Wish Upon a Star

Infobox_Film
name = Wish Upon a Star


caption = "Wish Upon a Star" DVD cover
director = Blair Treu
producer =
writer = Jessica Barondes
starring = Katherine Heigl
Danielle Harris
distributor =
released = 1996 (U.S.)
runtime = 89 min.
country = United States
language = English
budget = 2,000,000
music = Moonpools & Caterpillars
imdb_id = 0118178

"Wish Upon a Star" is a 1996 Disney Channel film directed by Blair Treu, written by Jessica Barondes, and starring Katherine Heigl and Danielle Harris. It focuses on two teenage sisters that magically swap bodies because of a wish made on a shooting star. They spend several days living each other's life, sometimes with the intent to sabotage the other's reputation and achievements, but they learn to appreciate and help each other before they finally return to their own bodies.

Plot

There are two daughters in the Wheaton household, Alexia (Katherine Heigl) and Hayley (Danielle Harris), each as different as night and day. Alexia is the popular type with a great sense of style, a jock boyfriend, and virtually no academic focus. Hayley, on the other hand, is quiet and shy, and she excels at math and science. Hayley and Alexia don't get along well at all, with Alexia hating the fact that she has to drive Hayley to school, thus being seen with her less-than-cool younger sister.

One night, Hayley and Alexia both see a shooting star in the sky; Hayley wishes to become her sister Alexia, while Alexia secretly wishes to be Hayley. When Hayley and Alexia awaken, they find themselves trapped in the other's body. This comes as a shock to Alexia, who hates the switch and forbids her sister to go to school as her. Hayley assumes full responsibility for the swap and, naturally, is quite happy with it, as she gets to do all the things she's only dreamed of doing, including dressing up, driving, and dating her sister's popular jock boyfriend, Kyle (Don Jeffcoat).

After the first day ends, they realize that they may be stuck like this for a while. They each spend the next few days purposely trying to ruin anything important to the other, such as their social reputation and extra-curricular activities. One day, Hayley (in Alexia's body) wears the same outfit that she had worn the day before, and Alexia (in Hayley's body) goes to school dressed up as a dominatrix. Their parents choose not to interfere, as they had just started a "hands-off" approach to parenting. Eventually, however, Hayley and Alexia learn to look at their lives with new perspective. As they each become accustomed to the other's life, they begin to relate to one another better and become closer as sisters.

While spending an evening outside searching for a shooting star to make their wish to switch back, they decide to spend one more day as each other. Hayley's task (in Alexia's body) is to help convince her teachers that Alexia is not an "," and Alexia (in Hayley's body) is to help show Hayley how easily Hayley can get a guy. Hayley's and Alexia's plans work, and they decide that it's time for them to switch back. As they lay outside watching for a shooting star, they fall asleep early; Hayley wakes up during the night in time to wish on a star. When she awakens the next morning, she finds that they didn't switch back and believes that they will never be able to return to their own bodies, but she doesn't tell Alexia.

Alexia and Hayley attend the Winter Festival dance, where Hayley breaks down and tells Alexia that they can't switch back. Alexia then confesses that she saw the first shooting star when she was with Kyle and wished to be Hayley, since she had been jealous of Hayley's intellect and well-structured plans for her future. Realizing that it was their combined wishing that caused their switch, they sit outside and, seeing a shooting star, wish together to be themselves again. Opening their eyes, they are delighted to see their wish has come true. They return to the Winter Festival, where Alexia is crowned queen. She then dances on stage with her boyfriend, while Hayley finds their new neighbor Simon and dances with him.

Trivia

While Harris plays the little sister in the film, she is actually a year older than Heigl.

Moonpools & Caterpillars is the rock band featured in the movie.

This movie was filmed at Hunter High School in West Valley City, Utah. In the movie, they are the Hunter Vikings, but the real Hunter High are the Wolverines.

The team that the Vikings played against during the basketball game scene was not comprised of actors but rather was Hunter High's real basketball team, not surprisingly dubbed the Wolverines.

The movie was filmed in late 1995 and early 1996, which is why snow is present in some shots and Danielle Harris has visible breath when opening the door.

The movie shares similar elements with the Disney "Freaky Friday" films, Vice Versa (1988 film), Like Father Like Son (1987 film), etc. Two people are fed up with one another and/or they wish the other could know how hard life is for him or her. Some magical occurrence happens; their lives are switched. They live the other's life for a short time, and both learn to appreciate the other before they are switched back to themselves.

Cast

*Katherine Heigl .... Alexia Wheaton
*Danielle Harris .... Hayley Wheaton
*Don Jeffcoat .... Kyle Harding
*Scott Wilkinson .... Ben Wheaton
*Mary Parker Williams .... Nan Wheaton
*Lois Chiles .... Mittermonster
*Ivey Lloyd .... Caitlin Sheinbaum
*Matt Barker .... Simon
*Jacque Gray .... Kazumi

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118178/ "Wish Upon A Star"] at the Internet Movie Database