Matilda

Matilda (1996)

Timing: 1:38 (98 min)

7.173/10
4767

7.728/10
53575

7/10
194000

All about film

Video 3

Photo 103

Actors and characters

Release date

1996-08-02

Country

United States

Production

TriStar Pictures, Jersey Films

Genre

Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Budget

$36 000 000

Revenue

$33 500 000

Website

Director

Danny DeVito

Actors

Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Embeth Davidtz, Pam Ferris, Paul Reubens, Tracey Walter, Jean Speegle Howard, Brian Levinson, Sara Magdalin
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, Liccy Dahl, Martin Bregman, Michael Peyser

Operator

Stefan Czapsky

Composer

David Newman

Artist

Audition

David Rubin, Renee Rousselot

Editing

Lynzee Klingman, Brent White
All team (42)

• During the filming of the film, Susan Shapiro, Mara Wilson's mother, died of breast cancer. Wilson finished filming in memory of her mother, and the film was dedicated to her memory. The actress believed for many years that her mother had not seen the completed film, but one day Danny DeVito told her that he personally witnessed Shapiro watching the unedited film before her death.
• Unlike their characters, Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman became very close to Mara Wilson during filming. According to Wilson, they repeatedly invited her to their home while her father was at work and her mother was in the hospital.
• A photograph of Roald Dahl (1916-1990), the author of the original literary source (1988), was used as the image of Magnus, Miss Honey's father.
• Mara Wilson was so embarrassed to dance to “Little Bitty Pretty One” that, at Danny DeVito's insistence, everyone present on set performed the same steps simultaneously with her.
• Pam Ferris often remained in character even after filming ended, frightening the children involved in the film so that their fear of her character would appear as natural as possible during shooting.
• According to Danny DeVito, the chalk seemingly wrote on the board on its own thanks to the following trick: all the words were written backwards on the back of the board, after which a magnet was attached to the chalk, and someone then stood behind the board and wrote the words backwards using a device with magnetic properties.
• The scene where Bruce is forced to eat chocolate cake took the longest to film.
• The newborn Matilda was played by two pairs of twins – a pair of girls and a pair of boys.
• When Matilda fries pancakes for herself at the beginning of the film, they burn, but in the next shot, when she puts them on a plate, they are all perfectly golden brown, not burnt-brown.