Styles change, photos of haircuts that you begged your mother for will be mocked in ten years time, and nothing lasts forever… that is, except for Lizzie McGuire. Som🍌ehow this show about a tween girl navigating the treacherous waters of middle school with her two best friends and sassy inter𝓰nal monologue (delivered via cartoon/medieval Bitmoji) has managed to remain seen as one of the most beloved programmes of all time.
There’s something remarkably different about Lizzie. Maybe it’s the fact that her parents have actual roles in her life other than being the typical Disney Channel “bumbling grounding machines." Perhaps it’s the fact that there is no grating laugh track to attempt to ignore when it sounds off every 10 secon🌠ds. Or maybe it’s the fact that it’s a well written, engaging, and thoroughly entertaining show with a decent mix of heartfelt emotional moments and slapstick comedy. I might be biased.
But behind every good show is a team of producers, set dressers, writers, and editors who work tirelessly and siওlently to create the shows that we know and love. Casting dilemmas, infighting, and financial conflicts are just a few of the many divergences that can arise when producing a major television show. With everything that goes into making a show ready for the small screen, there’s guaranteed to be a few behind the scenes facts that evades even the most die hard fans notice.
So without further ado, here are fifteen mind-blowing things you never knew from the set of Lizzie McGuire.
15 Big Bad ꦕMama Duff
There are many tropes in Hollywood… brunettes go blonde, curvy and chubby-cheeked actresses suddenly become thin when their careers begin 🌺taking off, and the majority of child stars turn to substances to cope with whatever traumas they were exposed to during their early career. It’s so common that it is practically a cliche. Well, Mama Duff is an old-fashioned Texas mom who did everything she could to shield her babies from the cruel and sadistic 🐭men that chewed up every fresh-faced kid and spat them out. Mama Duff refused to let Hilary (nor her sister, Haylie) attend any big Hollywood parties (which we notorious for their deviancy). She also made sure that Hilary was never left alone with any producer or Disney executive, and made sure to have the final say on all contracts.
14 A Lizzie 🌠By Any Ot🎃her Actress
By the time Disney bega🍌n casting f🐻or the show that would later be known as Lizzie McGuire, Hilary Duff was just about finished with Hollywood. She had gotten a few ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚroles under her belt but she was facing near constant rejection. Hilary ended up being recasted for the few roles that she was offered. She was burnt out, but she agreed to do one last audition. However, Hilary wasn’t the only actress in talks for the role. Darcy’s Wild Life star Sara Paxton and Freaky Friday’s Lindsay Lohan we also being considered for the role that, 𝄹after 5 auditions, would eventually go to Hilary.
But Hilary struggled with the part at first, which lead Disney to send her to an acting coach. Mama Duff freaked out, worr🔯ying that this was a sign that her daughter was about to lose another role. But the coach he𒅌lped young Hilary find herself in the role and the rest is history.
13 What🍷 Were They Thinking?
While Lizzie’s illustrated internal dialogue is incredibly unique and entertaining, it is honestly a curious stylistic choice for a ꦫtween sitcom to make. Why would they provide their main character🧔 with this sarcastic cartoon alter ego without really making an effort to explain its presence? Does anyone else have a mental Bitmoji narrating their every thought? And why do all of the early promotional images contain photos of Lizzie looking like she’s daydreaming and staring off into the distance? Well, it turns out that the show was originally going to be named What’s Lizzie Thinking? And it was going to have a much heavier emphasis on Lizzie’s internal dialogue and 🌟her relationship with her mother. In fact, the illustrated elements of the sassy inner monologue weren’t even added until later in the show's development as the thoughts originally existed as a simple voiceover.
12 One Awesome McGui𝓰re
One of Lizzie’s main traits is that she is an absolute disaster when it🀅 comes to walking and talking at the same time. Nearly every single episode features Lizzie falling over, smashing her face into her locker, or displaying her clumsiness in some way, shape, or form. And, though she is incredibly clumsy, Lizzie is also very athletic and excels at football, gymnastics, and several amazing stunts in the episode entitled Lizzie’s Eleven. And what makes those stunts even more amazing is that Hilary performed them all herself. Every slip, every fall, and every spontaneous cartwheel was performed by Hilary herself. I honestly don’t know whether I am more impr🍒essed by her gymnastic skills or her ability to believably knock herself over for several takes in a row.
