Sabrina Goes to Rome

Sabrina Goes to Rome
Book cover
Written by	Daniel Berendsen
Directed by	Tibor Takács
Starring	Melissa Joan Hart Eddie Mills Tara Strong James Fields Eric Alexander Nick Bakay
Country of origin	US
Language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Melissa Joan Hart Paula Hart Ovidio G. Assonitis Kenneth R. Koch
Running time	84 mins.
Distributor	Viacom Productions INC./Paramount Domestic Television (until 2007) CBS Television Distribution (post 2007) Heartbreak Films ABC CBS DVD/Paramount
Chronology
Preceded by	Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996)
Followed by	Sabrina, Down Under (1999)

Sabrina Goes to Rome is a 1998 television movie produced for ABC. The movie is part of the Sabrina, the Teenage Witch TV series and is the first TV movie made for the series. The movie features only two main characters from the series, the protagonist Sabrina Spellman (played by Melissa Joan Hart), and other main character Salem Saberhagen (voiced by Nick Bakay). The film introduces the character of Gwen (played by Tara Strong, better known as a famous voice actor), a British witch, whom Sabrina meets in Rome. As the movie is set in Rome, none of the scenes are set on the original set of the series.

The film was directed by Tibor Takács, the director of the original Sabrina the Teenage Witch film, upon which the TV series is based. Takács also directed an episode of the TV series.

Due to the success of Sabrina Goes to Rome, ABC produced a sequel titled Sabrina, Down Under. This film again only included Sabrina and Salem from the TV series. Tara Strong reprised her role of Gwen for the second film.

The film is included on the season 7 DVD release of Sabrina.

Plot

If Sabrina can't open a mysterious antique gold locket and release the power trapped within, her Aunt Sophia will be lost forever. "The secret to the locket lies in Rome", says her father. Sabrina heads for Italy and the Eternal City of Rome, for what was supposed to be "two cat-less weeks" to herself, is accompanied by stowaway, Salem in her backpack. Once there, she meets Paul, the gorgeous American photographer who grabs her before she falls into the famous Trevi Fountain. Sabrina finds an unexpected roommate: Gwen, a British witch with a talking guinea pig named Stonehenge (nicknamed "Stony"). Together, Sabrina and Gwen set out to solve the mystery of the locket. When Paul and his friend Travis witness Sabrina doing magic, they come up with an idea to sell the story. In the end Paul doesn't betray Sabrina, which sets Aunt Sophia free, as the locket says "Trust your heart".

Cast

• Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenage witch, visiting Rome to unlock the mystery of her aunt Sophia’s locket to stop Sophia being lost forever. She has to learn to trust her heart when she finds out Paul’s secret.
• Eddie Mills as Paul, an adopted American photographer, who saves Sabrina from falling into the famous Trevi Fountain. Paul finds out that Sabrina is a witch, and he tries to get evidence on video camera, so that he can sell the story along with Travis. After Sabrina reunites him with his real family in Italy, he doesn’t want to expose her and destroys the video evidence.
• Tara Strong (credited as Tara Charendoff) as Gwen, a British witch whose spells never go the way she plans. She helps Sabrina solve the locket. She has a crush on Alberto, who she accidentally turns into a pigeon. To change him back she has to kiss him, however there is no way of her knowing which pigeon he is.
• James Fields as Travis, a friend of Paul's who intends to gather evidence to expose Sabrina as a witch and become rich.
• Eric Alexander as Alberto, a handsome young man who Gwen accidentally turns into a pigeon. Determined to turn him back into a human, Gwen ends up randomly kissing pigeons in hopes of changing Alberto back. When she is about to give up, she relents on kissing a pigeon who keeps visiting her and Alberto is restored to human form.
• Nick Bakay as the voice of Salem Saberhagen, a 500 year old witch, sentenced to spend 100 years as a cat as punishment for attempting to take over the world. Salem stows away in Sabrina’s backpack and once in Rome, befriends Stony to gain free food from outdoor eateries, as people don’t take kindly to finding a guinea pig in their food.
• Richard Steven Horvitz as the voice of Stonehenge

Books

As part of the Sabrina, the Teenage Witch book collection, a book titled Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: Sabrina Goes to Rome is available. The book is written by Daniel Berendsen. It is unnumbered, as is the second film's book adaptation. The other books in the series are numbered in reading order.

As part of the Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: Salem's Tails book collection, a book titled Salem's Tails: Salem Goes to Rome is available. The book tells Salem's tale of his trip to Rome. This book is also unnumbered.

Music

• The song heard in the opening credits is Sky Fits Heaven by Madonna.
• Other songs featured in the movie include, Crush by Jennifer Paige

External links

• Sabrina Goes to Rome at the Internet Movie Database
• Sabrina Goes to Rome at AllRovi