HIGH School Musical 3 has already smashed box office booking records in the UK, well ahead of its nationwide release on October 22.

Unless you have been living in a cave for the last week, you won't have escaped the buzz around Disney's latest offering.

What started out as a modest TV movie back in January 2006 has fast become a global phenomenon, with its first theatrical release smashing UK box office records for advance ticket sales weeks before it's even on the silver screen. And then there was the London premiere, where thousands of young fans skipped school and queued for hours to get a glimpse of the show's fresh-faced stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale.

For anyone who doesn't have HSM-obsessed children, it's hard to understand the fuss about the squeaky clean musical extravaganza.

It's almost Grease-lite - no smoking, swearing or sex, but plenty of colour, catchy tunes, soppy lines and spine-tingling dance sequences.

Vanessa, who plays one half of the romantic leads Gabriella and Troy (Zac), sums it up neatly: "Kids can relate to us and our characters.”