Upon its release in 1978, Grease was well and truly the word.
Hot off the hugely successful Saturday Night Fever the previous year, John Travolta was one of the most sought-after actors at the time, and paired with the multiple Grammy-winning pop and country singer Olivia Newton-John, the pair became an on-screen power couple still beloved by fans today.
From its humble $6,000,000 (USD) budget, Grease went on to gross $8,941,717 in the United States and Canada over its opening weekend, and to this day, it has grossed an eye-watering $396 million worldwide.
Considered to be one of the greatest movie musicals of all time, Grease director Randal Kleiser believes the film's longevity is down the "perfect storm" of its universal themes, the chemistry between its leads, and its appeal to our nostalgia for a more innocent age; "where there were no terrorist attacks or shootings".
Yes, for nearly three decades, Grease was the ultimate high school musical... that was, until the release of High School Musical.
Created purely as a Disney Channel Original Movie, 2006's High School Musical was undoubtedly Disney's attempt at recreating Grease for their younger target audience.
Upon its premiere on the network, the movie amassed 7.7 million viewers, making it one of the most-watched broadcasts in Disney Channel history.
Starring a young Zac Effron and Vanessa Hudgens in its lead roles, the movie may have generated mixed reviews from critics, but fans couldn't get enough. The movie sold 1.2 million DVDs in just six days, making it the fastest-selling TV movie of all time. The HSM soundtrack also jumped to the top of the US charts, going on to become the best-selling album of 2006.
So, which is better?
Sure, High School Musical may not be as "cool" or popular as Grease. And sure, its characters will never be as iconic as the T-Birds or the Pink Ladies. But I'm here to tell you why I'll take Troy and Gabriella over Danny and Sandy any day...
StoryFunnily enough, both movies pretty much follow the same story.
In Grease, bad-boy greaser Danny Zuko and Australian sweetheart Sandy Olsson meet while on summer vacation. The infatuated youngsters bond without a care in the world, but are forced to part when the vacation ends.
Then, after unexpectedly ending up at the same high school together, they struggle to rekindle their relationship after their respective friendship groups cast judgment upon their new relationship.
In High School Musical, basketball heartthrob Troy Bolton and scholastic sweetheart Gabriella Montez meet while on winter vacation. The infatuated youngsters bond without a care in the world, but are forced to part when the vacation ends.
Then, after unexpectedly ending up at the same high school together, they struggle to rekindle their relationship after their respective friendship groups cast judgment upon their new relationship.
See what I mean?
What sets the movies apart from each other is their individual tones and target audiences.
Being a Disney Channel original movie, High School Musical was created for children/young teens. Everything about it is camp, cutesy, and absolutely riddled with memes.
Grease is a much grittier movie aimed at older viewers. Because of this, it doesn't shy away from tackling serious issues like peer pressure and teenage pregnancy (more on this later).
Side Note: While I'm on the subject of Grease, I'm going to go ahead and point out that upon rewatching it, I couldn't help but notice that not one of the characters in the movie looked the age they're supposed to be.
These are a bunch of teenagers in their final year at high school? Olivia Newton-John was 30 when Grease was released! And Stockard Channing (Rizzo) was 34! It looks like the makeup department didn't even bother attempting to make Michael Tucci look younger. It's not acceptable! If any you saw any of these walking around Hogwarts in a Harry Potter movie, you'd complain!
Honestly, the entire movie is a fantastic PSA about why teenagers just should not smoke.
SongsOkay, I will admit that Grease's soundtrack is heavily featured on my gym playlist. There is nothing quite like bench pressing to the beat of 'Hopelessly Devoted' (the song that earned the movie its lone Oscar nomination.)
In fact, can any wedding really be legally binding if the DJ doesn't play the Grease Megamix at the end of the night? I don't think so.
Danny and Sandy's 'You're The One That I Want' topped the charts in both the US and UK, and the original motion picture soundtrack went on to sell 22 million copies worldwide. This not only makes it one of the highest selling soundtrack albums of all time, but it makes one of the best-selling albums ever.
'Summer Nights', 'Sandy', 'Greased Lightnin'' - does Grease have better songs than High School Musical? Yes. It does.
But does Grease have better songs like High School Musical 1, 2, and 3 combined? Absolutely not.
Don't agree? Well, just remember that the High School Musical franchise gave us this:
Do you want to know the most played song on my gym playlist? It's that banger.
SequelsSeeing as Disney absolutely f**king loves money putting smiles on faces, they delighted fans of the movie by releasing two highly successful sequels.
High School Musical 2 follows our beloved East High Wildcats as they go on summer vacation, and unlike most Disney sequels, it was good!
The Troy/Gabriella breakup was captivating to young viewers, the songs were just as catchy as the first, and upon its first broadcast on August 17, 2007, the movie broke records drawing 17.2 million viewers - the largest single audience in basic-cable television history at the time.
