The Princess Diaries Special Edition
DVD cover
The Princess Diaries is a novel by Meg Cabot that was made into a film in 2001. The main story in both revolve around how a teenage girl named Mia Thermopolis discovers she is the princess of a fictional country called Genovia.
The film was directed by Garry Marshall and starred 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 firend Lilly Moscovitz, whose brother Michael, played by Robert Schwartzman, has a crush on Mia. Mia herself has a crush on Josh, portrayed by 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, is played by Caroline Goodall . Gary Marshall's daughter, Kathleen Marshall , plays the 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.
Though the book was set in New York, the film was set in San Francisco. The reason for the change was because Gary Marshall's grandchildren live in San Francisco. Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge have numerous cameos in the film, as does then Mayor Willie Brown.
A sequel to the film, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, was released in 2004. Sequels to the original books include Princess in the Spotlight , Princess in Love , Project Princess , Princess in Waiting , Princess Present, and .
In the UK editions of the books, the titles differ from the US release. Instead of referring to the plot line, they are puns on the book number. They are: The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries: Take Two, The Princess Diaries: Third Time Lucky, The Princess Diaries: Mia Goes Fourth and The Princess Diaries: Give Me Five.
The books are also about a teenage girl named Mia Thermopolis, although they are very different from the movies. Meg Cabot plans to follow Mia's life until she is 18 (graduates from college).
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