Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Trivia
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Spoilers (6)
Robin Williams' own son did not recognize him in his Mrs. Doubtfire outfit until he started speaking.
According to one biography, Robin Williams decided to test out the believability of his Mrs. Doubtfire character during filming by going, as Mrs. Doubtfire, into an adult bookstore and making a purchase. He was able to do so without being recognized.
During the scene when Mrs. Sellner comes to inspect Daniel's apartment and Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire is serving her tea, the icing on his/her face is melting off. This was not intentional. The heat from the set lights melted the icing on his face and Robin Williams improvised the bulk of that scene.
Scenes were shot 15 to 22 times, because Robin Williams wasn't satisfied until he had the scene worked out of his system.
Chris Columbus would use two or three cameras at a time when shooting Robin Williams' scenes, uncertain of what the famously improvisational actor would come up with. Columbus viewed shooting these scenes as if he were making a documentary.
According to director Chris Columbus, Robin Williams improvised so much that there were PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 edits of the film (though always intended to be released as PG-13).
Robin Williams didn't know the lyrics to the Barbra Streisand song "Don't Rain On My Parade". Harvey Fierstein (Frank) and Scott Capurro (Jack) had to teach it to him.
The prosthetic mask used by Robin Williams in the film was actually a prop. The real make-up was made up of eight separate pieces.
Chris Columbus was amazed how far Robin Williams took his performance. First, he played each scene as scripted two to three times, and then was allowed to improvise, or "playing" as Williams called it. Columbus allowed Williams a lot of improvisation, because that was where the film's funniest material came from; in fact, Columbus called it magical at times.
During the restaurant scene when Mrs. Doubtfire's teeth fell into the wine glass, the cast didn't know Robin Williams would do that, and their reactions on film were genuine, mirroring the shock of the crew.
Robin Williams did interviews as Mrs. Doubtfire to promote the film, and sometimes played the interviewer too.
The character "Mrs. Doubtfire" was first performed by Robin Williams at a show Andy Kaufman did at Carnegie Hall. Williams pretended to be Kaufman's grandmother.
Robin Williams would walk around San Francisco as Mrs. Doubtfire to see if he could get away with it. On one occasion, he visited a sex shop to buy a large dildo and other toys.
Known for his trademark spontaneity of improvisation, Robin Williams was given free reins by Chris Columbus to do what he needed. However, his improvisation can occasionally spark off numerous references to other works that prove to be legal headaches for movie studios. The scene where Daniel speaks with his wife and refers to her clothes as "this lovely Dances with Wolves (1990) motif" required legal clearance for the studio to put it in the film. Associate producer Paula DuPré Pesmen later kept track of every reference Williams made while improvising.
The address given by Miranda while on the phone with Mrs. Doubtfire is the actual physical address of the Hillard house used for the filming of the movie. 2640 Steiner St.
There were many instances when Robin Williams tried to break the concentration of Pierce Brosnan. In the scene when Brosnan (Stu) was attempting to choke on the shrimp, Williams kept making sexually suggestive comments to make his task much more difficult.
Harvey Fierstein had seen and been impressed by Robin Williams's impersonation of him on Comic Relief. He heard through friends that Williams would be playing a character with a gay brother, and approached him about playing the part.
Talk of a sequel began in 2003, with a script being written by Bonnie Hunt. Robin Williams was set to return in disguise as an old nanny like in the first movie. Due to problems with the script, re-writing began in early 2006 as Williams was allegedly unhappy with the plot. The film was expected to be released in late 2007, but following further script problems, the sequel was declared "scrapped" in mid 2006. The sequel's story was originally said to involve Williams, as Mrs. Doubtfire, moving close to his daughter's college, so he could keep an eye on her. Serious discussions regarding the sequel re-ignited in April 2014, with an announcement that Williams and Chris Columbus would be teaming up with Fox 2000 Pictures to produce the sequel. Williams' sudden death just four months later ultimately sealed the project's fate once and for all. No one replaced him either.
