Once a Wildcat, Always a Wildcat
High School Musical is sixteen years old today. I remember where I was sixteen years ago. I was in the basement of my childhood home counting down the minutes to the Disney Channel Original Movie premiere at 8pm. And then…tragedy struck. The power went out and I was much more upset than I probably should have been for a DCOM. The power stayed out for a long time, long enough that I missed the movie. However, because Disney is a master marketing machine, they aired it again Saturday night.
To say I became obsessed with High School Musical would be an understatement. I think I watched the movie close to 50 times and during one long family roadtrip, I started to rewrite the script purely from memory. Somewhere, there is an old tape that has scenes from the movie reenacted by kids from my neighborhood. I was both director and star. Of course I was Troy Bolton. I knew all the dances, too. Quite possibly the only time in my life when I knew a choreographed dance routine. What a weird little tween I was!
I loved how low budget it was. How obvious it was that they didn’t let Zac Efron sing any of his songs. How immediately it seemed to take over the collective consciousness of my generation. I was in 8th Grade and vividly remember going to school that Monday and High School Musical was seemingly all anyone could talk about. In the spring talent show, these two classmates of mine sang “Breaking Free” complete with a fake hand-drawn moon that looked like a tiny version of the one from the movie.
It’s time we all agree that High School Musical was good. The songs are catchy and fun. (Though hard to sing along to because they are out of my limited vocal range.) The acting was more than passable for a DCOM. Honestly, for the sheer impact that these movies have had on my life, it would have been disingenuous if I had let today come and go without celebrating it. If I was not afraid of Mr. Mickey “Litigious” Mouse, I might’ve even shared the old YouTube videos I made featuring High School Musical. A type of “fancam” you could say, but long before that word existed. I spent hours on my computer in the basement editing, making sure my cuts matched the accompanying song I chose, and forcing my sister to watch all of my rough drafts. Who was I back in 2006?!
Did High School Musical in a weird way turn me into the pretentious, film-loving asshole I am today? I’d like to think so.
What team?
Wildcats forever, baby.
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