Matilda (1996 film)

Matilda
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Danny DeVito
Screenplay by	Nicholas Kazan Robin Swicord
Based on	Matilda by Roald Dahl
Produced by	Danny DeVito Michael Shamberg Stacey Sher Felicity Dahl
Starring	Danny DeVito Rhea Perlman Embeth Davidtz Pam Ferris Mara Wilson
Cinematography	Stefan Czapsky
Edited by	Lynzee Klingman Brent White
Music by	David Newman
Production companies	TriStar Pictures Jersey Films
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date	August 2, 1996 (1996-08-02) (United States)
Running time	98 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$36 million[2]
Box office	$33.5 million[2]

Matilda is a 1996 American fantasy comedy film co-produced and directed by Danny DeVito, from a screenplay written by Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord. Based on Roald Dahl's popular 1988 novel of the same name, the film stars Mara Wilson as the title character with DeVito (who also served a dual role as the narrator), Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz and Pam Ferris in supporting roles. The film centers on a child prodigy named Matilda Wormwood, who develops psychokinetic abilities and uses them to deal with her disreputable family; and Agatha Trunchbull, the ruthless, oppressive, and tyrannical principal of Crunchem Hall Elementary School. Produced by DeVito's Jersey Films, the film was released theatrically in the United States on August 2, 1996, by Sony Pictures Releasing through TriStar Pictures label. The film received positive reviews, praising DeVito's direction, and the film's faithfulness to the spirit of the source material. However, the film was commercially unsuccessful, grossing $33.5 million in the United States on a $36 million budget.^[2]

Plot[]

Young genius Matilda Wormwood is neglected and mistreated by her car dealer father Harry and mother Zinnia, and her older brother, Michael. She is smart and independent, and finds solace in the fictional worlds of books at the public library. When Matilda's parents refuse to enroll her into school, she puts bleach in her father's hair tonic and glues his hat to his head. Harry catches Matilda reading Moby-Dick, rips it up, and forces her to watch reality television. Matilda becomes increasingly enraged until the television explodes.

Harry sells a car to Miss Agatha Trunchbull, the tyrannical principal of Crunchem Hall Elementary School, in exchange for admitting Matilda as a pupil. 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. The Wormwoods are not interested either. Trunchbull has the whole school watch her forcing pupil Bruce Bogtrotter to eat an entire enormous chocolate cake. Matilda leads the students in cheering Bruce to success, and Trunchbull gives them all 5 hours detention. Matilda discovers her father is under surveillance by the FBI over his illegal dealings. Her parents refuse to believe her as Zinnia flirts with the two agents whom she believes to be speedboat salesmen.

Matilda's friend Lavender puts a newt in Trunchbull's water jug. Trunchbull accuses Matilda, who, in anger at the injustice, telekinetically tips the glass over, splashing the newt onto Trunchbull. Matilda is unable to reproduce her powers to Honey during a test. Honey invites Matilda to tea and reveals a secret: her mother died when she was two, and her father Magnus invited his wife's stepsister, Trunchbull, to live with them and look after her, but Trunchbull abused her. Magnus died, apparently by suicide, when Honey was five and left everything to Trunchbull who Honey suspects killed him. Matilda and Honey sneak into Trunchbull's house to retrieve some of Honey's belongings. They narrowly escape when when Trunchbull unexpectedly returns.

Matilda practices her telekinetic powers and thwarts the FBI agents to buy Harry time to come to his senses. She attempts to scare Trunchbull out of her house, but Trunchbull discovers Matilda's hair ribbon. Matilda demonstrates her powers to Honey, while Trunchbull visits the class to make Matilda confess. Matilda telekinetically writes a message on the blackboard, posing as the vengeful soul of Magnus, accusing Trunchbull of murdering him. Trunchbull attacks the students in a rage, but Matilda protects them and they force Trunchbull out of the school. Honey moves back into her house.

Harry, Zinnia, and Michael come to Honey's house to collect Matilda and flee to Guam to avoid the FBI. Matilda refuses to go, saying she would rather be adopted by Honey. Her parents sign the adoption papers and Matilda lives happily with Honey, who becomes principal of Crunchem Hall.

Cast[]

Production[]

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.^[3] Margolyes went on to play Aunt Sponge (another Dahl villainess) in James and the Giant Peach which was also released in 1996.

Pam Ferris (Miss Trunchbull) incurred several injuries during the production on 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.^[4] 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' finger, requiring 7 or 8 stitches.^[4]

The Crank House, in Altadena, stood in for Miss Trunchbull's house.^[5] The exterior of Matilda's house is located on Youngwood Drive in Whittier,^[6] while the library she visits is the Pasadena Public Library on East Walnut Street in Pasadena.^[7]

Mara Wilson's mother, Suzie Wilson, was diagnosed with breast cancer during filming and died 4 months before the film’s release.^[8] The film was dedicated to her memory. Danny DeVito revealed that prior to her death, he had shown her the final edit of the movie so that she was able to see Wilson’s performance in the movie.^{[9][failed verification]}

Music[]

Two songs are featured in the film. 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' "Little Bitty Pretty One", played when Matilda is learning to control her telekinetic powers. The film's original score was composed by David Newman, a frequent collaborator of DeVito.

Release[]

The film was released on August 2, 1996 and grossed $33.5 million in the United States against a production budget of $36 million.^[2]

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.^[10] In 1997, it was released on a bare-bones dual sided DVD containing fullscreen and widescreen. Another DVD rendition with more special features was released in 2004. In August 2013, Wilson and most of her costars from the film had a reunion to celebrate its 17th anniversary and it being released on Blu-ray.^[11] The reunion was featured in the Blu-ray release.^[12]

Reception[]

As of September 2020, on Rotten Tomatoes, Matilda had an approval rating of 90% based on 21 reviews with an average rating of 7.48/10. The website's critical consensus read, "Danny DeVito-directed version of Matilda is odd, charming, and while the movie diverges from Roald Dahl, it nonetheless captures the book's spirit."^[13] On Metacritic, as of September 2020, the film had a score of 72 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."^[14] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.^[15] Writing for Empire, Caroline Westbrook gave the film a rating of three stars and praised DeVito's clever direction.^[16]

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

Trunchbull is the kind of villainess children can enjoy, because she is too ridiculous to be taken seriously and yet really is mean and evil, like the witch in Snow White. And since most children have at one time or another felt that their parents are not nice enough to them, they may also enjoy the portrait of Matilda's parents.^[17]

Potential sequel[]

In November 2019, DeVito said that he "always wanted to" develop a sequel to Matilda,^[18] adding that a potential sequel could star Matilda's own child, due to Wilson having grown up after the film's release.^[18]

References[]

External links[]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Matilda (film)

• Matilda at IMDb
• Matilda at the TCM Movie Database
• Matilda at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Matilda at Box Office Mojo
• Matilda at Moviechat Archived August 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine