Mary Rodgers' Freaky Friday is perhaps the most adapted story from Disney (though Robin Hood will soon give it a run for its money with the announced Disney+ remake of the animated film) There is the 70s movie, the 1995 TV movie and the two we are looking at today, the 2003 remake and the 2018 Disney Channel movie.
Now full confession but I have not read the book or watched the '70s original. I had plans to watch the original but I ran out of time. And after having seen three different versions of Freaky Friday, I think I know the basic idea. As bodyswap stories are commonplace and at this point, if you've seen one version of Freaky Friday, you've seen how the story plays out. Let's meet the two entries for today.
For all intents and purposes, these are different movies that tell the same story. The 2003 version is trying to be more of a teen comedy while the 2018 Disney Channel movie is an adaption of a musical adaption of Freaky Friday.
I may come back to look at the music as I dust off Music Fridays but that's not what I want to look at right now. Both of these movies tackle the bodyswap idea in varying ways. One thing they have in common is that both families have a dead father however the 2018 film plays that up more and leads to more heart to it. As felt with my favorite song from the 2018 version.
Now, the swapping aspect is handled in two different ways. In the 2003 remake with a fortune cookie at the Chinese restaurant where Tess and Anna get into an argument. And in the 2018 remake, it happens at the house with a magical hourglass that was given to the daughter, Ellie by her late father.
The rehearsal dinner and wedding both play a part in both of these movies as does the parent-teacher conference. However, I feel the wedding gets more attention in the 2018 movie as we even see a dance rehearsal. And the 2018 film ends at the wedding.
Interestingly, every version except the original has a single mom. There is also the big goal of the daughter in every version of this story, in the 2003 movie, it's performing with her band, which does happen.
In the 2018 musical, it's a scavenger hunt and that's how they find a second hourglass that the mom sold.
There is also the element of school life in both, which are handled in very similar ways with the mean girl antagonist. The 2003 movie has the excellent moment of Tess in her daughter's body calling out Anna's teacher for giving her daughter a hard time because she dumped him. The 2018 film has this...
I like a lot of the songs in this version but this one is just no. Katherine, the mother in the 2018 version singing this is.... yeah. She may be in her teenage daughter's body but she still has the mental capacity of a grown woman and should know better.
I'd mention that both movies have the annoying little brother in the characters. However, Fletcher, the little brother seems more like a real kid compared to the little brother in the 2003 movie.
Are These Good Remakes?
There really isn't much more to say about either of these movies, they're both really good and either one can stand on its own. However, I felt that it made the most sense to cover them this way. If you want a fun comedy, go with the 2003 version or if you're in the mood for the musical, the 2018 version might be up your alley. Either, you can't go wrong. We aren't done with Disney Channel just yet as we look at what is probably my least favorite Disney remake as we look at the (why) remake of...
Adventures in Babysitting
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