You've heard of witness protection programs? Well, apparently there's an International Princess Protection Program, and it exists solely for the purpose of rescuing, relocating, and ultimately restoring threatened or deposed princesses to their thrones. The program--so extensive that headquarters is like the subway during rush hour and different princesses are in various stages of "make-overs"--is funded by the world's royalty. And that's the part that makes the most sense.
Because the idea is as far-fetched as the school for superheroes we saw in "Sky High," you need to swallow the whole fantasy hook, line and sinker if you're going to enjoy this made-for-TV Disney Channel film, which debuts on television June 26 and comes to DVD four days later. Even more high-concept than the PPP is the pairing of two Disney stars, Demi Lovato ("Camp Rock," "Sonny with a Chance") and Selena Gomez ("Wizards of Waverly Place"), who, we learn on one of the bonus features, have actually been close friends since a shared experience appearing on "Barney & Friends." So you have two sitcom "princesses" in a movie about ONE princess. Which one gets to be royalty? Well, they didn't choose by age, because Gomez is roughly a month older than her friend, each of whom grew up in Texas. And they didn't choose according to who had Disney seniority (if such a thing can be said about a couple of 17 year olds), because Gomez broke in with the House of Mouse on a 2006 episode of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," while Lovato made her Disney debut with "Camp Rock" (2008). Maybe they went by ratings. "Camp Rock" made the biggest splash since "High School Musical," and Lovato was also performing with the Jonas Brothers as a special guest. That makes her a pop princess too, and a contender for the crown in this film. In addition, "Sonny with a Chance" is tied with "American Idol" for TV's #1 spot and the #1 scripted program in the tween demographic. Or maybe Gomez is as nice as the character she plays and just said, "No, really, you can have the tiara."
Gomez plays the tomboyish Carter Mason, who helps out with her father's bait shop and is normal insomuch as she wants the best-looking guy in school to like her. But popular mean-girls Chelsea (Jamie Chung) and Brooke (Samantha Droke) nudge her out of the picture. Then Dad (Tom Verica) gets called away to business again. Turns out the bait shop is just a cover. His real job is with the PPP, and his latest assignment takes him to the teensy-weensy island nation of Costa Luna, where Princess Rosalinda (Lovato) will soon be crowned queen. But during coronation rehearsal an ambitious general from a neighboring small island nation attacks the palace with his men and imprisons Rosalinda's mother, Princess Margaret (Talia Rothenberg). Mason effects a dramatic rescue (I'm not spoiling a lot, since all this happens in the first 10 minutes) and before you can say "crawdads" he's springing Princess Rosalinda and bringing her back to Lake Monroe, Louisiana to live with them as Carter's "cousin" from Iowa. But she has a thing or two to learn about catfish and (eeww) worms.
Predictably, the bulk of the film plays with the idea of "being a princess" that has fascinated the Disney marketing people for years now. What makes a princess? Do you have an inner princess inside you? That's exactly the sort of thing that occupies the thoughts of tweens and younger girls who love movies like this. And "Princess Protection Program" ought to be a hit with that target audience. Gomez and Lovato are likable, and both function well within the constraints of the familiar teen formula involving popular and not-so-popular kids. Writer Annie DeYoung ("Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board") throws in a nice princess twist, too: Anyone can be a princess in America, right? Yep, if she gets enough votes to become a homecoming princess, or better yet, Homecoming Queen.
The humor--mild, though it is--comes from situations involving "Rosie's" acclimation to the life of a commoner. She has a hard time grasping the concept of a shared bedroom with Carter, she waits for people to serve her, and she asks the most popular boy in class (Nicholas Braun) to give up his seat for her. Rosie holds up the lunch line--"I like to talk to my staff in their native tongues," she says, upon which an exasperated Carter says, "They're not staff, they're lunch ladies--and we won't even talk about bowling. But when it comes down to mean girls versus cousins, well, it's a sisterhood that can't lose, and just desserts be ripe with humor. How funny is it? I have a seven-year-old Disney princess at home and an 11-year-old hater of all things princess. But my son even liked "Princess Protection Program" for the simple reason that it was funny.
