| The Parent Trap | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Nancy Meyers |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Based on | Lisa and Lottie byErich Kästner |
| Produced by | Charles Shyer |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Dean Cundey |
| Edited by | Stephen A. Rotter |
| Music by | Alan Silvestri |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution |
Release date |
|
Running time | 128 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States[2][3] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[4] |
| Box office | $92.1 million[5] |
The Parent Trap is a 1998 Americanfamilyromantic comedy film directed byNancy Meyers, in herfeature directorial debut, and produced by Meyers' then-husbandCharles Shyer. It starsLindsay Lohan in her film debut in a dual role of identicaltwins who have been separated at birth and, upon meeting by chance atsummer camp, decide to work together to reunite their divorced parents, played byDennis Quaid andNatasha Richardson.The Parent Trap is a remake of the 1961film of the same name and an adaptation ofErich Kästner's 1949 Germanchildren's novel,Lisa and Lottie (Das doppelte Lottchen).David Swift, who wrote and directed the original 1961 film, is credited, along with Meyers and Shyer, as co-writers of the 1998 film.
Principal photography took place from July 1997 to December 1997, in bothCalifornia andLondon, with cinematographer Dean Cundey. Duringpost-production, editing was completed byStephen A. Rotter, and the score was composed by Alan Silvestri.The Parent Trap utilizedspecial effects to make Lohan'sdual role seamless, with manyshots requiring extensive planning and precise execution during filming and compositing in post-production.
The Parent Trap premiered inLos Angeles on July 20, 1998, before being theatrically released in the United States nine days later byWalt Disney Pictures. Its London premiere took place on November 8, 1998, as aRoyal Film Performance attended by QueenElizabeth II.[6][7]The Parent Trap was distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution and was abox-office hit, grossing $92.1 million worldwide against abudget of $15 million. It received positive reviews from critics, with Lohan's performance in particular earning high praise. She won theYoung Artist Award forBest Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress at the20th Youth in Film Awards in 1999, and is widely considered to have been a significant factor in the film's success, marking herbreakthrough role and launching her tostardom.
In 1986, Americanwine grower Nicholas "Nick" Parker and Britishwedding gown designer Elizabeth "Liz" James meet during a cruise on theQueen Elizabeth 2, fall in love, and eventually marry. Liz then gives birth to twin daughters, Annie and Hallie, but she and Nick divorce soon after, with each gaining custody of one of the girls. Nick raises Hallie on his vineyard inNapa, California, while Liz raises Annie inLondon, England.
Nearly 12 years later, in 1998, the twins are sent to the same all-girls summer camp inMaine, Camp Walden. Annie and Hallie first meet at the end of afencing match when they remove their masks and see that they look identical. A hostility between the twins leads to a prank war that ends when the camp counselors fall into one of Hallie's traps and decide to isolate the twins from the other girls.
Living together in an isolation cabin, Annie and Hallie discover that they were born on the same day, and each has half of a torn wedding photograph of their parents. Realizing with delight that they are twin sisters, they hatch a plan to reunite their parents and get them to remarry. Each twin trains the other to impersonate her, with the intent to switch places at the end of summer camp.
In London, Hallie meets Liz, the familybutler Martin, and her maternal grandfather Charles, while Annie meets Nick and their familynanny Chessy in California. Much to Annie's dismay, she learns that Nick is engaged to Meredith Blake, a 26-year-oldgold-digging publicist from San Francisco. Meredith acts friendly toward "Hallie", but she reveals to her assistant Richard that she plans to send Hallie to boarding school inTimbuktu after the wedding. Annie phones Hallie and implores her to bring Liz to California to try to break up Nick and Meredith, but Hallie refuses, desperate to spend more one-on-one time with Liz.
After Chessy notices changes in "Hallie's" behavior, Annie confesses her identity to Chessy, who agrees to keep it a secret from Nick. While on the phone with Annie discussing Nick's impending wedding to Meredith, Hallie is caught by Charles, who encourages her to tell Liz the truth. After doing so, Liz is surprised but happy to learn that she has been with Hallie since the end of camp, and they both decide to travel to California to establish joint custody of the twins between each parent.
