BACKGROUND
Most of us are familiar with the concept of “body swapping” on screen. A popular example of this is Freaky Friday, which was originally a children’s novel written by Mary Rodgers and published in 1972. The story sees a teenage girl swap bodies with her mother. It has been adapted by Disney four times – so far – in 1976, 1995, 2003, and 2018.
Disney Channel’s The Swap has a very similar premise to Freaky Friday, although in this case, the two people swapping bodies are two teenagers at the same school, but one is a boy, and one is a girl, making for some awkward moments if you think about it too much… The two swap bodies thanks to a “text wish”, where they claim to be able to fix each other’s lives because the guy thinks girls have easier lives, and the girl thinks the exact opposite.
I wasn’t watching Disney Channel in 2016, so I didn’t watch The Swap at the time it first premiered. Instead, I found it randomly on the channel a few years later, at a point where I was probably “too old” to be interested in watching a Disney Channel Original Movie that was new to me. But I went ahead and watched it and surprisingly, I found I actually really liked it, and it is one of very few DCOMs that make me cry.
In fact, I liked The Swap so much that I was desperate to own it on DVD, because I’m weird like that and don’t trust streaming services, who take your favourite things away with very little notice or can’t put them on there because of rights issues, or whatever. I’d rather own something so I know I can watch it as long as I have a DVD player. I searched for The Swap and found it on the website of a reputable company that sell pre-owned technology and media in the UK. However, I ordered the film, which was advertised as the DCOM, only to receive the 1979 film The Swap which starred Robert De Niro – two very different films! I’ve had back-and-forth communication with this company a few times about The Swap, because it keeps being listed as available to order online but the film never comes. I’ve since done my research and concluded that Disney’s The Swap likely wasn’t released on Region 2 so this company cannot have it and will never have it, as the items they sell must be viewable via normal devices in the UK which is limited to Region 2. I’ve told them to update their systems, but you never know, if it appears again, I might order it, just to see what happens.
Anyway, I was in my mid-20s when I found The Swap, so how could I possibly like it that much? Well, I’ve always liked Freaky Friday, the 2003 version specifically, with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, and the premise of The Swap is very similar to Freaky Friday. The other reason is that The Swap is quite moving for a “kids’ movie”, because it tackles the subject of absent parents, one through loss, the other through divorce, which felt like quite difficult, but important, topics to be bringing to a channel that is mostly aimed at children and teenagers. It was touching to see that.
PLOT
The Swap begins with two teenagers. Jack Malloy plays hockey, his dad is the strict, tough hockey coach, and he wants to make the varsity team this year. Jack is also being pressured by “bully” Porter, who wants that last spot on varsity too, despite trying to make the team four years in a row and failing every time. Ellie O’ Brien is a rhythmic gymnast and is currently struggling with the fact her best friend Sassy has suddenly become close to new girl Aspen, so Ellie and Sassy are drifting apart. Ellie and her rhythmic gymnastics team have also just been told by their coach that if they don’t perform well at their competition this weekend, their sports team will be downgraded – to a club!
The next day, on Friday, after Jack smashed his phone screen playing hockey with his brothers, he is given their mother’s sparkly pink phone to use because their father likes to send motivational quotes over text throughout the day. Their mother died recently. Meanwhile, Ellie is getting ready for school and sees a message to her rhythmic gymnastics group chat from Aspen, saying all the girls should wear skirts today. Ellie is wearing her team tracksuit since it’s the day before a competition and they always wear tracksuits that day. On the way to school, Ellie’s mother asks Ellie if she wants a new phone. Ellie is using her dad’s old phone, which isn’t exactly the technological advancement of the day. Ellie’s parents are now divorced and her father has a new family now, but Ellie likes to use his old phone. Ellie’s mum says she is risk attaching too much emotion on to this phone and making it a “totem”. She likes meditation, yoga, crystals, that sort of thing. Ellie ignores her comment.
