Since 2006, the High School Musical franchise has been a guilty pleasure favorite for many audiences of a certain age. The films tell the story of basketball player Troy Bolton and shy but brilliant transfer student Gabriella Montez as they fight against stereotypes and expectations in order to fall in love and perform in musicals together.

Meanwhile, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is a Disney+ original mockumentary that is set at the high school in which High School Musical was filmed. The series follows students and faculty as they put on high school plays, starting with the school's first-ever performance of High School Musical. The movies and series tell similar stories, but they take very different approaches, each with its own strengths.

Updated on November 16th, 2022 by Danielle Bruncati: When High School Musical: The Musical: The Series was first announced, fans of the original DCOMs were ecstatic to return to the world of East High but some were left unsatisfied because the series was pretty different from the original. That's not to say the series doesn't have a lot of things going for it, because it does, but it's failed to lean into the nostalgia it could have. However, that appears to be changing with the fourth season that was recently announced. Season 4 is set to follow the HSMTMTS wildcats as they try to stage a production of High School Musical 3: Senior Year while the original HSM wildcats are back at East High filming a reunion movie. With worlds colliding more than ever, the two versions are sure to have a lot in common after season 4, but for now, there are still a lot of differences that deserve to be celebrated.

The Series

LGBTQ+ Inclusive Characters/Storylines

Carlos and Seb share a slow dance

While High School Musical had some of the best original characters, it severely lacked diversity when it came to characters' sexuality. That's something High School Musical: Musical: The Series strived to change and is doing an amazing job at. In the debut season, fans are introduced to Carlos, an out gay student, and Seb, a more quiet gay student who hasn't come out to his family yet. As their romance blossoms, so does their confidence in who they are.

RELATED: 15 Best Teen Shows With LGBTQ+ Representation

In the most recent season, HSMTMTS introduced audiences to Maddox, a lesbian who is dealing with the ramifications of her brother accidentally outing her to their parents. The season also follows fan-favorite Ashlyn as she begins to explore her own sexuality when she starts having feelings for Val.

Breaking The Fourth Wall

Ricky looking directly into the camera in HSMTMTS

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is shot like a documentary which allows the characters to speak directly to the camera and break the fourth wall. Something that wasn't allowed in the original series.

This trope allows the characters to express themselves openly and often leads to some pretty great reactions when the characters look directly into the camera. One of the most memorable "wall breaks" happened in season 3 when Ricky alludes to something romantic going on between him and EJ -- a nod fans who ship the two went wild about.

Cameos

Lucas Grabeel cameos in High School Musical

The series makes the most of the affection that audiences have for the original movies. Already, original cast members Lucas Grabeel and Kaycee Stroh, who played Ryan and Martha respectively, have made cameos on the show. These appearances from original cast members are fun connections back to the movies.

RELATED: The 10 Best Duos In High School Musical The Musical The Series

Additionally, season 2 of the series has featured minor parts for theater favorites such as dancer Derek Hough as Miss Jenn's ex-boyfriend and Andrew Barth Feldman as a French exchange student at the rival North High School.

Beauty And The Beast

High School Musical does Beauty and the Beast

In season 1, the characters put on a performance of High School Musical, which allowed for some fun recreations of scenes from the movie. At the beginning of season 2, Miss Jenn announced that they would be performing High School Musical 2. However, she then made the decision to instead perform Beauty and the Beast.

This change of pace has provided an opportunity for the cast to sing some of the most iconic Disney songs ever, while also helping differentiate between the characters in the series and their movie counterparts.

More Realistic

Carlos & Seb in High School Musical

Unlike the movies, which take place in a heightened reality, the series has a much more grounded and believable tone. Because of this, the series is able to depict relatable situations and empathetic characters.

The series uses this realistic tone to present important themes such as identity, acceptance, sexuality, divorce, and body image in a way that the audience can connect with. The movies have a great universal message about identity, but the series is able to get more specific and address topics in a way that high schoolers can actually identify with.

