High School Musical spin-off plan

The feature film spin-off is titled Haunted High School Musical but no plot details have been released yet.

The original TV film was a surprise hit last year - Disney said it made profits of $100m (£51m).

The company also plans to release a second made-for-TV film called High School Musical 2 on its cable network, the Disney channel, this summer.

"High School Musical sky-rocketed to heights never before achieved by a TV movie, so it's only fitting that its next incarnation should be as a major motion picture," said Gary Marsh, president of Disney Channel Worldwide.

The soundtrack to the TV film was the biggest-selling album in the US last year, shifting 3.7m copies.

Hand-drawn revival

Meanwhile, Disney have also announced a return to traditional hand-drawn animation alongside the 3D animation which has dominated the industry over the last few years.

"We will be bringing back hand-drawn (two-dimensional) films," said Disney's Ed Catmull, president of Pixar and Disney feature animation.

Last year Disney bought Pixar, the animation company behind such 3D hits as Toy Story, Cars and Finding Nemo.

The 2D artform made Disney's name, with hand-drawn classics such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Catmull said Disney would do both hand-held animation and computer animation from now on - with a third instalment in the Toy Story saga spearheading the latter.

Scheduled for a 2009 release, Toy Story 3 will be directed by Lee Unkrich - a co-director on Toy Story 2 - from a screenplay by Little Miss Sunshine writer Michael Arndt.

"The greatest thing about the merger of the two companies is the creators of Toy Story 1 and 2 can make 3 with the story that we wanted," said Pixar's John Lasseter.

Disney has two nominations in the best short animation Oscar category this year - the 3D Lifted and 2D film The Little Match Girl.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Disney
Pixar
High School Musical
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites