TORONTO -- In the two decades since "Clueless" was released, the sleeper hit comedy centred on a clique of privileged teens has proved to have enduring appeal, extending well beyond the fictionalized halls of high school into the far reaches of pop culture.

Based on Jane Austen's "Emma," writer-director Amy Heckerling's 1995 movie offered a humorous depiction of L.A. life with an unexpected sweetness and heart emerging from beneath its designer-swathed surface. "Clueless" helped catapult Alicia Silverstone (Cher), Stacey Dash (Dionne), the late Brittany Murphy (Tai) and its cast of relative unknowns to fame and led to a spinoff TV series.

Social media sites and Twitter feeds continue to tout the famous styles and clever catchphrases popularized by the characters. Rapper Iggy Azalea paid homage with the "Clueless"-inspired video for her chart-topper "Fancy," complete with sendups of memorable scenes and Azalea wearing replicas of Cher's wardrobe.

Charlie Lyne, director of "Beyond Clueless," an exploration of teen cinema that screened at the Hot Docs festival in Toronto, credits "Clueless" for helping reinvigorate Hollywood's confidence in the film genre.

"You had this real deathly period for teen movies at the beginning of the '90s after the John Hughes wave had ended, and then studios really kind of weren't interested in those films. They were thought of as a bit of financial disaster area," said Lyne, whose film is slated for release on iTunes and video on demand come the end of January, according to Canadian distributor KinoSmith.

"That movie -- which was so not expected to be a success and was so massively successful -- really kicked into gear this whole wave of teen movies that then really dominated Hollywood for the next decade."

Yet times sure have changed on the big screen since Cher, Dionne and Tai dished on boy drama and spent idle time devoted to shopping and self-grooming. The seemingly simplistic troubles of '90s teen life pale in comparison to the traumatic tales of violence and death featured in "The Fault in Our Stars," "If I Stay," "Divergent" and "The Hunger Games" trilogy.

"I don't think we make teen movies quite like that anymore," said Jesse Wente, director of film programmes at TIFF Bell Lightbox, which featured "Clueless" as part of its "Back to the '90s" series. "There are fewer and fewer instances where there are movies about teens ... that are actually set in high school.

"Usually, they're a little more removed from that whether they're sort of fantastical, like 'Hunger Games.' But you rarely nowadays -- or at least less frequently -- do you get a movie that's in a locker room, hallways of school that's very specific about high school."

Wente said there is also a desire by studios to have franchises, translating to film series like "Hunger Games" and "Harry Potter."

"These are meant to be huge franchises that give a studio a chance to release a new episode every year for a number of years and really have a tentpole in a way -- and I think that's largely the attraction."

The changing nature of the film industry also gives movies less of a chance to gradually build at the box office, noted Scott Henderson, associate professor in the department of communication, popular culture and film at Brock University.

"It used to be films had weeks or months. I remember films going over a year in theatres and it could slowly build an audience. Now it's all about that opening weekend and getting everybody in there, and films don't stick around as long," said Henderson.

"The broader your audience, the better chance you have. So something like 'The Hunger Games' gives us a strong female heroine, a kind of teen focus in terms of romance and the age group, but it has the action element. It kind of draws everybody in. 'Divergent' and those other series are aiming at some of the same sorts of audiences there."

While the content of today's teen-centred flicks may seem grim in comparison to "Clueless," Wente said older films have also featured heavier fare, like 1983 movie "WarGames," and 2000's "Battle Royale."

"I think we've seen a pattern where teen movies will deal with death or war or larger issues. So I don't think it's especially new," said Wente. "I think it's more the franchise mould that they've now undertaken which is a byproduct of the commercial film industry that we now exist in."

Lyne said his "pet theory" behind the teen movie downturn in the mid-2000s could be attributed to the action blockbusters now being fronted by younger stars rather than the "middle-aged burly men" who headlined previous movies.

"Obviously, Spider-Man is often a teenager, but you had those three 'Spider-Man' movies with a young Peter Parker and you had something like 'Transformers' where had it been made in 1992 absolutely would have starred Bruce Willis (rather) than a scrawny, teenaged Shia LaBeouf," he said from London.

"I think teenage actors and teenage characters kind of got sucked into that genre, and there wasn't any room left for teen movies. They were being kind of occupied by them."

And while high school-centred films may not currently populate theatres in big numbers, Wente said he doesn't think the format has completely vanished, pointing to the success of musical comedy "Pitch Perfect" (which will have a sequel in 2015).

"Granted, it's a movie set at a university; but for teenagers, that is still a teen movie and speaks sort of directly to a teen experience."

While current teen-centred films present a different facade than frothier films, Henderson said at the root of contemporary movies are many of the same themes that have been central to the teen genre.

"'Divergent' is all about fitting in. 'Hunger Games' is to a large degree as well, with aspects of romance, the kind of classical choice Katniss faces between which kind of guy (she wants). ...

"At their heart, there are still these similar concerns."