Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context YMMV / LizzieMcGuire

Go To

1* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
2** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvEilACTKog theme song]] is ''very'' catchy. The [[https://youtu.be/mHZhSmaf57M extended version]] is even better.
3** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyxoY1V3wbo "Hey Now, Hey Now, This is What Dreams are Made of!"]]
4** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeOKlQC9yyM "Why Not]].
5** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUTQLEHNj8w "I Can't Wait"]], which is played at the end of the final episode.
6** The song from Clover and Daisy sung by the entire school at the end of "Magic Train" is extremely catchy and also promotes a good message in hard work paying off with free time to act silly.
7* BaseBreakingCharacter:
8** Aside from the people who are JustHereForGodzilla, some people find Animated-Lizzie slightly annoying due to her DeadpanSnarker remarks and bitchy AttentionWhore personality that goes against the sweet NaiveEverygirl that Lizzie is supposed to be.
9** Kate has her fair amount of supporters who enjoy her antics brought as the AlphaBitch and snarky retorts to Lizzie. Other fans detest her mean attitude and think she's stuck-up. Thankfully, the show makes Kate suffer LaserGuidedKarma (see "Those Freaky [=McGuires=]", where she falls victim to a slapstick prank where she finds frogs in her locker, slips on a BananaPeel, and gets a bucket of chili dumped onto her) ''and'' show her nice side to Lizzie every now and then (see "Lizzie and Kate's Excellent Adventure", where the two bond over their [[WeUsedToBeFriends nostalgic childhood friendship]] while being partnered for the science project).
10* BizarroEpisode: "[[FreakyFridayFlip Those Freaky McGuires]]" is this, especially for a show that's otherwise grounded in reality most of the time. Lizzie and Matt speak in their regular voices, yet their bodies have been swapped, making Matt see through Lizzie's POV and vice versa. (The whole conflict started when Lizzie made a wish that she and Matt were never related, then magically switching bodies.) The end hints that it might be AllJustADream.
11* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Kate has the cheerleading squad diss Lizzie with a routine based around "U-G-L-Y". While it's just another demonstration of what a bully she is, you can't deny that a whole cheerleading routine as a DissTrack is quite a stylish way to mock it (especially as Lizzie had owned up to starting a mean rumor about Kate). Extra points for the implication that Kate came up with the routine on the spot.
12* DontShootTheMessage: "Inner Beauty" - sure, eating disorders among teenagers are indeed worthy topics to examine, and the show actually goes against convention by showing Miranda's being caused by severe anxiety rather than poor body image. But it's still a CompressedVice that's gone after the credits roll, not really examining how eating disorders can affect people for years.
13* EnsembleDarkhorse: Melina for being a LittleMissBadass and match for Matt's schemes.
14* EpilepticTrees: There is a theory that is circulating around the Internet that Lizzie is schizophrenic. It also partially explains why the show starts in middle school, and why Lizzie's friend Miranda disappeared from the show (even though the show states that she went to Mexico with her family). The theory can be [[http://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/21d83c/lizzie_micguire_show_and_movie_lizzie_is/ read here]].
15* EscapistCharacter: Lizzie. She's characterized as a completely average NaiveEverygirl like the TargetAudience, but her life is not exactly average. Over the course of the episodes, we see her becoming a young fashion model, appearing on TV after saving someone's life, hanging out with celebrities, ''dating'' other celebrities, and being the hero who saves the day in many situations.
16* {{Fanon}}: Some fans explain Miranda's conspicuous absence from the latter half of Season 2 by her having her Quinceañera. The only explanations the show and movie give is that she's in Mexico City.
17* FansPreferTheNewHer:
18** When Miranda puts green hair color in Kate's shampoo, Kate doesn't look half bad.
19** The outfit Matt wears to school when in Lizzie's body gets appalled reactions from everyone. Although a bit bright, it looks charmingly quirky instead of the fashion disaster the other characters treat it as.
20* GeniusBonus: The names Isabella and Elizabeth (Lizzie's full first name) from the movie are in fact the same name; Isabella is the Romance variation and Elizabeth is the Germanic variation.
21* HarsherInHindsight:
22** In the episode where Gordo gets to go to high school and the girls miss him, Miranda reassures Lizzie "I'm not going anywhere". Miranda rather infamously disappeared from the show before the finale, never to be seen again.
23** Miranda's performance of "Reflection" from ''{{WesternAnimation/Mulan}}'' - which is about the titular heroine wishing she could be herself and not what society wants. Miranda's actress, Lalaine, later revealed that when she was growing up, she was pressured to hide her Filipino heritage and look as white as possible.
24** “Inner Beauty,” given that Hillary Duff struggled with anorexia during production.
