Lizzie McGuire remains one of the Disney Channel’s greatest triumphs. The 2001-2004 comedy series and subsequent movie chronicled the many misadventures of Lizzie (Hilary Duff), a middle school student with two quirky BFFs, an insufferable younger brother, an ever-growing list of crushes, and an animated internal monologue. During D23, Disney announced Lizzie’s return to the small screen via Disney+, and they’re doing it right. Rather than rebooting, the sequel stars Duff as a 30-year-old Lizzie living in New York. Plus, series creator Terri Minsky will return as showrunner. Truly, this is what dreams are made of.
Here’s what (and who) we’re most psyched to revisit come 2020.
The Return of Animated Lizzie
The unsung hero of Lizzie McGuire was Animated Lizzie, a sassier, more confident version of Lizzie who existed only in her head. The cartoon cracked wise, mouthed off, and scrutinized real-life Lizzie’s choices, and Lizzie should have externalized that kind of behavior once in a while (though not with AL’s visual gags). Duff revealed on GMA that Animated Lizzie still exists and, oh yeah, she stayed 13.
Should a grown woman act on the whims of a cartoon with a serious case of arrested development? Probably not, but it’ll be fun to see AL come back to life. And, on a meta level, it would be amazing to see real-life Lizzie try to make sense of why a crudely animated quip machine still rattles around her brain.
Lizzie + Gordo = ???
Disney
When we last left Lizzie, she and David “Gordo” Gordon (Adam Lamberg) kissed in Italy after she met her doppelgänger and fell out of love with an Italian pop star. From what Duff said, it’s unlikely BFFs Lizzie and Gordo ended up together. Surely there’s a story there. And given that Gordo was infinitely dreamier than Ethan Craft and Aaron Carter combined, it demands to be told.
Also, if Lamberg (who no longer acts) opts out, writer Bolu Babalola offered a brilliant idea for a recast. Minsky, take note.
Thanks, I love it but can Adam Brody play Gordo this time https://t.co/oolb3N8uVo
— bolu babalola (@BeeBabs) August 23, 2019
Where in the World Is Miranda Sanchez?
While Lizzie and Gordo tripped the light fantastic in Rome, their other BFF Miranda Sanchez (Lalaine) went on a long-term family vacation to Mexico. Chalk that up to scheduling conflicts. As a Disney Channel star, you sometimes triple-book yourself, like Lalaine did with Lizzie, the DCOM You Wish!, and her music career. With such an unremarkable write-off, the new show could do almost anything with Miranda’s arc. Lalaine’s return seems more likely than Lamberg’s, especially since she expressed “curiosity” about the idea of a spinoff not long after Jake Thomas (a.k.a. Matt McGuire) shared this blessed image on Instagram.
Lizzie’s Career Trajectory & New York Lifestyle
Gordo and Miranda had hobbies; straight-A student Gordo dreamed of becoming a filmmaker, while Miranda sang and played violin. But Lizzie never showed interest, nor notable aptitude, in any particular activity or school subject. Still, she did have an incredible sense of style and an expertly decorated bedroom. So it checks out that present-day Lizzie is apprenticed to an interior designer. According to Duff, that’s what Lizzie’s up to when she’s not hanging out at her Brooklyn apartment or spending time with her fiancé, a chef at a Soho restaurant.
Ideally, the show will be filmed on location in NYC—not gritty reboot territory or anything like that, but grime on the sidewalks and subway snafus would be fun. Lizzie’s day-to-day (gorgeous chef fiancé! Cute apartment! Dream job!) covers the wish-fulfillment fantasy half of the Lizzie McGuire equation, so let’s get some realism in there—tempered, of course, with Animated Lizzie riding a rat or swatting a pigeon.
How’s that for a picture-perfect plan?
Header Image Credit: Disney