At a Glance
- The Disney Channel original film premiered on January 20, 2006, and drew 7.7 million viewers in its first airing.
- The soundtrack hit number one on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for more than 100 weeks.
- Disney+ is marking the anniversary with a dedicated streaming channel from January 7 through March 4.
- Why it matters: The movie launched global careers and a franchise empire, and its stars reflect on its lasting impact two decades later.
The cast and creative team behind High School Musical are looking back on the phenomenon that debuted on the Disney Channel on January 20, 2006, and quickly became the channel’s most commercially successful original film.
Director and choreographer Kenny Ortega says he sensed the potential during filming of the finale. “When we were shooting the big finale [“We’re All In This Together’] … I took my eyes off the monitor and just took in the scope of the whole room and I thought, ‘My God, if Disney Marketing does the job that we’re doing in this room today, we have a juggernaut,'” Ortega tells News Of Los Angeles.
The movie’s premiere drew 7.7 million viewers and its soundtrack reached number one on the Billboard 200, remaining on the chart for more than 100 weeks. The success spun off merchandise, a concert tour, two sequels, and a television series, while catapulting its young cast-Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Alyson Reed, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, and Lucas Grabeel-into global stardom.
The cast remembers filming
Efron, who was 18 during production, tells News Of Los Angeles, “I was so young when we made High School Musical, and it was just a really great experience. We were having fun, learning as we went, and honestly just enjoying every moment together. I never could’ve imagined it would still mean so much to people 20 years later, or that a whole new generation would connect with it, and I’m grateful for that.”
Bleu, who was 15 at the time, calls the experience “extraordinary.” He notes, “At the time I had already been in the industry for over a decade as a child actor, studying and working towards an undefined dream. It was simply a wonderful and fortunate opportunity to apply a multitude of artistic skills alongside peers.”
He adds that sudden fame carried challenges: “Being launched into that kind of whirlwind before your frontal lobe is even fully formed is fraught with pitfalls to navigate.” Still, it “opened doors for future endeavors and my Broadway career” and created “lifelong relationships amongst the cast and crew.”
Coleman, now 45, recalls seeing merchandise with her face and feeling shocked: “There was no way to prepare us for what was really happening. We kind of woke up inside of it.”
Tisdale echoes the sentiment: “Whenever you put something out into the world, of course you hope people enjoy it. But I couldn’t have imagined the longevity HSM has had … It was such a life-changing experience for all of us.”
Dance numbers left lasting impressions
Hudgens says the choreography for “We’re All In This Together” is “ingrained into my DNA. Between filming it, doing it on tour and seeing people doing it on social media from time to time it stays in my head and in my body. I feel like it always will be.”
Grabeel attributes part of the film’s charm to the organic chemistry among the cast. “What I remember most is how unburdened it felt,” he says. “There wasn’t a machine yet – no mythology, no expectations, no sense of legacy. We were present: singing around the piano between takes, laughing at our silliness and mistakes, figuring it out together. That kind of rarity isn’t something you manufacture – it’s something you’re just lucky enough to be part of and share.”
Global reach
Set in a traditional American high school, the story resonated worldwide. Ortega remembers demand so high that concerts filled Latin American soccer stadiums built for 70,000 fans. “We felt like we had something, and we felt like we were going to make an impression, but we had no idea of the global kind of phenomenon that it became,” he says, crediting the film’s “universal and timeless” appeal through “music and dance and storytelling.”
Anniversary programming
Disney+ will celebrate the milestone with a dedicated streaming channel from January 7 through March 4, featuring all three films, Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure, and every season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
Key Takeaways
- High School Musical premiered on January 20, 2006, and became Disney Channel’s biggest original-film hit with 7.7 million viewers.
- The soundtrack topped the Billboard 200 for weeks, fueling a franchise of sequels, tours, and merchandise.
- Stars credit the set’s carefree camaraderie for the on-screen magic that still resonates with new audiences.
- A Disney+ pop-up channel runs January 7 to March 4, offering all related films and series.