At school, Ellie is the only one of her team in her tracksuit but, not to worry, because she has a skirt she can wear over the top of it. This only adds to Aspen’s list of reasons why Ellie is “uncool” and makes a point of telling Sassy that Ellie needs to be un-invited from teammate Claire’s party this weekend. Aspen then sees Jack Malloy and convinces Sassy to go and talk to him because Sassy has a – very recent – crush on him. Jack doesn’t find it easy to talk to girls though so the conversation is awkward…
Later, Porter baits Jack into fighting him. It’s not a particularly good fight and Jack loses out with only a bloody nose to show for it, but it’s enough for Porter who has filmed their “altercation” and plans to show Coach Malloy so Jack cannot get that last spot on the varsity team. Back with Ellie, she overhears Sassy and Aspen gossiping about her, with Aspen being particularly mean, saying Sassy needs to take Ellie off “social life support”, whatever that means. Sassy says she doesn’t want to upset Ellie, so Aspen allows Ellie until Claire’s party to prove she’s cool enough to still be friends with her. Devastated, Ellie heads to the nurse’s office in tears, and finds Jack there with his nosebleed.
Jack and Ellie begin arguing over whether girls or boys have it harder in life, with Jack saying being beaten up isn’t exactly easy, and Ellie stating that the politics of female friendships are so much more difficult to cope with. Eventually, the nurse gets fed up with listening to the two of them debating and tells them to have this conversation over text instead, to give her some peace! They continue through text messages, getting to the point when they say they’d like to take each other’s lives because they’d easily get through a day being the other person. When they text “deal”, Ellie and Jack start to feel strange and are thrown out of their seats by some sort of force. Getting up, they soon realise that Jack is now in Ellie’s body, and Ellie is in Jack’s! They try slapping each other to snap themselves out of it but it doesn’t work. They try taking their “text wish” back but that doesn’t work either. Ellie then remembers the conversation she had with her mother about totems and emotional connections to their phones and asks Jack if his phone is special to him. Because it was his mother’s and she’s now gone, that is definitely the case. Ellie says her mother has a book about this so maybe that’ll give them something to help swap them back, but they’ll have to wait until “Ellie” is back home to get it. Ellie and Jack say they’ll just have to get through the day acting like each other.
Their first testing encounter happens shortly after, as Porter confronts “Jack” about the video of their fight. Jack, but in Ellie’s body, tells Porter to stop threatening him with this video, saying it’s not right. Porter, impressed by this Ellie girl, invites “her” to have doughnuts with him on Saturday. “She” accepts, but only because Jack hopes that him being Ellie will be able to convince Porter to delete that video forever. Sassy and Aspen then approach “Jack”, so Ellie as Jack talks to Sassy. However, Jack in Ellie’s body is still unable to talk to girls so “Ellie” babbles incoherently in front of Sassy and Aspen, giving them further ammunition for Sassy to end her friendship with Ellie. Jack and Ellie then give each other a brief rundown of their lives and home situations before being picked up at the end of the day. Ellie tells Jack her mum is the textbook example of an overprotective “helicopter parent” and Jack says to Ellie that his dad is the hockey coach and is quite tough on them, plus he has two older brothers, Gunner and Stryker. It turns out Jack’s father named his older brothers, but Jack’s mother picked out his name which is why Jack’s name is so different. Jack will call Ellie once he’s found the book at Ellie’s house.
“Jack” is picked up by his brother, but strangely enough, they don’t seem to use their car doors so Ellie as Jack has to jump in to the car through the open window… Jack, as Ellie, then does the same in Ellie’s mother’s car, shocking her. Ellie’s mother takes “Ellie” to rhythmic gymnastics practice, where unsurprisingly, “Ellie” is terrible. Jack also refuses to undress in Ellie’s body so wears her leotard over the top of her tracksuit, making “Ellie” seem even weirder today. Ellie as Jack accidentally agrees to have Jack’s brothers cut his hair, because they used the term “chopping the salad”, which Ellie obviously didn’t understand. Jack didn’t want his hair cut, but it’s a varsity tradition apparently.
After practice, Ellie texts Jack about the haircut. Jack calls Ellie back saying he is mad, but can’t live without him, meaning he can’t live without his body. However, Aspen overhears this conversation and, hearing Ellie saying those things, believes Ellie is interested in Jack, going completely against “girl code” since Sassy has made it only too obvious she likes Jack. Aspen goes to tell Sassy about this immediately. Jack then gets back in Ellie’s mother’s car so she can take “Ellie” to her team physical. Ellie’s mother lets slip that Ellie’s phone’s data plan will be ending on Sunday at noon. This only gives Ellie and Jack less than two days to switch back! At Ellie’s physical, Jack wears a mask throughout so he doesn’t see any of Ellie’s body, but the doctor perceives this as strange behaviour coming from the fact Ellie’s father recently left her and her mother, and she tries to talk to “Ellie” about it. Meanwhile, Ellie as Jack is at hockey practice and plays badly, disappointing Coach Malloy, Jack’s father, who says Jack needs to play much better on Sunday for varsity try-outs because they’ll be dedicating a bleacher seat to Jack’s mother on that day and it would look really bad if he missed out on varsity that day.