25** Gordo tells Lizzie that Larry is "Music/MarilynManson to your Music/BritneySpears". "Britney Spears" was synonymous with "wholesome" back then. Ironically, Manson would later become known as a very well-spoken and intelligent man beyond his on-screen antics. Although in the 2010s, Britney's reputation was restored. Then it went the other way as Manson was hit with a flurry of sexual abuse accusations and had his career destroyed.
26* HeartwarmingInHindsight:
27** The episode that deals with Kate and Lizzie rediscovering their friendship when they have to work on a class project together. As of the events of the movie, Lizzie and Kate put aside their differences seemingly for good - and Kate is the one to help Lizzie [[spoiler: make a love connection with Gordo]].
28** The above-mentioned "Reflection" scene has some of this as well, since the original was sung by Lea Salonga - who is considered a national treasure in the Philippines. So Lalaine was getting to honor her background on screen, even if a lot of viewers wouldn't have guessed it at the time.
29* HilariousInHindsight:
30** Ethan mentioned in one episode he'll take up water polo. Years later in real life, Clayton Snyder (his actor) ends up being part of the US water polo team.
31** Miranda's suspiciously long [[PutOnABus bus trip]] with the knowledge that Lalaine was starring in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' around the same time training as a Potential.
32** In "When Moms Attack", Lizzie says that she has [[Series/HannahMontana "the best of both worlds"]], which ironic given what happens in the movie, which in turn was one of the ideas that brought forth ''Hannah Montana''.
33** In the movie the scene of Paolo getting exposed for lip-syncing became even funnier when something similar happened to Ashlee Simpson on Series/SaturdayNightLive a year later.
34*** Also from the movie: A foreigner woos a girl, but with selfish bad intentions. Is it Paolo, or [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Hans]]?
35* HollywoodHomely: Larry, who is frequently described as "an ugly package" by various characters, including Lizzie herself, even though he's average-looking at worst. It's implied he doesn't bathe too often, further alienating the girls.
36* JustHereForGodzilla: Some people only watch the series for the animated skits, even those who aren't interested in Disney's teen sitcoms.
37* LesYay: In the movie, Isabella and Lizzie sing a song together on stage. When she sang with Paolo, the song was a duet between lovers. Although Isabella leaves the stage pretty soon, they still duet over lyrics like "when I see you smiling" and "I've got somebody to love" - and the fact that this happens ''after'' they've both chased away a guy...
38* LoveToHate: Ashley Brillault makes Kate such an entertaining AlphaBitch that the viewer always relishes when she gets a slapsticky comeuppance.
39* MemeticTroll: Given Jo's psychological torment of Matt when he's faking sick, her starting a pillow fight as soon as the kids are gone, and faking a Walter Peyton football she broke - fans are starting to suspect that Lizzie's mother may not be the OnlySaneMan the show portrays her as.
40* {{Misblamed}}:
41** For being Disney Channel's first hit show. It is true that it's the first and the key show that catapulted Creator/DisneyChannel to overnight success...only to be lost by ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', which stole almost all of its thunder.
42** The fact that nearly every Creator/DisneyChannel kidcom created after ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'' was produced by It's a Laugh Productions, unlike its predecessor, ''Lizzie [=McGuire=]'' (Stan Rogow Productions), may have much to do with how atypical ''Lizzie'' was compared to what came later.
43** Miranda's absence in TheMovie and in some of the final episodes in the second season of the series is often misblamed on Lalaine's [[http://www.tmz.com/2008/04/25/mr-toads-wild-meth-ride real life arrest and charge for possession of methamphetamine in 2007]], or for some fallout between herself and Hilary Duff; the show had by 2007 already been off the air for three years, while the movie was released in 2003. In reality, it had to do more with Lalaine being busy filming the Disney Channel Original Movie ''You Wish!'' and wanting to start a [[IdolSinger music career]], as well as her decision in general to move on from her Miranda role.
44* MoralEventHorizon: In TheMovie, pop singer [[RomanticFalseLead Paolo Valisari]] crosses it when its revealed he is using Lizzie. Befriending and wooing Lizzie for her resemblance to his ex girlfriend and singing partner Isabella, Paolo tries to set Lizzie up to lip synch, in what is revealed to be a plan to frame Isabella at a music video rewards show. This was to get back at Isabella for leaving him, and would have publicly embarrassed Lizzie in front of a international audience, had Isabella and Gordo not arrive in time to expose him.
45* {{Narm}}: Lizzie's nightmare where she frets about the guys thinking she's not feminine enough. Has to be one of the laziest nightmare scenes ever made, especially Kate's laughing.
