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26 Years Ago Today, Tyra Banks Starred in One of Disney's Most Unexpected Cult Classics
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26 Years Ago Today, Tyra Banks Starred in One of Disney's Most Unexpected Cult Classics

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Tyra Banks is everywhere in the cultural conversation right now. Netflix’sReality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model pulled 14.2 million viewers in its first week after dropping in February, becoming the streamer’s most-watched show and reigniting debate about the competition series Banks created in 2003. But long before she coined the term “smize” and told aspiring models to smile with their eyes, the supermodel took on a very different kind of role. And exactly 26 years ago today, it became one of Disney’s most beloved cult classics.

On March 5, 2000, ABC’s The Wonderful World of Disney aired the made-for-TV film Life-Size. The movie follows Casey, a young girl played by Lindsay Lohan fresh off The Parent Trap, who attempts a spell to resurrect her late mother. The magic goes sideways. Instead of bringing back her mom, it accidentally brings her fashion doll, Eve, to life. Banks plays Eve, the cheerful and hopelessly curious doll suddenly trying to navigate the real world as a full-sized human being.

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It was Banks’ first major starring role. She’d done guest spots on shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but Life-Size was the first time she carried an entire project. And the performance proved she could do far more than walk a runway. Her portrayal of Eve leaned into physical comedy and exaggerated innocence, from typing gibberish at a desk to appear productive, to eating entire sticks of butter at a restaurant without flinching. 

Despite being a TV movie, Life-Size steadily built a loyal following. For an entire generation of kids who grew up in the early 2000s, it was a sleepover staple and a defining piece of Disney Channel-era nostalgia. Fans have long called it “the first live-action Barbie movie” because of the obvious parallels between Eve and the iconic doll, even though Disney never had the rights to the official character.

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The film’s message also resonated with young viewers in a way that holds up. Through Eve’s influence, Lohan’s character Casey learns that she can play football and enjoy feeling pretty if she wants to. Strength and femininity aren’t presented as opposites, which felt genuinely refreshing for a children’s movie in 2000.

For years, though, Life-Size was nearly impossible to rewatch. It was never available on any digital platform for purchase or rental. That finally changed in late 2025 when Disney+ added the film with a new HD widescreen remaster on November 7. 

A sequel, Life-Size 2: A Christmas Eve, aired on Freeform in 2018 with Banks returning as Eve. Lindsay Lohan didn’t appear due to scheduling conflicts with her MTV reality series Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club, but the two reunited in August 2025 at the premiere of Lohan’s Disney sequel Freakier Friday as fans celebrated the original film’s 25th anniversary.

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