Disney is taking us back to 2006 with the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary celebrations.
Jason Earles said it best on the red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight, the Disney+ special celebrating the 20th anniversary of Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana is a celebration of Miley Cyrus, her time as a Disney kid and her musical progression since auditioning for Hannah at 11 years old.
Who was Hannah Montana?
The opening drums of The Best of Both Worlds plays, an 11-year-old Miley Cyrus spins and becomes the blonde-teen-popstar known as Hannah Montana.
Hannah Montana premiered with the pilot episode titled “Lilly, Do You Want To Know A Secret?” in March of 2006, and the world changed. We were introduced to Miley Cyrus as Miley Stewart, a country girl who moved to LA, her Dad on TV and in real life Billy Ray Cyrus (Robby Ray Stewart) and her brother Jackson played by Jason Earles. A single-parent family struggling with the trials of recovering from losing a parent. As well as her best friends Lilly (Emily Osment) and Oliver (Mitchel Musso) as they navigated having a best friend with a HUGE secret of being a pop star.
What made Hannah Montana special?
Hannah Montana as a character and a TV show gripped a generation on an international level. Those of us lucky enough who had Disney Channel at home, watched it at friends houses or however you interacted with Hannah Montana and her two worlds. The coming of age story, the music and the cartoon-esque chaos was the recipe to capture the hearts of thousands of kids around the globe. Hannah Montana was a show that connected a generation, she had a parent who cared, an annoying older brother and a chosen family in Lilly and Oliver – there was some part of her ‘Miley-life’ that connected to every kid. The ‘Hannah-life’ was the dream and aspiration of so many kids who wanted to sing and play music.
Disney+’s Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special
It’s been 20 years since the first episode of Hannah Montana, Miley and Disney decided it was time to celebrate. With a huge premier seeing many returning cast for their hour long celebration with Miley Cyrus on the old set. The premier of the documentary saw the return of Jason Earles (Jackson), Moisés Arias (Rico) and Cody Linley (who played love interest Jake Ryan).
In the documentary itself we spend time with Miley talking about how Hannah Montana changed her life. She’s interviewed by Alex Cooper talking in depth about growing up on screen revisiting favourite memories and moments from the show. Miley is also seen with Tish Cyrus, her Mom and manager revisiting the set and going through the famous Hannah wardrobe. Chappell Roan joined Miley as another country girl who was a Hannah fan. Chappell and Miley had a raw conversation about how Miley received so much criticism at such a young age, how it affected her as she grew up. The world has been privy to much of Miley’s progression, development and phases over the years, being in the public eye in a way no one could have predicted was always going to have an affect.
Who was missing from the 20th anniversary celebration?
The main cast members missing from the premier was Emily Osment (Lilly) and Mitchel Musso (Oliver). Separately, they both posted on social media about the 20th Anniversary of Hannah Montana with little reference to the documentary and premier. Emily posted a video of herself on the set of ‘George and Mandy’s First Marriage’ with co-star Montana Jordan. Like the viewers and Miley Cyrus, Emily grew up on this show and she references how it taught her so much. It’s a real appreciation post for the show, everything it taught her and the fans who have been with her since Hannah Montana. But with no reference to the 20th Anniversary Special or its premier, it’s been rumored online that this was due to filming schedule conflicts. Read Emily’s full post about Hannah Montana’s 20th anniversary on her Instagram.
Mitchel Musso who played Oliver, Miley’s other on-screen best friend shared a series of photos with a caption celebrating the journey they went on while creating and filming the show. He even referred to Emily Osment by her character’s nickname ‘Lillypop’. Mitchel references how the cast became a family and even making fun of the famous hairstyles that Oliver had over the series.
Conclusion
Hannah Montana’s 20th Anniversary was ultimately proof that Miley Cyrus survived being a Disney Channel kid and came out the other side with an appreciation for the character, show and whole experience that got her to where she is today. While some of the cast appeared at the premier, and Billy Ray Cyrus and Selena Gomez appeared in the documentary. The story follows Miley’s memories of the Hannah years. Since Hannah Montana, Miley has gone through so many iterations of herself, the documentary special felt like a moment of love for her previous selves. It’s a raw and emotional insight to how Miley sees and remembers the show that made her into the star we know today. But if you’re looking for stories from the behind the scenes and production of the show with the cast reuniting, this isn’t that sort of Anniversary celebration. It’s more of a look at how far Miley has come since that first pilot of Hannah Montana.
