Matilda ( 1996 film ) - wikipedia Matilda ( 1996 film ) Matilda Theatrical release poster Directed by Danny DeVito Produced by Danny DeVito Michael Shamberg Stacey Sher Liccy Dahl Screenplay by Nicholas Kazan Robin Swicord Based on Matilda by Roald Dahl Starring Mara Wilson Danny DeVito Rhea Perlman Embeth Davidtz Pam Ferris Music by David Newman Cinematography Stefan Czapsky Edited by Lynzee Klingman Brent White Production company Jersey Films Distributed by TriStar Pictures Release date August 2, 1996 ( 1996 - 08 - 02 ) Running time 98 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $36 million Box office $62.1 million Matilda is a 1996 American children 's fantasy comedy film directed by Danny DeVito, who also produced with Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, and Lucy Dahl. It was written by Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord, based on Roald Dahl 's novel of the same name. Mara Wilson, DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, and Pam Ferris star. The film is about a young genius named Matilda, who uses telekinesis to deal with her parents, who do not value education, and Agatha Trunchbull, the oppressive principal of Crunchem Hall Elementary School. The film was released in the United States on August 2, 1996. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Music 5 Reception 6 Home media 7 Awards and nominations 7.1 Wins 7.2 Nominations 8 References 9 External links Plot Matilda Wormwood is a genius, but her parents, Harry and Zinnia, and her brother Michael ignore and mistreat her. Since babyhood, Matilda has displayed incredible learning ability and develops a strong sense of independence due to her often being left alone at home every weekday when her father is at work, her mother is playing bingo, and Michael is at school. To pass the time, Matilda learns the route to the public library to read books. At age six - and - a-half, Matilda begins to lose patience with her parents, expressing a desire to go to school, which her parents refuse blatantly and mock her. In retaliation for her father constantly berating her, she resolves to punish him each time, first by adding hydrogen peroxide to his hair tonic to turn his hair an unhealthy blonde, and then gluing his hat to his head after learning about his cheating car business. Coincidentally, unlucky things begin to happen around Harry when Matilda gets angry with him. For instance, when reading a borrowed library copy of Moby - Dick, which Harry rips up and makes her watch television instead, her increasing anger causes the television set to suddenly explode. Harry finally relents to letting Matilda go to school after meeting a client named Agatha Trunchbull, the tyrannical principal of a rundown elementary school, Crunchem Hall. There, Matilda befriends several children and learns of Trunchbull 's violent nature and overly harsh punishments of the students. Thankfully, Matilda 's teacher, Jennifer Honey, is a kind woman who adores her class and takes an immediate liking to Matilda 's gentle and humble nature despite her incredible genius. She requests to Trunchbull that Matilda be moved up to a higher class, but Trunchbull refuses. That night, Miss Honey pays the Wormwoods a visit to encourage them to spend more time with Matilda, but they snub her. Meanwhile, Matilda discovers that her family is under surveillance by FBI agents Bob and Bill due to her father 's illegal dealings, but her parents refuse to believe her, as Zinnia thinks they are speedboat salesmen. Matilda soon learns about Trunchbull 's weekly `` checkups '' to belittle the students. As a prank, Lavender, one of Matilda 's friends, places a newt in Trunchbull 's water jug to frighten her. Upon discovery of the newt, Trunchbull accuses Matilda, whose anger at the injustice leads her to telekinetically tip the glass over, splashing water and the newt on Trunchbull. Afterward, Miss Honey invites Matilda to her house for tea. On the way, they pass Trunchbull 's house, and Miss Honey reveals a secret of hers : When she was two, her mother died, so her father, Magnus, invited his stepsister - in - law, Trunchbull, to live with them and look after her. However, Trunchbull regularly abused her. When Miss Honey was five, her father died of an alleged suicide. Eventually, she moved into a small cottage. She and Matilda sneak into Trunchbull 's house while she is out to obtain some of Miss Honey 's belongings, but Trunchbull 's unexpected return leads to a cat - and - mouse chase, with them only barely escaping without revealing themselves. When Matilda 's telekinetic powers manifest again during an argument with her father, she trains herself to use them at her own will. She returns to Trunchbull 's house and uses her telekinesis to wreak havoc in an attempt to scare her away. She almost flees, but Trunchbull finds Matilda 's hair ribbon and realizes her presence. The following day, Trunchbull visits Miss Honey 's class again to get Matilda to admit her guilt. Matilda magically writes a message on the blackboard, posing as the ghost of Magnus, accusing Trunchbull of murdering him. Trunchbull goes berserk and attacks the students, but Matilda keeps them out of harm 's way with her powers, and together they force Trunchbull out of the school permanently. Miss Honey subsequently moves back into her true home. The FBI finally uncovers enough evidence to prosecute Harry, and the Wormwoods prepare to flee to Guam. They stop by Miss Honey 's house to pick up Matilda, but she refuses to go with them and suggests Miss Honey adopt her. In that moment, a remorseful Zinnia laments over not understanding her daughter and regrets that she did n't treat her better. She and Harry subsequently sign the adoption papers that Matilda had kept for a long time. They escape and Matilda lives a happy life with Miss Honey, who becomes the new principal of Crunchem Hall. Cast Mara Wilson as Matilda Wormwood Alissa and Amanda Graham, Trevor and James Gallagher as Matilda -- newborn Kayla and Kelsey Fredericks as Matilda -- 9 months old Amanda and Caitlin Fein as Matilda -- 2 years old Sara Magdalin as Matilda -- 4 years old Danny DeVito as Harry Wormwood Rhea Perlman as Zinnia Wormwood Embeth Davidtz as Miss Jennifer Honey Amanda and Kristyn Summers as Miss Honey -- 2 years Phoebe Pearl as Miss Honey -- 5 years Pam Ferris as Miss Trunchbull Brian Levinson as Michael Wormwood Nicholas Cox as Michael -- 6 years Paul Reubens as FBI Agent Bob Tracey Walter as FBI Agent Bill Kiami Davael as Lavender Jean Speegle Howard as Miss Phelps Production Pam Ferris ( Miss Trunchbull ) incurred several injuries while making the film. The climactic scene where she is whacked by blackboard erasers required her to keep her eyes open, causing chalk dust to get caught in her eyes and necessitating several trips to the hospital to get her eyes washed out. 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 the centrifugal force grew too great and tore the top part of Ferris ' finger, requiring 7 or 8 stitches. The Crank House, in Altadena, California, stood in for Miss Trunchbull 's house. The house would later be used as the Omega Beta Zeta sorority house in Scream 2 ( 1997 ) and in Catch Me If You Can ( 2002 ). The exterior of Matilda 's house is located on Youngwood Drive in Whittier, California, and the library she visits is the Pasadena Public Library on East Walnut Street in Pasadena, CA. Music This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( December 2017 ) Two songs are featured in the film. One of them, `` Send Me On My Way '' by Rusted Root, is played twice : when four - year - old Matilda is left alone at her house, making pancakes, and at the end of the film, set to a montage of Matilda and Miss Honey playing at Miss Trunchbull 's former house. The other song is Thurston Harris 's `` Little Bitty Pretty One '', played when Matilda is learning to control her telekinetic powers. The film 's original score was composed by David Newman. Reception On Rotten Tomatoes, Matilda holds an approval rating of 90 % based on 21 reviews with an average rating of 7.5 / 10. The website 's critical consensus reads, `` Danny DeVito - directed version of Matilda is odd, charming, and while the movie diverges from Roald