# The Lizzie McGuire Movie

The Lizzie McGuire Movie is a 2003 American teen comedy film directed by Jim Fall. The film serves as the finale of the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire and was the first theatrical film based on a Disney Channel series. The film stars Hilary Duff, Adam Lamberg, Robert Carradine, Hallie Todd and Jake Thomas, and the story follows Lizzie and her classmates on a graduation trip to Rome, where she gets mistaken for an Italian pop star and embarks on an unexpected adventure. It was released on May 2, 2003, by Buena Vista Pictures, peaking at number two at the domestic box office behind X2. It received mixed reviews from critics but gained a strong cult following in later years. The events of the film take place after the second and final season of Lizzie McGuire.

## Plot

Lizzie McGuire prepares for her junior-high graduation with one of her two closest friends, David "Gordo" Gordon. Their other best friend, Miranda Sanchez, has chosen to skip the graduation ceremony in favor of a trip to Mexico City to visit her relatives. During the ceremony, Lizzie trips onstage and accidentally brings the curtain down on her fellow graduates; this causes her to be teased by her younger brother Matt and her former best friend Kate Sanders.
After graduation, Lizzie and her classmates embark on a trip to Rome, chaperoned by their future strict high school principal, Angela Ungermeyer. The rest of the class chose a trip to a water park instead. To their dismay, Lizzie and Kate are assigned to the same hotel room. Their class visits the Trevi Fountain, where Lizzie is approached by an Italian pop star named Paolo Valisari, who mistakes her for his singing partner, Isabella Parigi. He asks Lizzie to meet him at the fountain the next day, and she feigns illness to sneak away.
Paolo explains that he and Isabella are booked for the International Music Video Awards, but she left Italy after their partnership breakup. He tells Lizzie that Isabella lip syncs and begs her to pose as her for the ceremony so that they won't be fined for canceling. Lizzie reluctantly agrees but soon begins to enjoy the experience and falls for Paolo. Lizzie continues to fake being ill to prepare for the ceremony, but Kate quickly figures out her secret. To Lizzie's surprise, she agrees to help her and they become friendly again. Meanwhile, Ms. Ungermeyer grows suspicious, leading Gordo to take the blame and results in him being sent back home as punishment. Lizzie is shocked when she learns from Kate that Gordo sacrificed himself to protect her.
Back home, Matt finds Italian gossip sites with pictures of Lizzie as Isabella. He initially tells his parents he misses Lizzie, convincing his parents to fly them to Rome, during which his parents find out about Lizzie's exploits. At the airport, Gordo meets the real Isabella, who is upset that someone has been impersonating her. They realize that Paolo is planning to have a nervous Lizzie unknowingly sing live at the ceremony, as Isabella actually does, creating the impression that Isabella is a fake, which would damage the latter's career and embarrass Lizzie. Gordo and Isabella rush to the awards to stop him and warn Lizzie. When the McGuires arrive in Rome, Ms. Ungermeyer learns that Lizzie is missing. Gordo's roommate Ethan Craft reveals that she is performing at the International Music Video Awards, and Lizzie's family and the class also rush to the ceremony.
Backstage, Gordo and Isabella find Lizzie preparing for the ceremony and warn her about Paolo's scheme. She refuses to believe them at first, but Isabella convinces her otherwise. Ms. Ungermeyer gets the class and Lizzie's family into the ceremony by pushing her way through the bouncers. During the performance, Isabella and Gordo expose Paolo, who is actually the one who lip syncs, by turning on his microphone, revealing his real mediocre singing voice. Upset, he runs off stage, where his displeased manager Sergei resigns, and gets ambushed outside by paparazzi. Isabella introduces Lizzie to the crowd, and the two of them sing "What Dreams Are Made Of".
When Isabella leaves the stage, Lizzie finishes the song solo, displaying a newfound confidence. Later, they all celebrate at the hotel's after party, where Ms. Ungermeyer rescinds Gordo's punishment and flirts with Sergei. Although Lizzie's parents tell her she is grounded for the rest of the summer, they are still proud of her. Lizzie and Gordo sneak away from the party to go up to the roof, where they promise to never let things change between them. They kiss and then rejoin the party before they get into more trouble. As the film ends with fireworks spelling "The End", the animated Lizzie does a parody of Tinker Bell, winking at the audience.

