Disney is leaning hard on nostalgia as it launches a slew of revivals of its ’00s live-action music-driven franchises.

The first quarter of this year saw the company eventizing 20th anniversary celebrations for two major properties. The first was High School Musical, which saw a dedicated streaming hub, new merchandise and the unique move to drop the whole film on TikTok (series of 52 sequential TikToks, to be specific) to reach today’s digitally native tweens and teens. Then Disney rolled out a Hannah Montana special starring Miley Cyrus, which generated big numbers, and also helped drive discoverability on Disney+’s library—with an Airbnb deal in the mix, too.

Steven Vincent

With last year’s Descendants/Zombies Worlds Collide tour selling out major stadiums, a new tour leg is coming up this summer, with the Camp Rock franchise joining the lineup. It’s strategically timed around two major summer releases: Descendants: Wicked Wonderland, the fifth installment of the franchise that gives the children of iconic Disney Villains catchy musical numbers, and the long awaited Camp Rock threequel, reawakening the ’00s Jonas Brothers-starring franchise after 15 years.

Playing a vital part in leading Disney’s hit-making machine is Steven Vincent, SVP of music and soundtracks at Disney Branded Television. He heads up the teams behind the tunes for hit franchises from High School Musical to Camp Rock, as well as upcoming music-filled Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs).

Vincent chatted with Kidscreen about the past, present and future of Disney’s music content for tweens, reflecting on how he steered the strategy for some memorable tunes while also sharing his observations on how Gen Alpha engages with music.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

KS: Returning to the Camp Rock franchise after 15 years, what was your process for building the threequel’s soundtrack?

SV: It’s great to be back and on a new story—so [we started by asking] who are the new characters who are going to Camp Rock? Then, what kind of music would each of them be into? We worked on giving those new characters their own sonic identities, and that included figuring out what types of music are popular now. We wanted to ensure some salutes to the original films’ music, where it made sense. So it’s a soundtrack that’ll play on multiple levels for the original fans who will get some of what they love, and for today’s kids and newer fans.

KS: The premise also sees the Jonas Brothers reprising their roles in the fictional band Connect 3.

SV: It was exciting to work with the Jonas Brothers again and also have Demi Lovato (who played the original protagonist Mitchie) involved as an executive producer this time. I spent a lot of time with all of them when they were young teenagers during the first two films. Now, being in the studio with the brothers, while they’re showing me pictures of their kids, was a very different experience.

KS: The original Camp Rock launched in an era of pop-rock domination in music. Now the genre has made a comeback in the 2020s. 

SV: Yes, there’s been a real pop-rock resurgence recently, so we’ve been able to have more fun with [leveraging] that genre. The earlier Camp Rock franchise has featured a lot of different styles too, like urban and reggaeton. So we focused on exploring a variety of current styles of music while also celebrating that pop-rock sound that feels definitive to Camp Rock. Also, it’s not only Camp Rock 3. We also used it in the fourth ZOMBIES movie last year—it’s an edgy kind of sound that worked well for that franchise, too.

KS: Despite a long gap since the second film, The Final Jam, in 2010, Camp Rock has retained a very passionate online fandom. How is that playing into Disney’s strategy for the threequel?

SV: You always want to meet kids where they are. Our marketing teams and Disney Music Group are working closely together to reach kids on every possible platform. [In regard to the online fandom,] we included some musical Easter eggs that will make those fans of the original films go, “Oh my gosh!” Then, the kids will slowly figure it out, too, and make it their own like they always tend to do. They’ll take ownership, just like the earlier audience did with the songs, and they’ll be the ones to make the memes, you know?

KS: Looking back, which song from the franchise really stands out in terms of execution?

SV: From the first movie, “We Rock” was so celebratory and really defined the message of the franchise that every kid at the camp could ultimately rock in their own way. And “Wouldn’t Change a Thing” in the second film was just an all-timer duet. The songwriters captured a song sung in two different locations, where each person didn’t know they were singing together, it was like a musical conversation.

KS: This year marks 20 years since the premiere of High School Musical, which really changed the DCOM game. It set a new bar for tween music, spawned the number-one best-selling TV soundtrack of all time, and the IP even inspired a popular Disney+ series for Gen Alpha. Why do you think the franchise has so much longevity, and how was music a key ingredient in helping it break out?

SV: What made High School Musical special in its time and why it still continues to be loved is that Kenny Ortega created a pretty traditional musical, in a time that wasn’t necessarily looking for traditional musicals. But it integrated contemporary music, contemporary choreography and of course, a very relatable story about modern peer pressure. That’s something basically every kid around the world understands and relates to.

KS: That theme of peer pressure also expertly took song form with “Stick to the Status Quo.” 

SV: It’s absolutely a standout moment from the franchise. We read the script, and it was that very familiar school cafeteria scene with the different cliques. There’s the athletes, the skater kids, the geeks, and they were all isolated at their own tables. So [the song had to] explore the main theme of the movie—trying to find your own identity and being able to step up and tell everybody, “this is me.” We hear from all these different teen groups revealing their inner secrets and then celebrating and fighting, while [the popular girl] Sharpay is standing up above, waving her angry flag. It was just great visual and musical storytelling. Probably one of the more theatrical songs in the movie, but with a modern beat tied into the pop-rock of it all.

KS: Another music-driven juggernaut turning 20 this year is Hannah Montana. The new anniversary special was great. 

SV: I was there when we shot the new special and got to meet Miley [Cyrus] after several years. She was walking down the stairs and did a double take and then recognized me. It was so nice to see her again. 

KS: We saw that great ripple effect of the new anniversary special, where audiences started flocking to the original show (which was up 1,000% in views on Disney+) and going back to the songs (triple increases on streaming).

SV: There’s definitely a new generation of kids discovering the show on Disney+ now, the [older titles] are a lot more accessible and available to them now because of streaming. There’s [more discoverability these days] for all the music franchises—Camp Rock, High School Musical, the Cheetah Girls and of course Hannah. Generation after generation, kids will be able to discover classics through the Disney library. 

KS: With all the access provided by streaming, when you look at Gen Alpha audiences, what have you observed about how they engage with music?

SV: Technology has provided a whole new way to discover songs. I was one of those kids that grew up near Tower Records, often standing in there for hours with headphones on and just pulling up physical albums. Gen Alpha have so much access, and because of that, this generation loves to make things their own and they don’t like to be defined. One of my favorite playlists on Spotify is this mix of genreless, hybrid music—it’ll be a hip-hop beat, with rock guitars on top and then there’s a little spoken word in the verse but they’re singing the chorus. It doesn’t fit neatly in one category. 

And I think it kind of represents how the younger generation doesn’t like being pigeonholed. Going back to High School Musical, it’s almost like kids in real life saying, “No, I won’t stick to the status quo.”

KS: That’s a great way of putting it. Gen Alpha did grow up with parents who were probably influenced by those HSM life lessons.

SV: I remember when we did some audience testing with the original HSM movies when we were in development on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Interestingly, some of the kids didn’t quite get [the conflict created by social niches].

They were like, what do you mean I can’t be in both theater and the basketball team? No, why would I be embarrassed about it? They thought it wasn’t even a problem. In a way, maybe we can take some responsibility for giving the new generation of kids that license to find multiple ways to express themselves.