The Disney Plus Reboot of 'Cheaper by the Dozen' Is Based on a True Story... Kind Of
Published March 18 2022, 8:04 p.m. ET
Christian Cote as Bailey, Gabrielle Union as Zoey Baker, and Sebastian Cote as Bronx
It's safe to say that Disney Plus is on a roll with the reboots in 2022. Along with the premiere of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, the network also announced news that franchises like Ice Age and Avatar would be returning to a small screen near you.
The latest to join the lineup of revamps is the 2022 Disney Plus original film Cheaper by the Dozen, which premiered on the platform on March 18. Inspired by the semi-autobiographical novel by the same name, the movie follows Paul and Zoe Baker as they navigate modern-day parenting while managing the family business.
However, the Bakers are much different than the Gilbreths, the real family that Cheaper by the Dozen is based on.
The Gilbreth family
'Cheaper by the Dozen' is based on the true story of the Gilbreth family.
Cheaper by the Dozen, a book loosely based on the lives of siblings Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, was first released in 1948. The sequel, Belles on Their Toes, was released two years later.
Their parents — Frank Sr. and Lillian Gilbreth — first met in 1903 and welcomed a total of 12 children during their lifetime. And they did it all while managing their careers as time and motion study experts. The couple was married for two decades before tragedy struck the family.
The day before Ernestine’s high school graduation, her father suffered a fatal heart attack. Lillian never remarried and ultimately died of a stroke in 1972 at the age of 93.
Frank and Ernestine’s book later inspired the 1950 film of the same name. Decades later, their legacy lives on by way of the Cheaper by the Dozen franchise. Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt starred in the 2003 remake and its sequel, Cheaper by the Dozen 2. But who stars in the 2022 Disney Plus reboot? Meet the cast!
Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff
Meet the cast of the 2022 Disney Plus original movie 'Cheaper by the Dozen.'
Among the star-studded cast of characters in Cheaper by the Dozen are more than a few familiar faces. Along with Scrubs lead Zach Braff and Being Mary Jane's Gabrielle Union, who star as Paul and Zoe, Parenthood's Erika Christensen stars as Paul’s ex and the mother of his eldest children.
The film also features a new generation of talent, including Mykal-Michelle Harris (Mixed-ish), Leo Abelo Perry (The Big Leap), and Kylie Rogers (Yellowstone).
Unlike the Gilbreths, the Bakers are a blended family who face all the challenges that come along with raising a multiracial brood. In an interview with Slash Film, Gabrielle, who's also an executive producer on the movie, opened up about why diversity and inclusion were so important in the 2022 reboot.
Kylie Rogers, Luke Prael, Caylee Blosenski, Sebastian Cote, Gabrielle Union, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Christian Cote, Aryan Simhadri, Andre Robinson, Journee Brown, Leo Abelo Perry, and Zach Braff
“The families that we choose to allow on television and in films and who gets to be celebrated and represented has changed,” she said. “So, I wanted to make sure that we brought the most blended family that you could imagine, blended in every way, shape, and form.”
Cheaper by the Dozen is now available for streaming on Disney Plus.