Showy success for kids musical

Bill Borden had been shopping the idea around for at least a year with no luck. The pitch: to make an old-fashioned movie musical set in a high school featuring original songs -- a contemporary version of “Grease” or “West Side Story.”

“The response was always, ‘What music is going to be in it? Who’s the big group?’ ” recalled Borden, who has produced such fare as “Kung Fu Hustle” and “La Bamba.” “I couldn’t get anywhere.”

Then he pitched it to the Disney Channel, where executives grasp the nexus between catchy tunes and a hit show. When Borden explained his idea, the cable channel that helped launch the careers of singers such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Hilary Duff didn’t hesitate.

“What we loved about it was that it was high concept/low concept: a movie musical and just a group of kids in school,” said Rich Ross, president of Disney Channel Worldwide. “You put that together and you pray, and it came out beyond our expectations.”

Beyond anyone’s expectations: “High School Musical,” a sugary tale of two students who venture beyond their social cliques to try out for their high school’s winter production, has turned out to be one of the hottest programs on cable this season.

The low-budget movie featuring six relatively unknown teen actors has swamped the competition since it premiered Jan. 20, drawing 7.7 million viewers in 5 million households, a Disney Channel record. In the last month, more than 26 million viewers have tuned in to one of the six showings of the movie, which was the highest-rated telecast on basic cable in January, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Meanwhile, the movie’s soundtrack has gone gold and last week jumped to the sixth spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart, largely powered by online downloads of the film’s songs. It’s no surprise then that the Disney Channel is quickly developing a sequel.

“High School Musical’s” success speaks to the lucrative potential of under-the-radar productions that strike a chord with the tween set. The same age group recently helped make the latest feel-good Disney feature film, “Eight Below,” No. 1 at the box office in its opening weekend, racking up $25 million in sales. “Eight Below” placed second in estimated box office revenue over the past weekend.

“High School Musical” director and choreographer Kenny Ortega, who credits the late Gene Kelly for teaching him how to stage dance for film, said he has been heartened to see children take to an old-style musical.

“It’s hugely exciting that kids have responded to this genre of storytelling,” said Ortega, who choreographed the hit 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing.”

For all of the push toward edgy youth entertainment, Ross said he believes there remains a huge audience for the kind of wholesome children’s programming for which Disney has long been known.

“I knew from all the research we do and talking we do with kids that they feel good about being kids,” he said. “There is definitely tension and angst and issues, but at the end of the day, they have an optimistic viewpoint.”

Spirited promotion

The popularity of “High School Musical” underscores more than just the appeal of an upbeat story with snappy lyrics. The made-for-TV movie also took off because network executives -- keenly aware of this generation’s fluency with new technology -- used every medium at their disposal to promote it.

Weeks before it aired, the network previewed songs from “High School Musical” on DisneyChannel.com. A special code found on mall and bus shelter ads allowed kids to download a free song onto MP3 players for a limited time. Meanwhile, the cable channel began regularly airing six music videos featuring songs from the movie, along with behind-the-scenes footage.

On Jan. 10 -- a week and a half before the movie’s premiere -- Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack. Within days, it was the top-selling album on iTunes and Amazon.com.

After the first airing of “High School Musical” on Jan. 20, viewers were directed to go to DisneyChannel.com, where they could download the lyrics for the movie’s songs to participate in a karaoke-style telecast the next day. Within 24 hours, there were a record 1.2 million visitors to the website and 500,000 downloads.

The network has developed new promotions to coincide with each additional airing of the movie. On Tuesday, when “High School Musical” airs for the seventh time, fans will also be able to buy six music videos from the soundtrack on iTunes.

Richard Ellis, president of the youth marketing company 12 to 20, said the rapid embrace of the movie demonstrates how technology such as the Internet and MP3 players has expanded the influence of youth in the market.

“Tweens and teens spend their lives online,” said Ellis, who counts Disney among his clients. “The first thing they do when they get home is sign onto the computer and chat with their friends. If somebody says, ‘Have you seen this?,’ all of a sudden everyone is talking about it.”

The movie’s success brought a new level of fame to its teenage stars, many of whom have had roles in other Disney Channel productions and network television shows. Zac Efron, who plays basketball star Troy Bolton, costarred on the WB series “Summerland.” But nothing prepared him for the response from fans of “High School Musical.”

By late January, his name was the second-most-searched term on Google’s Zeitgeist. A few weeks ago, the 18-year-old stopped in at Tower Records at the Sherman Oaks Galleria and found the store packed with tweens who had lined up for an unrelated album signing.

“The room went silent and all the little girls started pointing at me,” Efron recalled. “I had to back up and run to my car.”

Reliable ratings winners

For the Disney Channel, it’s been quite a return on a movie that cost around just $5 million to make and was dismissed in reviews as “dippy” and “stale.”

“Our story line is maybe not the most original or creative, but it’s Shakespearean,” said Borden, who described the plot as a modern version of Romeo and Juliet. “We took from the best.”

Original Disney movies like “High School Musical” don’t often garner critical acclaim, but they are reliable ratings winners for the channel. Throughout the day, Nickelodeon continues to draw the largest number of children, but it switches to family and adult shows at night, while the Disney Channel -- which programs for kids 24 hours a day -- is highest ranked in prime time among 6- to 14-year-olds. Ross believes that’s because his network gives them something they can’t find elsewhere.

“We’ve long understood that kids will aspire to an older age group and be intrigued by movies they can’t see, but bottom line, they want to see movies that detail the comedy and drama in their lives,” he said.

That goes for children all over the world, he added. In the coming year, the Disney Channel plans to air “High School Musical” on its two dozen international channels. With a sequel in the works for 2007, the network is fielding a slew of merchandising proposals, from apparel to electronics. And Borden said other television networks and studios are suddenly calling, eager to take him up on his original pitch.

“You can only imagine phones are buzzing all over Hollywood, ‘Get me a musical!’ ” Ross said with a laugh. “I don’t think it will be long before we hear Dakota Fanning singing her little guts out.”