In other words, ‘The Lizzie McGuire Movie’ is the Roman Empire for girls.
call for any cleaning woman who acquired her first bandeau in the early 2000s , and she ’ll agree : The Lizzie McGuire Movieis a perfect moving picture . The G - rated , delightfully campy chef-d’oeuvre gave giving birth to scenes that have stick with preteen viewers well into their 20s : a brunette Hillary Duff smugly uttering “ Sing to me , Paolo ” ; theigloo garb ; thatItalian extrawho screamed like her split was due . But perhaps most resonant was the image it painted ofRome — becauseThe Lizzie McGuire Moviewas , for many Gen Z child , the first sentence they ever saw the Trevi Fountain .
The celluloid , which recently celebrate its twentieth anniversary , follows the titular role as she embarks on a middle school day graduation trip to Italy . Once there , McGuire has a meet - cute with Italian pop sensation , Paolo Valisari . Valisari is shocked to discover that McGuire ’s essentially a blonde doppelganger of his ex - euphony collaborator , Isabella , and the two gear up for an unforgettable performance at an international honour show .
Since its 2003 premiere , the pic has beautify the internet time and sentence again , fromrecreationsof the “ What Dreams Are Made Of ” performance ( Duffrecentlydanced along to the song at theSAG - AFTRA tap ) toCardi B saying she channels the movieat Fashion Week events . But thelatest TikTok trendinvolves traveller squeeze their internal child by visit the film ’s famous shooting locations in Rome , from the Spanish Steps to the Colosseum .
Design by Maitane Romagosa for Thrillist
“ So many fans have made trips specifically to follow the locations , and it could n’t be better , because our movie is essentially a travelog — we give-up the ghost to every democratic daub , ” order director Jim Fall , acknowledging that their target area audience was n’t exactly classical architecture connoisseurs . “ At the metre , I was a small interested that we were being cliche , but six - yr - old have n’t seenRoman Holiday , so what I thought might have been cliche was new to a whole genesis . ”
The Lizzie McGuire Movieisn’t the only add up - of - years hit that shaped Gen Z ’s corporate construct of travel . Prior to the Disney megahit , there was , of line , the holy trinity of Mary Kate and Ashley moving picture set in glitzy European cities : recommendation to Paris(1999),Winning London(2001 ) , andWhen In Rome(2002 ) . Amanda Bynes had tweens wish they were secretly born into British high society inWhat a Girl Wants(2003 ) , whileThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants(2005 ) no doubt animate — and perhaps still prompt — countless girls ’ misstep to Santorini . And who could leave whenThe Cheetah Girls 2(2006 ) , released just a few years afterLizzie Mcguire , inextricably linked the street of Barcelona to the iconic pop bebop “ Strut . ”
One part location, one part movie magic
When Fall first sign on on to directLizzie McGuire , the location was already written in the book . Why the screenwriter chose the Italian capital , he does n’t quite remember , but ultimately , it did n’t matter — it was the perfect fit . “ It felt like we were all a clump of kids on a trip to Rome have a picture show about kids on a trip to Rome , ” he call back lovingly . The music director had a month before filming to scout fix , research which paid off in the form of the far-famed “ Volare ” scene , where McGuire rides on the back of Valisari ’s vespa , wander through narrow-minded streets and past pop landmarks like the Piazza del Popolo and the Pantheon .
