Amelia Bedelia

***Amelia Bedelia*** is a 1988 American-Canadian animated featurette produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer with animation services provided by Nelvana. Directed by Phil Mendez from a screenplay by Patricia Jones and Donald Reiker and starring the voices of Helen Hunt, Michael Douglas, and Barbra Streisand, it is an adaptation of Peggy Parish's 1963 children's book *Amelia Bedelia*. The film tells the story of the housekeeper who was literally given chores to do for Mr. and Mrs. Rogers.

The film was released in the United States on December 21, 1988, by MGM/UA Communications Co. It was dedicated to the author Peggy Parish, who died a few weeks before the film's release.

## Plot

In the neighborhood, a housekeeper named Amelia Bedelia (Helen Hunt) goes out of her house to check the mail from her mailbox. She reads a letter and realizes that she got hired as a maid for the wealthy movie tycoon Richard Rogers and his wife Rita (Michael Douglas and Barbra Streisand), and she was literally given chores from the list Mrs. Rogers made. By afternoon, Bedelia goes into Mr. and Mrs. Rogers' car as they drive to their house for Bedelia's first day of work. The Rogers drop Amelia Bedelia off at their mansion. Mrs. Rogers gives Amelia a list of chores to complete while the couple go to the cinema to attend the premiere of Mr. Rogers' latest film.

Amelia Bedelia goes inside the Rogers' house and gets the list that Mrs. Rogers made. First, she makes a lemon meringue pie for the Rogers. Then, she looks at her list of chores to do. They tell her to change the towels in the green bathroom, dust the furniture, draw the drapes when the sun comes in, put the lights out when she finishes in the living room, measure two cups of rice, trim the fat before she puts the steak in the icebox, and dress the chicken. Despite knowing what she has to do, Bedelia doesn't take the instructions figuratively, nor does she understand them. Instead, she proceeds to take them literally. During the first three chores, Bedelia changes the towels by making a paper doll chain out of them, dusts the furniture with the dusting powder, and draws the drapes onto a piece of paper. During her fourth chore, Bedelia switches off the lights. Then, she unscrews all the light bulbs out of their sockets, takes them outside to the backyard, and hangs them on the clothesline.

Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are watching the movie in the theater. They hope Amelia Bedelia completes the list of chores Mrs. Rogers gave her. Back at the Rogers' house, Bedelia realizes that her pie is ready in the kitchen. So, she takes it out of the oven. Back to her list, Bedelia fills the rice into two coffee cups. Then, she stacks the cups, measures them with measuring tape, and puts the rice back into the container. Later that day, Bedelia receives a steak and a whole uncooked chicken from a butcher who works at the meat market. She takes both types of meat to the kitchen and starts working on them. First, she trims the fat off the steak and decorates it with lace and ribbons. Then, she makes tiny clothes to dress the Rogers' pet chicken Henny instead of butchering the chicken from the meat market.

With all of Bedelia's literal instructions done, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers return home to check, but Mrs. Rogers is anxious, bewildered, and angry that the chores have not been done in the way it was instructed and Amelia has wreaked havoc throughout their house. With Mrs. Rogers' losing temper, she fires Amelia Bedelia for not doing her job correctly. The Rogers drives Amelia Bedelia back home. They're disappointed about her messing up on her first day. Suddenly, Mr. Rogers discovers Amelia Bedelia's lemon-meringue pie on the table. Both he and tempered Mrs. Rogers try the pie. They then felt it was a delicious surprise from Amelia Bedelia. When Mrs. Rogers learns that her list was silly to Amelia Bedelia, she and Mr. Rogers decide that Amelia Bedelia has to come back to their house. The Rogers then writes their apology letter to Amelia Bedelia to send in her mailbox to her house.

Meanwhile, while Amelia Bedelia is cleaning her house and feeling disappointed about her first day of work, she checks the mail from her mailbox again. She finds out that the Rogers want her to return to their house for Mrs. Rogers' forgiveness. Curious about Mrs. Rogers' anger again, Amelia Bedelia returns to the Rogers' house. Mrs. Rogers apologizes to her for the misunderstanding list she made for her and vows to write more explicit instructions for her in the future. Feeling happier, Amelia Bedelia then accepts the Rogers' apologies, and she is employed again. She continues to work for them for the rest of her life.

## Cast

* Helen Hunt as Amelia Bedelia
* Michael Douglas as Richard Rogers
* Barbra Streisand as Rita Rogers

## Production

In 1983, it was announced that MGM/UA had won the bidding war against The Walt Disney Company and Universal Studios over the film rights for the 1963 children's book *Amelia Bedelia* to make a traditionally-animated film adaptation. Phil Mendez has been attached to direct the film, saying "We grew up reading Peggy Parish's *Amelia Bedelia* books for many laughs. I was willing to bring her to the big screen." He then contacted *Fame* screenwriters Patricia Jones and Donald Reiker to write the screenplay based on the story by Peggy Parish and they both accepted.

In November 1985, Mendez announced that Helen Hunt would voice the titular character. Hunt stated she had never read the book, but she signed on as the titular role after she was contacted by Mendez. In 1986, Michael Douglas and Barbra Streisand were cast as Mr. and Mrs. Rogers respectively.