Review of AG's "Isabelle Dances Into The Spotlight"

I was able to find the latest American Girl Girl of the Year (GOTY) movie on YouTube. "Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight" is 2014 GOTY Isabelle's movie.

Disney Channel is showing the movie on Saturday August 9th at 7/6c if you want to watch or TiVo it.

Plot - The movie is about Isabelle's struggle to shine at her performing arts school. She loves ballet but feels stuck in her older sister Jade's shadow and is bullied by a classmate. Isabelle has very low self-esteem and has basically no faith in herself. When she takes a part in the Nutcracker she has to face both her bully and feeling like she'll never compare to Jade. When the big dance number becomes harder will she be able to land the final turn sequence or mess up in front of everyone? Will she be good enough to get the New York Ballet summer program?

Good points:

• The acting wasn't bad, especially for the number of child/teen actors
• The dancing/choreography was great (I have no experience dancing so I'm not the greatest judge on this). 
•  The costumes were nice although only two looked like the Isabelle doll outfits. 

(I realize that it looks like I have far more complaints than compliments but that does not mean I thought it was a bad movie. It's easier to find flaws than good points.)

Some things I noticed that were off or not quite right to me:

• Isabelle's pink hair seem to disappear on and off throughout the movie
• The girl who played Isabelle's sister Jade (Grace Davidson) is obviously not close to Jade's age (which I believe is about 13 because there is a New York ballet program for 4-7th grade spots and most kids are 12 or 13 in 7th grade). Jade could easily pass for a 18 year old. I wasn't able to find Grace Davidson's age but I'm sure she is a legal adult (18+). Isabelle is a 9 year old played by a 14 year old so I'm sure Grace is several years older than Jade which isn't uncommon. 
• There are very few kids that look to be Jade's age or any other age besides Isabelle/Renata's age despite the fact that the school spans several grades/ages.
• The movie is set in DC but quite a few people have noticeable Canadian accents.
• The movie can be painfully slow and predictable. Maybe it's less predictable for younger viewers but I was definitely able to guess what was about to happen most of the time. 
• The music wasn't very good. Mediocre singing and lyrics were (unsurprisingly) pretty cheesy. 
• Isabelle constantly put herself down, to the point where I didn't even feel sorry for her. 
• Renata's bullying went undetected in places where adults weren't out of ear-shot. The bullying seemed off in a way I don't think I can quite describe. It just seemed like too much I guess.
• (Spoiler alert!) It ended the same way every AG movie ends - everyone gets along and everything is perfect. 

American Girl Facebook Chat with Erin Pitt

On July 29 2014, American Girl held a chat on their official Facebook page with Isabelle Dances Into the Spotlight star Erin Pitt (who played Girl of the Year Isabelle Palmer). Erin stated in the chat that she was doing it from her home in Canada.

