History Film / NannyMcPhee

%%* AgeGapRomance: Evangeline is young enough to be passed off as Cedric's ''daughter'' (though, admittedly, towards Aunt Adelaide, who's both short-sighted and not particularly attentive towards Cedric and his children as individuals; she is not even aware that she doesn't actually have a grand-niece named Evangeline). Even early in the movie, when Cedric is mostly caught up in his own head, it's made pretty clear that he and Evangeline have taken a shine to each other. %%It's implied that Nanny McPhee used her magic to make Adelaide Stitch believe that Evangelic was Cedric Brown's daughter. Lily later remarks that it would have been impossible for Evangeline to be a sister to the Brown children.

* RemarryingForYourKids: Cedric Brown's necessity to get remarried after his wife's death, due to his aunt-in-law promising to cut off his financial support if he does not find another wife by the end of the month. [[spoiler: By the end of the movie, he marries Evangeline.]

** "He took her lovingly by the hand" from ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''.

** Nanny [=McPhee=] tells the children to "do exactly as they are told", implicitly allowing the children to partake in some mischief when Aunt Adelaide arrives.
** Nanny [=McPhee=] allows a little mischief to take place during the wedding, winking at Simon to get him to encourage the children to start a bee scare at the wedding, and contributing a little magic to help out. %%Although, it may be because she knew Mrs. Quickly would be an unfit stepmother to the children and was okay with the children driving her away a second time. --Not relevant, conjecture.

** The attempts by the children to stop Cedric Brown remarrying succeed, [[spoiler:meaning that the allowance supporting the Brown family would be cut off]], dooming the family.

* JerkassHasAPoint: While Adelaide isn't a pleasant woman, she is right in that the Brown children were uncontrollable, prior to Nanny [=McPhee=]'s arrival, and that they needed a good role-model to serve as an influence. %%[[spoiler:They were ''not'' an utterly lost cause, however, as she seemed to believe.]] %%Adelaide stitch did not consider the Brown children to be a lost cause, although she did believe that they needed a female influence after the death of their mother, the sooner the better.

* BrokenAesop: The film's climax involving aftermath of the Brown kids' sabotage of their father's attempt to make a good impression with Selma Quickly, comes back to haunt them as the marriage was actually going to save their house and family from having to be forced into labor. This is meant to showcase how the kids' naughty actions have consequences and they would have to behave... and yet near the end of the film, apparently it's okay for the Browns to cause mischief sabotage Quickly and Brown's wedding, and make a mess with Great-Aunt Adelaide present, despite the fact that it only pushed Quickly away further, and further damaged their chances at saving their home. This is meant to be portrayed as a funny and cathartic moment, [[AesopAmnesia but it makes it look like the Brown kids learned absolutely nothing]], and it's basically okay to prevent a marriage to someone you possibly dislike, [[spoiler: because he'll be able to marry anyway with someone more loving and caring.]]

* BorrowedCatchphrase: After several instances where Nanny [=McPhee=] justifies her mysterious entrances with "I ''did'' knock", Simon finds himself saying the same to justify himself when he enters her room and she appears in it out of nowhere.

* BrokenAesop: The film's climax involving aftermath of the Brown kids' sabotage of their father's attempt to make a good impression with Selma Quickly, comes back to haunt them as the marriage was actually going to save their house and family from having to be forced into labor. This is meant to showcase how the kids' naughty actions have consequences and they would have to behave... and yet near the end of the film, apparently it's okay for the Browns to cause mischief sabotage Quickly and Brown's wedding, and make a mess with Great-Aunt Adelaide present, despite the fact that it only pushed Quickly away further, and further damaged their chances at saving their home. This is meant to be portrayed as a funny and cathartic moment, [[AesopAmnesia but it makes it look like the Brown kids learned absolutely nothing]], and it's basically okay to prevent a marriage to someone you possibly dislike, [[spoiler: because he'll be able to marry anyway with someone more loving and caring.]]

* SignatureInstrument: Aggie the baby is always seen with a rattle that's very special because her [[MissingMom now-dead mother]] gave it to her. At one point, the evil would-be stepmother Mrs. Quickly breaks it, but then it falls from the sky intact [[spoiler:at the climax of . [[spoiler:Decades later, when Aggie is an old woman, it's revealed that she kept it as a cherished treasure]].

