Hannah Montana / YMMV

Actor Shipping: A lot of Mikiley (Mikayla/Miley) shippers latched onto shipping Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus (Siley), perhaps even more than their characters, despite Selena only appearing in two episodes of the show. Mainly due to the two's real life friendship, which continues to this day, and their on-screen chemistry. The pairing still has a following years later.
Adorkable: Lilly has many Adorkable moments throughout the series, due to her awkwardness, emotions, and excitable personality.
Alternative Character Interpretation:
- The entire town from the movie. Are they supportive of Miley keeping her lives separate? Or completely uncaring about her baring her soul and finally being honest with herself as they'd rather just have the teen starlet?
- Miley herself seems to be a sociopath. She has no problems lying to her friends, manipulates Lilly to become a girly girl (see more on the Fridge page), sees mean things happening to her as horrible but finds it funny when it happens to others, willingly manipulates children all over the world to fit her tastes, acts stiff socially when she's not in control of the situation, brings Lilly/Lola who has Stage Fright on stage with her without her noticing...
- Is Robbie Ray really that great of a father or is he abusive towards Jackson and turned Miley into a spoiled brat?
Anvilicious:
- At times, especially the episode where Oliver's diabetes is revealed.
- Having John Cena extol the virtues of reading as he beats the crap out of Jackson is pretty darn close to a literal anvil drop.
- Jesse's return episode. The message was certainly in the right place, but for the part of the audience that has already reached the state of mental maturity where its something that should already be subconsciously understood, the episode may come off as insincere, as well as frustrating when considering the episode before it.
  - Not long before the airing of the episode, Miley's father performed a week-long series of USO concerts in three different countries for soldiers fighting overseas during The War on Terror, which may explain the Cyrus's intentions in conceiving an episode on the subject.
Awesome Music: Most of the songs, but particularly "I'll Always Remember You" from the episode of the same name. Doubles as a Tear Jerker.
Bizarro Episode: The episode "Kiss It All Goodbye", where Miley is suddenly hated and accused of being a liar, was highly implausible given Hannah's universal popularity and the initial warm reception to her revelation of the secret.
Broken Aesop: In The Movie, at the end Miley un-masks on stage, and sings her Be Yourself song, and the whole town rejects her and asks her to sing as Hannah, despite the fact they're the same person. Turns out that even the "real people" in society don't care about who you are, only their mindless entertainment.
Critic-Proof: The series was never a hit with critics, but provided to be a success among 12 - 16 year old girls, and even more so with the 2-11 year old demographic. It made billions through merchandise and concerts^note. It almost always won awards from the Teen Choice Awards, and only lost a few in 2009 to either Twilight or High School Musical 3. The Movie even made $160 million, despite a low Rotten Tomatoes score and two Razzie nominations. And even all these years later, after Miley's continued prominence in pop culture was cemented, people look back on the show fondly.
Crossover Ship:
- Miley/Hannah is often shipped with several other Disney Channel characters. On Fanfiction Dot Net, Miley is shipped with Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place, which is possible as they both appeared in a crossover with The Suite Life on Deck, Zack Martin from The Suite Life on Deck, and Mitchie Torres and Nate Grey from Camp Rock.
- Mikayla has a large number of fanfics that pairs her with Mitchie Torres from Camp Rock, mainly due to the real-life complicated relationship between their actresses, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, and feeling they would have good chemistry.
Designated Villain: Mr. Bradley in the movie is treated as a villain just because he wants to build a mall. He doesn't even do anything villainous. The only passibly mean thing he does is taunt the town people they won't be able to stop him building that mall. Which is Stupid Evil, because those people are his potential customers. Miley actually thinks the mall development is a good idea at first before being told down by her grandmother.
Draco in Leather Pants: Mikayla is portrayed In-Universe as a Jerkass who is needlessly rude to Hannah from the moment they meet for no reason and turns singing for a charity event into a competition between her and Hannah. While her second episode shows her to be nicer to Miley than Hannah, she still treats Lilly rudely for no reason. However, due to her good looks and Selena Gomez's natural charm, a lot of fangirls are willing to overlook or, in their fanfics, even outright erase her more negative traits. Most of the fanfiction about her will rewrite Miley as being a jerk to her for no reason, and those that don't instead portray them as in a sort of Romeo and Juliet type romance where they only pretend to hate each other.
