High School Musical: Premiers pas sur scène

10 years ago this first High School Musical film launched with very little fanfare, and no real big names in it. Little did Disney know that it would capture the imagination and hearts of so many young people, spawn two (at present) sequels and become a lasting phenomenon!

Is it surprising when you watch the actual film? No, not really. It's an hour and a bit of fun, the young cast (and they do look young) all give good performances, and it's enjoyable for all ages.

The make it or break it quality with any musical are the songs, and of the three 'High School' films this is the one with the most iconic songs.

No, it's not Shakespeare. But it is an almost modern version of Grease. I'm not a huge musicals fan, but I enjoyed it.

"High School Musical" was a movie that can pick you up and make you "dance". The songs were great especially "Get your head in the game". With some dance moves, the movie also added great humor,"love",and for those jocks out there BASKETBALL! The actors rocked the stage and just made the movie a teen can watch and who knows maybe one or two can relate to "Troy"(Zac Efron),"Gabriella"(Vannesa Anne Hudgens),or even "Sharpay"(Ashley Tisdale). Disney has proved itself once again as the movie magnet! Like other movies "Right on Track", "Go Figure", "High School Musical" is a great movie which you can sit with family or with friends and enjoy and you never know when you might be singing along!

While the film only came out 15 years ago, I felt a high amount of nostalgia watching High School Musical again. It was exciting to see the start of something new (pun absolutely intended) and the Disney Channel juggernaut that came from it.

The story was straightforward and predictable, the acting was mediocre, and the script was incredibly cringey at times, but I can forgive all of that because of the music. Every song in this film is a karaoke classic that I blasted in my mom's car to and from middle school. While it is not a cinematic masterpiece, this film brings back sentimental feelings and memories that make it a family favorite.

The other night, having nothing else to do, I popped in the DVD of High School Musical just to see what the "fuss" is all about (My younger sister owns the HSM dolls, clothes, towels, movies, CDs, video games, sheet music, etc). Though not usually drawn to the musical genre or Disney Channel dramatic fare, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this film held my interest and entertained me for its duration.

Plot-wise, HSM doesn't deviate too far from standard Disney programming. When new girl to school Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) begins to form a relationship with school beau Troy Bolton (Zac Efron), it draws the ire of popular girl Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale) and facilitates an overhaul of East High's social cliques.

What sets the storyline apart from, say, a typical episode of Hannah Montana, though, is the way the school stereotypes are portrayed. Instead of getting too preachy, Disney instead wildly accentuates those stereotypes and lets the simple messages of diversity and acceptance speak for themselves. Troy is the All-American boy every girl has a crush on, Gabriella is the stunningly beautiful girl next door, and Sharpay is the over-the-top princess who rules the school with her status.

Of course, HSM needs to (as a musical) ultimately be judged on the quality of its musical numbers...the category in which it succeeds fantastically. From the very beginning, when a karaoke DJ hands microphones to Troy and Gabriella and tells them "you might thank me for this someday", viewers will realize the quality of the musical numbers about to come. Though Efron does not provide his own vocals, he IS able to adroitly portray the conflicted Troy (basketball vs. singing) through acting and dance. Hudgens' tunes are usually softer, but very poignant ("When There Was Me And You", in which Hudgens flies solo, is my favorite piece in the film), while Tisdale is probably the most talented actor/singer/dancer of the bunch in her fantastically choreographed and special effects-laden numbers.

So, if you are a parent/older sibling who wants to know what make your child/younger sibling go crazy over HSM, I would encourage you to sit down and watch this film (preferably with them). Even the most jaded critics will be humming (or outright belting) the catchy melodies long after the end credits roll.

Honestly, I just randomly gave it a vote. You really can't vote on how good this movie is. Yes I mean it was a very typical Disney channel movie, but I was in elementary school when this movie came out, and everybody my age including myself was obsessed with it; I couldn't even count the amount of times that I watched this movie.

If you've never seen this movie and you're over the age of lets say 12, you're probably not going to like it. This was my childhood though and everybody loved the music and I owned the movie and CD and would always listen to the music. Everyone would watch it and would watch the sing alongs on Disney channel, because I was probably 8 when this movie came out and I am now 15 and Disney channel was everyones life and childhood, so I could never give this movie a bad review, but I really don't know what to give it out of 10 so I just gave it a 7.

High school musical is a Disney movie where you can really only like it if you were young like me when it came out. I haven't seen this movie in forever, and I watched it the other day and still pretty much remember all of the words to every song!