Movie Musings: Disney and More

The Parent Trap’s 59th

1961 was a remarkable year in Walt Disney’s life for several reasons. It was the year that he produced the highly successful 101 Dalmatians, saving the studio from permanent shut-down due to big losses on Sleeping Beauty (1959). It was also the year Walt had the Disneyland Monorail System extend to the Disneyland hotel, founded the California Institute for the Arts or “CalArts,” and created the very first Disney character ever created exclusively for television, Donald Duck’s uncle, Professor Ludwig Von Drake. In addition, ’61 was the year that Disney child star Hayley Mills starred in her second film for the studio, The Parent Trap, released on June 21st of that year. Since today is its 59th, I thought we could explore the legacy of that film, how it was developed, and why it continues as a fan favorite. 

The origin of “Parent Trap,” actually dates back to 1949, when German author/screenwriteer Erich Kastner published his novel “Das doppelte Lottchen,” which translates to “The Double Lottie” or “Lottie and Lisa.” The novel tells the story of an identical pair of twin girls who are separated at birth, but meet at a summer camp, and decided to trade lives so that each girl will have the chance to meet and get to know the parent that they never knew. Meanwhile the first twin is upset to find out her father plans to marry another woman. When the second twin tells their mother of the girls meeting at camp, mom takes her daughter and is reunited both children and her former husband. Kastner had originally pitched the idea for his novel as the story for a movie to Hungarian filmmaker Josef von Baky. Nicknamed “The Great Secret,” it was pitched amidst World War II, and the Nazis prevented the project from getting off the ground at the time. When the war was over, Kastner published the story as a novel, which was a hit, he re-pitched the idea to Baky and they collaborated together on the film adaptation of The Double Lotte, produced in West Germany in 1950. The following year, the novel was adapted into the Japanese film The Lullaby of Hibari (1951), and in ’53, the United Kingdom produced their version of the story, Twice Upon a Time.

In the mid-1950s, “Lottie and Lisa” slid across the desk of former Disney story editor, Bill Dover. He shared his discovery with Walt, and they bought the American film rights to the novel, coming up with their own version of the title “The Parent Trap.” The story was sent to screenwriter/director David Swift, who was hired to write and direct the film. At the time, Swift had just written and directed Pollyanna (1960). It was the Disney debut for Hayley Mills and won her the Best Juvenile Performance Oscar. Swift knew that “Parent Trap,” would also be a wonderful vehicle for her, so he cast her in the dual role of Sharon McKendrick and Susan Evers. Ultimately, Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith were cast as the parents, Margaret McKendrick and Mitch Evers, along with Joanna Barnes as the father’s “other woman,” Vicki Robinson, and filming proceeded.

When filming began, the entire camera crew, David Swift and cameraman Bob Broughton in particular, knew that it would be difficult to shoot all the scenes in the film with the twins together. For this, Disney hired Special Effects Engineer, Petro Vlahos, who invented what is known as the “sodium vapor process,” which is live actors performing on a set piece surrounded by lights combined with background footage filmed at a completely different time. Vlahos had originally created this process for Ben-Hur (1959), and that film won the Best Special Effects Oscar as a result. “Parent Trap,” became an even more groundbreaking film when the filmmakers combined the sodium vapor process with split-screen technology, to provide the “twins” illusion. For shots in which one twin directly faces the camera while the other has its back turned, the other twin was played by Susan Henning. For Henning’s efforts, Walt Disney awarded her a “Duckster,” a small golden statue of Donald Duck for “Best Unseen Performance on Film.”

For the music in the film, Walt discovered a pair of songwriting brothers, Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman. The Shermans had already been making a name for themselves in music writing the Annette Funicello songs “Tall Paul,” which Funicello recorded for the Disney’s music publishing branch Wonderland Music Company. Before Walt assigned them to “Parent Trap,” he had them write “Strummin’ Song,” which was sung by Funicello in the made-for-television film The Horsemasters. They also wrote the “Medfield Fight Song,” for Disney’s The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) which, like “Parent Trap,” also used the sodium vapor process. For “Parent Trap,” the Shermans wrote “The Parent Trap,” song which was sung as a duet with Annette Funicello and Tommy Sands, who were also filming Babes in Toyland (1961) at the same time. They also wrote “For Now, For Always,” which sung by Maureen O’Hara as a theme song for the mother, indicating that she is still in love with the father, and the song “Let’s Get Together,” which became the theme song for the movie. (Of course, the Shermans went on to compose many beloved Disney movie songs!).       

“The Parent Trap,” was a huge hit for Disney and earned two Academy Award Nominations for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. It later earned $1.8 million dollars in rentals. The film also spawned three made-for-television sequels, The Parent Trap II (1986), The Parent Trap III (1989) and Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon (1989). In 1998, Disney remade the original “Parent Trap,” with Lindsay Lohan as twin girls, Hallie Parker and Annie James, and Dennis Quaid and the late-great Natasha Richardson as parents, Nick Parker and Elizabeth James. The film also starred Elaine Hendrix as Meredith Blake, the new “other woman,” in the father’s life and Disney hired Joanna Barnes, from the first film, to make a special appearance as Meredith’s mother, Vicki Blake. The remake was directed by Nancy Meyers, who named the twins after her real-life daughter, Hallie and Annie Myers-Shyer.

As true “feel-good” film, “The Parent Trap” has become a classic among Disney’s live-action hits from the 60s, and its modern adaptations brought the fun to entirely new audiences.