Wizards of Waverly Place: Beginningly

Premise

Set on Waverly Place in Manhattan, New York's Greenwich Village neighborhood, Wizards of Waverly Place centers on the Italian-Mexican Russo family, which includes Alex (Selena Gomez), her older brother Justin (David Henrie), and their younger brother Max (Jake T. Austin). The three Russo siblings are wizards in training and live with their Italian-American father Jerry (David DeLuise), a former wizard, and theirMexican-American mother, Theresa (Maria Canals Barrera) who is a mortal. Alex's best friend Harper (Jennifer Stone) also found out about the Russos' wizard powers in Season 2 in the episode "Harper Knows". Bailie Madison will also star as Maxine, a ten year old wizard in the fourth season. The siblings have to keep their secret safe while living in the mortal world. When they all complete their wizard training, the three siblings will have a wizard competition to decide who will become the family wizard of their generation and keep their powers forever while the other will lose theirs and become mortal. Because of this, Jerry is always trying to get the kids not to rely on magic, because they might not have it someday. The magical world tends to be very eccentric and surreal. They also learn that keeping a very big secret can be hard sometimes.

[edit]Production

The series was created and as executive 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 is filmed at Hollywood Center Studios in Hollywood, California.

[edit]Opening sequence

In the first three seasons, the same opening sequence is used. It shows the six main characters in the morning with Alex, Justin, Max, and Harper getting ready to go to school.

[edit]Episodes

Main article: List of Wizards of Waverly Place episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
Season		Episodes	Season premiere	Season finale
	1	21	October 12, 2007	August 31, 2008
	2	30	September 12, 2008	August 21, 2009
	Film		August 28, 2009
	3	28	October 9, 2009	October 15, 2010
	4	TBA	November 12, 2010^[7]	TBA

[edit]Films

[edit]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, Los Angeles, and New York City from February 16 to March 27, 2009.^[8] The movie received 13.6 million viewers on its premiere,^[9] making it the second-most-viewed DCOM premiere in the US after High School Musical 2. It was also one of the top scripted telecasts in 2009.^[10] It won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2010 for "Outstanding Children's Program".

[edit]Wizards of Waverly Place 2: Film sequel

The film's working title is Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie 2. Development was announced June 2, 2010 by Disney.^[6] This has also been confirmed by an interview with Selena Gomez. Its plot will be centered around Alex, Justin, Max, and Harper getting caught in a different universe, and the only way out is if they give their wizard powers away. During this adventure, the three wizard siblings will also discover a secret about Harper. Dan Berendsen will return as script writer for the film.^[11]

[edit]Cast

[edit]Main

[edit]Major recurring

Dan Benson as Zachary Ezekiel "Zeke" Rosenblatt Beakerman^[12] (season 1 - present)
Bridgit Mendler as Juliet Van Heusen (season 2 - present)
Bill Chott as Mr. Herschel Laritate (season 1 - present)
Gregg Sulkin as Mason Greyback (season 3 - present)

[edit]Recurring

Josh Sussman as Hugh Normous (season 1-2)
Daniel Samonas as Dean Moriarty (season 2-3)
Fred Willard as Mr. Stuffleby (seasons 2-3)
Moises Arias as Conscience (season 3)
Daryl Sabara as T.J. Taylor (season 1-2)
Andy Pessoa as Alfred (season 2)
Lucy Hale as Miranda Hampson (season 1)
Skyler Samuels as Gertrude "Gigi" Hollingsworth (season 1-2)
Paulie Litt as Frankie/Joey (seasons 1 and 3)
Chad Duell as Ronald Longcape Jr. (season 2)
Maurice Godin as Ronald Longcape Sr. (season 2)
Andy Kindler as Chancellor Rudy Tootietooie (season 3)
Octavia Spencer as Dr. Evilini (season 1)
J. Evan Bonifant as Jerko Phoenix (season 1)
Jeff Garlin as Uncle Kelbo (season 1-4)
Ian Abercrombie as Professor Crumbs (season 1-4)
Bella Thorne as Nancy Lukey (season 3)
Gilland Jones as Jenny Majorheely (season 2-3)

Season casts

Season one (L-R): David Henrie as Justin Russo, David DeLuise as Jerry Russo, Selena Gomez as Alex Russo, Maria Canals Barrera as Theresa Russo and Jake T. Austin as Max Russo. Absent: Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle

Season two (L-R): David Henrie as Justin Russo, Jake T. Austin as Max Russo, Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle, Selena Gomez as Alex Russo, David DeLuise as Jerry Russo and Maria Canals Barrera as Theresa Russo.

