The Key Differences Between Matilda Book, Movie Musical, and Film

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The newest adaptation of Roald Dahl's Matilda, Matilda the Musical, is streaming now on Netflix. The movie musical is based on the stage adaptation of Matilda, which premiered on London's West End in 2011 and Broadway in 2013. All versions of Matilda—the 1988 novel, the 1996 film directed by Danny DeVito, the West End/Broadway stage film, and the 2022 Netflix movie musical—differ from each other in key ways.

Here, the 5 key differences between Matilda adaptations:

Matilda's age, and brother

The first main difference between the Matlida adapations: How old is Matilda? In Roald Dahl's book, she's five years old; in the 1996 film, she's six and a half; and in the musical, she's back to being five.

Additionally, in the book and film, she has an older brother, Michael; in the musical versions, Michael doesn't exist.

"Matilda is not like other kids. She doesn’t go off crying or sulking when things aren’t fair. When her parents are cruel, she is strong, she gets back up again. She knows she isn’t going to be with them for the whole of her life but for the bits that she is, she is going to show them. You can’t go around treating people badly, they need to be taught a lesson. Matilda is so determined. If she wants something, she'll get it and she'll do it," Alisha Weird, who plays Matilda in the 2022 Netflix musical, explains.

The musical numbers

One main difference between the book and the film adaptation on one hand, and the stage and movie musical on the other is obviously the musical numbers. The stage version, which runs for 2 hours and 40 minutes, has 26 musical numbers across two acts. The film, which runs for just under two hours, has just 13 musical numbers.

One cut musical number, "Loud," was actually filmed but cut from the finished version. "There’s a big musical number that we shot and which we worked on for three or four months, and which isn’t in the finished film," Andrea Riseborough, who plays Matilda's mom Mrs. Wormwood, said. "That’s often the case with a musical film but it was such a joy to do it and have that sort of fun."

And, though "When I Grow Up" is in the movie, too, the famous swings from the stage version do not feature in the Netflix version.

There was a new closing number written for the movie musical, "Still Holding My Hand." "The movie really called for an ending number, because films don’t have curtain calls," Tim Minchin, the film’s composer said. "So it needed to be wrapped up. It needed all the thematic and musical traits to be tied with a nice bow." The song features Matilda (Weir) and Miss Honey (Lashana Lynch).

The gender of the actor who plays Trunchbull

In the 1996 film, actress Pam Ferris plays Trunchbull. In the stage production on the West End and Broadway, Bertie Cavel, a male actor, played Miss Trunchbull. And in the 2022 movie musical, Emma Thompson took on the role of Trunchbull.

"I tried to think very carefully about where that tortured behaviour could have come from. My notion was that Trunchbull had survived a terrible, terrible childhood and so what she hates about children is not necessarily children but rather her own early suffering. That bedrock of background was very helpful for me," Emma Thompson explained of her portrayal. "We were playing on that lovely, fine edge that children love so much where it’s really scary but you know it’s going to be okay in the end. It’s genius, really."

The escapologist and acrobat love story—and the role of Mrs. Phelps the librarian

In the musical (stage and movie), Matilda tells a story of an escapologist and acrobat who fell in love to the librarian, Mrs. Phelps. Mrs. Phelps is in the beginning Dahl's book, but has limited screentime in the 1996 film. However, she has a main role in the musical—Matilda goes to the local library to tell Mrs. Phelps a tale of a world-famous acrobat and escapologist couple who long to have a child. (Later, the child is revealed to be Miss Honey.)

The setting

The 1996 film is the only version of Matilda that takes place in the U.S., in suburban California. All other Matilda versions—including Dahl's novel—are set in the UK.

Watch Matilda The Musical on Netflix

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