Back at home, Jack finds Ellie’s mother’s book on totems and calls Ellie. Jack’s brothers actually answer the phone and tease him about having a girl on the phone. Ellie tells Jack about the dedication for his mother, and Jack tells Ellie that her doctor wanted to talk to her about her father leaving. The two briefly bond over the shared connection of both having an absent parent. They then get back to their switching back situation. It says in the book that the quest they must accomplish is in the original wish, and they need to complete this to undo the swap. Jack and Ellie decide they have to make each other’s lives better, like they said. Firstly, Ellie’s phone contract needs to be extended to give them more time, and Porter needs to delete the fight video. Sadly, although Porter is expecting Ellie’s body, Jack will have to go, as Ellie’s body will be needed at the phone store to talk about the contract.
On Saturday morning, Ellie is woken up at 5am by Coach Malloy and Jack’s brothers for early morning training, whereas Jack gets to sleep in. Sassy comes to Ellie’s house later that morning though to confront “Ellie” about her crush on Jack. Sassy eventually sees what Ellie looks like in childish pyjamas and doesn’t perceive her as any sort of threat so Sassy simply tells Ellie to be “less her” at Claire’s party tonight. Jack as Ellie is taken for a spa day by Ellie’s mother, where he manages to sneak away for a few minutes from the torture of leg waxing to go to the phone store across the street. The store clerk cannot help with extending the contract since Ellie’s father actually cancelled the plan, something Ellie is not aware of…
Ellie as Jack meets up with Porter and the two have a talk about varsity. Porter doesn’t actually seem to like hockey all that much, so “Jack” takes him to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) club at school since Porter likes making fun gadgets. He has a good time there and deletes the video. Ellie also sees her friend Mackenzie there and talks to her, but Mackenzie is confused about why Jack Malloy is talking to her. Oops.
Ellie and Jack update each other on their mornings, but Jack doesn’t tell Ellie the real reason her phone contract cannot be extended, just saying it couldn’t be done. Ellie then tells Jack he has to help her get Sassy to be her best friend again. Jack agrees to do this and asks Ellie’s mum if Ellie’s body can have a complete makeover that afternoon. Ellie’s mum is happy to help. But just before that, Jack decides to get payback on Aspen, by pretending to be her hairdresser when Aspen’s eyes are covered and spreading random dyes into her hair! Ellie decides to help Jack at home and decorates his room with some of Jack’s mother’s belongings which were being kept in a closet that nobody wanted to look at.
That night, Jack’s phone gets a text from friend Owen, telling him to take a break from varsity preparations and come to a game night. Coach Malloy would never allow that so Ellie calls on Porter to help “Jack” get out of the house. Using a makeshift zip wire, Porter gets “Jack” out of his room and the two go to Owen’s game night. Once there, Ellie as Jack starts to panic that Porter wouldn’t be welcome here, but is surprised to find that guys are much more accepting of new additions to friendship groups than girls are.
“Ellie” shows up at Claire’s party, but Aspen and Sassy are not impressed with Ellie’s new look, believing she’s done all this to impress Jack. Jack in Ellie’s body tries to convince Sassy to be friends with Ellie like they used to be, but Sassy says the two of them have grown apart and they can’t be friends anymore. Mackenzie then helps “Ellie” get into the party spirit. At some point, Aspen and Sassy get bored and start messing about with the photos on the photo booth, so Jack as Ellie stands up to them, saying that they are being uncool and that Jack Malloy wouldn’t find it funny and “she’d” know that because they’re very close. Aspen decides she must mean that the two of them are together and tells all the guys at game night to meet the girls at the river to see if “Ellie” is telling the truth.