Dahl, it nonetheless captures the book 's spirit. '' In the United States, it earned $33 million in contrast to its $36 million budget. It fared better during its worldwide release and ended up earning back nearly double its original budget as well as on home video and television. Roger Ebert praised the film 's oddity, giving it 3 out of 4 stars, writing : `` Trunchbull is the kind of villainess children can enjoy, because she is too ridiculous to be taken seriously and yet really is mean and evil, like the witch in Snow 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. '' Home media In 1997, it was released on VHS and DVD. In 2005, it was released on the special edition DVD. In 2013, Wilson and her costars from the film had a reunion to celebrate its 17th anniversary and it being released on Blu - ray. The reunion scene was featured in the Blu - ray release. Awards and nominations Wins YoungStar Award Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy Film -- Mara Wilson Cinekid Lion Audience Award Best Director -- Danny DeVito Oulu International Children 's Film Festival Starboy Award Best Director -- Danny DeVito Nominations Satellite Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture -- Comedy or Musical ( Danny DeVito ) Young Artist Award Best Performance in a Feature Film -- Leading Young Actress ( Mara Wilson ) Best Performance in a Feature Film -- Supporting Young Actress ( Kira Spencer Hesser ) References Jump up ^ `` MATILDA ( PG ) ''. British Board of Film Classification. August 14, 1996. Retrieved July 24, 2013. ^ Jump up to : Matilda at Box Office Mojo ^ Jump up to : `` Matilda ( 1996 ) ''. worldwideboxoffice.com. ^ Jump up to : Lazarus, Susanna ( 26 September 2016 ). `` 9 fascinating facts from behind the scenes of Matilda ''. Radio Times. Retrieved 2018 - 01 - 04. Jump up ^ Andrew Lasane ( 2014 - 10 - 22 ). `` The Real - World Locations of Iconic Movie Homes ''. Complex magazine. Retrieved 2018 - 01 - 04. Jump up ^ `` Whittier 's film highlights include ' Back to the Future '' ``. Whittier Daily News. July 8, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2018. Jump up ^ Russo, Stacy Shotsberger ( 2008 ). The Library as Place in California. McFarland & Company. p. 108. ISBN 9780786431946. Jump up ^ `` Matilda ''. Rotten Tomatoes. August 2, 1996. Retrieved September 4, 2015. Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger ( August 2, 1996 ). `` Matilda ''. RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved April 6, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Matilda reunion : Former child star Mara Wilson catches up with Danny DeVito and Embeth Davidtz ''. MailOnline. Retrieved September 4, 2015. Jump up ^ `` Mara Wilson On ' Matilda ' Reunion : It Was ' Just Heartwarming ' ''. The Huffington Post. Retrieved September 4, 2015. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Matilda ( film ) Matilda on IMDb Matilda at the TCM Movie Database Matilda at the American Film Institute Catalog Matilda at Box Office Mojo Matilda at Rotten Tomatoes Film in the United States portal 1990s portal Comedy portal Films by Danny DeVito Directed The Ratings Game ( 1984 ) Throw Momma from the Train ( 1987 ) The War of the Roses ( 1989 ) Hoffa ( 1992 ) Matilda ( 1996 ) Death to Smoochy ( 2002 ) Duplex ( 2003 ) Produced Hoffa ( 1992 ) Reality Bites ( 1994 ) Pulp Fiction ( 1994 ) 8 Seconds ( 1994 ) Get Shorty ( 1995 ) Feeling Minnesota ( 1996 ) Matilda ( 1996 ) Gattaca ( 1997 ) Out of Sight ( 1998 ) Living Out Loud ( 1998 ) Man on the Moon ( 1999 ) Drowning Mona ( 2000 ) Erin Brockovich ( 2000 ) How High ( 2001 ) Camp ( 2003 ) Garden State ( 2004 ) Along Came Polly ( 2004 ) Be Cool ( 2005 ) Even Money ( 2006 ) Relative Strangers ( 2006 ) Freedom Writers ( 2007 ) Reno 911 ! : Miami ( 2007 ) A Walk Among the Tombstones ( 2014 ) Roald Dahl Children 's fiction The Gremlins ( 1943 ) James and the Giant Peach ( 1961 ) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ( 1964 ) The Magic Finger ( 1966 ) Fantastic Mr Fox ( 1970 ) Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator ( 1972 ) Danny, the Champion of the World ( 1975 ) The Enormous