Matilda (1996 film)

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox film Matilda is a 1996 American fantasy comedy film co-produced and directed by Danny DeVito from a screenplay by Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, based on the 1988 novel by Roald Dahl. The film stars Mara Wilson as the title character, with DeVito himself (who also served in a dual role as the narrator and Harry Wormwood), Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, and Pam Ferris in supporting roles. The plot centers on the titular child prodigy who develops psychokinetic abilities and uses them to deal with her disreputable family and the tyrannical principal of her school.

Matilda was released in the United States on August 2, 1996, by Sony Pictures Releasing under their TriStar Pictures label. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise being directed towards its faithfulness to the novel and DeVito's direction. Despite this, the film was a box office disappointment, grossing $47 million on a $36 million budget,<ref name="gross"/> but Matilda subsequently attained greater popularity after being released on home video.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Plot

Six-year-old Matilda Wormwood has been neglected and mistreated by her parents (corrupt car dealer Harry Wormwood and his wife Zinnia) and older brother Michael all her life. They frequently leave Matilda home alone to fend for herself and refuse to enroll her in school. Smart and independent, Matilda finds solace in books at the public library from the age of four. Matilda seeks revenge by punishing her father: she puts hydrogen peroxide in his hair oil, which bleaches his hair. Next, she glues Harry's hat on his head when her father encourages Michael into his illegal car dealings. After Harry destroys one of Matilda's library books and forces her to watch mindless television, Matilda becomes angry, and the television explodes.

Harry sells a car to Miss Agatha Trunchbull, the tyrannical, child-hating principal of Crunchem Hall Elementary School, in exchange for admitting Matilda as a student. The other students warn Matilda about Trunchbull's abusive disciplinary methods, which include throwing students out the window and locking them in the Chokey, a dark closet with spikes, apparently inspired by an "iron maiden". Matilda's teacher, Miss Jennifer Honey, notices the ease with which Matilda answers middle school multiplication questions and requests Matilda be moved to a higher class, but Trunchbull refuses. She comes to Matilda's home hoping to convince the Wormwoods, who are not interested.

Trunchbull calls an assembly in the school auditorium, where she forces overweight student Bruce Bogtrotter to eat a large chocolate cake as punishment for stealing a piece of hers. Later that day, Matilda discovers her father is under surveillance by the FBI over his illegal dealings, which include purchasing stolen car parts, and using shady tactics to pawn off decrepit cars at marked-up prices. Her parents refuse to believe her warning, as Zinnia flirts with the two agents who pose as speedboat salesmen.

Discovering the car from Harry to be faulty, Trunchbull locks Matilda in the Chokey as punishment. Matilda's friend Lavender puts a newt in Trunchbull's water jug as payback. After school, Miss Honey invites Matilda to tea and reveals her past: her mother died when she was two, and her father Magnus, who was a doctor, invited her aunt Trunchbull to live with them to care for Miss Honey. Trunchbull abused Miss Honey and Magnus died, apparently by suicide, when Miss Honey was five. He left everything including the house to Trunchbull in his will, and Trunchbull continued to abuse Miss Honey until she grew up and managed to escape. Matilda and Miss Honey sneak into the house hoping to retrieve some of Miss Honey's belongings, including a special doll, but Trunchbull unexpectedly returns and they narrowly escape.

Matilda channels the aggression she gets from her family and Trunchbull to practice her telekinetic powers, and she drives away the FBI agents, who are searching the Wormwoods' garage without a warrant. Matilda returns to Trunchbull's house, and from the roof, she uses her powers to claim Miss Honey's doll and wreaks havoc while posing as the vengeful spirit of Magnus. This nearly scares Trunchbull out of the house, but she uncovers Matilda's ruse upon finding her hair ribbon. At school the next day, Matilda telekinetically writes a message on the blackboard: "Agatha, this is Magnus. Give my little bumblebee [Miss Honey] her house and her money. Then get out of town. If you don't, I will get you. I will get you like you got me. That is a promise." Trunchbull is terrified and attacks the students in a rage, but Matilda protects them. The students turn on Trunchbull and she runs out of the school never to be seen or heard from again.

Miss Honey moves back into her father's house with Matilda as a frequent guest. Harry, Zinnia, and Michael arrive to reclaim Matilda and flee to Guam to avoid the FBI, who now have enough evidence to arrest Harry for his illegal dealings. Matilda refuses to go, saying she would rather stay with Miss Honey as her adopted child. Zinnia expresses remorse at never having understood Matilda, and she and Harry sign the adoption papers doing "the first decent thing they ever did for their daughter." Matilda goes on to live happily with Miss Honey, who becomes principal of Crunchem Hall, which has an upper school added due to children never wanting to leave.