At the river, Jack and Ellie walk away from the group but they argue about how Jack has messed things up between Ellie and Sassy for good now. Ellie as Jack starts to cry in front of everyone, and to make it worse, Coach Malloy shows up to take Jack home. Jack as Ellie sees Aspen looking smug and reveals her terribly dyed hair in front of everyone, which Aspen had been hiding under at hat. Back home, Ellie is devastated about losing Sassy, whilst Jack as Ellie looks through old photos in Ellie’s room. He sees photos of Sassy, Ellie, and Ellie’s dad, and realises Ellie doesn’t want to lose both of those people. Jack and Ellie make up and decide they have to be good at their respective sports on Sunday, so with help from Owen, who has now been told all about their swap, opens up the sports centre and they have an all-night training session.
On Sunday, Ellie as Jack meets Jack’s brothers and father for an early morning run as usual. Jack as Ellie gets to the rhythmic gymnastics competition and is sad to see that Ellie’s father didn’t show up. However, apart from one minor slip up with the ribbon, Jack does well for Ellie at the competition and their sports team will be staying a team, with badminton being demoted to club status instead. At the hockey rink, Ellie as Jack watches the bleacher seat dedication for Jack’s mother and then plays well enough to get that spot on the varsity team. Ellie and Jack catch up with each other afterwards and at 11:15, with only 45 minutes to go until Ellie’s phone contract expires, they try a text to switch themselves back. It doesn’t work. Ellie says they need to get it extended, but Jack reveals that actually her father cancelled it, because he wanted a new family plan… “Jack” is then taken home by his father who tells him he didn’t play well today. Ellie as Jack stands up to him, asking if he is actually proud of Jack at all, and saying this isn’t how he should be treating his sons, and that boys can cry and in fact they should sometimes. It would seem that Ellie is finally having the conversation she needs to have with her father with Jack’s instead. Jack as Ellie takes a walk with Ellie’s mother and they discuss Ellie’s dad not being at the competition. Jack says that he misses his mother and Ellie’s mother tells “Ellie” she’ll always be there for her.
Feeling better about their lives, Ellie and Jack text each other to meet at the river with only five minutes until noon. Ellie as Jack gets a ride from Porter to make it in time. With one minute to spare, they text to say their lives are much better now and – it works! The two swap back to their normal selves. Ellie tells her mother that she’s going to be alright and that her mum should start doing more things for herself. Jack’s dad then says “Jack” was right with the things he said and that he’s been tough on the boys thinking it would stop them from feeling the pain of losing their mother. He loves his sons so much. They have a group hug.
At school the next day, Ellie and Mackenzie talk about how Mackenzie likes Jack, and Owen is given “permission” by Porter to ask out Ellie, with Ellie and Jack remaining good friends. They introduce their parents to each other, and see that Coach Malloy is awkward in front of women, just like Jack was. Ellie and Jack text about the situation, wondering if they should help them out. They soon realise they’ve texted another wish and quickly delete it, before putting their phones away!
CHARACTERS & CAST
Disney Channel like to have their stars lead Disney Channel movies, something they’ve managed to do for a wide variety of their films, although they do not always do this. The Swap is no exception to this preference, with its two leads coming from Disney series.
Ellie O’Brien is not feeling very confident in her life at the beginning of The Swap. Her father has left her and her mother, though it’s not clear how long ago this was, and she’s starting to lose her best friend, Sassy, to another girl, Aspen, who isn’t even nice. Ellie has been trying to stay close to Sassy but the more she tries, the more Sassy pulls away. Ellie has also been trying to stay close to her father by keeping his old phone, despite the fact Ellie’s dad has clearly moved on and can’t even be bothered to show up to her rhythmic gymnastics competitions. Ellie thinks Jack Malloy’s life must be so much easier, but little does she know, Jack’s life is just as difficult as hers. Eventually, Ellie learns that she can let go of Sassy, with Jack realising Sassy isn’t a good enough friend for Ellie, that she can have other friends, like her friend Mackenzie, and that she still has her mother even if her father didn’t want to stay with them.
Peyton List was cast as Ellie. Some of List’s very early acting roles include being cast as Young Jane in 27 Dresses (2008) and Young Becky in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010). She made her Disney Channel debut as Emma Ross in the Disney Channel series Jessie (2011-15). List reprised this role for the first three seasons of Bunk’d (2015-24). More recently, List was cast as Tory Nichols in Netflix’s Cobra Kai (2018-25) and stars as Maddie in School Spirits (2023-present) for Paramount+.