come down made sure to sprinkle in a few court to old movies , so that the inevitable adults in the audience could also get in on the trick . Take the Trevi Fountain scene , for instance . “ It set out with three tiddler throwing three coins in a fountain , ” Fall says . “ There was a movie about Rome calledThree Coins in the Fountain , as well as a call [ of the same name ] from the ’ fifty . ”
And when it descend time to flash the finale — a.k.a . excellently klutzy McGuire ’s pop star topology - meet - gladiator mo — Fall had us all gull . “ I guess one of the funniest thing is kids conceive you could actually have a concert inside the Colosseum , ” he laughs . “ We did it through visual effects — this awing company called Rainmaker create the interior of the Colosseum , plus we built sets in Vancouver . All the inside , the stage , and a lot of the stuff you see when they ’re offstage was dash on sets . ”
And that glamorous hotel where McGuire and conscientious objector - asterisk David “ Gordo ” Gordon deal a amatory rooftop candy kiss ? Also a readiness . “ I had an amazing production clothes designer who design a function elevator , ” Fall says . “ In a direction , it ’s almost too much — how could they have afforded to outride in this five - star hotel ? But when he showed me the designs , I was like , ‘ You live what ? This movie has a number of magic in it , lease ’s go with the pretty one . I do n’t require to film a movie where they abide at a icky youth hostel . ’ ” ( The outside of the hotel , however , can be incur on the corner of Vicolo Diamond State ’ Cinque and Via del Moro in Rome . )
Songs to inspire a new generation of travelers
The lasting power of these other aughts picture can in part be attributed to their brawny soundtracks , which infuse teen pop ballad with local touch , like Spanish guitars or classic Italian melodies . “ ForThe Cheetah Girls 2 , we wanted to check that that the music ponder the unbelievable setting , ” say Steven Vincent , senior frailty chairperson of music and soundtrack atDisney Branded Television . “ With ' swagger , ' it was really important for us to not only make a great Sung dynasty that showcased the push of Barcelona , but also to instigate unseasoned viewersto follow their dreamsand research the world . ”
To help him select track that embody la dolce vita , Lizzie McGuire’sFall worked with medicine supervisory program Elliot Lurie , the voice behind ’ 70s graph - topper“Brandy ( You ’re a Fine Girl).”The conductor asked Lurie to station him a list of quintessential birdcall about Rome , and Dean Martin ’s “ On An eve In Roma , ” which make for as McGuire and her schoolfellow first catch sight of the city from a bus window , was number one on the list .
But the 1958 song “ Volare , ” re - recorded byVitamin C , was the dark horse . “ ‘ Volare ’ was something I asked [ Lurie ] to expect up , and he was like , ‘ Who get laid ‘ Volare ? ’’ says Fall . “ I thought , Well , that ’s an Italian tidings that means ‘ to fly , ’ and if we rerecord it , it ’s the perfect Sung dynasty for that [ view ] . ” Older viewers might not have recognized the original song , but it was given new life history by a generation of teens who spend the next few years tattle it in their sleeping accommodation , hairsbreadth brushes in hand .
‘The Cheetah Girls’ inspired many visits to Barcelona’s Park Guell.|Photo courtesy of Disney Channel
The future of the teen travel rom-com
While many Disney Channel TV shows have been transubstantiate into feature - duration films over the days ( The Even Stevens Movie , Wizards of Waverly Place : The Movie , etc . ) , The Lizzie McGuire Moviewas the first to premier in theaters . “ I reckon that motion-picture show come along at a sweet spot when the studio was unforced to take a turn of a risk , ” Fall articulate . And that risk paid off by way of a box office hit , with the project gross more than $ 17 million its opening weekend alone .
These days , Disney Channel Original Movies ( or DCOMs , as they ’re known in internet idiom ) are n’t potential to be filmed on - location oversea . That sumptuosity has pretty much been off the table since 2008 ’s disappointingly low - ratedThe Cheetah Girls 3 : One World , which blew its $ 25 million budget on an elaborate — and in the end uninspiring — Indian backdrop . Within the large firmament of teenage fixed storage - coms , it seems as though plot sport alien escapades happen less and less , though Netflix father airplane propeller for maintain the party going with their late making love - to - detest - it serial publication , Emily in Paris .
“ It make me lamentable these kinds of flick do n’t get made anymore . One of the reason I shot wide - screen , had an orchestral grade , and birdcall by Dean Martin , is because I want the movie to be as classical and timeless as it could be , ” Fall say . “ Of course , it ’s dated in its own way — the euphony , the fashion — but that ’s the magic spell . There ’s a reasonTheLizzie McGuire Moviehas stayed so popular , if not become more popular now than it ever was . ”
Amidst on-line murmurings of aLizzie McGuirereboot , Fall has view the possibility of a sequel . “ I ’ve always wanted to see Lizzie and Paolo run into again , where Paolo has now become a much more found , real person , and they actually fall in honey , either back in Rome or in New York , ” he muses . “ Because in this movie , they ’re teen — it ’s not really falling in beloved , it ’s calf love . ”
Though as for whether or not today ’s adolescent interview could ever get their own version ofThe Lizzie McGuire Moviein all its empty-headed , study abroad - style aura , Fall remains unbelieving : “ I do n’t recall a pic where a 15 - year - old young woman gets on the back of a alien ’s Vespa in Rome could even be made today . ”
