Conception
Michael Poryes, who is credited as co-creator, also co-created the hit Disney Channel Original Series That's So Raven. The show is produced by It's a Laugh Productions, Inc. and Michael Poryes Productions, in association with Disney Channel Original Productions. It is filmed at Sunset Bronson Studios in Hollywood, California.The original idea for this show was based on the That's So Raven episode "Goin' Hollywood", which served as the backdoor pilot for a sitcom tentatively called Better Days to star Alyson Stoner, in which a child star of a popular TV show of the same name was to try her hand at going to a normal school. The episode "New Kid in School" has the basic premise as that aforementioned episode. Former American Juniors finalist Jordan McCoy, future Gossip Girl actress Taylor Momsen and pop and R&B singer
JoJo (who rejected the role) were considered for the role of Chloe Stewart. Miley Cyrus originally auditioned for the role of the "best friend" Lilly Romero, later changed to Lilly Truscott, but they thought she would be better for the main character, so she tried out for Chloe Stewart/Hannah Montana. Chloe Stewart was later changed to Miley.
The names of Hannah Montana were changed a few times. Three of the previous names were Anna Cabana, Samantha York, and Alexis Texas.
In December 2006, Disney announced plans to release Hannah Montana products, including clothing, jewelry, apparel, and dolls, at selected stores.
Play Along Toys released the Hannah Montana fashion dolls, singing dolls, Miley Stewart doll, and other merchandise in August 2007. More Hannah dolls were released in November, along with Oliver, Lilly, and later Jake Ryan dolls. They became one of the most popular Christmas toys in 2007.
According to the Daily Dispatch, the TV series held a global audience of 200 million viewers in 2008. "If Miley’s viewers were a country, they would be the fifth largest population in the world – just ahead of Brazil."By February 2008, the Hannah Montana franchise had become so important that Disney convened an "80-person, all-platform international meeting to discuss Hannah Montana's future."
All Disney business segments were represented at the meeting.
The theme song for Hannah Montana is "The Best of Both Worlds" written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil, produced by Gerrard and performed by Miley Cyrus (as Hannah Montana). John Carta, who also composed the music cues to signify scene changes and commercial breaks for the first season, composed the music for the song. The song's lyrics describe the basic premise of the television series.
The full-length version of the song, which is 2 minutes, 54 seconds in length, was included on the show's soundtrack, released in October 2006. For the TV version of the theme, which lasts only 50 seconds, only the first two stanzas and the last two were used. "Just Like You" and "The Other Side of Me" were originally tested for the opening theme song, before "Best of Both Worlds" was chosen as the theme.
The opening sequence for the first two seasons features episode clips of each cast member when their name appears. Each cast member's name is "wiped" on the screen in a marquee-light-style. The sequence then switches to full-screen episode clips (most of the clips used in the Season One version of the sequence were of the early produced episodes) with the creator's names appearing in the second-to-last clip.
The show's title logo design appears at the beginning and end of the sequence (the latter portion on the "concert stage" features Cyrus as her character Hannah Montana). The only change to the sequence for season two were the replacement of episode clips and the addition of the Disney logo above the show's title logo.
For season three, a new version of the opening credits was used. It features Miley as herself and Hannah Montana in a Times Square-like setting. The names of the actors and actresses and clips from the show appear in a sort-of marquee board and it features Hannah Montana with her new wig and clothes style. The song playing is a remixed version of "The Best of Both Worlds", that was originally recorded for (and heard in) Hannah Montana: The Movie. This marked the first time that a Disney Channel series has completely revamped its opening title sequence. The sequence was reformatted for high definition and slightly altered for season four, with the credit typing changed, the addition of the "Forever" wording in the main title logo, the removal of Mitchel Musso from the credit sequence and the inclusion of clips from season four episodes.
Lawsuits
On August 23, 2007, Buddy Sheffield sued Disney over Hannah Montana, alleging that he originally came up with the idea for Hannah Montana, but was never compensated by Disney. In the lawsuit, Sheffield claims that he pitched an idea for a TV series with the name of "Rock and Roland" to Disney Channel in 2001 with the plot of a junior high student who lived a secret double life as a rock star. The lawsuit claims that Disney Channel executives at first liked the idea, but passed on the series.On April 9, 2010, Hannah Montana co-creators Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien filed a lawsuit against Disney for $5 million over profits from the show. Correll and O'Brien claim they were denied their fair share of profits and pre-negotiated percentage-based bonuses based on their backend deals and WGA requirements for writers who receive "created by" credits. Correll who also directed a number of episodes of series, also claims that he was unfairly terminated and blackballed by Disney after testifying in connection with a WGA arbitration. A spokesperson says Disney is declining to comment on the suit. Michael Poryes, the third Hannah Montana creator, sued Disney on similar grounds in October 2008.
