| Ice Princess | |
|---|---|
Promotional film poster |
|
| Directed by | Tim Fywell |
| Produced by | Bridget Johnson |
| Written by | Meg Cabot Hadley Davis |
| Starring | Michelle Trachtenberg Joan Cusack Kim Cattrall Hayden Panettiere Trevor Blumas Kirsten Olson |
| Music by | Christophe Beck |
| Cinematography | David Hennings |
| Editing by | Janice Hampton |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 18, 2005 |
| Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10 million (Estimated) |
| Box office | $27,645,491 (Worldwide) |
Ice Princess is a 2005 American figure-skating film directed by Tim Fywell, Starring Michelle Trachtenberg, Joan Cusack, Kim Cattrall, Hayden Panettiere, Trevor Blumas, and Kirsten Olson. The film centers on Casey Carlyle (Michelle Tratchtenberg), a normal teenager who gives up a promising future academic life in order to pursue her new found dream of being a professional figure skater. The film was released by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States theatrically on March 18, 2005. Ice Princess had a successful performance at the box office grossing $24 million in United States during its theatrical run.
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Seventeen year old Casey Carlyle (Michelle Trachtenberg), a bookworm and physics geek, plans to use her academic skills to pursue a scholarship to Harvard University. For the scholarship, Casey must present a personal summer project about physics. While watching a figure skating competition with her math geek friend, Ann, Casey realizes that her favorite childhood hobby, which is ice skating on the pond outside her house, 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 has discovered from watching other skaters. She becomes a proficient skater, even skipping two levels to become a junior skater. She also helps junior skaters Gennifer, Tiffany, and Nikki improve in their skating.
Unsure of what she really wants, Casey has a difficult time juggling schoolwork, skating, and a job at a food stand in the ice rink 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, but Casey refuses.
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 to use which caused Casey to slip, fall, and injure her feet during a skating competition.
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, and from Gen's brother Teddy (Trevor Blumas). 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. Teddy gives Casey flowers to congratulate her, and two share a passionate kiss. The film ends with Joan and Tina playfully arguing about how many college courses she should take,discussing about Teddy and Casey's relationship, and about Casey's future in figure skating.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Michelle Trachtenberg | Casey Carlyle |
| Joan Cusack | Joan Carlyle |
| Kim Cattrall | Tina Harwood |
| Hayden Panettiere | Gennifer "Gen" Harwood |
| Trevor Blumas | Teddy Harwood |
| Amy Stewart | Ann |
| Kirsten Olson | Nikki Fletcher |
| Diego Klattenhoff | Kyle Dayton |
| Connie Ray | Mrs. Fletcher |
| Jocelyn Lai | Tiffany Lai |
| Paul Sun-Hyung Lee | Mr. Lai |
| Juliana Cannarozzo | Zoey Bloch |
| Kristina Whitcomb | Ms. Fisher Lee |
| Signe Ronka | Emma Flanders |
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 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]
The film was filmed from May 3, 2004 to July 23, 2004.[8] These locations in Toronto were used for filming: George Bell Arena, Western Technical-Commercial School, Christie Mansion, De La Salle College.[9]
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $6,807,471 million in 2,501 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #4 at the box office, behind The Ring Two, Robots and The Pacifier, was the best debut for an Disney film that week. By the end of its run, Ice Princess grossed $24,402,491 domestically and $3,243,000 internationally, totaling $27,645,491 worldwide.[10]
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".[11] Reaction from other critics have been mixed, as 52% of the T-meter critics on Rotten Tomatoes reviewed the film positively.[12] 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 Cattrall’s performances as emotionally powerful and fully human.[13] 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.[14] Oppenheim Toy Portfolio awarded the film their platinum award.[15] It is rated G by the Motion Picture Association of America.[16]
| Ice Princess Original Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | March 15, 2005 |
| Genre | Pop, dance-pop, teen pop |
| Label | Walt Disney Records |
| Producer | Desmond Child, Matthew Gerrard, Greg Kurstin, Jamie Houston, Leah Haywood, Daniel James[17] |
| Professional reviews | |
The Ice Princess Original Soundtrack was released on March 15, 2005 in the United States by label Walt Disney Records, features tracks by Natasha Bedingfield, Emma Roberts, the star of the film Hayden Panettiere, Grammy-winner Michelle Branch, the Disney Channel stars; Aly & AJ, Jesse McCartney and Raven-Symoné, and others various artists. It peaked at number 53 on the Billboard 200 and at number 2 on Top Soundtracks.
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard 200 | 53[18] |
| Billboard Top Soundtracks | 2 |
At the 2nd Annual Teen Film/TV Series International Awards Awards ceremony, the film won 14 awards from 20 nominations, getting the record for most which film won the award in history with 14 awards in total.
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Teen Film/TV Series International Awards | Best Film of the Year | Won |
| Best Teen Film of the Year | Won | ||
| Best Comedy Film of the Year | Won | ||
| Best Drama Film of the Year | Won | ||
| Best Film Actress: Lead Role for Michelle Trachtenberg | Won | ||
| Best Film Actress: Support Role for Hayden Panettiere | Won | ||
| Best Comedy Actress or Drama Lead Role for Michelle Trachtenberg | Won | ||
| Best Comedy Actress or Drama Support Role for Kim Cattrall | Won | ||
| Best Couple for Michelle Trachtenberg & Trevor Blumas | Won | ||
| Outstanding Casting for a Film | Won | ||
| Outstanding Casting for a Film Comedy or Drama | Won | ||
| Best Director for Film | Won | ||
| Best Cinematography for Film | Won | ||
| Best Screenplay for Film | Won | ||
| Best Film Actress: Lead Role for Joan Cusack | Nominated | ||
| Best Film Actress: Support Role for Kim Cattrall | Nominated | ||
| Best Film Actor: Support Role for Trevor Blumas | Nominated | ||
| Best Comedy Actress or Drama Lead Role for Joan Cusack | Nominated | ||
| Best Comedy Actress or Drama Support Role for Hayden Panettiere | Nominated | ||
| Best Soundtrack for Film | Nominated |