Rating: TVG
Genre:
Children's/Family
Release Date: 11/11/2003
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD
Run Time: 88 Minutes
Flags: Suitable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Walt Disney Video
Created by author/entertainer
Kay Thompson in 1955, precocious six-year-old
Eloise, who lived in the Plaza Hotel with her long-suffering nanny, her dog
Weenie, and her turtle
Skipperdee, was the heroine of several delightful
children's books written by
Thompson and whimsically illustrated by
Hilary Knight. The charm of the "
Eloise" books has proven elusive whenever the property is adapted for another media, as witness a disastrous
musical version which aired live on
Playhouse 90 in 1956. On this occasion,
Eloise came off as a spoiled obstreperous brat, which was as much the fault of the child actress cast in the role (
Evelyn Rudie) as the adapters.
Disney decided to give little
Eloise another chance 47 years later with the location-filmed
Eloise at the Plaza, a two-hour movie presentation of
ABC's
The Wonderful World of Disney anthology. This time around,
Sofia Vassilieva played the title role, with
Julie Andrews as
Eloise's nanny (something of a full-circle for
Andrews, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of a rather different nanny in the 1964
Disney theatrical feature
Mary Poppins). The plot finds
Eloise insisting upon attending a debutante ball at the Plaza and further conniving to have a runaway foreign prince (
Denis Akiyama) -- who isn't much older than she is -- as her escort. Our heroine also mends fences between a reluctant teenage deb and the girl's pushy mother.
Jeffrey Tambor is typecast as the Plaza's supercilious concierge
Mr. Salomone, whose dithering efforts to keep
Eloise from nosing into other people's business avail him not one bit.
Hilary Knight appears in a cameo role as himself.
Eloise at the Plaza first aired April 27, 2003.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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