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Mikayla doesn't even have a last name but is still incredibly popular despite only being in two episodes. Of course being played by Selena Gomez doesn't hurt.
- Taylor Swift cameo from The Movie and soundtrack is widely praised by critics, some of whom says it made Miley seems bland by comparision.
Fan-Preferred Couple: Though Miley and Lilly end up with Jesse and Oliver respectively, most fans ship them together. This is due to the fact that their friendship is the main focus of most episodes, including the premier and final episode. The movie also put greater focus on their relationship than Miley's designated Boy of the Week. On both Archive of Our Own and Fanfiction Dot Net, Liley fanfiction dominates canonical fanfiction, as opposed to ones based on Miley Cyrus that are often falsely slotted with the show's.
Foe Yay Shipping: Miley/Hannah and Mikayla hate each other, with the two going to great lengths to top one another. However, mostly due to the chemistry between Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus and the fact that Mikayla's hatred is only limited to the Hannah persona, there are loads of fanfics that pair them together, often rewriting Mikayla's character to be nicer or making it so the two are only pretending to hate each other.
Harsher in Hindsight:
- Hey, remember the episode where Hannah was worried about being inappropriate and a bad influence on her fans?
- The scene from the movie where Jackson is bitten by an alligator at a zoo has become this in light of the two-year old who was killed and half-eaten by a gator at Disney World Resort on 2016.
- The episode "I Am Hannah, Hear Me Croak!", where Miley undergoes throat surgery after her straining her vocal chords and fearing that she might lose her career if the surgery fails, got a new light after the real Miley underwent throat surgery in 2019 after years of smoking and being diagnosed with Reinke's edema (swelling of the vocal chords due to fluids). Luckily in both cases, the surgeries were a success, albeit the real Miley got a deeper voice and remained sober.
- The plot of the movie revolves around Hannah's hometown needing to raise enough money to keep a land developer from turning a local farm into a mega mall. The film came out in 2009, less than a year after the 2008 U.S. recession that resulted in countless malls across America struggling and closing.
- "California Screaming" has a joke about Miley considering dumping Jake due to him looking like Ellen DeGeneres. Two episodes later, Miley and Jake's relationship ends for good due to him cheating on her.
- "Miley Hurt The Feelings of the Radio Star" has Miley suffering a psychotic break due to the stress of juggling her celebrity and non-celebrity lives. The episode plays this moment for laughs but it can seem a lot less funny for those who are aware of what the stress of being a celebrity can do to teens, with Miley Cyrus herself being a prime example.
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Mikayla played by Selena Gomez is actually lip-synching her song. Though the fact that Selena's voice sounds better than the one on the song should be a giveaway.
- Miley originally auditioned for Lilly, who is blonde and skateboards. Fast-forward to 2012 and this pic.
- In "She's a Super Sneak", Miley is very excited about meeting Ashton Kutcher.
  - Also Angus T. Jones and Jon Cryer both guest-starred.
  - Becomes uncomfortable when Emily Osment guest-starred in a Two and a Half Men episode in which she makes out with Jake.
- Compare Miley's "punk rock Hannah" outfit in "Yet Another Side Of Me" with her more recent stage outfits and onstage '80's pop-punk medleys, or for that matter, her performance covering "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol in VH-1 Divas Live 2012 (especially with the punkier, shorter, spikier new "pixie-cut" hairstyle she started earlier that year).
  - On another note, that episode becomes a lot funnier with how Miley's character at the end of her Black Mirror episode "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too" has her ditching her pop princess look for a Darker and Edgier industrial rocker look and singing Nine Inch Nails songs.
- The season 2 premiere showed Jackson meeting a new student named Thor. Miley Cyrus was up until the summer of 2013 engaged to Liam Hemsworth, who's brothers with Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth.
