Disney TV Series Morphs Into Full-Length Film

The hit Disney TV series "The Wizards of Waverly Place" has been lengthened into a film. Manhattan's magical wizard siblings, Alex, Justin and Max Russo accompany their parents on a Caribbean vacation where Alex's inadvertent magic spell makes it so her parents have never met. Alex Russo is portrayed by Selena Gomez, the superstar principle of the series who also stars in the film.

"I can speak for the whole cast when I say that it just takes our characters to a whole new level," says Gomez. "And you get to see a sweeter side to my character. She's very sassy, of course, and in the beginning she's very frustrated with her parents because she wants to have freedom. But towards the end she's very happy because she has her family and she doesn't know what she would do without them." David Henrie also recreates his series role for the film.

"A lot of things are not resolved but understood on a more dramatic level than on the TV show," says Henrie. Jake Austin learned some acting chops while making the full-length feature. "When you watch a movie you can tell when an actor is over the top or when an actor is just right, when you say, 'wow, I felt like I was there'. That's when the actor was doing good and that's what we try to do in movies where you try to not go over the top and try to make it as realistic as possible."

Maria Canals-Barrera, who plays the mother in the TV series, also brightens up the film version. She learned from the movie what to expect from her own children. "What it does is it gives me a little hint into the future, because my kids are little, ages six and four," says Canals-Barrera. "So I'm raising teenagers on the show and it gives me like 'pretend practice,' so I can deal with teenage problems: love, boys, rebellion."

Coming up the last week in August, there is going to be the favorites of each of the stars playing each and every day up until the movie's premiere on August 28.