Cast

• Mara Wilson as Matilda Wormwood, a 6-year-old girl with special powers
  • Alissa and Amanda Graham and Trevor and James Gallagher as Newborn Matilda Wormwood
  • Kayla and Kelsey Fredericks as 9-month-old Matilda Wormwood
  • Amanda and Caitlin Fein as Toddler Matilda Wormwood
  • Sara Magdalin as 4-year-old Matilda Wormwood
• Embeth Davidtz as Jennifer Honey, the kind and polite teacher who inspires Matilda
  • Amanda and Kristyn Summers as 2-year-old Jennifer Honey
  • Phoebe Pearl as 5-year-old Jennifer Honey
• Danny DeVito as Harry Wormwood, Matilda's car salesman father
  • DeVito also narrates the film
• Rhea Perlman as Zinnia Wormwood, Matilda's bingo-obsessed mother
• Pam Ferris as Agatha Trunchbull, the abusive, ruthless and tyrannical principal of Crunchem Hall Elementary School, Miss Honey's step-aunt, and Matilda's nemesis
• Brian Levinson as Michael Wormwood, Matilda's obnoxious and rude older brother, who enjoys insulting her by calling her 'dipface'.
  • Nicholas Cox as 6-year-old Michael Wormwood
• Paul Reubens and Tracey Walter as Bob and Bill, two FBI agents investigating Harry's illegal car business.
• Kiami Davael as Lavender, Matilda's best friend at Crunchem Hall Elementary School
• Jacqueline Steiger as Amanda Thripp, Matilda's timid classmate at Crunchem Hall Elementary School
• Jimmy Karz as Bruce Bogtrotter, Matilda's heavy set schoolmate at Crunchem Hall Elementary School
• Kira Spencer-Hesser as Hortensia, a schoolmate at Crunchem Hall Elementary School
• Jean Speegle Howard as Mrs. Phelps, the librarian
• Marion Dugan as Cookie, the unsanitary school cook at Crunchem Hall Elementary school
• Jon Lovitz as Mickey (uncredited), the game show host of "The Million Dollar Sticky"

Production

In November 1993, Universal Pictures won a screen adaptation of Matilda by Roald Dahl, written by writers Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, following a heated bidding war between Universal and Columbia Pictures.<ref name="MatildaUniversal">Template:Cite news</ref> Following disagreements between Danny DeVito and Bregman-Baer Productions over budgetary concerns, Universal put Matilda into turnaround, with Columbia's sister company TriStar Pictures picking up the project.<ref name="MatildaTriStar">Template:Cite news</ref>

Miriam Margolyes confirmed that she auditioned for the role of Agatha Trunchbull during a filmed interview with Jo Brand for the UK television special, Roald Dahl's Revolting Rule Book, which was hosted by Richard E. Grant and aired on September 22, 2007. This documentary commemorated Dahl's 90th birthday and also celebrated his impact as a children's author in popular culture.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> Margolyes went on to play Aunt Sponge (another Dahl villainess) as well as the voice of the Glowworm in James and the Giant Peach, also released in 1996.

DeVito and cinematographer Stefan Czapsky made heavy use of wide-angle lenses and exaggerated perspective, in a manner similar to the films of Terry Gilliam.

Pam Ferris (Miss Trunchbull) incurred several injuries during the production of the film. The climactic scene where she is whacked by blackboard erasers required her to keep her eyes open, causing chalk dust to get caught in her eyes and necessitating several trips to the hospital to get her eyes washed out.<ref name=":0" /> The scene where Trunchbull whirls Amanda Thripp (Jacqueline Steiger) by her pigtails required a harness to support the little girl, the wires of which were threaded through the pigtails and then looped around Ferris's fingertips to give her grip. As she swung her around, the centrifugal force grew too great and tore the top part of Ferris's finger, requiring seven or eight stitches.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>

The Crank House, in Altadena, stood in for Miss Trunchbull's house.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The exterior of Matilda's house is located on Youngwood Drive in Whittier,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while the library she visits is the Pasadena Public Library on East Walnut Street in Pasadena.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The picture of Miss Honey's father, Magnus, is a portrait of Roald Dahl, the author of the book Matilda.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Suzie Wilson, Mara Wilson's mother, was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 1995 during filming, and later died on April 27, 1996, four months before the film's release.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The film was dedicated to her memory. DeVito revealed that, prior to her death, he had shown her the final edit of the film so that she was able to see Mara's performance.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Music

Two songs are featured in the film.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> One of them, "Send Me on My Way" by Rusted Root, is played twice: when 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's "Little Bitty Pretty One", played when Matilda is dancing in the living room while using her telekinetic powers. The film's original score was composed by David Newman, a frequent collaborator of DeVito.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Release

Box office

Matilda was released on August 2, 1996. It made $8.5 million at the US box office in its opening weekend, ranking in third place behind A Time to Kill and Independence Day.<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref> The film grossed $33.5 million in the United States and Canada and $47 million worldwide<ref name=ww/> against a production budget of $36 million.<ref name="gross"/>

Home media

The film was released on VHS in pan and scan and LaserDisc in widescreen on December 17, 1996, from Columbia TriStar Home Video.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On June 2, 1997, it was released on a bare-bones dual-sided DVD containing fullscreen and widescreen.Template:Fact Another DVD rendition with more special featuresTemplate:What was released on June 7, 2005.Template:Fact In 2012, Danny DeVito hosted a Matilda reunion, where some of the cast reenacted scenes from the film. With the 2023 release of the film on Blu-ray in 2013, footage from the reunion was included as an extra.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In September 2023, a 4K restoration of the film was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, which included a Dolby Vision master, HDR10 grades, and a Dolby Atmos audio mix.Template:Fact

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Matilda has an approval rating of 92% based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Danny DeVito-directed version of Matilda is odd, charming, and while the movie diverges from Roald Dahl, it nonetheless captures the book's spirit".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On Metacritic, the film has a score of 72 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on a scale of A to F.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Writing for Empire, Caroline Westbrook gave the film a rating of three stars and praised DeVito's clever direction.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised the film's oddity, gave it three stars out of four, and wrote: Template:Cquote

See also

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External links

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