The twins, with Martin and Chessy's help, arrange for a meeting between Nick and Liz at the Stafford Hotel in California. Upon reuniting with Liz, Nick happily learns that he has had Annie with him since the end of camp. Liz also meets Meredith and learns about her engagement with Nick. Annie and Hallie, with Chessy and Martin's help, attempt to recreate the night their parents met by arranging dinner on a yacht. Nick and Liz discuss their breakup, which occurred when Liz ran off after a fight, secretly hoping that Nick would follow her. They agree on shared custody of the twins but decide not to resume their relationship. Liz plans to fly back to London with Annie the next day, but the twins refuse to reveal which one is which unless the entire family takes a camping trip. Liz insists that Meredith go in her place so that she can become acquainted with the twins before marrying Nick.
On the trip, the twins play a series of pranks on Meredith, leading her to furiously demand that Nick choose between her and them. Finally seeing Meredith's true nature, Nick breaks up with her. After the camping trip, Nick and Liz realize that they are still in love, but decide to go their separate ways, each with the twin that they have respective custody of. When Liz and Annie return to London, they find Nick and Hallie, who had taken a flight onConcorde. Nick says that he does not want to make the same mistake of not going after Liz again, and they share a kiss.
The end credits reveal that Liz and Nick have remarried, with Annie and Hallie as their bridesmaids, and that Chessy and Martin have become engaged.
Kat Graham played Jackie, a friend of Annie at Camp Walden.Vendela Kirsebom appears as a model during a photoshoot sequence at Elizabeth James' studio.Hallie and Annie Meyers-Shyer—daughters of the director, Meyers, and the producer, Shyer—make appearances in the film, credited as Lindsay and Towel Girl, respectively. Lohan's brother, Michael (credited as Lost Boy at Camp), plays a boy at Camp Walden who did not realize he was going to an all-girls camp. Lohan's mother,Dina, and her siblings,Aliana and Dakota, all appear in uncreditedcameos at the airport in London. The film's cinematographer,Dean Cundey, appears in an uncredited cameo as the captain of theQueen Elizabeth 2, who marries Nick and Elizabeth at the beginning of the film.Jeannette Charles portrayed QueenElizabeth II in a deleted scene in which she and Hallie meet.[8]
The Parent Trap wasNancy Meyers'directorial debut.[9] More than 1,500young actresses submittedaudition tapes for the dual roles of Hallie and Annie.[10] Meyers was looking for "a littleDiane Keaton" to play the parts.[11] BeforeLindsay Lohan was cast in the roles, actressesMara Wilson,Scarlett Johansson,Michelle Trachtenberg, andJena Malone all either auditioned or were considered for the dual roles, with Malone turning the roles down multiple times.[12]
Principal photography began on July 15, 1997, inLondon, England, and continued inNapa Valley AVA,San Francisco,Lake Arrowhead, andLos Angeles,California, until December 17, 1997.[13][14] Camp Walden was filmed on location at Camp Seely inCrestline, California.[15] Parker Knoll, thevineyard and residence of the Parker family in the film, was shot on location inRutherford, California, at Staglin Family Vineyard.[16] The exterior of the fictional Stafford Hotel was shot at theAdministration Building, Treasure Island in San Francisco,[17] while the interior atThe Langham Huntington inPasadena, California, and pool scenes were shot atThe Ritz-Carlton inMarina del Rey, California.[18] Director Nancy Meyers collaborated onThe Parent Trap with her then-husbandCharles Shyer asproducer and co-writer, shortly before their divorce.[19] The twins in the film are named after their two daughters, who both havecameo appearances, and the film is dedicated toHallie Meyers-Shyer.[20]
The filming process utilizedmotion control photography for the visual effect of Lindsay Lohan playing both roles.[21] "It was complicated, and I really didn't know how to do it", Meyers recalled of using the technique in her directorial debut. "We had to do everything twice, and on children's hours. But the complexity of the motion control work became oddly fun. It was a fun challenge to figure it out. Since I didn't know the restrictions of what could be done and what couldn't, I would ask for things that, had I known better, I wouldn't have."[22] ActressErin Mackey was hired as adouble for Lohan as part of the filming process.[23][24]
FormerDisneychief executive officer (CEO)Michael Eisner is said to have made comments to Meyers and Lohan at the time of thepremiere, suggesting that two different girls played the twins.[25][22]
In 1962, a year afterWalt Disney Pictures originally adaptedDas doppelte Lottchen intoThe Parent Trap, Cyrus Brooks translated theGerman children's book intoEnglish asLisa and Lottie,[26] an edition still published in the United States and Canada.
