Matilda is a 1996 American fantasy comedy children's film directed and narrated by Danny DeVito. The screenplay by Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord is based on Roald Dahl's novel of the same name. The film was released by TriStar Pictures on August 2, 1996, and stars Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, and Pam Ferris.
Plot[]
The film starts with the infant Matilda being picked up from the hospital by her parents Harry and Zinnia. Harry and Zinnia neglect and mistreat her, despite their daughter being so bright and intelligent. As time passes by, Matilda learns how to take care of herself, even when left home alone. When Matilda reaches four, she discovers the local library and walks there every day to read while Harry is at work selling used cars for unfair prices, Zinnia is playing bingo, and her older brother, Michael, is at school. The local librarian, Miss Phelps, who watches her with her fascination with books, offers her a very own library card and she takes the books home. By the time Matilda is six years old, Harry finds her with the library books and takes her to question his wife about her age. Harry and Zinnia laugh at their daughter's idea of going to school as they go to sign for the packages. As Matilda leaves, feeling hurt, Zinnia begins to wonder if there is something wrong with their daughter. Michael then throws marshmallows at Matilda as she heads to her room. She hugs her doll in sadness.
When Harry announces the four cars he sold he asks for the total money he made and Matilda calculates the total profit for Harry's car selling receipt, Harry accuses Matilda of cheating and constantly punishes her. In retaliation, Matilda sneaks into her parents' bedroom and mixes Harry's hair tonic with Zinnia's hair dye which turns his hair into an unhealthy blonde, making him yell and thud as he looks at the mirror. Harry takes his kids to his workshop, where he reveals that the cars he sells are faulty with unfair prices to diddle his customers and are made with bumpers super-glued back on, filling transmission motors with sawdust and reversing speedometers. Matilda accuses him of being dishonest causing him to belittle her, so she retaliates by putting super-super-glue in his hat.
Later, Zinnia wins double bingo and a trip to Café le Riz, when Harry wears the hat, he can't take it off, Zinnia tries to pull it off for him, but only to accidentally pull the rim off, causing chaos in the restaurant which humiliates the Wormwoods, except for Matilda, who calmly eats her cake. Later, Zinnia eventually cuts the hat off Harry's head. While Harry and his family are watching Million Dollar Sticky TV Show, Matilda reads a borrowed library book Moby D--- which Harry then literately tears out the pages, calling it filth and trash, reacting to the title. When Harry tries to force her to watch with them, Matilda grows increasingly angry, and the television that Harry stole explodes.
The next day, Harry meets Agatha Trunchbull, a headmistress of a run-down school, Crunchem Hall, Harry makes a deal with Miss Trunchbull, sells a lemon car to her and he eventually enrolls Matilda there, where she befriends Lavender and Hortensia and learns of Miss Trunchbull's nature, how she used to be in the Olympics which she uses them as her harsh punishments to the students. Miss Trunchbull calls Matilda "fresh meat", and berates Amanda Thripp by her pigtails, calling her mommy a "twit", then she hammer-throws her by her pigtails into a garden patch. After the students cheer for her sliding safely in the patch and picking up flowers for Miss Honey, Miss Trunchbull told them all to be quiet and they will be all be thrown in the chokey if they don't get to class. Matilda wants to know what her teacher is like, so she asked Lavender, but Miss Trunchbull told the students to get inside the building quickly. Matilda's teacher, Miss Jennifer Honey, is a kind woman who adores her pupils and takes an immediate liking to Matilda. Miss Honey talks to Miss Trunchbull and requests that Matilda be moved up to a higher class, but Miss Trunchbull refuses. Later, Matilda becomes suspicious when the house is under surveillance by FBI agents who are parked outside. Miss Honey visits Matilda's parents and requests that they pay more attention to her, but they refuse to listen. The next day, Miss Trunchbull calls everyone to an assembly where she punishes an overweight boy named Bruce Bogtrotter for sneaking into the school kitchen and eating her chocolate cake by making him eat an entire chocolate cake with sweat and blood inside in front of the students. The students chant for Bruce to finish and Miss Trunchbull, having enough, smashes the plate on Bruce's head after he devoured the cake, making him burp, and keeps everyone for five hours after school as a detention, copying from the dictionary, with anyone objecting going straight to the chokey together. Harry asked where Matilda was, and Matilda says that Miss Trunchbull kept the whole school late because of Bruce eating chocolate cake, but Harry dismisses that as the biggest lie he ever heard. Later that night, Matilda tries to tell her parents about the FBI's surveillance, but they refuse to believe her as Zinnia believes that they are speedboat salesmen.
