LOS ANGELES — There’s no official test for being a superfan. But at the Nickel Mine sports bar Tuesday, nostalgic “Hannah Montana” viewers were eager to prove their knowledge as they sang along to old Miley Cyrus songs and danced to her iconic “Hoedown Throwdown.”
“Who is Miley Stewart’s brother?” asked bartender “Mannah Gaytana,” who sported a blond wig inspired by Cyrus’ Disney Channel alter ego, as he moved from table to table soliciting answers to themed trivia questions.
The correct response — “Jackson” — earned a round of free shots for the table and cheers from fellow patrons.
The bar was among the dozens nationwide that hosted viewing parties for “Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special,” which debuted Tuesday on Disney+. The Disney Channel sitcom, which ran from 2006 to 2011, was one of the most influential tween TV shows of the 2000s as Cyrus’ pop star persona became a real-life pop sensation.
The in-person celebrations offered a rare opportunity for fans around the country to reunite and reminisce over their childhood love for the show, which aired before social media was a prominent part of people’s everyday lives.
Kids used to “go to school just knowing everyone else watched ‘Hannah Montana’ last night,” said Ashley Spencer, author of “Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel’s Tween Empire.”
“There’s really nothing like it today,” Spencer said. “And it’s hard to think that there could be unless the landscape completely changed again.”
The special leaned into the nostalgia. Cyrus, 33, returned to her Disney Channel roots — complete with the blond, banged hairstyle that has become synonymous with “Hannah Montana” — by touring the old set and pulling her character’s old outfits from her once-iconic rotating closet.
“We thought she was so confident, and we wanted to emulate that,” said Betaneya Tammerat, 23. “This 20th anniversary just reminds me how special that she really was to not just me, but so many other people. She seriously is not just a character, but someone who has helped me grow up as a person.”
Angelica Breton, 28, said the show was such a major part of her childhood that her closet included clothes from the “Hannah Montana” Walmart fashion line.
“It was a very beautiful part of my life, just watching ‘Hannah Montana’ all the time,” said Breton, who attended Tuesday’s watch party, as well as a “Hannah Montana” pop-up, at The Grove mall in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Breton said she has enjoyed watching Cyrus grow up “into who she is today,” adding that she still likes to blast the “Hannah Montana” soundtrack as she drives down the Pacific Coast Highway.
Spencer noted that part of the show’s appeal came from Cyrus’ character’s being both “aspirational yet relatable.”
“You have someone in Miley Cyrus and Miley Stewart who is the girl next door, who feels like she could be your best friend, who feels like you could confide your secrets in her and grow up alongside her,” Spencer said. “But also she seems very cool, and she seems like someone you look up to.”
The popularity of early-2000s shows like “Lizzie McGuire,” which proved Disney could turn young actors into cross-platform stars, and “That’s So Raven,” which refined a durable sitcom format, set the stage for “Hannah Montana” to blend those elements into one powerful package.
Cyrus’ success then cemented a consistent formula for many Disney stars to come, including fellow Disney Channel icons Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato.
“It was really lightning in a bottle in a lot of ways,” Spencer said. “It was a mix of timing and talent and Disney finally recognizing that they had all the tools at their disposal to make a worldwide hit and a superstar.”
As the special aired on the Nickel Mine bar’s many TV screens, viewers continued to wander in wearing sparkling sequins and cowboy boots in an homage to “Hannah Montana’s” Southern roots.
Attendees drank themed cocktails, such as “Sweet Niblets Margarita,” “Party in the U.S.A. Mule” and “Rock Star Mocktail.” They sang along to some of the biggest “Hannah Montana” hits, including Cyrus’ performance of “This Is the Life” and “The Climb,” and screamed as Cyrus confirmed rumors that she did, in fact, date fellow Disney Channel star Dylan Sprouse back then.
There was even some karaoke, with “Mannah Gaytana” serenading the room to “Wrecking Ball,” a hit from Cyrus’ later years.
In the anniversary special, Cyrus said she’s proud of the way the show was able to “bring people together.”
“I used to think of Hannah as something separate from myself. I would think of [her] as a character, even though it was me,” she said. “And what I’m loving about this special is that it’s my kind of reclaiming, of merging, Hannah and Miley together.”