The Witches (1990 film)

The Witches
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Nicolas Roeg
Produced by	Jim Henson Mark Shivas Dusty Symonds
Screenplay by	Allan Scott
Based on	The Witches by Roald Dahl
Starring	Jasen Fisher Anjelica Huston Mai Zetterling Rowan Atkinson
Music by	Stanley Myers
Cinematography	Harvey Harrison
Editing by	Tony Lawson
Studio	Jim Henson Productions Lorimar Film Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	United Kingdom 25 May 1990 United States 24 August 1990 Australia 30 September 1990
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Box office	$10,360,553 (North America)

The Witches is a 1990 comedy and fantasy film based on the book of the same name by Norwegian-British author Roald Dahl. Originally produced in 1989, it was directed by Nicolas Roeg and produced by Jim Henson Productions for Lorimar Film Entertainment and Warner Bros., starring Anjelica Huston, Mai Zetterling and Rowan Atkinson. As well as being the final film that Jim Henson personally worked on before his death, this was also the final theatrical film produced by Lorimar Productions as well as the final film Mai Zetterling worked in and the last film made based on Dahl's material before his death in 1990.

Plot

While visiting his grandmother Helga (Mai Zetterling) with his parents in Norway, Luke Eveshim (Jasen Fisher) learns about witches: demonic females who destroy children. Helga tells Luke the story of an old friend of hers who was taken by a witch and ended up locked in a painting for the rest of her life.

After Luke's parents are killed in a car crash, Helga takes him under her wing and they move to England. While playing in his treehouse, Luke is approached by a woman who offers him a snake and a bar of chocolate, but her purple eyes give her away as a witch and Luke refuses. On Luke's birthday, Helga falls ill due to diabetes and the doctor recommends a trip to the seaside to improve her health. Helga and Luke stay at the Excelsior Hotel by the beach but, unknown to either of them, a convention of witches is gathering for their annual meeting with the Grand High Witch (Anjelica Houston), going by the name Eva Ernst and posing as the chairwoman of the RSPCC (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children). Luke meets and befriends a boy, Bruno Jenkins (Charlie Potter), but immediately gets on the bad side of the hotel manager, Mr. Stringer (Rowan Atkinson), when one of the charladies (and Stringer's secret girlfriend) catches Luke with his pet mice. Stringer begrudgingly allows Luke to keep the mice as long as they are kept in their cage. Luke later sneaks into an assembly hall and hides in a corner to train his mice in secret.

The witches enter the hall and prepare for a meeting, removing their wigs and shoes, revealing their square-ended feet. The Grand High Witch herself goes on stage and removes her wig and mask, revealing her true, monstrous form. After chiding the witches for their lack of progress in eliminating the children of England, the Grand High Witch presents them with her latest creation, a magic potion meant to turn the drinker into a mouse. To demonstrate, she lures Bruno into the assembly hall with an earlier promise of chocolate after feeding him a chocolate bar which was laden with the formula. To Luke's horror and the audience's delight, Bruno turns into a mouse and flees, leaving behind his clothes. As the Grand High Witch declares the meeting over and the witches prepare to leave, one witch, a hotel chamber maid, smells Luke's scent and he is found. After a long chase, the witches catch Luke and force him to ingest an entire bottle of the formula, turning him into a mouse instantly. Luke barely manages to escape as the witches stomp on his clothes to kill him, but he evades them and reunites with Bruno. The two make their way to Helga's room and tell her the story. Knowing of the Grand High Witch's plan, Luke devises a plan to get a bottle of the formula and douse the witches' food with it. He manages to retrieve one, barely avoiding the Grand High Witch's pet cat, Liebschen. They then attempt to return Bruno to his parents and get them to flee the hotel in case things go wrong, but they refuse to believe Helga's story about Bruno being turned into a mouse.

At dinnertime, Helga sneaks Luke into the kitchen and he overhears that all the witches have ordered cress soup. Despite some great difficulty, Luke manages to drop the bottle with the formula into the soup, but he is discovered by the staff and his tail is almost chopped off. By hiding inside the head chef's (Jim Carter) trouser leg, Luke escapes when the rest of the staff forcibly pull the head chef's trousers off and search frantically for him. Unfortunately, Mr. Jenkins (Bill Paterson), unsatisfied with his Cock-a-leekie soup, orders a bowl of cress soup, and Helga is only barely able to stop him consuming it. She finally manages to convince him of what has happened to Bruno when he sees Bruno greet him and the rest of the witches turn into mice. Mr. Stringer and the kitchen staff enter the chaos-ridden dining room and begin killing the mice, with Mr. Stringer himself slaying the Grand High Witch after being tipped off by Helga. During the scuffle, Helga and Luke return Bruno to his parents, go to bed and pack their bags and leave the next day.