Sometime later, Miss Trunchbull locks Matilda in the chokey due to her faulty car and goes to Miss Honey's class for a weekly "check-up" and starts to belittle the students as Miss Honey rescues Matilda. As a prank, Lavender (one of Matilda's friends) places a newt in Miss Trunchbull's water jug to frighten her. She accuses Matilda, whose anger at the injustice leads to her telekinetically tipping the glass over, splashing water and the newt on Miss Trunchbull. Miss Honey invites Matilda to her house for tea. On the way, they pass Miss Trunchbull's house, and Miss Honey reveals her secret; when she was two years old, her mother died, so her father invited his wife's stepsister, Miss Trunchbull, to live with them and look after Miss Honey. However, Miss Trunchbull mistreated and abused her niece at every opportunity. When Miss Honey was five, her father died of an apparent suicide. Eventually, Miss Honey moved out of her aunt's house and into a small cottage. Matilda and Miss Honey briefly sneak into Miss Trunchbull's house while she is driving to the gym, and they see a portrait of her holding a javelin above the mantelpiece. Matilda runs upstairs, then Miss Honey went upstairs and Matilda scared her while Miss Trunchbull drags the broken-down car to the house angrily. When Matilda asked about Liccy doll in Miss Honey's bedroom, they hear Miss Trunchbull shout "WORMWOOD!", while angrily calling Harry on the phone, calling him a "useless used-car salesman scum" and threatening to sue and kill him, when she suspects intruders in her house, she runs around the house leading to a cat-and-mouse chase with Matilda and Miss Honey only barely escaping, without revealing themselves. During the chase, Miss Trunchbull jumps from a high place onto the ground, making a chandelier fall and break. After the chandelier breaks, Matilda hides under the table, nervous that Miss Trunchbull is about to check under the table. When she checked, she saw nothing, because Matilda was clinging to the underside of the table. After she checked, she was eating chocolate cake, and Miss Honey slightly slammed the front door to make her leave the table. After they leave the house through the basement, Miss Trunchbull destroys a statue and yells, and Matilda promises to not enter the house again.
Later, Matilda's telekinetic powers manifest again by slamming the door before Harry gets in her room after an argument between him and Zinnia after Harry catches the FBI Agents in the house. She trains herself to use her ability at her own will. When she sees the FBI Agents trying to search for some evidence without a search warrant, she catches them and with her powers, she releases the brake off their car leading the FBI agents to chase after it. That night, Matilda returns to Miss Trunchbull's house, she retrieves Miss Honey's Lissy doll and two chocolates and begins to wreak havoc in an attempt to scare her away, by repeatedly striking her clock, moving the armchair, shaking the power cables causing the lights to flicker, opening the windows, hurling Miss Trunchbull's portrait into the fireplace, sending all the shot-puts downstairs and placing the portrait of Miss Honey's Father, Magnus back on the wall above the mantelpiece. After the clock strikes twelve, the terrified Miss Trunchbull flees from the house, and when she is about to drive away, she finds Matilda's red hair ribbon, which was blown to her car mirror after it was caught in a tree, and soon realizes her presence. The next day, Miss Trunchbull visits Miss Honey's class again to get Matilda to admit her guilt. Matilda uses her powers to move the blinds and write a message on the chalkboard, posing as the ghost of Magnus and accusing her of murdering him. Miss Trunchbull attacks the students and throws a boy out the window, but Matilda keeps them out of harm's way with her powers, and the students force Miss Trunchbull to drive away from the school by throwing food and water balloons at her, and Bruce shoves chocolate cake in her mouth. Miss Honey moves back into her father's house.
The FBI finally manages to expose enough evidence to prosecute Harry for his illegal dealings as well as his thievery of stolen car parts, causing Harry and his family to flee to Guam. They stop by Miss Honey's house to pick up Matilda, but she refuses to go with them. Harry and Zinnia decide to let Miss Honey adopt her by signing adoption papers, which is described as the first decent thing they did for Matilda. The Wormwoods escape, while Matilda lives a happy life with Miss Honey, who, in addition to her teaching duties, also becomes the school's new principal and expands it into a high school.
Cast[]
- Mara Wilson as Matilda Wormwood, the main protagonist of the film. She is a smart and intelligent young girl of her family.
