During the filming of Matilda, actress Mara Wilson’s (Matilda) mother died from breast cancer. The young actress continued on and finished the movie, which she dedicated to her mother’s memory.

If you pay attention to the credits at the end of Matilda, you’ll notice that the three newts in the movie are credited as Mr. Speaker, Sir Isaac and Wayne. These names reference then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Sir Isaac Newton, and Wayne Newton. She is wearing glasses in the book, but she did not usually wear glasses in the film: only once, when she multiplied 13x379 which she asked the class as a joke, but Matilda answered it.

In addition to being adapted into a movie, Matilda has also been adapted into a popular stage musical. The musical version of Matilda opened in London’s West End in 2011, and on Broadway in 2013. The musical won 12 Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical, and five Tony Awards, including Best Book of a Musical. As often happens, there were several differences between the book and the movie. Among them was some "Americanizing" of the story. The location moved from the UK To Los Angeles for the film; the Wormwoods, as well as the majority of the characters, were made American instead of British; and Crunchem Hall is made into an American Public School instead of a British Private School. Harry Wormwood and Miss Trunchbull both use the word "twit" several times throughout the film. Some fans have speculated that this might have been a reference to The Twits—another book by Roald Dahl. Craig Lamar Taylor is known for his role as wheelchair-bound Stevie on the popular sitcom Malcom in the Middle. The actor made his big screen debut in Matilda, playing the little boy who catches the falling newt. Several years later, Miss Honey became a teacher at Crunchem Hall, which was where Miss Trunchbull became principal at. While Miss Trunchbull unleashed a reign of terror on Crunchem Hall, Miss Honey was a well loved teacher towards all of her students. She became especially interested in her newest student Matilda Wormwood because of her smart brain and love of books. She attempted to talk to Trunchbull and Matilda's parents Harry and Zinnia Wormwood, but none of them were willing to listen. After Matilda pulled a prank on Trunchbull, she confided with Jennifer on her telekinesis, while Miss Honey told Matilda about her relationship between her and Miss Trunchbull.

In a 2013 NPR interview with Dahl’s daughter Lucy, she explained the primary reason that Matilda was so important to him: At the time the book was written, television had grown in popularity. According to Lucy, one of Dahl's biggest fears was that books would eventually disappear, and he wanted to write a story about his love of books. Lucy Dahl also stated that this fear made Matilda one of his most difficult books to write. Danny DeVito is well-known for his TV and movie roles such as Taxi, Twins and L.A. Confidential, but he's also a director. Matilda was the fifth film that he directed, and was notable for being his first movie for children. Outside of Matilda, all of his other directorial efforts have been for adults. Danny DeVito musically referenced a couple of different Tim Burton movies in the trailers for Matilda. In one trailer, he used an instrumental version of one of the more popular songs from the Tim Burton movie Nightmare Before Christmas, and in other versions, they used the song “Jump the Line,” which was featured in the Tim Burton film Beetlejuice. Tim Burton also has his own connection to Roald Dahl, having produced the adaptation of James and the Giant Peach. News Breaking News! This category is devoted to all of our news articles, with a focus on the biggest breaking stories in the world of show business. We’ve managed to break plenty of viral news stories in the past, from the release of the new Lion King live-action movie to the announcement that Holly Willoughby would be replacing Ant McPartlin on I’m A Celebrity. As well as entertainment news we also feature breaking articles from the most weird and wonderful corners of the internet. If you want to keep up-to-date with fascinating news stories that are slightly off-the-radar, then this is the place to be.

5. Mara Wilson made Matilda’s doll herself

In a 2012 School Library Journal Survey, readers were asked to vote on their top 100 chapter books of all time. Matilda was chosen as #30, and altogether, Roald Dahl had four books in the top 100—more than any other writer. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was #61, The Witches was #81 and BFG was #88. In another "Easter Egg" for Dahl fans, the movie version of Matilda makes two separate references to his 1983 novel The Witches. The first reference is a visual nod where a copy of the book can be seen on a bookshelf. The second reference is a discussion between Miss Honey and Matilda about the speed of a mouse’s beating heart—the main character and his grandmother also discussed the subject in The Witches. Twins Keaton and Kylie Tyndall were originally set to star as Matilda, but when they came down with the flu, the role was recast with Mara Wilson. One of the lunchboxes from the movie contains a reference to Danny DeVito’s hometown. The slogan reads “Greeting from Ashbury Park, New Jersey,” which is where the actor was raised. Attentive viewers love catching the "mistakes" in movies, and one such error can be spotted in the scene where Miss. Trunchbull throws Amanda Thripp over the fence by her pigtails. When she gets thrown over the fence, her clothes are covered in mud, but in the scene that follows, Amanda’s clothes are clean again.

Roald Dahl took two years to write and rewrite Matilda. After spending between 6-8 months writing the book, Dahl felt that it wasn’t right, and so he started the whole thing over again. Jennifer Honey becomes the new principal of Crunchem Hall in the film as opposed to Mr. Trilby in the book. Famous horror writer Stephen King used an idea from Matilda in one of his books. The idea of writing on a chalkboard with the mind is used to send messages by a character in Dr. Sleep (the sequel to The Shining).The “chokey” in Crunchem Hall was where Miss Trunchbull put kids for punishment. As terrifying as it looked in the movie, in real life, it wasn’t dangerous or scary at all. The fictional cupboard was filled with razor-sharp nails, but for the film the nails were actually made of rubber, and wouldn’t hurt anybody. In 1988, the book Matilda won the Children’s Book Award from the Federation of Children’s Books. The award is voted on by actual children, and is awarded every year in the UK to the books the kids choose as their favorites. Ten years later, the book was voted “The Nation’s Favorite book” in England in a Bookworm poll conducted by the BBC. In 2012, the Royal Mail honored Roald Dahl with a special set of stamps commemorating his books. Matilda is featured on the 76p stamp, and the set also includes Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches, Fantastic Mr. Fox, James and the Giant Peach, and The Twits. A special set of four stamps celebrating the 30th anniversary of The BFG was also released as a special collector’s set.

In the novel, Miss Honey wears glasses, but not in the film (except in one minor instance when she was trying to solve Matilda's math problem of 13 times 379).Television The ‘Television’ section contains all of our articles related to the small screen. We have a very wide range of content – there’s a strong 80s focus with trivia on EastEnders and Grange Hill, but you can also find articles on popular contemporary TV programmes such as Breaking Bad and The Sopranos. If you fancy something a bit more niche then don’t worry – we’ve also got plenty of content on cult hits such as Twin Peaks, The X-Files and Quantum Leap. Happy hunting! Roald Dahl wrote most of his books from a small, cozy hut in his garden. The author would sit in his mother’s old armchair with a custom-made desktop in his lap, and he’d write with pencil on yellow legal paper. According to his daughter Lucy Dahl, his garden was a sacred space, and he saw the hut as his nest.