Seeing we couldn't discuss the music in the video, let's start a little forum here! :)

The musicals were based solely on the book, and the director of the stage version didn’t even watch the movie. Therefore no dancing Matilda with the flying objects.

There’s also a point to be made about the purpose of Matilda’s powers. In the book, and the musicals, her powers go away when her life becomes better. That’s why she only used them for revenge. Her powers are a temporary tool.

Tbh I'd say having the Amanda Thripp scene be the first scene with Trunchbull in it works better since it shows just how strong, evil and sadistic she is while in the musicals it feels forced

2:50 just pointing out that Danny DeVito was the director as well, not just the producer and star

something I liked in the musicals was when Ms. Trunchbull accuses Matilda first of eating the cake. Not only does it highlight her prejudice and immature feud with like a literal 9 year old, it also shows Matilda standing up for herself. She didnt eat the cake, so she is standing up to the Trunch and telling her no. I like this because it really highlights that she believes in standing up for herself and "changing her story," not letting herself get pushed around because she is "little," which is what she is constantly singing about. I feel like it also shows that she can say no to Ms. Trunchbull, while Miss Honey can't, due to how deeply rooted the latter's trauma is.

I also cannot remember if this happened in the stage musical, but in the movie musical when Matilda is told she has to leave forever, she is resigned and does not stand up for herself, despite what she sings about. With her family, she never seemed to stand up as boldly as she did when she fought with Ms. Trunchbull. Instead of saving herself, Miss Honey saves her and takes her in. I just think that this shows that the two have both horrible upbringings that they cannot save themselves from, but were able to save each other from their traumas. Sometimes it is much easier to save someone else than it is to save yourself.

I feel this comment is a bit much, but i love all adaptations of the book and i was delighted to see a video essay talking about all three!

i figured the chains were a reference to the fact that magnus was an escapologist. him being wrapped in them would have been a familiar sight

When I joined my community theatre, I missed Matilda and couldn't be in it, now it is my favorite musical

I might be more than a little bias considering how I've written an over 3,000 word essay on Michael but cutting him from the movie musical was a bad choice. His main significance is showing a contrast. In the book he's more like a straight man kind of character, he's described as "a completely normal kid" and "ordinary". He's not a maniac like his folks or a genius like his little sister, he's just a fragile normal kid. In the movie he's like someone who didn't get the chance to pursue intelligence. He could've had it in him because we see him offering Miss Honey a beer and he looks back at the camera after Mr Wormwood throws Matilda's book. The scene where the food lands perfectly on Matilda's plate and it gets all over Michael's face shows exactly how the cards were staked against him and the stars never aligned. In the musical he's there to show how kids who don't  get proper education can get messed up. Sorry about the paragraph I'm just really passionate. I also thought it was useless to bring Nigel back into the movie musical if they are going to diminish him so much from his book self. In the book he's really funny because he's so reckless it's terrifying, he stands in front of a terrifying lady and yaps without a care in the world. He's just there in the movie musical

You should do the Legally Blonde movie vs play. Or if you know West Side Story you should compare both movies! They are so good! And then you can do a comparison on the music!

Matilda was one of my favorite books as a neurodivergent gifted kid. I adore the original movie, but I have such a soft spot for the movie musical (definitely not biased, definitely not because I related fully to Quiet and I love Tim Minchin with all my heart and soul /sarc)

6:11 daddy warbucks????

19:55 the musical does hint to this by a few scenes with Matilda’s family, specifically her father. He explains in multiple scenes how he’s trying and eventually semi succeeds in tricking the Russian mafia. Matilda stands ups to this and exclaims that it’s not right, only to be pushed down and threatened by her father. It can be lost in the grander scheme, but I personally thought it was at least decently hinted to. It would make sense when dealing with the mafia that you’d have to run in my opinion

2:44 Yep! It got to the point where my aunt and uncle hated the Broadway production purely because they couldn’t understand a word the actors were saying. 😅

I prefer the movie ending over the movie musical ending when they show what happened when Ms Honey became the new principal. It felt more realistic to me 😅 i havent watched the stage play yet so i cant give my opinion on it.

Overall i enjoyed the video and respect your opinions about them thanks for making it 😊❤

Hi! Library science and film major here! The library caravan/bookmobile/mobile library was most likely utilized to give Mrs. Phelps more mobility so she and Matilda could have their meetings in different places (such as her seeing her outside the school on the first day or being parked in Matilda's neighborhood), as well as to emphasize on how the village they're in is far removed from more dense pockets of civilization. In the novel Matilda lived in a village stated to be just outside of Buckinghamshire county, and a village tends to hold anywhere from 100 to 2,500 people. Bookmobiles were introduced as a way to help communities of people who might not have a library within walking or biking distance gain access to books and they would  partner up with larger nearby library branches to accomplish this. Bookmobiles became especially common in the latter half of the 1900s after the world wars, particularly in more rural communities such as the British countryside or in specific areas of larger cities such as New York.

Hope this helps in trying to explain why they most likely changed this one aspect of the story.

15:46 funny enough his name is Isaac she says it in the beginning of the school song

As soon as you put a heart around Tim Minchin you got a new follower 😆

Edit: the creators of the musical movie (pretty sure it was Matthew Warchus) said the mobile library was so they could shoot in multiple locations and have some more visual interest

I watched the musical movie and started bawling my eyes for one of the songs

Also, the movie adaptation of the musical is one of the best movie musicals of all time and anyone who disagrees can fight me.

imo i loved the escapologist/acrobat thing, because it made things extra interesting and always git excited when she explained more of it