Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary: REACTION & REVIEW

Twenty years later, Hannah Montana is still making us feel all the things — and Ms. Michaela Mae is not holding back her reaction. In this episode of the Ms. Michaela Mae Show, Michaela shares her honest, heartfelt take on the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special, including why she went in with low expectations, what made her cry more than once, and why she thinks this special means something so much bigger than a nostalgia trip.

From breaking down Alex Cooper's involvement as producer, to unpacking Miley Cyrus's healing journey and what it took for her to step back into Hannah's shoes, Michaela covers it all with her signature blend of honesty and depth. She also gets personal about what Hannah Montana represented during one of the hardest seasons of her own life — and why she believes this anniversary is asking all of us to grieve what we've lost and reclaim what we left behind.

If you grew up watching Hannah Montana, this one is going to hit. Michaela makes the case for why your disappointment in the special might actually be about something much deeper — and what to do with all of that. She breaks down the best moments worth watching, the ones worth skipping, and the emotional gut-punch that is Miley singing Best of Both Worlds for the first time in nearly two decades.

This is a must-listen for any millennial who grew up with Hannah Montana, anyone following Miley Cyrus's personal and artistic evolution, or anyone who has ever felt the grief of realizing a chapter of their life is officially over.

Drop your favorite Hannah Montana song in the comments — if you're a fan, you already know. 