High School Musical 3 followed the same cast as they tackled their final year of high school. This was the only movie in the franchise to be granted a theatrical release. And on a modest budget of $11 million, the movie went on the gross $252,909,177 worldwide.
Simply incredible statistics...
Oh, and Grease had Grease 2 - but the less said about that, the better.
How does it hold up in 2020?Upon rewatching the movies, I found myself enjoying every single minute - as I have done for years. But as I sat there watching Grease, preparing to belt out 'Alone At A Drive-In', something happened, and I this was the key moment I realized Grease just doesn't hold up anymore.
Known somewhat affectionately as the 'sin wagon scene', we see Danny attempt to win back Sandy's affections after behaving like an ass and ditching her for ex-girlfriend Cha-Cha at prom. He does this by behaving like an even bigger (and potentially criminal) ass.
First, he tries to ensnare the sweet Australian beauty by asking her to wear his class ring - a rather romantic gesture for the time. At least, it would have been if he didn't elbow her in the chest in the process and then snigger about it.
But Sandy quickly forgets this and her mood changes from unenthusiastic to over-the-moon.
Then... it happens. Perhaps my strongest argument as to why Grease just isn't the movie most of us fondly remember it to be. Seriously, just try and watch this scene with 2020 eyes and tell me it can hold up in today's society:
That's right, after attempting to go to Boob Town (Popularity: 2), Danny literally forces himself on an alarmed Sandy to the point where she literally screams "Danny, get off me!" and run out of a drive-in.
You can call me a millennial. You can call me a snowflake. But there is no amount of 'chang chang changitty chang sha-bops' that will ever make that scene okay.
Moral Of The StoryNow, you'd think after Danny ditching Sandy at prom for his ex, then forcing himself upon her at a drive-in that this movie would end with her telling her parents, calling the cops, and moving away to live happily ever after with a guy that actually treats women with respect.
Nope.
Okay, well maybe Danny will have some sort of epiphany and realize that women are not sex objects that can be walked all over. And maybe it's time to stop behaving like a fool, ditch the T-Birds and finally start acting like his own man in an attempt to win over Sandy.
Wrong again.
No, Grease ends with Sandy being so impressed with Danny winning an illegal race against a rival gang-leader that she takes up smoking, changes her attitude, and enlists the help of a beauty school dropout in order to ramp up her sex appeal - all in an effort to impress the man who forced himself upon her. Good, eh?
Realizing that the movie's lead characters had failed me, I turned to the secondary characters to try and find something I'd be happy showing my own children one day.
But all I found was Rizzo and Kenickie knowingly having unprotected sex after their condom broke, which led to them breaking up because they're both horrendously toxic and immature kids. Then, when Rizzo misses her period, she confides in Marty for support. However, Marty then tells Sonny who lets the entire school know, leading to Rizzo being the butt of jokes and laughed at. But it's all okay, because it was a false alarm and they're back together by the end of the movie, destined to make each other miserable forever.
Seriously, earlier on in the article I talked about how Grease tackled important issues like peer pressure and teenage pregnancy - but it doesn't tackle them well!
The characters in Grease are just not good people and I upon rewatching, I struggled to figure out why anybody would like them so much.
Then, it hit me: I am Zac Effron.
Okay, that may be pushing it, but hear me out.
Upon rewatching these movies for this article I realized just how much I could empathize with Troy because I experienced the exact same thing in high school - and it was all because of this movie!
When I was an awkward 15-year-old in high school, I loved this movie. I knew all the songs, I would frequently watch it with my girlfriend - hell, I even went to see it live on stage. But I never told my friends or my dad any of this. Why? Because - like Troy - I was scared that they wouldn't accept this part of me.
Look, I'm not saying that I do not like Grease. I actually LOVE Grease. Last year I spent good money going to a sing-along Cinema Under The Stars event where I belted out 'Hopelessly Devoted' so loud my father definitely would have disowned me had he been there.
And when I was in fourth grade, everybody in my class was forced to learn songs from the movie and perform them in front of our parents - and let me guarantee you that I was the only boy who dropped to his knees for the "It's electrifying" line in 'You're The One That I Want'.
But after going through the evidence, High School Musical is just better.
HSM may be laced with cheese from start to finish, but it has two sequels actually worth watching, which, in turn, gives the franchise a larger catalog of enjoyable songs. But most importantly, the moral of the story is actually something you'd want to teach your own teenagers.
High School Musical is not about changing who you are in order to be with the one that you want like Sandy does -- it is about "breaking free" from the mold everybody else has put you in and actually embracing every element of who you really are. Sure, it may take your friends and family some time to adjust, but if they truly care about you, they'll accept that you want to sing in Ms. Darbus' play.
Also, Troy and Gabriella didn't fly away in a car at the end of the movie. I mean seriously? What the actual f**k was that about?