''Prince Charming'' is a 2001

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

. It is a comical fairy tale, relating the story of a prince who is cursed and transported to present-day New York City. The film stars

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada. He ...

as a wizard squire of modest talents trying to keep his prince (

Sean Maguire Sean Maguire (born 18 April 1976 in Ilford, London) is a British-American actor and singer, who rose to fame in 1988 when at the age of eleven he took on the role of "Tegs" Ratcliffe on the BBC children's drama ''Grange Hill'', in which he rem ...

) from harm, with

Christina Applegate Christina Applegate (born November 25, 1971) is an American actress. As a child actress, she gained recognition for starring as Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children'' (1987–1997). Applegate established a successful film an ...

as a young woman skeptical of the prince's story, who nevertheless wins his love, and

Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...

as an actress who inadvertently lifts a 500-year curse.

Plot

Prince John of the fictional province of Anwyn prides himself on having rescued countless maidens as a way of eventually bedding them. In order to end three centuries of war with the realm of

Lothian Lothian (; sco, Lowden, Loudan, -en, -o(u)n; gd, Lodainn ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Sco ...

, he is made to marry the princess, who is convinced that they will live happily ever after. However, on his wedding day, Prince John commits a romantic indiscretion and is discovered, breaking the heart of the princess. As punishment, he is cursed by being turned into a frog forever, until such time as a maiden kisses him and marries him by the next full moon. For good measure, his squire Rodney is similarly "frogged". The spell allows them to live for as long as it takes for John to be kissed human again. Waiting 500 years, the Prince and Rodney, in the form of frogs, find themselves in New York's

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

, where the Prince sees Kate driving her horse-drawn carriage and is almost kissed by her before she is interrupted and instead is released within Central Park. Later, an aging actress, Margo, impetuously picks up the frog prince and kisses him, breaking the curse until the next full moon, and turning the Prince and Rodney into their human selves (still dressed in medieval clothing, and with no knowledge of how the world has changed over the centuries). Prince John and Rodney begin their search for the woman who kissed John, with the reluctant help of a skeptical Kate. After a series of comic encounters and setbacks, the Prince, in his human form, finally meets Margo, who is performing Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". She decides to make her unfaithful lover, Hamish, jealous by initiating a romantic tryst. The Prince, realizing that he must marry Margo in order to permanently break the curse, proposes marriage, even as he is falling in love with Kate, who teaches him what true love is. Meanwhile, Rodney finds in Serena a fellow "wizard", and they try to find potions that will ensure that Prince John marries Margo. In the end, the Prince decides to marry Kate, and almost gives up his humanity forever to do so. After Kate kisses him back into a human being, all three couples manage to find themselves with the right person, the curse is forever broken by true love (as was foretold when the spell was first enacted), and all marry to live happily ever after in modern New York City.

Cast listing

Source:

Production notes

The

Delacorte Theatre The Delacorte Theater is a 1,800-seat open-air theater in Central Park, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is home to the Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park productions. Over five million people have attended more than 15 ...

in Central Park, New York, was used during filming of the Shakespeare productions. The television film was initially broadcast in the United States on the

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

station in July 2003. Guru Studios, a Special Effects Company provided additional character animation.

Critical response

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reviewer wrote "She pplegateand Mr. Maguire make a suitably cute couple, and Mr. Short throws as much energy as he can muster (as usual, a lot) into the comic sidekick bit. Ms. Peters and Billy Connolly, as a full-of-himself director, do what they can. Only Andrea Martin, as Serena, Margo's put-upon gofer, manages to find (or invent) some real comedy."Wertheimer, Ron
"Television Review. Transforming Frogs and Teenagers"
''The New York Times'', July 12, 2003

References

External links