Draft:Matilda (franchise)
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|  |
| Matilda | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Roald Dahl |
| Original work | Matilda (1988) |
| Owner | Netflix |
| Print publications | |
| Novel(s) | Matilda (1988) |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) |
|
| Theatrical presentations | |
| Musical(s) | Roald Dahl's Matilda (2010) |
| Audio | |
| Soundtrack(s) | "Matilda the Musical" (2022) |
| Original music | |
Matilda is a British media franchise created by the late children's author Roald Dahl and owned by the Roald Dahl Story Company which is owned by Netflix. It began with the 1988 published children's novel which had adaptions into various media over the years with the 1996 film , the 2010-2011 musical which ran on West End in England and had film adaptation in 2022.
The novel also had a two-part BBC Radio 4 programme.
Development
[edit]Early drafts of the original novel were extremely different from the one that was published in 1988. Like most of his books he wrote them in his garden writing in his "sacred place" known as his hut. Roald Dahl stated in a letter to his daughter Lucy that he threw three months of work as he attempted to find the proper other chunk half of the plot. An early draft saw the little girl portrayed as wicked irritation sinister child with the ability to move things with her mind and used those powers to torture her poor parents, she intended to use those powers to help her teacher solve financial problems by fixing up a horse race and it infamously ended with the girl dying at the end. Dahl showed his draft to others and they disliked it and he took two years to rewrite the story to perfect Matilda's motivations and changed her character to a resilient prodigy going through the neglect and abuse while also gaining her telekinetic abilities later in the novel.
Films
[edit]Matilda (1996)
[edit]The film follows the same plot as the novel however it does also include some minor differences. Being an American film produced by TriStar Pictures and Jersey Films it made sense for it to be set in Los Angeles, California in the United States of America instead of England. Matilda's powers are used differently here than in the novel until about a third of the story where she feels the energy powering up in her mind and knocks the glass over causing the newt to fall on Miss Trunchbull making her mad at the child this scene does happen in the movie too. However in this film Matilda discovers her telekinesis earlier, when the Wormwoods are watching television her father forces her to watch with them and he and the rest of the family enjoy but Matilda's feelings of being forced to watch television grew causing her to use her powers to make the television explode. Hortensia is seen to be nicer in the film as she does give supporting advice to Matilda along with Lavender whereas in the book she acts kind of like a bully to Matilda and Lavender referring them as "shrimps" and calls Amanda an idiot for wearing pigtails in plain sight for Miss Trunchbull to see. One of the most horrifying aspects of the story of Matilda is one of Miss Trunchbull's punishments being locked up in the dreaded chokey. It is a very small metal cupboard with long nails sticking out and Miss Trunchbull locks children in there, in the novel Hortensia mentions being locked in there twice for putting syrup all over Miss Trunchbull's chair and for putting itching powder in her gym shorts draw and a difference between the book and the film is that in the film she gets locked up due to her father selling a dodgy car to her and blames his daughter for it. The climax is also different, in the book Matilda uses her powers to lift the chalk and write on the board and portrays Miss Honey's deceased father's ghost demanding to give Jennifer back the wages, the house, and to leave the village entirely and Miss Trunchbull then passes out and later she woke up and left the school. However in the movie, this happens excepts when Miss Trunchbull falls on the ground she wakes up and starts attacking the other students but Matilda uses her powers to defend them and the kids all throw things at Miss Trunchbull making her go to her car and leave forever.
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022)
[edit]A musical film based on the 2010 musical stage play by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin. It follows the same plot however there are some differences. Songs cut out from the original were "Pathetic"[1], "Loud", "Telly", and "I'm So Clever". "Miracle" the first song of both musicals was made shorter in this film and doesn't include the doctor's second verse. At the end the musical has it's own original song "Still Holding My Hand" as it's finale song. The biggest major change being that two characters are missing one of the two characters being Michael Wormwood who is Matilda's older brother featured in the novel, 1996 film and the musical stage play but was cut from this movie entirely. The other character is Rudolpho who is an original character from the musical but isn't seen, the song "Loud" featured him but the song cut from the final version, Rudolpho's actor to play him was Aljaž Škorjanec who was spotted on the film set but he wasn't featured in the final version. The mafia scene at the end of the stage play was also not seen in the movie, the song "Loud" also took three to four months to film and it was supposed to be the "big musical number" of the show but was cut from the final version.
Musicals
[edit]Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2010)
[edit]A musical based on Matilda created by Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly.
Documentary
[edit]Matilda & Me (2016)
[edit]A documentary film exploring the journey of Tim Minchin and his involvement in the well-known 2010 musical that he has become famous for. It follows his development as a performer and playwright as well as the creation success of the musical based on one of Roald's Dahl's children's novels.
Cast and Characters
[edit]| Role | Feature Films | Musical | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matilda | Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical | Stratford-upon-Avon Cast[2] | |
| 1996 | 2022 | 2010 | |
| Matilda Wormwood | Mara Wilson | Alisha Weir | Adrianna Bertola
Josie Griffiths Kerry Ingram |
| Agatha Trunchbull | Pam Ferris | Emma Thompson | Bertie Carvel |
| Jennifer Honey | Embeth Davidtz | Lashana Lynch | Lauren Ward |
| Harold "Harry" Wormwood | Danny DeVito | Stephen Graham | Paul Kaye |
| Zinnia Wormwood | Rhea Perlman | Andrea Riseborough | Josie Walker |
| Michael Wormwood | Brian Levinson | Peter Howe | |
| Mrs. Phelps | Jean Speegle Howard | Sindhu Vee | Melanie La Barrie |
| Magnus Honey | Mark Watson | Carl Spencer[3] | Matthew Malthouse |
| Mrs. Honey[4] | Lauren Alexandra | Emily Shaw | |
| Rudolpho | Matthew Malthouse | ||
| Lavender | Kiami Davael | Rei Yamauchi Fulker | Ruby Bridle
Rebecca Stoll Misty May Tindall |
| Bruce Bogtrotter | Jimmy Karz | Charlie Hodson-Prior | Jake Bailey
James Beesley Kuan Frye |
| Amanda Thripp | Jacqueline Stager | Winter Jarrett-Glasspool | Jadie-Rose Hobson
Katie Lee Lara Weaver |
| Hortensia | Kira Spencer-Hesser | Meesha Garbett | Jessica Adair
Daisy Brophy Shyanne Sanders |
| Nigel | Michael Valentine | Ashton Robertson | Arthur Bryne
Jake Pratt Adam Scotland |
| Eric | Andrei Shan | Jack Christou
Toby Murray Shivum Gupta | |
Music
[edit]Radio show
[edit]In December 2009, a two-part radio adaption was broadcasted on BBC Radio 4's Classic Serial by Charlotte Jones with Lenny Henry as the narrator, Lauren Mote as Matilda, John Biggins as Harry Wormwood, Claire Rushbrook as Zinnia Wormwood, Emerald O'Hanrahan as Jennifer Honey, and Nichola McAuliffe as Miss Trunchbull.
References
[edit]- ^ Although, Miss Honey did tell herself to not be pathetic referencing the song.
- ^ "Search | RSC Performances | MIA201012 - Matilda, a musical | Shakespeare Birthplace Trust". collections.shakespeare.org.uk. Retrieved 2025-04-26.
- ^ Magnus is the escapologist in the musicals.
- ^ She isn't physically seen in the 1996 film but is mentioned and she is known as the acrobat in the musicals.