History YMMV / TheParentTrap

* NightmareFuel: From the Lindsay Lohan version, when to complete her guise as Hallie Annie is forced to have her ears pierced. The girls resort to a ''massively long nail'' and a piece of lemon to carry out the crude technique, as we see ''all'' of it. Annie's squirming and subsequent scream don't help matters at all. Not too surprisingly, this bit is often edited out when aired.

** And yes, there are some people who actually feel sorry for Meredith, despite her intentions.

* {{Fanon}}: Some fans like the idea of Vicki in the remake actually being the same Vicki from the original, as a way of tying the two films together. The fact that she's aware of Meredith marrying Nick for his money lends some merit to the notion.
** Both Vickis are also played by the same actress, Joanna Barnes.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: You can thank the DoubleVision effects (as well as some good acting) for convincing several movie viewers that Hayley Mills and Lindsay Lohan had twin sisters. Creator/JamieLeeCurtis even asked which twin Lindsay played when they were to star in ''Film/FreakyFriday2003''.

** Creator/DennisQuaid plays a father who just got divorced who's kids want him to get back with his wife. Seven years later, Quaid would star in the 2005 remake of ''Film/YoursMineAndOurs'' where he plays a widowed Coast Guard with 8 kids who marries a widowed handbag designer (Creator/ReneRusso) with 10 kids. But this time, the kids' goal in that film is the ''total opposite'' of the twins' goal--They want the parents to ''split up!''

* WhatAnIdiot: Granted, everything had already gone to hell by that point anyway, but Meredith ranting she planned to ship Hallie and Annie off to Switzerland and telling Nick "It's me or them, take your pick" comes across as galactically stupid since they're, you know, his ''daughters,'' one of whom he clearly loves and dotes on, and the other who he hasn't gotten to see in years. Did she really think he was going to pick ''her'' in that ultimatum? But that's the way narcissistic people roll.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: The remake's "11 years and 9 months later" caption gives the implication that Elizabeth got pregnant very quickly after meeting Nick - suggesting that may have been the reason they got married in the first place.
** The odd thing is that "about twelve years" would've served the purpose equally well. It's not like Annie and Hallie remark that they just barely turned eleven when they meet at camp anyway, they've been eleven for at least a few months.

* BrokenBase: Viewers are split over the twins' plan. Numerous parodies and deconstructions find it unrealistic and that the majority of divorced couples don't usually get back together. On the other hand, some fans point out that some do get back together and the movie leaves plenty of {{Foreshadowing}} that the parents still feel something for each other.

* TearJerker:
** The conversation about the break-up. Elizabeth talks about their blazing row, how she packed her bags and Nick never came after her.
--> '''Nick:''' I didn't know that you wanted me to.
** There's also the part where the families say goodbye just as Annie and Elizabeth are about to go back to London. You see Nick hugging Annie, Elizabeth hugging Hallie and the twins desperately embracing each other. They even walk each other to the car, clearly desperate to spend every second they can together.
** Lindsay Lohan's tribute to Natasha Richardson after her sudden death in 2009.
--> "She was a wonderful woman and treated me like her own. We didn't speak much over the years but I will miss her."
** The scenes where Annie reveals herself to Chessy and Hallie reveals herself to Elizabeth are both incredibly emotional. Chessy falls to pieces the second Annie admits who she is, blurting out her birth weight and asking to hug her, in tears. And when Hallie admits to Elizabeth who she is and that she wanted to get to know her mother, there's an incredibly heart-breaking moment when you realize that, as much as she might have agreed to it or even come up with the idea, the separation has been just as hard on her as Hallie.
-->'''Hallie:''' I hope that one day you'll love me for me and not as Annie.
-->'''Elizabeth:''' ''[pulls Hallie into a hug and kisses her head]]'' Oh, darling. I've loved you your whole life.
** The scene where Nick finds out about them is also fairly emotional, especially when Nick hugs Annie and is all emotional over seeing her as her for the first time in a decade.
** In the Hayley Mills version, Susan seems especially distraught over her having grown up without a mother. She collapses onto her bed in tears after the discovery when Sharon leaves the cabin. She also fiercely argues against ending their scheme because, to paraphrase, Sharon has had thirteen years with her mother and now it's Susan's turn -- she seems to think that once the twins switch back to their original identities, she might never see her mother again. Sharon does not seem to crave her father's company as badly: probably because her grandfather has served as the main male adult in her life.

** Hallie in the remake comes quite close as well. She initiates all the arguments (pulling Annie into the water, stealing her clothes), behaves like a spoiled brat in the isolation cabin and forces Annie to deal with all the drama surrounding Nick's relationship with Meredith because she wants to spend more time with her mother. And there's the fact that Annie is forced to both cut her hair ''and'' get her ears pierced, all Hallie has to do is change her accent, though Hallie does point out that she can't exactly unpierce her ears.

* SheReallyCanAct: Inverted, as this is Lindsay Lohan's first film. But it's still a clear indicator that she definitely has some acting talent, especially helping distinguish between each twin, and each one pretending to be the other.

* [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitches]]: The twins' plan to reunite their parents and get the evil girlfriend out of the picture does hit a few speed bumps, but ultimately works thanks to working the switch gambit and then helping to convince Vicky/Meredith to go on a camping trip, which they '''knew''' would be a deal-breaker. Something they may have inherited from their mother. Maggie/Elizabeth decided to state that Vicky/Meredith would go instead, likely because they figure the younger women would not have fared well on the trip and become something of TheLoad. It was a stealth way of proving how they are fit compared to the younger and flashier woman.

