When it comes to physical media, I was never a huge DVD collector growing up -- obviously, I needed to save all that precious shelf space for books. So when I did buy and own a DVD, it meant that movie really meant something to me. I can recall several -- The Hannah Montana Movie, because yes; probably one of the High School Musical movies. But the one that mattered the most was Disney's Ice Princess.
It's top of mind today as reports of Michelle Trachtenberg's death continue to sweep across the pop culture side of the internet. The actor played a number of iconic roles in the late 1990s and 2000s. But she will always be Casey Carlyle to me.
Ice Princess tells the story of a studious high schooler (can we lovingly call her an adorable nerd?) with secret dreams of becoming a competitive figure skater. From the cast to the soundtrack (did anyone else play that Aly & AJ song on repeat for months or was it just me?), this is a close to perfect Disney movie. And Meg Cabot worked on the script! This movie was made for me.
It's been hard to pinpoint exactly why this film grabbed me the way it did, and still did about a year ago when I finally convinced my husband to watch it with me for the first time. It's not just the fact that I'm convinced to this day that Casey and Gen should have ended up together at the end (and maybe they did in an early draft -- let me have this) or that even though I never became a figure skater, at least I wasn't the only one with closeted ambitions. I think it just happened to be the exact right ingredients for a teenage Disney fanatic's all-time favorite comfort watch.
When I tell you I've seen this movie dozens of times, I mean I've watched it with the DVD commentary, in the background while I clean my house, from start to finish in multiple sittings. Michelle Trachtenberg will be remembered by many for plenty of amazing roles, but whenever I think of her, I'll always think of ice skating on ponds instead of doing math homework.