Sally Field got a cappuccino mustache on-set and they decided to put it in the movie.
An avocado was going to be used instead of meringue as a disguise after Daniel loses his mask, but it made Robin Williams look like a monster.
Robin Williams used much of his real childhood nanny to characterize Mrs. Doubtfire. When British tabloids found this out, they went looking for his former nanny. They found his real nanny, "Lolly", in a Michigan nursing home, and the reporters and photographers flocked to the little town to get an interview with her. Lolly balked at the attention and downplayed her impressive role. (The reporter found out Lolly had in fact been a nanny to other Hollywood celebrities, including Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Waggoner.) As a result, the local newspaper ran a story of Lolly with the heading "The Real Mrs. Doubtfire".
Stu was originally scripted to be an arrogant villain, but Chris Columbus felt that it hurt the relationship with Mrs. Doubtfire, so Stu was re-written to be more the perfect potential replacement for a father for the kids.
The line "It was a run-by fruiting!" was improvised by Robin Williams, and has become a recurring gag on YouTube.
The actor playing the bartender in the pool scene is credited as Dr. Toad, but his real name is Robert Todd Williams, the half brother of Robin Williams.
The scene where Daniel knocks down the prosthetic mask and it goes flying out into the street required over fifty takes.
The film was originally suppose to be much darker, showing the toll a divorce can take on the children. It was ultimately decided to make the film more family friendly, and some of the more dramatic scenes were cut.
Robin Williams and Chris Columbus would often clown around between takes, with Mrs. Doubtfire introducing Columbus as her son.
According to Chris Columbus, the film was initially going to be set in Chicago. But after checking out San Francisco, they chose to set the film there. Columbus had been living in New York City for years, and was in need of a change of scenery to raise his family. During filming, he and his family had been so taken with the city that they settled in San Francisco after the film was completed.
Mrs. Doubtfire's accent was inspired by Bill Forsyth, the Scottish director that Robin Williams had just worked with on Being Human (1994). Williams also drew inspiration for the voice from Margaret Thatcher and Julia Child.
Chris Columbus had already seen Robin Williams in comedy clubs when he lived in Los Angeles. He was blown away at his energy and called him one of the most brilliant minds he had ever come across in terms of comedy. On stage he was an impressive ball of fire.
In the opening scene, Daniel gets chewed out by his boss for adding lines that are not in the script. This is ironic, due to the fact that adding lines is one of Robin Williams' most famous qualities and was something that director Chris Columbus encouraged while making the film.
Chris Columbus is a big James Bond fan, and he was crushed when Pierce Brosnan didn't get cast when he was offered the part during the making of Remington Steele (1982), but they wouldn't release him from his contract. During the making of this film, Columbus told Brosnan he'd make a great James Bond, but Brosnan thought that ship had sailed. In 1995, MGM called Columbus telling him they're looking for the new James Bond, and Brosnan was one of the choices, so Columbus recommended him; his little contribution to the James Bond saga.
Chris Columbus sold scripts to Steven Spielberg that became Gremlins (1984) and The Goonies (1985) but his career didn't really take off until the major success of Home Alone (1990) which allowed Columbus to move on to other more successful projects like Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and the first two Harry Potter films.
Throughout the movie, Mrs. Doubtfire says the word "dear" one hundred and one times. In some scenes, she either mumbles the word or says it quickly. You have to listen very carefully to what she is saying.
Daniel manages to slip in a dirty joke during all his make-up tests. When dressed as the old Jewish woman, he says "I should never buy gribenes from a mohel, it's so chewy!" Gribenes is fried chicken skin, while a Mohel performs circumcisions, making gribenes a reference to foreskin.
When the family is looking for Mrs. Doubtfire's replacement, many of the potential nannies are members of the crew, including production assistant Erik Ross, art department coordinator Kristen Ross, and production coordinator Jacqueline A. Shea. The final name crossed off the list is that of associate producer Paula DuPré Pesmen.