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* FreudianSlip: In the sequel, when Uncle Phil is under threat from two women who keep talking about taking his kidneys out, he once accidentally blurts out that he'll "lose the kidneys" when meaning to say, "sale".

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Despite being "vile and vicious", and "blind as a bat", Great-Aunt Lady Adelaide Stitch supports the Brown family with a monthly allowance, and maintains a strict sense of duty, doing what she believes is best for the family. This includes offering to adopt one of Cedric's children, who would be cared for, and educated in Stitch Manor. As a Stitch, she ''never'' breaks her promises, something that comes into play at the climax of the film.

* CopycatMockery: When sabotaging the wedding, two of the kids put on Mrs. Quickly's fallen hair extensions and copy her line about calling them "the little, small things" from earlier. She [[BeserkButton takes this]] [[WouldHurtAChild as well as you'd expect.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: For all her shortcomings, Great-Aunt Lady Adelaide Stitch supports the Brown family with a monthly allowance, and maintains a strict sense of duty, doing what she believes is best for the family. This includes offering to adopt one of Cedric's children, who would be cared for, and educated in Stitch Manor. As a Stitch, she ''never'' breaks her promises, something that comes into play at the climax of the film.

[[caption-width-right:300:Click [[labelnote:here]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nanny_mcphee_and_the_big_bang.jpg[[/labelnote]] for the second film's poster.]]

The 2005 movie did well in theaters, and a sequel, ''Nanny [=McPhee=] and the Big Bang'' (called ''Nanny [=McPhee=] Returns'' in the United States for undisclosed reasons), premiered in 2010. Creator/MaggieGyllenhaal plays a beleaguered housewife juggling a farm and three children, while awaiting her husband's return from the war. With the added pressure of her brother-in-law wanting her to sell off the farm (to pay off his own gambling debts), and two upper-class cousins staying over, Nanny [=McPhee=] is needed once again. The trailer can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVOzEmywwMM here]].

* AgeGapRomance: Evangeline is young enough to be passed off as Cedric's ''daughter'' (though, admittedly, towards Aunt Adelaide, who's both short-sighted and not particularly attentive towards Cedric and his children as individuals; she is not even aware that she doesn't actually have a grand-niece named Evangeline). Even early in the movie, when Cedric is mostly caught up in his own head, it's made pretty clear that he and Evangeline have taken a shine to each other.
* TheAgeless: [[spoiler: Mrs. Docherty, the elderly lady in the second movie, was Baby Aggie in the first movie. Yet Nanny [=McPhee=] still looks the exact same.]]
* ArcWords: "He took her lovingly by the hand" from ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''.
* BabySeeBabyDo: When Mrs. Quickly tells the children to behave, Aggie repeats it but says, "Beehive!" which inspires the kids, to pretend bees are attacking. Nanny [=McPhee=] gives their act a magical push and the pretend bees start to agitate the other guests.
* BabysittersNightmare: The seven Brown children are such terrors that they take pride in having scared away 17 different nannies.

* BeCarefulWhatYouSay: Happens in both movies:
** When the kids are PlayingSick, Nanny [=McPhee=] makes it real.
** In the sequel, the farm kids refuse to share their beds with the city kids, claiming they'd rather share their beds with the farm's goat and cow. Then the smallest farm kid blurts out "elephant" as his choice, leading up to Nanny [=McPhee=] trying (and succeeding) to hide a literal ElephantInTheLivingRoom.

* BorrowedCatchphrase: After several instances where Nanny [=McPhee=] justifies her mysterious entrances with "I ''did'' knock", Simon finds himself saying the same to justify himself when he enters her room and she appears in it out of nowhere.
* BrattyHalfPint: In both films, with Simon and Celia starting as the worst in each.
* BrickJoke: [[spoiler:The baby elephant]] in the sequel. And a surprising number of people already know Nanny [=McPhee=], including [[spoiler:Mrs. Docherty]].

* ChekhovsGun: Simon laments that his father never plays cricket with him anymore early in the film. At the wedding, when a cake food fight is started, Cedric takes up a violin by the neck and invites Simon to toss him some cake for batting practice.

