Word: hannah
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...success of Hannah Montana--the show, the character, the brand--is a marriage of two entertainment families: the Cyruses and Disney. Cyrus was cast after a long search for a show about a meek girl with a secret pop-star life, but, say executive producers Steven Peterman and Michael Poryes, she quickly made the role her own. "Miley is such a pistol, that playing the cautious, introverted girl was not a part of who she was," says Poryes. Her father signed on as her TV dad. "It's art imitating life imitating art," he says. "Miley cut her teeth...
...What made Hannah/Miley a phenom was Disney's learning to use its vast, multimedia holdings. Its stars--young, eager and grateful for the exposure--debut on the Disney Channel. They record CDs for Disney Music. Their music is played on Radio Disney network. They make movies for Disney (a Hannah Montana flick is in the works). They appear on shows like Disney-owned abc's Dancing with the Stars. Cyrus is "really talented," says tween guru and S-Curve Records CEO Steve Greenberg, but also "she really has every arm of a gigantic corporation working at full tilt...
Disney has created its own hermetic media world, a mega-subculture led by the promotional power of TV. Disney Channel sound tracks, including Hannah, HSM and The Cheetah Girls 2, have sold nearly 20 million albums in 2006 and 2007, with very little Top 40 airplay. "In television we can add so much texture to the music star," says Gary Marsh, president of Entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide. "[The fans] know her parents, her friends, what's in her locker, how her bedroom is decorated...
...Hannah Montana is Superman for tween girls: she's got the secret identity, a more relevant superpower and a blond wig instead of a cape. But just as key to the show's success is her Clark Kent--the fictional Miley. Celebrity today is as rarefied as ever, yet with YouTube and reality TV, seems more accessible than ever. It's tantalizing but, as personified by Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears, terrifying. Miley--a normal, grounded schoolkid--makes the fantasy safe. The theme song says it all: "You get the best of both worlds...
...KGOY phenomenon scares the crap out of parents. And yet Hannah manages to take advantage of it--drawing fans as young as preschool--while assuaging parents' fears. Can you put a price tag on a night of wholesome entertainment with your tween daughter? The scalpers have, fairly precisely...