Jack Malloy is having a difficult time too. His mother has recently died, although again, we don’t actually know how long ago this was, leaving Jack with his older brothers and his father, who is also their hockey coach. Jack has been training for years to get on the varsity team and knows his father will be very disappointed in him if he doesn’t make it. When Porter threatens that chance with the video of them “fighting”, Jack knows he has to get it deleted or his father won’t let him on the team. This is Jack’s primary issue at the start of The Swap, however, when him and Ellie swap bodies, Ellie also helps Jack learn to have a balance in life between hockey and friends, after getting “Jack” to Owen’s game night, as well as standing up to Jack’s dad, telling him to be more supportive.
Jack Malloy was played by Jacob Bertrand, who, at the time of The Swap, was playing the title role in Kirby Buckets (2014-17) on DisneyXD. Like Peyton List, Bertrand was also cast in Netflix’s Cobra Kai (2018-25), in the role of Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz. Bertrand currently voices the role of Bam / Batmobile in the animated series Batwheels (2022-present) for Cartoon Network.
For Jack’s friends, we have Porter, who starts off as a bit of a bully to Jack, picking on Jack because he’s smaller and is big competition for the varsity team, which Porter has been trying to get on for years. Thanks to Ellie being in Jack’s body, she is able to convince him that his strengths lie elsewhere, in science, and takes him to STEM club where Porter learns to let go of hockey. From this point, Porter is grateful to “Jack” and they become friends. Porter was played by James Godfrey, who went on to be cast as Bonzo in the Disney Channel musical franchise ZOMBIES, appearing in the first three movies. Godfrey also voices the character in Zombies: The Re-Animated Series (2024-present).
Owen helps Jack with his hockey training, having lots of tips and tricks for him to ensure he makes varsity, but Owen also believes in a healthy balance, so invites Jack to his game night the night before the varsity try-outs. He almost doesn’t expect to see Jack there, because Jack takes hockey so seriously, but Ellie as Jack made sure Jack’s body showed up. Here, Ellie learnt that Jack takes hockey too seriously and has to learn to have fun with friends sometimes. It’s also at this game night that Ellie learns that both Porter and Owen have a crush on her, since she hears this whilst in Jack’s body, which was clearly quite awkward for her to hear! Owen says he’s going to ask Ellie out at the end of the film but we never get to see what transpired there.
Kolton Steward was cast as Owen. He had previously played Jarvis in the Canadian sitcom Some Assembly Required (2014-16). Steward went on to appear as Zelly in the sort-of-DCOM Sneakerella (2022) and as Tyson in the Disney sequel Disenchanted (2022). Steward voices Rory in the animated Netflix series Unicorn Academy (2023-present).
For Ellie’s “friends”, we have Sassy and Aspen, who are quite mean to Ellie, talking about her behind her back and generally making it seem like Ellie isn’t good enough to hang out with. Sassy was best friends with Ellie, but Aspen seems to have warped Sassy’s mind, by telling her that Aspen is a much better friend, being more mature than Ellie for a start. Sassy stupidly listens to Aspen and drops Ellie, although she does apologise to Ellie for being a jerk to her at the end of the movie. Ellie accepts that they can move on as best friends now though. Ellie becomes closer to her friend Mackenzie, who is a member of STEM club, because of this. Mackenzie is a much kinder person than Sassy.
Sassy was played by Kiana Madeira, who had earlier been cast as Rachel in the Disney Channel-affiliated movie Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars (2010) and as Sierra in the DCOM Bad Hair Day (2015). More recently, Madeira appeared as Nora in the After film series. Aspen was played by Eliana Jones. Around the time of The Swap, Jones appeared in the recurring role of Summer in the live-action/animated series The Stanley Dynamic (2015-17). Jones was later cast as Peyton Westfield in Season 11 of Heartland (2007-present) and as Gwen in Northern Rescue (2019). Mackenzie was played by Devyn Nekoda, going on to be cast as Sami in Disney’s Sneakerella (2022). Outside of Disney, Nekoda was cast as Anika in Scream VI (2023) and as Sage 5 in the sci-fi series Utopia Falls (2020). She also appeared as Riley in Season 1 of Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia (2021-present).
