Hannah Montana: The Movie

### Produced By

David Blocker, Billy Ray Cyrus, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Steven Peterman and Michael Poryes

### Production Company(s)

Walt Disney Pictures
 It's a Laugh Productions
 Millar Gough Ink

### Original Release

April 10, 2009

**Hannah Montana: The Movie** is an American film released on April 10, 2009. The film follows the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana.

## Plot

The film begins in the backstage of a concert venue. Robby Ray Stewart moans as he looks at who appears to be his daughter, Miley Stewart, also known as Hannah Montana, with her blonde wig on. The camera then pans around to reveal that a mannequin head is holding the wig.

The camera cuts to outside showing many people running from cars, then pans out to a large shot of a stadium. It then cuts to the box office, where the audience can see Miley and her best friend Lilly Truscott pushing to get through the crowd.

Miley and Lilly attempt to enter the concert as Miley is late, but they are turned away. Lilly comments that Miley is the only superstar who can’t even get into her own concert. Miley then notices a security guard leaving his patrol cart unattended to help a little girl find her family. Miley and Lilly steal the cart and drive through the halls of the stadium, trying to escape from the security guard while also trying to find Miley’s dressing room. They then drive through a poster of Hannah screaming and the head from the poster winds up on Miley’s face.

Miley and Lilly finally reach the dressing room and Robby rushes them inside, pushing off the security guard. Miley puts on her makeup and clothes, abruptly pushing her father out the door to change her clothes. The camera cuts one last time to show Miley putting on her blonde wig, becoming Hannah.

Hannah and Robby walk out of the dressing room, while Lilly wishes her good luck. Hannah and Robby then walk under the stage and Hannah bumps her head on one of the poles. Robby reminds her that she always bumps her head before telling her it’s her turn to do the dishes. Hannah complains that she did them the night before, but Robbie reminds her that’s what she gets for having the best of both worlds. Hannah rises on a platform singing “Best of Both Worlds." The camera zooms in on a music video playing in the background, showing Hannah singing the song on a beach.

The music video then becomes the actual scene and the music starts skipping causing Hannah to say “best of both” several times. The filming of the music video ends and Hannah returns to her tent to change. Before she takes off her wig, a man enters, causing her to scream. The man asks Hannah for her autograph for his daughters and a picture before Hannah’s manager Vita enters and stops him. She introduces the man as Oswald Granger, a sneaky undercover journalist for UK celebrity magazine Bon Chic who vows to uncover Hannah's secret.

On Lilly's birthday, Miley (as Hannah) spots a pair of shoes that she wants to buy as a present for Lilly. However, Tyra Banks also wants the shoes. Hannah and Tyra get in a fight and Hannah is consequently thrown out of the store without getting the chance to buy the shoes. When Oswald follows her to Lilly's party, Miley is forced to attend as Hannah instead of herself. As a result, all of the attention is taken away from Lilly, especially when Hannah is accompanied by Steve Rushton and Days Difference in a performance of "Let's Get Crazy." Hannah, Robby, Oliver Oken and Rico Suave unsuccessfully try to stop Lilly from leaving, and the party is ruined by Rico's exploding "Happy Birthday Lilly" cake. As Lilly leaves, hurt by her best friend's actions, she tells Oswald that Hannah is from Crowley Corners, Tennessee, unaware that he is a journalist.

Already disgusted with his daughter's recent general behaviour, Robby is infuriated when her fight with Tyra makes newspaper reports. Robby tells Miley that Hannah is out of control and she needs to remember who she truly is. To that end, he tells Vita that Miley will not go to New York for an upcoming music awards show, but will instead return home to Crowley Corners for her Grandma Ruby’s birthday party. Miley and Vita convince Robby to let Miley go, saying they’ll even arrange for a private jet to hurry Miley to New York and then to Tennessee. Robby agrees, but the look on his face indicates he has other plans. Inside the private jet, Miley steps out of the bathroom dressed as Hannah then sits down in a chair, complaining about how small the bathroom is. Robby closes the window and then snoozes.

