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It swept across America, an unstoppable force of pop culture that found its way into every elementary, middle, and high school in the country, as well as every household that contained a family member less than eighteen years of age. Then, as soon as it had passed, it swept through the country again, causing legions of fans to go crazy at the sight of certain young celebrities and at the sound of certain catchy songs. The phenomenon is coming back for a third time on October 24, 2008, when High School Music 3: Senior Year is released in the United States. All six primary actors, as well as choreographer Kenny Ortega, will reprise their roles from earlier entries in the High School Musical franchise, meaning that fans of the franchise will get to see the faces of their beloved characters once again. For those who do not count themselves among the fans of High School Musical, prepare for a bombardment of everything related to Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens to appear in short order on television screens and department stores near you.

High School Musical is an Emmy-Award nominated film that spawned the High School Musical franchise on January 20, 2006. The film quickly became the most successful Disney Channel Original Movie, becoming immensely popular almost instantly and drawing in 7.7 million viewers on Disney Channel. High School Musical can be described as a modern version of the story of Romeo and Juliet, following the journeys of Troy Bolton, a football star, and Gabriella Montez, a shy transfer student who excels in math and science. The two meet at a ski lodge over Christmas break through a karaoke contest and discover that they have great chemistry, exchanging numbers and promising to keep it touch. When Gabriella’s mom is transferred to the city where Troy lives, Gabriella attends Troy’s high school, where they continue to court. They find themselves in detention, but after detention they decide to audition for the high school musical. Rather, they try to audition, but both Troy and Gabriella are too shy to come forward and audition, and by the time Gabriella works up the nerve and Troy offers to sing with her, the teacher decides that it is too late.

Fortuitously, Troy and Gabriella get the chance to make it onto the callback sheet. When Troy’s friends begin to discover that Troy is auditioning for the musical, which is not something that most basketball players find themselves doing, they confess their secret passions and talents. Throughout Troy and Gabriella’s interest in the musical, though, a mean-spirited girl named Sharpay tries everything to convince the teacher in charge of the play that Troy and Gabriella are aiming to destroy it. Through her schemes and those of other students with similar interests, Troy and Gabriella briefly find themselves angry and confused by each others’ actions, but they are only motivated by deceptions from their friends. Sharpay is once again intimated by Troy and Gabriella’s talent, especially considering that she wants the part, so she devises a plan to not allow Troy and Gabriella to audition on time. Together with other students at the high school, Troy and Gabriella barely thwart Sharpay’s plan and are allowed to audition, eventually receiving the part. Sharpay is relegated to understudy status, and the school finds itself happily ever after.

High School Musical 2’s premiere brought almost 18 million viewers to the Disney Channel, doubling the amount of viewers from High School Musical’s premiere. It is the highest-ranking Disney Channel movie to date, setting the stage for the immense success of High School Musical 3. The movie starts with Troy growing increasingly concerned with his future, holding a job so that he can eventually pay for college and making sure to maintain his relationship with Gabriella throughout the whole summer leading to the next year of school. The mean-spirited Sharpay plans to use Troy’s eagerness to land a job in order to break him and Gabriella up, offering him a job at Lava Springs, Sharpay’s family’s country club. She does not count on Troy talking the manager into giving a job to Gabriella and their group of close friends, though, immediately foiling part of Sharpay’s plans. Because Sharpay cannot order the manager to fire Gabriella and her friends directly, she instead orders him to intimidate them into wanting to quit, but Troy encourages the trio to stay strong and keep the job. Sharpay also manages to force Troy to sing with her in the Midsummer Night’s Talent Show, placing a strain on Troy and Gabriella’s relationship because of the amount of time Troy is spending away from Gabriella and friends. Sharpay’s plot pushes Gabriella and Troy to the breaking point, with Gabriella returning a necklace that Troy once gave her.

Eventually, Troy and Gabriella reconcile, finally sharing their first kiss at the end of the Midsummer Night’s Talent show. This sets the stage for High School Musical 3, which deals with the fear that Troy, Gabriella, and the rest of their friends have about moving away and becoming separated after high school ends and college begins. Together with the rest of the Wildcats, Troy and Gabriella stage an elaborate spring musical that deals with their hopes and fears about the times to come. Three new Wildcat freshmen will be introduced into the plot after an international casting call was held to determine who would land the roles. These characters are set to eventually continue the High School Musical franchise, since High School Musical 4 is already said to be in the writing stage and there would not be much sense in basing it around characters that are supposed to be in college. In fact, the film is said to be the final installment with the current cast, paving the way for the next generation of High School Musical characters to undergo their adventures in East High. Zac Efron will be reprising his role as Troy, Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella, and Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay, as well as the other original members of the High School Musical cast.

Considering the immense popularity of High School Musical and High School Musical 2, there is little doubt in anyone’s mind that the next installment in the popular Disney series will see a great amount of interest from people of all ages. Catchy songs, fun dances, and lovable characters all come together to make a movie experience that can be enjoyed by the whole family, but the kids and teenagers are just as happy having a High School Musical 3 sleepover with their friends to celebrate the occasion. The movie will be bittersweet, as the cast of characters that we have all grown to love will be moving on to other things – College Musical, perhaps? – and a new wave of characters will come to take their place. That will not stop High School Musical 3 from becoming massively successful, though, upon its release on October 24, 2008. For those High School Musical fans who just cannot wait until the 24th to hear the songs in the movie, the official soundtrack will be released on October 21 in the United States, an album that is sure to be just as popular as the movie.