I can’t believe that it’s been 10 years since the movie The Princess Diaries came out. It seems like only yesterday I was watching it for the very first time with my daughter.
In honor of the movie’s 10th Anniversary, Disney is re-releasing both The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement on a special Blu-ray Combo Pack.
My family loves both of these stories (well, except maybe my son – LOL). These are truly “family friendly” films that both young and old alike can enjoy.
In The Princess Diaries we meet Mia Thermoplolis. She is an average teenager who lives with her single mother. Her parents were never married and her father passed away. Mia never met her father.
Mia is an “awkward” teen and a bit geeky. She has a best friend Lilly and her brother Michael. The kids at school tend to make fun of Mia because she does things like throw up when she’s nervous, like when she has to stand at a podium and give a speech in front of everyone.
One day, totally out of the blue, Mia’s grandmother (father’s mother) whom she never met shows up and wants to meet her. Little does Mia know her life is about to be turned upside down.
Mia learns from her grandmother that her father was Prince of a tiny European country called Genovia. That makes Mia Princess of Genovia. Mia does not want to be a princess but her grandmother wants her to consider it because if Mia does not accept the crown her grandmother will have to relinquish the crown to another family.
Suddenly Mia finds herself getting a much needed make over and having to learn proper etiquette and how to be a proper princess.
Things get out of control when her secret is revealed and her best friends and the entire school finds out about their royal classmate.
Mia has until Genovia’s Independence Day Ball to decide if she wants to continue being an average teenager or take a chance and become the princess and true heir to the throne.
I don’t like to give away the ending to movies, but with a title like The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement it’s hard not to figure out what Mia decided to do in the first movie. LOL!
In this movie Mia now lives in Genovia with her grandmother. She’s still learning how to be a princess but she’s enjoying her new life in Genovia (although she does miss Lilly and her mom).
Mia is all set to take her rightful place as Princess of Genovia, that is until one minor detail, unbeknown to the Queen, is made known – Mia must be married in order for her family to remain rulers of Genovia.
Finding her “Prince Charming” proves to be easier said then done. With time ticking away Mia is forced to find her Prince right away, without having the time to do a formal courtship.
While Mia is preparing to marry a young Englishman she finds that there is a lot of tension between her and Nicholas Devereaux, a young man whose family could take the crown away from Mia’s family.
Will Mia marry in time to save the crown? Will she make it down the aisle with the charming young British Royal, or will something, or someone, change everything? You will just have to pick up a copy of the movie to find out.
What I love about this Blu-ray set is that there ar A LOT of bonus features. A lot more than I anticipated. The Blu-ray combo pack features 3 discs. There are a lot of deleted scenes, which I enjoy watching. It’s fun to imagine how the movie would have turned out if these scenes were kept in the film. I’m glad they kept the one with the puppet out of the movie. That puppet was creepy!
Garry Marshall (the movie’s Director) introduced each deleted scene, explained it and told viewers why it was not used in the film version of the film.
I love bloopers. This set has a lot of bloopers. The cast of the Princess Diaries looked like they were a lot of fun to work with judging by the bloopers. There were a lot of funny bloopers too.
The bonus feature “A New Princess” gives viewers great insight about the cast and how they were chosen for the movie.
For the kids there is a quick quiz that helps you to determine what kind of princess you are.
The Princess Diaries 1 & 2 Blu-ray Combo Pack would make a great addition to your family movie library, a great gift for the Princess Diaries fan in your life, or a great way to introduce these movies to your child or grandchild.
Look for The Princess Diaries and The Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement Blu-ray Combo Pack where ever movies are sold.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced in any way.
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