Today In Disney History ~ July 26th
The Parent Trap II is a 1986 American made-for-television comedy film and a sequel to Disney’s 1961 classic The Parent Trap and the second installment in The Parent Trap series. It premiered on Disney Channel on July 26, 1986 as a part of the channel’s “Sunday Night Movie”.
Hayley Mills is the only actress that returned from the original film. She continues to portray Susan and Sharon, the twins who were separated at age one, met up twelve years later at summer camp, switched places and went on to reunite their divorced parents.
The film focuses on Sharon’s daughter, Nikki, who tries to hook her mother up with her best friend Mary’s father, portrayed by Tom Skerritt. It was a success for the Disney Channel and it later spawned two more made-for-television sequels, both produced in 1989.
The film takes place twenty-five years after the original film. Sharon Ferris is unhappily divorced and living as a single, somewhat jaded mother in Tampa, Florida. Her daughter, Nikki, is not happy about their impending move to New York City. While in summer school, Nikki makes enemies with Jessica Dintruff (Tannen), but befriends Mary Grand. Mary’s father, Bill Grand, has been widowed for four years. To stop Nikki from moving to New York and to see their parents happily married, the girls scheme to set them up.
Ronald F. Maxwell was chosen to direct this sequel, taking over from the original’s director David Swift. When the film premiered on the Disney Channel, a documentary titled On Location: Parent Trap II accompanied it. The documentary included footage of Mills as she describes the production of the film and her history with the Disney films. Filming took place for three weeks in the Tampa area. The exteriors of Robert E. Lee Elementary and the interiors of Mitchell Elementary were used as the summer school that Nicky and Mary both attend.
TMSM Today in Graphic by Sherry Rinaldi DeHart; Wiki 
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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