** Creator/DennisQuaid plays a father who just got divorced who's kids want him to get back with his wife. Seven years later, Quaid would star in the 2005 remake of ''Film/YoursMineAndOurs'' where he plays a widowed Coast Guard with 8 kids who marries a widowed handbag designer (Rene Russo) with 10 kids. But this time, the kids' goal in that film is the ''total opposite'' of the twins' goal--They want the parents to ''split up!''

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: If children actually tried to bring their divorced parents back together, chances are the consequences would be disappointing and devastating.

** The parents. In both movies, they were people who got divorced and, to make it easier on ''themselves'', decided that each would only get custody of one child and never mention the existence of their sibling.

* EarWorm: The original movie has "The Parent Trap" and "Let's Get Together," two of the first songs that Music/TheShermanBrothers wrote for a Disney movie.
* FetishRetardant: The appearance of the Butler in the Creator/LindsayLohan version, wearing a Speedo. To be fair, he's ''not'' fat or ugly. It's just that for some Americans, there's something uncomfortable about a middle-aged or elderly adult in bathing suit typically worn by the younger generation.

* FetishRetardant: The appearance of the Butler in the LindsayLohan version, wearing a Speedo. To be fair, he's ''not'' fat or ugly. It's just that for some Americans, there's something uncomfortable about a middle-aged or elderly adult in bathing suit typically worn by the younger generation.

* FanDisservice[=/=]FetishRetardant: The appearance of the Butler in the LindsayLohan version, wearing a Speedo. To be fair, he's ''not'' fat or ugly. It's just that for some Americans, there's something uncomfortable about a middle-aged or elderly adult in bathing suit typically worn by the younger generation.

* [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitches]]: The twins' plan to reunite their parents and get the evil girlfriend out of the picture does hit a few speed bumps, but ultimately works thanks to working the switch gambit and then helping to convince Vicky/Meredith to go on a camping trip, which they '''knew''' would be a deal-breaker.
** Something they may have inherited from their mother. Maggie/Elizabeth decided to state that Vicky/Meredith would go instead, likely because they figure the younger women would not have fared well on the trip and become something of TheLoad. It was a stealth way of proving how they are fit compared to the younger and flashier woman.

* ValuesDissonance: The idea that parents who broke up in a divorce should get back together, no matter how much they fight, is odd to 21st century society ([[ComedyOfRemarriage but quite familiar to mid-20th century American one]]). The remake seems to recognize this, as while the relationship between the parents in the Hayley Mills version seems a little abusive by modern standards, in the remake, the parents never actually fought, and both make mentions of having stupid tempers when they were younger. It's mentioned that the main reason for the divorce was "we were both young, we both had stupid tempers" as well as Elizabeth technically not wanting to leave -- she expected Nick to stop her so they could make up but Nick believed she wanted to leave. Now that they've matured and sorted their issues out, they might fare better.
** It's interesting that the [[Literature/LottieAndLisa original book]] (and its 1950 German adaptation) is closer to the remake than to 1961 adaptation in this regard - as in, the narrator and the mother explicitly acknowledge that it is better to be divorced than to live in a loveless marriage, and the main reason of the break-up was the father's issue of combining his musical career and child-rearing, which had been pretty much resolved by the time the twins met each other again.

* FridgeHorror: Exactly how many relatives were aware of what the parents had done and were forced to keep it a secret? Even the servants and staff knew and had to keep quiet about it.

* ValuesDissonance: The idea that parents who broke up in a divorce should get back together, no matter how much they fight, is odd to 21st century society. The remake seems to recognize this, as while the relationship between the parents in the Hayley Mills version seems a little abusive by modern standards, in the remake, the parents never actually fought, and both make mentions of having stupid tempers when they were younger. It's mentioned that the main reason for the divorce was "we were both young, we both had stupid tempers" as well as Elizabeth technically not wanting to leave -- she expected Nick to stop her so they could make up but Nick believed she wanted to leave. Now that they've matured and sorted their issues out, they might fare better.

** It's interesting that the [[Literature/LottieAndLisa original book]] (and its 1950 German adaptation) is closer to the remake than to 1961 adaptation in this regard - as in, the narrator and the mother explicitly acknowledge that it is better to be divorced than to live in a loveless marriage, and the main reason of the break-up was the father's difficulty in combining his musical career and child-rearing, which had been pretty much resolved by the time the twins met each other again.

** It's interesting that the [[Literature/LottieAndLisa original book]] (and its 1950 German adaptation) is closer to the remake than to 1961 adaptation in this regard - as in, the narrator and the mother explicitly acknowledge that it is better to be divorced than to live in a loveless marriage.

** It's interesting that the original book is closer to the remake than to 1961 adaptation in this regard - as in, the narrator and the mother explicitly acknowledge that it is better to be divorced than to live in a loveless marriage.

** Hallie in the remake comes quite close as well. She initiates all the arguments (pulling Annie into the water, stealing her clothes), behaves like a spoiled brat in the isolation cabin and forces Annie to deal with all the drama surrounding Nick's relationship with Meredith because she wants to spend more time with her mother. And there's the fact that Annie is forced to both cut her hair ''and'' get her ears pierced, all Hallie has to do is change her accent.