- Alissa and Amanda Graham, Trevor and James Gallagher as Matilda - newborn
- Kayla and Kelsey Fredericks as Matilda - 9 months
- Amanda and Caitlin Fein as Matilda - toddler
- Sara Magdalin as Matilda - 4 years
- Danny DeVito as Harry Wormwood, Matilda's father. He is the secondary antagonist of the film. He is a crooked car salesman from his own company.
- DeVito also narrates the film.
- Rhea Perlman as Zinnia Wormwood, Matilda's mother. She is the tertiary antagonist of the film. She often goes to bingo and mistakes the FBI agents for speedboat salesmen.
- Embeth Davidtz as Miss Jennifer Honey, Matilda's class teacher and the niece of Ms. Trunchbull. She later becomes Matilda's adopted mother and the new principal of Crunchem Hall. She is the secondary protagonist of the film.
- Amanda and Kristyn Summers as Jennifer Honey - 2 years
- Phoebe Pearl as Jennifer Honey - 5 years
- Pam Ferris as Agatha Trunchbull, the sadistic principal of the school Matilda attends and the main antagonist. She is also Miss Honey's aunt.
- Brian Levinson as Michael Wormwood, also known as Mikey, Matilda's older brother. He is the quarternary antagonist of the film.
- Nicholas Cox as Michael - 6 years
- Paul Reubens and Tracey Walter as Bob and Bill. They are the FBI agents who are onto Harry's illegal dealings.
- Kiami Davael as Lavender, Matilda's best friend.
- Jacqueline Steiger as Amanda Thripp. She was the girl that was "hammer throwed" on the first day of school.
- Kira Spencer Hesser as Hortensia, a girl Matilda befriends on her first day.
- Jimmy Karz as Bruce Bogtrotter. He is the boy who was forced to eat chocolate cake in front of the entire school at the assembly with blood and sweat. Near the end of the film, he shoves chocolate cake into the Trunchbull's mouth.
- Jean Speegle Howard as Miss Phelps, the librarian.
- Marion Dugan as Cookie, the school's cook. She is seen in the assembly room and when Miss Trunchbull leaves the school.
- Craig Lamar Traylor as Child in Classroom
- Jon Lovitz as Mickey, host of The Million Dollar Sticky.
Awards and nominations[]
- Wins
- YoungStar Award
- Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy Film — Mara Wilson
- Cinekid Lion Audience Award
- Best Director — Danny DeVito
- Oulu International Children's Film Festival Starboy Award
- Best Director — Danny DeVito
- Nominations
- Satellite Awards
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical (Danny DeVito)
- Young Artist Award
- Best Performance in a Feature Film — Leading Young Actress (Mara Wilson)
- Best Performance in a Feature Film — Supporting Young Actress (Kira Spencer Hesser)
- Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards
- Best Movie
- Best Actress (Mara Wilson)
The film was submitted for an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score but wasn't nominated.
Music[]
Three songs are featured in the movie. One of them, "Send Me on My Way" by Rusted Root, is played twice: when the four-year-old Matilda is left alone at her house, making pancakes, and at the end of the film, set to a montage of Matilda and Miss Honey playing at Miss Trunchbull's former house. The other song is Thurston Harris' "Little Bitty Pretty One", played when Matilda is learning to control her psychokinetic powers.
The film's original score was composed by David Newman.
Reception[]
Matilda received critical acclaim at the time of its release. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a "fresh" rating of 90%. In the United States, the film earned $33 million in contrast to its $36 million budget. It fared better during its worldwide release and ended up earning back nearly double its original budget as well as on home video and television.
Home media release[]
Matilda was released on VHS on December 10, 1996, and released on laserdisc around 1997. In 2013, Mara Wilson and her former co-stars from "Matilda" had a reunion to celebrate the movie's 17th anniversary and "Matilda" being released on Blu-ray. The reunion scene was featured in the Blu-ray of Matilda.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Mara Wilson's mother Suzie Shapiro Wilson died of breast cancer during filming, so Mara honored her mother and bravely finished the film which was dedicated to Suzie's memory.
- The picture of Miss Honey's father, Magnus, is a portrait of Roald Dahl, the author of the book "Matilda," upon which the film is based.
- Danny DeVito not only plays Mr. Wormwood but also serves as the narrator and director.
- The theatrical, home media, and original television printings of the film use the 1993 TriStar Pictures logo, but current television printings are plastered with the 1984 TriStar Pictures logo, so don't expect to see the same version twice.
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