In late 2005, executives at the Disney Channel were caught off-guard. The cable channel had high hopes for High School Musical, one of its Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs), among the target demographic of so-called “tween” viewers, kids between ages nine and 12. The film, directed by Kenny Ortega, had slick choreography, original pop music, a diverse cast and palpable romantic chemistry between stars Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. But no one, according to a new book on the millennial-beloved cable channel, expected it to transcend kids programming, long considered a cultural backwater both within and beyond Disney. “Despite what some executives later tried to say, that they saw it coming, they did not,” said Ashley Spencer, author of Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire. “This caught everyone by surprise.”
Within weeks, High School Musical was a bona fide cultural phenomenon, and a new, unprecedented gold standard for the business potential of kids programming. Along with tweens, younger kids and older teens were obsessed with its stars. The soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 and became the bestselling album of the year of any genre. By the end of 2006, more than 90 million people in more than 100 countries had seen the movie; a whopping 17 million people (myself included) tuned in for the premiere of the sequel. And more crucially for the company, the franchise generated revenue for Disney across 10 different divisions – theme parks, home entertainment, merchandise, a licensable theater show, among others.
