Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana[i] is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March 2006 and January 2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus), a teenage girl living a double life as famous pop singer Hannah Montana, an alter ego she adopted so she could maintain her anonymity and live a normal life as a typical teenager. Episodes deal with Miley's everyday struggles to cope with the social and personal issues of adolescence while maintaining the added complexities of her secret identity, which she sustains by wearing a blonde wig. Miley has strong relationships with her brother Jackson (Jason Earles) and father Robby Ray (Billy Ray Cyrus), as well as her best friends Lilly Truscott (Emily Osment) and Oliver Oken (Mitchel Musso), who become aware of her secret. Overarching themes include a focus on family and friendships as well as the importance of music and discovering one's identity.
This article is about the television series. For its title character, see Miley Stewart. For other uses, see Hannah Montana (disambiguation).Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana Forever (season 4)
"The Best of Both Worlds" by Miley Cyrus
United States
4
98 (list of episodes)
- Steven Peterman
- Michael Poryes
22 minutes
- It's a Laugh Productions
- Michael Poryes Productions
March 24, 2006 –
January 16, 2011
The Walt Disney Company commissioned the series after the success of Disney Channel's previous music-based franchises, such as the made-for-television film High School Musical (2006). Hannah Montana was produced by It's a Laugh Productions in association with Poryes's production company, and premiered on Disney Channel on March 24, 2006. A concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, in which Miley Cyrus performs as Hannah Montana and herself, was released in 2008. The following year, the feature film Hannah Montana: The Movie was released. The series concluded on January 16, 2011, as a result of Cyrus's growing popularity and music career, and her desire to move into more mature acting roles.
Hannah Montana is one of Disney Channel's most commercially successful franchises. It received consistently high viewership in the United States on cable television and influenced the development of merchandise, soundtrack albums, and concert tours; however, television critics disliked the writing and depiction of gender roles and stereotypes. Hannah Montana helped launch Cyrus's musical career and established her as a teen idol; after Cyrus began developing an increasingly provocative public image, commentators criticized Hannah Montana as having a negative influence on its audience. The series was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children's Program between 2007 and 2010; Cyrus won a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series, Leading Young Actress in 2008.
Production
Development
In the early 2000s, The Walt Disney Company found success with its pay television network Disney Channel, which had a pattern of original programming for a preadolescent audience that featured music.[3][23] The girl group The Cheetah Girls was made popular by the eponymous television film and found commercial success outside the movie, and Hilary Duff's music was used to cross-promote the series Lizzie McGuire.[3] Disney sponsored concerts featuring music from the network and used their talent to build on the brands; Gary Marsh, the president of Disney Channels Worldwide, cited Lizzie McGuire as its "first success".[3][24] The network believed the new series Hannah Montana could be marketed in a similar manner.[8] Disney Channel had also found success with musical episodes of its earlier comedy series Even Stevens and That's So Raven.[25] Hollywood.com said the show could build on the success of Disney's television film High School Musical (2006), which also includes music.[23][26] The sitcom premiered two months after High School Musical.[26][27] The concept of Hannah Montana was originally labeled "cast contingent", meaning the series would not progress until the central roles were appropriately cast.[3] The project was publicly announced in 2004; casting advertisements for the filming of a pilot were published in January 2005.[28][29][30]
Disney Channel officially greenlit Hannah Montana as a new, half-hour sitcom in August 2005.[8][30] Twenty episodes were initially ordered for the first season and six extra episodes were later added to the commission.[8][10][30][iii] The series was developed by Poryes, who had previously co-created and produced That's So Raven for Disney Channel.[28][30] Poryes created the show with Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien, and Steven Peterman joined Poryes as an executive producer.[30][32] Disney selected the pilot for Hannah Montana to progress to a series against a potential spin-off of Lizzie McGuire, which the network also considered during the 2004–05 pilot season.[28][30][33] The full main cast were attached to the project in August and filming for the remainder of the first season was scheduled to begin in November 2005.[30] It's a Laugh Productions produced the program in association with the network.[30] Former president of Disney Channels Worldwide Rich Ross stated the concept of the series conforms to the typical Disney Channel formula; "an ordinary person in an extraordinary situation".[3] The series is primarily aimed at a preadolescent female audience,[iv] however, its framework as a family sitcom allows it to have a wider appeal.[35]
