Hannah Montana: The Complete First Season DVD

Admin المساهمات : 120 تاريخ التسجيل : 16/07/2008

Hannah Montana: The Complete First Season DVD
Posted by Michael Weyer on 12.13.2008

The phenom that is Miley Cyrus begins here in a set long on tween fun but short on extras.

Hannah Montana: the Complete First Season
26 episodes in 4 disc set
Walt Disney
　
We have become so used to the seeming omnipresence of Miley Cyrus that it’s quite easy to forget that just three years ago, no one knew she was. At best, they might have remembered her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, the poster boy for country “one-hit wonder” with his 1992 hit “Achy Breaky Heart” and not much else afterward. When Hannah Montana debuted in early 2006, no one could have possibly foreseen that a simple cable kiddie sitcom could turn into a full-fledged international phenomenon.

Before the hit albums, before parents were taking out second mortgages for tickets to her concert, before the 3-D movie, before the Vanity Fair controversy, this is the beginning of Miley Cyrus’ rise. And, for what it’s worth, it’s notable to see just how well this young woman takes to stardom and in how this show turned into an example of “art imitating life” faster than anyone expected.
　
The Show
　
For those who have no teenage daughters or have been living under a rock the last three years, here’s the setup: The first episode introduces us to Miley Stewart, your seemingly typical, everyday California teenager. However, while she goes to school as a normal kid, the truth is that Miley dons a blonde wig to become Hannah Montana, a major singing star. The truth is known to her father, Robby (real life dad Billy Ray Cyrus), a former singing star himself, and her goofball brother Jackson (Jason Earles). The first episode has Miley forced to reveal the truth to her best friend Lily (Emily Osment) who soon starts hanging around Hannah as the eccentric Lola Luftnage. Oliver (Mitchel Musso) is a friend from school who’s obsessed with Hannah. She tries to be the “date from hell” in the second episode to throw him off but when he keeps pursuing her, she tells him the truth and he realizes it was Hannah he liked, not Miley. Another face popping up is Rico (Moises Arias), the young but bossy owner of a beach refreshment stand Jackson works at.

The show often begins with Miley doing songs on stage as Hannah, before going onto the usual story. The plots put a spin on the usual teen sitcom formula as Hannah has to balance her superstar life with being a normal kid. True, it does seem hard to accept she can keep the secret so well in this tabloid fodder world of ours (although one episode does have paparazzi following her home and thinking Jackson is Hannah’s boyfriend). However, it’s a unique dynamic at times like when a girl who constantly hounds Miley at school turns out to be a major Hannah fan and when she wins a chance to sing with Hannah on TV, Miley’s naturally tempted to humiliate her but can’t go through with it. Another episode has her embarrassed when she forgets the words to the National Anthem at a basketball game and actually embraces being unknown as Miley. In another, Hannah finds herself tempted to endorse a perfume she hates for some big money and learns a lesson on staying true to yourself. One story brings the dual identity up big when Jake Ryan (Cody Linley, recently seen on Dancing With the Stars), a big movie star comes to school and Miley, jealous of the attention everyone gives him, tells a reporter she’s Hannah. However, when Jake expresses how he wishes he could live a normal life without everyone fawning over him, Miley has to pull some trickery to get out of exposing herself (which leads to the inevitable joke of Robby pretending to be Billy Ray Cyrus).

It’s true the majority of the show is juvenile, which makes sense given its audience. A lot of the jokes are obvious for older viewers but the acting helps it out a bit. Whatever else, Cyrus is a natural before the camera, polished, on target and has a nice comedic flair with her mugging and emphasizing certain words in punch lines. She uses her Southern roots well like cracking about “looking for a mullet at a highway diner” and when her friends stare at her in confusion, adds “ya’ll wouldn’t last a minute in Tennessee.” I do have to credit her and producers for how she shifts in the Hannah persona just enough so you can buy the public not putting it together she’s in a wig and makeup. Cyrus knows she has the show on her shoulders and does well with it. Not only that but she actually looks like she’s having fun and that infectious nature makes her more watchable.

Her father seems a bit bland, not as comfortable but still does well with his hokey sayings and occasional songs along with the usual fatherly lectures. Earles is the typical dimwitted sitcom brother who constantly gets into wild schemes and trouble (often thanks to money-hungry Rico). Osment (the younger sister of Haley Osment) matches Cyrus with her wildly eccentric attitude and some good physical comedy herself while Musso has a smaller role than the others, often getting the worst of schemes. There are a couple of guest stars like Dolly Parton as Miley’s godmother (with a funny bit where she pulls a cell phone out of her beehive, explaining “With jeans this tight, I can’t find any other place for it.”) and Vicki Lawrence as Robby’s deeply Southern mother who actually favors Jackson over Miley. There’s a couple of appearances by the funny Frances Callier as tough bodyguard Roxy and Ashley Tisdale makes a cameo in an episode that was part of a crossover with Disney Channel’s other shows That’s So Raven and Suite Life of Zach and Cody

Sure, a lot of the jokes are too easy and won’t make most over the age of fifteen laugh but it fits with the show’s style. The pull of the series isn’t its writing however, it’s the cast and as noted they do seem to truly have fun with the material. While the plots are familiar, the element of the superstar-in-hiding motif gives it an original edge (even for tried and true stuff like “running up a credit card bill and having to pay it off without dad knowing” which seems odd considering this girl is supposed to be a rich star). It also gets interesting when you think of how Cyrus’ real life matches her alter ego more than she might have anticipated. So while no comedy classic, it’s a fun show and a nice showcase for how Cyrus’ talent has gotten her over so huge.

Rating: 7.0 out of 10

Video: Fullscreen with 1.33:1 aspect ratio, a good transfer from the original broadcasts but nothing really sensational.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound with Spanish language and subtitles in Spanish and English. Again, standard quality but clear enough, especially for the song parts.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

Bonus Features: A disappointment in many ways as you’d expect some stuff like how they put the show together, shooting an episode, interviews with cast and such. But none of those get on this set at all. Surely, you’d think they’d have the people who put this show together reflecting on how it turned into such a massive hit and handling working it into the program. That would have made a nice insight but no go.

Instead, we get Hannah’s Highlights, spread throughout the four discs, five episodes that are apparently favorites of Cyrus. There is the nice option of watching them with little “pop-up” windows that give tidbits such as Vicki Lawrence’s career, shooting some scenes and such which is a good extra.

Back Home Again With Miley is a nice 7 minute featurette set in November of 2007 where Miley and Billy Ray take a break from their busy schedule to journey back to their Tennessee farm. It is fun seeing Miley out of character and enjoying herself as they tour the large area, pointing out things like a favorite tree she played in and some odd bear sculptures (“You paid money for this?” she openly asks her father). It’s good to see her actually acting like a normal girl for a change of pace.

Disney Channel Games 2008 was this goofy thing the Disney Channel did where they would get together all the stars of their various shows to do their own Olympic Games. There are highlights like the revelation Jason Earles is actually 31 and it’s included since Miley does a concert for the players as the “opening ceremony kick-off” but it still seems an odd bonus.

» Disney Extends 'Hannah Montana' and 'Suite Life'