Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
I’ve seen the two ‘Princess Diaries’ movies starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews on Disney+. These would be very ideal movies to check out over the Platinum Jubilee weekend in the UK earlier in June. I’m glad I’ve checked out these movies anyway, since they’ve been very enjoyable to watch.
The first ‘Princess Diaries’ movie was released in 2001. Loosely based on Meg Cabot’s 2000 novel of the same name, Anne Hathaway plays Mia Thermopolis, a shy American teenager who learns she’s the heir to the throne of a European kingdom called Genovia. For a while, she struggles to take it in.
With the help of her estranged grandmother, Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse, Mia must decide whether to claim the throne she has inherited or renounce her title permanently. It’s amazing that Anne Hathaway was in these moves before she went on to do films like the musical film ‘Les Misérables’.
She’s also been in ‘Becoming Jane’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. It was also nice to see Julie Andrews in these films, having seen her in ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘The Sound of Music’ and heard her in the ‘Shrek’ films. I couldn’t help make ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘Sound of Music’ jokes as I watched the ‘Princess Diaries’ films. 😀
The film also features cast members like Héctor Elizondo as Joe, Queen Clarisse’s head of security and Mia’s limousine driver; Heather Matarazzo as Lilly Moscovitz, Mia’s best friend; Mandy Moore as cheerleader Lana Thomas who bullies Mia and Robert Schwartzman as Michael, Lilly’s older brother.
I quite liked the romance formed between Mia and Michael in the first film and I wish that had continued in the second film. There’s also Caroline Goodall as Helen Thermopolis, Mia’s mother. I have seen Caroline Goodall star in ‘The Moon Stallion’ with Sarah Sutton and in ‘Hook’ with Robin Williams.
Apparently, René Auberjonois, who played Odo in ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’, voiced Philippe Renaldi, Mia’s late father and former Prince of Genovia, in the film. The first ‘Princess Diaries’ movie is very entertaining and very solid in terms of story and character development, especially for Mia. 🙂
The second ‘Princess Diaries’ film called ‘The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement’, released in 2004, is equally entertaining, though it isn’t as good as the first film. In the film, Princess Mia ends up living in Genovia, but she has to find a husband so that she can maintain her right to become Queen.
There are quite a number of familiar faces to enjoy when watching the film. Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews make their return as Princess Mia and Queen Clarisse respectively in the film as well as Héctor Elizondo as Joe, Heather Matarazzo as Lilly Moscovitz as Caroline Goodall as Helen. Super!
There’s also Larry Miller as Paolo Puttanesca, Mia’s hairdresser and beautician, and Sean O’Bryan as Patrick O’Connell, Mia’s English teacher and Helen’s love interest, who have appeared in both films. The film also introduces John Rhys-Davies (well-known for playing Gimli in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy) as the villainous Viscount Mabrey, who was a joy to watch throughout the second film. 🙂
There’s also Chris Pine as Lord Nicholas Deveraux, and this happens to be Chris Pine’s film debut, would you believe? Chris Pine would go on to play Captain Kirk in the ‘Star Trek’ reboot film trilogy as well as Steve Trevor in the ‘Wonder Woman’ films. I’ve seen Chris Pine in a lot of films this year. 🙂
This includes ‘People Like Us’, ‘The Finest Hours’ and ‘Into the Woods’. The film also features Callum Blue as Andrew Jacoby, Spencer Breslin as Prince Jacques, Tom Poston as Lord Palimore, Raven-Symoné as Princess Asana, and…Stan Lee?! The late Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance in this film?! I was stunned and surprised to see Stan Lee in the movie. 🙂
I have heard from two sources that Stan Lee was friends with Garry Marshall, the director of the two ‘Princess Diaries’ movies, and he did the cameo as a favour for him. Not sure how accurate that is, but it would make sense. Otherwise, Stan was supposed to attend MJ’s wedding in ‘Spider-Man 2’. 😀
‘The Princess Diaries’ movies have been fun to watch on Disney+. I’m glad I saw the second film, especially for that Stan Lee cameo, as well as seeing John Rhys-Davies and Chris Pine. Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrew are also great to watch when playing their characters in the two movies. 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
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