The questions began at 8pm and Erin started answering them quickly. Here are some of the questions she answered and her answers to them. This is only about half of the questions. The answers are written exactly how she wrote them however the questions may have been edited to correct English grammar or shorten them to get to the point.
Q: How long have you been a dancer?
A: I've been dancing since I was 2 years old - 13 years!
Q: What state are you from?
A: I'm not from a state, I'm from Toronto, Canada!
Q: Do you have a pet?
A: I do have a pet - a water frog Lellow and a dog named Chanel!
Q: How long have you been dancing and do you really enjoy sewing?
A: I do enjoy sewing? I make a lot of my clothes actually!
Q: What have you made and do you plan on learning how to quilt?
A: I would love to learn how to quilt!
Q: What was the hardest part of the movie?
A: The hardest part of the movie - messing up my pirouettes.
Q: What was your favorite scene?
A: My favorite scene - the dance off!
Q: Do you like Miley Cyrus?
A: Miley Cyrus is a very talented artist!
Q: How do you like inspiring little girls everywhere to be confident and follow their dreams?
A: I love inspiring girls by being a role model for the,!
Q: What level dancer are you?
A: I'm in Level Elle in Vaganova Ballet
Q: Do you sing?
A: I do know how to sing. I take lessons and am trained classically/
Q: Can anyone take ballet and any suggestions about beginning lessons?
A: Anyone can take ballet, as long as you love it because it's hard work!
Q: What is your favorite style of dance?
A: My favorite style of dance is contemporary, but I love all styles!
Q: Do you have an Isabelle doll?
A: I do have an Isabelle doll!
Q: Do you do any other sports?
A: No, I don't do any other sports. I'd love to try lacrosse, but I'm too busy!
Q: How long did it take to film the movie?
A: It took 6 weeks to film the movie, including 2 weeks of rehearsals.
Q: What is your favorite AG film?
A: My favorite AG film - I like them all!
Q: It that your real hair in the movie?
A: In the movie, it's mostly my real hair but I did get extensions to make it look fuller!
Q: How many brothers and sisters do you have?
A: I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters!
Q: What are your favorite colors?
A: My favorite colors are turquoise, pink and yellow!
Q: Are you close with your movie family?
A: Yes, I'm very close with my movie family. I talk to them almost every day!
Q: Do you like One Direction?
A: I do like One Direction! I'm going to their concert on Friday :)
Q: Have you been in the Nutcracker?
A: I have been in the Nutcracker! I was Clara.
Q: Was it fun leaning the BFF jam?
A: It was super fun learning the BFF jam!
Q: Did you really dye your hair pink?
A: My hair is naturally blonde, but the pink highlights were extensions.
Q: What was your favorite outfit?
A: My favorite outfit would have to be the dance off outfit and I also loved the snowflake costume!
Q: When is your birthday?
A: My birthday is September 22, 1999. I'll be 15!
Q: Do you ever feel like Isabelle?
A: I do sometimes feel like Isabelle and unconfident, but then I pull myself together!
Q: Do you have an interest in acting or did you do it just because it was a dance movie?
A: I have an interest in acting - I've wanted to be an actress since I was 6.
Q: Do you do gymnastics?
A: I don't do gymnastics. Dance is my true love!
Q: Do you have any AG dolls?
A: I only have Isabelle, but if I could have another American Girl doll, it would be another GOTY!
Q: Do you think you pass as a 9 year old?
A: I think I passed as a 9-year-old... a lot of people ask me if I'm that young.
Q: Where did you learn to dance?
A: I learned to dance at many different studio in Canada.
Q: Was it easy to play Isabelle?
A: It was easy to play Isabelle because I could relate to her in many ways.
Q: What other actress or actor would you want to work with and why?
A: I would love to work with Rachel McAdams, she's a great actress!
Q: I know you do ballet but are you on pointe?
A: Yes, I've been on pointe for 5 years!
Q: What is your favorite school subject?
A: My favorite subject in school is science. My least favorite is history.
Q: Who is your role model?
A: My role model is my mom!
Q: Have you been on a tv show?
A: I've been in Camp Rock 2 [as a junior rocker] and another movie called Against the Wild, as well as many Canadian tv shows.
Q: What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
A: Favorite ice cream flavor... I can't have dairy so I love lemon sorbet. If I could eat it, probably mint chocolate chip!
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: In my free time, I love hanging out with my friends and sewing.
Q: When did you first hear of American Girl?
A: I first heard of American Girl when I was 11 and started watching the movies.
Q: How long have you been acting?
A: I've been a professional actor since I was 9.
Q: Were the dances hard to learn?
A: The dance moves weren't hard for me to learn because I had such great choreographers.
Q: What is your favorite song from the movie?
A: My favorite song from the movie is You Are Your Own Star!
Q: What is your favorite holiday?
A: My favorite holiday is Christmas!
Q: Do you like Broadway?
A: I love Broadway musicals... my favorite is Mama Mia
Q: What is your favorite thing about Isabelle?
A: I loved how Isabelle pulled herself together to achieve great things and found her own way to shine!
Q: What is your favorite Isabelle doll outfit?
A: My favorite outfit for Isabelle is the one she comes in.
Q: Do you have any of the McDonalds set?
A: I don't have the McDonald's set, but AG is going to send them to me!
Q: Is it fun to go to a performing arts school?
A: Going to a performing arts school is fun! Everything revolves around the arts.
Q: Did you get to keep your outfits from the movie?
A: No, I didn't get to keep the Isabelle outfits I wore in the movie.

