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Nancy Drew returns again

by Malinda Lo

Even before the first Nancy Drew movie hits theaters (it’s scheduled to be released on June 15), Warner Bros. has announced that it will produce a sequel also starring 16-year-old Emma Roberts (yes, Julia Roberts’ niece). Here’s a very cute pic of her as Nancy from the first movie:

Producer Jerry Weintraub told Variety that Nancy’s “not a hip kid. She’s right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.” After watching the trailer, I can sort of see what Weintraub is talking about. They’ve taken a girl originally created in the 1930s, given her 1950s-era fashion, and transplanted her in 2007 Los Angeles. Yeah, that would not seem to be entirely “hip,” but I think that Weintraub and crew have overlooked something.

Nancy was never “hip,” but she was always fashionable (OK, at the country club). I’ve read a lot of Nancy Drew mysteries (at one point in my childhood my grandmother started calling me Nancy because, well, I read so many of them – yes, I was that dorky!), and I recall very clearly that Nancy always wore quite fashionable dresses. She was always being complimented for her looks (“titian-haired sleuth,” anyone?) and her style. No, she was never “edgy” (though I don’t think they had that in the 1930s and ’40s), but she was hip to the time she was in. So this whole old-fashioned thing seems a little wrong to me. Maybe even just a way to get some cheap laughs with anachronistic outfits.

Anyway, I digress. I know what you all are most interested in: Who’s playing Bess and George, for cryin’ out loud? Well, Bess will be played by 16-year-old Amy Bruckner (the Disney Channel’s Phil of the Future), and George will be played by 16-year-old Kay Panabaker (Lindsey Willows from CSI). Here’s Bruckner on the left and Panabaker on the right:

Panabaker looks nothing like George (who, if I recall correctly, had short, curly dark hair), but maybe they’ll put a wig on her? Somehow I’m doubtful.

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