The Princess Diaries (2001)

Mia Thermopolis has just found out that she is the heir apparent to the throne of Genovia. With her friends Lilly and Michael Moscovitz in tow, she tries to navigate through the rest of her sixteenth year.

Director:

Garry Marshall

Writers:

Meg Cabot (novel), Gina Wendkos (screenplay)

Stars:

Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Hector Elizondo

3 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Julie Andrews	...	Queen Clarisse Renaldi
Anne Hathaway	...	Mia Thermopolis
Hector Elizondo	...	Joe
Heather Matarazzo	...	Lilly Moscovitz
Mandy Moore	...	Lana Thomas
Caroline Goodall	...	Mia's Mom, Helen
Robert Schwartzman	...	Michael Moscovitz
Erik von Detten	...	Student Josh Bryant (as Erik Von Detten)
Patrick John Flueger	...	Student Jeremiah Hart (as Patrick Flueger)
Sean O'Bryan	...	Teacher Mr. O'Connell
Sandra Oh	...	Vice Principal Gupta
Kathleen Marshall	...	Charlotte Kutaway
Mindy Burbano	...	Gym Teacher Harbula
Kimleigh Smith	...	Music Teacher Wells (as Kim Leigh)
Elizabeth Gudenrath	...	Cheerleader Anna (as Beth Anne Garrison)

Storyline

Mia Thermopolis is the average teenager - sweet, a little geeky and pretty much invisible to everyone with the exception of her mother, best friend Lilly and Lilly's older brother Michael. Making it through high school without throwing up is a challenge in itself for Mia, so it doesn't come as welcome news when her estranged grandmother shows up out of the blue and calmly informs her that she is in fact the heir to the throne of a European country called Genovia. Suddenly Mia's life is thrown into complete overload. She's being taught about scarves, waves and pears in order to become a perfect princess, she gets a makeover and a tough looking yet sweet bodyguard/limo driver called Joe. Things get out of hand when the media gets a hold of the story and suddenly Mia is thrust into the spotlight in both the newspapers and in school. On top of all that Mia has a choice to make. She must decide by Genovia's Independence Day Ball whether she longs to relinquish her claim on the throne or to...

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Plot Keywords:

princess | makeover | manners | cinderella story | teenager | 

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Taglines:

She rocks. She rules. She reigns.

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Buena Vista Pictures Awards Consideration Site- catagories, screening calendar [United States] Disney

Country:

USA

Language:

English Dutch Italian

Release Date:

3 August 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

El diario de la princesa

Filming Locations:

Walt Disney Studios, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$22,862,269, 5 August 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$108,248,956

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$57,086,197

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures,BrownHouse Productions,Bottom of the Ninth Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Caroline Goodall first played a mother in Hook (1991), when she played the mother of Peter Pan's (Robin Williams') children, Moira Banning. The second time was in The Silver Brumby (1993), when she played Amiel Daemion's mother. Third was when she played Anne Hathaway's mother in this movie. The fourth was in Chasing Liberty (2004), when she played the First Lady, as well as Mandy Moore's mother.

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Goofs

In the very opening scene when the camera moves to Mia's window, you can see her hand opening the blinds as she is looking out. In the very next scene, she is opening it again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Helen Thermopolis: Time for school! Stop daydreaming, you'll be late for school.

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Crazy Credits

"Fat Louie" was credited as "Himself," when in fact there were four cats used for the part, none of them named Louie.

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Alternate Versions

The DVD contains 8 deleted scene which include:

• Mia asking Queen Clarice what was her nickname in highschool.
• Some shots of a puppet Mia being ordered about by Clarice which were inserted as Mia was late for her princess lesson.
• Mia's history teacher visiting Mia's house and getting paint on his jacket. As he takes it off, Mia catches him shirtless.
• Michael chatting with Mia on the school roof and removing an eyelash from her face.
• Michael and Mia sharing a pizza with M&M's on it.
• A scene that was supposed to show what the drunk man supposedly did at the last banquet-using a harp to slice eggs.
• Josh telling Mia how everyone at the beach party was waiting for him to do something so they could mimic him. Josh starts inventing a banana dance in which everyone copies and starts doing.
• Lana being exposed to the press for claiming she was Mia's best friend when she wasn't.

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Connections

Referenced in Twice: What Is Love? (2018)

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Soundtracks

Wanderin' Blues
Written and Performed by John Fiddy, Paul Jones, and Tony Tape
Courtesy of Associated Production Music

User Reviews

Anne Hathaway's makes it memorable

Though this story sounds like a cheesy teenage fairy tale attempt, it is something quite the contrary. The 'girl who finds out she is a princess' story, has been most certainly covered, but this makes you forget about it being a fairy tale cliché.

All thanks to Anne Hathaway, who just sizzled as Mia – her cool/ funny tone of voice and personality, just made her picture perfect. It was as is she was just born to play it. In the end, this movie ranked no.19 in the top 20 movie list of the year 2001, grossing more than 100 million at the box office….something which it completely deserved. Julie Andrews, makes a sudden re-appearance as Queen Clarise. Though she does fit perfectly to what the casting director's envisage of the Queen, there is something that does not fit, to make it perfect. However, that does not stop anyone from not enjoying the movie and having fun. Mandy Moore's debut performance…well was HORRIBLE (listen to her cover version of 'Stupid Cupid'- its even worst than her acting)! But because Anne Hathaway's character was brought out with a lot of strength, all these minor faults seemed invisible. Hector Elizondo was equally good as the chauffeur Joe. He had wit and the personality. Heather Matarazzo always plays a freak, and in this case, it is still the same.

This may be a kiddie movie, but I believe it was made for everyone to enjoy it- and it did serve it's purpose. I ENJOYED THIS MOVIE SO MUCH and would make a great recommendation, for anyone who just wants to make movie night fun.