Polly Holliday's character of the Hillard family's next door neighbor Gloria Chaney was originally scripted as a large supporting character and had a much bigger role in the film. Many scenes were filmed in which Daniel as Mrs. Doubtfire gets even with Gloria as Gloria tells Mrs. Doubtfire that she heard rumors that Daniel cheated on Miranda and abused his children. This leads Daniel, as Mrs. Doubtfire, observing Gloria's passion for gardening, to give Gloria a formula that will help her flowers bloom better, and the secret ingredient in the formula is dog urine. Several scenes show Gloria actually getting dog urine and applying it to her flowers which kills them, and upsets her very much. Due to time constraints all of these scenes were cut out, and as a result, in the final cut of the film, the character of Gloria is only seen once during the opening credits before she calls Miranda to complain about Daniel throwing a birthday party next door, and later, right before Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire rips the logo off of Stu's Mercedes Benz, you can see a brief glimpse of Gloria doing some gardening. All of Gloria's deleted scenes can be seen in the special features on the film's DVD.
There are several versions of the film because of the sheer amount of material Robin Williams improvised, so it was difficult to edit the film to something resembling the script. Chris Columbus likened it to editing a documentary; these other versions were unworkable tonally because they were all over the place. There were also versions that Columbus described as "hilariously funny", but he couldn't release them because many of the jokes Williams came up with would have earned the film an R rating.
This movie is actually based on a British novel. During the mid 1970s, author Anne Fine walked by a "bric-a-brac" shop selling jewelry and old furs. She never had the time to walk inside and meet the shop owner, one Madame Doubtfire. Fine remembered the name in 1986 when she wrote her book "Alias Madame Doubtfire".
When Anne Fine was approached to make a movie out of her novel, her original choice for the lead role was Warren Beatty. Because of Beatty's reputation as a great womanizer she thought it would be hysterical to see him dress up and pretend to be a woman.
When the sequence which Mrs. Doubtfire accidentally gets set on fire in the kitchen was filmed, the boiling water originally had a metal spoon in it which got very hot. When Robin Williams grabbed the spoon for a take, he burned his hand and swore on the spot which Chris Columbus thought Williams was acting and realized that he wasn't acting and was in real pain, which he felt awful. The scene was re-shot without the metal spoon and instead, Mrs. Doubtfire picks on the pot with the potatoes in boiling water which he drops on the kitchen floor.
Blake Lively was considered for the role of Natalie Hillard, and made it to the final round of auditions between her and Mara Wilson.
The princess line was ad-libbed by Mara Wilson.
In one of the original scripts, Daniel finds a new love interest after he and Miranda got divorced. However, this would be in the way of Daniel going undercover as Mrs. Doubtfire in order to be able to spend time with his children. The script is rewritten as Miranda finding a new lover after the divorce.
Chris Columbus admitted he never knew where Robin Williams was going to take the character of Mrs. Doubtfire next.
In real life, Robin Williams divorced his wife in order to marry his nanny. In this film, his wife divorced him and he becomes her nanny.
After Robin Williams' death, the house in the film became a tourist attraction.
Robin Williams said he made the movie to make up for not getting to spend enough time with his kids.
Tim Allen was offered the roles of both Mrs. Doubtfire/Daniel Hillard and Stu Denmeyer, but he rejected both.
Robin Williams said the bodysuit was "made out of, like, Spandex and beans. It's like a walking beanbag chair."
Robin Williams' then-wife Marsha said he was a completely different person in the Mrs. Doubtfire outfit. "He becomes this woman. I really feel like I'm not talking to him anymore."
Chuck Jones, the iconic animator of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons for Warner Brothers, supervised the opening animation. The full five minutes of Pudgy Parakeet and Grunge the Cat was released as a DVD feature.
One of the make-up attempts winds up looking more like an old Jewish woman. Robin Williams improvised on this for a moment, then Williams, Harvey Fierstein, and Scott Capurro sing the chorus of "Matchmaker" from Fiddler on the Roof (1971). Fierstein has starred in "Fiddler" in two different Broadway revivals.