Crocodile ( 1978 ) The Twits ( 1980 ) George 's Marvellous Medicine ( 1981 ) The BFG ( 1982 ) The Witches ( 1983 ) The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me ( 1985 ) Matilda ( 1988 ) Esio Trot ( 1990 ) The Vicar of Nibbleswicke ( 1991 ) The Minpins ( 1991 ) Children 's poetry Revolting Rhymes ( 1982 ) Dirty Beasts ( 1983 ) Rhyme Stew ( 1989 ) Adult novels Sometime Never : A Fable for Supermen ( 1948 ) My Uncle Oswald ( 1979 ) Adult short story collections Over to You : Ten Stories of Flyers and Flying ( 1946 ) Someone Like You ( 1953 ) Kiss Kiss ( 1960 ) Lamb to the Slaughter ( 1953 ) Switch Bitch ( 1974 ) The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More ( 1977 ) The Best of Roald Dahl ( 1978 ) Tales of the Unexpected ( 1979 ) More Tales of the Unexpected ( 1980 ) The Roald Dahl Omnibus ( 1986 ) Two Fables ( 1986 ) Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life : The Country Stories of Roald Dahl ( 1989 ) The Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl ( 1991 ) The Roald Dahl Treasury ( 1997 ) The Great Automatic Grammatizator ( 1998 ) Skin and Other Stories ( 2000 ) Roald Dahl : Collected Stories ( 2006 ) Non-fiction The Mildenhall Treasure ( 1946 ) Boy : Tales of Childhood ( 1984 ) Going Solo ( 1986 ) Memories with Food at Gipsy House ( 1991 ) Roald Dahl 's Guide to Railway Safety ( 1991 ) My Year ( 1993 ) Film adaptations 36 Hours ( 1965 ) Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory ( 1971 ) Danny, the Champion of the World ( 1989 ) The BFG ( 1989 ) The Witches ( 1990 ) Four Rooms ( 1995 ) James and the Giant Peach ( 1996 ) Matilda ( 1996 ) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ( 2005 ) Fantastic Mr. Fox ( 2009 ) Roald Dahl 's Esio Trot ( 2015 ) The BFG ( 2016 ) Revolting Rhymes ( 2016 ) Tom and Jerry : Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ( 2017 ) Film scripts The Bells of Hell Go Ting - a-ling - a-ling ( 1966, unfinished ) You Only Live Twice ( 1967 ) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ( 1968 ) The Night Digger ( 1971 ) Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory ( 1971 ) Television series ' Way Out ( 1961 ) Tales of the Unexpected ( 1979 -- 88 ) Musicals and plays The Honeys ( 1955 ) Matilda ( 2010 ) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ( 2013 ) Fantastic Mr Fox ( 2016 ) See also Quentin Blake Roald Dahl bibliography Roald Dahl short stories bibliography Roald Dahl 's Book of Ghost Stories ( 1983 ) List of Tales of the Unexpected episodes Related Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre Roald Dahl Children 's Gallery Patricia Neal ( wife ) Tessa Dahl ( daughter ) Ophelia Dahl ( daughter ) Lucy Dahl ( daughter ) Sophie Dahl ( granddaughter ) Phoebe Dahl ( granddaughter ) Roald Dahl 's Matilda Characters Matilda Wormwood Miss Trunchbull Adaptations Matilda ( 1996 film ) Matilda the Musical ( 2010 musical ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matilda_(1996_film)&oldid=833456304 '' Categories : 1996 films English - language films Matilda ( novel ) 1990s fantasy - comedy films American children 's comedy films American children 's fantasy films American fantasy - comedy films American films Films about dysfunctional families Films about teacher -- student relationships Films based on children 's books Films based on works by Roald Dahl Films directed by Danny DeVito Films produced by Danny DeVito Films scored by David Newman Films set in California Films shot in California Telekinesis in film TriStar Pictures films Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from July 2015 Pages using div col with deprecated parameters Articles to be expanded from December 2017 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Български Català Dansk Deutsch Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Italiano עברית Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Русский Simple English Suomi Svenska Українська 14 more Edit links This page was last edited on 31 March 2018, at 17 : 34. 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Question: what is the name of the principal in matilda
Answer: Agatha Trunchbull