History Film / RoaldDahlsMatildaTheMusical

* TimeShiftedActor: Child actor Amber Adeyinka plays [[spoiler:Miss Honey]] as a young girl.

* AbusiveParents: The Wormwoods are as nasty to Matilda as they are neglectful. They call her names, shove her into her room, and cruelly rip up her library book in front of her.

* AdaptationDistillation: Trunchbull's desire to make a school full of Chokeys is distilled down to just seeing the prototype classroom.
* AdaptationExpansion:
** The original musical's defeat of Trunchbull was merely her being chased out of the classroom by Miss Honey and the children beginning their revolt. Here, it features the destruction of her prototype classroom [[spoiler:by a massive Magnus made out of chains]], and ''her'' being the 'hammer' for an epic throw right through the school roof.
** There's a new addition to the ending that isn't present in the book or stage show: after Trunchbull's defeat, [[spoiler:Miss Honey takes charge of Crunchem Hall and converts it into "The Big Friendly School", a bright and colorful school with an entire ''amusement park'' as a playground]].

* AlliterativeName: '''B'''ruce '''B'''ogtrotter.
* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: When Miss Honey is getting to know Matilda, Matilda gives a long list of books she has read recently, including ''Literature/NicholasNickleby'', ''Literature/JaneEyre'', ''Literature/TessOfTheDurbervilles'', ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Literature/MobyDick'', ''Literature/CrimeAndPunishment'', ...and ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat''.
* BiggerOnTheInside: The kids ponder Bruce's ability to down that massive cake with the lyrics "Or maybe your largeness/Is a bit like the [[Series/DoctorWho TARDIS]]:/Considerably roomier inside."

* IAmSong: In "The Hammer", Miss Trunchbull recalls her GloryDays and explains how they've made her the person she is today.
* IWantSong: "When I Grow Up", both for the children wanting to do things their parents don't allow and for Miss Honey to stand up for herself and confront her demons.

* ShoutOut: The closing montage of Matilda's new happy school and home life includes several to other Roald Dahl stories: [[spoiler:the school is renamed from Crunchem Hall to [[Literature/TheBFG The Big Friendly School]]; the new school pets include [[Literature/TheGiraffeAndThePellyAndMe a giraffe]]; and Matilda and Miss Honey acquire a caravan like the one the protagonists live in in ''Literature/DannyTheChampionOfTheWorld''.]]
* SpellingForEmphasis: At one point during "Bruce", the chorus (tries to) spell out Bruce's name:
-->B-R-O-O-C-E!

* EvilTeacher: Trunchbull, who outright says that a teacher's job isn't to improve childrens' minds and spirits but to grind them down and teach them to be obedient.

* DarkReprise: After her first day of school, Matilda returns home to her parents arguing and sings a sad reprise of "Naughty".

* RunningGag: Nigel's attempts to move a can of soft drink with "psychokinepsis".

* VillainSong: As in the stage production, Miss Trunchbull has two, "The Hammer" and "The Smell of Rebellion".

* AbusiveParents: As usual, the Wormwoods are as nasty to Matilda as they are neglectful. They call her names, shove her into her room, and cruelly rip up her library book in front of her (like in the original story).

* SadistTeacher: Trunchbull, as usual. Both her throwing Amanda and forcing Bruce to eat an entire cake return from the original story, and she takes Matilda's class outside to do a boot camp-style PE lesson in ''pouring rain''. [[spoiler:It also keeps that she indirectly caused the death of Miss Honey's mother and potentially killed Magnus personally.]]

** Miss Honey and Matilda don't break into Trunchbull's house, due to the plot about Magnus being shifted to the story of the Acrobat and Escapologist.

** On the other side of the equation, The First Miracle comes a little over halfway through the book. Here, because of the break in scene getting cut, there's about 20 minutes or so of the plot left before the end.

* ShoutOut: The closing montage of Matilda's new happy school and home life includes several to other Roald Dahl stories: [[spoiler:the school is renamed from Crunchem Hall to [[Literature/TheBFG The Big Friendly School]]; the new school pets include [[Literature/TheGiraffeThePellyAndMe a giraffe]]; and Matilda and Miss Honey acquire a caravan like the one the protagonists live in in ''Literature/DannyTheChampionOfTheWorld''.]]

