Mickey Mouse and MTV have more in common than one would think. Young Hollywood and the music industry seem to be thriving off one another in the recent years. You can’t turn on the radio without hearing a song by an actor or actress and it is impossible to watch television without hearing music. We can thank Disney for this media merge. With the popularity of Disney shows such as Hannah Montana and the hugely successful High School Musical movies, actresses like Miley Cyrus and Ashley Tisdale have turned into music superstars.

This idea isn’t so outlandish. The Mickey Mouse Club, a popular variety show on The Disney Channel in the 90s, produced widely known artists such as Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

The Disney invasion of this decade, however, is ten times more explosive. Popular artist Miley Cyrus gained popularity in Hannah Montana, a teen sitcom focusing on a girl who lives a double life as a regular teenager and a famous pop singer. Cyrus, daughter to country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, has become one of the most successful teen stars to ever hit the airwaves with three albums under her belt.





Heartthrobs the Jonas Brothers are a pop rock boy band sensation that also received fame from The Disney Channel. The trio began by making cameos in several popular Disney shows and then in the summer of last year, starred in Camp Rock, a Disney original movie. The boys from New Jersey have released four albums and have sold about eight million albums throughout the world.

Let’s not forget about the High School Musical sensation! Not only was it the most successful original movie Disney has ever produced, the film’s soundtrack was the best selling album in 2006. There have been three sequels with talk of a fourth coming out next year. The High School Musical craze produced huge names that we can’t stop hearing about like Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, and Ashley Tisdale, etc.


Disney has taken over mainstream music and have produced countless teen icons. Music and acting have fused and both industries are flourishing as a result.