Olivia Rodrigo

Ricky and Nini in front of a door in High School Musical The Series

The series benefits from the perfectly timed casting of Olivia Rodrigo as series lead Nini Salazar-Roberts. Cast as Gabriella in the season 1 production of High School Musical, Nini is a talented and sweet character who is one of the most likable characters in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

In between seasons 1 and 2, Olivia Rodrigo became an international star with the release of her song "Driver's License." Her character not only contributes to the show's main storyline but also provides audiences with an opportunity to hear a talented young star perform new original songs.

Meta Storytelling

Dara Renee in High School Musical

The series could have easily just been a rehash of the films in a longer form, but Disney+ took a much more interesting approach in making the series meta. There are similarities between the series and movies, but the series is able to make commentary on the storytelling conventions of the movies by using a meta approach in which the characters are playing the High School Musical characters in a stage play version.

RELATED: 10 Movies For Fans Of High School Musical To Watch

Additionally, the characters begin each episode by addressing the audience directly and recapping the previous episode's events from their perspective, offering their opinions on the things that have transpired. The meta approach is a smart and creative way to revisit a beloved property in a new and fresh way.

The Movies

The Cast Stuck TogetherHigh School Musical Cast

No one could have predicted the success of High School Musical when it premiered on Disney Channel in 2006, but when it was a hit it was easy to get production rolling on a sequel. Unlike some sequels which often involve cast members bowing out of their roles, the High School Musical original cast stuck together. They even managed to reprise their roles a third time when they had all already moved on to even bigger projects.

This is a major win for the original franchise since the same can not be said about HSMTMTS. Season 3 of the show proved that as many of the original cast members didn't appear in the season. In addition, Olivia Rodrigo took on a smaller role and has confirmed she will not be returning for season 4.

School Club/Clique RivalrySplit Image: Ms. Darbus and Kelsy in the theater, Troy playing basketball, and Taylor and Gabriella at the Decathalon

At the start of the first High School Musical movie, the clubs and cliques of East High are very separated. The jocks look down on everyone, the drama kids don't like the decathlon kids, and the decathlon kids think the jocks are obnoxious. It's this dynamic that makes Gabriella and Troy's friendship turned relationship so high stakes because it threatens the status-quo of the school.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series lacks those stakes because the show primarily focuses on the drama department and no one else. While the STEM club makes an appearance, it's nowhere near the influence the other clubs and cliques have in the original movies.

Dance Numbers

The cast of High School Musical sings in the hallway

The movies operate on a fantastical, larger-than-life scale in which characters often burst out into big song and dance numbers. Whether at basketball practice, eating lunch in the cafeteria, or leaving school on the last day of class, it is common for dozens of students to suddenly perform elaborate choreography.

RELATED: High School Musical 10 Scenes That Live Rent-Free In Every Fan's Head

While the series has plenty of musical moments, none of them are on the scale of the numbers in the movies. The big showstopping dance sequences make the movies feel like classical musicals.

Campy Tone

Sharpay and Ryan sing in High School Musical

High school can be a difficult period of life for many people as they wrestle with identity issues and acceptance. One of the best things about the High School Musical movies is that they depict high school not as it is, but as it should be.

The movies are far from realistic, but they provide fun wish-fulfillment entertainment, positing a world in which being yourself is the most important thing you can do. They may be silly and campy, but they have an infectious likability that has made them a nostalgic favorite for an entire generation of viewers.

Catchy Songs

High School Musical: The WIldcates dancing during basketball pratice

While the series features original songs, many of them are emotional and angsty songs in which the characters sing about their feelings. The movies, however, are filled from start to finish with catchy, energetic songs that stick in the minds of audiences.

Songs such as "Get'cha Head in the Game," "Stick to the Status Quo," and "We're All in This Together" are high-energy, big group numbers with catchy hooks. Even the breakup or moody songs, such as "Bet On It" and "Gotta Go My Own Way," are fun and memorable earworms.

The Characters

High School Musical

The original cast of High School Musical is the main thing that elevates the movies over the series. Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, and the rest of the cast all take characters that could have been one-note stereotypes of high schoolers and turn them into iconic characters through their earnest and enjoyable performances.

With quotable lines and memorable songs, each character gets an opportunity to shine. In a Breakfast Club-like approach, the characters represent a wide range of personality types, giving many viewers someone that they can broadly identify with.

NEXT: 10 Movies & TV Shows Where You've Seen The Cast Of High School Musical The Series