Season three (L-R): David DeLuise as Jerry Russo, Maria Canals Barrera as Theresa Russo, David Henrie as Justin Russo, Selena Gomez as Alex Russo, Jake T. Austin as Max Russo, and Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle..

[edit]Merchandise

[edit]Soundtrack

Main article: Wizards of Waverly Place (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.^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16] The album includes songs from and inspired by the TV series and Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie.^[16]^[17]

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."^[15]

[edit]Video game

Main article: Wizards of Waverly Place (video game)

A video game based on the series was released in August 2009.^[18]^[19]

[edit]DVD releases

Name	Episodes	Region 1	Region 2	DVD extras
Wizards of Waverly Place: Wizard School	Wizard School Part 1, Wizard School Part 2, Curb Your Dragon, Disenchanted Evening	July 29, 2008^[20]	TBA	Work It Like a Wizard - Selena, Jake and David's favorite things to do.
Wizards of Waverly Place: Supernaturally Stylin'	Credit Check, Smarty Pants, Beware Wolf, Graphic Novel	February 10, 2009^[21]	TBA	Fashionista Presto Chango! - Go behind the scenes with the stars for some wardrobe magic!
Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana	Cast-Away (To Another Show) (Wizards), "Double Crossed" (Suite Life), "Super(stitious) Girl" (Hannah Montana)	September 22, 2009^[22]	TBA	Justin's Award Winning Essay - It's A Suite Life Having Fun With Hannah & The Wizards

The show's complete first season was released on September 10, 2009 in Germany, on October 1, 2009 in Spain,^[23] on March 3, 2010 in France^[24] and on March 12, 2010 in Poland.^[25] The first season of the show was released in volumes in the UK and Brazil on October 5, 2009.^[26]

[edit]Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Outcome
2008	Alma Award^[27]	"Outstanding Male Performance in a Comedy Television Series"	Jake T. Austin	Nominated
	Alma Award^[27]	"Outstanding Female Performance in a Comedy Television Series"	Selena Gomez
	Imagen Award^[28]	"Best Actress - Television"
2009	Image Award^[29]	"Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Program - Series or Special"
	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards^[30]	"Favorite TV Actress"		Won
	Young Artist Award^[31]	"Best Performance in a TV Series - Leading Young Actress"		Nominated
	Primetime Emmy^[32]	"Outstanding Children's Program"	Cast	Won
	Alma Award^[33]	"Special Achievement Comedy - Television - Actress"	Selena Gomez	Won
	Alma Award^[33]	"Special Achievement Comedy - Television - Actress"	Maria Canals Barrera	Nominated
	Imagen Award^[34]	"Best Actress - Television"	Selena Gomez
2010	Image Award^[35]	"Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Program - Series or Special"	Selena Gomez
	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards^[36]	"Favorite TV Show"	Cast
	Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards^[36]	"Favorite TV Actress"	Selena Gomez	Won
	Teen Choice Awards^[37]	"Choice TV Actress: Comedy"	Selena Gomez	Won
		"Choice TV Show: Comedy"	Cast	Nominated
		"Choice TV Star: Summer	David Henrie
	Primetime Emmy^[38]	"Outstanding Children's Program"	Cast
	Primetime Emmy^[38]	"Outstanding Children's Program" (for Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie)	Cast	Won
	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards^[39]	"Fave TV Show"	Cast	Won
	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards^[39]	"Fave TV Star"	Selena Gomez	Won

[edit]Release

The show debuted on Disney Channel on October 12, 2007 after the premiere of Twitches Too, gathering 5.9 million viewers.^[40] In February 2009, the episode "Helping Hand" broke the record for the largest audience in the 7:00 PM (Eastern Time) time period on the Disney Channel, with a total of 4.5 million viewers.^[41] In January 2010, "Wizards vs. Werewolves" one-hour special episode became the series' most-watched episode with 6.2 million viewers,^[42] surpassing the 6 million viewers of "Paint By Committee" episode^[43] 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.)^[44]

[edit]International release

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2010)

