"How I wish you'd understand and see the world my way, for just one day!"
Freaky Friday is the third remake of Disney's own comedy Freaky Friday (1976), released on Disney Channel. It's an adaptation of a musical Disney had produced in 2016. It was directed by Steve Carr.
Ellie Blake (Cozi Zuehlsdorff) is a rebellious teenager who is still grieving the loss of her father. She wants to attend the Hunt, a school activity, in the hopes of impressing her crush Adam (Ricky He), the List Master. Problem is, her Workaholic mom Katherine (Heidi Blickenstaff) is getting married to Parent with New Paramour Mike (Alex Désert) the next day, and she's catering the wedding, too. With Ellie and Katherine not seeing eye-to-eye regarding the Hunt, they end up getting into an argument and accidentally activate Ellie's dad's Tragic Keepsake hourglass, undergoing, well, a "Freaky Friday" Flip. Now the two have to learn to spend a day in each other's shoes and get back their bodies before it's too late...
Tropes:
- Adaptation Name Change: In the 2016 musical, Ellie's friends are named Gretchen and Hannah. Here, they're renamed Karl and Monica.
- Adapted Out: Many songs from the musical have been cut for runtime reasons. Curiously, despite not being in the film, "After All of This And Everything" and "Not Myself Today" are still on the soundtrack.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: Fletcher.
- All Musicals Are Adaptations: In this case, it's an adaptation of Freaky Friday (1976).
- Alpha Bitch: Savannah, the film's Big Bad. She's very cruel towards Ellie and is confident that she can win the Hunt.
- Bowdlerise: Many of the songs have been censored to remove foul language, mature situations, and copyrighted material.
- Control Freak: Katherine. Makes sense as she's a wedding caterer.
- Dance Party Ending: The film ends with one set to the song "At Last It's Me".
- Dog Got Sent to a Farm: Referenced in "Parents Lie" by Ellie, who tells Fletcher that among the truths parents hide from their children, "Buck the dog's not at a farm- Buck is dead."
- Dog Walks You: Fletcher is subjected to this during "Parents Lie."
- Even the Dog Is Ashamed: Boris the dog is ashamed when Ellie inadvertently sends Fletcher running away.
- Flat Character: Katherine's new husband Mike doesn't really have all that going for him.
- Four Lines, All Waiting: There are multiple plot threads going on in this film: Ellie and Katherine trying to live like each other, them trying to find the hourglass and get back their original bodies, Fletcher running away, the wedding...
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: It wouldn't be Freaky Friday without this!
- Gender Flip: One of Ellie's friends, who is a girl in the 2016 musical, is now a boy named Karl.
- Gym Class Hell: Katherine goes through this while in Ellie's body.
- Hard Truth Aesop: "Parents Lie" is this in its entirety—regardless of how good they are, your parents are fallible and mortal. They lie and make mistakes like any other person, they're not going to live forever and nothing can change either of those things. Additionally, even though they (usually) do it because they love you, learning that you've been lied to by the people you trust the most can hurt, even if the lie (like simply saying "I'll always be there" when they can't guarantee it) is out of their control.
- "I Want" Song: "Just One Day." To clarify, Ellie wants to have a day all to herself; Katherine wants her family united for the wedding.
- Lies to Children: The concept of "Parents Lie" is Ellie admitting this to Fletcher.
- Movie Bonus Song: The opening song, "What It's Like to Be Me", and the finale, "At Last It's Me", were both written for the film.
- Mythology Gag:
- The film opens with an animated sequence, like the 1976 film.
- The family dog, Boris, is named after the Love Interest of the original book and film.
- Parents as People: One of the themes of "Parents Lie", alongside Lies to Children, is that parents are fallible.
- Race Against the Clock: Ellie and Katherine have to find a way to regain their original bodies before the day is up.
- Tempting Fate: "I Got This" has Ellie and Katherine confident that they can handle each other's lives. They can't.
- Tenor Boy: Adam.
- Tragic Keepsake: Ellie's father left behind two magic hourglasses for her and Katherine. Naturally, they serve as the film's MacGuffins.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one reacts when Katherine and Ellie switch back bodies on the altar nor do they even mention it afterwards.
- Voices Are Not Mental: Ellie and Katherine's voices stick with their bodies. The switch is instead conveyed by them adopting each other's mannerisms; in fact, during both switches, they even switch harmonies!
- You Are Grounded!: Katherine does this to Ellie after finding out the latter has a belly piercing.
- You're Not My Father: Ellie to Mike, at first.
At last you're looking at me
At last you're finally free
It took a little of you to show me who to be
Gonna live in the now
Because I know just how
To live each day with love for all to see
The past is in the past
At last it's me!
At last you're finally free
It took a little of you to show me who to be
Gonna live in the now
Because I know just how
To live each day with love for all to see
The past is in the past
At last it's me!