** Michael no longer appears. As a result, the aesop about television versus books is excised entirely, as well as the song "Telly".

** While they get a passing mention, Sergei and the Russian mafia do not appear at the end.

* ShoutOut: [[spoiler:In the conclusion, the school is renamed from Crunchem Hall to [[Literature/TheBFG The Big Friendly School]].]]

* IdiotPlot: A minor example, but apparently adoption never crossed the Escapologist and Acrobat's minds as they address their "child problem".

* DemotedToExtra: A downplayed case with the Wormwoods; they still play a sizable role here, just not as much as the stage version. Since both of their solo numbers have been cut, their characters aren’t as fleshed out (Mrs Wormwood’s dance career is only hinted at, while Mr Wormwood’s philosophy about television is omitted entirely).

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: When Matilda lists off the books she read to Miss Honey.

* LargeHam: Not to the same extent as Creator/PamFerris, but still, Emma Thompson was clearly having a blast playing The Trunchbull.

* AccidentalTruth: Whenever Matilda visits Mrs. Phelps, she tells her a story about an Acrobat and an Escapologist, but she doesn't know how the story ends for sure, even as the story keeps getting darker and darker. [[spoiler:This is because, unbeknownst to Matilda at first, she's not actually making the story up herself; she is receiving "visions" of Miss Honey's childhood, as the Acrobat and the Escapologist were her parents.]]

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: A very, ''very'' minor case with Miss Trunchbull. She at least lacks the large moles and pale skin of the stage version, though efforts were still made to make Creator/EmmaThompson appear quite ugly, primarily with crooked teeth and exaggerated proportions in the nose and jawline.
* AdaptationalBadass: Magnus Honey in book and previous movie was little more than ignorant and well-meaning, who was presumably murdered while never suspecting a thing by Trunchbull. Here, he's [[spoiler:an accomplished escapologist who found out Trunchbull was abusing his daughter before furiously heading to confront her]]. It's at least implied here he went down fighting.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: In the book, Hortensia was a BigEater and a mischievous [[ThePrankster prankster]], which is what got her in hot water with The Trunchbull so many times. The film portrays her as a more serious tough girl-type, though her knowledge of the Chokey implies that she still gets in trouble quite often. She is seen to not yet be in class when all of the other students have urgently hurried from the hallway, and she is walking in a leisurely way after Trunchbull's countdown has ended, suggesting she doesn't mind being tardy.

** Mrs. Wormwood's dance partner, Rudolpho, is removed as well, though a picture of him can be spotted in the house.

** Miss Honey and Matilda don't break into Miss Trunchbull's house, due to the plot about Magnus being moved to the story of the Acrobat and Escapologist.
** The implication that Matilda lost her telekinesis is removed entirely, preferring to go with the [[Film/{{Matilda}} original film]]'s ambiguity by showing her use her powers to remove Mr. Wormwood's glued-on hat shortly ''after'' Miss Trunchbull's defeat.

* AdaptationDistillation: Miss Trunchbull's desire to make a school full of Chokeys is distilled down to just seeing the prototype classroom.

** The original musical's defeat of Miss Trunchbull was merely her being chased out of the classroom by Miss Honey and the children beginning their revolt. In this film, it features the destruction of her prototype classroom [[spoiler:by a massive Magnus made out of chains]], and ''her'' being the 'hammer' for an epic throw right through the school roof.

--> '''Matilda''': ''Nicholas Nickleby'', ''Jane Eyre'', ''Tess of the D'Urbervilles'', ''Of Mice And Men'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', ''Moby Dick'', ''Crime and Punishment'', and...''The Cat in the Hat''.
* AscendedExtra: Hortensia in the stage version was actually DemotedToExtra, and was simply part of the student ensemble. Her role as the one who warns Matilda about Trunchbull and the Chokey is restored here, and she has an active part in "School Song", "Chokey Chant", and "Revolting Children".

* ColorMotif: The hospital from the opening number is not like any other; the halls are blindingly bright and colorful.

