Two of the Disney Channel's brightest young sitcom stars, Hilary Duff (Lizzie Maguire) and Christy Romano (Even Stevens), team up for laughs and tears in the made-for-cable Cadet Kelly. The life of cool, artistically inclined 14-year-old Kelly Collins (Duff) is turned upside down when she is uprooted from Manhattan and whisked off to the campus of George Washington Military School in upstate New York. The move was instigated by Sir (Gary Cole), a retired general and the new husband of Kelly's mother. Hoping to impress her stepfather, Kelly enlists in the school, where her freewheeling eccentricities immediately run afoul of her hard-hearted, 17-year-old squad leader, Jennifer Stone (Romano). Though Kelly does her best, the pressure brought to bear upon her by military protocol is enough to have her contemplating desertion -- and even her growing fondness for upper classman, Brad (Shawn Ashmore), may not be enough to bring her back. Originally broadcast by the Disney Channel on March 8, 2002, Cadet Kelly made its ABC network debut on July 14, 2002, as an episode of the weekend "Wonderful World of Disney" anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Desmond Campbell - Lt. Col. Ross; Joe Matheson - Gen. Archer; Avery Saltzman - Kevin; John Wittig - Cadet Bugler; Linda Kash - Samantha; Stewart Arnott - Capt. Lawrence; Shawn Ashmore - Brad; Martin Roach - Drill Instructor; Aimee Garcia - Gloria; Beverlee Buzon - Grace; Sarah Gadon - Amanda; Nigel Hamer - Adam; Edie Inksetter - Math Teacher; Dalene Irvine - Marla; Andrea Lewis - Carla; Tim Post - Col. Mikkelson; Christopher Tai - Sr. Cadet Officer
Credit
Evan Webber - Art Director, Larry Shaw - Director, Anita Brandt-Burgoyne - Editor, Robert Shapiro - Executive Producer, Jerry Leider - Executive Producer, David Kitay - Composer (Music Score), Eric Fraser - Production Designer, Frank Byers - Cinematographer, Kevin Lafferty - Producer, Gail Parent - Screenwriter, Michael Walsh - Screenwriter
Cadet Kelly is a Disney Channel Original Movie starring Hilary Duff. The movie premiered with 7.8 million viewers, a high for the network at the time.[1] This movie was Duff's second movie where she played the main character. The tagline used for the movie was Too Cool for Rules. This was Disney Channel's second movie filmed in Canada.
The plot of the movie concerns Kelly, a hyperactive[citation needed] and free-spirited eighth grade girl whose mother gets married to Brigadier General Joe "Sir" Maxwell (played by Gary Cole). When her new stepfather becomes the Commandant of a military school, Kelly enrolls there because it is the only school in the area. Kelly at first has trouble fitting in and obeying the orders of the officers above her, especially Cadet Captain Jennifer Stone, played by Christy Carlson Romano, who likes a fellow student named Cadet Major Brad Rigby who is played by Shawn Ashmore. They reach the point of being taken to court and seeing Kelly sentenced to shine the uniforms of the drill team, a team she looked down upon, seeing the drill team members as robots. However, she gradually takes a liking to them and tries out. She makes the drill team and even helps the school win second place at the regional drill competition.
During the competition her father, who had promised to be there, is injured during a photo shooting, in which he falls over the side of a cliff edge. Kelly, and Sir leave the competition when Kelly's father calls her on the her cell, which is their 'lifeline.' They find and rescue him, but by the time Kelly gets back to the competition, they're only down by five points. They manage to make it to second place.
Primary filming for the school scenes was done at the Robert Land Academy, a military school in Canada. There were also some scenes that were taken in St. Andrew's College, a private school in Ontario, Canada. Hilary Duff was made an honorary Cadet Sergeant of the school during the production. The military advisor for the film, Lt. Andrew Long, drilled the actors in a "boot camp" style situation, often testing them with rehearsals of actual combat drills. He was very impressed with Hilary Duff's work, even remarking that she would do just fine in an actual military unit in Iraq.
This is one of 2 Disney Channel Original Movies filmed in Canada
Christy Carlson Romano's character's name is Jennifer Stone, the name of another Disney Channel star known for playing Harper Finkle on Wizards of Waverly Place.
