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The Witches is a 1990 film based on the book of the same name by British author, Roald Dahl. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Image File history File links Witchescover. ... Nicolas Jack Roeg, born on August 15, 1928 in London, is an internationally-known cinematographer and film director. ... Jim Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was the most widely known American puppeteer in modern American television history. ... Mark Shivas is a British television producer and executive. ... Roald Dahl (IPA: ) (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a Welsh novelist, short story author and screenwriter of Norwegian parentage, famous as a writer for both children and adults. ... Allan Scott (May 23, 1906, Arlington, New Jersey, USA - April 13, 1995, Santa Monica, California) was a screenwriter that was nominated for an Academy Award for So Proudly We Hail!. Allan was the father of actor Pippa Scott, and brother of film producer and screenwriter Adrian Scott. ... Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston (born July 8, 1951) is an Academy Award-winning American actress of both feature films and television. ... Mai Zetterling (May 24, 1925-March 17, 1994) is an actress; she was born in Sweden and died in the United Kingdom from cancer, and lived for a time in Australia. ... Jasen Fisher (born 1980) was an American child actor, who made his first movie appearance in Parenthood as Kevin Buckman. ... Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is a English comedian, actor and writer, famous for his title roles in the British television comedies Blackadder and Mr. ... Warner Bros. ... February 16 is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The year 1990 in film involved some significant events. ... The year 1990 in film involved some significant events. ... The Witches is a book for children by Roald Dahl, first published in London in 1983 by Jonathan Cape. ... Roald Dahl (IPA: ) (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a Welsh novelist, short story author and screenwriter of Norwegian parentage, famous as a writer for both children and adults. ...

Tagline: Saving the world from witches is a tall order for a boy they've turned into a mouse!

Plot

Witches are a well-connected organization with one goal: the elimination of as many children as possible, ideally all of them; children smell unpleasant to them, which is the only real motive given, apart from that they are just evil. Tired of the witches' habit of concocting elaborate schemes resulting in the removal of perhaps one child at a time, the Grand High Witch comes up with a new plan: to infiltrate England's confectionery retailers and giving away chocolate made with a magic potion called Formula 86 that will turn the children into mice in exactly two hours. It has been suggested that Candy be merged into this article or section. ... A potion (from Latin potio, potionis, meaning beverage, potion, poison) is a drinkable medicine or poison. ... Feral mouse A mouse (plural mice) is a rodent that belongs to one of numerous species of small mammals. ... 2 (two) is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. ...

Unfortunately for her, an old Norwegian witch expert named Helga and her grandson Luke are staying at the hotel where the congregation of witches at which she makes the announcement takes place, which is cleverly disguised as a "Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children" convention. By chance, Luke also happens to be hiding in the convention hall – where he is training his two white mice – at the time, and having received a thorough education about witches from his grandmother, he quickly realizes what is going on. The witches unveil their true selves, removing wigs to reveal bald scalps, their gloves to reveal long, sharp claws, and shoes to reveal their toeless feet. Dariush Grand Hotel,Kish island, Iran The 4-star Manor House Hotel at Castle Combe, Wiltshire, England. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Baldness (formally alopecia) is the state of lacking hair where it usually would grow, especially on the head. ... CLAWS can also refer to the web site of Creating Livable Alternatives to Wage Slavery (CLAWS)[1] CLAWS is a modular open-source software package that provides account and identity management functions in a heterogeneous computing environment. ...

The Grand High Witch turns Luke's new-found friend, Bruno Jenkins (lured there by the promise of six chocolate bars), into a mouse as a demonstration of the method, and the witches soon sense the presence of Luke and capture him – resulting in another mouse with a human mind. Bruno Jenkins is a character from Roald Dahls book, The Witches, where the Grand High Witch turns him into a mouse, by giving him a poisoned chocolate bar. ... A type of chocolate sold by the Cadbury brand in the form of frogs. ... Feral mouse A mouse (plural mice) is a rodent that belongs to one of numerous species of small mammals. ...

Luke and Bruno manage to reach Helga's room safely, and Luke managed to steal a bottle of the potion and use it against the witches by adding it to the soup reserved for the witches themselves. Initially, panic ensues when mice suddenly appear in the dining room, but soon both hotel staff and guests are attacking and killing the rodents – unknowingly ridding England of its witches. The Grand High Witch herself is finally destroyed when Mr. Stringer, the hotel manager, chops her in two with a meat cleaver. But one good witch, Miss Irvine, the Grand High Witch's former put-upon assistant (who finally decides to quit after her boss forbids her to go to dinner with the others), comes to Luke and Helga's house that night and uses her magic to restore him to human form, complete with his glasses, as well as returning his previously lost white mice. Seeing Miss Irvine outside, Luke shouts a reminder to her to also turn Bruno back into a human, to which Miss Irvine gives a reassuring smile before driving away. Her good deed also appears to change her; she laughs at seeing her normal fingers. With England's children now safe from the threat of witches, Luke and Helga begin making plans to return to the United States to destroy the witches there...

Cast

Anjelica Huston (born July 8, 1951) is an Academy Award-winning American actress and former fashion model. ... Mai Zetterling (May 24, 1925-March 17, 1994) is an actress; she was born in Sweden and died in the United Kingdom from cancer, and lived for a time in Australia. ... Jasen Fisher (born 1980) was an American child actor, who made his first movie appearance in Parenthood as Kevin Buckman. ... Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is a English comedian, actor and writer, famous for his title roles in the British television comedies Blackadder and Mr. ... Bill Paterson is a Scottish actor who has appeared in many films, plays and television series. ... Brenda Blethyn OBE (born 20 February 1946) is an English Golden Globe winning and Academy Award-nominated film, stage, television and voice actress, and writer. ... Anne Lambton, credited as Woman in Black in The Witches (1990). ... Jane Horrocks Jane Horrocks (born January 18, 1964) is an English actress and singer. ... Sukie Smith is a British actress. ... Jenny Runacre was born on August 18, 1946 in Capetown, South Africa, one of four girls in the family. ... Actress Emma Relph is the daughter of Michael Relph and half-sister of Simon Relph. ... Jim Carter (born 1951) is a British actor noted for his roles on film and television. ... Roberta Taylor (born 1948 in London), is an English actress. ...

