History Film / HighSchoolMusical

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Upon returning to school from winter break (explicitly stated to be the New Year), all the students are shown wearing light clothes, and the surrounding plant life is very green and verdant, as if it were summer. Anyone who lives, or has just spent time in Albuquerque knows that the city (though in a desert climate) can actually get viciously cold during the winter months (the daily mean temperature generally being approximately 37 degrees Fahrenheit).

* ''Series/HighSchoolMusicalTheMusicalTheSeries'' (2019–present), a {{mockumentary}} about a group of East High students who stage a performance of, well, ''High School Musical''.

* AnAesop: Don't let what you do define who you are.

* ZanyScheme: In the first movie, Chad and Taylor, Chad and Taylor, along with their respective teams, the Wildcats and the school nerds, cook up a plan to drive Troy and Gabriella away from each other and the upcoming musical so they can focus on their own competitions instead, the upcoming Championship game and the Academic Decathlon. Namely, Troy's teammates exploit his [[WellDoneSonGuy desire of approval from his father]] by reminding him of East High's legacy of basketball triumphs and his dad's role in it, and Troy, feeling the pressure, is forced to lie and say that Gabriella and the musical are only distractions, while Taylor and the other nerds film the moment with a webcam they hid in the locker room and show it to Gabriella, making her assume Troy doesn't really care for her. The whole thing works a [[GoneHorriblyRight tad too well]] and causes Troy and Gabriella to feel way too downhearted to properly focus on anything, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone much to the regret]] of the Wildcats and the nerds.

* ZanyScheme: In the first movie, Chad and Taylor, along with their respective teams, cook up a plan to drive Troy and Gabriella away from the upcoming musical so they can focus on their own competitions instead. Namely, Troy's teammates exploit his [[WellDoneSonGuy desire of approval from his father]] and trick him into saying Gabriella and the musical are only distractions, while Taylor and the other nerds film the moment with a webcam they hid in the locker room, making Gabriella assume Troy doesn't really care for her. The whole thing works a [[GoneHorriblyRight tad too well]] and causes Troy and Gabriella to feel way too downhearted to properly focus on anything, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone much to the regret]] of the Wildcats and the nerds.

It was an [[SleeperHit unexpected success]], spawning a concert tour, a novel series, two {{sequel}}s, a {{spinoff}} and a web series:

* ImplausibleCorneredEscape: Gabriella and Troy are trying to secretly practice the song they'll perform during call-backs to avoid any interference from Sharpay. In one instance, Gabriella is singing in the girl's bathroom when Sharpay happens to walk by. Sharpay stops and heads into the bathroom to figure out who's singing. Sharpay walks through, but no one's there so she leaves. Gabriella then pops out from an alcove by the sinks. This became [[https://www.buzzfeed.com/shelbyheinrich/tiktok-hsm-continuity-error-funny something of a meme]] because there was simply no way for Sharpay to not see Gabriella [[BehindTheBlack given the angle and lack of cover]].

** Troy and Gabriella have ones when they both protest about going to the New Year’s Eve party: Troy is playing basketball with his Dad and Gabriella wants to finish her book alone. Of course, the rest of the film is about subverting these impressions by showing they want to be more than the basketball guy and geeky girl.

-->'''Chad:''' Have you ever seen Michael Crawford on a cereal box?[[note]]As for the question, how ''does'' Chad know who Michael Crawford is? [[spoiler:{{Handwave}}d by having Chad explain that his mom put his picture in their fridge.]][[/note]]\\

* WorkInfoTitle: The title refers to the high school musical the main characters try to lead roles in. Fittingly, ''High School Musical'' itself is a musical about a high school.

* TheWildcats: The name of the East High basketball team.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[{{Irony}} Ironically]] enough, the titular High School Musical (apparently called ''Twinkle Town''), in the first film. You'd think with all the importance placed on its callbacks, we'd get some focus on the musical itself, like maybe showing Troy and Gabriella practicing songs or scenes from it, right? Well, you'd be wrong - after the performance of "Breaking Free", it's never brought up again, not even in the sequels. A FreezeFrameBonus at the beginning of ''2'' has a poster behind Troy and Gabriella shows ''Twinkle Town'' featuring the pair under starring.