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Nanny [=McPhee=]'s preferred method of punishment. Play sick? She will make it real. Won't stop fighting? She will [[StopHittingYourself make you beat yourselves up]].
* CopycatMockery: When sabotaging the wedding, two of the kids put on wigs that resemble Mrs. Quickly's hair and copy her line about calling them "small things" from earlier. She takes this [[WouldHurtAChild as well as you'd expect.]]
* CordonBleughChef: Cook, specifically when she makes her "army broth" in the first movie. She is delighted to make it instead of some of the richer fare she usually has to cook, and believes children won't get anywhere eating fancy food.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Half of the madness that the Brown children cause in the first film probably wouldn't have happened if Cedric had just been honest with them about their financial troubles, as the children didn't realize he had to marry to continue receiving money from Great-Aunt Adelaide, and sabotaged a tea with Mrs. Quickly, his awful potential bride, to drive her away. Once they learn from Cedric what they've really done, they return to Mrs. Quickly to apologize so she'll come back and marry their father. [[spoiler:In fairness to them, however, she really ''is'' as horrible as they first believed.]]
* CrushTheKeepsake: Mrs Quickly snaps Aggie's rattle, which belonged to the children's late mother, in two. Nanny [=McPhee=] makes sure to return it, repaired, as she departs at the end.

* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: Mr. Brown tries this on the children, but they retaliate by sneaking into the kitchen and taking the cook hostage.

** Then Simon does it on the day she comes for tea. "We've been told to put our best clothes on, right? Well, I'm putting my best clothes on...[[spoiler:the pig]]."
** And then in the climax, Adelaide herself is the target. She gave her word that if Mr. Brown remarried before the end of the month, she'd keep supporting his family, and she takes pride in ''never'' breaking her word. She failed, however, to [[spoiler:define an acceptable wife]].
* {{Expy}}: Nanny [=McPhee=] is essentially the modern-day Film/MaryPoppins.
* FoodFight: Two -- one near the beginning with chaos, catapults and near-explosions, and [[spoiler:one at the wedding at the end, including wedding cake being thrown. Not to mention the one who kicks it all off is a priest toward the bride -- accidentally, but still.]]
* FoulMedicine: When the Brown children [[PlayingSick play sick]] as an excuse to [[NotAMorningPerson stay in bed]], Nanny [=McPhee=] punishes them by feeding them a thick, black, bubbling medicine that's implied to taste terrible judging by the expressions Simon makes when he takes it.

* GoodStepmother: Evangeline settles fights between the children, tries to help them, and figures out why they're acting out. Their father, Cedric Brown, hasn't paid attention to them since their mother died, but they don't want a stepmother because of [[WickedStepmother fairy tales]]. [[spoiler:By the end of the movie, Cedric and Evangeline marry]].

-->''[the children are heard shouting and quarreling upstairs]''\\

* HoistByTheirOwnPetard: The prank that the Brown children intended to put their great-aunt off adopting one of them - dressing up the donkey - goes wrong and causes Chrissie to run right into Aunt Adelaide... who up to that point had decided ''not'' to adopt one of the girls after all and was about to leave.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: "Great-Aunt Adelaide Stitch was a terrible old person..." however, she does want what she believes is best for her family, albeit through disagreeable means.
* JerkassHasAPoint: While Adelaide isn't a pleasant woman, she is right in that the Brown children were uncontrollable prior to Nanny [=McPhee=]'s arrival. [[spoiler:They were ''not'' an utterly lost cause, however, as she seemed to believe.]]

* KidsPlayMatchmaker: A sub-plot involves the kids' father being single and his snobby aunt-in-law Adelaide saying that he needs a new wife and trying to force him to marry an awful woman named Mrs Quickly. At the end, the kids get him out of it by having him marry [[spoiler:Evangeline the maid.]]

* MeaningfulName:
** While not prominent, Celia and Cyril's surname is Gray while Isabel's family is Green. Celia and Cyril come from the city while Isabel's family lives on the countryside. This also ties into the themed naming from the film in general, as the protagonists from the last film have the surname Brown.

** Rory Green in the second movie is away serving in "[[GreatOffscreenWar the war]]," and is thus unaware of his brother Phil's attempts to con his wife Isabel out of their farm in order to pay Phil's gambling debts.

** When Cedric's kids ruin his chance at marrying Mrs. Quickly, they believed they had finally stopped their father from attempting to get them an evil stepmother. Cedric, having tried to shield his kids from the reality of his financial situation (which requires him to be married by the end of the month, which was just days away, or he loses Aunt Adelaide's financial support), walks in completely destroyed and informs the kids of what they had just done, leading them to realize how wrong they were to do so.

