Tiger Cruise

Tiger Cruise
Promotional poster
Written by	Anna Sandor Bruce Graham
Directed by	Duwayne Dunham
Starring	Hayden Panettiere Bill Pullman Mehcad Brooks Troy Evans Jennette McCurdy
Theme music composer	Steve Bramson
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Bill Borden Barry Rosenbush
Running time	88 min.
Distributor	Stu Segall Productions Disney–ABC Domestic Television
Release
Original network	Disney Channel
Original release	August 6, 2004

Tiger Cruise (released August 6, 2004) is the 54th Disney Channel Original Movie. It stars Hayden Panettiere and Bill Pullman. The film's fictional events are intertwined with the real-life events of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

This is one of only two films to date in which both Panettiere and her real-life younger brother Jansen appear, the other being The Forger. (Both were also involved with Racing Stripes – Hayden was the human star and Jansen's voice was used for the young zebra, Stripes, at the beginning of the film.)

Maddie Dolan, a teenager from San Diego, wants to convince her father Gary Dolan, a U.S. Navy Commander, to give up his career and come home. Maddie accepts her father's offer to participate in Operation Tiger, a week-long cruise for military families and their friends aboard his aircraft carrier. She meets two other teenagers boarding the Tiger cruise, Tina and Anthony. Tina is fascinated by military life; her older sister Grace is a United States Naval Aviator. Anthony, whose older brother Kenny is a sailor, is a drummer who prefers to have nothing to do with military life.

On September 10, 2001, one day into the cruise, Maddie and Tina are excited about the day's upcoming air show. When Grace hears that the girls want to be on the flight deck taking pictures of her jet taking off, she refuses, telling them that the flight deck is a restricted area due to safety regulations and they can watch the airshow only from Vulture's Row. The three teenagers, disguised as members of the deck crew, take pictures of Grace's jet taking off from the flight deck. The instructor recognizes them as civilians and orders the airmen and sailors to capture them. In Captain Anderson's office, he reprimands the teenagers for their reckless actions and he gives a warning; if any of them violate any further regulations, they will be restricted to their quarters until the carrier lands. The incident leaves the teenagers' families disappointed.