** The titular high school musical (which is never really seen, but is apparently called "''Twinkle Town''" based on a poster seen behind Troy and Gabriella when the sneak-in during Ryan and Sharpay's rehearsal).

* OppositesAttract: Everyone ''see's'' Troy and Gabriella - a [[{{BigManOnCampus}} popular]] LovableJock and [[ShrinkingViolet shy]] TeenGenius - as this trope. In reality [[BrokenAce they're]] [[CommonalityConnection not that different]].

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Chad and Taylor's ZanyScheme to con Troy into confessing he doesn't care about the callbacks for the musical, and forcing Gabriella to watch while he does so. Their intent, ostensibly, is to get Troy to focus on the upcoming basketball game, and Gabriella on the scholastic competition. What ensues is nearly the termination of the OneTruePairing.

* MaybeEverAfter: Troy and Gabriella in the first film. They have an AlmostKiss and their feelings are strongly hinted at in the final song but don't officially get together or admit they like each other. By the second film they've had a RelationshipUpgrade and the third film gives them a definitive HappilyEverAfter as they head off to college together.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Chad and Taylor's plan to get Troy and Gabriella to focus on basketball and academics (instead of each other) works perfectly... Until both Troy and Gabriella become too miserable to focus on the championship game or the academic decathlon, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which was exactly what they were trying to avoid happening in the first place]].

* HighSchool: The film is set at a high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico called East Side High.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Chad and Taylor's plan to get Troy and Gabriella up to focus on basketball and academics (instead of each other) works perfectly... Until both Troy and Gabriella both become too miserable to focus on the championship game or the academic decathlon, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which was exactly what they were trying to avoid happening in the first place]].

** Troy and Gabriella have ones when they both protest about going to the party: Troy is playing basketball with his Dad and Gabriella wants to finish her book alone. Of course, the rest of the film is about subverting these impressions by showing they want to be more than the basketball guy and geeky girl.

* AnAesop: Don't let what you do define who you are.

* GainingConfidenceSong: Troy and Gabriella go through this twice as a sort of BookEnds to the first film. They're first forced to sing karaoke together, neither of them thinking of themselves as a singer, but end up enjoying the experience and discovering their interest in music, symbolized by them dancing and engaging with the audience. At the end, they're singing at the climatic audition, and Gabriella's StageFright threatens to get the better of her- but they once again end up getting into the song and blow away the crowd.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Chad and Taylor's plan to get Troy and Gabriella up to focus on basketball and academics (instead of each other) works perfectly... Until both Troy and Gabriella both become too miserable to focus the championship game or the academic decathlon, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which was exactly what they were trying to avoid happening in the first place]].

** Troy and Chad, which is why Chad takes Troy's interest in singing so badly. The rest of the team are downplayed

* HiddenDepths: Pretty much the whole basis on the film. You've got the BigManOnCampus and TeenGenius who want to try singing musical theatre, a LovableJock who is also a SupremeChef, a nerd who loves hiphop and a skater who plays the cello.
* HighSchool: The film is set at a highschool in Albuquerque, New Mexico called East Side High.

** For how badly Chad and the basketball team took Troy's musical interests in the first movie (because it was not only distracting him, but was "uncool", in their eyes), Ryan gate-crashed their baseball game in the sequel because he adamantly believed that [[StealthInsult they]] ''[[StealthInsult all]]'' [[StealthInsult had the potential]] to participate in the resort talent show.

* KarmaHoudini: Chad, Taylor and the other wildcats in the first film. They deliberately go behind their "friends" backs to split them apart just because Troy and Gabriella have developed interests outside of basketball and academics, but never suffer any consequences. Even when they confess what they've done, Troy and Gabriella are more focused on making up with each other than calling out their best friends for betraying them, and by the next scene everyone's hanging out together like it's no big deal. And Troy and Gabriella keep confiding in Chad and Taylor for the next two, even though Chad is ''still'' resentful Troy has goals beyond basketball and Taylor continues to attack Gabriella's relationship with Troy.

