In the world of movies, it is extremely rare for a sequel to be better or as good as the original, let alone for the third film in a series to be the best of the lot.
My niece, Ainsleigh, and I were both lucky enough to discover that HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR YEAR is one of those rare treasures. We both came out of the theatre thinking that HSM 3 is without a doubt the best of the series. What’s more, we both agreed on the exact two reasons why.
The first and most prominent reason is that the movie has the best musical numbers (i.e. music, lyrics, and dance choreography) to date. The filmmakers obviously took the bump to theatrical seriously as the music is better produced, the lyrics are a little less corny, and the dance numbers are much more sophisticated. HSM 3 even expanded its inspirational pallet there, including numbers that are obviously influenced by everything from Bob Fosse, the Rockette’s and Gene Kelly’s “Gotta Dance” number from SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (in “I Want It All”), to ballet (“Can I Have This Dance”), to Stomp and GREASE (“The Boys Are Back”). It’s increased scope and ambition goes along way to make the film special. Most importantly though, the musical numbers do exactly what they should: sweep you up in their emotions and choreography. You became enamored, and just like for the characters, the world stops for a moment and makes way for musical celebration and expression.
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Not too long ago I wrote here about the bond my eleven-year old niece, Ainsleigh, and I share over our mutual appreciation of the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL series. One of the many (many) things we talk about when endlessly gabbing away about the movies, are the musical numbers and their dance moves, whether it be Troy’s humorous thrashing around in “Bet On It,” or his wobbly knees in “Work This Out.” (A lot of our conversations, surprise surprise, revolve around Zac Efron).
So when Disney re-released HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 on DVD in a new Deluxe Dance Edition that included the promise of a dance-along that would teach us the movies to the dances in HSM 2, neither of us could resist.
After popping in the DVD and going to the “Dance Along” feature on Disc 2 the first thing we were both impressed by was the fact that the actual HSM cast were the ones giving the dance instructions with typical Disney cheer and encouragement. What we were a little let down by was the fact that the “Dance Along” feature only covers two songs, “What Time Is It” and “All For One.” Sure, it would have been a lot to ask the HSM stars to go through all the songs in the film, and a lot of the songs are maybe not ideally meant for instructions, but Ainsleigh and I were both hoping for more. We both shared in particular disappointment that we couldn’t do “Work This Out.”
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When you’re an Uncle to a niece and/or nephew rapidly growing up into teenagers one of the worries that emerges is about whether you’ll manage to remain close – even relevant – to kids quickly developing settled personalities and different interests. Even when you’re as young an Uncle as I am (twenty-six a week from Friday) who has always been around my niece and nephew (now eleven and fifteen respectively) since they were little babies, and has always been close to them, you still do fret about being unable to relate to them or their world as they get older.
As they continue to prove to me it’s an entirely unmerited concern, it nevertheless eases my mind that one of the many things that repeatedly enriches my already healthy and loving bond with my eleven year old niece, Ainsleigh, is our mutual appreciation for Disney’s HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL series. We’ve seen the films several times together. We sing the songs (her lyrical grasp is stronger than mine), giggle about our crushes on Zach Efron and Vanessa Hudgens (her crush is stronger than mine), discuss the musical numbers, characters, dance moves, and Sharpay moments. We agree the second film is the best (though it took some convincing on her part). We once set out to see if I could hit the high notes Efron does on “Work This Out.” I couldn’t. I also couldn’t do the dance.
What HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL and our shared love for it made me realize is that it doesn’t matter if I’m relevant to my niece and her interests, but rather that I have something we care about and can share together. It’s a cheery on top of an already mighty Uncle/Niece sundae.
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If you in any way closely related to a tween, you not only know about HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3, you probably have already promised yourself to take them to see it in theatres. If you’re anything like me, you actually won’t mind taking them because it provides a great excuse for you to see it without any embarrassment. Even if the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL series is a bit silly and obviously aimed at a demographic more than a decade younger than myself, the musical fan in me can’t help but appreciate how infectiously fun the films are and how they signal a moderate return of the musical into popular culture. Needless to say, come October 24th I’ll be there opening night with niece, probably with a stupid grin of anticipation in my face. Till then, feel free to check out my review of the first two films over at MONDOmagazine.
What’s with the High School Musical kids and jumping? Seriously, nobody is that happy. Also jumping when “happy” is really overrated, in my opinion. I much prefer a manly slap on the back, a high five, or just a good old fashioned beer. Anyway, I’d like to say I’m posting this for my niece, but – at the risk of losing you as a reader of this blog – I won’t lie, the musical fan in me dug the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL bringing the genre back for a new generation. Don’t believe I liked it? Check out this review I wrote for MONDOmagazine.
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