Hannah Montana—the Disney teen comedy starring Miley Cyrus as a homegrown high schooler living a secret life as a golden-blonde pop star—premiered 20 years ago this week.
The premise was simple: A teenage girl constructs a second, public-facing identity to preserve her authentic self. For 8–12-year-old girls like myself, it was as fantastical as it was captivating.
The show gave us scenes we could only dream of: your crush parachuting out of the sky in a tuxedo to profess his love for you; a rotating closet; a choreographed dance number to get your class out of detention; and a glittery Y2K Malibu Barbie lifestyle. And at the center of it, a girl with enormous energy, a Tennessee twang, and a face so warm and expressive you couldn’t look away. Every line was delivered as if the director had just said, “Now for this one, go as big as you can.”