- Miley retweeted this humorous Vine video to former castmate Jason Earles in late September 2013 (not created by her) following her notorious MTV Video Music Awards appearance earlier that month, involving Jackson and a foam finger. (slightly NSFW). Also counts with Lilly's remark about Miley Stewart performing in her underwear, as mentioned below.
  - Similarly, this.
- In "New Kid in School", Jake says "And that's when I said 'No, Mr. Trump, YOU'RE fired.'" Guess what happened in 2020?
- Miley's Missi character in Two and a Half Men, a talkative, free-spirited young adult with a overexaggerated, strong Southern accent, isn't very far different from her Evil Twin "Cousin Luann" character in season 1's "Torn Between Two Hannahs".
- Moises Arias and Jason Earles as boss and employee. The latter would have a similar, but inverted, relationship with the former's brother in a future Disney show.
- Watching Lilly (as Lola) giggle and blush as she shakes Jesse McCartney's hand in the beginning of "When You Wish You Were The Star", after watching Jesse guest star as Gabi Diamond's boyfriend Cooper on Young & Hungry.
- "Butterfly Fly Away" becomes this after her 2015 Adult Swim Party performance (slightly NSFW).
- The Les Yay between Miley and Lilly, maybe, after Miley's admission in 2015 that her real-life relationships weren't all heterosexual.
- The song "Best Of Both Worlds" after Miley coming out as pansexual in 2016.
- Possibly combined with Heartwarming in Hindsight, depending on which point of view you take—-during the 10th anniversary of the series' debut in March 2016, Miley Cyrus, by that time a committed, outspoken and active vegan, uploads photos and videos of herself watching Hannah episodes on her Instagram account. In one video, she is cheering on as she is watching the pilot episode, as Miley Stewart, standing in line at lunchtime at the school cafeteria with Lilly, mentions she has ordered herself a veggie burger.
- Lilly's alter-ego Lola Luftnagle wears a pink bob wig, virtually identical to the one later worn by Miley Cyrus' character Ashley O in the Black Mirror episode "Rachel, Jack & Ashley Too". Given that the episode was in many ways a Black Comedy parody of the Disney Channel and of Miley's public image, many people immediately noticed the similarity, not least of whom was Miley herself, who joked about "that time Hannah Montana and Ashley O went clubbing".
- The character Thor became this in Avengers: Endgame, which is another Disney property, a character that shares a same name has gotten fat as a result of traumatic events in Infinity War.
Ho Yay: Rico and Jackson. Especially later on in the series. Jackson even (almost) accidentally kissed Rico!
Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Miley/Hannah has been paired with just about everyone by the fandom, including herself. (ex: Jiley, Liley, Moliver, Jacksannah, Mikiley and many, many more).
Les Yay: Several items can be interpreted as examples of Miley and Lilly's feelings for one another being more than platonic:
- Lilly once said she date Miley in a mustache.
- In the Season 3 finale, Miley's primary reason for staying in California was she didn't want to leave Lilly.
Memetic Mutation:
- "You want some toast?"
- "Nobody's perfect!" (insert picture of boy band here) "Hannah Montana lied to me!"
- "Hannah Montana was murdered", in reference to what Miley said during Saturday Night Live when asked about Hannah Montana.
- Comparing anyone with a Secret Identity to the titular character.
- The Miley Cyrus vocal samples used during scene transitions are often used in jokey edits on YouTube and TikTok.
Platonic Writing, Romantic Reading: Miley and Lilly are just supposed to be best friends, but most fans think they have more chemistry together than with their actual love interests. Their relationship is filled with Les Yay, and is often given a lot more focus than their romantic ones. In the first episode, Miley's afraid to tell Lilly she is Hannah, in a way that resembles someone being afraid to tell their childhood crush they like them. The Movie also gives a lot more focus and weight to their fight than to that of Miley with the Boy of the Week, Travis. Lilly eventually gets with Oliver, but the show makes it clear that Miley is her most important relationship, and she chooses to help Miley over Oliver multiple times. When the two do fight it comes off to many fans like an old married couple. There's a good reason most fanfiction about the show interpret them as already dating.
