If you have a tween or young teen daughter (or son, for all I know), you’ve probably heard of it. It’s a Disney film – made-for-tv, now on DVD – that has busted all kinds of charts.

This Newsweek article explores why:

Six months after its premiere, "High School Musical" rolls on, a singing and dancing juggernaut. Almost 37 million viewers have watched the $4.2 million production at least once since its first airing, and the musical–a pop confection that makes "Grease" look like "Rebel Without a Cause"–surged back into the spotlight this month, grabbing six Emmy nominations. The soundtrack, a top-10 hit since its January release, is the year’s biggest-selling CD, at 2.7 million copies. After five weeks, the DVD has sold an eye-popping 2.1 million copies.

And even as American parents and media execs scratch their heads over the rabid response to the raunch-free teenfest, "HSM" is spreading across the globe. Disney is exporting it to 100 nations. It premiered in the Asia-Pacific region last month, snaring record ratings in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. The Edinburgh International Television Festival will show it in the city’s Conference Square in August. It returns to American television this week, and the sequel is heading into production this fall. "HSM" ‘s hegemonic grip on high-school theater productions is assured for the next school year: when Disney posted word of the coming theatrical licenses, the Web site was flooded with 15,000 inquiries on the first day. A Broadway play is probable. Meanwhile, there are now two DVDs to watch over and over, two CDs to listen to repeatedly, ringtones to download, novels to read and stationery that’s ideal for breathless fan mail to "HSM" cast members. Can you spell F-R-A-N-C-H-I-S-E? Analyst William Drewry of Credit Suisse estimates the fledging business already totals $100 million in CD and DVD sales. "It’s unclear how big it can get," he says. "It deserves franchise status."

American Idol is credited, as is the crudity-free content and tone. It’s all that, but more: HSM is simple and iconic and moves kids where they are, in all of their struggles to belong and be accepted.

A big of good news in a sea of usually depressing adolescent pop-culture headlines, eh?