| Matilda | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Danny DeVito |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on | Matilda byRoald Dahl |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Stefan Czapsky |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | David Newman |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 98 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $36 million[1] |
| Box office | $47 million[3] |
Matilda is a 1996 Americanfantasycomedy film co-produced and directed byDanny DeVito from a screenplay byNicholas Kazan andRobin Swicord, based on the1988 novel byRoald Dahl. The film starsMara Wilson as thetitle character, with DeVito himself (who also served in a dual role as the narrator and Harry Wormwood),Rhea Perlman,Embeth Davidtz, andPam Ferris in supporting roles. The plot centers on the titularchild prodigy who developspsychokinetic 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, bySony Pictures Releasing under theirTriStar 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 abox office disappointment, grossing $47 million on a $36 million budget.[1] However,Matilda subsequently attained greater popularity after being released onhome video.[4]
Six-year-oldMatilda Wormwood has been neglected and mistreated by her parents (corrupt car dealer Harry Wormwood and his bingo-loving 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 thepublic library from the age of four. Matilda seeks revenge by punishing her father by putting 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 toMiss Agatha Trunchbull, the tyrannical, child-hating principal of Crunchem Hall Elementary School, in exchange for admitting Matilda as a student. On her first day, two of the students Lavender (who Matilda befriends) and Hortensia warn Matilda about Trunchbull's abusive disciplinary methods, which include throwing students out the window and locking them in the Chokey, a darkcloset 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. That night, Miss Honey goes to Matilda's home hoping to convince the Wormwoods, who are not interested.
The next day, Miss 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 late evening after school, Matilda discovers her father is under surveillance by theFBI 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. Miss Honey frees her and Matilda's friend Lavender puts anewt in Miss 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. However, Trunchbull abused Miss Honey and Magnus died, apparently by suicide, when Miss Honey was five. He left everything including the house to Trunchbull in hiswill, 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 thevengeful 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 to tell Miss Trunchbull to give Miss Honey her house and money before leaving town. Miss Trunchbull is terrified and attacks Matilda's classmates in a rage, but Matilda protects and save them to let them escape from Miss Trunchbull with her powers. Eventually, all the students turn on Miss 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 visitor. Harry, Zinnia, and Michael arrive to reclaim Matilda and flee toGuam 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. 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 the new principal of Crunchem Hall.
In November 1993,Universal Pictures won a screen adaptation ofMatilda byRoald Dahl, written by writersNicholas Kazan andRobin Swicord, following a heated bidding war between Universal andColumbia Pictures.[5] Following disagreements betweenDanny DeVito andBregman-Baer Productions over budgetary concerns, Universal putMatilda intoturnaround, with Columbia's sister companyTriStar Pictures picking up the project.[6]
Miriam Margolyes confirmed that she auditioned for the role ofAgatha Trunchbull during a filmed interview withJo Brand for the UK television special,Roald Dahl's Revolting Rule Book, which was hosted byRichard 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.[7] Margolyes went on to play Aunt Sponge (another Dahl villainess) as well as the voice of the Glowworm inJames and the Giant Peach, also released in 1996.
DeVito and cinematographerStefan Czapsky made heavy use of wide-angle lenses and exaggerated perspective, in a manner similar to the films ofTerry Gilliam.
Pam Ferris (Miss Trunchbull) incurred several injuries during the production of the film. The climactic scene where she is whacked byblackboard erasers required her to keep her eyes open, causingchalk dust to get caught in her eyes and necessitating several trips to the hospital to get her eyes washed out.[8] 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, thecentrifugal force grew too great and tore the top part of Ferris's finger, requiring seven or eight stitches.[8]
TheCrank House, inAltadena, stood in for Miss Trunchbull's house.[9] The exterior of Matilda's house is located on Youngwood Drive inWhittier,[10] while the library she visits is the Pasadena Public Library on East Walnut Street inPasadena.[11] The picture of Miss Honey's father, Magnus, is a portrait of Roald Dahl, the author of the book Matilda.[12]
Suzie Wilson, Mara Wilson's mother, was diagnosed withbreast cancer in March 1995 during filming, and later died on April 27, 1996, four months before the film's release.[13] 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.[14]
Two songs are featured in the film.[15] One of them, "Send Me on My Way" byRusted Root, is played twice: when four-year-old Matilda is left alone at her house, makingpancakes, and at the end of the film, set to amontage of Matilda and Miss Honey playing at Miss Trunchbull's former house. The other song isThurston 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 byDavid Newman, a frequent collaborator of DeVito.[16]
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 behindA Time to Kill andIndependence Day.[17] The film grossed $33.5 million in the United States and Canada and $47 million worldwide[3] against a production budget of $36 million.[1]
The film was released onVHS inpan and scan andLaserDisc inwidescreen on December 17, 1996, fromColumbia TriStar Home Video.[18] On June 2, 1997, it was released on a bare-bones dual-sidedDVD containingfullscreen and widescreen.[citation needed] Another DVD rendition with more special features[clarification needed] was released on June 7, 2005.[citation needed] 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 onBlu-ray in 2013, footage from the reunion was included as anextra.[19][20] In September 2023, a4K restoration of the film was released on4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, which included aDolby Vision master,HDR10 grades, and aDolby Atmos audio mix.[citation needed]
OnRotten 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 ofMatilda is odd, charming, and while the movie diverges from Roald Dahl, it nonetheless captures the book's spirit".[21] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 72 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[22] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on a scale of A to F.[23] Writing forEmpire, Caroline Westbrook gave the film a rating of three stars and praised DeVito's clever direction.[24]
Roger Ebert of theChicago 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 is mean and evil, like thewitch inSnow 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.[25]
Guess what: Matilda is being released on Blu-ray. Over the years, Matilda has become something of a cult classic, so fans will be pleased to know that there are some fantastic extras. One extra includes footage of a cast reunion that Danny DeVito hosted last summer. One of the activities at this glorious event included some live reenactments of scenes — which, unsurprisingly, is a bit awkward when you see Bruce Bogtrotter replaced with a grown man, but is nevertheless completely engrossing.
Wilson, who spoke of her "mutual breakup" with the film industry, dished on the "Matilda" reunion footage, which is included on the latest Blu-ray edition of the 1996 movie. "Oh my gosh, that was so much fun," Wilson said. "We shot it in Danny DeVito's backyard. We had a tea party and it was wonderful." "We had a big chocolate cake, of course," Wilson continued, referencing the cake that Bruce (Jimmy Karz) is forced to eat the entirety of in the film.