* DemotedToExtra: A downplayed case with the Wormwoods; they still play a sizable role here, just not as much as the stage version. Since both of their solo numbers have been cut, their characters aren’t as fleshed out (Mrs. Wormwood’s dance career is only hinted at, while Mr. Wormwood’s philosophy about television is omitted entirely).

* GenderedInsult: Perhaps based solely on having wanted a son, Mr Wormwood typically refers to Matilda as a boy.
* HappilyAdopted: [[spoiler:Naturally, Matilda is adopted by Jenny Honey at the end and far happier than she ever was before.]]

* LargeHam: Not to the same extent as Pam Ferris, but still, Emma Thompson was clearly having a fun time playing The Trunchbull.
* MovieBonusSong: "Still Holding My Hand", a new closing number, is used in place of the stage version reprising "When I Grow Up" and "Naughty".

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:When faced with leaving Matilda in the care of Miss Honey, Mr. Wormwood, for the first time since (presumably) Matilda's birth, refers to her as "my daughter", having called her a boy/"my son" previously, and genuinely asks Matilda if she would like to be with Miss Honey. As they depart, Mrs. Wormwood can be seen waving to her daughter.]]
* PhysicalFitnessPunishment: In an effort to "break" her students, Miss Trunchbull forces Matilda's entire class to jog through the forest in the rain, before enduring a grueling obstacle course of her design.

** Mrs. Phelps was white in both the book and 1996 film, while the original stage production portrayed her as black. In this version, she is played by an Indian actress, Sindhu Vee.

** In the book, Matilda learns about The Trunchbull's wickedness from Hortensia, while in the stage musical, it's a group of older kids who warn her. This version puts Hortensia back into her original role.
** On the other side of the equation, The First Miracle comes a little over half way through the book. Here, because of the break in scene getting cut, there's about 20 minutes or so of the plot left before the movie ends.
** Also, Ms. Honey is the one who encourages Matilda to go to school in this version, as opposed to meeting her after Matilda starts school.
* VillainSong: Miss Trunchbull has two, "The Hammer" and "The Smell of Rebellion".

* IdiotPlot: A minor example, but apparently adoption never crossed the Escapologist and Acrobat's minds as they address their "child problem".

* SpoiledByTheFormat: When the Escapologist announces that his wife is pregnant and the acrobat's stepsister insists that they uphold the contract and perform, the subtitles indicate that Matilda and [[spoiler:Agatha]] are speaking, even though [[spoiler:it won't be revealed that Miss Trunchbull is the Escapologist's stepsister-in-law (and Miss Honey's aunt) until nearly 45 minutes later.]]

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: A very, ''very'' minor case with Miss Trunchbull. She at least lacks the large moles and pale skin of the stage version, though efforts were still made to make Creator/EmmaThompson appear quite ugly, primarily with a pointed nose, crooked teeth, and exaggerated jawline.

* AdaptationalPersonalityChange: In the book, Hortensia was a BigEater and a mischievous [[ThePrankster prankster]], which is what got her in hot water with The Trunchbull so many times. The film portrays her as a more serious tough girl-type, though her knowledge of the Chokey implies that she still gets in trouble quite often.

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler:When faced with leaving Matilda in the care of Miss Honey, Mr Wormwood, for the first time since (presumably) Matilda's birth, refers to her as "my daughter", having called her a boy/"my son" previously, and genuinely asks Matilda if she would like to be with Miss Honey. As they depart, Mrs. Wormwood can be seen waving to her daughter.]]

** The implication that Matilda lost her telekinesis is removed entirely, preferring to go with the [[Film/{{Matilda}} original film]]'s ambiguity by showing her use her powers to remove the glued-on hat shortly ''after'' Miss Trunchbull's defeat.

* {{Bowdlerise}}: One lyric in "The Smell of Rebellion" is changed from "a dwarf named Zeek" to "a ''parrot'' named Zeek", presumably to avoid calling a dwarf a "carnival freak".

* SadistTeacher: Trunchbull, as usual. Both her throwing Amanda and forcing Bruce to eat an entire cake return from the original story, and she takes Matilda's class outside to do a PE lesson in ''pouring rain''. [[spoiler:It also keeps that she indirectly caused the death of Miss Honey's mother and potentially killed Magnus personally.]]