When Miley exits the jet as Hannah, saying hello to New York, she is surprised to see a cow, and she soon realises that they are not in New York, but in Tennessee. Furious with her dad, Miley protests, but he points out that this is the life she could have had and decides to spend two weeks in Crowley Corners. Robby soon falls in love with a woman named Lorelai, while Miley eventually warms up to her home town when she rekindles a connection with childhood friend Travis Brody.

Nevertheless, Miley is eager to resume her Hannah duties and becomes chastened after Ruby snaps, saying that she seems to prefer being Hannah over spending time with her family. Miley tries to write lyrics for new songs but Travis ignores her and she develops writer's block. Meanwhile, conflict grows between the local residents and land developer Mr. Bradley, who wants to destroy part of the town to build a shopping mall. At a barn party, Robby and several other singers such as Taylor Swift contribute to a charity to save Crowley Corners, singing "Back to Tennessee" and "Crazier." Miley sings as herself with "Hoedown Throwdown." Mr. Bradley arrives to tell the townspeople that their efforts to stop him will not succeed, barring a miracle. Travis suggests that Miley ask Hannah to make an appearance, unaware that Miley and Hannah are the same person. Miley reluctantly agrees, but she does not know what to do until Lilly arrives disguised as Hannah.

As the two friends reconcile, Miley confides her difficulties adjusting to farm life while trying to be herself and Hannah. Oswald takes pictures of the girls, believing Lilly to be Hannah, and Lilly realises she inadvertently led Oswald there and apologises to Miley. The town is overjoyed to have Hannah but Travis is unimpressed and admits to Hannah that he has a crush on Miley. As Hannah, Miley urges Travis to ask Miley out and he does, but Miley has already been invited to dinner as Hannah with the town's mayor by Lorelai. Miley tries to be in two places at once but she accidentally lets her guard down and Travis catches her mid-switch. Outraged that Miley did not tell him that she was Hannah, Travis dumps her, leaving Miley feeling heartbroken. Miley finishes writing "Butterfly Fly Away" which she and her father sing together to cheer up. Miley completes the chicken coop that she and Travis were building; touched by this, Travis goes to the concert to support Miley.

When she sees Travis arrive, Hannah stops singing mid-song and explains to the crowd that she can no longer live a lie, especially when she is in her home town. Miley removes her blonde wig, revealing her secret identity. She then sings "The Climb" and afterwards announces that she's going to quit being Hannah. The crowd pleads for her to continue being Hannah, promising not to reveal her secret, but Oswald is in the crowd and takes a picture. His daughters arrive, having missed the Hannah reveal, and their excitement and enthusiasm for Hannah convinces him to not sell the story and quit his job. Miley kisses Travis and then returns to the stage to finish with the song "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home." She sees Lorelai and Robby kissing and waving, her brother Jackson making an “L” with his hand, and Travis smiling at her. "The End” then appears on the screen. The credits begin to roll with an reprise of “Hoedown Throwdown” playing as the cast and crew dance to the song and the bloopers.

## Cast

* Miley Cyrus as Miley Stewart
* Emily Osment as Lilly Truscott
* Jason Earles as Jackson Stewart
* Billy Ray Cyrus as Robby Ray Stewart
* Moisés Arias as Rico Suave
* Mitchel Musso as Oliver Oken
* Lucas Till as Travis Brody
* Vanessa Williams as Vita
* Margo Martindale as Grandma Ruby
* Peter Gunn as Oswald Granger
* Rachel Woods as Phoebe Granger
* Natalia Dyer as Clarissa Granger
* Jared Carter as Derrick
* Melora Hardin as Lorelai
* Barry Bostwick as Mr. Bradley
* Beau Billingslea as Mayor of Crowley Corners
* Katrina Hagger Smith as Mayor's Wife
* Emily Grace Reaves as Cindy Lou
* Jane Carr as Lucinda
* Taylor Swift as Herself
* Rascal Flatts as Themselves
* Brooke Bell as Liza Bell
* Tyra Banks as Herself

