Parent Trap III

Parent Trap III
Genre	Comedy Family
Based on	Characters created by Erich Kästner
Screenplay by	Jill Donner
Story by	Deborah Amelon Jill Donner
Directed by	Mollie Miller
Starring	Hayley Mills Barry Bostwick Ray Baker Patricia Richardson
Music by	Joel McNeely
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Jill Donner Henry Colman
Cinematography	Isidore Mankofsky
Editors	Howard Kunin Duane Hartzell
Running time	85 minutes
Production company	The Walt Disney Company
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	April 9 (1989-04-09) – April 16, 1989 (1989-04-16)

Parent Trap III is a 1989 American made-for-television comedy film and a sequel to The Parent Trap II (1986) and the third installment in The Parent Trap series. It originally aired in two parts as a presentation of The Magical World of Disney on April 9 and 16, 1989. Hayley Mills reprises her roles as twins Susan Evers and Sharon Grand. Barry Bostwick and Patricia Richardson portray, respectively, Jeffrey Wyatt, a struggling widowed father with identical triplet teenage daughters and Cassie McGuire, his snobbish, jealous girlfriend. Leanna, Monica and Joy Creel portray Lisa, Jessie and Megan Wyatt.

Plot

Jeffrey Wyatt (Bostwick) is the widowed father of identical triplet teenage daughters, Lisa, Jessie, and Megan. As he picks his daughters up from the airport, he neglects to tell them over the summer he has become engaged to Cassie McGuire (Richardson), who wants to redesign their California beach house with the help of house designer Susan Evers (Mills). Jeffrey initially doesn't like Susan's ideas, but comes around to allowing them because of Cassie. Lisa, who is dating David (Chris Gartin), has invited a boy she met in Paris named Hawk (Jon Pannell), a "bad boy," to eat at their house. She doesn't know how to break it to David that she finds Hawk "more unpredictable," so she asks Jessie to pretend to be Lisa on a date with David, so Lisa can go on a date with Hawk while their father goes on a date with Cassie, Susan and Nick (Ray Baker), his best friend. As the adults are getting ready for their double date, Susan compliments Jessie going out with David, Lisa tries to cover up the ruse by saying she is Jessie, only for Jeffrey to chuckle as even he gets the girls confused on occasion. On their date, Jessie is bewildered to be at a "Welcome Home Lisa" party with all of their friends. She embarrasses herself during a karaoke dance skit called "The Jackson Three" (a parody of the Jackson Five), when she is made to do the Janet Jackson song "What Have You Done for Me Lately." Hawk is not wanting to settle down and be Lisa's boyfriend. He asks her to run away with him, but she refuses. Later that night, Jeffrey finally figures out the switch and grounds the girls for three weeks, with David disappointed in both Lisa and Jessie. Lisa unleashes her feelings and tells Jeffrey that she doesn't like the jealous, snobbish Cassie and neither do Jessie or Megan. The next morning, Susan speaks with Jessie and Megan, saying her earlier compliment was not an honest mistake, but that she suspected Lisa and Jessie were switching identities and even shows them a picture of herself with her twin sister, Sharon Grand. Lisa runs away with Hawk on his motorcycle only to break down at a diner. Using David's car, Jessie and Megan find her. Jeffrey, Susan and David also do so. Hawk and David fight in the diner, causing the police to be called and Hawk breaks up with Lisa. David begins to like Jessie better than Lisa. Cassie becomes angry that Susan went with Jeffrey to the diner. The girls begin to befriend and like Susan. They set up a date for her and Jeffrey by not telling Nick and Cassie to come. Jeffrey expresses his admiration for Susan, who refuses because he is engaged. She quits working on the Wyatts' house and continues with Nick's condo and Cassie moves the date to two days away. The girls go to Susan's apartment and meet Sharon, Susan's twin sister, who agrees to help them set up Jeffrey and Susan. On the wedding day, Sharon and the girls lock Jeffrey and Susan in the garage shed, resulting in Jeffrey missing the wedding to Cassie, leaving Cassie devastated to the point she hooks up with Nick and drives away. David and Jessie become a couple. Jeffrey and Susan realize their love for each other after playing the piano and singing to the music box she bought and then gave to him. Sharon and the girls take down the shed wall, revealing Jeffrey and Susan about to kiss.

Continuity

In The Parent Trap II, Sharon Ferris married Bill Grand (Tom Skerritt), creating a family with their respective daughters, Nicole a.k.a. "Nikki" (Carrie Kei Heim in her final role before retiring) and Mary (Bridgette Andersen), while Susan was married to Brian Carey (Alex Harvey), but divorced prior to the events of Parent Trap III and Susan reverted to using her maiden name, Evers.

Cast

• Hayley Mills as Susan Evers/Sharon Grand
• Barry Bostwick as Jeffrey Wyatt
• Patricia Richardson as Cassie McGuire
• Leanna Creel as Lisa Wyatt
• Monica Creel as Jessie Wyatt
• Joy Creel as Megan Wyatt
• Ray Baker as Nick
• Loretta Devine as Thelma
• Jon Pennell as Hawk
• Chris Gartin as David

Production

Mills returned in 1986 to the Disney Channel when she filmed The Parent Trap II. She expressed no interest in returning for more sequels, but after Good Morning, Miss Bliss had ended, Mollie Miller, who would also direct the final Parent Trap sequel Parent Trap: Hawaiian Honeymoon, soon began production on Parent Trap III and Mills returned to once again reprise her dual roles. The film debuted on NBC-TV's The Magical World of Disney on April 9, 1989 as a two-part presentation.

Music

Songs heard in the film include "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," sung by Susan and Jeffrey, the 1987 hit single "You Don't Know" by Scarlett and Black and a cover version of Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done for Me Lately."

External links

• Parent Trap III at IMDb
• Parent Trap III at the TCM Movie Database (archived)