Wizards of Waverly Place

Premise

Wizards of Waverly Place chronicles the adventures of the Russo Family. The Russos live on Waverly Place in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, above a sandwich shop which they own and run. The family consists of siblings Alex (Selena Gomez), Justin (David Henrie), and Max (Jake T. Austin). The three teenagers are wizards and live with their Italian father, Jerry (David DeLuise), a former family wizard, and their mortal Mexican mother, Theresa (Maria Canals Barrera). When the Russo siblings complete their wizard training, they have to participate in a competition to decide who will become the Family Wizard (the one to keep his/her magical powers forever) of their generation, while the others lose their powers and become mortals. Because of this, Jerry tries to teach his children to not become dependent on magic. Since one of them gets to keep their powers, though, Jerry also gives his children wizard lessons (the lessons end mid Season four). The storage room of the Russo family's sub station is a wizard's lair. In the lair is a Portal which allows them to visit the wizard world, and other creatures to visit them. The headmaster of the wizard council, Professor Crumbs (Ian Abercrombie), regularly pays visits to the Russo home.

The Russo siblings attend Tribeca Preparatory School and constantly encounter their Old West style principal, Mr. Laritate (Bill Chott). Because they live in the mortal world, the Russos are required to keep the existence of wizardry a secret. Even so, Alex's best friend, Harper Finkle (Jennifer Stone), discovers the secret in Season 2's episode "Harper Knows". Justin's best friend, Zeke Beakerman (Dan Benson), also finds out in Season 4's episode "Zeke Finds Out", along with Alex's boyfriend, Mason Greyback (Gregg Sulkin), who is a werewolf and Justin's girlfriend, Juliet van Heusen (Bridgit Mendler), who is a vampire.

Main

Recurring

Crossover with The Suite Life on Deck and Hannah Montana

The episode "Cast-Away (To Another Show)" is the first part of a three-way crossover that continues on The Suite Life on Deck and concludes on Hannah Montana. Justin takes Alex and Max on a cruise to Hawaii aboard the SS Tipton when he wins tickets. He pretends to be a doctor to impress London Tipton while Alex uses magic to bring Harper on the ship. During the cruise, Alex pulls a prank on Justin that turns him blue while Hannah Montana boards the ship to attend a concert in Hawaii, leading Cody to try to get tickets for himself and Bailey.

Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie

The Disney Channel Original Movie, based on the series, premiered on August 28, 2009 on Disney Channel. Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie was filmed in Puerto Rico in the caribe Hilton hotel, Los Angeles, and New York City from February 16 to March 27, 2009. The movie received 11.4 million viewers on its premiere, making it the second-most-viewed DCOM premiere in the US after High School Musical 2. It was the 7th most watched basic cable telecast in 2009. It won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2010 for "Outstanding Children's Program".

Series finale

On Friday, January 6, 2012, Wizards of Waverly Place aired its one-hour series finale, "Who Will Be The Family Wizard?", which averaged nearly 10 million viewers (9.8 million; live+same day) to up to 11.3 million. Although it was not the series' most-watched special, being behind Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, and Cast Away (To Another Show), it was the most-watched finale for a Disney Channel Original Series.

Excluding the crossover programming special, it was the franchise's most-watched episode. The closer also set series best among kids 6–11 (4.2 million) and teens 9–14 (3.8 million). It also obtained a solid 1.9 rating with adults 18–49. Notably, the finale is the current TV season's most-watched cable telecast among scripted programs.

The show ended with Alex becoming the family wizard, Justin being declared new Headmaster of WizTech (also keeping his wizard powers), and Max getting to run the sub shop.

The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex

On September 27, 2012, Disney Channel announced that Wizards of Waverly Place would return for an hour-long special, that began production on October 22, 2012, and ended production on November 10, 2012, for a premiere telecast on the cable channel in early 2013. The special, executive-produced by Selena Gomez, alongside series executive producers Vince Cheung and Ben Montanio (who also co-wrote the special with Dan Berendsen), centers on the Russos', Mason, and Harper's visit to Italy to meet long-lost relatives from Jerry's side of the family. In an attempt to prove to her family that she's not merely a carefree wizard, Alex inadvertently casts a spell that creates two versions of her with differing personalities: an evil version of Alex that ends up involved in another wizard's (Dominic) plan for world domination, and a good version who upon discovering the wizard's plan, tries to find a way to save her family and mankind, leading to a literal battle between good and evil atop the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The film is titled The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex and premiered on March 15, 2013.

Production

This series was created and as produced by Todd J. Greenwald, who began developing the show after working as a writer and consulting producer during the first season of Hannah Montana. The show is produced by It's a Laugh Productions and Disney Channel Original Productions. The theme song, "Everything Is Not What It Seems", written by John Adair and Steve Hampton, is of techno-pop style and is performed by Selena Gomez. The series was filmed at Hollywood Center Studios in Hollywood, California.

Opening sequence

For the first three seasons the show used the same title sequence which is set to Selena Gomez's rendition of "Everything Is Not What It Seems"; it shows Alex, Justin, Max and Harper engaging in magical antics while preparing for school in the morning. The fourth season began using a slightly altered version of the song, and a different sequence involving the cast, who all appear in Times Square at the end of the sequence with Alex waving her wand.

Reception

The show debuted on Disney Channel on October 12, 2007 after the premiere of Twitches Too, gathering 5.9 million viewers. In January 2010, "Wizards vs. Werewolves" one-hour special episode became the series' most-watched (non-crossover) episode with 6.2 million viewers, surpassing the 6 million viewers of "Paint By Committee" episode The series' most watched episode, including crossovers, was "Cast-Away (To Another Show)" episode, which was included in the special trilogy of crossover episodes between three Disney Channel original sitcoms, Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana. The broadcast was watched by 10.6 million viewers. In 2009, the series was the top scripted telecast for teens between the age of 9–14 (1.63 million/6.7 rating) and second in kids 6–11 (1.81 million/7.4 rating), which was only slightly behind The Suite Life on Deck (1.82 million/7.4 rating.)

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album for the hit Disney Channel Original Series of the same name. The album was released as a physical CD, enhanced CD and digital on August 4, 2009, under Walt Disney Records. The album includes songs from and inspired by the TV series and Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie.

In response to the soundtrack, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic recognized Wizards for its "teen revamps of boomer classics that parents can enjoy too". He also stated that the album is "agreeable" and that Selena Gomez "inevitably stands out from the pack". However, Erlewine said: "the dang-awful version of America's "You Can Do Magic" by Drew Seeley is sunk by its hyper-claustrophobic rhythms, the biggest rearrangement of a tune here and easily the worst cut."

Video game

A video game based on the series was released in August 2009.

Season releases

The show's complete first season was released on September 10, 2009 in Germany, on October 1, 2009 in Spain, on March 3, 2010 in France and on March 12, 2010 in Poland.

Broadcast

The show airs worldwide on Disney Channel. It premiered on October 12, 2007 in Pakistan. In Australia it premiered on October 19, 2007 and it also airs on Seven Network starting October 4, 2008. It premiered on the same date in New Zealand and first aired on FOUR on February 4, 2009. It premiered on October 26, 2007 on Family in Canada. In the United Kingdom it started airing on November 4, 2007 and it also airs on Channel 5. It premiered on November 3, 2007 in Ireland and also airs on TRTÉ. It premiered in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Philippines on March 9, 2008. It first aired in India and Bangladesh on May 5, 2008. In South Africa it premiered on June 22, 2008.