Many of the questions were repeated over and over by people who obviously weren't seeing what other people were asking. Questions like how old she was or if she liked Isabelle were asked constantly despite Erin already answering them. Another thing was people asking questions that could easily be googled, like where she is from, how old she is, how many siblings she has, etc. Chats like this should be used to ask questions that can't be easily found on the internet.

On the bright-side, Erin seemed to answer more freely than the author Lawrence Yep who had a chat several months ago. Even though she seemed less controlled, her answers to questions were pretty typical and weren't very interesting. Honestly the most interesting thing I learned was that she can't have dairy and that's not exactly super interesting or exciting to learn.

Girl of the Year 2014 movie

The new Girl of the Year (GOTY) Isabelle will have a movie that is set to be released sometime in Summer 2014. It is directed by Vince Marcello (2012's GOTY movie "McKenna Shoots for the Stars" and Disney Channel's original movie "Teen Beach Movie"). It was written by Jessica O'Toole and Amy Rardin. The movie was filmed from May - June 2013 and the girl playing Isabelle is 14 year old Erin Pitt. 

Pitt was considered for the role of Renesmee from the final Twilight franchise movie. She is one of six children and is from Ontario. She played on of the little campers (Junior Rocker "Audrey") in the Disney Channel original movie "Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam" that was released in 2010. Pitt had three roles in a 2012 horror film "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D" as Dark Alessa, Alessa Gillespie and the younger version of Sharon DaSilva. She dances and plays violin. Most recently, Pitt was in the movie "Against the Wild" where she and her brother must survive after a plane crash in the wild. She looks a lot like a young Hayden Panettiere in "Against the Wild". 

More of the released cast:

• Jade (Isabelle's sister) - Grace Davidson
• Chloe - Saara Chaudry
• Luisa (one of Isabelle's best friends) - Devyn Nekoda
• Gabriel (listed on IMDb as "tap dancer") - Matthew Edmondson

I'm not sure why the movie isn't being released with the doll (I was asked by many costumers if we had them), but my guess is that it is a marketing strategy to bring people back to the stores in the summer/fall to get them to buy more. 

The plot of the movie is not known but will be related to the three books Isabelle has. The first book, titled simply Isabelle, is about Isabelle being excited to start her first year at her new dance school (Anna Hart School of the Arts) and how she begins to doubt her talent when she meets the other students. The second book, Designs by Isabelle, Isabelle again struggles with how she compares to other students but begins to focus on the costumes of the plays and helps her sister. The third and final book, To the Stars, Isabelle, Isabelle is invited by her dance idol (Jackie Sanchez) to go on tour which Isabelle eagerly agrees to but learns that her classmates, Reneta, who isn't very nice, was also invited. The show begins to fall apart so Isabelle tries to her Jackie and ends up learning a lot about her dance idol and learns how she, herself, can inspire others around her. All of Isabelle's books are by Laurence Yep, who wrote 2008's GOTY Mia St. Clair's books. 

One of the articles about the casting search read:

"Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Martin Chase Productions are currently in pre-production on the seventh film in the American Girl series, “American Girl 2014″. This is the current working title of the film. The award winning casting director, who was formerly the executive vice president of feature castings at Walt Disney Studios, is auditioning actors to fill the lead roles. Additional casting for supporting and day player roles will take place as soon as the main roles are cast. A few of the roles being cast are a 10 year old girl with exceptional ballet skills for the lead role, a 12-15 year old ballet dancer to play the second lead role, and another 10 year old girl. Also up for grabs is the role of an ethnically diverse adult actress between the ages of 24-40, who also has expert level ballet skills. Shooting will take place in May throughout June, 2013.

