The smash-hit High School Musical broke the mold for future Disney Channel TV movies. The iconic musical released in 2006 and had over seven million viewers upon its premiere. It was a huge success that launched the careers of Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Corbin Bleu, and Ashley Tisdale. It spiraled into sequels, tours, and merchandise galore. High School Musical took over the early 2000s and is still talked about today by the millions of fans.
Now with three movies under the franchise's belt and a possible reunion in the future, let's take a look at 10 things we didn't know about the Disney Channel franchise.
In High School Musical, Sharpay Evans is the sassy antagonist who needs all eyes on her at all times. In her eyes, she's the best singer, dancer, and performer who outshines everyone else. Alongside Sharpay is her brother, Ryan. Ryan is just as talented as Sharpay but often gets the short end of the stick.
In real life, Ashley Tisdale (Sharpay) and Lucas Grabeel (Ryan) didn't get along when they first met. Tisdale told Andy Cohen, "Lucas and I didn't get along at first, because when we were screen testing, I was giving him line readings. And it's not an actor thing to do." But once they go to know each other better, they started bonding and becoming friends.
Fans meet Tiara Gold in High School Musical 3: Senior Year. She's an exchange student from London who acts as Sharpay's personal assistant but ends up undermining her and trying to take her shine away.
The actress who plays Tiara is Jemma McKenzie-Brown, but it's been leaked that Selena Gomez was asked to play this role. However, she turned it down because she wanted to focus on more serious roles and get out of the Disney spotlight.
High School Musical is set in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the kids attend the fictitious East High School. Instead of filming the movies on a set stage, they actually filmed all the school scenes at a real high school in Salt Lake City. Filming actually took place during school hours so real students were asked to stay away from areas where the cast and crew were shooting.
In the movies, Sharpay has a very unique and stylish locker. Well, she actually has two lockers that open like French doors and are painted pink. Funny enough, after Disney was done shooting, they left the lockers painted pink and they remain like that to this day!
High School Musical 2 came out a year after the original and centered on the students at East High getting ready for summer vacation. Troy and Gabriella promise to spend the summer together as everyone discusses where they'll work in the off-months.
If you really think about it, High School Musical 2 should have had a different name as the cast wasn't in school at all except for the opening scene. It should really be called "High School Musical 2: Summer Vacation" or "High School Musical 2: School's Out!"
Taylor McKessie (Monique Coleman) is Gabriella's best friend and Chad's girlfriend. She's incredibly bright and attends Yale University in the third movie.
But there was a wrinkle in HSM2: Coleman didn't know how to swim she came clean about not being able to swim, which made the pool scene incredibly daunting to her. "I actually lost it whenever I saw the edge of the pool," she told Seventeen. Taylor was supposed to jump into the pool but after the crew realized Coleman couldn't swim, they had Chad (Corbin Bleu) jump in with her.
The first two High School Musical films were released on TV but by the third movie, Disney had it released in theaters. Disney's budget for the first film was said to be around $4 million, with the second film's budget being around $7 million. But by the third film, their budget jumped to $11 million.
With a higher budget and one of the most popular franchises the Disney Channel has ever created, they took HSM3 to theaters to cash in on its success. It was also the final film of the franchise and having a grand ending seemed fitting.
Basketball plays a big role in the High School Musical films because Troy Bolton had to find out what he loved more: basketball or performing. With basketball scholarships and college dreams on the rise throughout the movies, it was imperative that Zac Efron and co. knew how to play basketball (or at least act like they did). Not only did the guys have to do singing and dancing auditions, but Corbin Bleu also stated they had to audition their basketball skills, too.
In the second movie, most of the crew get summer jobs at Lava Springs Country Club. The only reason for this is because Sharpay got Troy a job at the club to keep tabs on him. When she realizes he got his friends' jobs there as well, she's beyond annoyed.
In the golf scenes when a character is aiming towards the camera, take a look at the balls they're hitting. Instead of having a nice curve and skyrocketing in to the air, the balls seem to have little power. That's because the golf balls are actually ping pong balls! This was to protect both the cameras and the crew.
With a budget of $4 million and filming in a real high school, the original High School Musical movie only took one month to shoot. Considering we see the characters in so many different locations and areas of their lives, it's amazing that Disney was able to condense everything into such a short span of time — especially given the success that the franchise went on to have!