For the adults, we have Coach Malloy, Jack’s strict hockey coach father, who seems to struggle to have a balance between his personal life and his work, making it seem to his sons that they are only worthy if they are good hockey players. It’s clear that Coach Malloy is not coping well with the grief of losing his wife, but instead of talking about it, he’d rather just ignore it and try to block out the pain as much as he can, making sure his sons focus on other pursuits as well. After Ellie as Jack tells Coach Malloy this isn’t the right way to deal with things because he’s hurting his youngest son by doing so, Jack’s father turns things around and tells his sons he does love them and wants to do better by them. Coach Malloy was played by Darrin Rose, who played Bill in the sitcom Mr. D (2012-18).
Summer O’Brien, Ellie’s mother, is quite protective of Ellie, although she is always upbeat and positive, no doubt due to her yoga teacher mindset. Summer wants to do everything for Ellie, like run her bubble baths and take her out on spa days, probably because she has some guilt that Ellie isn’t coping well with her father not living with them anymore. Summer does all this because she cares and loves Ellie so much, but at the end of The Swap, Ellie tells her mother she knows that but that Summer needs to do more for herself now and stop worrying about Ellie so much. Claire Rankin was cast as Summer. Rankin played Miranda in Syfy’s Halcyon (2016), and was recently cast as Mary Critch in the sitcom Son of a Critch (2022-present).
Finally, I just want to mention Coach Carol, the rhythmic gymnastics coach. Coach Carol has an on-going rivalry with the coach of the badminton team, since one of their teams has to be demoted to club status. Coach Carol is a funny side character in The Swap because of this, as the two coaches trade barbs with each other. She may be familiar to Disney Channel fans as she was played by Naomi Snieckus, who was cast as Principal Lee in the first three ZOMBIES films and voices the character in Zombies: The Re-Animated Series (2024-present).
MUSIC
The score for The Swap was composed by Kenneth Burgomaster, who has composed the score for other DCOMs including How to Build a Better Boy (2014) and Frenemies (2012), as well as the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle (2016-18) and The Villains of Valley View (2022-23). The rest of the music comes from contemporary artists, with some well-known songs and singers in the mix.
The opening of The Swap begins with scenes of Jack playing ice hockey, and Ellie practising her gymnastics. The song playing here is “Me Too” performed by Meghan Trainor, who shot to fame with her debut single “All About That Bass” back in 2014. “Me Too” was written by Trainor, as well as Jason Derulo, Peter Svensson, Ricky Reed, and Jacob Kasher Hindlin. It is a catchy song, all about confidence, which is strange since neither of the main characters have much confidence in themselves or their abilities at the start of the movie!
A sadder song is played shortly after: “Nowhere Fast”, performed by Polarcode and Lauren Ruth Ward. This piece plays in the scene where Ellie has just heard Sassy and Aspen talking about her in the bathroom, and she heads to the nurse’s office in tears. I quite like this song, despite only hearing it for a few seconds.
Another piece of popular music used in The Swap is Olly Anna’s song “Write My Story”. This song plays as “Ellie” has a makeover, and “Jack” is putting some of his mum’s stuff in his bedroom. Following on from that, the song “Sax”, performed by 2014 X Factor runner-up Fleur East, plays at the party when “Ellie” is dancing with Mackenzie after having been dumped by Sassy. I had heard both of these songs before seeing The Swap.
There are also songs used for some of the sports montages. When Jack as Ellie is at his first rhythmic gymnastics practice, and doing terribly, the song “Body Double” by Roeland Ruijsch is used. It’s another peppy song to feature in the film. Then, as Ellie and Jack compete in each other’s respective sports towards the end of the film, “DJ Blow the Speakers” is heard. This song was performed by Photronique, Ms. Triniti, and JP Castillo.
Sadly, but not uncommon for Disney Channel movies, there are numerous other pieces of music used in The Swap that I have been unable to trace, because neither Google nor Shazam have the answers. If Disney Channel listed every piece of music they used in their movies, I would be able to match them up to the song and the scene, however, I have been unable to do that here, even with audible lyrics, leaving five songs unaccounted for.
These are: the song that is used for when Ellie as Jack has to go for early morning training with Jack’s brothers and father on Saturday morning; the first song heard at Claire’s party when “Ellie” walks in; the sad song playing when Ellie and Jack go home after they argue on the Saturday night; the music playing when Ellie and Jack are training late with Owen to prepare them for their competition and try-outs the next day; and finally, the song playing at the phone store that Jack as Ellie goes to when trying to get the phone contract extended, though this song was not particularly audible anyway.
