The Making of Hannah Montana

Hannah Montana ’s young stars Mitchel Musso, Miley Cyrus, and Emily Osment, in 2006.

On the show’s 20th anniversary, one zillennial goes behind the scenes of the Disney Channel juggernaut that launched a 13-year-old Miley Cyrus and captivated a generation

By Carolina de Armas

Perhaps the only people who know (or, frankly, care) that Hannah Montana is having its 20th anniversary this Tuesday—an occasion Disney is marking with a live-interview-concert special with Miley Cyrus, the show’s star, hosted by Call Her Daddy podcaster Alex Cooper—are “zillennial” women. This micro-generation, of which I’m a card-carrying member, was born between the early 1990s and early 2000s. We arrived in a world re-shaped by tragedy and the Internet boom, came of age during a financial crisis, and chose as our standard-bearer—ask your twentysomething niece or daughter but, good God man, hopefully not your girlfriend, lest you be pulling a Leo DiCaprio!—a 13-year-old pop star in a platinum-blond wig. READ ON