## Music

See Also: Hannah Montana: The Movie Soundtrack

Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack on March 24, 2009, on the third anniversary of Hannah Montana's 2006 debut, with songs by Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana, Billy Ray Cyrus, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift and Steve Rushton. The score was originally to be written by Oscar-nominated composer Alan Silvestri and he penned a new song with Glen Ballard, "Butterfly Fly Away", which is sung in the film. Due to a scheduling conflict with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which he was also signed to score, he had to drop out. (However, a cue from Silvestri's score to The Mexican is tracked into the movie.) Stepping in was Oscar-nominated composer John Debney, who recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Sony Scoring Stage. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 137,592 sold in the first week and after four weeks claimed the No. 1 spot. A karaoke version was released on August 18, 2009.

## Production

### Development

While attending the premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus said they were planning to make a film adaptation for their TV series Hannah Montana, which debuted on Disney Channel on March 24, 2006 and expected it to be a feature film, rather than a Disney Channel Original Movie.

Since writers were still working on the script for the movie, Cyrus was free to share whatever ideas she had for the upcoming project. She said that, at the time, the best concept she has thought of involves going back to her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Since Hannah Montana is taped at Tribune Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Cyrus spends most of her time away from her beloved home. She spends up to eight and a half hours a day working on the set, but her hours could get longer once she becomes a legal adult.

Billy Ray Cyrus shared further details about the script, "There'll be a lot of similarities to the show and the fact that Miley is so real, her music is real, we'll keep a lot of that realism," the 45-year-old country artist revealed. "But I think we'll go a little further with the comedy. And it's going to be on the big screen, so we'll try to make everything look bigger." The movie went into production on an estimated $30 million budget.

On the April 2 episode of The Miley & Mandy Show on YouTube, Miley spoke to Ryan Seacrest on flying to Tennessee in "two weeks" and would be staying for several months. She went to say there would be many guest stars, and herself riding horses and attending school.

### Filming

Filming began in April 2008 in Los Angeles, California and Columbia, Tennessee. It entered production in May 2008 and post-production in July 2008. The beginning of the film was shot in Los Angeles including, The Forum (Inglewood) where was the concert, Franklin High School and Santa Monica Beach. Several of scenes were filmed in Nashville, Tennessee, based on Miley's and her father's hometown, for the scene that Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana's travels back home, with Fairground scenes filmed near the end of the movie.

There is a carnival scene filmed at Smiley Hollow in Ridgetop, TN where Peter Gunn's character hunts for the real Hannah in the crowd. He finds Jackson selling "Hannah wigs" and everyone around him looks like Hannah from the back so he turns them all around looking for the real one.

The songs "Backwards" (co-written by Marcel and Tony Mullins and recorded by Rascal Flatts) and "Crazier" (by Taylor Swift) were featured in the movie as well as "Game Over" and another hit song by UK rocker Steve Rushton. There were also a few musical numbers filmed, including "The Climb" and "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home". 500 paid extras and 1500 volunteer extras were on hand during filming of these scenes. In some scenes, Miley rode horses.

A scene was filmed in the Cool Springs Galleria Mall (south of Nashville). It was filmed in the women's shoe department of the Belk store. Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Williams and Tyra Banks were all in the scene, where Hannah fights with Tyra over a pair of shoes. Scenes were also filmed at Franklin High School. The school stood-in for the fictional Seaview High School which Miley and Lilly attend.

#### Accident

On June 3, 2008, there was an accident on the set during the filming. A huge wind blew a projection screen into a Ferris wheel full of passengers, who were extras for the movie. There was no serious injury. "When the wind caught it, all the cables were loose. It started flying," extra Brenda Blackford told Nashville station WKRN-TV. "I was watching to see which corner of it was gonna hit the Ferris wheel, because it was unavoidable". Miley Cyrus and her father Billy Ray were not on the set when the accident happened. Disney stated, "During a break in the filming of Hannah Montana: The Movie, a minor accident occurred involving a piece of production equipment. Fortunately, there were only a few minor injuries. Medical personnel have treated the extras and crew involved. None of the cast was on the set. Filming has resumed".

