I remember wanting to see The Princess Diaries when it came out in 2001. I wasn’t able to go see it in the theater, but I did rent it once it was out on VHS and DVD. I enjoyed the movie and wanted to get the DVD. I only recently got the DVD once a new special edition was released.

Mia Thermopolis was a fifteen year old girl living in San Francisco with her mother Helen. Her parents were divorced and Mia had never met her father before his death. Helen was an artist. Mia went to a private school. She and her friend Lily weren’t the most popular students. They were frequently picked on by Lana and the other cheerleaders. Mia was intelligent, but she was clumsy. She didn’t like being the center of attention. She was surprised when her mother told her that her grandmother Clarisse wanted to see her. Mia was shocked when Clarisse told her that she was the queen of Genovia, a small country in Europe. That meant that Mia was a princess and her father had been the crown prince.

Mia was very upset with Helen for keeping such a big secret her whole life. Clarisse talked to Helen, telling her that if Mia didn’t accept the throne, Genovia would change forever. A distant relative would become the new ruler. The law in Genovia said that only a blood relative could rule. Clarisse had married into the royal family and her husband had died. Since her son recently died, Mia was the only direct descendant to the throne alive. Mia agreed to spend time with Clarisse learning how to be a princess. She would decide by the time of the Genovia Independence Ball if she would accept the throne or not. Joseph, Clarisse’s head of security, would watch over Mia.

Mia started to learn better posture and manners. Clarisse brought in Paulo, a hairdresser, to give Mia a new hairstyle. Her appearance did change dramatically. Lily was very freaked out, but calmed down once Mia explained what was going on. The press discovered who Mia was and staked out her school. Helen started to date Patrick O’Connell, one of Mia’s teachers. There were a lot of changes going on in Mia’s life that she had to deal with some way. Mia did a few things that really upset Lily and caused tension between the two friends.

CAST

Julie Andrews - Clarisse Renaldi, Queen of Genovia
Anne Hathaway - Mia Thermopolis
Hector Elizondo - Joe
Larry Miller - Paulo
Heather Matarazzo - Lily
Mandy Moore - Lana
Caroline Goodall - Helen Thermopolis
Sean O’Bryan - Patrick O’Connell
Erik Von Detten - Josh Bryant
Kathleen Marshall - Charlotte

The Princess Diaries was released in theaters in the summer of 2001. The movie was 114 minutes long and rated G. The movie is now available on VHS and DVD. The movie was based on the book of the same name by Meg Cabot. I have not read the book, so I don’t know how much was changed.

The Princess Diaries was a family movie. I do think that it is more likely that girls will like it more than boys though. I don’t think there really is anything that would interest boys in the movie. There wasn’t anything in the movie that would be objectionable for kids to see. Adults can enjoy this movie as well. It isn’t as annoying to adults as some movies made for kids are. I do think women would like the movie more than men, though my step dad has seen it and said he did like it.

The Princess Diaries was a fun light-hearted movie. Mia and Lily were picked on a bit in school, but it wasn’t too extreme most of the time. Most of the funny things happened because Mia was a bit clumsy. There was some physical comedy in the movie. One scene that I thought was very funny was when Mia was attempting to put on a pair of hose in the back of the limo. Hose can be difficult to put on anyway, but doing that in a moving vehicle would be next to impossible. There were some silly things that happened in the movie, but that didn’t bother me any. I wasn’t looking for a serious movie when I watched this. Some people might find this movie too silly.

Even though The Princess Diaries was light hearted overall, there were a few serious things in the movie. Mia hadn’t seen her father, and he had died a few months before the movie started. She was still dealing with that even though she didn’t really know him before his death. Helen had kept Mia in the dark about things related to her father’s family. Helen had even asked that her dad and Clarisse stay away while Mia was growing up so she would have a normal childhood. Helen thought that was best for her daughter. Mia was very upset once she found out the truth, and had to figure out how she was going to deal with it. She also had to deal with the press once they found out who she was. Those things did get resolved, which was no surprise. A few things related to those things did get a bit sappy, but it wasn’t too bad. This wasn’t a serious movie.

