High School Musical

Fandom
Name:	High School Musical
Abbreviation(s):	HSM
Creator:	written by Peter Barsocchini directed by Kenny Ortega
Date(s):	2006 - 2011
Medium:	television movie
Country of Origin:	USA
External Links:	High School Musical on Wikipedia
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

High School Musical is a Disney franchise primarily centered around the Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM) of the same name.

History

In 2006, Disney Channel aired High School Musical starring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens as Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez in a Romeo and Juliet-style romance. At the time, High School Musical was the most successful Disney Channel Original Movie ever produced, which led to the almost immediate production of the sequel High School Musical 2, aired in 2007. The sequel was also wildly successful, which led to High School Musical: Get In The Picture, a reality TV show where the winner would gain a recording contract with Disney and also perform a song in the credits of High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which was released in theaters in 2008. The third movie was popular enough that Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, a spin-off featuring Ashley Tisdale's character Sharpay Evans, was released in 2011. Rumors of a High School Musical 4 circulated for years, with several casting sheets even surfacing, but the franchise was presumed dead until a webseries called High School Musical: The Musical was announced to be in production for Disney's upcoming streaming service Disney+.

Much of the early fandom was based around Livejournal, scattered across various communities. However, there was also a fairly active fandom on FanFiction.Net and the fandom has persisted into the present day on sites like Tumblr.

Shipping

The breakout ship of the series is Chad/Ryan.

Pairing	Name	Livejournal
Chad/Ryan	Chyan	https://idontdance.livejournal.com/
Troy/Gabriella	Troyella
Ryan/Sharpay	Rypay	https://rypay.livejournal.com/
Ryan/Gabriella	Ryella	https://ryangabriella.livejournal.com/
Troy/Sharpay	Troypay	https://troypayxlove.livejournal.com/

Bet On It

Troy Bolton's solo song from High School Musical 2, "Bet On It," is the source of many parody videos and memes created by everyone from your average Tumblr user to Lin-Manuel Miranda.

• Heights Cool Musical Too . . . Bet On It! by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a parody of "Bet On It" about In The Heights (Posted September 28, 2007)
• bet it go, by YouTube user soariing, a dub of the Frozen song "Let It Go" over video of the iconic HSM2 song "Bet On It" (February 2, 2014)
• Troy the Pokemon Master by HSMusical05, an overlay of the English Pokemon theme onto "Bet On It"
• Bet on it but every time he says bet it gets faster ^{[Dead link]} by TheBearWhisperer, a combination of the "but every time it gets faster" meme with "Bet On It" (Posted December 7, 2016)

Tumblr

It is generally accepted that all or most of Tumblr is part of the HSM fandom. Text posts, videos, photosets, etc, can be found on blogs of all fandoms. HSM is also an easy crossover target. See:

• It’s surprisingly easy to tell Les Mis through High School Musical songs. by maraudeuselunaire (September 20, 2015)
• why do these things work so well, video Tumblr post by user liltinylouis featuring One Direction song "End of the Day" over video of the HSM3 number "Scream" (November 25, 2015)
• i’m starting to think how well one direction songs fit with high school musical clips is a conspiracy ^{[Dead link]}, Tumblr video post by headowardo featuring One Direction song "If I Could Fly" over video of the HSM song "Breaking Free" (November 25, 2015)

Example Fanworks

• A very millennial #DemForum, Vine by Jaclyn Antonacci
• With Hairspray and Denim, a Vid by Phoebenpiper (Posted June 24, 2009)
• Why Chad And Ryan Switched Clothes In High School Musical 2 by 24 Frames of Nick (Posted July 30, 2018)

Links and Resources

• works tagged High School Musical (Movies) on AO3
• High School Musical at FanFiction.Net
• The Music in Me