At the time of filming, Sally Field was going through a divorce with film producer Alan Greisman.
While extracting the false teeth from the wine glass, Mrs. Doubtfire jokes "Carpe Dentum... seize the teeth." This echoes "Carpe Diem... seize the day", Robin Williams' recurring phrase from Dead Poets Society (1989). Coincidentally, Williams had earlier appeared in the little-known movie Seize the Day (1986).
After Robin Williams' death, a lot of fans of this movie and Williams' career flocked to the real address of the house at 2640 Steiner St. and set up a memorial.
Robin Williams drew on his real-life divorce from his first wife for some of the dramatic scenes.
The animation director who scolds Daniel for wasting the studio's money at the beginning of the movie is played by Terence McGovern. McGovern lends his voice to animation often, most notably as Launchpad McQuack for DuckTales (1987) and Darkwing Duck (1991). McGovern is a native of Berkeley, California, and a former DJ and radio personality at KSFO radio in San Francisco.
The second highest grossing film of 1993, just behind Jurassic Park (1993).
The monkey puppet "Kovacs" is named after pioneering comic Ernie Kovacs, and was modelled after him as well.
Chris Columbus claimed that he, along with his fellow filmmakers, looked through "hundreds and hundreds" of photographs until finding a 1940s-era Englishwoman on whom to base Mrs. Doubtfire's look.
During the conversion to film, most of the characters were moderated heavily. In the book, all the main characters, apart from Natalie, tend to act in self-interest and expect a large amount of credit whenever they do otherwise. The divorce of Miranda and Daniel in the book is also much more bitter.
The television series Charmed (1998) made occasional references to this movie. In Charmed: Something Wicca This Way Comes (1998), the newspaper prop "Firemen Doubt Fire was Accidental" appears, and Charmed: Ms. Hellfire (2000) takes its title from the movie.
The film was produced by Robin Williams' then-wife, Marsha Garces Williams.
Daniel Hillard's career as a voice actor is unusual, being that he is based in San Francisco (not known as a key hub of voice-over work) and we see him providing full voices for finished animation (extremely rare in American voice-over traditions). This could be considered a mistake, but it could also be assumed that Daniel is replacing a voice track that is for some reason faulty, and must do the entire track over in an ADR (automated dialogue replacement) session. This could be why the voice director points out how much money the session is costing the studio.
A scene was filmed, but cut which Lydia, Chris and Natalie come home from school and Daniel as Mrs. Doubtfire greets them and speaks to them in French and gives them milk and cookies which Lydia rejects.
"Aunt Jack" was named after the title character in one of Robin Williams all time favorite shows, and one of Williams' favorite things about Australia, The Aunty Jack Show (1972).
Originally, Stu Dunmeyer was going to be the villain and was going to be a arrogant, snobbish and dis-likable and that he was secretly going to have Lydia, Chris and Natalie sent away to military school so he could have Miranda to himself. But, when Pierce Brosnan was cast, the character was rewritten and was more likable and caring and more suited to Pierce Brosnan's personality. The only thing about the character from the original script that remained intact was Stu calling Daniel a loser at the swimming pool.
His appearance in this film raised Pierce Brosnan's profile which had largely stagnated following the ending of his TV series Remington Steele (1982). Two years later, he would be cast as James Bond in GoldenEye (1995).
According to some rumors, it's been suggested parts of the story were originally intended for a potential plot of a film version of the television series Home Improvement (1991) at the time. With the story being Tim getting divorced from Jill, and being forced to pretend to be a sixty-year-old nanny in order to spend time with the kids. It's been said the reason for this not happening was that Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson hated the idea, plus didn't feel Home Improvement needed a film version.
Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence and Mara Wilson were chosen to play the Hillard siblings because Chris Colombus needed to find a child and two teens who physically resembled Robin Williams and Sally Field.