* MaybeEverAfter: Troy and Gabriella in the first film. They have an AlmostKiss and their feelings are strongly hinted in the final song, but don't officially get together or admit they like each other. By the second film they've had a RelationshipUpgrade and the third film gives them a definitive HappilyEverAfter as they head off to college together.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Chad and Taylor's ZanyScheme to con Troy into confessing he doesn't care about the callbacks for the musical, and forcing Gabriella to watch while he does so. Their intent, ostensibly, is to get Troy to focus on the upcoming basketball game, Gabriella on the scholastic competition. What ensues is nearly the termination of the OneTruePairing.
* NiceMeanAndInBetween: In the first film. For the main boys, we have: Troy, the NiceGuy who tries to do the right thing; Ryan, the self-centered right-hand man of Sharpay; and Chad, the buddy who willing manipulates his best friend but makes up for it in the end. For the girls, we have: Gabriella, the sweet but shy braniac; Sharpay, the snobby popular girl who doesn't like her spotlight stolen; and Taylor, the braniac who mediates between the two.

* PairTheSpares: When Troy and Gabriella established themselves as a couple, Sharpay suddenly falls in love with Zeke despite her clear attractions towards Troy in the earlier scenes.
* PopularityFoodChain: Played with - the social circles just run in totally separate spheres rather than on a hierarchy: Sharpay is the AlphaBitch of the drama club, Taylor is the AcademicAlphaBitch of the nerds, Chad is a JerkJock and rules the basketball team. Each group appears to dislike the others pretty equally and even Troy - the BigManOnCampus - isn't universally liked. The lack of interaction and mingling between groups drives the plot of the first film, and is why Troy and Gabriella's friendship and interest in singing is such an issue.
* [[{{Reconstruction}} Reconstructed Character Archetype]]: The BigManOnCampus trope is taken apart and then rebuilt with Troy. All three films examine how having to be East High's golden boy 24/7 wears him down, Gabriella liking him for just being himself rather than his status feels like a rarity, his attempts to please everyone often hurt those closest to him and having so many expectations to live up to means any deviations - singing, different college plans - causes instant issues with his dad and friends. However, each film manages to conclude with the good influence he's able to have when he's true to himself, and that his popularity can be a good thing in uniting different students.

** Ms Darbus's vendetta against cell phones and obsession with being on time in #1.

** Taylor's treatment of Gabriella is just as bad, as she records Troy's response without context and shows it to Gabriella, (who [[{{IntelligenceEqualsIsolation}} struggles with fitting in]], and currently sees Troy as her only real friend), completely devastating her. Like Chad, Taylor's never called out for it, everything turns out fine and she becomes Gabriella's best friend anyway. (And at least Troy and Chad had over a decade of friendship to justify a quick and easy forgiveness. Gabriella was a new student and had just met Taylor who up to that point only ever seemed interested in Gabriella as an Academic Decathalon team member).

* ShaggyDogStory: The main conflict of the second film involves Troy trying to get a basketball scholarship at the University of Albuquerque because he's worried about the cost of college and Sharpay using the goal to divide him from the wildcats. Come the third film he ''and'' Chad (who was never as a good a basketball player as Troy) have apparently secured a scholarship with no problems and Troy's wondering about pursuing theater. [[spoiler: And then Troy decides to go to Berkeley anyway with zero mention of his worries about money from the previous film making the whole plot of #2 fairly pointless.]]
* ShipperOnDeck: Kelsi displayed shades of this towards [[OfficialCouple Troy and Gabriella]] in the first movie and afterwards. Subverted with everyone else at first, but played straight by the third movie, where pretty much the entire school adores the two together (Sharpay being the main exception).

** The titular high school musical (which is never really seen, but is apparently called "''Twinkle Town''" based off a poster seen behind Troy and Gabriella when the sneak-in during Ryan and Sharpay's rehearsal).

** Played disturbingly straight with Sharpay's obsession with Troy. She wants him purely because he's - in her words - "East High's Primo Guy" and pursues him relentless for the status he'll give her. No wonder Troy has a complex about being the 'basketball guy'.
** Subverted concerning Gabriella. When they first met, Gabriella had no idea the whole school idolized Troy and a main point of their relationship is not being [[{{BigManOnCampus}} the stereotypes]] [[{{TeenGenius}} everyone thinks]] they are. Her position is actually...

** Brazil, Argentina and Mexico all have local ''High School Musical'' instalments. They're all based on the first ''Tales from East High'' book.

