Wizards of Waverly Place is an Emmy Award-winning live-action Disney Channel Original Series which premiered on October 12, 2007 on Disney Channel. The series was created by Todd J. Greenwald, and stars Selena Gomez, David Henrie and Jake T. Austin as three siblings with magical abilities. The series began filming in July 2009 in High Definition for its third season.

Premise

Wizards of Waverly Place centers on the Russo family, which includes Alex (Selena Gomez), her younger brother Max (Jake T. Austin), and their older brother Justin (David Henrie); Alex's best friend Harper (Jennifer Stone) is also part of the storyline. The three Russo siblings are wizards and live with their Italian-American father Jerry (David DeLuise), a former wizard, and their Mexican-American mother, Theresa (Maria Canals Barrera) who is a mortal. The siblings have to keep their secret safe.

The children are not allowed to use magic without supervision, and only one of the three will keep their magic abilities once they are adults; this will be determined by a magic competition.

Characters

Main cast

• Selena Gomez - Alex Russo: a wizard in training, the middle child and only daughter in the Russo family
• David Henrie - Justin Russo: a wizard in training, the oldest child in the Russo family
• Jake T. Austin - Max Russo: a wizard in training, the youngest child in the Russo family
• David DeLuise - Jerry Russo: Justin, Alex, and Max's father and former wizard, who teaches his children about magic
• Maria Canals-Barrera - Theresa Russo: Jerry's wife and Justin, Alex, and Max's mother. She isn't a wizard, but knows about the magical world and power of her children.
• Jennifer Stone - Harper Finkle: Alex's best friend who becomes aware of the Russo's wizard powers after Alex tells her in the second season. She moves in with the Russo family in the third season.

Episodes

Seasons	Episodes	First Air Date	Last Air Date
1	21	October 12, 2007	August 31, 2008
2	30	September 12, 2008	August 21, 2009
3	35	October 9, 2009

Film

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. The movie received 11.4 million viewers on its premiere, making it Disney Channel's second top rated movie.

Merchandise

Merchandise based on the series will be released in fall 2009. A video game and a soundtrack based on the series were released in August 2009.

DVD releases

Name	Included Episodes	US Release Date	UK Release Date	DVD Extras
Wizards of Waverly Place: Wizard School	Wizard School Part 1, Wizard School Part 2, Curb Your Dragon, Disenchanted Evening	July 29, 2008	TBC	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	TBC	Fashionista Presto Chango! - Go behind the scenes with the stars for some wardrobe magic!

The show's complete first season was released on September 10, 2009 in Germany. The first season of the show was released in volumes in the UK on October 5, 2009.

Awards

• Primetime Emmys 2009 - Outstanding Children's Program (Winner)
• Selena Gomez was nominated for "Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children's Program - Series or Special" at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards
• Selena Gomez won "Favorite TV Actress" of the 2009 Kids' Choice Awards.
• Selena Gomez was nominated for "Outstanding Female Performance in a Comedy Television Series" for the 2008 ALMA Awards.
• Jake T. Austin was nominated for "Outstanding Male Performance in a Comedy Television Series" for the 2008 ALMA Awards.
• Selena Gomez was nominated for "Best Actress - Television" at the 2008 Imagen Awards
• Selena Gomez is nominated for 'Best Actress - Television' at the 2009 Imagen Awards.
• Selena Gomez won 'Special Achievement Comedy - Television - Actress' at the 2009 Alma Awards
• Maria Canals Barrera was nominated for 'Special Achievement Comedy - Television - Actress' at the 2009 Alma Awards

Release

Viewer-ship

The show debuted on Disney Channel on October 12, 2007. 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. In June 2009, "Paint By Committee" became the series' most-watched episode with 6 million viewers. The episode aired after Princess Protection Program, which contributed to the episode's ratings. The show is broadcast on the following channels, in the following countries:

Region	Network(s)	Series premiere	Series Title in Country
United States	Disney Channel	October 12, 2007	Wizards of Waverly Place
Turkey	Digiturk	October 24, 2007
	Disney Channel Turkey	October 12, 2007
Pakistan	Disney Channel	October 12, 2007 US Premiere
Australia	Disney Channel Australia	October 19, 2007
	Seven Network	October 4, 2008
New Zealand	Disney Channel New Zealand	October 19, 2007
Canada	Family	October 26, 2007
United Kingdom	Five	October 4, 2009
United Kingdom	Disney Channel	November 3, 2007
Ireland
India	Disney Channel India	May 5, 2008
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
Malaysia	Disney Channel Malaysia (Airs in Malay and English Language)	March 9, 2008
Arab World	Disney Channel Middle East (Airing with Arabic subtitles)	February 29, 2008
The Netherlands	Disney Channel Netherlands (Airs dubbed or with Dutch subtitles)	October 3, 2009
Belgium Flanders	Disney Channel Flanders	November 1, 2009
Hong Kong	Disney Channel Asia (Airing the show with Indonesian, Malay and Chinese Subtitles) (Dubbed in Hong Kong, Thailand, and South Korea, Vietnam)	March 9, 2008
Indonesia
Philippines
Singapore
South Korea
Thailand
Vietnam			Những phù thủy xứ Waverly
Belgium Wallonia	Disney Channel France	January 22, 2008	Les Sorciers de Waverly Place
France
	NRJ12	August 31, 2009
Canada	VRAK.TV	August 24, 2009
Israel	Disney Channel Israel	June 2008	המכשפים מווברלי פלייס
Bulgaria	BNT 1	March 28, 2009	Магьосниците от Уейвърли Плейс
	Disney Channel Bulgaria	September 19, 2009
Italy	Disney Channel Italy	January 26, 2008	I Maghi Di Waverly
Poland	Disney Channel Poland	February 29, 2008	Czarodzieje z Waverly Place
Finland	Disney Channel Scandinavia	February 29, 2008	Waverly Placen velhot
Denmark			Magi på Waverly Place
Sweden
Norway			Magikerne på Waverly Place
Germany	Disney Channel Germany	March 8, 2008	Die Zauberer vom Waverly Place
	Super RTL	September 1, 2008
Switzerland	SF Zwei	April 11, 2009
Austria	ORF 1	June 20, 2009
Brazil	Disney Channel Latin America	March 23, 2008 (Advance) April 11, 2008 (Premiere)	Os Feiticeiros de Waverly Place
	Rede Globo	June 29, 2009
Portugal	Disney Channel Portugal	January 18, 2008
Dominican Republic	Disney Channel Latin America	March 23, 2008 (Advance) April 14, 2008 (Premiere)	Los Hechiceros de Waverly Place
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Haiti
Mexico
Peru
Paraguay
Uruguay
Venezuela
Panama
Taiwan	Disney Channel Taiwan	March 28, 2008	《少年魔法師》
Japan	Disney Channel Japan	April 18, 2008	ウェイバリー通りのウィザードたち
Spain	Disney Channel Spain	January 18, 2008	Los Magos de Waverly Place
	Antena 3
Albania	Junior	July, 2009	Magjistaret e sheshit Uejverli
Romania	Disney Channel Romania	September 19, 2009	Magicienii Din Waverly Place
Czech Republic	Jetix, Disney Channel	November 2008	Kouzelníci z Waverly
Slovakia
Hungary			Varázslók a Waverly helyről
Greece	Disney Channel Greece	November 7, 2009	ΟΙ ΜΑΓΟΙ ΤΟΥ ΓΟΥΕΒΕΡΛΥ
Russia	СТС	November 2, 2009	Волшебники из Вэйверли Плэйс

References

External links

• Official website
• Wizards of Waverly Place Wiki at Wikia