Princess Protection Program (2009) (TV)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Allison Liddi

Writers:

Annie DeYoung (story)
Annie DeYoung (written by)

Release Date:

26 June 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family

Tagline:

Royality meets reality.

Plot:

When a tiny country is invaded by a dictator, a young Princess (later known as Rosie) is taken into custody by the Princess Protection Program...

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Dictator | Protection | Bait Shop | Teen

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Selena Gomez	...	Carter Mason
Demi Lovato	...	Rosalinda / Rosie Gonzales
Jamie Chung	...	Chelsea Barnes
Nicholas Braun	...	Ed
Molly Hagan	...	The Director
Kevin G. Schmidt	...	Bull
Dale Dickey	...	Helen
Samantha Droke	...	Brooke
Robert Adamson	...	Donnie
Tom Verica	...	Major Joe Mason
Johnny Ray	...	General Magnus Kane
Talia Rothenberg	...	Margaret
Sully Diaz	...	Sophia
Ricardo Alvarez	...	Elegante
Brian Tester	...	Principal Burkle
Cristina Soler	...	Latina Lunch Lady
Ramon Saldana	...	Archbishop

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Colegio San José, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico

Company:

Disney Channel

Trivia:

Originally Selena Gomez was cast as Rosie and Demi Lovato was cast as Carter. Later they decided to switch their parts and they were in fact both happier with the final casting.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Chelsea and Brooke are in the gym reading the magazine article, as they walk away from the camera out the door you can see their microphone packs clipped under their shirts on their hips.

Quotes:

[reading an article in a Spanish magazine]
Brooke: It's about Rosie and her mom. One of them has fled the country, and one is in prison or a paper bag. I keep getting those two mixed up.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Studio DC: Almost Live (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

One and the Same

From the Politics of Demi's nation to the Politics of Selena's high school

With all the hype that the Magic Kingdom has been giving this film over the past several months, I expected something a lot better from the Princess Protection Program. I think most kids even those who look at stars Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez as role models and they're not bad ones either, would find this film just too much.

Selena is the daughter of widower Tom Verica who is the owner of a bait shop in the bayous of Louisiana and also works for the CIA. He just finished a mission where he rescued a princess from a small Caribbean island nation which just had a military coup. Now he's deposited Princess Demi Lovato with his daughter and drawn her into his other life.

Selena's mission and she's got no choice but to accept it is to make Lovato blend in like a normal teen, at least a normal teen in the Disney view. From the politics of Lovato's nation to the politics of Gomez's high school, the two girls get off to a rocky start, but in the end become great pals.

In the pattern of what they do at Disney Studios when they have successful stars from successful shows they always try to mix and match and team these stars in film projects. This was one case where the film idea was so preposterous no matter how appealing these two young women are, they simply couldn't put it over. They're both far better at their Disney shows than in this film.

I mean really, CIA dad gets daughter to help out on one of his missions? I don't think Princess Protection Program would have ever been made if Disney himself was around, though perhaps for different reasons than I didn't like it.