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

When Mia is driving the Mustang up hills with her grandmother, it is implied that it is a manual because it keeps drifting backwards on hills (it even drifts all the way down a hill and hits a bus). Also there is a close-up shot of her putting both feet on the brake pedal. Later in the movie when she's driving to the ball in the rain, the car stalls and she lays down on the front passenger seat. You can clearly see the gear shifter and it is an automatic. Therefore it wouldn't drift backwards on hills.

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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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Connections

References Pretty Woman (1990)

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Soundtracks

I Love Life
Written by Melissa Lefton and Andy Goldmark
Performed by Melissa Lefton
Courtesy of Jive Records

User Reviews

Cool movie - great plot

This is one of the few movies that really made me meditate of my own life, and the invisibility around me. I think that Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews are the coolest grandaughter-grandmother couple I've ever seen - Julie Andrews being such a great actress, and Hathaway being so beautiful. Lame acting for Lana - whoever interprets her - doesn't look like a real spoilt brat - See Freaky Friday's spoilt brats for more. Anyway, cool, great movie with a superb plot - can't wait for part 2. I give it a 10. The love story between the two characters - Mia and Michael was so nice, and the line "You saw me when I was invisible" was sooooo cool.