Paul Guilfoyle (Head Chef) originally had a longer scene in the movie, but it was cut. This scene can be found in the special features on the Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) DVD.
Chris Columbus said the movie gave a lot of women hope that Pierce Brosnan would walk into their lives.
Tim Allen was the first choice for Mrs. Doubtfire, with this intending to be his debut theatrical feature as a leading man. He turned it down being unsatisfied with the script as well as schedule conflicts with Home Improvement. He later debuted in the successful film The Santa Clause (1994) the following year.
KTVU is an actual television station licensed to Oakland, California, and the logo (circle and number 2) used in the film is the actual logo the station uses to this day (November 2005).
Before Mrs. Doubtfire comes over, the children are watching The Outer Limits (1963) episode The Outer Limits: The Hundred Days of the Dragon (1963). which first aired on September 23, 1963. It is incorrectly referred to as an episode of The Twilight Zone (1959) in the director's commentary.
The San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) bus used for Route 22 (Fillmore) is a real 1989 New Flyer bus built in Canada for the Muni fleet.
The film was re-edited on YouTube, which fans of the movie made up trailers of this movie, as if it weren't a comedy, but as a horror film, or a suspense thriller.
Toward the end of the movie, Mrs. Doubtfire receives mail from "Katie in Youngstown, Ohio". Chris Columbus is from Youngstown, Ohio.
In the scene where Mrs. Doubtfire is reading a story, the story she is reading is Stuart Little, and the part she reads is from "Chapter 1: The Drain".
First film for Robin Williams in which he was also a producer.
After Chris Columbus finished Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), he wanted a new project and was sent the script for this film. He was initially critical of it, saying it didn't work for him. He discussed with them why he felt it didn't work.
A scene was filmed, but deleted and remained unseen until after Robin Williams' death, as the deleted scene was omitted from the deleted scenes on the DVD . After the birthday dinner, Daniel turns up at the house and Daniel and Miranda have a heated argument about Daniel as Mrs. Doubtfire and Daniel tells Miranda that Lydia and Chris found out the truth and that they knew and the argument ends when Lydia angrily says that she hates them both and races up the stairs to her bedroom and Chris also says that he also hates them and joins Lydia with Natalie upstairs.
The Hillards' San Francisco house is located on the east side of the 2600 block of Steiner Street at the corner of Broadway.
During the scene were Mrs. Doubtfire's children are watching her on television during her new job, she mentions that the next weeks show is going to England and quotes "That's where I come from." Even though her accent is distinctly Scottish.
When Miranda's boss (played by Martin Mull), towards the beginning of the movie stated that Stu wanted to invest millions into the Wellman Mansion. Martin Mull played on Roseanne (1988) where Roseanne and Jackie (Roseanne's sister) worked for Wellman plastics during the early seasons of the show.
There are 8 differences between the book and the movie: In the book, Daniel is a actor. In the movie, Daniel is a voice actor. In the book, Miranda is a successful businesswoman. In the movie, Miranda is an interior designer. In the book, all the main characters, apart from Natalie, tend to act in self-interest and expect a large amount of credit whenever they do otherwise. This doesn't happen in the movie. In the book, Daniel and Miranda are separated and in the movie, they are together at the beginning, but Daniel screws up again, they get divorced. In the book Daniel becomes angry at Miranda's early arrival in the dinner scene. In the movie, this also happens, but takes place before Daniel becomes Mrs. Doubtfire. In the book, Daniel does not swear in the dinner scene. In the movie, Daniel does swear in the dinner scene. In the book Lydia and Chris know right away that Madame Doubtfire is their father in drag. In the movie, at first they don't know it is him. It is only when Chris sees Mrs. Doubtfire standing up to pee that he has to come clean. In the book, Natalie is the first to find out. In the movie, Natalie is the only child left out of the loop.
The film was shot over 70 days with 40 being taken up with Robin's makeup which took 4 and a half hours to complete with work starting on him at 5 am so that he was ready for filming to start around 9.