I also don’t know the End Credits song. Initially, I thought it was “Until the Sun Comes Up”, sung by Drew Seeley, because this is listed online as being part of The Swap’s soundtrack on some websites, but listening to the song, I don’t think it is, so again, I’m not sure what the music is.
PRODUCTION
Production on The Swap began in early 2016, with announcements being made around April of that year that The Swap was set for an autumn premiere date. Peyton List and Jacob Bertrand were announced as the movie’s two leads at this time as well.
2016 was an important time for Disney Channel, as they unveiled plans for the 100th DCOM Celebration around this time. A marathon where all 100 official Disney Channel Original Movies aired began on 27th May 2016, with a four-day marathon of 51 DCOMs, followed by the remaining 49, including the premiere of Adventures in Babysitting (2016), the official 100th DCOM, in June 2016. Adventures in Babysitting was the only other new DCOM release in 2016 other than The Swap[1].
The story of Disney’s The Swap was not actually an original idea, nor was it specifically based on the Freaky Friday novel. The movie was in fact based on the novel The Swap by young adult author Megan Shull. The novel was published in 2014. Apparently, Disney Channel “aged up” the main characters so that they are high schoolers, whereas the novel is set in middle school, with the characters around 12 or 13, I suppose, not closer to 16 like they appear in Disney’s The Swap. This meant there was more opportunities for awkward discussions about puberty that Disney avoided[2]! Shull went on to write the novel Bounce, published in 2016, which was set to be adapted into a movie by Paramount Pictures. The movie adaptation was first announced in Summer 2020 with Nickelodeon star Jojo Siwa cast as the lead. However, by 2022, the movie had apparently been removed from Paramount Pictures’ upcoming film listings[3].
Shari Simpson and Charlie Shahnaian were tasked with adapting Shull’s novel into the Disney Channel movie. Simpson is both a screenwriter, co-writer of the movie Sweet Sweet Summertime (2017), and an author, having written Sam Saves The Night and Sam Lights The Dark, part of the Sleepwakers series of books, published in 2019 and 2020 respectively, as well as being the author of the more recent 2023 Sugar Rush Racers series, based on the Sugar Rush racers in Disney Animation’s Wreck-It Ralph (2012). Charlie Shahnaian later collaborated with Simpson after The Swap, along with Pamela Wallace, to write Color My World with Love (2022), having also co-written The Redemption of Henry Myers (2014) prior to The Swap’s release date.
The Swap was directed by Jay Karas. Karas had previously directed episodes of DisneyXD’s Kirby Buckets (2014-17), which starred Jacob Bertrand, prior to directing The Swap. He went on to direct episodes of comedy series such as the US adaptation of Ghosts (2021-present) and Abbott Elementary (2021-present). Karas also directed the movie Break Point in 2014[4]. The Swap was seemingly a co-production with MarVista Entertainment.
Disney’s The Swap was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada throughout Spring 2016. One specific filming location for The Swap was Erindale Park in Mississauga. I believe the park can be seen in two parts of the movie: the bridge where Ellie and Jack talk on the night of their respective parties, and again near the end of the movie, with the park being the location where Ellie and Jack finally swap back.
Since ice hockey and rhythmic gymnastics are key aspects of Jack and Ellie’s lives, it’s important that Jacob Bertrand and Peyton List looked like natural athletes in The Swap. List had intensive training to learn to do rhythmic gymnastics and found it a fun experience. Bertrand couldn’t even ice skate, let alone play hockey, before the movie, so he was given a two-week crash course in ice skating and then taught how to play hockey, although he did also have a stunt double to help him. Bertrand said that most of the actors who play hockey in The Swap – apart from Darrin Rose who played Coach Malloy – couldn’t actually skate before filming[5].
Another important part of The Swap is the body swap between Jack and Ellie, with List and Bertrand having to learn how to be like the other person for the majority of the film. This required them to do some research on each other, looking at their posture, for example, with List being quite elegant and Bertrand slouchier; their speech, with Bertrand learning that boys speak more staccato than girls; and learning each other’s mannerisms[6].
RECEPTION
Despite The Swap not being remotely scary or even spooky, it premiered on Disney Channel on 7th October 2016, as part of Disney Channel’s “Monstober” event for the Halloween season. Strange choice. Why didn’t they just wait until after Halloween to release it?