** While she was sent to straighten out the Brown children, Nanny [=McPhee=] allows a little mischief to take place during the wedding and seemed to have participated in the bee scare. Although, it may be because she knew Mrs. Quickly would be an unfit stepmother to the children and was okay with the children driving her away a second time.
** Like Nanny [=McPhee=] in the above example, Cedric was tired of his children causing trouble with their pranks. However, he proved himself to be okay with their mischief during the wedding and acted as though there were bees buzzing around Mrs. Quickly's hat. He also appears to be stifling laughter when Mrs Quickly hits Aunt Adelaide in the face with cake.

* PieInTheFace: Or wedding cake in the face, actually. Aunt Adelaide is too proper to throw food herself, so she has her servant throw on her behalf.

** The children pretend to have the measles with Nanny [=McPhee=], but she doesn't buy it for a second. [[spoiler:And she punishes them for it by making them sick for real and physically unable to get out of their beds.]]
** [[spoiler:They also pretend to be attacked by bees at the wedding. It, too, becomes more real and succeeds.]]
* PolitenessJudo: Nanny [=McPhee=] utilizes this on occasion to throw adults off her supernatural aspects, like claiming she knocked whenever she teleports into a room because the person in the room would never want to accuse her of barging in, or gaining entry to the Brown household by catching Cedric off-guard with a direct request to come in.
* PunnyName: Selma Quickly's surname, given that Cedric is under a short deadline to marry and she is the only available option. As Cedric puts it with dread, "I shall have to marry Quickly."
* RadishCure: Nanny [=McPhee=]'s magic usually operates on the idea, as most of her lessons involve [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor granting the childrens' wishes exactly.]] When they cause chaos in the kitchen or fight with each other, Nanny [=McPhee=] makes it impossible for them to stop, to the point of risking serious damage, until they verbally and politely express the desire to and apologize. When they pretend to be sick to stay in bed all day, Nanny [=McPhee=] will make them sick for real and magically bind them to their beds, requiring disgusting medicine and soup to heal, making their sick day no picnic. These methods soon earn the respect and obedience of the children.

* Really700YearsOld: [[spoiler:If the fact that Nanny [=McPhee=] is the same in both movies despite a possible time difference of ''60 years'' is any indication.]]
* RemarryingForYourKids: A major plot is the first movie is Cedric Brown's necessity to get remarried after his wife's death, due to his aunt-in-law promising to cut off his financial support if he does not find another wife. [[spoiler: By the end of the movie, he marries Evangeline. ]]

* SignatureInstrument: Aggie the baby is always seen with a rattle that's very special because her [[MissingMom now-dead mother]] gave it to her. At one point, the evil would-be stepmother Mrs. Quickly breaks it, but then it falls from the sky intact. [[spoiler:Decades later, when Aggie is an old woman, she has kept it as a cherished treasure]].

* SoupIsMedicine: Ms. Blatherwick, the cook, claims that the best thing to cure an ill person is potato gruel with peelings in. However, the children, who are PlayingSick, hate it.
* TakeAThirdOption: In the first movie, Lady Adelaide gives Cedric [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse an offer he can't refuse]]: she will take in one of his daughters (and ''only'' daughters) to live with her. She is especially keen on taking the youngest, Chrissie, while Nanny [=McPhee=] reminds the children that they can't send away the donkey they hoped to trick their great aunt into taking. It takes some quick thinking from Simon, but ultimately [[spoiler:Evangeline is sent away, having been passed off as a daughter of Cedric's despite actually being their scullery maid]]. This later happens again with similar circumstances: [[spoiler: Cedric marries Evangeline when he realizes he cannot marry Mrs. Quickly, his seeming only option]].

* ToughLove: Nanny [=McPhee=]’s tactics for teaching the children to be better is by being a little harsher than one expects. When the Brown children pretended to be sick, she casted a spell on them, which made them actually sick and she treated them as one would with sick children like giving them medicine and having them eat soup.