Daniel does an impression of Sir Sean Connery as James Bond. Pierce Brosnan starred as Bond in four movies.
Matthew Lawrence and Mara Wilson appeared in John Hughes films: Lawrence in Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) and Wilson in Miracle on 34th Street (1994).
Bryan Cranston, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks, Rick Moranis, Bill Murray, Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Bill Paxton, Martin Short, John Candy, John Goodman, Jeff Bridges, Kurt Russell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chevy Chase, Michael J. Fox, Kevin Bacon, Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Daniel Stern, Billy Crystal, Charles Grodin, Dennis Quaid, John Travolta, David Hasselhoff, Bill Pullman, John Ritter, Richard Gere, Robert De Niro, Jeff Daniels, Dan Aykroyd, Bruce Willis, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Kevin Costner and Sean Penn were all considered to play Daniel Hillard/Mrs. Doubtfire.
A scene was filmed, but deleted which Daniel shows up at Lydia's Spelling Bee competition, which Miranda gets into a argument with Daniel. Daniel apologizes to Lydia and Lydia asks Daniel why he and Miranda can't pretend to be happy. Daniel tells Lydia that being a actor is a job and being her father is not a job but is a joy. He reminds her he is her father and he always will be and that she is the best thing in his life. He asks if she will forgive him, and she tells him yes. Lydia tells him "I love you" and breaks down and cries after he tells her that he loves her too.
Robin Williams wasn't nominated for Best Actor for his performance in the movie at the 1994 Academy Award. The movie did win an Oscar for Best Makeup.
A scene was cut from the "Dude Looks Like a Lady" montage which Daniel as Mrs. Doubtfire pretends to be a Kung-Fu fighter.
In 1993, Pierce Brosnan was willing to play the small role of Stu. Chris Columbus thought him a phenomenal actor.
Tyler Perry got the inspiration for "Madea" from Mrs. Doubtfire, including Madea's famous catchphrase "Hellur." The scene in the kitchen where Robin Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire says "Helllo!" to Mrs. Sellner is what sparked the idea for "Hellur!"
In the Bridges Restaurant scene, Mrs. Doubtfire says to Stu that she thought she saw Clint Eastwood and quotes it's famous catchphrase "Make my day". A nod to Clint Eastwood's iconic film Sudden Impact which he plays tough San Francisco vigilante police detective Harry Callahan. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) also takes place in San Francisco.
Lisa Jakub played the daughter of Timothy Dalton in The Beautician and the Beast (1997), and the daughter of a love interest of Pierce Brosnan in this movie. Dalton and Brosnan played James Bond.
Robin Williams' line "Kids say the darnedest things" ended up being prophetic, as he later appeared in Jack (1996) with Bill Cosby (host of Kids Say the Darndest Things (1998)).
When Daniel as Mrs. Doubtfire overhears Stu calling him a loser at the swimming pool, Daniel is seen mouthing "F you!" when he angrily throws the fruit at Stu. The movie is rated PG-13.
Chachi 420 (1997) is considered to be a remake of this film.
On Mrs. Doubtfire's first day on the job, he's telling the kids (he's telling his own kids while dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire) to go do their homework, among other exhortations, he tells them to "Go, pump some neurons." Five years later in Patch Adams (1998), Patch is sitting in the University Diner with his new med school friend, Truman (played by Daniel London). Truman says he's "always been fascinated by the development of the human mind. Patch replies, "oh, pumping neurons."
A scene was filmed, but cut which Daniel as Mrs. Doubtfire gets revenge on Gloria by suggesting Gloria uses dog urine for her flowers which kills the flowers.
When Daniel changes out of the Mrs. Doubtfire costume to his regular clothing, it plays in fast forward.
First out of three Chris Columbus-Robin Williams collaborations. The other two were Nine Months (1995) and Bicentennial Man (1999).
Leslie Nielsen, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Christopher Lloyd, Gene Wilder, John Cleese and George Carlin were considered for the role of Mr. Lundy.