Trivia

• Felicity Dahl has stated that Roald Dahl never again requested someone for a role in his book after the producers of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory denied his request to cast Spike Milligan as the title character. But he was ecstatic when Anjelica Huston was cast as the Grand High Witch, as she had been Dahl's personal favourite for the role.
• This was the last movie to be personally overseen by Jim Henson, before his death in May 1990.
• Felicity Dahl states that Roald Dahl hated the happy ending. He apparently stood outside cinemas with a megaphone, telling people not to watch the film. It was the last of Dahl's books to be developed into a film before his death; he died just months after the film was released.
• Cher was considered for the role of the Grand High Witch before Anjelica Huston was cast.
• The whole section in the start of the movie (until they move to the United Kingdom) is shot in Bergen in Norway, and both Erica and Luke's grandmother Helga speak Norwegian in some parts. The street where they live is called Nykirkesmuget. The police officers drive Norwegian police cars with both Norwegian uniforms and license plates. This would be done because of Roald Dahl's Norwegian background.
• Some of the witches in the convention room scene are actually played by men; they are sat in the rear seats and remain in the background of the movie.
• Michael Palin appears as an extra in the film, as a disguised witch.
• The UK showing of this movie cut two scenes to secure a "PG" rating (some of the gorier shots of Luke turning into a mouse and the Grand High Witch showing her bleeding scalp as she removes her wig).
• It is hinted that the Grand High Witch and Helga know each other; it can be assumed that, in unseen events, the Grand High Witch attempted to eliminate Helga as a child, but failed.
• Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón are in talks of making a new movie based on the book. Guillermo del Toro says he wishes to stay more loyal to the book than the 1990 film did.

Roald Dahl (IPA: ) (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a Welsh novelist, short story author and screenwriter of Norwegian parentage, famous as a writer for both children and adults. ... It has been suggested that Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in popular culture be merged into this article or section. ... Terence Alan Milligan, KBE, (16 April 1918–27 February 2002), known as Spike Milligan, was an Irish writer, artist, musician, humanitarian, comedian, and poet. ... Jim Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was the most widely known American puppeteer in modern American television history. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... Cheryl Sarkisian LaPierre (better known as Cher) (born on May 20, 1946),[1] is an American actress, singer, songwriter, author and entertainer. ... Michael Edward Palin, CBE (born May 5, 1943) is an English comedian, actor and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries. ... Guillermo del Toro (born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco) is an Academy Award-nominated Mexican film director. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Differences between the book and the film version

• In the book, the hero is never named and neither is his grandmother. In the movie, the hero's name is Luke and the grandmother is called Helga.
• In the book, the hero's grandmother told him tales of five children becoming victims of witches. In the movie, she only told him one.
• In the book, the little girl that was turned into part of a large oil painting – a farmyard scene featuring a flock of ducks – owned by her parents was eating a large red apple, given to her on her way home from school by a mysterious woman, which got her into the painting. In the movie, it's unknown what the witch did to get her inside the painting; all that is shown on-screen is the girl taking a short cut home through an alleyway adjacent to the witch's house, and the witch suddenly emerging from hiding in an open doorway, grabbing the girl, and dragging her through the doorway and out of sight. The girl is called Solveg in the book, but for the movie is renamed Erica. In both the book and the movie, the girl constantly changes her position in the painting with no-one ever seeing it happen (despite always being only a motionless oil-painted figure), as well as growing older within the painting; eventually, many years after becoming trapped inside the painting, the girl – now a frail old woman – disappears from it altogether (presumably she died).
• In the book, the hero didn't escape the ballroom with the witches in it; he was turned into a mouse then and there. In the movie, Luke escaped the ballroom but he was eventually caught by the Grand High Witch.
• In the book, the hero finds two children turned into toads at the room of the Grand High Witch. In the film, Luke encounters her pet cat, which his grandmother distracts with a piece of knitting.
• In the book, the hero was never turned back into a human and neither was Bruno. In the movie, Luke was restored to human form, and so was Bruno, both by Miss Irvine (a character created for the movie; she doesn't exist in the book), formerly the assistant of the Grand High Witch, who doesn't get transformed and becomes good – even gaining normal fingers.
• In the book, the boy's grandmother had pneumonia. In the movie, she had a "mild case" of diabetes. The doctor in the movie implied that she would get better soon, although there is as yet no cure for diabetes.
• In the book, the Grand High Witch only removes her mask and leaves everything else on. In the movie, she removed her wig, gloves and shoes as well as her mask.
• At the end of the book, Luke and his grandmother plan to go to Norway (his grandmother's native country) to stop witches there, but in the movie they go to the United States to destroy the witches who live in that country.

Mona Lisa, Oil on wood panel painting by Leonardo da Vinci. ... Binomial name Borkh. ... Alleyway is a Game Boy game published by Nintendo in 1989. ... Pneumonia is an illness of the lungs and respiratory system in which the alveoli (microscopic air-filled sacs of the lung responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere) become inflamed and flooded with fluid. ... This article is about the disease that features high blood sugar. ...

External links

• The Witches at the Internet Movie Database