If there is one show that I was absolutely obsessed with growing up, it was Hannah Montana. So, you can imagine how big not only my excitement but also my expectations were, when Disney announced a 20th anniversary special for March 24, 2026 – only to be incredibly disappointed not even 10 minutes into the special. Because as soon as Miley Cyrus revealed that the “Hannahversary” hadn’t even been planned when she first mentioned it in an interview in July 2025, I could tell something was going to be off and unfortunately, I was right.
Few shows defined my childhood quite like Hannah Montana and I know that this was the case for millions of other children all over the world too. If you experienced the years from 2006 onwards, you will very much recall that there was a long period of time in which you could not escape the girl with the blonde wig. No matter which shops you entered, best believe you were going to find some sort of Hannah Montana merchandise, from clothes to bedding to school supplies (I say that as I’m looking at the Hannah Montana pencil case on my desk). In 2024 Miley Cyrus even became the youngest person ever inducted as a Disney Legend, further proving how deeply embedded the TV show is in pop culture.
You would think that for a show that was such a massive success and extremely profitable, Disney was going to go all out and offer the fans an unforgettable and nostalgic experience to celebrate the show’s legacy. What they delivered instead was a 59-minute special (can you make it any shorter?) that only got produced because Miley followed her godmother and country music legend Dolly Parton’s advice to “promote something before it’s happening, because then they can’t say no.” And from this point onwards, everything that was still going to come started to make sense. Because it turned out that the people and elements that would have required real production effort were all absent, revealing Disney’s lack of investment.
A big indicator for the insufficient planning and production were the guests that were (not) invited. All the important co-stars of the show, such as Emily Osment (Lilly), Mitchel Musso (Oliver) and Jason Earles (Jackson) were missing from the special although they were present for every season and played a pivotal role in adding to the show’s identity. So was Dolly Parton, who also played Hannah’s godmother on screen, regardless of the fact that Miley openly credits her as a guiding figure. While all of them had been mentioned and talked about briefly at some point, their absence wasn’t explained in any way which left a sour taste, especially given how significantly it affected the overall quality and feel of the special. Them sharing their experiences, reminiscing about certain moments and opening up about their time on and after the show would have greatly benefitted the special and would have added a level of depth and insight that was missing throughout the whole 59 minutes.
Instead of inviting people that were actually relevant to the show, Disney decided to make an extremely random guest choice because as soon as pop singer Chappell Roan came onto the screen, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. The segment with her lasted about two minutes and did not add any substance to the special but felt rather misplaced. Although she briefly did mention that Miley “took a lot of the heat” in 2012 and 2013 any deeper dive into the downsides and difficulties of fame, especially after the end of the show, was completely disregarded. Once again this just feels like a lost chance to put more depth and vulnerability into the special and make her presence worthwhile as Roan doesn’t have any link to the show, Hannah or even Miley herself which became evident quite quickly during their short conversation.
Another big aspect that hindered the special from feeling insightful and genuinely interesting were the format and the host. Although Alex Cooper is undeniably successful with one of the biggest podcasts worldwide, “Call Her Daddy”, her interview style did not do the special and its importance for the fans any justice. The interview feels extremely rushed, because every topic is only talked about for approximately one minute. Apart from the questions being very surface level (e.g. “What was the coolest perk you got to experience at that time?”) Alex Cooper doesn’t ever ask Miley any follow up questions to what she is saying. This makes the whole thing feel more like a sequence of single questions optimized for clicks and virality rather than an actual deep and profound conversation that gives the audience a better understanding of Miley and her experience playing Hannah. Nowhere is this clearer than in the final moments of the interview, when Miley tears up reflecting on the fans and what it meant to grow up alongside the show. Cooper gets emotional too, and the cameras catch tears in her eyes, yet rather than sitting in that moment and letting it breathe, she moves straight on to the last segment. The two hug, Cooper even says 'I love you' to Miley, and it should feel like a genuine conclusion to an intimate conversation. Instead, it feels like a box being ticked. The whole interview gives the impression of a checklist being worked through – every question gets asked, every emotion briefly acknowledged, but nothing ever feels genuine.
Of course, there were other elements to the special that absolutely did create a sense of nostalgia and made my inner child extremely excited. Miley performing as Hannah and singing “Best of Both Worlds” for the first time in years, Gary Marsh, the former president of Disney Channel, giving background information on taking the risk to choose Miley as Hannah and some emotional moments between Miley and her mum and also her dad – the only actual co-star that was part of the special. Especially the ending when Miley performs her new song “Younger You” in which her younger self is talking to her adult self is very emotional to watch. It highlights the growth she and the audience went through and shows that after years of judgement and struggling she finally seems to be at peace with her past as Hannah Montana.
While these aspects worked well and successfully created a nostalgic and interesting experience, it is more than obvious that the effort that was put into the “Hannahversary” did not match the scale of the legacy of the show whatsoever. Considering that Disney didn’t even initiate the planning of the anniversary of one of their most commercially successful franchises is extremely disappointing, especially given the fact that they do not hesitate to dedicate years of meticulous planning, multi-day conventions and worldwide activations to franchises like Star Wars – a 50th anniversary celebration already in the works with tickets on sale and celebrity guests confirmed. Hannah Montana made Disney an enormous amount of money, introduced Miley Cyrus to the world, and shaped the childhoods of millions of people globally. For fans who grew up with Hannah Montana as the soundtrack to their childhood, a 59-minute special that wasn't even planned felt like nothing short of a slap in the face.
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