Photos by Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

This is just some of the Hannah Montana merchandise that 9-year-old avid fan Abigail Griffin owns.

Third-grader Abigail Griffin is wearing a Hannah Montana wig for Halloween in this photo.

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A sample episode of "Hannah Montana," soaked in a plotline of pure-as-milk wholesomeness:

The main character is having a crisis. Should she endorse a perfume she hates, returning a red convertible she's too young to drive in the process?

As she freaks, her brother is living outdoors, auditioning for a reality show that's "Survivor"-esque.

Dad, meanwhile, just wants some muffins.

Add in a laugh track and a do-the-right-thing lesson, and you've got the life of Hannah Montana, the Disney Channel's latest princess. On a show that reportedly reaches 5 million viewers each week, teen actress Miley Cyrus plays a regular high schooler by day. Only her best friends know that by night she's really pop star Hannah Montana.

At 15, Hannah/Miley has achieved a level of fame this country has not seen since the Cabbage Patch Kids or Tickle Me Elmo.

Only in today's world, she is something rare -- a G-rated star whom parents don't mind their 'tween daughters emulating.

Here's proof: Last year's "Best of Both Worlds" tour was the nation's top concert ticket. All 55 shows sold out, some in as few as four minutes.

Last month, a Texas girl won tickets and caused a scandal by writing an essay claiming "My daddy died this year in Iraq." The story, the girl's mother later admitted, was false.

Hannah/Miley's fame also prompted 20 parents to plant their hands on a 400-pound statue of the singer during a Florida radio contest. Six days later, the last dad standing won passes to her concert.

On Friday, Disney will release "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," a 3-D movie.

But, here's the catch -- the film will stay in theaters for only one week.

Since going on sale Dec. 1, the film has become the top seller for movie ticketing service Fandango. Tickets at Tanglewood Mall's Carmike Cinemas were going so fast that Disney gave permission to add a second screen.

Why is Hannah/Miley reaching fame that today's parents have not seen since Duran Duran?

Her story, said Robert Thompson, a Syracuse University pop culture expert, is the ultimate fantasy.

Hannah Montana is a regular teen dealing with popularity and annoying brothers -- while, deep in her mind, she knows she's a rock star.

Boys, Thompson said, have idolized dual-identity figures for generations. Nerdy Clark Kent, for instance, was one phone booth away from being savior of the universe.

"Hannah doesn't save the world ... but she's a more realistic superhero, and that is a pop star," Thompson said. "It's like a young girl's version of Superman."

Hannah-mania hits Roanoke

On TV, Miley Cyrus is like any other girl. She wears sparkly clothes, has crushes on boys and tries squirming out of trouble.

Off-screen, she's managed to keep her image Sandra Dee-clean. The most scandalous thing celebrity blogger Perez Hilton can post is her new look -- darker hair and heavy makeup.

So far, at least. (This is where moms point to examples A and B of starlets gone bad -- Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears.)

She's the face that launched a thousand themed birthday parties. Her image appears on toothbrushes, body mist, T-shirts and pillows -- all pastel, of course. There's even Hannah Montana underwear (hear that Britney? Underwear!).

Her songs are on the iPods of girls ages 6 to 16. They know plots of the show, the names of her songs. They say it's funny and can be emotional, like the time her dad wrote the tune "Ready, Set, Don't Go."

Except that he wrote the lyrics on an airplane barf bag.

On TV and in real life, Miley's dad is country singer Billy Ray Cyrus.

Ah, Billy Ray. Roanoke County mom Stephanie Poe-Thomas remembers seeing him play West Virginia bars when she was in college.

Now, his party-in-the-back mullet has been traded for chin-length highlights.

In an age when even Bratz dolls are overtly sexual, all Poe-Thomas' daughter, Olivia, 5, knows is that Miley is the coolest thing ever.

"It is hard to find really good role models," said Poe-Thomas, 37. "It's so much better than these girls who wear their DUIs as their honor badges."

In Hannah Montana's world, there's no sexual innuendo. No four-letter words. Not even the slang and kid-speak Poe-Thomas calls "vanilla cursing."

She was glad to hear about the movie so her daughter could experience the phenomenon. When she looked for tickets to Miley's show in Greensboro, N.C., Google uncovered passes selling for $250.

"I love my daughter, but that's a little excessive," she said.

Roanoke dad Gene Thompson also tried getting tickets. He even went to Christiansburg to find a purple Hannah Montana iPod for daughters Allie, 8, and Daphne, 5, for Christmas.

Thompson, 31, said he likes the show because Miley focuses on school and wants to be treated normally.

As Allie explained, "she doesn't really like the publicity."

Not too old, not too young

When a reporter called Roanoke Catholic School looking for Hannah Montana fans, so many girls volunteered that the principal held a lottery for the final interviewees.

The winners included a fifth-grader who named her puppy Miley.

In addition to her music and clothes, young fans also like Miley's good example.

"It's really hard to find modest shows now," said 11-year-old Elizabeth Patterson.

Ann Clare Levy, a sixth-grader, used to watch "Zoey 101," a Nickelodeon show starring Britney's newly pregnant 16-year-old younger sister.

"Jamie Lynn [Spears] did some bad stuff," Ann Clare said. "And now I don't watch it anymore."

Girls such as third-grader Elizabeth Kemp are allowed to veer from Disney to reality fare such as "America's Next Top Model." It's not bad, but there are a lot of bleeps blocking the cursing.

Over at Disney, there's no swearing, and no bleeps.

"It's the one show my dad doesn't make fun of," Ann Clare said.

While no self-respecting teen would be caught dead watching "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" with her little brother, "Hannah Montana" is a show older siblings and parents can watch together.

With two sisters, Tanner Willis practically has a degree in the school of Miley. The William Byrd sixth-grader said he thinks the show is funny -- and that Miley is hot.

"It's kind of hard not to get hooked ... when you have two older sisters and one of 'em holds you and the other one punches you till they get the remote," he said.

Meanwhile, Thompson, the Syracuse expert, said the film's one-week stint follows Disney limited-release patterns. In the past, classics such as "Bambi" were shown in theaters every seven years.

When "Best of Both Worlds" opens, 9-year-old Abigail Griffin and her mom, Candy Griffin, will be there. Abigail is already a member of Miley's fan club, owns the box set of "Hannah Montana" DVDs and has bragging rights about seeing her in concert. Twice.

They know the movie will be around just days, and they plan to make the most of it.

"We'll probably go more than once," Candy Griffin said.