* StatusQuoIsGod: The song called "Stick to the Status Quo" in the first one and many characters have AesopAmnesia.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Ryan and Sharpay versus Troy and Gabriella. Ryan and Sharpay have been singing for years, view star roles as status symbols and audition with professionally choreographed routines and costumes, while Troy and Gabriella just want to sing because it makes them happy, start doing it in secret and audition in their sports uniform and lab coat.[[note]]Somewhat played with in that with their "main things" (basketball and academics) they're more obviously Technicians and train and study intensely, while singing is an outlet for them.[[/note]]
* TerribleIntervieweesMontage: The first film features one of these as a variety of terrible wanna-be actors try out for the school play. This is supposedly to show how talented Ryan and Sharpay are. However, as their competition are those who can't sing on key, forget their lines, who are creepy, and lock up with stage fright, it actually creates the impression that the only reason they keep starring in school plays is because they are the only people who are vaguely competent at acting or singing.

* TookALevelInKindness: Chad, Taylor, Ms. Darbus and Jack Bolton by the end of the first film and onwards. Ms. Darbus in particular goes from refusing to let Troy and Gabriella audition because they're ''thirty seconds'' late, to counselling Troy during his break down about his future.
* TrueCompanions: The 'Wildcats', though the main gang is Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, Kelsi, Zeke, Jason, Martha and sometimes Ryan and Sharpay.
* {{Tsundere}}: Sharpay and Taylor are downplayed, because their other archetypes (AlphaBitch and BlackAndNerdy) are much stronger.

* WhatDoesHeSeeInHer: Everyone has this reaction with Zeke's crush on Sharpay.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Chad and Taylor for Troy and Gabriella in the first film. Chad, who has been Troy's best friend since childhood, starts a bullying campaign against him singing and sabotages his chances with the girl he really likes. Taylor befriends the already shy and insecure Gabriella, just to get her on the scholastic decathlon, and then tricks the guy she likes into hurting her, leaving Gabriella devastated. They do however, redeem themselves in the second half of the film. In the second film, Taylor spends most of her time questioning Gabriella's choice to be with Troy, while Chad only complains about the job Troy got him, specially when Troy gets a promotion and Chad guilt trips him into renouncing.

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Gabriella tells Troy the variation of "You are more than you think you are", when she tells him he's not just the basketball guy.

* ''[[Film/Zombies2018 Z-O-M-B-I-E-S]]'' (2018–20)

* AbsurdlyDividedSchool: A big plot-point in the first film was about how the school was so divided into cliques that everyone was horrified when Troy wanted to do something besides basketball. There's an entire song about how some of the students are having their secret passions suppressed, simply because their friends can't stand the thought of them expanding beyond their niche.

** "Get'cha head in the game!" is somewhat of an in-universe [[invoked]] BeamMeUpScotty because it wasn't added onto the end of the "What team? Wildcats!" BattleChant until scenes after its song was performed, yet after it was included, crowds in other films (who wouldn't have been there when the added phrase was adopted in the basketball practice) proudly chant along as if it had always been there.

* BettyAndVeronica: Gabriella (the Betty) competing with Sharpay (the Veronica) over Troy (the Archie).

** Troy being a WellDoneSonGuy to make his dad happy about being the basketball captain, as well as convince his friends that he cares about them, but as numerous people point out, he seems rather comfortable being on stage and performing. Eventually, Troy's critics back down and admit that they'd been selfish.
** Seeing the most popular boy in school do something outside of his stereotype encouraged many students to seek other interests, but "Stick to the Status Quo" made it clear how ''[[FelonyMisdemeanor disgusted]]'' their friends were with the idea. Considering how everyone makes up eventually, they too had realised their selfishness.

* BookDumb: Jason. When Ms. Darbus announces the seniors' graduation, she could only say, "You did it. You graduated," to him -- in contrast to the list of [[IvyLeagueForEveryone impressive universities]] the others are heading off to.

** Between #1 and #3 vs #2. The moral of ''1'' is essentially 'Support other's dreams rather than tearing them down' (The wildcats accepting Troy and Gabriella singing). ''2'' switches to 'Your friend's pressuring is more important than your dreams.' (Troy trying to win a scholarship). Then ''Senior Year'' jumps back onto the 'support each other' wagon. (Troy doing basketball ''and'' singing, Gabriella going to Stanford, Kelsi wanting to do the show together).