### Marketing

On January 15, 2009, the film's official trailer was released, along with the official poster on a website, as a sneak peek of the film was released in December 2008 on Disney Channel, including on New Year's Eve. On February 16, 2009, an exclusive Disney Channel preview was premiered alongside the music videos "The Climb" and "Hoedown Throwdown" from the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack previewed by Miley Cyrus. Cyrus also promoted the film and performed the film's lead single "The Climb" on various talk shows including, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Good Morning America, The Tyra Banks Show and Rachael Ray. She also performed her song on American Idol on April 16, 2009.

A video game based on the film was released on April 7, 2009, three days before the film's release. The game was revealed by ESRB. The game was released for 7th gens.

## Reception

The film was issued a G rating from the MPAA for all ages admitted. The premiere of Hannah Montana: The Movie was held on April 2, 2009 in Los Angeles. The UK premiere was held in London on April 23, 2009; it was released in British and Irish cinemas on May 1, 2009. Play Along Toys released dolls and toys based on the film.

### Critical Response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 44% based on 129 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While youthful Miley fans won't complain, Hannah Montana the Movie is little more than a formulaic Disney Channel episode stretched thin." Metacritic gives a score of 47 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Entertainment Weekly praised, "The surface lesson of the movie is that celebrity looks easy but is hard. The real lesson, as always, is that since even Miley has to work overtime to be Hannah, every girl in the audience, if she tries hard enough, can become the star she longs to be."

Peter Hartlaub from San Francisco Chronicle praised, "Hannah Montana: The Movie isn't an abomination. The characters are wholesome, the plot is easy to follow and the songs all sound the same, so you can really only get one stuck in your head at a time. But even as adults give their blessing for prepubescent moviegoers to see the film, they should be plotting to stay as far away from the theatre as possible. If you're no longer old enough to carry a Hannah Montana lunch box, this movie will feel like punishment."

Atomic Popcorn stated, "Hip-hop and country. Like the Hannah Montana's theme song says, "You get the best of both worlds." Ten minutes before the movie started, the two rows of what looked to be 14-year-old girls started singing the TV show theme song. Over and over again. The little 6-to-10-year-old girls that filled the rest of the theatre were singing along and dancing in their seats. My 16-year-old daughter said with a big smile on her face, 'Isn't this fun?' I said, with as much of a smile as I could muster, 'A little bit.'"

Blogcritics noted, "This movie definitely hit the target audience mark with the best opening day for a live action, G-rated movie. The predictable ending strays from the fun tone to address drama from the two main character arcs. Some stereotypes and commercialism weaken the movie, but target and general audiences can find a wide variety of appealing elements here while Hannah fans won't be disappointed."

### Box Office

On its opening day, the film grossed $17,436,095 and earned $32,324,483 on its opening weekend, with a $10,367 average from 3,118 theatres, earning the No. 1 spot. However the film lost 58% of its gross its second weekend, falling to No. 3, earning $13,406,217 and $4,300 average and gaining 113 theatres. The film ended up grossing $79,576,189 in the U.S. and Canada, and $75,969,090 overseas, and a total of $155,545,279 worldwide. The film beat the motion-picture animated film Coraline which garnered a total of $124,596,398 in theatres, but came after the film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit which grossed a total of $192,610,372.

## DVD Releases

Hannah Montana: The Movie was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 18, 2009. Hannah Montana: The Movie was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 7 in the UK. It was also released on DVD, Blu-ray and Disney Digital in Australia on October 21. First week sales were strong with 1,232,725 DVD copies sold and over $20 million in revenue. Total DVD sales to date stand at 3,610,964 and $61 million in revenue. Extras include behind the scenes, bloopers, sneak peeks and more.

## Awards and Nominations

**Films:** **Hannah Montana: The Movie**
**Video:** Hannah Montana Videography
**Seasons:** Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4
**Episodes:** List of Hannah Montana Episodes