“High School Musical” celebrates its 15th anniversary; Check out ten fun facts about the iconic Disney Channel movie!

It’s crazy to think the beloved teenage musical “High School Musical” turns fifteen today, January 20th. The TV movie, which debuted exclusively on Disney Channel, is undeniably one of the channel’s best original productions and has produced no less than two sequels, a spin-off and a spin-off series now heading into its 2nd. season.

Promoting names like Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, besides bringing back House Mouse lovers Lucas Grabeel and Ashley Tisdale, the story centers on East High College and the unexpected romance between a basketball star and a nerd. shy who finds something in common on stage.

To celebrate the feature film, CinePOP has separated a short list of ten behind-the-scenes curiosities you probably didn’t know about.

Check it out below:

“LIP-SYNC FOR YOUR LIFE”

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Zac Efron’s voice for the “High School Musical” songs, in fact, was done by Drew Seeley, who had also auditioned to live the character. The reason for the change was that Efron’s natural voice was too low for a tenor – and the producers wanted that type of voice for the protagonist. Efron, however, sings alone in both sequences.

SONG IN THE SNOW

Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) and Troy Bolton (Efron) romance started sparingly on New Years Eve, when they sang the adorable “Start of Something New” and then watched the fireworks display against a backdrop. very romantic. The snow used for the footage, in fact, was made with potato flakes so they could appear on cameras.

STATUS QUO

Ashley Tisdale brought one of the most beloved and memorable characters in the Disney Hall of Fame, Sharpay Evans, to life. However, Casa Mouse’s sweetheart had auditioned primarily for the role of Gabriella. Kenny Ortega, for her part, felt the actress would do better in the role of the anti-heroine – something that worked well, given that Tisdale would win a solo film years later.

CHANGE OF PLAN

Not many people aren’t familiar with the original Disney trilogy, but “High School Musical” shouldn’t have that appeal. The working name was used as the production title while the creative team thought of something more elaborate. However, with the end of post-production, other options had not appeared.

UNMATCHED SUCCESS

At the time of its release, the film made its biggest debut on the Disney Channel, with 7.7 million viewers. The same year, “The Cheetah Girls 2: The Beasts of Music” broke the record with 8.3 million; a year later, “High School Musical 2” would exceed the number of screenings with 17.2 million (becoming the largest audience ever).

QUEEN CLIMB

Hudgens did a great job as Gabriella Montez in the ‘High School Musical’ trilogy and, from the first film, demonstrated incredible vocal skills that would guarantee her the production’s only solo, the romantic ballad ‘When There Was Me. and You ”. Plus, she had competed against twelve other girls for the role.

BEFORE FAME

Naya Rivera had also participated in auditions for Live Gabriella, losing the role to Hudgens. Fortunately, the actress and singer would experience worldwide success with a similar series, “Glee: In Search of Fame”, like the iconic Santana Lopez.

DOMINATE STOPS

In the first week of its release, the “High School Musical” soundtrack debuted at No. 143 on the Billboard 200, with around 6,500 copies. Sales skyrocketed throughout the year, reaching 4.1 million copies and becoming the best-selling album in the United States in 2006. 8 tracks appeared simultaneously on the Hot 100, the most high to this day.

ORIGINS OF BIZARRA

Surprisingly, the musical has its origins in a 1999 screenplay titled “Grease 3”. The never-seen film would star Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake as the sons of Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson, from “Grease: In the Times of the Shining.” Eventually, the plot turned into “ High School Musical, ” despite more similarities to the 1978 feature film.

COLLEGE MEETING

According to Corbin Bleu, whenever the protagonist’s cast got together, they would talk about a possible “High School Musical” reunion. Eventually everyone except Zac Efron (who was busy shooting the movie “Taking Time Out”) celebrated the film’s tenth anniversary.

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