* WickedStepmother: The Brown siblings chase away their father's prospects because they believe in this trope, and don't understand that Cedric has no other choice if he wants to get enough money from his aunt to support his family. Played straight in that Selma Quickly really would have been a rotten stepmother, had she actually married Mr. Brown. Subverted by the sweet Evangeline actually being the one becoming the kids' stepmother, much to everyone's joy.
* WickedWitch: Nanny [=McPhee=] takes significant cues from this. She's an old woman who wears a conservative outfit in all black, with an ugly nose, snaggle tooth, and warts, and uses a magic stick. The second film even gives her an animal companion who is strongly implied to be a human she transformed. Of course, she's not actually evil and her witchy elements decrease as the families learn.

!!Tropes specific to ''Nanny [=McPhee=] and the Big Bang''
* AffablyEvil: Topsey and Turvey, especially the former, are friendly, polite, and cheery to Phil. They also plan on subjecting him to several gruesome fates per Mrs. Biggles's instructions, but to them that's nothing to get upset over.
* AllThereInTheManual: The film's {{Novelization}} greatly expands the backstories of most of the characters.
* BaitAndSwitch:
** On the night when things are going wrong after the cousins' arrival, someone bangs on the door and we see a familiar profile through the window. It turns out to be Phil holding a paper over his head. The next knock is actually from Nanny [=McPhee=].
** When Celia refuses to go out to help catching piglets in the mud, at first it seems to her (and us) that Nanny [=McPhee=] is going to force her to go outside with magic...then she just holds up a pair of wellingtons.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: In the sequel. The extent of Phil's wrongdoing is finally made known to Isabel, even as he tries to get the military police guy to cart him off - but the MP has to tend to a bomb threat, leaving Phil with a handcuff on him. Isabel takes the other end and ''cuffs him to the wall'', sealing his fate one way or another.
* BigBad: Phil's efforts to manipulate the Greens into selling the family farm are what cause all the problems in the film, with the exception of the UXB, which was just poor timing.
* BlanketTugOWar: The baby elephant takes Vincent's blanket for itself.
* BlatantLies: As with before, Nanny [=McPhee=] offers a strange justification for herself, calling herself an "army nanny" in this film and indulging a bit in the army motif. She does have the respect of several soldiers, but it's implied they all had visits from her.
* BlitzEvacuees: The cousins from London. [[spoiler:Though that wasn't the only reason they were sent to the countryside...]]
* BrainyPig: Zigzagged in the sequel. The piglets do synchronised swimming and climb trees, but that was because [=McPhee=] put a spell on them. The guy who buys them claims that he knew a pig who could play Scrabble and another who could [[TalkingAnimal count to ten in French]]. He turns out to be joking for the last one, but he admits that pigs are clever animals.
* BrightIsNotGood: Topsey and Turvey both wear bright clothing with popping colors, and they're both hitwomen.
* CassandraTruth:
** When the kids talk about [[spoiler:the pigs' amazing abilities, like synchronized swimming and climbing trees,]] Isabel tells them to stop telling lies.
** Similarly, the characters laugh off Mr. Docherty's hypothetical scenario of a pilot sneezing and accidentally dropping a bomb on the empty countryside, but this is exactly what happens in the climax. Fortunately, it doesn't go off and it can be defused.
* CasualDangerDialogue: When the bomb hits.
--> '''Vincent:''' I'm going to get under the table.
--> '''Mrs Green:''' I'll pop the kettle on.
--> '''Mr Docherty:''' Mine's a milk and two sugars.
* ChekhovsSkill: From a ''bird'' of all things, whose predilection for putty comes in handy when defusing a bomb.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Mrs. Docherty's a bit odd, seemingly from a mix of old age and innate whimsy. She stores loose syrup in shop drawers, decides to sit on a cow pat even after learning what it is because it looks comfortable, and when her husband, a safety marshal, faints during the bomb defusing panic, she earnestly tries to wake him up [[ComicallyMissingThePoint so he doesn't miss the explosion]].
* ContinuityNod: In the sequel, [[spoiler: Mrs. Docherty turns out to be Aggie, the youngest Brown child from the previous movie, and she still has her precious rattle]].
* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: In the sequel, Mrs. Docherty, the loopy general store owner played by Maggie Smith happens to [[spoiler:know Nanny [=McPhee=] personally]].
* EekAMouse: Faked by Celia to keep her aunt Isabel from signing Phil's contract to sell the farm. When the film cuts back to the scene, we find out that she manages to pull this off for ''thirty minutes'', screaming the whole time.