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KEYWORDS

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Well, hey you, and welcome back to another episode of the Miss Mikayla May Show. I'm your host, Miss Mikayla May, and today I'm going to give you my reaction to the Hannah Montana 20th anniversary. So, first things first, if you're a Hannah fan, please uh comment your favorite Hannah Montana song below. If you are not a Hannah fan, please get out. I don't have time for your BS today, to be really honest with you, because it's all about Hannah and the Hannah Montana anniversary special. And honestly, this really beautiful time we're having, like Hillary Duff is making a comeback. We had a Hannah Montana 20th anniversary special, and all of this is just so nostalgic. And I was thinking about it yesterday when I was on my drive, and I was thinking, I just felt like so pulled to do the 2016 trend that was going around. And I don't know why, because sometimes I'm like whatever on trends, and sometimes I feel really called to do trends. And that 2016 trend was just something that I felt pulled and called to do on my social media channels. And I feel the same way with this comeback we're having, it feels like. I've listened to a few Alex Cooper podcasts on Call Her Daddy because there were certain guests that she had interviewed that I really wanted to listen to, but I don't consider myself a listener. I don't love her interview style. I don't, it's not it, the show is not for me. It's not good nor bad. It's as my aunt from England would say, it's not my cup of tea. I'm more of a herbal pomegranate lady, and Alex Cooper is more of an Earl Grey person, not right or wrong. It's just, again, not my cup of tea. And so, especially when I heard she was hosting it, and from what I could tell, she was really the producer. And so some of the things when people are saying, like, why did Disney do that? I'm I'm pretty sure it was Alex Cooper calling the shots. Like, if you go to the credits and watch, it says like it's an unwell production, which is Alex Cooper's company. And so I'm pretty sure Alex Cooper was the one producing it and like doing all this stuff. I think Disney just greenlit it and agreed to stream it. So I'm guessing they had to have Disney's okay for Miley to even sing the Hannah songs. And so some of this stuff that people are saying, like, why was Alex Cooper involved? Like, because from what I can tell, she was the producer on this thing. Like, it even says produced by Miley Cyrus, Alex Cooper, like she was kind of she was the lady like behind this thing. And so, with all of that being said, we do have to thank her for us even having this much. And so, back to like my expectations, found out she was involved. My expectations were just I'm like, you know what? I heard we get to see Miley dress up as Hannah and play best of both worlds again. That is my only expectations because when Miley won the Disney Legends thing, I think back in was it 2023, maybe 2024, when Lainey Wilson sang best of both worlds, I just remember I would have given a lot to have Miley sing that again. And the fact that we got that, honestly, after the the to me, the first five minutes of you know, Miley back as Hannah, you know, driving through LA and Malibu, seeing the outside of the house, and then us getting to watch her rise up. Like, I get used to just thinking about it, like watching her, and I get getting emotional. And I'm not, by the way, I'm someone who was not an emotional um child. And so for me to get more emotional as I become an adult is it's very new for me. And for me to be this emotional about this is it's a whole thing. But anyway, we'll get into that, I'm sure, as well. Um, so just that like watching Miley as Hannah get into the thing that would rise her up on the stage and come out singing best of both worlds, like those first five, six minutes, I'm like, I'm done. I've gotten everything I could have ever wanted out of this. And so anything after that was just kind of, oh, that's interesting. Oh, that's cool. So that's where my expectations were at. I made them very, very low for a bunch of purposes. And I think where I see people getting really disappointed online is they had a lot of different expectations for it. And it just was what it was. Like, I think we just need to be really appreciative and really thankful that we gotta see Miley back as Hannah again and got to watch her sing these songs again because I think there's a very real possibility that one, we may never see her sing these songs again, and two, the fact that Miley has done so much work on herself and so much like healing work. You know, she talks about her stuff with her therapist and um EMDR. And I also know um, I think she talked about this on Joe Rogan. She works with Dr. Daniel Eamon, who is a brain, um, he's a brain guy and has really helped her like heal her brain and some other things she's had going on. So for Miley to do so much work that she's able to accept and integrate Hannah back into her life to the point that she was willing to sing for us and put on a 20th anniversary, like I think we just have to be so grateful and appreciative that this was even able to happen, that anything like this was even able to happen. And so anything after that, it's like it just is, it just is what it is. Like, I'm not gonna put any of like, oh, I wish it would have been like this. Of course I wish there were things that were done a little differently. Of course I wish there was more of the cast involved. And I'm just like, my only expectation was like I get to see Miley as Hannah singing best of both worlds and everything else, like it is what it is. And so if you are a really big Hannah fan and have caught yourself like just feeling really let down and really disappointed, really start to focus on what you can be grateful and what you can be appreciative for for this special, like getting to see Miley saying best of both worlds for the first time in almost two decades. I know with technically like where the show started and where it's ended, and you know, her tours and stuff. It hasn't been exactly 20 years since she sang best to both worlds, but I mean, I I just thought that was beautiful. And that part alone was I I was like, I could turn the I could turn it off now. Like I'm well aware that I can turn it off now, and I got everything that I needed, you know, out of this special, which was watching Miley as Hannah sing best of both worlds. And I really did enjoy like her parents coming on the set and you know, walking through her, like talking about some things, and like when her and Billy Ray read some lines together, that was so emotional for me. So I think if you look at it as a whole, and even for me having a film background, there were some things that were choppy, there were some things that felt rushed. Like I could tell that her and Alex's actual talk was a lot longer, and the editing job felt really choppy and really rushed. Like, I can't sit here and critique it. I really can. And I'm not even gonna give it a rating because again, I think we have to focus on what we need to be appreciative for, which was that we got to see Biley sing some of these songs again, and her song at the end was just absolutely beautiful. So that's really, you know, if I look at the special just as a whole, yeah, it's probably like meh, you know, there there were a lot of things that a lot of us, you know, online would have liked to see as far as the cast and other things. But when I think about the big main points of this special, they are absolutely phenomenal and beautiful. Like her opening, like driving through LA, driving into the studio, saying it's good to be home, you know, walking onto the set, um, singing the songs, her parents coming back, then walking through these, you know, certain parts of the set, the script, her waving goodbye to the set, which like I we may we're probably never gonna see that again. Like, I I don't see them even for the 40th anniversary, like setting that set. Like, we're probably never gonna see Miley on that set again. And so that's what I really want like all of us to sit and be thankful and grateful for is like that we even gotta see any of this again. Like, I was thinking about like high school musical, we didn't get any kind of we haven't ever, I don't think that I can think of have got something like this. So, like the fact that we even again got this, and I know I've said that like 10 times, but I really want to like like really nail the appreciation because again, that's what I think we're missing when I see things online of you know, why was so-and-so there? Why was so-and-so there? It's like, well, because Alex Cooper produced it. Like, that's because she produced it, and even Miley said, like, I