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:

Official site

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Dutch Italian

Release Date:

3 August 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Princess Diaries

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

The Latin motto in the Genovian crest is best translated as "The whole body works".

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Goofs

When the vice-principal says, "Oh, come on, girls, it's a ball, not a snake," her mouth doesn't match the words.

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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 Chasing Life: Bottle of Secrets (2015)

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Soundtracks

Blueside
Written by Robert Schwartzman

User Reviews

Warm and sweet

This film is about a 15 year old ordinary school girl finding out her royal descent all of a sudden.

Anne Hathaway is great as a mischievous girl, and her transformation into an elegant princess is stunning. She expresses her character very well, be it the shy girl, the mischievous and happy girl or the elegant princess. Julie Andrews is amazingly elegant and noble as the Queen. The film is warm, sweet and fun. It also has the obligatory moral message about egocentricity being bad. Mia also makes the point of her being the same person before and after being a princess. I think it is an important point, as contrary to popular belief, status does not really change who you really are. This film serves its purpose as warm entertainment, and it will bring a smile to your face.