Ice Princess

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Ice Princess

Promotional movie poster for Ice Princess
Directed by Tim Fywell
Produced by Bridget Johnson
Written by Meg Cabot
Hadley Davis
Starring Michelle Trachtenberg
Amy Stewart
Joan Cusack
Kim Cattrall
Hayden Panettiere
Trevor Blumas
Kirsten Olson
Music by Christophe Beck
Cinematography David Hennings
Editing by Janice Hampton
Distributed by Buena Vista
Release date(s) March 18, 2005
Running time 98 min
Country United States
Language English

Ice Princess is a 2005 Disney live action film, directed by Tim Fywell.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Casey Carlyle (Michelle Trachtenberg), a brainy bookworm and physics geek, decides to use her academic skill by pursuing a scholarship to Harvard University offered to the top students in Connecticut. For the scholarship, Casey must present a project about physics. While watching a figure skating competition featuring Sasha Cohen, Casey realizes that her favorite childhood hobby, ice skating, would make a perfect project for getting her scholarship. At first, she watches other skaters at the local ice rink, but decides to try to improve her own skating by applying the physics and what she found out from analyzing other skaters. She becomes exceptionally good at skating, even skipping two levels to get a Junior Pass.

Unsure of what she really wants, Casey has a difficult time juggling schoolwork, skating, and a job at a food stand to pay for her skating lessons. Her mother, Joan (Joan Cusack), realizes that Casey's constant skating is affecting her schoolwork and tells her to stop.

Meanwhile, there is increasing tension between Casey's coach Tina Harwood (Kim Cattrall), a disgraced former skater, and her daughter Gennifer (Hayden Panettiere). Tina, who manages the ice skating rink where Casey is training for competition, is putting her daughter into a strict training program and an even stricter diet. Eventually, Gen gets irritated by the situation and informs Tina and then Casey that she is quitting after Tina bought Casey new skates which caused Casey to slip, fall, and injure her feet.

Tina becomes Casey's personal coach and helps her train for Sectionals, after Casey turns down the Harvard scholarship to keep skating with help from Gen. At Sectionals, Casey performs well. In a triple salchow, she slips and falls, but then she sees Joan in the spectators, which boosts her confidence and she gives a highly rated artistic performance. By the end of Sectionals, Casey has come in second place, behind Nikki Fletcher, and is going to the nationals. Casey and Joan reconcile after two months, and she finally gains her mother's support. The film ends with Joan and Tina playfully arguing about how many college courses she should take.

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Michelle Trachtenberg Casey Carlyle
Amy Stewart Ann
Joan Cusack Joan Carlyle
Kim Cattrall Tina Harwood
Hayden Panettiere Gennifer "Gen" Harwood
Trevor Blumas Teddy Harwood
Kirsten Olson Nikki Fletcher
Jocelyn Lai Tiffany Lai
Connie Ray Mrs. Fletcher
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Mr. Lai
Juliana Cannarozzo Zoe Bloch
Kristina Whitcomb Ms. Fisher Lee
Signe Ronka Emma Flanders
Thanh Nguyen Hot Dog Boy

[edit] Production

Blumas said that he had been put on hold for two months during the audition process, and that there had been “a lot of switch-overs with the directors”.[1] Blumas ended up playing the role of Teddy as someone who has taken on the role of a father figure.[1] He began training on how to drive a Zamboni soon after arriving in Toronto; according to him, he later ended up smoothing the ice on some mornings at the rink where they were shooting.[1] Panettiere did much of her own skating, including a fast spin seen at the end of the film. [2] Trachtenberg trained for eight months, including the time they were filming (during which time she says she worked twenty-hour days).[3] She had to be on the ice longer than most of the other actors as she was one of the few adults on the film.[4] She had stunt doubles to handle the falls and some of the complex moves,[5] although Trachtenberg did learn a specific move that could not be done by a stunt double as the differences in their build would be apparent.[4] She sustained some injuries while working on the film.[4] According to Trachtenberg, a mistake was made in the one of the physics formulas her character recites, which was later fixed; A shot of the back of her head was used and the correct term was looped in.[5] Trachtenberg described the film as “not a Disney kitschy movie” and was somewhat apprehensive of the idea of a sequel for fear of belittling the original. [6] Cusack noted that the relationship between Casey and her mother had already been well-developed in the script, but said that it generated a good deal of discussion during the production, and Cusack ultimately described her role as "meaningful" in terms of the acting and also how it related to her personally.[7]