Robin Williams, Harvey Fierstein and Scott Capurro break the fourth wall in this movie and sing to the audience.
Robin Williams, dressed as Mrs. Doubtfire, says "Carpe dentum. Seize the teeth", while trying to fish his dentures out of his wine. This is a play on his famous line from Dead Poets Society (1989), "Carpe diem. Seize the day."
Daniel Hillard says to his son Chris, near the start of the film as follows: Daniel: (to Chris) Hey, dude! Congratulations on your twelfth birthday, all right! Got a surprise for you! Chris: Ooh, a stripper? Daniel: No, please! Chris: Two strippers? Daniel: Hoo hah, boy! The "Hoo hah" was Al Pacino's recurring expression in Scent of a Woman (1992). Williams and Pacino co-starred in Insomnia (2002).
This was originally going to be a spinoff movie from Home Improvement. Home Improvement was doing so well, the studio executives thought maybe they should make a move based on it. The storyline was going to be that Jill and Tim got a divorce and the only way he could see his kids is if he disguised himself as a woman nanny.
Polly Holliday appears in this movie as Daniel's next door neighbour Gloria, who dislikes him and his methods. She worked with Robin Williams' close friend and comic idol, Jonathan Winters, in Moon Over Parador (1988), playing his wife, directed by Paul Mazursky, who also directed Williams in Moscow on the Hudson (1984). Mazursky and Williams died the same year (2014), along with Mike Nichols and Harold Ramis, who also worked with Williams on The Birdcage (1996) and Club Paradise (1986). Howard Shore, who composed this film, composed Analyze This (1999), directed by Ramis, which starred Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal, who were also close friends of Williams.
Mrs. Doubtfire was the favorite film of Tony's ten-year-old daughter, Selena, in the book Bittersweet Symphony by Rebecca McNutt. She owns a copy of the film on VHS and repeatedly watches it while spending the summer with her father.
Before voicing Pudgy in this film, Robin Williams voiced the genie in Aladdin (1992) and Batty Koda in FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) the previous year.
If Tim Allen accepted the role of Daniel Hillard/Mrs Doubtfire, Pierce Brosnan would still be cast as Stu Denmeyer. If Tim Allen accepted the role of Stu, he would have played the character as it was originally scripted before Pierce Brosnan landed the role.
Sigourney Weaver, Kim Cattrall, Lorraine Bracco, Michelle Pfeiffer, Melanie Griffith, Madonna, Sharon Stone, Kelly Preston, Bridget Fonda, Theresa Russell, Wendy Crewson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Goldie Hawn, Jennifer Grey, Susan Sarandon, Demi Moore, Marg Helgenberger, Mary Steenburgen, Geena Davis, Kim Basinger, Lea Thompson, Maureen McCormick, Barbara Hershey, Gates McFadden, Sela Ward, Shannon Tweed, Laura Dern, Jennifer Tilly, Helen Hunt, Pamela Reed, Bonnie Bedelia, Lauren Holly, Elizabeth Perkins, Fran Drescher, Rebecca De Mornay, Heather Locklear, Meg Ryan, Ally Walker, Beverly D'Angelo, Ally Sheedy, Tatum O'Neal, Morgan Fairchild and Reba McEntire were considered for the role of Miranda Hillard.
In this film, Daniel doesn't get romantically involved with anyone after he and Miranda get divorced. It's only Miranda who does.
Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire makes a crude joke to Stuart about sex using the phrase cunning linguistic. The same innuendo is referenced in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) which stars Pierce Brosnan (Stuart) as James Bond.
Robin Williams previously appeared in Hook (1991) with Dustin Hoffman, who had played in drag in the film Tootsie (1982). Hoffman too tested out his makeup by wearing it in public. Williams's brother in this film is played by Harvey Fierstein, who later did his own drag performance in Hairspray Live! (2016), although his character is an actual woman.
In the special features on the DVD; Make-Up Test. Mrs. Doubtfire makes a reference to Basic Instinct (1992). Both films are set in San Francisco.
