Trivia / The Parent Trap (1961)

• Blooper: When Susan puts her hands on her head during the last verse of "Let's Get Together," her left arm disappears as it crosses Sharon's side of the screen.
• …But I Play One on TV: This movie has convinced a fair number of people, mainly children, that Hayley Mills actually has a twin. It's understandable since the Double Vision technique was new in 1961.
• The Danza:
  • Sort of. Hayley Mills's double was Susan Henning, same name as one of the girls.
  • Charles Ruggles plays Charles McKendrick.
• Fake American:
  • Hayley Mills as both girls; one Bostonian, one Californian.
  • Maureen O'Hara (Irish) as the mother Maggie.
• First Period Panic: According to Hayley's book, disaster struck while filming one of the isolation cabin scenes at the studio. She was required to jump on and off of the bed but before this scene was shot Hayley had her first period. The shoot was stopped as mom took Hayley away to remedy the problem. Hayley was very self conscious about filming with a foreign object inserted inside her for the first time. This is also the notorious scene where she had the wrong shoes on. Whether this was the reason for wearing the wrong shoes, only Hayley knows.
• Genius Bonus: "Alexander Graham" in Sharon's telegram refers to Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. Surprisingly, only the grandfather seems to get the meaning behind it.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: In 2005, Disney released the first two movies on DVD^note This marked the second go-round for The Parent Trap, which first came to DVD in 2002, but not the last two.
• Never Work with Children or Animals: The thirteen-year-old Hayley Mills was having growth spurts during filming, requiring lots of camera tricks to hide it.
• Playing Against Type: Brian Keith, before his move to more family comedy media, was known for his tough guy roles in Westerns, and this film plays with that. He was incredibly nervous about the film, because he'd never done comedy before.
• Playing Their Own Twin:
  • Hayley Mills plays both twins.
  • Averted in one of the made-for-TV sequels. The Parent Trap III starred real life identical triplets as the (eventual) stepdaughters of one of the Hayley Mills twins.
• Production Posse: David Swift had directed Hayley Mills in her breakout role Pollyanna (1960), also produced by Walt Disney.
• Recursive Adaptation: The Hayley Mills version had a Novelization of the Disney film version of the original novel, including a section of photos from the movie in the center of the book.
• The Red Stapler:
  • The film's popularity led to several girls cutting their hair to match the twins. Ironically Hayley Mills just wore a wig for the short hair scenes; Sharon's long hair was her own.
  • To this day, Walt Disney Archives continues to get requests from people who want to replicate the interior design of Mitch's ranch (even though it was just various sets on sound stages as opposed to a real home).
• Sequel Gap: The original was released in 1961. The second movie came along in 1986. The third and fourth movies both came out in 1989.
• Throw It In!: Charles Ruggles came up with the little bit of putting the cigarette ashes out on his hand after director David Swift mentioned knowing someone who used to do that.
• Uncredited Role: Susan Henning signed away her rights to be credited as Hayley Mills's double, to create the illusion of actual twin girls. At the wrap party, she was presented with an award from Walt Disney for "The Best Unseen Performance on Film".
• Underage Casting: Despite Mitch being portrayed as a "cradle robber", Brian Keith was only thirteen years older than Joanna Barnes.
• Wag the Director: Maureen O'Hara wouldn't star unless she got $75,000 for the film (Disney had offered her a third of that to begin with) and she insisted on top billing. This wasn't granted, and Hayley Mills was billed first instead. The resulting tension was why she never worked with Disney again.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The technique used to make it look like both girls were on screen at once was new in The '60s, so Disney was skeptical, and wanted two different girls in the lead, until he saw how well it worked. What's more is that there were to be only a few shots where both girls were on-screen together - utilizing body doubles and trick photography. However when Disney saw how good the Double Vision looked, more shots using the effect were put in.
  • The director wanted to cut the part where the cake falls on Miss Inch, but Disney insisted he leave it in.
  • Among the working titles considered for the film were His & Hers, Susan & I, We Belong Together, For Now, For Always, and Petticoats & Blue Jeans. They also held a contest to see if someone could come up with a better name - but it was Disney himself who came up with The Parent Trap.

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