Happy 15th anniversary, ‘High School Musical’! Here’s every song from the Disney film, ranked

It even spurred a recent highly meta spin-off series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, for a new generation on Disney+, starring Drivers Licence star Olivia Rodrigo.

Starring Efron, Hudgens, Corbin Bleu, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel and Monique Coleman, director Kenny Ortega’s 2006 film followed Troy, Gabriella and their fellow East High Wildcats as they sang and danced their hearts out on stage, through the halls, in the lunchroom and on the basketball court.

In honour of the film’s 15th anniversary, we’ve ranked every musical number in the movie from “bless it” to bravissimo.

Yes, this brief reprise is pivotal to the plot (spoiler alert!), securing our protagonists a fated callback in East High’s winter musicale. And the harmonies are sweet. But frankly, it’s a snooze-fest compared to Ryan and Sharpay’s lively arrangement (see: No. 5).

Still worth a watch, though, solely for the moment at 0:20 when Gabriella flashes her best “um, yeah, I’ve got this” smile as student composer Kelsi (Olesya Rulin) cues her in. Classic.

The hard truth is, any song with the lyrics “zig, zag, zop / bop like a mop,” must objectively bop, bop, bop to the bottom of this list.

But hey, props to Sharpay (Tisdale) and the unsung hero of the High School Musical series, Ryan (Grabeel), for giving this doomed callback their all, complete with a flashy golden ladder and disco ball.

And now, for the most controversial of all these rankings: We’re All in This Together is overhyped and overplayed! Somewhere down the line, the school-spirited, feel-good finale became the definitive theme song for the whole High School Musical saga, and that’s a shame. Because there are so many better options (see: Nos. 1-6).

The solos are fun and energetic, the message is inspiring – albeit extremely clichéd – and yes, everyone who saw the original as a kid has had The Dance memorised for a decade and a half.But it’s still a rare hard skip on a soundtrack full of gems that never get old.

No High School Musical movie (or ... high school musical movie) would be complete without a deliciously melodramatic breakup ballad, and in HSM, it needs to come from the queen of teen angst, Gabriella Montez.

It’s no Gotta Go My Own Way from High School Musical 2, but When There Was Me and You is deserving of a prime spot on this list for the ridiculously large hallway poster of Troy Bolton alone. (Skip to 2:17. You’re welcome.)

Sharpay’s sparkly half-shrug! Ryan’s bedazzled hat! The obnoxious vocal warm-ups! The tap break! The co-presidents of the drama club really delivered on this upbeat, superior rendition of What I’ve Been Looking For. Sorry, Kelsi, but everybody loves a good jazz square. It’s a crowd favourite.

Speaking of the jazz square: Forever grateful to this scene for gifting us the greatest “High School Musical” meme of all time. Let’s just say Disney would not approve of us including said meme here, but true “HSM” stans know what I’m talking about.

For anyone who hasn’t seen High School Musical: first of all, sounds like it’s time for a quarantine viewing party. And second, it’s no spoiler that the entire plot hinges on the absurd idea that once you join a clique in high school (like, say, the basketball bros), you are permanently barred from dabbling in any! other! interests! (like, say, musical theatre) if you want to maintain any semblance of a social life.

These strict rules are laid out with theatrical flair in the cafeteria showstopper Stick to the Status Quo, which basically sees the students of East High lose their damn minds and repeatedly shame their classmates for having cool hidden talents, such as playing the cello or baking (justice for Zeke and his mean crème brûlée that none of his fake friends deserve!).

Two words: basketball choreography. Ortega and his creative team really outdid themselves with this certified bop of an “I Want” number for Troy that perfectly encapsulates that feeling when your head’s in the game but your heart’s in the song. We’ve all been there.

OK, seriously, how cute are baby Z and baby V?! We sincerely hope the casting director who discovered Zac and Vanessa is still getting paid handsome royalties, because their chemistry on screen is truly unmatched.

It’s immediately clear from the opening number of the High School Musical franchise that Disney struck solid gold with its leading sweethearts, for which the TV movie was indeed the Start of Something New.

(Side note: If you haven’t seen Olivia Rodrigo cover this song flawlessly for Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, you should fix that situation. Here you go.)

Easily clinching the top spot on this list is Breaking Free, the dynamic pre-finale finale to end all pre-finale finales. The movie never addresses the fact that Kelsi and drama teacher Ms Darbus (Alyson Reed) mercilessly sabotaged Ryan and Sharpay’s callback (see: Bop to the Top), but we are so glad they did.

Not only is Troy and Gabriella’s final audition song the best in the series – it’s the best in the entire High School Musical canon. What do the lyrics mean? Absolutely nothing!

And it doesn’t matter, because watching the most iconic star-crossed lovers since Romeo and Juliet soar and fly across the stage in their matching East High track suit and lab coat is pure Disney magic.