Retroactive Recognition:
- Selena Gomez played Mikayla prior to her Star-Making Role in Wizards of Waverly Place.
- A pre-Community Alison Brie appears in Season 1 as a hairstylist hired by Rico to mess with Jackson.
- In an uncredited appearance in the Season 1 episode "Schooly Bully", one of the jocks sitting at a table is Flynn/Walter Jr. himself, RJ Mitte.
- Future The Walking Dead co-stars Christian Serratos and Khary Payton turn up as Amber's friend Alexa and a director, respectively (albeit in different seasons).
- One of Mr. Granger's daughters in the movie is played by Natalia Dyer, best known as Nancy Wheeler from Stranger Things.
  - Esteemed character actress Margo Martindale plays Miley Stewart's grandmother Ruby in the movie.
Spiritual Successor: It's been called a better Live-Action Adaptation of Jem and the Holograms than the actual adaptation of such, which was itself noted as seemingly drawing heavily from Hannah Montana.
Strangled by the Red String: Lilly and Oliver have been friends for years. They've seen the best and worst of each other, the best and worst of times, and have been there for each other through all of it. Let's not forget that they have numerous common interests. Do the writers use any of these perfectly legitimate story elements as a basis for their Relationship Upgrade? Nope! Instead, we get some contrived story about how her head fit into his neck and how she smelled like apples. And they go from being good friends to all PDA all the time. Even Miley gets sick of the Romantic Plot Tumor.
Tear Jerker:
- In one episode, Miley lies to Roxy saying that Robbie said it was okay for her to fly with her alone to a concert without him. Robbie later turns up on the plane and sets the record straight. Roxy, usually a very wacky, silly character who adores and worships Miley as an adoptive extended family member, is actually genuinely hurt and angry that Miley lied to her to use her to disobey her father. Robbie and Miley have their own issues to work out for the remainder of the episode, but seeing Roxy of all people hurt and angry with Mikey stings a lot.
- The finale. 51 minutes and 18 seconds of moments that mix between touching and striking hard.
- The episode "I'll Always Remember You", the moment Miley gave up her Hannah alter ego, is no less a Tear Jerker than the moment above. Heck they even used a same song, first as a (we can say as this) Miley/Hannah duet then as a Miley/Lilly duet.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Jackson's friend Cooper appears in a grand total of six episodes and is rarely even mentioned after that. He seems to have served as the Straight Man of the two and would have been perfect as the voice of reason for Jackson. Not to mention he was shown to have some interesting Hidden Depths (like baking) that would have been nice to explore had he appeared in the series more often.
Unintentional Period Piece:
- Since the show deals with a pop star coming to fame in the late 2000's, it has elements of being this. Plenty of pop culture references in the jokes and plot lines, from Jesse McCartney to Kelly Clarkson to Lady Gaga to Katy Perry, a few American Idol references, the second War in Iraq (as covered in Season 4), a Barack Obama Expy also in the final season, maybe even the Teen Pop aspect in general—-help to put the show in a specific time and place.
- "It's My Party and I'll Lie if I Want To" has Miley trying to hide the fact that she went to a party as Hannah without Lily by hiding newspapers that show her leaving the party. Such a method would be impractical in real life and Lily does in fact find out about Miley going to the party later. However, the pervasiveness of social media and the speed at which celebrity news spreads in modern times would have made it impossible for Miley to ever keep this secret from Lily for longer than 24 hours.
- Anyone who started watching this show in the late 2010s or afterwards might be taken aback by the positive or casual comments about Donald Trump given how contentious he has become since 2015.
The Woobie: Jackson counts. Despite his father being rich, Jackson has to work a demeaning, low-paying job for Rico, who tortures and humiliates him at every turn. In one episode where he becomes amnesiac, Miley tricks him into becoming her slave. In another episode, she completely humiliates him at a party for supposedly spreading a rumor about her, despite having no actual proof.^note Even Uncle Earl, usually the Butt-Monkey himself, said Jackson was an embarrassment to the family for the way he was dressed (like Ozzy Osbourne), when he was only wearing a costume to help Miley.

YMMV / Hannah Montana

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