A while ago I read an article about a movie in Entertainment Weekly called High School Musical. It’s a made-for-TV movie, created by the Disney Channel, and it first aired in January 2006. In the next few months it aired several more times, and each airing was a ratings smash. It came out on DVD a couple of months ago and is still in the top 20 for DVD sales.

It’s a musical, set in high school, with songs and stuff, so I figured, that’s right up my alley. And if you think I’m being sarcastic, let me just warn you that Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, White Christmas, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes are all definitely in my top 20 movies of all time. I totally go for wholesome in my films. My favourite musical is actually Easter Parade, because the way Fred Astaire calls Judy Garland, “Baby” smacks of a raunchiness that makes my loins tingle. Hot stuff!

So I bought a copy for my 13-year-old niece, Red, for her birthday last month. Turned out she had already seen it on TV and loved it and was very excited about her gift. I asked her if we could watch it together because I was curious, and of course, it was awesome. Totally G-rated (the leads never get beyond a peck on the cheek) and cheesy, but in a joyous way. It’s the story of a basketball jock and a math-smart girl who just want to sing in the school play, but their friends advise them to “stick to the stuff you know,” and the usual leads — a brother/sister team — scheme to block their audition. Naturally it all ends with winning, winning, and more winning, and a big dance number in the school gym. Bliss!

A couple of weeks ago caught the last half-hour being aired on the Family Channel, and we watched it over dinner with the kids. Captain Jelly Belly was hypnotised. I think he’s found his calling in life — singing, in the movies. He made us rewind and rewatch the last half hour, with two major songs in it, four times. Then downloaded the soundtrack and we listened to that about 100 times on the ride down to Southern Ontario to visit our families.

While down in Cambridge we saw Red and rewatched the whole movie, and now we are all totally hooked. Between learning all the words to all the songs, all the actions to all the dances, and actually watching the movie, I figure I’m devoting about 25% of my current brain power purely to High School Musical. “Oooh, we’re breakin’ free!” Rock on.