A novelization of the film by Hallie Marshall was published in 1998.[27]
In 2014,Das doppelte Lottchen was faithfully retranslated into English byAnthea Bell and republished in the United Kingdom and Australia byPushkin Press asThe Parent Trap,[28] following Disney's successfulfilm adaptations. Then, in 2020, Australian actressRuby Rees recorded an unabridged narration of Bell's translation forBolinda Publishing.[29]
There are several connections between this film and the original 1961 version:
The song used in the opening sequence, in which glimpses of Nick and Elizabeth's first wedding are seen, isNat King Cole's "L-O-V-E". The song used in the end credits, in which photos of Nick and Elizabeth's second wedding are seen, isNatalie Cole's "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)".
The instrumental music featured prominently in the hotel scene where the girls and their parents cross paths serendipitously is "In the Mood", which was previously made famous by theGlenn Miller band. The song "Let's Get Together" is also quoted over the Walt Disney Pictures logo, and at the end ofAlan Silvestri's closing credits suite.
When Hallie shows up at Annie's poker game at Camp Walden, the music used is "Bad to the Bone" byGeorge Thorogood and the Destroyers.
The tune playing as Hallie and Annie make their way up to the Isolation Cabin is the main theme from "The Great Escape" by Elmer Bernstein.
The song coming from the radio in Meredith's car as she pulls up to the Parkers' home is "Parents Just Don't Understand" byDJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.
The background song heard in the campfire scene is "How Bizarre" byOMC.
The song playing as Annie, Elizabeth, and Martin say goodbye to Hallie, Nick, and Chessy toward the end of the film is "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye", performed byRay Charles andBetty Carter.
| The Parent Trap | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | July 28, 1998 |
| Length | 54:08 |
| Label | Hollywood |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Recording artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "L-O-V-E" | Bert Kaempfert; Milt Gabler | Nat King Cole | 2:32 |
| 2. | "Do You Believe in Magic" | John Sebastian | The Lovin' Spoonful | 2:05 |
| 3. | "There She Goes" | Lee Mavers | The La's | 2:43 |
| 4. | "Top of the World" | Richard Carpenter; John Bettis | Shonen Knife | 3:56 |
| 5. | "Here Comes the Sun" | George Harrison | Bob Khaleel | 3:08 |
| 6. | "(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons" | Deek Watson; William Best | Linda Ronstadt | 3:44 |
| 7. | "Soulful Strut" | Eugene Record; Sonny Sanders | Young-Holt Unlimited | 3:00 |
| 8. | "Never Let You Go" | Christian Berman; Frank Berman; Gabriel Gilbert; Jeff Coplan; Matthias Hass; Nick Laird-Clowes | Jakaranda | 3:07 |
| 9. | "Bad to the Bone" | George Thorogood | George Thorogood & The Destroyers | 4:49 |
| 10. | "The Happy Club" | Bob Geldof;Karl Wallinger | Bob Geldof | 4:05 |
| 11. | "Suite fromThe Parent Trap" | Alan Silvestri | 7:13 | |
| 12. | "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" | Chuck Jackson; Marvin Yancy | Natalie Cole | 2:49 |
| 13. | "Dream Come True[1]" | Milton Davis | Ta-Gana | 3:50 |
| 14. | "Groovin'[2]" | Eddie Brigati; Felix Cavaliere | Pato Banton & The Reggae Revolution | 3:50 |
| 15. | "Let's Get Together[3]" | Richard M. Sherman; Robert B. Sherman | Nobody's Angel | 3:08 |
| Total length: | 54:08 | |||
| The Parent Trap | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Film score by | ||||
| Released | September 1, 1998 | |||
| Length | 39:46 | |||
| Label | Hollywood | |||
| Alan Silvestri chronology | ||||
| ||||
All tracks are written byAlan Silvestri.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Disney Logo" | 0:16 |
| 2. | "Suite fromThe Parent Trap" | 7:12 |
| 3. | "Annie and Martin" | 1:00 |
| 4. | "Shake Hands, Girls" | 0:34 |
| 5. | "Like Twins" | 3:39 |
| 6. | "Changes" | 2:41 |
| 7. | "Hallie Meets Mom" | 3:43 |
| 8. | "Annie Meets Dad" | 2:11 |
| 9. | "Vineyard Suite" | 1:38 |
| 10. | "I Am Annie" | 1:17 |
| 11. | "Dad's Getting Married" | 1:01 |
| 12. | "Hallie Breaks the News" | 1:49 |
| 13. | "You'll Kill in It" | 0:53 |
| 14. | "Table for Two" | 1:51 |
| 15. | "She's Gone" | 2:05 |
| 16. | "Where Dreams Have No End" | 2:18 |
| 17. | "We Actually Did It" | 1:38 |
| 18. | "Finale" | 3:52 |
| Total length: | 39:46 | |
