Trading Mom (1994)

Three children have had it with their mother, and magically make her disappear. The kids then head out to the "Mommy Market" for a replacement mom.

Director:

Tia Brelis

Writers:

Nancy Brelis (novel), Tia Brelis (screenplay)

Stars:

Sissy Spacek, Anna Chlumsky, Aaron Michael Metchik

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sissy Spacek	...	Mommy / Mama / Mom / Natasha
Anna Chlumsky	...	Elizabeth
Aaron Michael Metchik	...	Jeremy
Asher Metchik	...	Harry
Maureen Stapleton	...	Mrs. Cavour
Merritt Yohnka	...	Mr. Leeby
André the Giant	...	Giant
Sean MacLaughlin	...	Edward
Jemar Jefferson	...	Security
Nancy L. Chlumsky	...	Dr. Richardson
Eleni Schirmer	...	Karate Girl
Fran Joseph	...	Ninja Mom
Catherine Paolone	...	Cookie Mom
Maria Fagan	...	Creative Mom
Jane Beard	...	Cleaning Mom

Storyline

Elizabeth, Jeremy, and Harry Martin have had it with their workaholic, nagging mother and they get in trouble at school with bullies and almost smoking cigarettes. They go to this mysterious gardener named Mrs. Cavour and she tells the siblings about an ancient spell to make their mother disappear. That night they say the incantation and the next morning, they wake up and they find their mother is gone and they can't remember anything about her. Mrs. Cavour tells the children about the Mommy Market, a place in town where they had about every mother you could think of. When they go there, the Mommy Market had a policy where you could have 3 tokens to take a mother home. If they could not find a suitable mother by their third token, they could never go back. The mothers they pick are not what they hoped for and they feel lost without someone to look after them. They wanted their very own mother to love and they must think of a memory of their own to remember her and break the spell.

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Plot Keywords:

young girl | f rated | brother sister relationship | child's point of view | single mother | 

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Taglines:

No more vegetables...No more homework...No more cleaning your room...e

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some barnyard humor

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Mommy Market

Filming Locations:

Richmond, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$68,570, 15 May 1994

Gross USA:

$319,123

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$319,123

Company Credits

Production Co:

First Look International, Mommy Market Productions, Overseas FilmGroup

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As of April 2019, the film has not had a DVD or Blu-ray release in the United States. However, the film has attained somewhat of a cult following over the years, due to the film being a rarity item.

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Quotes

Elizabeth: ...You say the Mommy Market has been here since 1742?
Edward: That's the year it was established. It hasn't always been the way it is now. It used to be called the Parental Exchange, Female Division.
Harry Martin: Is there a Male Division - like, a Daddy Market we can go to?
Edward: You can go there instead. But nobody can go to both. That's always been disastrous.

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Crazy Credits

The closing credits end with the repeated dialogue of Mr. Leeby the school principal shouting while being caught in the trap made for the raccoon.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Maverick/Trading Mom/The Return of Jafar/Widows' Peak/Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994)

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Soundtracks

Hickory Dickory Dock
Written by YoungLove Performed by Humpty Music

User Reviews

see it twice

i saw this movie for the first time about 4 years ago...i liked it, it seemed really nice- these kids wish their mother away, and they have to go to a "mommy market" to get another one. they cant find one they like, so they wish really hard for their mother to come back, and their wishing breaks their spell. nice huh? well thats basically the premise on the surface, but after watching the movie a few times, i started to think about it and really listen to some of the lines- theres definately more to this movie than meets the eye. i havent read the book it was based on, so i might be wrong, but my theory is that these three kids wish that all memory of their mother dissapear, and when this happens, every aspect of their mother (cooking, shopping, cleaning, playing games, etc) is portrayed as a mother. the kids pick the aspects that they like best, and they think they will be happy, but the truth is they need all the aspects of their mother. the woman who lives next door to them tries to explain this but rather cryptically- she cant exactly say it or they wont figure it out for themselves. she tells them that they have to really truly pick their mother. what they have been doing is picking a mother than they think is the coolest mom or the most fun. when they create a memory, they are picking a mother who really cares about them and who they really love. this brings her back. the only thing that is confusing is that when the spell is broken (when they wake up the next day and see their mother) there are still signs of the other mothers having been there (fluffy pillows, a circus prop, and a racoon trap). im probably way over-analyzing this movie, but i think its a really interesting film that u should see.