The Princess Diaries (film)
| The Princess Diaries | |
|---|---|
| File:The Princess Diaries original theatrical poster.jpg Original theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Garry Marshall |
| Written by | Meg Cabot (novel) Gina Wendkos (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Debra Martin Chase Whitney Houston Mario Iscovich |
| Starring | Julie Andrews Anne Hathaway Hector Elizondo Heather Matarazzo Mandy Moore Caroline Goodall Robert Schwartzman Erik von Detten |
| Cinematography | Karl Walter Lindenlaub |
| Edited by | Bruce Green |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures |
Release date | August 3 2001 |
Running time | 115 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $37 million USD (estimated) |
The Princess Diaries is a comedy-drama film and the screen adaptation of Meg Cabot's 2000 novel of the same name. The film stars Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis, a teenager who discovers that she is the heir to the throne of the fictional Genovia, ruled by her grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi, who is portrayed by Julie Andrews. It also stars Heather Matarazzo as Thermopolis' best friend Lilly Moscovitz, Hector Elizondo as Renaldi's head of security, and Robert Schwartzman as Moscovitz's brother, who has a crush on Thermopolis.
It was released to North American theatres on August 3 2001 and peaked at number three on the box office chart. The Princess Diaries produced ticket sales well over its production budget.
Plot
Template:Spoiler Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) is a fifteen-year-old tenth grade private school student who lives with her mother Helen (Caroline Goodall) and cat Fat Louie in a San Francisco firehouse; her father died years earlier. Although she is a good student, she is very unpopular, but has two friends: Lilly Moscovitz (Heather Matarazzo) and her brother Michael (Robert Schwartzman), who has a crush on her. Mia is regularly teased by fellow peers for her gawkiness and frizzy hair, mostly by Lana Thomas (Mandy Moore), a fellow tenth grader who is captain of the school cheerleading team. Mia is jealous of Lana because she is in a relationship with Josh Bryan (Erik von Detten), a twelfth grader whom she has had a crush on since grade school.
Shortly before Mia's sixteenth birthday, she learns from her mother that her paternal grandmother is visiting from Genovia, a country in Europe. At first Mia does not want to see her, but agrees to after some persuasion. The next day, Mia meets her grandmother, Clarisse Renaldi (Julie Andrews), for the first time, who explains that the reason she wanted to see her was because of a "life-changing" problem. Clarisse is the queen of Genovia and confides that the coming weeks would result in whether the throne remained in their bloodline. Because her father died, Mia is the only heir to the Genovian throne. She is shocked to learn that she is a princess and quickly leaves the house.
After a thorough discussion with her mother and grandmother, Mia reluctantly agrees to attend "princess lessons", after which Clarisse hopes to present her to the Genovian government at the forthcoming State Dinner. She is also introduced to Joe (Hector Elizondo), who becomes her security guard. With the additional class tied in with her daily schedule, Mia begins forgetting to help Lilly with her homework or watch Michael's band perform at a nearby auto-mechanic shop. During a "princess lessons" session, Clarisse informs her granddaughter that she will undergo a makeover, which is completed by Paolo (Larry Miller). Lilly confronts Mia after she undergoes the change. Their friendship almost comes to an end, but Mia decides to tell Lilly that she is a princess and results in their relationship becoming stronger than before.
Days later, San Francisco learns that Mia is the heir to the Genovian throne; Paolo told the media. Although unimpressed, Clarisse opts to ignore the situation and prepares for the State Dinner, which Mia attends, though managing to somewhat humiliate herself in the process. The Saturday after the dinner, Mia agrees to appear on Lilly's public access television program Shut Up and Listen and to watch Michael's band perform at a venue that same night. However, Josh Bryan asks Mia to go with him to the Baker Beach Bash, the school's annual beach party, and she excitedly agrees. She remembers to tell Michael that she will go to see his band the following Saturday night, but forgets to tell Lilly of the change. The beach party goes well at first, but spirals out of control when the media learn of Mia's presence. Josh publicly embarrasses her by kissing her in front of the photographers, and Lana helps them take pictures of her clad only in a towel. This causes a media frenzy, and Clarisse is not pleased.
To reconstruct her friendships with Lilly and Michael, Mia invites them to the Genovian Independence Day Ball, where she must reveal whether or not she wants to accept her duties as a princess. Originally intent on running away to Colorado, Mia finds a sixteenth birthday gift and letter from her father, written before his death. After reading the letter, she changes her mind and makes her way to the ball, as it begins raining. Joe finds her drenched halfway to the event. Upon arrival, Mia makes a speech announcing her acceptance to the Genovian throne. She is happy to see that her friends attended, and kisses Michael in the garden. The film ends with the cast dancing informally, and Mia on an airplane arriving in Genovia as she narrates the coming summer's events.
Production
The film was directed by Garry Marshall, produced by Debra Martin Chase, and stars Julie Andrews as Clarisse Renaldi and Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis. The movie was also the film debut for singer Mandy Moore as the stereotypical cheerleader Lana Thomas, who makes ruining Mia's life her personal mandate. Heather Matarazzo also stars as Mia's best friend Lilly Moscovitz, whose brother Michael (Robert Schwartzman) has a crush on Mia. Mia herself has a crush on Josh (Erik von Detten) which culminates in a disaster date.
