Kids StuffWe get asked over and over don t you think the movie s not going to work somewhere I say it s not Americana so much as it s about kids In India in Japan in Argentina theyare looking and saying this is what I m going through Rich Ross president of Disney Channel Worldwide on High School Musical which has been a huge international success BURBANK Calif IN a sunny corner office at Disney Channel headquarters here two junior executives were charting the course by which High School Musical has been commandeering the television sets of the world s teenagers A feel good story that sets West Side Storyish themes to catchy tunes that recall Grease the movie has already been seen by an estimated 40 million Americans most of them in high school or middle school themselves It s won another 7 5 million fans in Europe 10 7 million in Latin America and no one knows precisely how many in Asia The next horizon is Africa And so the question at hand was Should a South African drum corps record a new promotional version of one of the anthemic songs As the young executives debated the question they carefully watched for the response of their audience who not coincidentally was their boss Rich Ross the president of Disney Channel Worldwide which created the film and gave it its premiere on its main domestic cable network But his mind was starting to drift to something they had laid on the coffee table before him Oh my God he said picking up the prototype of the latest High School Musical toy It s a Magic 8 Ball He tore off the packaging and began to shake it furiously like a child at his eighth birthday party Mr Ross was looking for the answer to a silent question which he later somewhat sheepishly articulated as How much more How much indeed As the head of 62 Disney channels and their offshoots Mr Ross probably has more influence than anyone else on the television that young children and adolescents are watching these days not just in this country but also in many of the Tags: What Was The Number 1 Song On My Birthday, 1 Billboard Song On My Birthday, Which Job Is Held By More Americans View |
