(from right to left) Corbin Bleu, Ashley Tisdale, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and attend the UK premiere of 'High School Musical 3' at the Empire cinema, Leicester Square, in London.
(Doug Peters/EMPICS Entertainment/PA Photos)
A free ministry resource has been created for youth and small group leaders to utilise the "High School Musical" craze that has gripped teens around the world since 2006.
With the highly-anticipated theatrical release of "High School Musical 3" only two weeks away, church pastors and leaders are being encouraged to download the free study guide and ministry clips produced by Simply Youth Ministry to engage their youth in Bible-based discussions stemming from the upcoming Disney movie.
"Kurt Johnston, the youth pastor at Saddleback Church, and our friends at Simply Youth Ministry have teamed up to create resource materials tied into the themes of the movie," says actress Kaycee Stroh, who plays Martha Cox in all three High School Musical instalments, in a promotional video for the "WildCats Weekend" resource.
"So you can see High School Musical 3 with your youth group opening weekend and then be ready for a meaningful discussion Sunday morning. The best part: it's all free!"
"High School Musical 3" is the third instalment of the "High School Musical" franchise that began as a television film. The first "High School Musical", which released in January 2006, became the most successful movie that Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) ever produced, drawing 7.7 million viewers in its US premiere broadcast. Furthermore, the film's soundtrack was the best-selling album in the United States for 2006.
Not long after, "High School Musical 2" drew even larger crowds when it debuted in August 2007, drawing in a total of 17.3 million viewers in the US through its premiere broadcast - making it the highest-rated Disney Channel Movie to date.
The "High School Musical" franchise has, for the most part, received approval from the Christian and conservative communities for its promotion of G-rated youth culture and the noticeable absence of the violence, drugs and sex that prevail on media screens today.
Media watchdogs such as the US-based Media Research Center claim that the "phenomenal, record-breaking success" of High School Musical proves the fact that "[n]ot everyone wants to drown in a sea of sexual innuendo and violence".
"Hollywood likes to tell us there isn't a market for family-friendly television shows," said L Brent Bozell III, president of Media Research Center, after the success of "High School Musical 2". "Those smut and violence peddlers don't have a clue," he added.
