Product Details

• Actors: Barbara Harris, Jodie Foster, John Astin, Patsy Kelly, Dick Van Patten
• Directors: Gary Nelson
• Writers: Mary Rodgers
• Producers: Ron Miller, Tom Leetch
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Walt Disney Video
• VHS Release Date: June 23, 1997
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302271959
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,542 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jodie Foster becomes Barbara Harris and vice versa, December 22, 2005

By 

Movie Mania "DVD Collector" (Southern Calfornia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Freaky Friday (DVD)

The theory in films, as in television, is everyone is gone for the summer. So do not release any heavyweight films until fall. This left summer wide open for Disney. They used to release a new film every other week during the summer.

Then came Jaws, the first major summer hit. Studios realized that summer was time to make money. Therefore, Disney lost their stranglehold using cheap frothy films. Freaky Friday was one of Disney's attempts to recapture this market and this film performed.

Disney kept their family friendly format but upped the ante with better actors and better scripts. Instead of going for big stars, Disney looked for proven actors on their way up. They found Barbara Harris. Jodie Foster had already done Menace on the Mountain, Napoleon & Samantha, One Little Indian and Candleshoe for Disney. She considered Disney as a family. (Remember that this was the old Disney).

Annabel Andrews is your typical fifteen year old. She has a mom (Barbara Harris), dad (John Astin) and pesky younger brother (Sparky Marcus). She admits that at her age she may still love her mother but she can't stand being with her. Her mother has similar feelings.

It's Friday the 13th (before Jason made it famous). It's an important day for both of them. Annabel has a field hockey championship and is to perform at the Aquacade. And mom has the rug cleaner and caterers for a party. So this is a perfect day for them to switch bodies.

Now this may sound as silly as some of the films that ripped off this idea. But this film is no way silly. It really deals with the generation gap when it is at its peak.

This is a tour de farce performance by Barbara Harris. For two thirds of the film, Harris plays a grown woman possessed by a 15 year old. She does this convincingly. (She received a Golden Globe nomination).

Jodie Foster has no simple role either playing a 15 year old being inhabited by a 40 year old. But it is a bit simpler.

This is a must see film for all teenagers and their parents. This is superior to the two remakes.

DVD EXTRAS:

A Look Back with Jodie Foster - Jodie reminisces about her time at Disney and the movie Freaky Friday. You can tell she has a fondness for tenure at the old Disney Studio.

Freaky Friday Interactive Memory Game - This would not entertain even a 2 year old. There are 8 cards and you must match the pairs.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Genial Disney Flick, October 31, 2004

By 

Westley (Stuck in my head) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Freaky Friday (DVD)

Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris star as a mother-daughter duo in Disney's 1976 original "Freaky Friday." As the movie opens, Foster and Harris are at each other throats and complaining about how easy the other person has it. As they simultaneously wish that they could be the other person, they switch bodies. Much of what transpires from here on out is predictable and resorts to a bit too much slap-stick.

Fortunately, the script is extremely genial and some genuine moments emerge. I didn't laugh out loud very many times, but the film is sweet and made me smile. In addition, Foster and Harris give very good performances; in fact, both of them scored Golden Globes nominations for Best Actress - Comedy or Musical (they lost to Barbra Streisand in "A Star is Born"). Overall, "Freaky Friday" is an above-average and very enjoyable Disney flick from the period.

The movie was a solid success, finishing 1976 as the #18 money-maker. Of note, the #17 movie was another Foster flick - "Taxi Driver." Needless to say, these movies represent polar opposites of film-making; however, watching both of them is an interesting study in contrast as well as testament to Foster's talent in pulling off disparate characters. Look quick for Charlene Tilton of "Dallas" fame as one of Foster's pals.

DVD Extras: A 20 minute interview with Jodie Foster from around 2003 in which she discusses making "Freaky Friday" and other Disney movies. Her interview seems to have been part of a larger piece, but it's interesting nevertheless.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FREAK ACCIDENT, CLASSIC FISH-OUT-OF-WATER COMEDY, June 1, 2004

By 

Nix Pix (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freaky Friday (DVD)

"Freaky Friday" is a classic Disney comedy that required no remake. As a `coming of age' film it sincerely examines the trials and tribulations of both parents and children without ever allowing either perspective to become condescendingly smug. After the hysteria that was Haley Mills had cooled in the late sixties the Disney studio began searching for a teenage successor that could ensure box office success in the 1970s. They found their heir apparent in the embodiment of tomboyish, Jodie Foster. In "Freaky Friday" Foster plays Annabelle, the belligerent teenager who can't wait to grow up. She envisions that her mother, Ellen (Barbara Harris) lives a life of elegance and luxury, and, as such, Annabelle longs for just one chance to revel in what she perceives to be the pampered existence of adulthood. Likewise, Ellen can't understand why her teenager daughter complains so much about being a teenager. Both women get a reality check when a `freak' accident transposes their brains into each other's bodies thus affording them the opportunity to experience each other's lifestyle for one catastrophically hilarious day. John Astin, Dick Van Patten and Ruth Buzzi costar.
TRANSFER: A very nice, very clean looking, anamorphically enhanced presentation. Colors are rich, vibrant and bold. Age related artifacts are a rarity. Rear projection and special effects photography appears worse for the wear than the rest of film, but is only marginally distracting. Contrast and black levels are solid. Overall, the picture has a very smooth characteristic that is easy on the eyes. The audio is mono and somewhat strident but, at a moderate listening level, quite acceptable.
EXTRAS: A thorough retrospective by Jodie Foster and an interactive game.
BOTTOM LINE: Recommended.