Netflix's "Matilda The Musical" Differs From the "Matilda" Book in MAJOR Ways
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Netflix's movie adaptation of the West End stage production, Matilda The Musical, just dropped in the US on December 25. And while many fans remember the story of a bright young girl with secret telekinetic powers who enrolls in a school run by a tyrannical headteacher from Danny DeVito's 1996 Matilda film, the character first originated in Ronald Dahl's 1988 book of the same title. The '90s movie takes liberties with the plot of the Matilda book, changing key details to fit the silver screen and American audiences, so it is no surprise that Netflix chose to do the same with Matilda The Musical.
If you haven't read the children's novel ever or in a while, you may have missed these subtle swaps. Here are the biggest differences between the Matilda book and Netflix's Matilda The Musical.
Matilda Doesn't Have a Brother
Justice for Michael “Mike” Wormwood! Matilda's older brother, who has a penchant for criminal activities like his father, Harry Wormwood, does not exist in Netflix's version of Matilda The Musical. In the 1996 film, Michael is somewhat of a bully to his sister, calling her "Dip Face," while in the original West End production, he is portrayed as being lazy and not caring much about Matilda.
Matilda Turns Her Father's Hair Green, Not Silver
In Chapter 6 of Dahl's Matilda, the young girl hatches a plan to get back at her father for calling her a "liar" and a "cheat." Matilda knows that her father takes pride in his thick and dark locks, so she replaces his hair tonic with her mother's peroxide-containing hair dye. The next morning at breakfast, her father unknowingly debuts freshly dyed silver hair, which horrifies his wife.
Like the onstage Matilda The Musical, Matilda dyes her father's hair green in Netflix's movie.
Matilda's Mom Likes Dancing, Not Bingo
The change from bingo to dancing as Zinnia Wormwood's preferred hobby makes total sense in the musical adaptation, as there are plenty of dance numbers. However, according to a Radio Times interview with Andrea Riseborough, the actress who played Matilda's mom in the Netflix musical, some of the scenes that featured this change of hobby were cut from the film, including a big musical number she'd worked on for "three or four months."
"We shot [Loud], which isn't in the finished film," she said, "That's often the case with a musical film but it was such a joy to do it and have that sort of fun."
The Wormwoods Move to Spain Due to the Russian Mafia, Not Police
At the end of the book, Matilda's family announces they're moving to Spain, as the British legal system has caught up with Mr. Wormwood's illegal activities at his car dealership. In Matilda The Musical, the Wormwoods move to Spain to evade members of the Russian Mafia, to who Mr. Wormwood sold faulty cars.
Matilda Tells The Story About Miss Honey's Parents
A subplot revolving around Miss Honey's parents is introduced in the musical. Matilda tells her confidant, local librarian Mrs. Phelps, a story about a famous acrobat and escapologist couple who long to have a child but can't. To distract themselves from their sadness, they announce to the world's press that they will be performing a thrilling and dangerous new act. Matilda continues the story later, saying that the acrobat's sister, a former world champion hammer-thrower who loves to scare children, had arranged their performance.
The escapologist announces that the performance has to be canceled because the acrobat is pregnant. The crowd is happy for them, but the acrobat's sister is angry at the prospect of refunding the crowd's money. She then produces a binding contract that forces them to perform the act or go to jail. The pair performed their act, which went well until the last moment when the acrobat became fatally injured. She lived just long enough to give birth to a baby girl. The escapologist invited the acrobat's sister to move in with him to help care for his daughter, but unknown to the escapologist, the girl's aunt is secretly cruel to her, abusing her verbally and physically.
Later, when Miss Honey is recounting the story of her upbringing, Miss Honey brings forth a scarf that Matilda recognizes from her story of the acrobat and the escapologist. She realized that the story she recounted to Mrs. Phelps was that of Miss Honey's childhood and that her evil aunt is Miss Trunchbull.
Trunchbull Runs Away Screaming When She Sees Magnus' Message
To scare Miss Trunchbull away from Crunchem Hall Primary School, Matilda uses her powers to pick up a piece of chalk and write a faux message from Miss Honey's father, Dr. Magnus Honey (who is the headmaster's deceased stepbrother-in-law), on a board. The message written by Matilda demands that Miss Trunchbull return Magnus' daughter's house and money to her, using Trunchbull's first name and Miss Honey's nickname to add to the believability. After Trunchbull sees the message in the book, she faints, leaves the school, and is never heard from again. In Netflix's Matilda The Musical, Trunchbull runs out of the school screaming from fear.
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