Reception
Critical reception
Bickford said Hannah Montana helped Disney return to a level of commercial success that had been absent since its musical films of the 1990s, and built on the success of the network's programs Lizzie McGuire and That's So Raven. He explained that Hannah Montana adopted a business model of combining celebrity acts with film, television, and popular music for a pre-adolescent audience and compared this model to 1990s teen pop artists such as Britney Spears and NSYNC, who were also marketed to children.[2] Heather Phares of AllMusic described the melodies of the featured songs as strong and Cyrus's vocals as charismatic.[50] Ruthann Mayes-Elma said in a journal article Hannah Montana is a wholesome, "bubble-gum" television show, and that the use of Miley's catchphrase "sweet nibblets" in the place of profanity in the scripts helped solidify the show's family-friendly appeal.[46] The A.V. Club's Marah Eakin found fault with the writing of Hannah Montana, criticizing its "oppressive" laugh track, and its use of stereotypes.[64]
The series has been examined for its depiction of gender roles and stereotypes. Blue said the series establishes stereotypical femininity as part of girlhood.[65] She explained that the primary female characters, Miley and her alter ego—Hannah, are positioned as post-feminist subjects in a way their representation is confined to notions of celebrity and consumerism.[66] Bickford interpreted the theme song "The Best of Both Worlds" as an expression of Miley's choice between her contradictory identities, saying the choice is "as simple as choosing a pair of shoes" and that the character is privileged because she has multiple shoes and identities.[17] Blue noted the contradiction of Miley's "normal life" being directly influenced by her celebrity status in ways such as financial security and a spacious home; she suggested Miley supports the family financially.[67] Mayes-Elma criticized the portrayal of Miley as an "airhead" rather than as a "strong, agentic girl",[68] and Blue said Lilly is depicted as a tomboy who does not uphold the femininity Miley represents.[69]
In the book The Queer Fantasies of the American Family Sitcom, Tison Pugh analyzed the subtle sexualization present within the characters of Hannah Montana, such as Jackson's girlfriend Siena, who works as a bikini model.[7] In a journal article, Shirley Steinberg cites Miley as a character who maintains chastity but wears objectifying clothing.[70] Mayes-Elma said guest stars such as the Jonas Brothers were incorporated by Disney to encourage the viewership of young teenage girls.[71] Pugh stated that the program obscures the divergence between fiction and reality, due to the character of Miley Stewart sharing similarities to Miley Cyrus, Robby Ray Stewart being difficult to distinguish from Billy Ray Cyrus, and guest actors such as Parton and the Jonas Brothers playing fictional versions of themselves.[72] Kennedy added that featuring celebrity guests, such as Leno and his real talk-show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, contributed to Miley being placed in the "real world" and thus becoming easily confusable with Cyrus.[73] Pugh explained that displaying Miley as an authentic and likable character was a key marketing strategy, which led to Cyrus becoming closely associated with the Hannah Montana branding;[74] Mayes-Elma explicated that Disney was selling Cyrus—a then-sixteen-year-old girl—to consumers as a "form of pop cultural prostitution".[75] Blue also took note of the intersection between the world of the fictional characters and that of Cyrus.[65]
U.S. television ratings
The series premiere of Hannah Montana was aired on March 24, 2006, as a lead-in to a rerun of High School Musical, and received 5.4 million viewers.[8][10] This was the highest-rating premiere episode in the history of Disney Channel as of 2006.[10] By April 2006, Hannah Montana had an average of more than 3.5 million viewers for each episode, many whom were aged between six and fourteen.[8] The show's most-viewed episode, "Me and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas", was aired on August 17, 2007, as a lead-out to the premiere of High School Musical 2 and was viewed by 10.7 million people.[76]
Controversies
Cyrus's public image
