One of the surprise breakout hits of the 2019-20 television season was definitely High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, found exclusively on Disney Plus. What could have been an easily-dismissed Disney Channel reboot instead became a magical, enchanting, and genuinely compelling series.
Toeing the line perfectly between homage and new frontiers, the Tim Federle-created series already has a fervent fan following. This is thanks, as well, to the fun band of characters who populate the world of the series. Like a real drama club, the characters are extremely varied, but mesh well together for the greater good. As such, their representative signs on the Chinese Zodiac are quite disparate.
Rat: Ashlyn
The two qualities of the Rat that Ashlyn best embodies are her quick wit and her overwhelming sense of kindness. She treats everyone she meets with the utmost sweetness.
However, she is also quick with a joke. On the series, Ashlyn always had a punchline to make her friends laugh. Talented and funny, she’s undoubtedly a Rat representative.
Ox: Ryan Evans
Technically, Ryan doesn’t quite appear again in the series, but Lucas Grabeel does turn up to play a dream hybrid version of himself and Ryan from the original HSM films. Of course, this paints him as a member of the Year of the Ox.
Oxen are known for being dependable creatures and that’s exactly what Ryan is. He’s one of the most dependable characters because he can enter and churn out a ton of nostalgia. He’s also probably the best singer from the original cast!
Tiger: Kourtney
The Year of the Tiger is practically synonymous with bravery. So who is more perfect to bring the Tigers to the forefront from the series than Kourtney, who sings “Born to Be Brave”?
Kourtney always has a ton of confidence and strives to be the best she can be, even when tasked with an uncomfortable job. Kourtney is one of the easiest characters to categorize because she oozes Tiger vibes.
Rabbit: Big Red
A lot of the laughs surprisingly come from Big Red, the reluctant stage crew chief on the series. However, Big Red is more than just comic relief. He’s also all the attributes of the Rabbit.
He handles his responsibility with aplomb, even if he’s not sure what he’s doing. And Big Red always shares niceness with the people he encounters. Those two facets make him a perfect Rabbit.
Dragon: Nini
Early in the series, Nini seems like she needs to go on a journey to find her voice. Quickly, though, she shows that she has it within her already and she’s a different kind of protagonist.
She is emotionally and academically intelligent and she harbors a great deal of enthusiasm for her passions and her friends. The love Nini has in her heart for being alive is what makes her a perfect symbol of the Dragon.
Snake: Mr. Mazzara
Mr. Mazzara is a character who has to undergo a redemption arc on HSM: TM: TS. He starts out aloof and outright cruel to some students.
Over time, he shows that he has wisdom and the ability to lend a helping hand to the people at East High. That still posits him as an enigma, though, which is why he slots in for Snake.
Horse: E.J.
E.J. is another character who experiences a complete redemption arc, but his is marked by a great many laughs, too. E.J. has so much energy and he often has no idea what to do with it.
This results in it occasionally coming out in unsavory ways, but E.J. always tries to be the best he can. This level of activity is what aligns him strongly with the sign of the Horse.
Goat: Seb
Seb, who plays Sharpay in the musical put on by the school, has a smaller role in the first season, but he’ll be expanded upon in season two! It will be great to have the vibes of a Goat more prevalent in the series.
Seb is very relaxed and doesn’t let any of the nervous elements of the world phase him. He might be one of the most talented students in the entire school, but he never acts arrogantly about it.
Monkey: Miss Jenn
Monkeys are marked by their acute awareness of all situations. They understand the surface level of interactions, but their curious intuition leads them beneath the depths of them, too.
That’s a perfect way to describe Miss Jenn. She’s not always honest, but she has a deep and abiding understanding of the true talents of all her students. She’s one of East High’s most valuable faculty members.
Rooster: Carlos
Carlos is a character who is destined for bigger things beyond East High. As he says in the first episode, he belongs on Broadway. And he’s not wrong.
No one works harder than Carlos to put the show on. However, he’s also an empathetic person that makes him as emotionally observant as a Rooster.
Dog: Gina
Dogs are loyal, for sure. However, Dogs in the Chinese Zodiac are also known for their ability to be honest in most situations.
That describes Gina perfectly. She harbors intense loyalty for people she only just met, but she’s also not afraid to tell the truth to them, even when the truth hurts. At first, she uses that ability for power, but eventually, she harnesses it for good.
Pig: Ricky
Lastly, there is Ricky, the male lead on the High School Musical series. He fits the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Pig because of how diligent he is at becoming a quality singer, dancer, and actor for the show in which he is cast as the lead.
Ricky feels a lot of emotions throughout the course of the show because he has a ton of compassion. As such, people have a lot of compassion for him. That’s how it works when one is a Pig.