You've heard of witness protection programs? Well, apparently there's an International Princess Protection Program, and it exists solely for the purpose of rescuing, relocating, and ultimately restoring threatened or deposed princesses to their thrones. The program--so extensive that headquarters is like the subway during rush hour and different princesses are in various stages of "make-overs"--is funded by the world's royalty. And that's the part that makes the most sense.
Because the idea is as far-fetched as the school for superheroes we saw in "Sky High," you need to swallow the whole fantasy hook, line and sinker if you're going to enjoy this made-for-TV Disney Channel film, which debuts on television June 26 and comes to DVD four days later. Even more high-concept than the PPP is the pairing of two Disney stars, Demi Lovato ("Camp Rock," "Sonny with a Chance") and Selena Gomez ("Wizards of Waverly Place"), who, we learn on one of the bonus features, have actually been close friends since a shared experience appearing on "Barney & Friends." So you have two sitcom "princesses" in a movie about ONE princess. Which one gets to be royalty? Well, they didn't choose by age, because Gomez is roughly a month older than her friend, each of whom grew up in Texas. And they didn't choose according to who had Disney seniority (if such a thing can be said about a couple of 17 year olds), because Gomez broke in with the House of Mouse on a 2006 episode of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," while Lovato made her Disney debut with "Camp Rock" (2008). Maybe they went by ratings. "Camp Rock" made the biggest splash since "High School Musical," and Lovato was also performing with the Jonas Brothers as a special guest. That makes her a pop princess too, and a contender for the crown in this film. In addition, "Sonny with a Chance" is tied with "American Idol" for TV's #1 spot and the #1 scripted program in the tween demographic. Or maybe Gomez is as nice as the character she plays and just said, "No, really, you can have the tiara."
Gomez plays the tomboyish Carter Mason, who helps out with her father's bait shop and is normal insomuch as she wants the best-looking guy in school to like her. But popular mean-girls Chelsea (Jamie Chung) and Brooke (Samantha Droke) nudge her out of the picture. Then Dad (Tom Verica) gets called away to business again. Turns out the bait shop is just a cover. His real job is with the PPP, and his latest assignment takes him to the teensy-weensy island nation of Costa Luna, where Princess Rosalinda (Lovato) will soon be crowned queen. But during coronation rehearsal an ambitious general from a neighboring small island nation attacks the palace with his men and imprisons Rosalinda's mother, Princess Margaret (Talia Rothenberg). Mason effects a dramatic rescue (I'm not spoiling a lot, since all this happens in the first 10 minutes) and before you can say "crawdads" he's springing Princess Rosalinda and bringing her back to Lake Monroe, Louisiana to live with them as Carter's "cousin" from Iowa. But she has a thing or two to learn about catfish and (eeww) worms.
Predictably, the bulk of the film plays with the idea of "being a princess" that has fascinated the Disney marketing people for years now. What makes a princess? Do you have an inner princess inside you? That's exactly the sort of thing that occupies the thoughts of tweens and younger girls who love movies like this. And "Princess Protection Program" ought to be a hit with that target audience. Gomez and Lovato are likable, and both function well within the constraints of the familiar teen formula involving popular and not-so-popular kids. Writer Annie DeYoung ("Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board") throws in a nice princess twist, too: Anyone can be a princess in America, right? Yep, if she gets enough votes to become a homecoming princess, or better yet, Homecoming Queen.
The humor--mild, though it is--comes from situations involving "Rosie's" acclimation to the life of a commoner. She has a hard time grasping the concept of a shared bedroom with Carter, she waits for people to serve her, and she asks the most popular boy in class (Nicholas Braun) to give up his seat for her. Rosie holds up the lunch line--"I like to talk to my staff in their native tongues," she says, upon which an exasperated Carter says, "They're not staff, they're lunch ladies--and we won't even talk about bowling. But when it comes down to mean girls versus cousins, well, it's a sisterhood that can't lose, and just desserts be ripe with humor. How funny is it? I have a seven-year-old Disney princess at home and an 11-year-old hater of all things princess. But my son even liked "Princess Protection Program" for the simple reason that it was funny.
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