“American Girl 2014″ centers on Blanche Palmer, a lively and energized 10 year-old girl who is very happy and full of life. Blanche has a dream of being a professional ballet dancer, but she has a bit of stage fright when dancing. This performance anxiety prevents her from exhibiting her true amazing talent. Blanche has an older sister Jade who is considered the very best ballet dancer in her school. The two enjoy a close relationship with each other, however Blanche always feels like she is living and performing in the shadow of her sister’s talent. To complicate her life even more, Blanche has a competitor named Renata who is the same age and dances with perfection since her parents hired a private coach. Renata is very pretty and very testy, and she criticizes Blanche for small mistakes in her performances. Jackie Sanchez, a recently retired world class ballerina, then becomes a role model for Blanche and her sister."

On IMDb the movie is listed as "American Girl Blanche." This is not the real title of the movie and obviously is not the real name of the GOTY 2014. American Girl puts out fake names, especially when looking for actors so that the real name is not released. 

UPDATE: the American Girl website states that the movie will be released on DVD/Blu-Ray in July of 2014. 

New Girl of the Year!!

Today (January 1, 2014) was the first day people could purchase the 2014 Girl of the Year (GOTY) doll!!

Her name is Isabelle Palmer and she's a ten year old ballerina who has a hobby of making clothes. She has blonde hair with pink highlights and green eyes (they're really beautiful). She lives in Washington, D.C. and goes to a dance school (Anna Hart School of the Arts) with her older sister. She makes ballet costumes but struggles with adjusting to her new dance school. Isabelle also struggles with her self esteem as she compares herself to the other dance students. Her best friends are Luisa (a modern dancer) and Gabriel (a magician).

She has pink hair extensions which cause her to be more expensive doll at $120 (normally dolls are $110). The general hair extensions cost $14 so even though you're paying more, you're saving $4. Some people said that they had issues putting the hair extension in. I haven't tried to do it myself but there are directions that come with her hair extensions. 

The lines at the store (the Washington, D.C. one) were wrapping around the store, both upstairs and downstairs. Ironically, many people didn't even know that the new GOTY was being released today (they had just come on their day off). People waited in line for as long as an hour to buy Isabelle and her clothing and accessories. People who had lined up before the store opening all went directly to the Isabelle displays and started grabbing stuff.

Isabelle has a lot of clothing. Quite a bit of it is just single pieces of clothing like "sparkly scrunchy pants" or "practice top". I suppose it's like that because you can mix and match almost all of it. Unlike Saige (2013 GOTY), whose clothing cost $24+, a lot of Isabelle's clothes are $12 or $14 for one piece. On the website, there are about 14 single pieces of clothing or specific outfits that come together. There are 20 mix and match outfits in total for girls to create. Girls can match three of their dolls outfits with human sized clothes. The outfits are very interesting and many are asymmetrical and very different than past GOTY dolls. 

Isabelle has a cat and a dance case which comes with ballet slippers, hair accessories and stickers to decorate the case with. She also has a little studio where she makes her dance clothes. It consists of 24 pieces, some of which are a body (mannequin) display, sewing machine (needs 2 AAA batteries), a closet, stool, a table... It's a lot of stuff and is $275. She also has a barre which comes with several things as well (a water bottle, rubber/plastic mat, and a few other little things). She has some pretty cool things that girls will love.

Nearly everyone who came into American Girl today bought an Isabelle doll. I went into the stock room to check for something and overheard someone say that we had sold 275+ Isabelle's within the first two hours of the store opening [I can neither confirm or deny that this is true]!!

We did not anticipate the amount of sales and people for today but we still were well-stocked and didn't run out of anything. 

The store had some fun things as a celebration for the new GOTY. From 12-4pm we had crafts outside of the top level of the store and from 1-2pm we had a dance performance outside of the Macy's down the hall from the American Girl store. I wasn't able to go to the crafts but I did walk by the dance thing on my break and saw a lot of spectators. We also were giving out giftcards and free Isabelle tshirts for the American Girl dolls. We ran out of those pretty quickly, probably due to us not realizing how many people would come today. 

The store was unbelievably busy but the girls had a lot of fun and were always very excited for Isabelle. Many people asked us to open Isabelle for them at the register so that they could carry her home or around the rest of the mall.