didn't know what you guys would want. So, like, the like Alex was doing this, and it's like that's an Alex Cooper thing. Like, I've watched enough of her shows, like that's what it is. And that's why I really want to take the focus off the things that were weird and the Alex Cooper because it's like it's taking away from everything that Miley has done and what Miley did, and to come back and do this stuff, and even like she said, to start talking about it before anything was happening so that the fans and her could have this beautiful reunion, and that's why I want to hit like kind of hit this this home run of like being appreciative for Miley and stop focusing on like the Alex stuff. Um, but also again, being appreciative that Alex did some of this stuff because who knows, we may not have even had as much as we got without Alex. So that's kind of what I have to say about the the special itself. Um, go give it a watch. If you haven't given it a watch, it's worth the watch. And it may just be you watch Hannah sing, uh Miley is Hannah sing best of both worlds, and then you skip to when she sings This is the life and the climb, and then you fast forward to the end when she sings her the the new song she debuted, and that's it. And you're gonna cry, or at least I did, multiple times. Those are the times I cried. So those are the best parts of the special, and and it's worth it. It was worth it. Um, and honestly, and some of the things that Alex did ask her about, I also really enjoyed that. And like kind of getting some of the tea that that was fun. I I did really enjoy that. So uh it's easy to pick apart the parts that were meh. Um, and I think we should focus on the parts that were beautiful. So that's what I have to say about the actual special. Um, and the sun's coming out, which is really beautiful that that just happened. Um, if you're watching the video, the sun just came out from I live in the Pacific Northwest and it's really cloudy today, and the sun just came out from behind the clouds. So that was really beautiful that that came out at that time um because I'm using natural light. So it just got brighter, literally. Anyway, uh, so the last thing that I really wanted to talk about in this little episode and and video is I think Hannah Montana represents something so much bigger, and that's why I think this was so special and so impactful is because when so I started re-watching the to kind of prepare, I guess, not that I needed to prepare, but I started re-watching Hannah Montana, and I only made it uh to the end of season two before the special premiered because I kind of started a little bit late. Um, I didn't give myself enough time to get through all of it. And one of the things that I um picked up on this round is one of the reasons I love and have so much nostalgia for the show, and why I think so many of us do is the innocence. There was something, and the innocence, and with that innocence, I think comes three things: creativity, dreaming, and um humor. That show is genuinely funny. I have a very interesting sense of humor, but the amount of times that Billy Ray and Jackson have done something and I am laughing so hard my stomach hurts is more than I remember. And so I think for a lot of us, Hannah represented so much that encompasses the these emotions. Dreaming big, feeling creative, and like having this lighthearted sense of humor about life. And I've seen that in people's videos on TikTok and Instagram as well, of you know, I missed the days when I was watching Hannah Montana and didn't know that my parents were downstairs arguing, getting ready to get a divorce, or that the world was like an evil and harsh place. And so that's why I think this is so important and why so many people have very harsh feelings about how the the um 20th anniversary went is because of how much that not just Hannah represented, but how much um that Hannah represents that time in our lives that we're never gonna get back. You know, we're all at a point where you know we're not that innocent child anymore. And if you're anything like me, you've probably gotten bitter about the world in the last few years. Like, I definitely have gotten bitter since COVID, and I've lost that dreaming and I've lost that creativity, and I'm working on getting it back. And like Hannah and Miley like represented like how much was possible. You can be that one in a million. And so what's interesting is with my emotions, I felt a lot of grieving because it's like watching this 20th anniversary is officially signaling that that era is over. We're no longer the kids that grew up that were kind of naive and ignorant, like watching Hannah Montana. And so I've had a ton of grief come up since watching it. And again, the grief of like we may never see, like, I can kind of see Miley going one or two ways. I could kind of see her opening a tour, like talking to Disneyland, like, hey, let's go, let's open a tour. And if that happens, like I don't need two kidneys, like I'm getting good seats to that concert. Um, and I so I could kind of see her going that route, and we can't we would be seeing her singing these songs again. I could also see her closing this door forever, and you know, we may never see her like sing any of these songs again. And so I've had grief come up with that of being well aware that we may never see Miley sing these songs again, but it's also the grief of like, nah, this era is over, like we're going into a new dawn, a new era, and it's over, and we have to like it's an interesting dynamic to hold like you know, two what feels like opposing things at once of we have to let that era go, and we also have to reclaim who we were back then that we still need today. And I feel like Miley symbolized that so beautifully in her song, like, hey, you it's younger, you like how do you still remember me? How I can't remember exactly how the lyrics go. And so I think that's our job, like here moving forward, is we have two things. We have to grieve and let go of like, I'm no longer that little girl sitting downstairs in my room watching Hannah Montana, feeling like I had, you know, my whole life ahead of me. You know, I'm kind of at this midpoint where it's like I still have half my life ahead of me, but I also feel like I've let so much of it go. And to me, what I feel is like the ticket to get it back is reclaiming those parts that Hannah represented so beautiful beautifully for all of us the creativity, the innocence, and the dreamer. And how do we reclaim all of those things and bring it into this next era of our life? And so I think it's worth the watch. I think it's really beautiful. I think there's so many things wrapped into it that we can all learn and take away from. And this is just ultimately what I learned and have been taking away from it. So um, if you watch the special, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Um, thank you for if you've made it this far, thank you for listening. Hannah, you know, again talking about the symbolism and the time in my life that that that marked and represented. And I changed a lot through, you know, if you have been around for a while of watch my other content, I experienced um uh childhood sexual abuse when I was 12, turning 13. And so Hannah came out in 2006. I experienced that in 2008, and you know, Hannah Montana and that show was a lot like it was how I got through a lot of that was being able to just go watch a show that I knew I would enjoy. And so watching this, it was like, yeah, it's like I feel like I have to go reclaim that that little girl that I lost in that season. And I also have to let parts of her go because I'm no longer her. And so um, with all of that, I just really want to thank you for listening because that's why this is so important to me, and that's why this was such a big deal for me, like this 20th anniversary, and why I felt like I needed to get on here and talk about it because I feel like a lot of us are are seeing it one way when we could also see it a different way, and that different way can have more appreciation, we can have more appreciation seeing it differently, not only in ourselves, but for what Miley has done and overcome. And like I think she's led the way with Hannah in a lot of ways, and I think she's leading the way for this. Like, she even talked about in the special like how she's integrating this Hannah and Miley, and now I think that's our job. Miley took the baton, she's passing it off to us, and now it's our turn to go and integrate that little girl or that little boy that we lost back in that Hannah Montana era and bring it to this present era. So, um, with that being said, um, thank you for listening to this episode of um the Miss Mikayla May Show. I appreciate you, and myself and my Corgies will talk to you next time.