Country/Region	Network(s)	Series premiere	Series Title in Country
Turkey	Digiturk^[45]	October 24, 2007	Waverly Büyücüleri
Turkey	Disney Channel Turkey^[46]	October 12, 2007	Wizards of Waverly Place
United States	Disney Channel^[47]
Pakistan	Disney Channel
Australia	Disney Channel^[48]	October 19, 2007
Australia	Seven Network	October 4, 2008
New Zealand	Disney Channel New Zealand^[48]	October 19, 2007
New Zealand	TV3
United Kingdom	Disney Channel UK & Ireland^[49]	November 4, 2007
Ireland	Disney Channel UK & Irelandand TRTÉ^[50]	November 3, 2007
Canada (English)	Family^[51]	October 26, 2007
India	Disney Channel India^[52]	May 5, 2008
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
Malaysia	Disney Channel Malaysia^[53] (Airs in Malay(penyihir tempat Waverly) and English Language)	March 9, 2008
Arab World	Disney Channel Middle East^[54] (Airing with Arabic subtitles)	February 29, 2008
The Netherlands	Disney Channel (Netherlands & Belgium)^[55]	October 3, 2009
Belgium	Disney Channel (Netherlands & Belgium)^[55]	November 1, 2009
Hong Kong	Disney Channel Asia^[54] (Airing the show with Indonesian, Malay and Chinese Subtitles) (Dubbed in Hong Kong, Thailand, and South Korea, Vietnam)	March 9, 2008
Indonesia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
South Korea			우리가족마법사
Vietnam			Những phù thủy xứ Waverly
South Africa	Disney Channel South Africa (airs in English)
Canada (French)	VRAK.TV^[56]	August 24, 2009	Les Sorciers de Waverly Place
France	Disney Channel France^[57]	January 22, 2008
France	NRJ12^[58]	August 31, 2009
Israel	Disney Channel Israel^[59]	June 2008	המכשפים מווברלי פלייס
Bulgaria	BNT 1	March 28, 2009	Магьосниците от Уейвърли Плейс
Bulgaria	Disney Channel Bulgaria	September 19, 2009	Магьосниците от Уейвърли Плейс
Greece	Disney Channel Greece	November 7, 2009	Οι Μάγοι του Γουέβερλυ
Greece	ERT^[60]	January 5, 2010	Οι Μάγοι του Γουέβερλυ
Italy	Disney Channel Italy^[55]	January 26, 2008	I Maghi Di Waverly
Italy	Italia 1^[61]	January 12, 2010	I Maghi Di Waverly
Poland	Disney Channel Poland	February 29, 2008	Czarodzieje z Waverly Place
Poland	TVP 1	September 12, 2010	Czarodzieje z Waverly Place
Finland	Disney Channel Scandinavia^[62]	February 29, 2008	Waverly Placen velhot
Denmark^[63]			Magi på Waverly Place
Sweden^[64]			Magi på Waverly Place
Norway^[65]			Magikerne på Waverly Place
Germany	Disney Channel Germany^[66]	March 8, 2008	Die Zauberer vom Waverly Place
Germany	Super RTL^[67]	September 1, 2008
Switzerland	SF Zwei^[68]	April 11, 2009
Austria	ORF 1^[69]	June 20, 2009
Spain	Disney Channel Spain^[70]	January 18, 2008	Los Magos de Waverly Place
Spain	Antena 3^[71]		Los Magos de Waverly Place
Portugal	Disney Channel Portugal^[72]		Os Feiticeiros de Waverly Place
Portugal	SIC^[73]
Brazil	Disney Channel Brazil^[74]	March 23, 2008 (Advance) April 11, 2008 (Premiere)
Brazil	Disney Channel Latin America^[75]
Dominican Republic		March 23, 2008 (Advance) April 14, 2008 (Premiere)	Los Hechiceros de Waverly Place
Argentina
Bolivia
Colombia
Ecuador
Haiti
Mexico
Panama
Peru
Paraguay
Uruguay
Venezuela
Taiwan	Disney Channel Taiwan^[76]	March 28, 2008	《少年魔法師》
Japan	Disney Channel Japan^[77]	April 18, 2008	ウェイバリー通りのウィザードたち
Albania	Digitalb^[78]	July, 2009	Magjistaret e sheshit Uejverli
Chile	Disney Channel Latin America	March 23, 2008 (Advance) April 14, 2008 (Premiere)	Los Hechiceros de Waverly Place'
Chile	Canal 13 (Chile)	March 6, 2010	Los Hechiceros de Waverly Place'
Romania	Disney Channel Romania^[79]	September 19, 2009	Magicienii Din Waverly Place
Czech Republic	Disney Channel (Central and Eastern Europe)^[80]^[81]^[82]	February 2009	Kouzelníci z Waverly
Slovakia			Kouzelníci z Waverly
Hungary			Varázslók a Waverly helyből
Russia	СТС	November 2, 2009	Волшебники из Вэйверли Плэйс
Russia	Disney Channel (Russia)	August 11, 2010	Волшебники из Вэйверли Плэйс
Serbia	Radio Television of Serbia^[83]	June 27, 2010	Чаробњаци са Вејверли плејса
Serbia	Disney Channel Serbia^[84]	June 27, 2010	Чаробњаци са Вејверли плејса
Slovenia	Kanal A	August 1, 2010	Čarovniki s trga Waverly