Matthew Lawrence later starred in fantasy comedy The Hot Chick (2002) which Rachel McAdams stars as an attractive and popular teenage girl whom magically swaps bodies with the body of a lowlife male.
Lou and Daniel talk about Mohandas K. Gandhi near the start of the film. Mara Wilson and Sir Richard Attenborough appeared together in Miracle on 34th Street (1994). Attenborough directed Gandhi (1982) and Grey Owl (1999), which starred Pierce Brosnan.
In the scene which Miranda talks to Mrs. Doubtfire about Daniel. Mrs. Doubtfire mentions that her husband Winston died when he was hit by a Guinness truck. Guinness is an Irish stout just like Pierce Brosnan is Irish.
There are connections to A Perfect World (1993). This is to do with the reference to Dances with Wolves (1990), in which Kevin Costner starred and directed. In Bridges restaurant, Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire says, "I thought I saw Clint Eastwood. That would make my day. He is such a stud muffin", in a memorable scene when he/she has a dinner meeting with Mr. Lundy, and a family occasion to celebrate Miranda Hillard's birthday at the same time. Costner and Eastwood co-starred in A Perfect World (1993) which Eastwood also directed. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) was also released in the same year.
Pudgy the bird and Grunge the cat parodies Tweety Pie and Sylvester the Cat from The Sylvester & Tweety Show (1976). Chuck Jones who animated the Pudgy and Grudge cartoon in the movie created Sylvester the Cat.
In a meeting with the Court Liaison, Mrs. Sellner, Daniel made an impression of Sean Connery's James Bond. Yet, in this movie, Robin Williams is working with Pierce Brosnan, a British actor who would play James Bond in later years.
An AT&T logo can be seen on the bottom of Sally Field telephone receiver as she talks with Mrs. Doubtfire by phone for the first time.
Spoilers
The producers fired the original screenwriter because of an "unhappy" ending, where the parents do not get back together. After several re-writes, with a different, "happy" ending, they realized that the original ending was, in fact, better, because they did not want to create the illusion that divorced parents will eventually get back together. They re-hired the original writer, and went back to the original ending.
Mrs. Doubtfire is quietly singing "The Crying Game" as she walks up to Stu's Mercedes (the scene where she pulls the hood ornament off). The song is the theme from The Crying Game (1992), a movie that became famous (or notorious, depending on the viewer) for its surprise plot line about a transgender woman.
When the mailman, "Mr. Sprinkles", visits Mrs. Doubtfire, when she has her own show at the end of the movie, he calls her "Mrs. Doubtflyer" when handing the mail to her, as a play on the words since he delivers mail and could have delivered a flyer as well.
Robin Williams and Paul Guilfoyle appeared in Cadillac Man (1990). Guilfoyle played the head chef at Bridges Restaurant. If you look carefully, you can spot him when Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire is in the kitchen putting pepper on Stu's jambalaya. In a deleted version of this scene, he catches Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire in the act, the latter of whom hastily passes him/herself off as a well known chef doing a spot check on the jambalaya.
In the complete version of the Pudgy and Grunge carton, Robin Williams did not only voice Pudgy and Grunge, he also voiced the old lady who owns Pudgy and Grunge. The old lady who is briefly glimpsed at the beginning of the movie foreshadows Daniel Hillard as Mrs. Doubtfire.
Daniel Hillard is the villain. Although Daniel disguises himself as Mrs. Doubtfire with the best of intentions. He does nine bad things in the movie such as insulting Lou. Putting on the birthday party for Chris (Against Miranda wishes). Prank calling Miranda as various women. Violating the court order to only spend once a week with his kids by disguising himself as Mrs. Doubtfire and conning Miranda into hiring him as a housekeeper. Vandalizing Stu's car. Assaulting Stu by throwing fruit at his head. Sneaking into the Bridges restaurant kitchen disguised as a cook and putting pepper on Stu's meal causing Stu to choke.
