High School Musical Redux for Disney

By R. Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 1/11/2007 11:17:00 PM

Pasadena, Calif. -- Warning to parents with tween-aged Disney Channel zombies at home: The sequel to the network’s immensely popular original movie, High School Musical 2, is scheduled to debut in August, Disney Channel Worldwide president of entertainment Gary Marsh said here Wednesday during the network's Television Critics Association Tour presentation.

The original movie, which premiered in January 2005, has reached more than 100 million television viewers worldwide and has sold upward of 6 million CDs on route to becoming the best-selling record on the Billboard charts in 2006, according to Disney.

To drum up interest in the sequel -- not that it has to do much, given the overwhelming success of the original -- Disney will give its audience an opportunity to influence via the Web some of what will be seen in the movie.

The online poll, dubbed High School Musical 2: Play Your Part, goes live Jan. 12 and allows kids to influence such things as some of the dialog in the movie, as well as which star from Disney hit series Hanna Montana they’d most like to see have a walk-on role in HSM2, Marsh said.

Marsh also announced that the network will debut the fourth season of animated series Kim Possible Feb. 10. The new season of the show will feature guest appearances from such celebrities as Debbie Reynolds, Elliot Gould, George Takei and Fred Savage, according to Marsh.

As for the network’s preschool block, Playhouse Disney, Marsh said it renewed animated series Hanny Manny for a second sesaon.