The film premiered in Los Angeles on July 20, 1998.[30] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $11,148,497 in 2,247 theaters across the United States and Canada, ranking #2 at the box office, behindSaving Private Ryan.[31] By the end of its run,The Parent Trap grossed $66,308,518 domestically and $25,800,000 internationally, totaling $92,108,518 worldwide.[5] The film was released in the United Kingdom on December 11, 1998, and opened at number 3, behindRush Hour andThe Mask of Zorro.[32]
The Parent Trap received generally positive reviews upon release.[33][34][35] The review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 87% based on 54 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critics' consensus states: "Writer-director Nancy Meyers takes the winning formula of the 1961 original and gives it an amiable modern spin, while young star Lindsay Lohan shines in her breakout role."[36]Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[37] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[38]
Gene Siskel andRoger Ebert each gave the filmthree stars.[39] Critics especially praised Lohan's performance.[33][34] CriticKenneth Turan called Lohan "the soul of this film as much as Hayley Mills was of the original", going on to say that "she is more adept than her predecessor at creating two distinct personalities".[40]Nell Minow ofCommon Sense Media rated the film four stars out of five, calling it "a delightful remake of the Hayley Mills classic." She also praised Lohan's performance, stating "a masterful job of creating two separate characters, each of whom spends a large part of the movie impersonating the other."[41] Lohan won aYoung Artist Award for best performance in a feature film.[42][43]
In a 2021 interview, the star of the original film,Hayley Mills, said, "It was so like the one I did, and yet not. But I thought it was really good." She also praised Lohan's performance, calling her "excellent".[44]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Artios Awards | Best Casting for Feature Film, Comedy[45] | Ilene Starger | Nominated |
| 1999 | Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | Favorite Female Newcomer[46] | Lindsay Lohan | Nominated |
| 1998 | International Film Music Critics Association | Best Original Score for a Comedy Film[47] | Alan Silvestri | Nominated |
| 1999 | Online Film & Television Association | Best Breakthrough Performance: Female[48] | Lindsay Lohan | Won |
| Best Youth Performance[48] | Lindsay Lohan | Nominated | ||
| Best Family Actress[48] | Lindsay Lohan | Nominated | ||
| 1999 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress[49] | Lindsay Lohan | Won |
| Best Family Feature - Comedy[49] | The Parent Trap | Nominated | ||
| 1998 | YoungStar Awards | Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy Film[50] | Lindsay Lohan | Nominated |
The Parent Trap was initially released onVHS in the United States on December 8, 1998.[51] A20th Anniversary EditionBlu-ray was released as a Disney Movie Club Exclusive on April 24, 2018.[52] The film was also available as a launch title onDisney+.[53]
On February 21, 2018,The Hollywood Reporter reported rumours that reboots of several titles were being considered for development as exclusive content forThe Walt Disney Company's streaming serviceDisney+, withThe Parent Trap being one of the projects named in the announcement.[54]
On July 20, 2020,Katie Couric moderated a virtual cast reunion through herInstagram account for the film's 22nd anniversary.[55]Lindsay Lohan,Dennis Quaid,Elaine Hendrix,Lisa Ann Walter,Simon Kunz,Nancy Meyers, andCharles Shyer all participated in the video chat.[56] A charity fundraising effort during theCOVID-19 pandemic, the reunion special helped raise money for chefJosé Andrés' non-profit organization,World Central Kitchen.[57][58] Quaid then released an extended version of the reunion on his podcast,The Dennissance, the following day.[59]
In March 2025, Quaid addressed the possibility of a sequel, stating "there had been some talk" about it prior to Richardson's passing in 2009, but "it would be impossible to do now," continuing, "I don't think we'd have the heart for it. Maybe one day, another version will be made for another generation. We all still miss Natasha."[60]
In July 2025, Hendrix co-produced anoff-Broadway parody of the film titledGinger Twinsies.[61]
most reviews were pleasant ... if not glowing ... The Parent Trap was released in theaters to generally positive reviews
The film received acclaim from critics with praise showered on Lohan for her dual performance.
The Parent Trap ... received critical acclaim
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
