Trivia / The Witches (1990)

• Completely Different Title: In Italy, the film is titled Chi ha paura delle streghe?^note Who is afraid of the witches?.
• Disowned Adaptation: Roald Dahl allegedly hated the film version (or rather the ending of the film, everything before was note for note from the book — but Dahl was notorious for lambasting any changes in the film adaptations of his works anyway) so much that he stood outside cinemas telling people not to watch it (he was sick at the time and actually died later that year, so that should give you an idea of how much he hated it), and almost took it a step further by trying to start a negative campaign only to be talked down by Jim Henson. There was at least one thing he liked about the movie, though: Anjelica Huston's performance as The Grand High Witch.
• Fake Nationality: Västerås-born Swedish actress Mai Zetterling plays the Norwegian Helga Eveshim.
• Focus Group Ending: An ending more in line with the book's was filmed but test audiences disliked it. So instead an ending where Luke is turned back into a boy, with the same being implied to happen to Bruno too, was inserted. As noted above, Dahl was not happy with this change despite being an otherwise faithful adaptation of the book.
• In Memoriam: "For Jim Henson".
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: There was an ending filmed that was more in line with that of the book; unfortunately it was not included in the film, much to Roald Dahl's dismay. It also hasn't seen any release as an extra on VHS or DVD.
  • Some scenes were edited down or cut entirely due to the director realising they were too scary after seeing his son's reaction to the initial cut of the film. These scenes haven't seen any form of release.
• Playing Against Type: Rowan Atkinson as a serious hotel manager, who's the Only Sane Man to the rest of the wacky characters.
  • Admittedly at the time this film was made Atkinson was more known for Only Sane Man and Deadpan Snarker parts like this such as Blackadder, and he hadn't yet become iconic as Mr. Bean, which lessens this trope somewhat.
• Posthumous Credit: Despite his May 1990 death, Jim Henson is still given a credit as producer, since he was heavily involved in the film's production.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Jim Henson's son Brian was one of the film's puppeteers.
  • In the Latin Spanish dub, Víctor Ugarte voices Luke and his younger sister Xóchitl Ugarte voices Erica. Their uncle Eduardo Fonseca voices the hotel's chef.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: Lorimar folded after the film was completed, and it languished for over a year until Warner Bros. released it (having bought Lorimar and inherited it).
• What Could Have Been: Before Anjelica Huston was cast, Anne Bancroft, Linda Blair, Geneviève Bujold, Cher, Frances Conroy, Faye Dunaway, Jodie Foster, Olivia Hussey, Eartha Kitt, Liza Minnelli, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Redgrave, Susan Sarandon and Sigourney Weaver were all considered for the Grand High Witch.
• Written-In Infirmity: Mai Zetterling (Grandma) really did have a missing finger, which was exploited for the film. A marginal example, as Grandmamma has a missing thumb in the book too.

---