Without 'High School Musical,' None of This Exists
Celebrating 20 years of 'High School Musical' and how it led us to Dylan Efron on 'Dancing With the Stars'
I despise how unc this sentence is about to make me feel, but: Happy 20th birthday, High School Musical.
On January 20, 2006, millions of young, deeply impressionable kids were fed the radical propaganda that you could be both a popular superstar athlete and a Broadway-level theater kid, and that society might eventually reward you for this. Millions of kids (*cough* me) experienced a powerful sexual awakening during Zac Efron’s performance of “Get’cha Head in the Game.” And millions more took this as a sign that their true calling was singing directly into their family computer, spawning an entire generation of PhotoBooth videos that should never be recovered.
High School Musical is not only Disney Channel’s magnum opus, but a global phenomenon, a complete paradigm shift. Kenny Ortega is the Picasso of his generation, and we were all just living in a world of black and white until he introduced us to primary colors, jazz squares, and the concept of synchronized joy. The “We’re All In This Together” choreography permanently altered my brain chemistry that night and, arguably, the collective psyche of a generation.
It’s no wonder the musical franchise would define culture for the next two decades.
When the Disney execs realized we were all foaming at the mouth for more teens discovering a sense of belonging in musical spaces, they gave us the Camp Rock movies, followed by Lemonade Mouth and the Teen Beach films. Even their 2011-2016 series, Austin & Ally, seemed like a spiritual successor to Troy and Gabriella’s journey.
Outside of the Disney Channel world, Glee arrived three years after the HSM premiere, using a more PG-13 version of the glee club fantasy to change millions more lives. (Ryan Murphy claimed Glee took zero inspiration from HSM, but I frankly find that hard to believe.) And of course, Pitch Perfect aca-exploded onto the scene in 2012, capitalizing on HSM’s success and the proven demand for musical misfits finding their voice.
So, based on my expert assessment (years of Disney Channel exposure and a fully formed frontal lobe), Demi Lovato, the Jonas Brothers, Dr. Bridgit Mendler, Hayley Kiyoko, Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, and yes, even Lea Michele, might not exist as we know them today without High School Musical. Or at the very least, they would exist in a much quieter, less musical corner of the internet. This franchise didn’t just launch careers; it normalized the idea that being earnest, theatrical, and deeply cringe in public could eventually pay off. Could you imagine a childhood without these figures soundtracking every formative moment? I can, briefly — and I hate it.
But of course, Glee and those other Disney Channel projects were only the beginning of HSM’s mindblowing ripple effect. When you really think about it, so much of mainstream culture in 2026 can be traced directly back to the original 2006-2008 series. It’s a powerful thought experiment… Walk with me.
We started off the early 2020s with High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which gave us the greatest Gen Z singer-songwriter known to man, Olivia Rodrigo. And without the “driver’s license” queen and the internet-breaking love triangle that followed, we might not have the A-list version of Sabrina Carpenter we know today. (To be clear, Sabrina has always deserved A-list status, but the headlines surrounding “Skin” undeniably put more eyes on her, helped inspire her next album, and pushed her career into a new stratosphere). The Gen Z Troy Bolton, Joshua Bassett, is currently starring in the Off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors.
Let’s also not forget that High School Musical is the reason why we got to see Dylan Efron grace the Scottish castle on The Traitors and perform a flawless Paso Doble on Dancing with the Stars. Two extremely important events in the pop culture history books. Not to mention, we’re getting a Camp Rock 3 this summer because 20 years later, no one has been able to top that OG teens singing and dancing formula. It simply can’t be done.
Beyond the original HSM cast, countless celebrities today are connected to HSM through the spinoff series and kindred projects like Pitch Perfect, Glee, and Camp Rock. (Or in Dylan Efron’s case, connected via nepotism.) Barbara Walters once declared, “Taylor Swift is the music industry.” Dare I say, “High School Musical is the musical film and television industry… still”?
Images: Getty