The plot of The Princess Diaries wasn’t the most original, but that didn’t bother me. I still thought that the movie was entertaining. When the movie first came out, I did read some things that compared it to Pretty Woman. There are definitely similarities, but there are some differences. Mia is younger than Vivian was, and not a working girl. They both went through a make over and their lives were changed. Both movies were directed by Gary Marshall. Hector Elizondo was in both movies. Elizondo seems to turn up in all of Gary Marshall’s movies. I think a few other actors in smaller parts have turned up in both movies as well. I have seen both movies and liked them both. There have been other movies that had a character, usually a female character, have a make over and change how they act. Since the movie wasn’t that original, it was predictable for the most part. I was all right with that, but some people may not be. I really wasn’t surprised by anything that happened in the movie, but it was still entertaining.

There was a small touch of romance in The Princess Diaries. Mia was a teenager and she had a crush on another student who didn’t seem to realize she was alive. There was another character that seemed to be interested in Mia. There were no love scenes, though there was a kiss or two. Mia talked about hoping for a first kiss and how she hoped it would be. Helen and Mia had a talk about how Helen started to date Patrick O’Connell, one of Mia’s teachers. Helen and Patrick were shown together in a few scenes, but that was all that was shown of their relationship. It was hinted that Joseph and Clarisse had feelings for each other, though neither acted on them.

The acting in The Princess Diaries was good. Anne Hathaway was very good as Mia. She was very believable in the part. Julie Andrews was wonderful of Clarisse. She seemed to be perfect for the part. She had to balance being a ruler of a country and a grandmother. I think she was very believable in the part. I liked Hector Elizondo as Joe. Mandy Moore played Lana, one of the stuck up girls that enjoyed picking on Mia. I thought that Mandy was very good in the part. Larry Miller had a small part as Paulo, the hairdresser that worked with Mia. Heather Matarazzo annoyed me a few times, but that was because of how the character of Lily was behaving. Kathleen Marshall did fine with her part as Charlotte. She was some kind of assistant to Clarisse. Caroline Goodall had less to do as Helen, but she was fine in the part.

CHARACTERS

Mia Thermopolis - Fifteen year old who learned that she was the princess of a small European country. She wasn’t popular, and liked staying in the background. She had a large cat named Fat Louie that she talked to sometimes.

Clarisse - Mia’s grandmother and the Queen of Genovia. Clarisse wanted Mia to learn how to be a princess and to accept that she was the future queen. Clarisse sometimes struggled with being a grandmother and a queen who was trying to do the best for her country.

Helen - Mia’s mother. Helen was an artist that lived in San Francisco with her daughter. She wanted her daughter to have a normal upbringing.

Lily - Mia’s best friend. Lily hosted a show that aired on a local cable channel. She believed in doing things to help protect the environment. Lily could be judgmental of things Mia did at times.

Joseph - He was the head of security for Clarisse. He was looking out for Mia and the two developed a friendship. Joseph had some feelings for Clarisse.

Lana Thomas - One of the popular girls at the school. Lana seemed to be the leader of the popular girls. She enjoyed teasing Mia and causing trouble.

Josh Bryant - Classmate of Mia’s. She had a crush on him. He was very popular and dating Lana.

Michael - Lily’s brother. He worked in a garage and had a band. He liked Mia.

DVD INFORMATION

The Princess Diaries is available on DVD and VHS. At the beginning of August 2004, a new Special Edition version of the DVD was released. This new version has two discs. One disc has the fullscreen version of the movie and the other has the widescreen version. There are eight deleted scenes and bloopers that haven’t been seen before. There is an exclusive sneak peek at The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. There are two featurettes, two music videos and features for use on the computer. The second disc has a commentary with Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway. There were some previews included on the DVD as well. The picture and sound quality on the DVD is very good. When the movie was first released on DVD in December of 2001, I rented it then. There were some extras on that version of the DVD as well, but it has been so long that I can’t remember what they were now. I do remember that this is a full screen version and a widescreen version.

I enjoyed The Princess Diaries. The movie was a little silly in places, but it was entertaining. This is a good family movie, though I think girls would like it more than boys.

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Shrek 2 ~

Other Family Movies
Freaky Friday ~ The Haunted Mansion ~ Around the World in 80 Days ~ Looney Tunes: Back in Action ~ The Cat in the Hat ~ Garfield ~



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8