Later on, back in their cottage in the countryside, Luke and Helga are delivered a trunk full of the Grand High Witch's money and her diary, something Luke had orchestrated earlier on in order to finance their possible mission to eradicate the witches around the world once and for all. During the night, the Grand High Witch's assistant, Miss Irvine (Jane Horrocks), whom the Grand High Witch had mistreated throughout her position, arrives at the cottage and uses her powers to turn Luke back into a human (nude), in the process returning his pet mice and glasses to him. Luke and Helga see her out of the window and bid her farewell as she leaves to repeat the process with Bruno.

Cast

• Anjelica Huston as Miss Eva Ernst/Grand High Witch
• Jasen Fisher as Luca "Luke" Eveshim
• Mai Zetterling as Helga Eveshim
• Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Stringer
• Jane Horrocks as Miss Ann Irvine
• Bill Paterson as Albert Jenkins
• Brenda Blethyn as Mrs Jenkins
• Charlie Potter as Bruno Jenkins
• Anne Lambton as The Woman in Black
• Sukie Smith as Marlene
• Rose English as Doreen
• Jenny Runacre as Chrissie
• Annabel Brooks as Nicola
• Emma Relph as Millie
• Nora Connolly as Beatrice
• Rosamund Greenwood as Janice
• Ola Otnes as Erica's Father
• Serena Harragin as Doctor
• Angelique Rockas as Henrietta
• Elsie Eide as Erica

Puppeteers

The following have done special puppeteer work in this film.

• Anthony Asbury
• Don Austen - Luke's Mouse Form, Bruno's Mouse Form
• Sue Dacre
• David Greenaway - Mice
• Brian Henson
• Robert Tygner - Mice
• Steve Whitmire

Reception

During the 1980s, Nicholas Roeg made a string of films that got mixed reviews or were simply disliked.^{[citation needed]} Those that did appear in theatres ran for a short time or went to independent release. However with The Witches, he returned to mainstream film and the film opened to critical praise as it had the best of both worlds. It was a film featuring the puppetry of Jim Henson (of Muppets fame) and the hallmarks of Nicholas Roeg's offbeat storytelling. Though it was liked by critics and audiences alike, it performed poorly at the box office.

Roald Dahl regarded the film as "utterly appalling" because of the ending that contrasted with the book.

Awards

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (1991)

• Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actress (Anjelica Huston)
• Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Make-up (John Stephenson)
• Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Music (Stanley Myers)
• Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor (Jasen Fisher)
• Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress (Mai Zetterling)

BAFTA Awards (1991)

• Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Makeup and Hair (Christine Beveridge)

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards (1991)

• Won – Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress (Anjelica Huston)

Fantasporto (1991)

• Nominated – International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film (Nicolas Roeg)

Hugo Awards (1991)

• Nominated – Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (1990)

• Won – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (Anjelica Huston)

National Society of Film Critics Awards (1990)

• Won – National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress (Anjelica Huston)

Filming locations

The whole section in the start of the film (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. Much of the film was shot on location in the Headland Hotel (which was named "Hotel Excelsior" in the film) situated on the coast in Newquay, Cornwall.

Release

The film was premièred on 25 May 1990 in London. The film took $10,360,553 in the United States and 266,782 in Germany.

Home media

The film has been released to VHS and to DVD in 1999; however, both versions (and any TV screenings) use the original open matte negative of the film, instead of matting it down to 1.85:1 (or 1.66:1). More recently, the film was released in the Netherlands in 2009. This DVD is shown in its theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1.

Soundtrack

The film contains an orchestral score composed by Stanley Myers. To date, a soundtrack CD has not been released, and the entire score remains obscure. Throughout the score, the Dies Irae appears, highly reminiscent of Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique Mvt. V, "The Witches Sabbath".

See also

• List of films featuring diabetes

External links

• The Witches at the Internet Movie Database
• The Witches at AllRovi
• Movie stills
• The Witches at Muppet Wiki
• The Witches at Rotten Tomatoes