[edit] Reception

Film critic Roger Ebert gives Ice Princess three out of four stars and commended the film for its entertaining nature and ability to overcome cliche and "formula".[8] Reaction from other critics have been mixed, as 52% of the T-meter critics on Rotten Tomatoes reviewed the film positively.[9] Todd Gilchrist of IGN questioned the speed at which Casey becomes adept at skating and pointed out some other improbabilities and clichés, but strongly praised Cusack’s and Katrall’s performances as emotionally powerful and fully human.[10] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting rated the film A-I (suitable for general patronage) and provided the film a modest praise as a good family film.[11] Oppenheim Toy Portfolio awarded the film their platinum award.[12] It is rated G by the Motion Pictures Association of America.[13]

[edit] Real skaters on set

[edit] Soundtrack album

Track listing
  1. Reach - Caleigh Peters
  2. If I Had It My Way - Emma Roberts
  3. Get Your Shine On - Jesse McCartney
  4. You Set Me Free - Michelle Branch
  5. Reachin' For Heaven - Diana DeGarmo
  6. No One - Aly & AJ
  7. It's Oh So Quiet - Lucy Woodward
  8. Get Up - Superchick
  9. I Fly - Hayden Panettiere
  10. Just A Dream - Jump5
  11. Bump - Raven-Symoné
  12. There Is No Alternative - Tina Sugandh
  13. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Murray, Rebecca. "Trevor Blumas Talks About "Ice Princess": On Playing Michelle Trachtenberg's Love Interest in the Disney Ice Skating Movie". About.com. http://movies.about.com/od/iceprincess/a/princsstb031205.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-09. 
  2. ^ Murray, Rebecca. "Hayden Panettiere Discusses "Ice Princess": Hayden Panettiere on Ice Skating versus Riding Zebras". About.com. http://movies.about.com/od/iceprincess/a/princsshp031205_2.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-09. 
  3. ^ "Putting A Brain On Ice". MTV Networks. 2007. http://www.mtv.com/shared/movies/interviews/t/trachtenberg_ice_princess_050311/. Retrieved 2009-03-09. 
  4. ^ a b c Pryor, Chris. "Film: Interview [Michelle Trachtenberg: Ice Princess: Michelle Trachtenberg: Trades Stakes for Skates in Ice Princess]". Campus Circle, Inc. http://www.campuscircle.com/review.cfm?r=702. Retrieved 2009-03-09. 
  5. ^ a b Murray, Rebecca. "Michelle Trachtenberg Skates Her Way Through "Ice Princess": Michelle Trachtenberg on Learning to Skate and Starring in "Ice Princess"". About.com. http://movies.about.com/od/iceprincess/a/princssmt031205.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-09. 
  6. ^ Murray, Rebecca. "Interview with Michelle Trachtenberg Page 2". About.com. http://movies.about.com/od/iceprincess/a/princssmt031205_2.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-09. 
  7. ^ Gilchrist, Todd (2005-03-18). "Interview: Joan Cusack (Page 2)". IGN. http://movies.ign.com/articles/597/597516p2.html. Retrieved 2009-03-11. 
  8. ^ Ebert, Roger. Ice Princess. March 18, 2005.
  9. ^ Ice Princess. Rotten Tomatoes.
  10. ^ Gilchrist, Todd (2005-03-17). "Ice Princess: Review: A surprisingly smart approach to otherwise formulaic material.". IGN. http://movies.ign.com/objects/627/627110.html. Retrieved 2009-03-09. 
  11. ^ Ice Princess. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting.
  12. ^ "Early School Years: Feature-Length Films". Oppenheim Toy Portfolio. http://www.toyportfolio.com/Earlyschool/ChapterSubChapterVideo.asp?Chapter=Videos&SubChapter=Feature-Length%20Films. Retrieved 2009-04-22. 
  13. ^ Film ratings. MPAA.

[edit] External links

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