In 2008, Marsh commented on the importance of Cyrus maintaining a wholesome public image while starring on the network. He said, "for Miley Cyrus to be a 'good girl' is now a business decision for her".[24] Cyrus, however, continued to develop an increasingly provocative image as Hannah Montana progressed and the series received criticism for appearing to be a negative influence on its younger audience. Pugh writes that the series acted as a natural appendage to Cyrus's "controversial transition into a sexual provocateur".[7] Cyrus performed a pole dance the following year during her act at the Teen Choice Awards, later defending it as "right for the song and that performance", while Disney representatives did not comment.[120][62] Her suggestive persona continued with the music video for "Can't Be Tamed" in 2010.[1] The following year, Cyrus was listed as the worst celebrity influence in a JSYK poll voted on by children, following the leakage of a video showing her smoking the psychoactive plant Salvia divinorum at the age of eighteen.[121][122] In the journal Tobacco Control, Cyrus's high-risk actions were described as a "turning point" for how fans perceived her behavior.[123] Cyrus's public image continued to become more provocative and sexualized following the conclusion of the series. After a controversial performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Melissa Henson of the Parents Television Council said parents would no longer feel comfortable allowing their children to watch Hannah Montana due to Cyrus's sexualized stage persona.[124]
Billy Ray Cyrus blamed the program for damaging his family and causing Miley's unpredictable behavior.[125] Miley Cyrus expressed her annoyance at her history with the program in 2013, stating she wanted to suppress her previous music and re-establish her career as a mature artist.[126] By 2019, while Cyrus believed many had viewed her as a "Disney mascot" rather than as a person during her time working for the company, she said she was proud of her work on the series.[63] She said she would like to play the character of Hannah Montana again.[127] Cyrus explained in 2021 that she found it difficult to separate herself from the persona of Hannah Montana.[38]
Revised episode
A second-season episode titled "No Sugar, Sugar" was planned to air in the United States on November 2, 2008, but was removed from the schedule after complaints about its subject matter.[128] The episode, in which Oliver is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, was previewed online; viewers said it presented inaccurate information about the disorder.[129] Some viewers said there was a risk of uninformed children following the episode's health information, while others commended the episode's themes of acceptance and support for diabetics.[129] The network revised the episode after consulting diabetes research-funding organization JDRF and filming new scenes; an updated version of the episode titled "Uptight (Oliver's Alright)" was aired during the program's third season on September 20, 2009.[130]
Lawsuits
Television writer Buddy Sheffield alleged he pitched the concept for a television series titled Rock and Roland to Disney Channel in 2001; it would have focused on a junior-high school student who leads a secret double life as a rock star.[131] The initial proposal was unsuccessful, and in August 2007, Sheffield filed a lawsuit against the network based on the similarities between his pitch and Hannah Montana.[131] The lawsuit said Sheffield was owed millions of dollars in damages.[131] A trial was scheduled to begin in August 2008, but the case was resolved privately beforehand.[132]
In April 2010, Correll and O'Brien filed a lawsuit against Disney Channel for $5 million over profits from the program.[32] The pair alleged they were denied their share of profits based on requirements for creators from the Writers Guild of America West.[32] Correll, who also directed a number of episodes, further alleged he was unfairly terminated by Disney in response to giving testimony within the arbitration.[32] By 2016, it was reported the arbitrator found $18 million in under-reported amounts, but the franchise was still operating at a $24 million deficit so no compensation was owed.[133] The pair took their case to open court and claimed they were prejudiced by their arbitrator; in 2018, however, the request to overturn the ruling was refused.[134] Poryes had filed a similar lawsuit in October 2008, but this was ultimately settled.[32][133]
Other media
Films
In 2008, Walt Disney Pictures released a concert film, Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, as a three-dimensional film for a limited theatrical run.[135] The film consists of footage of Cyrus performing as herself and as Hannah Montana at a concert during the 2007–2008 Best of Both Worlds Tour.[135] It earned a gross of $70.6 million worldwide.[136] A soundtrack album of the live performances, Best of Both Worlds Concert, was released in April 2008.[137]
In 2007, Cyrus reported plans to adapt the television series into a theatrical feature film had commenced, and that she would like to film it in her hometown, Nashville, Tennessee;[138] production began in Los Angeles and Nashville in April 2008.[139][140] Hannah Montana: The Movie, was originally scheduled for release on May 1, 2009,[141] but its release was preponed to April 10 that year.[142] The film, directed by Peter Chelsom, follows Miley as the popularity of Hannah Montana begins to take control of her life.[139] It grossed $169.2 million worldwide.[143] A soundtrack album, Hannah Montana: The Movie, was released in March 2009.[144]
Notes
Citations
Bibliography