11 Lizzie’s All Grown Up ꦜ
While Disney is known to handle the occasional hard hitting topic (like eating disorder𒆙s, divorce, and bullying,) their shows usually tend to avoid more serious topics in favour of focusing on the light side of adolescence. But Lizzie McGuire was one of the most successful tween shows of all time and there was no way that anyone was going to let that cash cow out of the field. The writers of the show actually intended to create a continuation series which would follow Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda through the perils of high school for the ABC network (which is known for handling serious topics like teen substance use and pregnancy). But they were unable to create a contract which pဣleased all parties and the spin-off was discar🔯ded.
Even though I would love more Lizzie in my life, I’ve got to༒ say that I don’t know how I would feel about watching Lizzie get wild at a house party...
10 Boys Cry Too ⛦
While I do have to applaud other Disney Channel shows for their attempts to discuss how body insecurities affect young girls, they often forget ﷽about the issues that young boys struggle ꦑwith. But not Lizzie McGuire. In fact, Lizzie McGuire is actually one of the first Disney sitcoms to feature storylines centered around male insecurity. The episodes in question include those that follow Gordo struggling to see himself as a man due to constriction masculine ideals (one focuses on his height while the 𝓀other focuses on his religion) and those that follow Larry Tudgeman, who the other characters often regard as a joke, learning how to fit in with his peers. These storylines were not only unprecedented for the Disney Channel at the time, but also incredibly important. Young boys need positive affirmations too.
9 A B🍷last From The Past
Parents in kids' shows are often terribly written, entirely absent, or they are clueless to the point that th♏ey are completely useless to the plot. But the writers of Lizzie McGuire did their best to include her parents in her life. She goes to them with her problems and is never afraid to turn to them when she is in over her head. And they never miss an opportunity to tell the tales of their youth (complete with childhood photos and visual flashbacks). During a rewatch, I noticed that Sam (Lizzie’s dad) loo🐼ked quite familiar in one of his flashback images. I did a little research and it turns out that the man who plays Lizzie’s father also played one of the nerds in the classic 80s cult film Revenge of the Nerds. I will never get the⭕ image of L🔯izzie’s dad tricking a girl into being with him while wearing a Darth Vader mask out of my head.
8 Measurable Gr🀅owth
One of the greatest things about Lizzie McGuire is how well written it is. If you watch the episodes in chronological order, you can see the characters grow, change, and mature throughout the show's episodes. Lizzie becomes less obs🧸essed with popularity and looking like celebrities, gains the ability to stand up for herself and others, makes friends from all cliques, gets a stronger idea of her own identity, finds her footing, and favours a close and honest relationship with her parents rather than resorting to lying in order to get her way. Ethan, Lar♐ry, and Kate become real characters and figures in Lizzie’s life rather than basic stereotypes. Gordo learns that he doesn’t have to try so hard to go against the grain, and Miranda goes to Mexico and never comes back.
7 Stone Co👍ld Fox
Have you ever rewatched the early episodes of Lizzie McGuire and found yourself drowning in multiple questions, such as where did Danny Kessler go and why is Ethan such a jerk? Well, it turns out that Danny was originally supposed to be the girl's love interest and Ethan was supposed to be a bully (which is why he is often seen pushing Gordo around). Seriously, take note of how ♉Ethan acts in the first few episodes. He is always on Gordo’s case, threatens Matt when he accidentally takes the wrong bus, and is just an all around pain. However, for unknown reasons, Danny Kessler vanished and Ethan became the lovable idiot that we all know and love. Danny did get his redemption though, when he achieved a brief mention in the dress-making scene of the Lizzie McGuire Movie. But Ethan wi🍌ll always be known as Lizzie’s first real crush. Sorrܫy Danny.
6 💃 Disorder💙 For Days
Have you eve🦹r looke🍰d up the official episode lists for Lizzie McGuire? If you ever have/will, you will notice that they are completely out of order. It doesn’t matter as t𝓀he show is mainly episဣodic, but looking at the series' pilot and finale episodes can be quite confusing.
Pool Party is the clear pilot episode, as it features a teen movie style narrative introduction that introduces all main characters (including their personality, respective clique, and relationship to Lizzie). Ho🅰wever, it is actually listed as the third episode. The episode in which Lizzi🌜e exposes Kate for stuffing her bra is the first. The official final episode of the show is Magic Train (the episode whဣere 🎃the gang sees a kids' show live and are bullied for it) even though the clear finale is Bye, Bye Hillridge Junior High as it featur💮es both their graduation and Lizzie’s first kiss with Gordo (this episode is listed as episode 54 out of 65).