The Parent Trap is great. It’s the only kind of Disney movie that can lead a whole generation of children to falsely believe that Lindsay Lohan has a twin (don’t worry, Twindsay Lohan, we know you’re real, and that you’re still out there somewhere in Disney’s clutches!). The simple premise of separated parents going their separate ways and pretending they only have one child is a blast, if not a little unrealistic.
In addition to the Lindsay Lohan 1998 classic version that most associate with the film, let’s not forget the 1961 original either. There are actually quite a few differences from the original and the 90’s remake. In the original for example, both twins live in the United States. In the remake Lindsay Lohan lives in the states while her Twindsay (okay fine maybe she doesn’t actually exist but Twindsay is just too fun to say) lives in the United Kingdom. For such a simple premise, the amount of story details that could potentially change is enormous.
So why has The Parent Trap not been rebooted since 1998? Sony can reboot Spider-Man twice but the world can’t get more gemini-tinged familial hijinks? That seems downright criminal. We can get several different genre takes on the same plot device as Groundhog Day (Palm Springs, Happy Death Day, and many low budget Netflix Originals come to mind), but no advances in camera magic that makes one child star actually appear to be multiple child stars?! Heathens! Hollywood seems stuck, so let’s look at just a few of the ways in which The Parent Trap could be updated for modern audiences.
We’ve had two Parent Traps and zero male children setting them. This seems like the most obvious way to shake things up and not completely retread the same ground as the originals. Again, this is really a small change in the grand scheme of things, as the originals focus more on the location of each child. This leads to the next potential changes; location and the meetup.
While watching long lost twin Lohans come together at camp is certainly heartwarming, the scenario falls apart a bit under further scrutiny. Why is this camp so nice (they teach fencing for crying out loud!)? Perhaps this is a relatable situation to some viewers but for the majority of viewers a Summer Camp of such quality is more like a delightful myth or fable. Additionally, if you live in the UK and have taken the time to distance yourself from your previous spouse and other child, going so far as to pretend they don’t exist, why send the child you did keep back to the States at all?
Sidestepping these qualms entirely the answer is clear. Scrap Summer, we’re going back to school. Make one of the twins an exchange student. Perhaps one of the parents was in the military and they fell in love with the other while overseas. Now, one of the twins is coming to the other country as an exchange student. Additionally, there’s no need to have the twins encounter each other right away, allowing for plenty of mix-ups for the people at the school who already know the local-grown twin. Keep in mind that for the new scenario to work we need to make a few changes to the drama of the film as well.
One gripe with 1998’s The Parent Trap is that the parent’s separation doesn’t really make any sense. They were apparently torn apart by career-paths, but now both parents are either a rich vineyard owner or an apparently even wealthier fashion designer. Even if these parents hated each other (more on that in a moment) then they could still very easily send their kids to each other than to such a lavish Summer Camp (again, seriously, fencing?).
The parents in that film do not hate each other though. Not even a little, to the point where their one-on-one dinner scene is literally about how they can’t recall specifically how they ended things. They somehow managed to iron out a really tricky international custody situation, but they don’t remember the breakup, go figure. From there they just make googly eyes at one another until Dennis Quaid’s character finally dumps his new fiancé. There’s no ultimate conversation of reconciliation because the parents were never actually fighting in the first place, the thin writing just says they were to give audiences and children simple stakes to understand.
Let’s change that dynamic entirely. Let’s say that the parents were supposed to meet and run away together from the war while the father is overseas with the marines. Their plan to meetup goes awry and the father never shows but for some reason each parent had one child with them at the time and they get separated. Or something else. Anything really! Just make sure the parents at least remember why they left each other in the first place and add some real emotional stakes for them.
This one might be a little too extra, but changing the twins to triplets could be an interesting twist on the formula. Imagine, a pair of twins having to rethink their identity as twins upon discovering their triplet! It’s still pretty much the same plot, but the jokes would at least have to end up being pretty different.
Or, heck, double down on the absurdity of the original, turn this thing up to 11! Why stop at twins? Twins are old news- we’ll up the child count to octuplets. Cast Disney’s new golden child, Tom Holland. That’s right, 8 Tom Hollands (are you happy now, America?). One of them is bitten by a radioactive spider and as a result of their octuplet powers there are now 8 Spider Men. However, 4 of the Spider Men live with their mom and 4 of the Spider Men live with their Dad. They end up meeting each other at Avengers Summer Camp and have to plot to get their parents, a former hero and villain respectively, to come back together for the good of their Super Family. This is an 8 way trip to (Tom) Holland that audiences and families will love. Come on, Disney and Sony, make it happen!
The Parent Trap (1998) is now streaming on Disney+.The Parent Trap (1961) is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
![\"IT電腦補習](\"http://itteacheritfreelance.hk/test/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo2-2.png\"){kind=logo}
www.itsec.hk
www.itsec.vip
www.itseceu.uk
Leave a Reply