Cheaper by the Dozen is a 2003 American family comedy film about a family with twelve children. The film takes its title from the biography of the same name by Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, but other than the title and the concept of a family with twelve children, the film bears no resemblance to the book nor its original film adaption, although it is mentioned that the mother's maiden name is Gilbreth. The film was directed by Shawn Levy, narrated by Bonnie Hunt, and starring Steve Martin. The film was released on Christmas Day 2003 by 20th Century Fox.

Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt) narrates her story about her large family: her husband Tom (Steve Martin) is a football coach at a small rural college, Kate is hoping to publish her book about parenting, and while Tom and Kate manage to handle their twelve children, eleven of which live at home. When Tom unexpectedly receives an offer from his old friend, Shake McGuire (Richard Jenkins) to coach at his alma mater, the Bakers moved to Evanston, Illinois for a better home and space despite the protests of their younger children. The family's second child, Charlie (Tom Welling), refuses to leave his girlfriend, Beth (Tiffany Dupont), and the others simply don't want to leave their friends and home. The atmosphere at the Bakers' new house, which is absolutely huge, is tense, and the situation at school is even worse. The younger children are, in general, harassed at school. Charlie is taunted for being a "country boy", while the family's sixth and seventh children, Jake and Mark (Jacob Smith and Forrest Landis) are consistently antagonized by a bully named Quinn (Cody Linley), and the Bakers' new neighbours, Tina and Bill Shenk (Paula Marshall and Alan Ruck) are very over-protective of their only son, Dylan (Steven Anthony Lawrence) and does not want him to play with the younger kids.

Cheaper by the Dozen is a biographical book written by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey that tells the story of time and motion study and efficiency experts Frank Bunker Gilbreth and Lillian Moller Gilbreth, and their twelve children. The book focuses on the many years the family resided in Montclair, New Jersey. It was adapted to film by Twentieth Century Fox in 1950.

The title comes from one of Frank Sr.'s favorite jokes: it often happened that when he and his family were out driving and stopped at a red light, a pedestrian would ask, "Hey, Mister! How come you got so many kids?" Gilbreth would pretend to ponder the question carefully, and then, just as the light turned green, would say, "Well, they come cheaper by the dozen, you know," and drive off.

In real life, the Gilbreths' second eldest child, Mary, died of diphtheria at age five. The book does not explicitly explain the absence of Mary Gilbreth; it was not until the sequel, Belles on Their Toes, was published that her death is mentioned in a footnote.

Taylor Daniel Lautner (pronounced /ˈlaʊtnər/, LOWT-ner; born February 11, 1992) is an American actor, voice actor, model, and martial artist. As a child, Lautner took up martial arts at Fabiano's Karate in Holland, Michigan and was ranked number one in his category by the American Sports Karate Association. Lautner soon thereafter began his acting career, appearing in bit roles in comedy series such as The Bernie Mac Show (2003) and My Wife and Kids (2004), before having voice roles in television series like What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2005) and Danny Phantom (2005). In 2005, he appeared in the film Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and starred in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D.

Lautner is best known for playing Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga film series based on the novels of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. He also starred in the action film, Abduction, which became a sleeper hit.

The late 2000s saw Lautner become a teen idol and rise as a sex symbol, after extensively changing his physique to keep the role of Jacob Black in further Twilight installments, and thereafter generating media attention for his looks. In 2010, he was ranked second on Glamour's "The 50 Sexiest Men of 2010" list, and fourth on People's "Most Amazing Bodies" list. Also in the same year, Lautner was named the highest-paid teenage actor in Hollywood.

Alyson Rae Stoner (born August 11, 1993) is an American actress, dancer and singer. Stoner is known for her roles in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (as Max), Cheaper by the Dozen and Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (as Sarah Baker), Step Up and Step Up 3 (as Camille Gage), and Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 (as Caitlyn Gellar). She has been a background dancer for several artists, such as Missy Elliott, Eminem, Outkast and Will Smith. She is also best known as Sally from Mike's Super Short Show that ran from 2003-2006, as well as the voice of Isabella in the Disney Channel series Phineas and Ferb.

Stoner was born in Toledo, Ohio, the daughter of LuAnne Hodges (née Adams), a former executive secretary at Owens-Illinois, and Charlie Stoner. While growing up in Toledo, Stoner attended Maumee Valley Country Day School and studied ballet, tap dance, and jazz dance at the O'Connell's Dance Studio. She also modeled and trained at the Margaret O'Brien Modeling Studio. She won Best Model of the Year at the International Modeling and Talent Association (IMTA) Convention in New York City with Ms. O'Brien's studio in 2000, and she won many awards in acting and dance.