Contents
Synopsis
When Matilda Wormwood is born to her parents by the names of Harry and Zinnia Wormwood, they appear to be the meanest parents anyone can ever imagine having. Despite how extremely intelligent she is, Matilda is still being mistreated by her parents and her older brother, Mike Wormwood. At the age of four, she walks all the way to the public library after her family leaves. The librarian gives Matilda a library card, thus allowing her to borrow books to take home from the library. When Matilda solves a math puzzle that involves what Harry's profit was for selling used cars, he tells his daughter that when a person is bad, that person must be taught a lesson, advice in which children could punish their parents. With that advice, Matilda sneaks into her parents' bathroom and mixes her father's hair tonic with her mother's hair dye. Another time was when she put Super Super Glue inside her father's hat. One day, one of Harry's clients, Agatha Trunchbull, principal of Crunchem Hall Elementary School, buys a car from Wormwood Motors. Shortly after that, Harry enrolls Matilda to Crunchem Hall. Matilda is thrilled to finally be in a school for the first time, and meet some new friends, like Lavender and Hortensia. But on the first day, she sees that Miss Trunchbull, the principal, is really a bully. She wouldn't even allow a girl to wear pigtails in her school. Fortunately, Matilda's teacher, Miss Honey, is very kind and lovely. In fact, she even visits the Wormwoods' house to talk to her parents about Matilda, but instead, Harry and Zinnia tell her that education is overrated. In another day of school, Miss Trunchbull commands a student named Bruce Bogtrotter to eat a giant chocolate cake in front of the whole assembly. And in another day, she throws Matilda into the Chokie after realizing that her car she bought from Wormwood Motors had broken down. Later on, Matilda develops some magical powers, such as making a glass tip over, and make the cereal and the milk pour themselves into a bowl. And Miss Honey tells the story about her early life when she lived with her father and mean aunt. The girl was indeed Miss Honey, and Miss Trunchbull was Miss Honey's aunt. One night, Matilda goes to Miss Trunchbull's home and uses her magic powers to make Miss Honey's doll and two chocolates float out of a window. On the last (though not yet known to be the last) day where Miss Trunchbull remains principal of the school, she shows Matilda's red hair ribbon to the whole class that she dropped that night, and tries to punish Matilda one last time, until Miss Honey reveals her secret that Miss Trunchbull is her aunt, and Matilda starts terrorizing the Trunchbull by writing a message on the blackboard left by Miss Honey's dead father, Magnus. She terrorizes her some more by having some flying erasers attack her, then making her go for a spin on the globe, then all the students in the school join in with the terror against the Trunchbull by pelting her with food. Finally, the Trunchbull drives away and never comes back to the school, and Miss Honey moves back into her real home. As for the Wormwood family (minus Matilda), they are fleeing to Guam before the police catch them. Before they do so, they sign adoption papers in order to let Miss Honey adopt Matilda as her daughter. After the Wormwoods leave, Matilda and Miss Honey live a happy life together.
Cast
Character's name | Portrayed by |
---|---|
Matilda Wormwood | Mara Wilson |
Harry Wormwood | Danny DeVito |
Zinnia Wormwood | Rhea Perlman |
Miss Honey | Embeth Davidtz |
Miss Trunchbull | Pam Ferris |
Michael Wormwood | Brian Levinson |
FBI Agent #1 | Paul Reubens |
FBI Agent #2 | Tracey Walter |
Miss Phelps | Jean S. Howard |
Lavender | Kiami Davael |
Amanda Thripp | Jacqueline Steiger |
Hortensia | Kira Spencer Hesser |
Bruce Bogtrotter | Jimmy Karz |
Magnus | Mark Watson |
Cookie | Marion Dugan |
In Other Languages
Language | Title |
---|---|
Japanese | マチルダ |
Chinese | 小魔女 |
Korean | 마틸다 |
Thai | มาทิลดา |
Production timeline
Principal photography lasted from May 8, 1995 to October 24, 1995.
Release timeline
Format | Country of origin | Date |
---|---|---|
Original theatrical | USA | August 2, 1996 |
VHS | USA | December 17, 1996 |
VHS | UK | May 1997 |
DVD | USA | July 22, 1997 |
VHS | South Korea | August 9, 1997 |
VHS | Japan | December 3, 1997 |
DVD | UK | May 26, 1998 |
DVD (Special Edition) | UK | June 21, 2004 |
VHS (Special Edition) | USA | August 3, 2004 |
DVD (Special Edition) | USA | June 7, 2005 |
Digital Download | USA | November 12, 2010 |
Digital HD | USA | October 1, 2012 |
Blu-ray Disc | UK | November 11, 2013 |
Blu-ray Disc | USA | December 3, 2013 |
Home video timeline
Format | Cover | Release Date(s) | List price | Notes |
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VHS | ![]() |
December 17, 1996 |
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DVD | ![]() |
July 22, 1997 |
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Only available in full screen format. |
DVD | ![]() |
June 7, 2005 |
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After a long delay, Matilda was re-released on DVD as a Special Edition, with no changes to the film other than the conversion to "5.1 surround sound", and the addition of some special features. |
Blu-ray | ![]() |
December 3, 2013 | $19.99 |
This is the only time we see the film in anamorphic widescreen. It also includes a new featurette called "Afternoon Tea", and lots more languages (and subtitles) for the film. A digital copy was also available, but it expired on December 31, 2016. |
Weblinks
- http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/matilda (2005-2008)
Gallery