I saw this movie starring Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman and Mara Wilson when it came out in 1996 and enjoyed it. I am just now getting around to reading the book. This book is by Roald Dahl and published in 1988. It is about a gifted child, Matilda Wormwood, her parents who don’t understand her nor appreciate her, her school teacher Jenny Honey, who does understand her, and Miss Trunchbull, the head mistress at the school. I love this book as well as the movie. The movie adds much more intrigue and defines the parents more. It also changes the setting from England to America. However, the indifference of the parents comes through in both venues, as does the cruelty and meanness of Trunchbull, and the delicate nature of Jenny, who turns out to be her niece. Both are entertaining and I recommend them both for an enjoyable time.
Trunchbull is over the top, and the story explains that being over the top, no one will believe a child who says what she does, so she gets away with it. She throws a child over a fence by her hair in the style of the hammer throw. She pulls a kid up by his ears and another by the hair. She is really a ghastly person. The movie added the scene at her house, and Trunchbull jumping from the balcony. It is a classic scene the way she lands.
Another difference is the powers Matilda finds she possesses. They are more extensive in the movie. In fact, in the book, by the end, she loses her powers as she enters a more challenging class after the Trunchbull leaves. Lots of fun.
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