* EurekaMoment: The kids in the second film have one when they realize it wasn't some military tech or gas that Nanny [=McPhee=] used on them, but ''magic''.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: A BritishRoyalGuard turns out to be one of Nanny [=McPhee's=] charges from the past. [[spoiler:So was old Mrs. Docherty-- known as Agatha/Aggie Brown before her marriage.]]
* FreakOut: [[spoiler: When the bomb hits, it seems the pressure of the last few days - trying to get Isabel to sell the farm before time runs out and Topsy and Turvy butcher him - hits Phil all at once and he starts desperately begging Mr Docherty to arrest him where he'll be safe, much to everybody's confusion.]]
* FrozenFashionSense: Nanny [=McPhee=]'s personal attire hasn't changed in the decades since the previous story, though she briefly dons a contemporary army uniform when speaking to her former charge.
* {{Gasshole}}: Mr. Edelweiss the rook's habit of eating putty turns him into one. [[RunningGag Consistently.]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: Mrs. Biggles is a casino owner who Phil owes gambling debts to. While she never appears in the film, she's the one who sends Topsey and Turvey after Phil, thus driving Phil to his BigBad actions.
* InjuredLimbEpisode: [[spoiler: Rory Green comes back at the end of the second film with his arm in a sling.]]
* KickingMyOwnButt: Nanny [=McPhee=] casts a spell on the Greens and their cousins, which causes them to fight themselves rather than each other while Vincent gets compelled to destroy their valuables, and will end up destroying their father's letters if the scene goes on. She promises to lift the spell if they apologize for hurting each other.
* LeapOfFaith: In the sequel film, one of Nanny [=McPhee=]'s medals is for Leaps of Faith and, at the end of the film, she awards it to Isabel.
* LighterAndSofter: The second film has a lot more whimsical, extravagant, and perhaps frivolous uses of magic, and the scary vibe around Nanny [=McPhee=] herself is reduced, with her participating in more comedic moments.
* LightIsNotGood: Miss Topsey and Miss Turvey are both pretty blond women who wear bright clothing, and sound sweet and friendly. They're also mercenaries who are perfectly happy to kill anyone Mrs. Biggles asks them to.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The girls have to prevent Isabel from signing the deed to the farm, and Megsie successfully filches uncle Phil's pen. When Phil finds three more in a drawer, [[spoiler:Nanny [=McPhee=] intervenes by bringing back [[BrickJoke the baby elephant]] to snatch the three pens without him knowing. And then he finds the first pen on Megsie]].
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Miss Topsy and Miss Turvy in the sequel, who talk about harvesting Phil's kidneys and taxidermising him with mad glee.
* {{Novelization}}: This film has one written by Emma Thompson, who plays Nanny [=McPhee=] and was the writer for both films. It was her first ever children's book and it takes the form of a movie filming diary mixed in with the film's story.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Implied. Nanny [=McPhee=] asks Norman to not lose her stick as the paperwork to replace it is unbelievable.
* OverlyLongScream: Celia when faking seeing a mouse. She apparently had been screaming for ''half an hour straight''.
* PetTheDog: Cyril and Celia’s butler is just as pompous as they are and wants to leave them behind as fast as possible, but when he returns to give them some unfortunate news [[spoiler: [[ParentalNeglect involving their parents]]]] he is much softer to them and even seems to be on the verge of tears showing he does care for their well-being.
* RunningGag: "Nanny [=McPhee=]. Small 'c', big 'P'" becomes Nanny [=McPhee=]'s standard greeting.
* SheIsAllGrownUp: Mrs. Docherty is revealed to be [[spoiler: Aggie Brown from the first movie.]]
* TheStinger: At the end, [[spoiler:the elephant gets to enjoy the Scratch-o-Matic machine that was designed for the pigs.]]
* TimeBomb: Of a sort. An unexploded bomb drops and must be defused, with the pressure of error and its potential to explode at any moment by itself.
* TitleDrop: Mr. Docherty warns Isabel and family of the threat of bombings, calling it "the Big Bang". The American title averts this.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Megsie and Celia, although the difference is less obvious as the movie goes on and they get closer to each other.
* TrappedByGamblingDebts: Why Phil is so desperate in convincing Isabel to sell the Greens' farm in the sequel. He gambled away his legal half of the farm at a casino, and two hit women eagerly want to either collect it, [[CruelAndUnusualDeath or his kidneys]].
* WardrobeWound: Celia shrieks more about her new clothes being dragged in the mud than during the ensuing beat-'em-up scene.
* WireDilemma: With an unexploded bomb.

