“Hi Hannah, it’s been a while.”
March 24th marked the 15th anniversary of one of Disney Channel’s most commercially successful teen sitcoms, Hannah Montana. Old and new fans alike were left captivated as star of the show, Miley Cyrus, posted a heartfelt and nostalgic letter on social media addressed to her teen alter-ego Hannah Montana.
Looking like a message written by 14-year-old Miley at the start of her Disney career, the letter is decorated with glitter, stars and, of course, the Hannah Montana logo. Following the letter were photos of her anniversary party as well as Hannah Montana themed gifts sent to co-stars and other Disney stars that made guest appearances on the show, however brief. The twitter letter was accompanied by a reply from a new Hannah Montana Twitter account saying “Nice to hear from you @MileyCyrus. It’s only been a decade.”
All the posts, gifts, parties and thank you notes allowed Miley to capitalize on our childhood nostalgia and put herself back into the public eye as fans reflected on old Disney days.
Of all the Disney stars, Miley had one of the most infamous breaks into the pop music scene post-Disney. Few will ever forget the song that started it all, ‘We Can’t Stop’, or the even more memorable, ‘Wrecking Ball’ that held the Billboard 100 top spot for 3 weeks in 2013. Cyrus would go on to perform with Robin Thicke at the VMAs in one of her most controversial moments which sparked hundreds of thousands of shocked retweets from fans and celebs alike as Miley took on a new, sexually liberated, uncensored persona, proving that her innocent Disney days were a thing of the past. Responses ranged from those who absolutely hated to completely loved the performance and Miley’s new image. She would go on to release 4 studio albums, her latest being Plastic Hearts. From 2013 onwards, Cyrus’s career from was spent solidifying herself as a solo artist in her own right, free from the identity that Disney had created for her.
Since 2017 everything seemed to change. From singing ‘The Climb’ on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to recent rumours about a Hannah Montana reboot, it seems like Miley is dusting off the old blonde wig for fans once again. With reboots of other beloved teen shows like That’s So Raven and iCarly in the works or already broadcasted, the Hannah Montana reboot feels like it could be a reality. According to Clevver News Cyrus stated, “I definitely would like to resurrect her again at some point. I’d love to do a series again. I think it would be hard for me to get locked into a sound stage for a couple of years, but that’s sometime in the future and hopefully I’m directing it.” We can’t help and be curious about how Hannah will look now that Miley has completely changed.
Whether you think that Miley is capitalising on the Hannah Montana nostalgia to get the media talking about her again or that her message to Hannah is a sincere love letter to the old fans of the show, we love where Miley has been and where she’s headed, and we want to be a part of both of these worlds.