Destination Disney: my favourite movie location

Sometimes, the best thing about a great movie is not just the world that it takes you to, but also how it captures some of the actual world that the audience lives in, cleverly bringing together the two. Sometimes, it doesn’t even have to be an Academy Award winning movie, with A-List Hollywood stars and a nerve-wracking and heart-wrenching tale of the ages.

Sometimes, it can simply be a movie that you grew up watching, with sentimental attachment that brings out your inner child, ready to explore the world beyond what you know. For me, the nostalgic movie that makes me want to travel the globe has always been The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Scoff all you like, but this movie taught 8-year-old me all about the importance of lip gloss, and made me want to put on a pair of sparkly shoes and travel around the world singing and dancing.

Not only is the movie an adorable chick-flick with pop numbers and girl power, it also captures the city of Rome beautifully and accurately. When Lizzie and her friends go on a school trip to Rome, the movie doesn’t just focus on their adventures, but also focuses on the tourist musts of the city. Not only are there beautiful shots of the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, as well as the Piazza Navona, it also shows the finer and more subtle Roman spots.

Scoff all you like, but this movie taught 8-year-old me all about the importance of lip gloss…

The movie takes you through the entire city (via romantic Vespa ride – very culturally fitting), giving you a much broader view of the city, and Lizzie’s adventures range from quirky gelato shops to vintage bazaars, and at one point she even ends up in the Villa d’Este in Tivoli, 3 miles away from the centre of Rome, showing they focused on a wider scope than the generic landmarks. Even though admittedly, the fake CGI’d Colosseum filled with a mass audience was a tad over-the-top and implausible, the rest of the movie shows a much more in-depth picture of the city than other movies tend to.

The eternal city is shown with tourists as well as locals, landmarks as well as everyday spots, and most importantly, the depiction makes you want to travel to Rome, to ride on Vespas, eat gelato and make wishes at the Fountain like she did. Lizzie McGuire will always be my childhood hero, and anywhere that was a land of adventure for her, is definitely one for me too.