April 16, 2007 / Spring 2007

We got a part in a Disney musical!

Written by Marketing Staff

Look closely – Walsworth is going to play a small part in High School Musical 2.

When the Disney Channel aired its made-for-TV movie High School Musical in January 2006, it turned into a blockbuster. Now they are making High School Musical 2, a sequel set for release later this year. Among the props needed for the new movie were yearbooks for East High School, the fictional school the characters attend. Walsworth is producing those books.

Scott Arneman, Prop Master for Salty Pictures, the company filming the movie, said the yearbooks will be in three scenes at the beginning of the movie, including a big dance number that starts when the bell rings at school to signal the beginning of summer vacation. The dance sequence begins in the hallways and spills outside – with the cast and dancers holding their yearbooks.

Arneman said he did an internet search for yearbook companies to find someone to create a book. When he called Walsworth he spoke with Alex Blackwell, Director of Marketing and Customer Technology.

“Walsworth was the second place I called, but Alex took an interest in the project. It was his customer service skills that sold me,” Arneman said.

Rick Olson, Art Director for Salty Pictures, created the cover, which is red with a white wildcat and the words “East High” on the front. There will be about 20 pages with content and the remainder will be blank. Arneman said he has been working with the yearbook adviser at East High School, a real school in Salt Lake City where filming takes place, to get the pages designed.

More than 100 East High yearbooks will be printed. An exact number will be determined once Salty Pictures knows how many dancers will need books.

“Very likely no one watching the movie will know that Walsworth printed those books, but we know that we are a part of the movie and are pleased at the opportunity to help out,” Blackwell said.

“It’s a nice coincidence that Scott found Walsworth, since our company is headquartered in Marceline, Missouri, the birthplace of Walt Disney,” Blackwell said.

High School Musical tells the story of a star basketball player and a brainiac overcoming the pull from their cliques to successfully audition for their school’s musical. While the plot and music are geared for the Tween audience, the film won Emmys for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Children’s Programming, and the music became the top-selling album of 2006.

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Marketing Staff

Marketing Staff reports are posts compiled by the Walsworth Yearbooks Marketing Department, covering a wide range of yearbook topics.