If a typical tween girl fantasy is to lead a double life as a famous pop star, yet still be able to hang with her friends in middle school, then welcome to Hannah Montana's world of make-believe. Hannah Montana: Livin' the Rock Star Life! collects four episodes -- one of which has never aired!
-- from the Disney Channel's newest series. From watching her performance this week on (a fact that -- not surprisingly -- was omitted from my excuse for being late to work that day), I'd have to say the Hannah Montana persona is nearly as celebrated in real life as it is depicted on the show, although, perusing the crowd, I didn't see a boy in sight, preteen or otherwise.
girl attending an ordinary middle school in Malibu, California (if that, in itself, is even possible).
She's a transplant from Tennessee with her widowed father Robbie (real-life father Billy Ray Cyrus) and older brother Jackson (Jason Earles, , ). Unbeknownst to her classmates, she's also Hannah Montana, insanely popular rock star. Utilizing the same magic Superman uses to pass himself off as Clark Kent by merely slapping on a pair of glasses, the only difference between the curly-haired brunette Miley and Hannah is a long blonde wig and some cool shades.
The tagline for the show is: "On stage she's a superstar, but at home she leads a totally normal life!" If your old man sang "Achy Breaky Heart" which launched an entire line-dance craze -- not to mention a decade's worth of ridicule -- I'd dispute your "normalcy", yet there is heart-warming aspect to the familial relationship that is readily apparent. Daddy doubles as Hannah's disguised manager, and cares deeply about giving his girl the "normal life" she desires during her successful music career.
Jackson carves out his own niche as class clown, and Robbie gives him respect, even if he's always treating him like he's done something wrong.
Miley's best friends are Lilly Truscott (Emily Osment, ) and Oliver Oken (Mitchel Musso, "Monster House"). Each learns Miley's secret in successive episodes (oddly presented as the second and third on this disc, when these obviously introduce the show's premise).
In the debut "Lilly, Do You Want to Know a Secret?", Lily is a major fan of Hannah Montana, and will go to extreme lengths to try to meet her. When she discovers that Miley and her superstar obsession are one and the same, she's hurt that her best friend wouldn't confide in her.
In "Miley Get Your Gum", Oliver pursues Hannah as a love interest with gusto, and she reveals her dual identity to him to stop him in his tracks. The episode also has a secondary story with Jackson's dilemma after learning his newly-purchased set of wheels is a "chick car".
The first episode on this disc is the never-before-seen "Money For Nothing, Guilt for Free".
As a class project, students are tasked with raising money for the United People's Relief Fund. Miley, Lilly, and Oliver are figuring out how to best rivals Amber (Shanica Knowles) and Ashley (Anne Marie Perez deTagle), who always win the competition by having "daddy write a bigger check". The last episode presented in this collection is "I Can't Make You Love Hannah If You Don't", where Miley finally scores a date with the ninth-grader of her affection, only to learn that he's taking her to a Hannah Montana concert!
DOH! Typical "how can I be in two places at one time" hijinks ensue. Meanwhile, Jackson's standing with friend Cooper (Andr?
Jamal Kinney) is in jeopardy when Cooper's not-so-innocent younger sister relentlessly pursues Jackson.
's ( ) little sister steals the show, in my book. She is quite good as the hyper-active best friend.
To a lesser degree, Jason Earles is engagingly entertaining in his second-fiddle role. That leaves members of the Cyrus family standing out with their somewhat underdeveloped acting skills. Despite this, there is a certain charm to Hannah Montana that transcends its sitcom plots with a big heart.
The stories really aren't all that special, but the family moments are endearing and devoid of cynicism.
Unfortunately, my attitude for Disney isn't. Releasing a handful of episodes with minimal extras sure smacks of a money-grubbing venture, with nearly the rest of the entertainment world seeing fit to package entire seasons for consumption.
Perhaps this is only a tangential release meant to prop up the , which is being issued at the same time. For someone new to Hannah Montana, the order these episodes are shown can cause confusion, with the "unaired" episode first, instead of the shows that explain its premise. If ever a show should have been "tacked on to the end", this is it.
full-length version of the theme song "The Best of Both Worlds," which, for our attention-deficit youth, barely clocks in over three minutes long.
Miley On Following Your Dreams: Exclusive Interview with Miley - A five-minute interview with Miley Cyrus talking about her character(s) with Billy Ray Cyrus, discussing how much of the show mimics the real life of this father and daughter.
when she was 12 years old, auditioning for both the lead and best friend roles, and looking much younger than she does on the show.
The highlight is an impromptu duet with her father on the hilarious "I Want My Mullet Back" from Billy Ray's most recent album .
Previews - Peter Pan: Platinum Edition, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Cars, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior, , The Fox and the Hound 2, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, Jesse McCartney's new CD and Girl Next, and, of course, "Hannah Montana" on the Disney Channel.
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