of The Musical: The Series, with Corbin Bleu, Lucas Gabreel, and Monique Coleman participating.

At the time of writing, there are no more plans for a new High School Musical movie, TV show, or reboot, so, for now, the franchise can celebrate the first movie’s 20th anniversary and its incredible legacy.