"The Parent Trap" Returns to Original Filming Location for Special Screening Next Month

A special screening of 1998's The Parent Trap will be taking place where they filmed some of the scenes, floating on the Long Beach harbor, next month.

What's Happening:

• 28 years after scenes from the movie were filmed there, the Queen Mary - located in the Long Beach Harbor in Southern California - is hosting a special screening of the 1998 classic, The Parent Trap.
• Taking place on September 10, fans can come to the permanently docked ship for a bit of nostalgia and fun to watch the film as part of their "Movies on Deck!" program.
• The film is especially appropriate for the location considering some of the scenes from the movie were filmed there. However, the Queen Mary stood in for the Queen Elizabeth II (QE2) in the context of the film.
• It's the opening scene in particular that was filmed there, wherein we see Nick Parker (Dennis Quaid) and Elizabeth James (Natasha Richardson), meeting, falling in love, and getting married during a voyage on the ship, but it's hardly the ship the film implies - it's the Queen Mary.
• It was the ship's Art Deco interiors that caught the attention of director Nancy Meyers, giving the authentic feel of an oceanliner without having to build an enormous set.

• Interestingly, the QE2 entered service in 1969, two years after the Queen Mary was permanently docked in Long Beach. That ship had entered service back in 1936. In fact, Disney owned the operational lease for the ship in Long Beach from 1988 to 1992, when Disney acquired the Wrather corporation to gain full ownership over the Disneyland Hotel.
• The Parent Trap can be seen as part of "Movies on Deck!" at the ship on September 10, with tickets starting at $29.00, available now at the official website for the event.

About the Movie:

• Directed by Nancy Myers, the movie is a remake of the 1961 Disney classic starring Hayley Mills, based on a German children's novel, Lisa & Lottie.
• The 1998 classic follows 11 year-old identical twins, Annie James and Hallie Parker, who are separated shortly after their birth when their parents divorced. Annie lives in London with her mother, Elizabeth James, and Hallie lives in California with her father, Nick Parker, in Napa Valley.
• Neither girl knows the other exists, until one day they meet at a summer Camp before realizing that they are identical twins. They inevitably hatch a plan to switch identities after camp so that each can meet the other parent they have never known, eventually deciding that they want to get their parents back together.
• If you don't catch the film screening over at the Queen Mary, you can also catch it a few days later on ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney.