woensdag 8 december 2010

Hannah Montana Forever: One of TV's success stories

SINCE television was introduced over 60 years ago, it appears as though every generation has had a definitive children's TV show that they look back on.

Many of today's youngsters will grow up to reflect upon a time when they avidly watched a programme known as Hannah Montana Forever.

For those of us who may not find ourselves sitting in front of the TV waiting anxiously each week for new episodes of this series, it is still interesting to uncover just what it is about the Hannah Montana franchise that has kids across the world captivated.

For starters, the plotline of this series is quite appealing to children. In the show, American teen sensation Miley Cyrus plays the role of an ordinary teenager named Miley Stewart. Miss Stewart is just like everyone else in the sense that she deals with the same ups and downs as her contemporaries, but what sets her apart is the fact that she has a secret.

When the school bell rings and the lockers are slammed shut each day, Miley is no longer a casual brown-haired belle; she dons her disguise, a blond wig, and becomes her alter ego; an internationally-famous pop music star called Hannah Montana. In order to have the chance to maintain a sense of normality and get the best of both worlds, Miley keeps that fact that she is Hannah Montana a secret from everyone outside of her family members and closest friends. [full-link]Read more.. [/full-link] 

It doesn't take much thinking to understand how this plot line is one that many kids find themselves attached. In fact, if we simply look back to a time when we were younger, chances are that we had aspirations of being famous actors, singers or athletes. While hitting the books and learning lessons each day in school we can all still imagine a time in which we were staring out the window dreaming of all the fantastic things we wanted to be.

With Hannah Montana young viewers of the series can see a girl who gets to live the dream of being a famous singer at a young age, while all the while going through similar everyday situations to themselves.

Aside from telling a story that is appealing to youngsters, the show has also garnered much of its success from its incredibly popular star, Miley Cyrus.

There is something about this young lady that kids feel they can connect with; perhaps it's the style she brings to the show, her delivery or the songs she sings as Hannah Montana. Whatever the case, it appears as though there is an unspoken connection between Cyrus and her countless fans, and this strong element could very well be a huge reason why this series has become so massively successful.

In fact, the Hannah Montana franchise has grown to become so popular that aside from having four series under its belt, it also has expanded with the release of two successful films.

Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert was released in theatres in the US in 2008 in Disney 3D, showing exclusive live concert footage from the 2007 tour. While the movie was originally only intended to be on screens for one weekend, due to such a high demand it rolled on for many weeks thereafter. In fact, after making over $65 million in gross box office sales the US alone, the film went on to be released across a wide variety of countries across the globe.

Riding on the demands for more Miley, Disney also released Hannah Montana: The Movie in 2009. This film was an extension of the television series and begged to ask whether or not Miley Stewart could balance her life as a normal teenager with her separate life as a famous pop star. This film was also a huge commercial success bringing in nearly $80 million in gross US box office sales, before launching in theatres around the World.

Aside from the films attached to the television programme, Miley fever has taken to the shelves of retailers throughout the UK. Children can dress up in Hannah Montana clothing, take their Hannah Montana notebooks to school and even write down their notes with a Hannah Montana pencil. The supply of merchandise in connection with Hannah Montana is seemingly endless and as more and more children are getting involved, Disney continues to release new products to its heaps of anxious fans.

After two movies, three series and endless Hannah products on the market, the Disney Channel is currently airing the fourth and final series entitled Hannah Montana Forever. Fans of the show will find all their questions answered as Disney works hard to wrap up all the lingering storylines that have been in action since the initial release of the series in the US in 2006.

As a way of promoting this new programme, Disney has also launched a website in which young fans can play Hannah Montana games and browse through Hannah Montana pictures of all their favourite characters.

Despite the fact that this series will be reaching its final conclusion shortly, it's safe to say that fans of the show will still have much more to look forward to in the future. Miley Cyrus, the series' stand out star, has proven herself as a rising pop singer. Considering she is just 18 years-old, it's safe to say Miss Cyrus will have much to bring to Hannah Montana once the series is all wrapped up.

Overall, it's quite fascinating to think just how successful one franchise can become in such a short amount of time, and even though the programme will soon conclude it will surely leave a longstanding mark in modern popular culture.

New episodes of Hannah Montana Forever are airing on Mondays at 17:00 on the Disney Channel.

thx @oxmileylovexo 

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