Mary Rodgers wrote about a mother and daughter who switched places in 1972's Freaky Friday. The book was optioned by Walt Disney Productions who turned it into a film starring Barbara Harris and a young Jodie Foster.
The film did good enough, but fell victim to the overall sameness of other Disney films in that era. The film did gain cult status and was ripe for a remake nearly twenty years later when Disney was dusting off old franchises for The Wonderful World of Disney. This version starred Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffman, but it barely made a impact in the ratings for ABC.
The company would go to the well yet again in 2003. Long before she was a joke, Lindsay Lohan was a tween queen, so it was a foregone conclusion that she would be a great choice to take on the role played by Jodie Foster 27 years prior. This version co-starred Jamie Lee Curtis and became a huge hit, earning back nearly its entire budget in just its first weekend of release. It was easily the most successful of the three Disney versions.
