Going back to basics with"Hannah Montana The Movie"

CEBU, Philippines - Walt Disney Pictures takes the Disney Channel phenom to the big screen in the feature film extravaganza “Hannah Montana The Movie” where Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) struggles to juggle school, friends and her secret pop-star persona. When Hannah Montana’s soaring popularity threatens to take over her life—she just might let it. 

So her father (Billy Ray Cyrus) takes the teen home to Tennessee, for a dose of reality, kicking off an adventure filled with the kind of fun, laughter and romance even Hannah Montana couldn’t imagine. 

“Hannah Montana The Movie” stars Miley Cyrus, Emily Osment, Jason Earles, Mitchel Musso, Moises Arias and Billy Ray Cyrus. Also starring are Lucas Till and Vanessa Williams. Guest stars include Tyra Banks, Taylor Swift and country music trio Rascal Flatts.

Bringing “Hannah Montana” to the big screen was a natural step in the evolution of Miley Cyrus’ multiple talents and the audience’s rabid desire to know more about their beloved heroines, Miley Stewart and Hannah Montana. 

In the movie, Miley sings, dances and performs 13 songs and musical numbers, many as Hannah Montana, some as Miley Stewart. It’s when her Hannah Montana persona begins to take over the responsibilities and commitments of Miley Stewart’s life that her father, Robby Ray, decides to intervene and try to set things right.

“As the film starts in Los Angeles, the pressure is building on Miley with the demands of being Hannah Montana,” says Billy Ray Cyrus, who portrays Miley/Hannah’s father, Robby Ray Stewart, and is Miley’s real-life father. “She’s kind of lost herself, the little girl from Tennessee. Robby Ray decides the best medicine would be to go home. In real life, my dad always says it is important to be aware of your surroundings and where you’re at. Always be looking forward and know where you want to go but, most importantly, never forget where you come from. That’s what this story is about.”

Miley says, “The story shows how you need to be able to take the time to realize who you are and where you’ve come from. I know I have to do that in my life sometimes. It feels great to come home to Nashville and be comfortable with who I am. Where you’re from reflects a lot of who you are and who you’ll become as you get older. Like what happens in the movie, you have to take it back down to the real world.”

When Miley returns home for her Grandma Ruby’s (Margo Martindale) birthday party, she’s not just returning to Tennessee after a long absence, she’s also rediscovering how much her family, friends and home mean to her after her emerging success as a pop star. In “Hannah Montana The Movie” the audience gets to travel back home with Miley Stewart and see where it all began and how she became Hannah Montana.

“On the TV show, you never got to see the origins,” screenwriter Dan Berendsen says. “This movie takes you full circle to how she became Hannah Montana without being a flashback.”   As Miley Stewart discovers, you can indeed, go home again.

Opening soon across the Philippines, “Hannah Montana The Movie” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.