“We definitely wanted to set up a relatable scenario, like wanting to be popular,” Greenwald told IBT. That relatability was what the creator aimed to show fans, but with magic and humor surrounding it to “send it to the next level” and bring it all together. Magic was always clearly meant to be the overarching theme of the series, but when it came down to it, the show was about family, friends and growing up.
Harper doesn’t know, there’s this crazy sale, a kid wants to be popular, and then Gigi is there and we establish they've been rivals since kindergarten.” “So, this was pretty much establishing the secret, establishing them at school. “We approached the story like just a regular teenage girl story and then the magic gives you that little bit extra twist,” Greenwald told International Business Times in a lengthy interview in honor of the show’s 10th anniversary.
It all started with Greenwald and with the show’s pilot episode in 2007, “Crazy Ten Minute Sale.” But how did he figure out exactly how to start the series so that it would set it up as the successful show it would go on to become? And what happens to the characters that are introduced in the pilot, like Gigi (Skyler Samuels) and her minions, that only are there for a few episodes before disappearing? Austin (Max) to land his starring role on Freeform’s “The Fosters.” This hit series catapulted Selena Gomez, who starred as teenage wizard Alex, into the spotlight, gave David Henrie (Justin) his own show after years as a side character on “That’s So Raven” and was the jumping off point for Jake T. All of that happened thanks to the show’s creator, Todd Greenwald, who developed the series and put it together for Disney Channel.
12, 2007 to its most recent movie in March 2013. The show lasted for four seasons, had multiple movies and a slew of guest stars over the course of its run from Oct. It’s been almost 10 years to the day that Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place” premiered and introduced the world to a new take on the teenage magic theme.