46* NarmCharm: Four words: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i6Y8LsIZc8 I! WANT! A! BRA!]]
47* OneSceneWonder: Ethan's stepmother only appears in the murder mystery episode. But she's fantastically ditzy and even makes Ethan look smart.
48--> '''Gordo:''' There must be something in the water at Ethan's house.
49* PeripheryDemographic: Not all of Lizzie's (or Hilary's) fans were/are girls. The fact that Miranda, Kate, Claire, Parker and numerous other girls were [[TestosteroneBrigade quite pretty]] probably helped too. Co-star Jake Thomas has said that ''Lizzie [=McGuire=]'' is his favorite show of all time, and would be even if he weren't on it.
50* RetroactiveRecognition: Sara Paxton in the episode "Election" as the resigning class president, always saying "really" as she announces the winner.
51** Creator/ZacharyQuinto makes an early appearance as a short-tempered commercial director trying to work with Matt.
52** Creator/EvangelineLilly has a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzz0Xi43sqA non-speaking role in the movie as an airport security guard]].
53* SignatureScene:
54** "Between a Rock and a Bra Place" is undoubtedly the show's most famous episode. The signature scene from that episode (and, by extension, the whole series) is Lizzie screaming, "I WANT A BRA!"
55** The movie's most famous sequence is Lizzie and Isabella first performing "What Dreams Are Made Of", and Isabella then leaving Lizzie to perform on her own.
56* SpiritualSuccessor:
57** ''Series/HannahMontana'' as mentioned above, TropeCodifier for the Disney KidCom.
58** ''Series/KirbyBuckets'' revived the live action/animation combo albeit with the animated characters explicitly created by the title character.
59** ''Series/AndiMack'', as a LaughTrack-free, low concept show created by Terri Minsky.
60* {{Squick}}:
61** One episode shows a closeup of Lizzie with a piece of spinach stuck in her teeth during a {{flashback}}.
62** "Those Freaky [=McGuires=]" mentions that Matt has a tendency of sneezing in one particular student's pudding.
63* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Andie, the seventh grader who Lizzie is to act as TheMentor to. She soon ends up becoming a stalker, even doing her hair exactly like Lizzie, and it's supposed to be a low moment when Lizzie finally has enough and calls her out. Except Andie's behavior was very much stalking and Lizzie had every right to feel creeped out when it got excessive (she was flattered at first when Andie started styling her hair similar). Andie was the one who overstepped a boundary, and the fact that she hooks up with Kate at the end of the episode indicates the lowness of her character.
64* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The Aaron Carter episode, where Lizzy and all her friends are ecstatic to meet the teen heartthrob singer, places the show squarely in the early 2000's before Carter's 15 minutes of fame were up. Modern audiences may very well have never even heard of him -- or if they have, it's either from being [[Music/BackstreetBoys Nick's brother]] or from his tragic death.
65* ValuesDissonance: The GrandFinale [[TheMovie Film]] centers around Lizzie going on a school trip to Italy and sneaking away with a pop star who has a romance with her. While they're both under eighteen, Paolo is on the edge of seventeen while Lizzie is on a trip celebrating her graduation from '''junior high school, meaning she's only fourteen at the most''' on top of the fact that legally, what Paolo is doing is kidnapping her. Of course, TheReveal is [[spoiler: that Paolo is a creep using Lizzie to get back at Isabella, and the fact that Lizzie has to sneak around Miss Ungermeyer was already a subtle hint to the situation not being A-OK]]. The 2000s was just an in-between time where such a twist might not be telegraphed.
66** The episode "Gordo and the Dwarves" now feels very dated. Even at the time it was aired in 2001, its TakeThat at ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' [[DeadHorseTrope was rather old fashioned]], drawing upon the anti-RPG backlash of the early 1980s when gaming was often depicted as essentially a cult but it also treats it as ''obvious'' that girls like Lizzie and Miranda would have zero interest in a nerdy pastime like roleplaying. As of TheNewTens, with D&D more popular than ever before, attracting many female gamers and frequently getting praised in the media for encouraging imagination and socialization, the episode feels positively prehistoric.
67* ValuesResonance:
68** Lizzie learns a nice Aesop that she can take part in both masculine sports like football, and still be as feminine as she likes. She's afraid that she has to pick either side, but the gender nonconforming coach happily shares her [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak feminine side]] and teaches Lizzie that it's all about her own choice in the matter.
69** Lizzie gives up rhythmic gymnastics, despite her talent at it, because she really doesn't enjoy it and only did it out of pressure to be seen as successful. A very relevant moral on how children often get pressured to achieve things to the detriment of their physical or mental health. Heartwarmingly, her parents say it's her choice and that's all that matters.

Top