## Cast

* Hilary Duff as Elizabeth "Lizzie" McGuire and Isabella Parigi
** Haylie Duff as Isabella Parigi (singing voice)
* Adam Lamberg as David "Gordo" Gordon, Lizzie's best friend and love interest
* Robert Carradine as Samuel "Sam" McGuire, Lizzie and Matt's father
* Hallie Todd as Joanne "Jo" McGuire, Lizzie and Matt's mother
* Jake Thomas as Matthew "Matt" McGuire, Lizzie's younger brother
* Yani Gellman as Paolo Valisari, an Italian pop star who is Isabella's former singing partner
* Alex Borstein as Ms. Angela Ungermeyer, Lizzie, Gordo, Kate and Ethan's chaperone
* Clayton Snyder as Ethan Craft, Lizzie and Gordo's classmate
* Ashlie Brillault as Katherine "Kate" Sanders, Lizzie's popular ex-best friend
* Brendan Kelly as Sergei, Paolo's bodyguard
* Carly Schroeder as Melina Bianco, Matt's best friend
* Daniel Escobar as Mr. Escobar, the drama teacher/choir director at Hillridge Junior High School
* Jody Raicot as Giorgio
* Terra MacLeod as Franca DiMontecatini
* Claude Knowlton as the stage manager

## Production

The film, produced by Stan Rogow, was directed by Jim Fall from a screenplay by Susan Estelle Jansen, Ed Decter and John J. Strauss. It was filmed on location in Rome, Italy in the fall of 2002, with some additional scenes shot in Vancouver, Canada. Most of the series characters reprised their roles except for Lalaine (Miranda Sanchez), who left the series late in the second season to film the Disney Channel original movie You Wish!. Her character was said to be on vacation with her family in Mexico City. During an interview with HuffPost in 2015, Lalaine said she was too busy doing work outside of Lizzie McGuire to participate in the movie. "During that time, I was hopping around doing Radio Disney tours and at the same time filming in New Zealand with A.J. Trauth and Spencer Breslin [on You Wish!]. Like, I would've been bummed missing out on that." "I'm sure it made no sense to a good amount of people that I wasn’t in the movie," she added. "In spirit, I think Miranda was there no matter what. If I'm in their minds while they were watching it, Miranda was a part of it. But Lalaine wanted to be a part of something else, too. Not that I was trying to disassociate myself, but sometimes that’s how timing works." However, according to the 2024 book Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire, it was reported that her departure was less than amicable; Lalaine and Duff had a falling out in the final season of the TV series, which led to Lalaine being let go early from her contract. "The two girls were literally best friends for three-quarters of the series, maybe more," Rogow said. "And then they had a blow up that never got healed." "I don't believe that Hilary wanted her to be part of the movie," Lizzie McGuire casting director Robin Lippin said. "It probably would have been uncomfortable for both of them."
Additionally, the characters Claire Miller, Larry Tudgeman, and Lanny Onassis were absent from the film.
Fall, an openly gay filmmaker, had previously directed the R-rated film Trick, after which he began pitching and searching gay-related projects in Hollywood. He found that the script for The Lizzie McGuire Movie had some similarities with this earlier film: "Both movies end in a kiss, both movies have musical numbers, [and] both movies have cute boys." Disney wanted the film to feel and look different from the show it is based on, and supported many of Fall's ideas, including the suggestion to shoot in widescreen.
New York's Tapehouse Toons again handled the animation sequences involving Lizzie's cartoon alter ego, just like in the television show. This marked their first time working on a feature film, after being approached by Disney, who normally handled these type of projects at their in-house animation studio. Tapehouse had to hire 15 additional people for the task of completing the film, thus expanding their "core group" of five employees.

## Reception
### Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 41% based on 101 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10. The site's critics consensus calls the film: "A harmless piece of fluff that ought to satisfy fans of the TV show." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Scott Brown of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+: "Let's face it: Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) is just too darn polished to be a junior-high underdog, even by the standards of her 'luxe suburban environs'. But that hasn't tarnished her comeback-kid cred among the six-and-ups who faithfully follow her Disney Channel show—and it doesn't make The Lizzie McGuire Movie, a clever, agreeably weightless theatrical outing, any less enjoyable." Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four, but praised Borstein's performance, calling her work "the only really delightful element in the movie; everything else is simply slick and professional."

### Box office

In its opening weekend the film grossed $17.3 million in 2,825 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking second behind X2: X-Men United. The Lizzie McGuire Movie grossed $42.7 million domestically and $12.8 million internationally for a worldwide total of $55.5 million.

### Awards

* 2003 (won): Kids' Choice Award for Movie Breakout Star, Female (Hilary Duff)
* 2003 (won): Teen Choice Award for Movie Breakout Star, Female (Hilary Duff)
* 2003 (nominated): Teen Choice Awards for Movie Comedy, Movie Comedy Actress (Hilary Duff)
* 2004 (nominated): Leo Award for Feature-Length Drama: Best Visual Effects (Gary Gutierrez, Jayne Craig, Bruce Woloshyn, Simon Ager and Wes Sargent)

## Home media

The film was released on DVD and VHS on August 12, 2003. The video sold 2,90 million copies earning a profit of over 50.5 million dollars. It is also included on Disney's streaming service, Disney+.

## Cancelled sequel

Following the release of the film, there were plans to continue the Lizzie McGuire series, one of which included a planned sequel film. This was ultimately shelved due to creative differences with Duff and Disney. In August 2019, it was announced that a Lizzie McGuire revival would be entering production for Disney+, with Duff reprising her role and Minsky returning as showrunner. Lamberg, Thomas, Todd and Carradine would also return to the series in their original roles. The series began production in association with Disney Channel, but entered a hiatus after Minsky's departure and did not resume. It was later cancelled in December 2020.