Hector Elizondo also appears in the film as Joseph "Joe" the head of Genovian security and Larry Miller as Paolo, whose character gives Mia a makeover. Mia's mother, an artist named Helen Thermopolis (Caroline Goodall), falls in love with Mia's debate teacher, Patrick O'Connell (Sean O'Bryan). Garry Marshall's daughter, Kathleen Marshall, plays Clarisse's secretary Charlotte Kutaway. Charlotte's surname is mentioned only in the credits and Gary Marshall says it's a reference to how Charlotte is often used in cutaway shots. Sandra Oh plays the role of Vice-Principal Gupta.
Though the book was set in New York City, the film was set in San Francisco. The reason for the change was that Garry Marshall's grandchildren live in San Francisco. West coast radio personalities Mark & Brian appear as themselves.
The film's soundtrack includes "Miracles Happen (When You Believe)" by Myra. Among the film's producers was singer Whitney Houston.
A sequel to the film, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, was released in 2004.
Cast
- Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse Renaldi
- Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis
- Hector Elizondo as Joe
- Heather Matarazzo as Lilly Moscovitz
- Mandy Moore as Lana Thomas
- Caroline Goodall as Helen Thermopolis
- Robert Schwartzman as Michael Moscovitz
- Erik von Detten as Josh Bryant
- Patrick Flueger as Jeremiah Hart
- Sean O'Bryan as Patrick O'Connell
- Sandra Oh as Vice-Principal Gupta
- Kathleen Marshall as Charlotte Kutaway
- Mindy Burbano as Ms. Harbula
- Kimleigh Smith as Music Teacher Wells
- Beth Anne Garrison as Anna
- Bianca Lopez as Fontana
Books
Template:Spoiler-about The Princess Diaries books are not simple makeover stories as the movie is. Mia is portrayed as a very awkward adolescent, even (or especially) after her makeover. Her grandmother is not the queen of Genovia but merely the dowager princess. Mia's father, Phillipe Renaldo, is not dead. However, he is a survivor of testicular cancer and is therefore physically unable to produce another heir, forcing Mia to take the Genovian throne.
Mia's grandmother, Clarisse Renaldi, is not as kind and grandmotherly as she is portrayed in the movies. In fact, she is very harsh towards Mia most of the time, smokes often, and is somewhat clueless about the lives of non-royal people. However, she does have some heartfelt moments, such as "adopting" an orphan named Johanna for Mia to sponsor.
Also, there is no character of Joe the security guard. However, Mia has a bodyguard in the book named Lars, who bears some similarity to Joe. Also, Lana's sidekicks Ana and Fontana and Lilly's friend Jeremiah are not in the book. Plus in the books Mia has many other friends besides Lilly and Michael, including Shameeka Taylor, Ling Su, Boris Pelkowski, and Tina Hakim Baba (whom Mia befriends during a fight with Lilly).
There are also very small changes in simple things, such as in the books Lilly's show is called Lilly Tells It Like It Is rather than Shut Up and Listen; Mia's teacher who dates her mother is Mr. Gianini, not O'Connell, and he plays a bigger role in the books; the movie mentions Phillipe's brother, but in the books he is an only child; and in the book, Josh and Lana's last names are Richter and Weinberger, respectively, not Bryant and Thomas. On the DVD, Garry Marshall explained that Lana's surname was changed since it was thought that the seating in Mia's school would be alphabetical and that, since "Thomas" and "Thermopolis" are so close to each other, Mia and Lana would therefore be forced to sit next to each other in their classes. Template:Endspoiler
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Heartland Award of Excellence | ||
| 2002 | Alma Award - Outstanding Song in a Motion Picture Soundtrack | "Miracles Happen" by Myra | Nominated |
| ASCAP Top Box Office Film | John Debney | ||
| Artios Award - Best Casting for Feature Film, Comedy | Marcia Ross Donna Morong Gail Goldberg |
Nominated | |
| BFCA Award - Best Family Film - Live Action | |||
| Golden Trailer Award - Best Animation/Family | |||
| Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award - Best Contemporary Makeup - Feature | Hallie D'Amore Leonard Engelman | ||
| MTV Movie Award - Breakthrough Female Performance | Anne Hathaway | ||
| Teen Choice Award - Film - Choice Actress, Comedy | Anne Hathaway | ||
| Teen Choice Award - Film - Choice Movie, Comedy | |||
| Young Artist Award - Best Family Feature Film - Comedy |
Trivia
- In one scene, Robert Schwartzman's real-life group Rooney makes a cameo playing a garage band named Flypaper, whose lead singer is Michael, played by Schwartzman.
- Anne Hathaway was hired for the role of Mia on the spot when she accidentally fell off her chair (which she does in the film as well) during her audition.
- Meryl Streep was originally selected to play the role of Clarisse Renaldi and had already received her script, but director Garry Marshall thought Julie Andrews would better portray the character.
- The egg chef in the kitchen during the rain sequence towards the end of the movie is young actor/producer Anthony Begonia doing research.