Disney ready to cash in on 'High School Musical 2'

LOS ANGELES, Aug 18 (Reuters) After a blaze of publicity, Walt Disney Co launched the sequel to its surprise, blockbuster TV musical ''High School Musical,'' aiming to retain its spell over the preteen set.

Disney was unprepared for the worldwide success of the first, Emmy-winning movie that was made for just 4.2 million dollars as one of about 10 original movies to air in 2006 on Disney Channel cable network.

The musical, described as a modern day ''Grease,'' was watched by more than 200 million viewers in 100 countries and its soundtrack became the best-selling album of 2006 as Disney scrambled to build a merchandising programme.

But this time every division at Disney is geared up for ''High School Musical 2'' ahead of its TV debut yesterday, with expectations running high for the movie and its franchise.

''What's different for the second one is that demand is soaring,'' Rich Ross, president of Disney Channel Worldwide, said in an interview. ''Every division at Disney has figured out how it makes sense for their products to roll out.'' Disney is leaving no merchandising stone unturned this time, aware of the rising value of the ''High School Musical'' franchise -- and also the fickle nature of teenage audiences.

A North American stage show adapted from the franchise opened on Aug 1, and an ice-skating show launches next month while Disney expects to have 100 licensed products in stores by year's end, ranging from shoes to backpacks.

Its video game publishing arm is releasing games on various consoles while Disney Studios released cell phone ring tones.

Disney estimates the ''High School Musical'' franchise will contribute an estimated 100 million dollars in operating income in 2006 and 2007 and has forecast it will grow to 650 million dollars in global retail sales in fiscal 2008.

KITSCH AND GLITZ The original movie was set in the fictional East High School where the captain of basketball team, Troy (Zac Efron), joined up with brainy student Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens) to beat rivals and win top roles in the school musical.

The sequel is a bigger, more ritzy production, that reunites the original cast at a posh country club owned by the parents of scheming Sharpay (Ashley Tisdale), whose romantic designs on Troy tear apart friendships and romance.

As in the first movie, the solution is to put on a show, but this time it all ends with pyrotechnics and a kiss.

Reviews have been mixed leading up to yesterday's premiere.

The New York Times said the movie was mediocre and the actors badly fake-tanned, but conceded its ''haphazard charm.'' ''It's badly lip-synched, badly danced and doused in self-tanner, but the kids seem so earnest and good-natured that you root for them like real high school amateurs,'' wrote TV reviewer Virginia Heffernan.

But Disney is expecting the appeal of the show to go on, with plans for a third movie in 2008, this time set in a haunted house to debut in movie theaters.

All signs indicate the franchise will continue to grow. The sequel's soundtrack was released on Tuesday and has gone gold in Britain while a ''High School Musical 2'' book debuted at No 2 on the New York Times best-sellers list this week.

For although critics may deride the sugar-sweet movies, parents have no doubt about its appeal.

''It's all about the music and dancing. My kids know it by heart,'' said New York mother Cecilia Ponte, whose two children were among millions of preteens counting down to the movie.

REUTERS RAR VV0923