* CharacterDevelopment: A surprising amount: Troy starts making his own decisions rather than pleasing everyone else, Gabriella becomes more outgoing and gets some real friends, Taylor and Chad both loosen up, Kelsi learns to be more confident and Ryan steps out of Sharpay's shadow. Even the teachers get on it, with Ms. Darbus going from SadisticTeacher to CoolTeacher, and Jack Bolton seeing Troy as his son rather than a basketball star.

** Martha was scolded by her brainiac friends for wanting to street dance and is seen at the beginning of ''Senior Year'' at the front of the cheerleading line-up during the opening basketball match (implying that she may be ''head'' cheerleader).

** The apparently opposite [[LovableJock Troy]] and [[TeenGenius Gabriella]], bond over the pressure they're both under, and having to live up to their friends and families' expectations all the time.
** Chad and Taylor are ''not'' happy about this, which leads to their own CommonalityConnection as they plot to separate Troy and Gabriella and stop from singing together.

* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: The question of which duo is better at singing is only resolved in the first film, since the franchise's overall plot is more about gaining acceptance than parts in a show.[[note]]Even then, Darbus' decision can be interpreted as giving people ''other'' than Sharpay and Ryan a chance to participate in the musical, since they've played every lead role for years.[[/note]] Sharpay is too insecure to try competing fairly, instead resorting to sabotage/cheating/otherwise rigging whatever auditions are occurring.

* DramaClub: Which Ryan and Sharpay are Co-Presidents of.

** Troy and Gabriella's friendships with Chad and Taylor as a whole fall into this. In the first film, Troy and Gabriella don't even get angry about the ZanyScheme that devastated both of them - and included Chad using Troy's difficult relationship with his coach dad against him and Taylor undermining Gabriella's already-fragile self confidence in making friends.

* EmbarrassingHobby: One of the driving problems in the story is that multiple characters in the different cliques have their own secret, non-stereotypical hobby, like a skater dude being into cello playing. Troy's singing finally gives them the confidence to tell their friends...only for their friends to all collectively ''reject'' the notion that they can have those interests and tell them to "Stick to the Status Quo", justifying the embarrassment that made them hide their interests in the first place.

* {{Fanservice}}: Creator/ZacEfron. Full stop. Each movie features some level of shirtless scene.

* LicensedGame: The first and third films each had a ''TabletopGame/MysteryDate'' game based on them.

* TheCheerleader: A scene in ''1'' depicts cheerleaders as shallow, concerned only on having strong fingernails and guy's looks.

It also influenced ''Series/{{Glee}}'' being greenlit and thus the success of the ''Film/PitchPerfect'' franchise.

* HiddenDepths: Pretty much the whole basis on the film. You've got the BigManOnCampus and TeenGenius who want to try singing musical theatre, a LovableJock who is also a SupremeChef, a HollywoodNerd who loves hiphop and a skater who plays the cello.
* HighSchool: Obviously.
* HollywoodNerd:
** Every single character who's part of the "brainiac" table is this.
** Despite Kelsi being hidden behind the piano under hats and glasses (which [[PurelyAestheticGlasses she doesn't even need]]), she's still very attractive.

* InsecureProtagonistArrogantAntagonist: Troy and Gabriella have to compete with Sharpay and Ryan for the lead roles in the school musical. Sharpay and Ryan are insanely talented, but also overconfident and manipulative, whilst [[LovableJock Troy]] and [[HollywoodNerd Gabriella]] are struggling to express themselves and be more than their stereotypes would allow them to be. As their confidence and abilities grow, Sharpay and Ryan grow more paranoid and attempt to sabotage their chance to audition, but get thwarted when they show up anyway.

* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The four main girls: [[AttentionWhore Sharpay (sanguine)]], [[SassyBlackWoman Taylor (choleric)]], [[HollywoodNerd Gabriella (melancholic)]] and [[ExtremeDoormat Kelsi (phlegmatic)]]
** The main couples: Chad (sanguine), Taylor (choleric), Gabriella (melancholic), Troy (phlegmatic)

* OppositesAttract: Everyone ''see's'' Troy and Gabriella - a [[{{BigManOnCampus}} popular]] LovableJock and [[{{HollywoodNerd}} shy]] TeenGenius - as this trope. In reality [[BrokenAce they're]] [[CommonalityConnection not that different]].