Anyway, The Swap was reportedly viewed by just over 2.5 million viewers on its premiere date, although it was said to have reached 7.2 million total viewers by the time figures from both the premiere and “encores” from its first weekend were combined[7].
In terms of reviews, The Swap was seen to be funny and appealing for a young audience, without being too cheesy. It was also appreciated that the film attempted to tackle deep family issues, like divorce and grief. Peyton List and Jacob Bertrand were praised for their performances as Ellie and Jack – as was James Godfrey as Porter – making the audience genuinely care about their characters. The lack of romantic interest between the two lead characters was a different direction for Disney Channel as well.
On the other hand, some said that The Swap was nowhere near as good as Freaky Friday, specifically the 2003 version, and found it too similar in concept, making it a predictable story. There were further mixed reviews relating to the opposite gender swap and the jokes made about it in the script. Some found these to be very awkward whereas others liked the clear but not too obvious references to consent and the objectification of women.
For me, The Swap was a familiar storyline, granted, but I enjoyed it for that reason, because it was easy to follow and concentrate on as a form of light entertainment. I also thought that the acting in The Swap was above average in terms of Disney Channel Original Movies – not to be mean to other actors who have starred in these sorts of films – and I liked that the movie was quite profound in its messaging.
LEGACY
The story of Freaky Friday has been adapted so many times, with other “body swap” movies such as She’s the Man (2006) and It’s a Boy Girl Thing (2006) following the same type of plot. The 2003 Freaky Friday even got its own sequel, this being Freakier Friday, released in August 2025.
However, The Swap did not ever get a sequel, likely because its viewing figures were simply not high enough. It is worth noting that, although 2.5 million doesn’t sound like a lot – and it probably isn’t – DCOMs had been struggling to match the viewing figures of the 2000s since the mid-2010s, with the Descendants franchise being the only exception.
There was also no sequel novel from author Megan Shull, although a possible storyline could’ve revolved around the potential romance between Ellie’s mum and Jack’s dad, which is mentioned at the end of the movie. This means a sequel movie to The Swap from Disney Channel was made even less likely.
Another reason for there not being a sequel movie could be that Peyton List and Jacob Bertrand both left Disney Channel productions shortly after The Swap, with Bertrand’s DisneyXD series ending in 2017, and List leaving Bunk’d in 2018 to pursue other projects away from the company.
But if you wanted something more to come out of The Swap, you can always watch Cobra Kai which List and Bertrand both feature in.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The DCOMs you watched in childhood tend to be the ones that stick with you the most.
Is it the nostalgia that does that, or is it that DCOMs were genuinely better when you were younger? This is a topic open for debate, with everyone having a different favourite DCOM. I watched the most DCOMs in the 2000s and early 2010s, so generally, my favourite Disney Channel movies come from that era.
However, that doesn’t mean I’m not open to liking more recent ones, and that is exactly why I randomly watched multiple DCOMs over the summer months one year, finding a re-run of The Swap in the process. It was funny, it was sweet, it was moving, and it was led by two talented, likeable Disney actors. The Swap surprised me, and I would count it as one of my favourite DCOMs, despite it not being one from my childhood.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Patrick Hipes, ‘Disney Channel Original Movie ‘The Swap’ Set As Network Plans 100-Pic Celebration’, Deadline.com, 20th April 2016.
[2] Credit: Michelle I. Mason, ‘MMGM: THE SWAP by Megan Shull’, MichelleIMason.com, 6th February 2017.
[3] Credit: Matt Donnelly, ‘Jojo Siwa Exits Will Smith-Backed YA Movie ‘Bounce’, Paramount Players No Longer Involved’, Variety.com, 6th April 2022.
[4] Credit: Original Pictures Inc., ‘The Swap’, OriginalPicturesInc.com, date unknown.
[5] Credit: Shine on Media, ‘THE SWAP Interview w/ Jacob Bertrand I Interview’, Shine On Media YouTube Channel, 8th October 2016.
[6] Credit: Young Hollywood, ‘Peyton List & Jacob Bertrand Switch Places in THE SWAP’, Young Hollywood YouTube Channel, 6th October 2016.
[7] Credit: Caryn Robbins, ‘Premiere of Disney Channel’s Original Movie THE SWAP is Ratings Hit in Key Youth Demos’, BroadwayWorld.com, 13th October 2016.
The Disney Purist 