Miley Cyrus doesn't look like a mouse. Or a befuddled bear. Or even a princess. But make no mistake, like Mickey, Winnie the Pooh and Snow White before her, she is a Disney franchise.
Miley is the star of Hannah Montana, a half-hour Disney Channel sitcom following the travails of Miley Stewart, a young girl living in Malibu, Calif., who also happens to be pop star Hannah Montana. Costarring real-life dad Billy Ray Cyrus and consistently featuring a wish list of co-stars including Dolly Parton and Larry David, Hannah Montana is one of the top-rated kids' shows of all time (in 2006, it was second only to American Idol among kids 6 to 14). Miley's first album, the 2006 Hannah Montana soundtrack, made its debut at No. 1 on the Billboard chart (a first for a TV soundtrack), sold more than 280,000 copies in its first week and subsequently went double platinum.
Her second album, a two-disc set titled Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus, was released June 26 and beat out Kelly Clarkson's new album to be No. 1, selling 326,000 copies.
There is, of course, a feature film in the works.
This year, Miley performed as Hannah at London's famed Koko club (Madonna had been there a few days before) and, with Mickey and Minnie, cut the ribbon to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Disneyland Paris.
Only a 14-year-old would have that much energy.
Her country-singer father also plays her father on the show, and if no one was quite prepared for the juggernaut of Hannah Montana, the Cyrus family is quite familiar with fame - its requirements, its seductions and its limitations.
"My mom is always telling me it takes a long time to get to the top," Miley says in all teenage seriousness, "but a short time to get to the bottom."
It's hard to imagine what the bottom looks like for a 14-year-old, although names like Lindsay Lohan and Danny Bonaduce do present themselves. Right now, Miley is safe within the Disney biosphere, the multimedia incubation unit for adolescent stars such as The Suite Life of Zach & Cody's Dylan and Cole Sprouse, Raven-Symone of That's So Raven then The Cheetah Girls, and Lizzie McGuire's Hilary Duff.
Nickelodeon was the one to invent a channel dedicated to kids' programming, but the Disney Channel, which doesn't have to worry about a pesky little problem like attracting advertisers, often seems to own the demographic. (Nick's recent debut of The Naked Brothers Band is a clear answer to Hannah Montana in form and story line.) So with that and Radio Disney in full swing, Hannah is the perfect multimedia creation - music, concerts, TV, two sets of clothing and other merchandise, and a feature film coming.
