Princess Protection Program
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Princess Protection Program is a 2009 Disney Channel Original Movie, directed by Allison Liddi-Brown and starring Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. The film premiered on June 26, 2009 in the United States and was released on DVD on June 30, 2009. The film won the 2009 Teen Choice Awards for Choice Summer TV Show.
Plot
Princess Rosalinda Maria Montoya Fiore (Demi Lovato) is about to be crowned queen of the small nation of Costa Luna. General Kane (Johnny Ray Rodriguez), the dictator of neighboring country Costa Estrella, invades her palace with his agents during her coronation rehearsal, and attempts to capture the royal family and take over the country. Joe Mason (Tom Verica), an agent of the Princess Protection Program, a secret organization funded by royal families that looks after endangered princesses, whisks her away to safety via helicopter. Kane’s agents, however, succeed in capturing her mother, Queen Sophia.
The Princess Protection Program hides Rosalinda in Mason’s home in Louisiana, where she is to masquerade as a typical American teenager named Rosie Gonzalez. She meets Mason's daughter, Carter Mason (Selena Gomez), an insecure tomboy who works at the family bait shop and dreams of going to the homecoming dance with her crush, Donny (Robert Adamson). Though Carter initially treats Rosie with barely masked hostility, she warms up to her after Rosie explains her situation, and the two become best friends. Carter teaches Rosalinda to act like a typical American teenager, and Rosie shows Carter how to disarm those that scorn them (especially resident mean girls Chelsea and Brooke) by behaving as a true princess. Rosie soon becomes popular at their high school.
In an attempt to trick Rosalinda into exposing her location, General Kane announces false plans to marry Rosalinda’s mother. Brooke discovers that Rosie is in fact Princess Rosalinda from a magazine she reads for Spanish class. Brooke and Chelsea confront Rosalinda and threaten to expose her, but they agree to keep quiet if Rosalinda drops out of the vote for Homecoming Queen. Brooke and Chelsea also ruin their dresses for the dance. Rosalinda reads of the pending nuptials in the Brooke magazine and tells Carter that she has decided to return home. Knowing Costa Luna is still too dangerous, Carter secretly devises a plan to pose as Rosalinda and then use herself as bait to lure Kane into capture. Carter calls Mr. Elegante, Rosalinda's royal dress maker, for help with her plan. He tells Kane that Rosalinda will be attending the homecoming dance and will be wearing a blue dress that he actually sends to Carter. In the meantime, Rosalinda agrees to stay for the dance in order to help make the event special for a group of friends, the group of girls wear masks, which helps Carter disguise herself as Rosalinda.
According to plan, Kane and his agents mistake Carter for Rosie and lead her to Kane's helicopter the night of the dance. However, after winning the Homecoming Queen title and dedicating it to Carter, Rosalinda discovers and ruins the plan by exposing herself to Kane, insisting that it is not Carter's fight. Fortunately, agents of the Princess Protection Program, including Mr. Mason, have been waiting inside the helicopter and rescue both girls. The P.P.P. agents quickly apprehend Kane and his henchmen and turn them over to the international authorities.
Rosie is crowned Queen of Costa Luna with Carter, Mason, Ed, Rosalinda's mother and Mr. Elegante in attendance.
Cast
- Demi Lovato as Princess (later Queen) Rosalinda Marie Montoya Fioré/Rosie González
- Selena Gomez as Carter Mason
- Tom Verica as Major Joe Mason
- Sully Diaz as Queen Sophia Fioré
- Johnny Ray Rodríguez as General Magnus Kane
- Jamie Chung as Chelsea Barnes
- Nicholas Braun as Edwin
- Robert Adamson as Donny
- Samantha Droke as Brooke
- Kevin G. Schmidt as Bull
- Talia Rothenberg as Margaret
- Molly Hagan as The Director
- Dale Dickey as Helen Digenerstet
- Ricardo Alvarez as Mr. Elegante
- Brian Tester as Principal Burkle
Production
The film was filmed in Puerto Rico in 2008.[citation needed]
Promotion
Disney Channel promoted the film's premiere weekend by offering never-before-seen episodes of their original series' Wizards of Waverly Place and Sonny with a Chance as an online reward if viewers can correctly count the number of times the words "princess," "princesses" and "princesa" are spoken during the film and enter the correct number (86) into a section on their website.[1]
Home media
The film was released on DVD on June 30, 2009, in the United States[2] and was later available in worldwide.
Music
The film introduced two songs: a duet recorded by Gomez and Lovato called "One and the Same" and a song recorded by Mitchel Musso called "The Girl Can't Help It". Both songs were included on the compilation album Disney Channel Playlist, which was released on June 9, 2009. The film also includes the song "Two Worlds Collide" by Lovato, which was featured from her debut album Don't Forget.
One and the Same
| "Princess Protection Program" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
One and the Same is a song performed by American pop recording artists Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato for the Disney Channel movie Princess Protection Program. The song was written by Colleen Fitzpatrick, Michael Kotch and Dave Derby and was produced by Mitch Allan. The song's music video was included on the DVD of the film. The song was also featured on the compilation album, Disney Channel Playlist, which was released on June 9, 2009.[3]
Chart performance
The song peaked at number 82 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[4] | 82 |
Reception
Laura Fries of Variety magazine describes the film as being "light as a summer breeze on the Louisiana bayou". Although the film does not stray far from the Disney formula, Fries also praised the film writer Annie DeYoung for providing young girls a nice message about self-esteem. Fries said the film should be a hit with the channel's target audience.[5]
Ratings
The film garnered 8.5 million viewers on its premiere, making Disney Channel, the most-watched network in the time slot, with nearly double the viewers of CBS at that time.[6]
Awards
| Year | Ceremony | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Teen Choice Awards[7] | Choice Summer TV Movie | Won |
| Choice Summer TV Star - Female: Selena Gomez | Won | ||
| Choice Summer TV Star - Female: Demi Lovato | Nominated | ||
| 2010 | Directors Guild of America | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Children's Program – Allison Liddi-Brown | Won |
| Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries, or Special – Leading Young Actress: Selena Gomez | Nominated | |
| Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries, or Special – Leading Young Actress: Demi Lovato | Nominated |
References
- ^ "Princess Protection Program - Original Movies - Disney Channel". Disney Channel. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
- ^ "Princess Protection Program - On DVD - WD Home Entertainment". Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
- ^ "Disney Channel Playlist by Various Artists". Walt Disney Records. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
- ^ "Selena Gomez - Chart History". acharts.us. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
- ^ Laura Fries (June 26, 2009). "Princess Protection Program". Variety magazine.
- ^ Bill Gorman (June 27, 2009). "Princess Protection Program is TV's No. 1 Entertainment Telecast of 2009 in Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14". TVbyTheNumbers.com. Retrieved 2010-01-09.
- ^ Awards for Princess Protection Program 2009 - IMDB
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