Kenny Ortega has created some of the most recognizable movies that people know today. He directed movies like Newsies, everyone High school musical movies and Hocus Pocus, in addition he choreographed Ferris Bueller’s day off and Dirty Dancing. Ortega also lent his brilliant choreography and vision to concert tours such as Hannah Montana and Michael Jackson. He has had an incredible career, and his sexuality has played a big role in the way he imagines his work.
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Kenny Ortega’s ‘Hocus Pocus’ had very special witches: the Sanderson sisters
In a new interview with Variety, Ortega spoke about his career as an “LGBTQ filmmaker who breaks barriers” and how that lens in his life shaped his work. When it came to the 1993 cult classic Hocus Pocus, had a specific aesthetic in mind for the Sanderson sisters.
“The fun of Hocus Pocus I mean, the girls are almost drag queens, “said Ortega.” I pressed them to go there and I felt like we had an audience if they did it, and God knows we did it. They are loved and emulated characters all the time. Every Halloween, There’s a knock on my door. Those Sanderson sisters are back.
The Sanderson sisters, along with Hocus Pocus, it did not go well in the 90s, but today is he People in Halloween movies can’t get enough. And when witches become young again, their glamorous looks are certainly hard to miss.
“There is a kind of spirit and fun that is representative of my own spirit and fun that lives under part of my work,” Ortega continued. “And that makes it, I think, gay-friendly, if that’s a good way of saying it. And I think there has been so much progress that you can really say that now, and people won’t be scared. Because they used to be people, they said, ‘Oh no! What is this message trying for children?
‘High School Musical’ carried some of Ortega’s ‘queer aesthetic’ with Ryan
When entering another great success of Ortega, High school musical it also had some of its “queer aesthetic,” as expressed by Variety. Ortega said he “put a lot of who” is into his work, and being an openly gay man adds to his overall messages, whether he’s directing or choreographing.
“It is there, and if it is yelling at you, or if it is there in silence, it is there,” Ortega said.
This brings us to his most recognizable gay character in High school musical: Ryan Evans. Now “recognizably gay” as in the stereotypical sense. But Ryan seemed to be a little in love with Gabriella and later Kelsey. However, other fans like to point out the fact that Ryan and Chad changed their clothes after their baseball game in HSM 2, hinting that perhaps there were more romantic things that happened behind the scenes. So her sexuality was always in the air.
“Ryan’s character in High school musical, Sharpay’s twin brother, we decided that he would probably go to college, ”Ortega told Variety. “It was less about going out and just more about letting their true colors show up.”
Despite Ryan having a strange code, Ortega did not feel that he could externally confirm the character’s sexuality.
In addition to wanting Ryan to be just himself without labeling whether he was gay or not, Ortega also said that it wasn’t really something he wanted to approach Disney or Disney Channel with.
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“I was concerned because it was family and children, that Disney might not be ready to cross that line and move to that territory just yet,” he said. “So, I was in charge of making decisions that I felt those who were watching would make. They would see it, they would feel it, they would know it and they would identify with it. And that’s what happened.”
Even though Ryan is one of the only characters in High school musical To really have that speech around him, the entire trilogy helped people come to terms with their questioning sexualities.
“I have to say thousands of children who have said: ‘If it wasn’t for High school musicalI don’t know if I’ve ever been comfortable with my skin. I don’t know when I could have felt comfortable enough to go out and hug who I am, ‘”Ortega said.
Without Ortega, fans wouldn’t have that fabulous “I spell you” moment in Hocus Pocus nor the big dance numbers in High school musical. And surely they would not have “I don’t dance”.
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