History Film / TheParentTrap

* BitchInSheepsClothing: The soon-to-be-[[WickedStepmother Step-Mom]] for Hallie.

* PetHomosexual: Meredith's sassy gay assistant: "Ooh, Ice Woman!"

* RiddleForTheAges: How ''did'' Annie get three sets of beds and dressers out of a cabin and ''onto the roof'' without any counselors noticing?

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: What happened to Meredith after Nick dumped her?

* CoolOldGuy: Dr. Mosby, the preacher, he is utterly charmed by Maggie.

%%* CoolOldGuy: The grandfathers in both films.%%ZCE -- how?

* HisAndHers: Discussed trope. Once they discover each other, neither twin is happy that in the original divorce, the twins were treated as "his and hers kids", as if they were a set of matched towels.
--> '''Hallie:''' His & Hers kids. No offence, mom, but this arrangement totally sucks."

* EvilDetectingDog: Sharon isn't exactly evil, but Susan's dog still figured out that she's an impostor much earlier than the father and the maid do. The same happens in the remake. The remake takes this a step further and has Sammy show hostility to Meredith when they meet in the hotel.

%%* FriendshipSong: "Let's Get Together" is this for the original film.%%ZCE -- how?

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: Making one of the twins British throws a huge wrench into the main plot. American summer holidays usually last about three months. British students on the other hand don't get theirs until July and only for six weeks. So unless Annie is home-schooled with a very lenient tutor, it's unlikely she'd even be able to go to Camp Walden in the first place (it's mentioned that the girls were at camp for eight weeks). In the original both twins were Americans, so it was no big deal.
* AdaptationalNationality: The original film had both twins as Americans (though ironically played by a British girl), while the remake makes one twin British. By extension, the mother becomes British and so does her father.

* GilliganCut:

The movie is based on a 1949 book, ''[[Literature/LottieAndLisa Das doppelte Lottchen]]'', which has also been filmed as ''Das doppelte Lottchen'' (a faithful-to-the-text version that retains author Erich Kästner as narrator and uses actual twins), ''Twice Upon a Time'' and ''Hibari’s Lullaby'' (a Japanese telling).

* CoordinatedClothes: The twins wear matching outfits several times, sometimes to confuse the others about which twin is which. In the 1998 version, when the mother sees both her daughters for the first time since their separation, each is dressed in yellow and white. She tells them not to do this to her because she's already seeing double (even after a HideousHangoverCure she hasn't quite sobered up yet) and asks who is who.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Hallie/Susan manages to very much overreact and initiate all the fights in both films.

* EscalatingWar: In both versions the twins start off hostile to each other, and a prank war ensues. This results in them getting put in the Isolation Cabin and forced to spend time together.
* EvilDetectingDog: Sharon isn't exactly evil, but Susan's dog still figured out that she's an impostor much earlier than the father and the maid do. The same happens in the remake.
* FieryRedhead: The first movie has the [[Creator/MaureenOHara Mother]] and Sharon's camp friend Ursula. The second movie has both Annie and Hallie, especially at camp.

* GuessWhoImMarrying: In both films, the twins discover their father about to marry a new woman who's evil.

* HisAndHers: Discussed trope. Once they discover each other, neither twin is happy that in the original divorce, the twins were treated as "his and hers", as if they were a set of matched towels.

* ItsASmallWorldAfterAll: Twin sisters, separated and living in different states (continents in the remake) end up at the same camp one summer. This gets lampshaded more than once.

* OffToBoardingSchool: What would have happened if the fiancée married the father.
* OneTruePairing: established in-universe, between Maggie [=McKendrick=] and Mitch Evers in the original, and Elizabeth James and Nick Parker in the remake-the daughters' reason for the trap.

* RichBitch: The fiancée in both versions. She serves the role as GoldDigger and ChildHater.

** More so because both Oreos and peanut butter are far less commonly sold in Britain than they are in America. So the fact that the English-raised Annie likes that particular combination would be rather unusual (and it's Annie who says that most people find it disgusting -- that may just be her experience with her fellow Brits).

** More so because both Oreos and peanut butter are far less commonly sold in Britain than they are in America. So the fact that the English-raised Annie likes that particular combination would be rather unusual...

* GrayRainOfDepression: When it looks like the plan has failed and the two families part, it's pouring down rain in California when Elizabeth and Annie leave and in London when they arrive.

* CoordinatedClothes: The twins wear matching outfits several times, sometimes to confuse the others about which twin is which. When the mother sees both her daughters for the first time since their separation, each is dressed in yellow and white. She tells them not to do this to her because she's already seeing double (even after a HideousHangoverCure she hasn't quite sobered up yet) and asks who is who.

* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: Susan, the tomboy sister in the remake, remarks she feels just "naked" without her lipstick, and doesn't usually dress any more boyish than Sharon; in the original, Hallie has pierced ears and nail polish; both are adept in homemade haircuts.

