I was not kidding about Pig. I'm genuinely trying to save you guys from getting really disturbed and feeling sick for the rest of the day. Please don't look it up.

One of the things I love about movie Matilda is that all the steps she takes to escape her neglectful family are entirely mundane. She has superpowers to combat her particular supervillain, but she found the custody forms at the library. It's a special little piece of practical empowerment mixed in with the power fantasy.

Mara's mother died from cancer during the making of this movie, and Danny and Rhea, who played Matilda's nasty parents, were very supportive of Mara throughout the shoot. Danny later told Mara that her mother had been able to see a cut of the final film before she passed.

I know it's fiction but the thing that always stuck with me is how Miss Trunchball was able to get away with all the abuse she dolled out on the students... This is the aspect of the story that I attributed to be the most terrifying. Not a single parent listened to their child and investigated and not a single teacher reported her, ultimately failing the children.

I loved the way they handled the adoption of Matilda in the movie. There was something sincere and heartwrenching in the way the mom especially acknowledged they weren't a good match for her. I don't know, I liked it.

Matilda was my favorite movie as a neglected, bookworm child. I still remember hearing the words "These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone" for the first time at age six and being struck by how much they fit me.

I never thought that Matilda's Powers were created by boredom. I thought that they were created by trauma. And once she began to heal from that trauma they went away. It made sense to me.
I always viewed it like it was the magical out for her getting away from her bad situation. Once she was in a better happier place she had no need for them. Kind of a Nanny McPhee thing

"Why are all these women MARRIED??" This line has always gotten a genuine laugh out of me

I do find it massively ironic that Matilda and Carrie have almost the same main character but the target demographics lead to very different stories.

Dom: Dahl was a bit unhinged.
Also Dom: Dahl was beaten as a child and suffered brain damage from an airplane crash.

Those things seem connected.

This is my favourite childhood book of all time!

One thing I find interesting that Dom didn’t mention is how poor Miss Honey was in the book compared to the film. In the movie she still lives quite frugally and in a small home, but in the book they go into a lot of detail about how little she has. She has supplies for tea and biscuits, but that is just about the only food in her home. She has to eat lunch from the school every day and doesn’t even have dinner, she just has tea and coffee to tide her over until lunch the next day. She also has barely any furniture, with 3 flipped over crates being the table and chairs for when Matilda comes to visit.

I think this was a really important detail because it shows how immense the Trunchbulls abuse was. I can’t remember if she was severely cutting down Miss Honey’s wages specifically or if that’s a detail I am misremembering, but it still adds another element to how terrible her staff are treated. It also goes to show how much Miss Honeys life changed due to Trunchbulls take over of her families estate and wealth, she literally had to run away and escape her and convince the land owner to let her rent the tiny cottage for very cheap. The fact that she happily chose this life over living in her family home with Agatha just really adds an element to the horror of her abuse to the people around her.

It's so ironic that Danny Devito plays an absolute nasty bastard in that film while also comforting Mara Wilson and her dying mother in real life.

"I'm smart you're dumb, I'm big you're little, I'm right you're wrong, and theres nothing you can do about it!" That line from the movie stuck with me so much as a kid but I din't really understand why until I grew up and interacted with authority figures from my childhood as an adult and started interacting with children as an authority figure myself. You realize that "because I said so" usually means that often adults don't really have the answers for why you're wrong, or if they do they're not willing to explain it to you because of how difficult it is to talk to children. It doesn't always make them bad, like Matilda's parents, sometimes it really is just to keep you safe, but it is something you have to come to terms with as you start to see your parents as people.

One interesting thing that wasn't mentioned actually, was the change in Michael (Matilda's brother)

In the film he's the stereotypical bullying older brother, throwing food at her etc, whereas in the book he's just a very normal kid. He still gets exited at learning his Dad's trade because he's 10 and crime is cool, but he seems mostly nice overall and waves to Matilda after they leave her behind.

I have a lot of respect for Mara.  She had the courage to leave acting behind to focus on her schooling, and her advice to fellow child actors was "Get out when it stops being fun!"  Words of wisdom that I will happily pass on to any and all children I can.  

Also, this book was part of the Accelerated Reading Program in schools.  I read it the Summer before entering 3rd grade, and discovered it ranked as a 6th grade level book!  I was so proud of myself!

when i watched Mathilda for the first time, i related to her character and story so so SO much. growing up being an autistic girl in neurotypical family is quite a challenge that leave a scar of neglecting and isolating trauma. i learned how to read in 3 yo, and have been reading for all my free time (a child has a lot of free time). parents laughed at me when i asked logical questions, calling me “too smart for a girl” (i suffered so much because of this line. cursed myself for being a girl). so - when i first watched Mathilda, i thought “girls can be smart, they can read many books, they can be kind and live happily”. this movie kind of keeps me off the dark side of the power

I'm just out here waiting to see if Dom mentions the fact that Dahl's last words were "You know, I'm not frightened. It's just that I will miss you all so much"... or, at least they would have been, because he then seemed to fall unconscious and then it was decided to give him a dose of morphine to ease his passing and he briefly woke back up as he was receiving the injection.

His last words were actually "Ow, fuck!"

(Yes, I realize this is not relevant to book to movie adaptations, but it's hilarious.)

I did not realize some of the dark undertones in Matilda until years later. For example, the one part. Matilda: "I don't think Magnus killed himself." Miss Honey: "Neither do I!" Their tone in voice and the way they looked at each other!

devito’s version hits that perfect sweet spot for adaptations. he really understood the assignment. as a very underchallenged and kind of neglected kid, matilda was one of my favorite films/books.

Reading matilda as a kid i thought matildas powers were a metaphor for wasted potential, not boredom. Or at least an expression of her unused brainpower