* AgeGapRomance: Evangeline is young enough to be passed off as Cedric's ''daughter'' (though, admittedly, towards Aunt Adelaide, who's both short-sighted and not particularly attentive towards Cedric and his children as individuals). Even early in the movie, when Cedric is mostly caught up in his own head, it's made pretty clear that he and Evangeline have taken a shine to each other.

** Like Nanny [=McPhee=] in the above example, Cedric was tired of his children causing trouble with their pranks. However, he proved himself to be okay with their mischief during the wedding and acted as though there were bees buzzing around Mrs. Quickly's hat.

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Half of the madness that the Brown children cause in the first film probably wouldn't have happened if Cedric had just been honest with them about their financial troubles, as the children didn't realize he had to marry to continue receiving money from Great-Aunt Adelaide, and sabotaged a tea with Mrs. Quickly, his awful potential bride, to drive her away. Once they learn from Cedric what they've really done, they return to Mrs. Quickly to apologize so she'll come back and marry their father. [[spoiler: In fairness to them, however, she really ''is'' as horrible as they first believed.]]

* EmptyChairMemorial: The late Mrs. Brown’s chair is left untouched by Cedric. Twice throughout the movie, Nanny [=McPhee=] bows to the chair respectfully.

* {{Expy}}: Nanny [=McPhee=] is Film/MaryPoppins.

{{(Beat)}}\\

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: "Great-Aunt Adelaide Stitch was a terrible old person…" however, she does want what she believes is best for her family—through disagreeable means.
* JerkassHasAPoint: While Adelaide isn’t a pleasant woman, she is right in that the Brown children were uncontrollable prior to Nanny [=McPhee=]’s arrival. [[spoiler:They were ''not'' an utterly lost cause, however, as she seemed to believe.]]
* KidsPlayMatchBreaker: After being told he must remarry or lose his allowance from Aunt Adelaide, Cedric invites Mrs. Quickly for tea, intending to propose. The kids try to sabotage the date by putting toads and tadpoles in the pot and cups, trying to dump Jello on her head, and flinging mashed potatoes at her. It kind of works—while none of the tricks go through or touch Mrs. Quickly, Cedric’s [[AccidentalPervert attempts to rescue her give her the wrong message about his intentions]].

* MissingMom: Unlike the books, Mrs. Brown is dead. Her death is crucial to the plot as her aunt is threatening to cut off Cedric unless he marries before Adelaide’s deadline ends…by the end of the month.

* MistakenForFlirting: Cedric Brown plans to marry Selma Quickly, but he's not in love with her; his aunt is pressuring him to get married or else she will send some of his kids to the workhouse. When the children are [[KidsPlayMatchBreaker setting up pranks around the house]] and he is trying to protect her from them, she thinks his leaning on her, grabbing her hand, etc. are attempts at seduction.

** When Simon ruins Cedric's chance at marrying Mrs. Quickly, he believed he had finally stopped his father from attempting to get them an evil stepmother. Cedric, having tried to shield his kids from the reality of his financial situation (which requires him to be married by the end of the month, which was just days away, or he loses Aunt Adelaide's financial support), walks in completely destroyed and informs the kids of what they had just done.

** Like Nanny [=McPhee=] in the above example, Cedric was tired of his children causing trouble with their pranks. However, he proved himself to be okay with their mischief during the wedding and acted as though there were bees buzzing around Mrs. Quickly’s hat.

-->''"When you need me but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me but no longer need me, then I have to go."''

{{Beat}}\\

* WickedStepmother: The Brown siblings chase away their father's prospects because they believe in this trope, and don't understand that Cedric has no other choice if he wants to get enough money from his aunt to support his family. Played straight in that Selma Quickly really would have been a rotten stepmother -- had she actually married Mr. Brown. Subverted by the sweet Evangeline actually being the one becoming the kids' stepmother- much to everyone's joy.

* AdaptedOut: In the original ''Nurse Matilda'' books, there are even more children in the Brown family. In the film, there are only seven.

* SpotOfTea: Lady Adelaide Stitch demands tea the instant she arrives at the Brown household, and Cedric and Mrs. Quickly have tea together, which the children do their best to sabotage.