Just when you think High School Musical 3 is the lowest Disney can go, out comes the trailer for Disney’s new teen drama Prom. With a dazzling cast of cuties straight from the Disney Channel, and all the high school stereotypes present and accounted for, Prom proves Disney can indeed go lower.
The buzz around this film has it as a Sixteen Candles type film for the modern teen. This is a hard one to swallow, especially as Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross gave the go-ahead on this project. Ross was president of the Disney Channels Worldwide for five years, and helmed popular projects like…you guessed it, High School Musical. Instead of an angsty iconic coming-of-age film, I see a High School Musical type film without the synchronized singing and dancing. Oh, wait, there will be dancing. Prom centers around different and diverse teens getting ready for what could be the greatest night of their lives; high school prom. All the “types” are going to be there; the jock, the princess, the cheerleader, the geek, the outcast…you name it. The intertwining stories cover all the drama you could hope for as teens grow and change and prepare for life beyond high school.
While I find the idea of a film like this tedious and overdone, I’m sure it will be a success among a certain demographic. Disney sure knows how to reach the pre-pubescents. And when I start hearing characters with names like Corey, Kitty, Nova and Simone, I know just what to expect, and thus what to avoid.
