The Parent Trap Two-Movie Collection (The Parent Trap / The Parent Trap II)
by David Swift, Ronald F. Maxwell
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bridgette Andersen, Carrie Kei Heim, Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, Tom SkerrittDirector: David Swift, Ronald F. Maxwell
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Writer: David Swift
Producer: Alan Landsburg
Producer: Ed Horwitz
Producer: George Golitzen
Writer: Erich Kästner
Writer: Stu Krieger
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 210 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-09-27
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Parent Trap Two-Movie Collection (The Parent Trap / The Parent Trap II)
Movie Review: "Let's get together - yeah, yeah, yeah..."
Summary: 5 Stars
Of the six films Hayley Mills made for Disney, this one hands down is regarded as the most memorable and most fondly cherished. This isn't to dis those other five films, because I've seen them all and even the least of them is quite watchable stuff. But PARENT TRAP, which came out in 1961, is the one which resonates most, and thru the years the one I've seen most often. Definitely my favorite Hayley Mills picture.
The premise concerns two lookalike girls who meet at summer camp, shockingly discover that they're long lost twin sisters, and decide to switch places so that one girl could meet the other's parent. Then comes the scheme to piece back together their broken home and make their divorced parents fall in love with each other all over again, with the fly in the ointment being that their father has suddenly become engaged, and to a golddigger. This being Disney, the kids pull off their goofy plan, but not before a lot of laughs, a few songs, and the golddigger getting hers but good.
Young Hayley Mills, with her cute button nose and her infinite sunniness, is so good here that you tend to overlook some things. Such as that the parents would actually keep the children in the dark about their twinhood, or that Hayley's American accent really isn't. But those are quibbles easily beaten down by Hayley Mills being at her adorable best. Not only does she demonstrate her acting chops and her ease in front of the camera, but remember that she does this while taking on two roles - as Sharon, the prim and proper Bostonian girl, and Susan, the boisterous tomboy from a ranch in Monterey, California. As some bloke in the bonus features mention, the whole enchilada hinges on that one riveting scene in camp in which Sharon and Susan first learn that they're sisters. That moment packs an emotional wallop and gets you invested in the rest of the story, and that it works is squarely on Hayley Mills's ability to convey emotional believability. The still lovely Maureen O'Hara and rugged Brian Keith are here as the twins' divorced parents, who, faced with the kids' cheery gumption, don't at all stand a chance.
PARENT TRAP has garnered such good will that it's inspired three made-for-TV sequels (PARENT TRAP II, PARENT TRAP III, and PARENT TRAP: HAWAIIAN HONEYMOON) and a terrific 1998 remake starring Lindsay Lohan (The Parent Trap (Special Edition)). The agreeable PARENT TRAP II is also on this dvd, this story taking place 25 years later, in 1986, as a grown up Hayley Mills reprises her roles of Sharon and Susan, both of whom now have kids of their own. But while Susan is happily married, Sharon is divorced and planning to uproot herself and her kid Nikki for a fresh start in New York. Nikki, who doesn't want to move, attempts to play matchmaker for her mom, setting her up with her best friend's sportswriting single dad, Bill Grand (Tom Skerritt). But when Sharon proves reluctant in romance, the kids call on Sharon's twin sister Susan in California and convince her to pose as Sharon and go out with Bill, so that he can go ahead and start falling in love with Sharon already.
Things really get good when Sharon gets clued in to this conspiracy, and decides to concoct her own get-back. It's all good-natured mischief, capped off by the very funny sequence with Bill and a very distracted Susan (as Sharon) dining in a restaurant.
Even though THE PARENT TRAP II is told mostly from the kids' viewpoints (and the kids do a wonderful job), this movie is really about Hayley Mills. It's just so nice to see her again, and to catch up with the twins and see how they've gotten on. Grown up Hayley still has that endearing mojo she had when she was a kid. You still can't help but like her.
So both THE PARENT TRAP (widescreen) and THE PARENT TRAP II (full screen) are on the first disc. Disney does it up right in Disc 2, with all the cool bonus stuff on THE PARENT TRAP (but zilch bonus stuff on the sequel): "THE PARENT TRAP: Caught in the Act" - the 19-minute-long Making Of featurette; "Lost Treasures: Who's the Twin" - a segment on Susan Henning-Schutte, Hayley's body double featured in all those over-the-shoulder shots; a segment on the songwriters, the Sherman Brothers; "Let's Get Together" music video, which is just scenes from the film crammed together as the song plays over; "1961 Disney Studio Album" - quick glimpses of Disney films released in 1961, as well as Disneyland's then new rides and featured attractions.
The "Production Archives" selection offers the following: a fabulous must-see featurette on Hayley Mills; "Seeing Double" - the special effects featurette detailing how the f/x team pulled off Hayley Mill's double performance, thanks mostly thru the skillful blend of split screens, quick editing and over-the-shoulder shots (in which body double Susan Henning-Schutte was used extensively); "Title Makers" - featuring Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello as they sing the PARENT TRAP title song and talk about their then current project BABES IN TOYLAND; Kimball & Swift: The Disney Years" - Director David Swift interviews Disney animator Ward Kimball; PARENT TRAP trailers & TV spots; a gallery section of production photos, stills and art, cast biographies, advertising (movie posters, lobby cards, a PARENT TRAP comics), and even excerpts from a scene in the screenplay (the one where Sharon and Susan find out they're twins), with a "Film Reel" option to see how the actual scene plays out in the movie; and 5 audio archives (a radio spot, 2 songs "For Now, For Always" & "The Parent Trap" and two scenes giving you 4 options which break down the various elements that make up the sound: the dialogue, the music, the effects, or to hear them all put together, the final composite).
Uncle Walt supposedly was never too much impressed with actors. But he was very fond of Hayley Mills, whose personality I have to believe isn't too far removed from the charming characters she played on film. Other than the PARENT TRAP sequels, I haven't seen Hayley in her adult roles. But, going by the more recent interviews I've seen of her, she doesn't seem to have lost any of that appeal or sparkle which made her such a pleasure to watch onscreen. It's nice to be able to compare your idea of the person with the real thing, and to have the real thing come off favorably. That is very cool.
More The Parent Trap Two-Movie Collection (The Parent Trap / The Parent Trap II) reviews:
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Summary of The Parent Trap Two-Movie Collection (The Parent Trap / The Parent Trap II)
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