Matilda (1996)

Story of a wonderful little girl, who happens to be a genius, and her wonderful teacher vs. the worst parents ever and the worst school principal imaginable.

Director:

Danny DeVito

Writers:

Roald Dahl (book), Nicholas Kazan (screenplay),

Stars:

Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman

3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mara Wilson	...	Matilda
Danny DeVito	...	Mr. Wormwood
Rhea Perlman	...	Mrs. Wormwood
Embeth Davidtz	...	Miss Honey
Pam Ferris	...	Trunchbull
Paul Reubens	...	FBI Agent
Tracey Walter	...	FBI Agent
Brian Levinson	...	Michael
Jean Speegle Howard	...	Miss Phelps
Sara Magdalin	...	Matilda, 4 Years
R.D. Robb	...	Roy
Gregory R. Goliath	...	Luther (as Goliath Gregory)
Fred Parnes	...	Waiter
Kiami Davael	...	Lavender
Leor Livneh Hackel	...	Julius Rottwinkle

Storyline

A grouchy couple are parents to a very sweet girl, Matilda. Unlike her bratty brother and mean parents, Matilda becomes a very sweet and extremely intelligent 6 year old girl, who is very keen to go to school and read books. After a while, her parents send her to school with the worst principal in the world, a very sweet teacher, and good friends. While trying to put up with her parents' and principal's cruelty, she starts to unwittingly unleash telekinetic powers, destroying a television and making a newt fly onto the principal. With enough practice, Matilda starts to learn to control her telekinetic powers and soon using them on her principal so she can drive her away from the school.

---

Plot Keywords:

school | girl | principal | teacher | little girl | 

---

Taglines:

Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for elements of exaggeRated meanness and ridicule, and for some mild language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 August 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Roald Dahl's Matilda

Filming Locations:

15811 Youngwood Dr, Whittier, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$36,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£6,003,450 (UK) (17 January 1997)

Gross:

£16,461,008 (UK) (11 April 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Jersey Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SDDS (8 channels) Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the making of segment on the DVD, Danny DeVito reveals that for the chalk to write by itself, they wrote the letters backwards on the opposite side of the chalkboard, then put a magnet on the chalk. They then had someone stand behind the chalkboard and write the words backwards with a device that attracted magnets.

---

Goofs

Chalk "X" on the blackboard changes to a straight line.

---

Quotes

Agatha Trunchbull: I cannot for the life of me understand why small children take so long to grow up. I think they do it deliberately, just to annoy me.

---

Crazy Credits

Newts:

• Mr. Speaker
• Sir Isaac
• Wayne

---

Connections

Referenced in Midsomer Murders: Blood Will Out (1999)

---

Soundtracks

"Little Bitty Pretty One"
Written by Robert Byrd
Performed by Thurston Harris
Courtesy of EMI Records
Under license from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets

User Reviews

What a wonderful film - Not Dull for DAHL

"I'm smart your dumb, I'm big your little, I'm right your wrong and there's nothing you can do about it!" What a catchphrase – I could use that on my brother sometime but anyhow this was an influence on Matilda that made her strong and prepared her for her turbulent time ahead at school, especially with a nasty head teacher 'Miss Trunchbull'. Roald Dahl had written this book to show that a small girl like Matilda can show courage and get herself out of a bad situation, once the film had been made, everything I can remember from the book was alive with a sweet girl to a lazy Mum and Dad (played by Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman). I give this film 10/10.