The Moment
Disney kids, we have a polite little turf war on our hands.
Hilary Duff recently revisited The Lizzie McGuire Movie for a chat with Vanity Fair and pointed out the very obvious overlap between her film’s secret-pop-star storyline and Hannah Montana. She said she was sure Lizzie’s big-screen adventure was “some source of inspiration” for Miley Cyrus’ later double-life franchise, according to a new report from TMZ published January 21, 2026.
Now ,Michael Poryes, the creator of Hannah Montana, is stepping in to say: absolutely not.
Speaking to TMZ, Poryes says Disney approached him with a broad idea to build a show around a pop star. He claims he developed the Hannah Montana concept in a small garage office in Los Angeles and insists there was “zero” inspiration from Lizzie McGuire. In fact, he says he’d never even seen the movie and had only watched one or two episodes of the series when he started brainstorming.
He’s not knocking Lizzie, though. Poryes reportedly called Lizzie McGuire a “clever” show and credited its success with opening doors at Disney, including for his earlier hit That’s So Raven. But when it comes to Miley’s blonde wig and the secret superstar life, he says that came from his own process, not from Hilary’s Italian pop-princess moment.
So we’ve got one Disney alum saying, “Of course we inspired that,” and the show’s creator saying, “Actually, no you didn’t.” Classic.
The Take
I don’t think this is a feud so much as a classic case of “who gets credit for the idea” in a town that thrives on recycled plots.
On one side, you’ve got Hilary Duff, looking back at her early-2000s mega-hit and noticing that, yes, the Lizzie-in-Rome-as-pop-star storyline looks a whole lot like the DNA of Hannah Montana. She’s not being bitter; she’s just pointing out a pattern and saying Disney clearly knew this formula worked.
On the other side, Michael Poryes is basically saying, “Hold on, I wasn’t copying you. I barely watched your show.” To him, the idea apparently came from a very different place: Disney wanted a pop-star vehicle, and he built the double-life concept around that brief.
Honestly? Both things can be a little bit true without anyone stealing anything. Disney is a giant machine. Executives absolutely pay attention when something pops, especially a tween girl property like Lizzie McGuire. Do I believe they clocked “young girl + secret glamorous world = money”? Of course. That’s literally their job.
But that doesn’t mean Poryes sat there freeze-framing Lizzie in Rome and tracing it scene by scene. A secret-identity pop star is not the most niche idea in the world. It’s basically a fairy tale with a wig and better lighting.
The whole thing reminds me of two neighbors, both claiming they “invented” the cul-de-sac block party. One family held theirs first, sure. But the other family might have thrown their own version simply because summer exists and hot dogs are cheap.
The more interesting question isn’t “who inspired whom,” it’s why this still matters so much to us. And the answer is: these shows raised a generation. If you grew up with Lizzie, it feels like she walked so Hannah could run. If you grew up with Hannah, you might feel like Disney bottled magic twice.
In the nostalgia economy, origin stories are currency. Fans like knowing who was first, who copied whom, and whose show “counts” as the original girl-popstar fantasy. But from the outside, this looks less like drama and more like a very Disney outcome: two different projects, one profitable formula.
Receipts
Confirmed:
- Michael Poryes, creator of Hannah Montana, told TMZ that there was “zero” inspiration from Lizzie McGuire and that he had never seen the movie, only one or two episodes of the series, when he developed the show (TMZ report, Jan. 21, 2026).
- Poryes says Disney pitched him the general idea of doing a show about a pop star, and he created the Hannah Montana concept in a garage office in Los Angeles (same TMZ interview).
- Poryes praised Lizzie McGuire as a “clever” show and acknowledged its success helped open the door for him to create That’s So Raven, credited as Disney Channel’s first four-camera sitcom (TMZ, Jan. 21, 2026; Disney Channel production records).
- Hilary Duff, while rewatching parts of The Lizzie McGuire Movie for a conversation with Vanity Fair, pointed out similarities between the secret-pop-star storyline in the film and Hannah Montana, saying she was “sure” Lizzie’s movie was “some source of inspiration” for Disney (as quoted in TMZ’s Jan. 21, 2026 piece).
- Lizzie McGuire originally aired on Disney Channel from 2001-2004, with The Lizzie McGuire Movie released in 2003; Hannah Montana aired from 2006-2011 (Disney Channel and film release records).
Unverified / Not Publicly Documented:
- What Disney executives specifically discussed behind closed doors when greenlighting Hannah Montana and whether they directly referenced The Lizzie McGuire Movie.
- Whether any internal Disney notes, pitches, or memos explicitly linked the Lizzie-in-Rome storyline to the later Hannah double-life concept.
- How Hilary Duff or Miley Cyrus personally feel today about possible overlaps in their franchises, beyond the brief comments already on record.
Backstory (For Casual Readers)
If you weren’t glued to Disney Channel in the early 2000s, here’s the quick refresher. Lizzie McGuire, starring Hilary Duff, followed a clumsy but lovable middle-school girl and her animated inner thoughts. The 2003 movie sent Lizzie to Rome, where she gets mistaken for a famous Italian pop star and briefly lives a double life on stage. A few years later, Hannah Montana arrived, with Miley Cyrus playing Miley Stewart, a seemingly ordinary teen who secretly performs worldwide as superstar Hannah Montana, hiding behind a blonde wig so she can have, yes, “the best of both worlds.” Both shows became cultural touchstones for their eras.
What’s Next
Realistically, this isn’t heading toward lawsuits or some big studio showdown. This is more likely to live where most nostalgia debates do now: in fan group chats, TikTok explainers, and those “who did it first?” threads that refuse to die.
Hilary’s comments and Poryes’ response do, however, crack open a broader conversation about how Disney (and Hollywood in general) builds its empires. When a formula works for one young female lead, it often gets repackaged for the next generation with a new soundtrack and fresh wardrobe budget.
What I’ll be watching for is whether anyone else from the inner circle chimes in. If Miley ever tackles this in a memoir or a long interview, or if Hilary expands on her thoughts in more detail, the story could shift from “Did Disney borrow?” to “How did it actually feel for the women fronting these machines?”
In the meantime, nobody’s legacy is really threatened here. Hilary Duff’s Lizzie gave a whole generation permission to be awkward and hopeful at the same time. Miley Cyrus’ Hannah turned the secret-pop-star fantasy into a full-blown global juggernaut. Whether they share a little creative DNA or just a very savvy corporate parent, both franchises clearly did what they were meant to do: take center stage in their moment.
So maybe the better question isn’t who inspired whom, but which girl you saw yourself in first: the Rome impostor with the sparkly dress, or the Nashville teen with the wig and the stadium tour.
Your turn: Do you see Hannah Montana as a clear evolution of Lizzie McGuire, or do you buy the creator’s claim that it was a totally separate idea?
Sources: TMZ staff report, “‘Hannah Montana’ Was Not Inspired by ‘Lizzie McGuire,’ Show Creator Says,” published Jan. 21, 2026; Disney Channel and Walt Disney Pictures archival listings for Lizzie McGuire, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Hannah Montana, and That’s So Raven (air and release dates accessed via publicly available records as of 2024); Hilary Duff discussion of The Lizzie McGuire Movie for Vanity Fair, as quoted in the Jan. 21, 2026 TMZ report.
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