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Wondered by both maids about the GoldDigger dating the Father, not that the Father is ugly, but he's usually a Regular Joe and isn't very witty or "one of those charm fellows", think [[Series/TheBigBangTheory Leonard Hofstadder]] if he was a wealthy rancher.

* KindlyHousekeeper: Chessy, when she finds out, wants to coddle Annie and tries to cook everything in the kitchen for her

* BilingualBonus: Annie takes news of her father remarrying so harshly, she rants in French.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Meredith is established as a BitchInSheepsClothing when Hallie overhears her lying to a reverend, preventing Nick from taking part in a charity event.

* HateAtFirstSight: Hallie and Annie hate each other from the moment they first see each other and see they look exactly alike.

** At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:Elizabeth and Nick remarry, Martin proposes to Chessy, and Chessy says yes.]]

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Happens to both Hallie and Annie, more often to whoever has a British accent at the moment. Often it's the In-Character version of the trope. Lindsay Lohan had to play four accents -- American, British, American pretending to be British, and British pretending to be American. The latter two had accents slipping. Lohan does a remarkable job in the scene at the hotel where she's basically playing four characters at once -- Hallie, Annie, Hallie pretending to be Annie and Annie pretending to be Hallie. She switches up the accents just enough to do exactly what Hallie and Annie were after (confuse the heck out of Mom and Dad).

* PhotoMontage:

* ParentalSubstitute: Chessie acted like a second mother for Hallie and Martin acted like a father to Annie. Makes sense seeing as how they were certain that the girls would never meet their other parent.

* ShipperOnDeck: Chessie and Martin are on board with the twins' plan and help them try to get the parents back together.

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Done subtly. Elizabeth -- the wholesome mother -- is given a more earthy look, with soft makeup and modest clothes. Meredith -- the vampy evil girlfriend -- is done up in sexier clothes, with more fashionable hair and make-up. Further underlining things is the colours they wear in the first scene they appear in together -- Elizabeth in [[WomanInWhite white]] and Meredith in black.

''The Parent Trap'' is a Creator/{{Disney}} live-action film that has been filmed twice. The 1961 original starred Creator/HayleyMills and yielded three sequels which are hard to fit into one continuity (and are [[FirstInstallmentWins pretty much forgotten about]]). The 1998 remake starred Creator/DennisQuaid, Creator/NatashaRichardson, and a young Creator/LindsayLohan.

* {{Montage}}s: The movie makes liberal use of them:
** See HardWorkMontage in the "Both Movies" folder.
** Hallie's first day in London has at least two.

* FootFocus: When (drunk!) Elizabeth arrives at the San Francisco hotel, she gives Martin her bare foot instead of her hand.

* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: Elizabeth is the softer and nurturing Light Feminine, while Meredith is the harsher and brashier Dark Feminine. Notably Elizabeth only wears dark colours once in the film (when she's at dinner with Nick) and likewise Meredith with white (when she first meets Annie).

* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Done subtly. Elizabeth -- the wholesome mother -- is given a more earthy look, with soft make-up and modest clothes. Meredith -- the vampy evil girlfriend -- is done up in sexier clothes, with more fashionable hair and make-up. Further underlining things is the colours they wear in the first scene they appear in together -- Elizabeth in [[WomanInWhite white]] and Meredith in black.

* AuthorAvatar: Annie and Hallie were named after director NancyMeyers and producer Chuck Shyer's daughters

* YouTalkinToMe: [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]]. When Hallie is addressed by Meredith (who she had never seen yet), she responds "You talkin' to me?" 0- and gets an answer: "[[Film/TaxiDriver What are you, Robert De Niro?]] Yes, I'm talking to you."

* CampStraight: If Martin doesn't qualify, we don't know who does. (see LittleBlackDress below)

* BigEater: Hallie, but not Annie. [[spoiler: This, (along with Sammy the dog barking and growling at "Hallie") makes Chessy realize the truth]]

''The Parent Trap'' is a Creator/{{Disney}} live-action film that has been filmed twice. The 1961 original starred Creator/HayleyMills and yielded three sequels which are hard to fit into one continuity (and are [[FirstInstallmentWins pretty much forgotten about]]). The 1998 remake starred Creator/DennisQuaid, Creator/NatashaRichardson, and a young Creator/LindsayLohan,

* GoneSwimmingClothesStolen: When Annie loses the poker game, she has to strip off and jump into the lake naked. Naturally Hallie steals her clothes afterwards.

* GoneSwimmingClothesStolen: When Annie loses the poker game, she has to strip off and jump into the lake. Naturally Hallie steals her clothes afterwards.

* KidsPlayMatchmaker: The TropeNamer. The sisters however initially just want to get to know their respective other parent. Then they decide to try getting them back together.