| | | Saving the world from witches is a tall order for a boy they've turned into a mouse!
Features: DVD, Pan and Scan (TV Format), French, Subtitled, Scene Access
From Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs to The Wizard Of Oz, many classic tales through the centuries wouldn't be half as exciting without the devious doings of a witch. Now add another to the venerable tradition of stories that deliver family fun every witch way, a collaboration combining the effects wizardry of executive producer Jim Henson and the imagination of Willy Wonka creator Roald Dahl. Academy Award winner Anjelica Huston won the Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics Best Actress Awards for her marvelous work as the Grand High Witch in this enchanting fable directed by Nicholas Roeg. Jasen Fisher plays Luke, the nine-year-old boy who must foil the plans of a society of witches to turn the world's children into mice. It won't be easy: they've already transformed him into one! But big bad witches may be no match for the resourcefulness of a single tiny rodent.
"...not to be missed." Desson Howe, Washington Post
"... wickedly funny..." Rita Kempley, Washington Post
Editor's Note
A nine-year-old boy and his grandmother discover adventure when they encounter the Grand High Witch and her diabolical plot to turn all of England's children into mice. Based on the story by Roald Dahl. This was the great Jim Henson's last producer credit.
Plot Summary
Young Luke and his grandmother, on vacation in England, have just checked into a hotel. Also in the premises is the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, a false moniker that hides the fact that the organization's members are really evil-minded, mask-wearing, child-hating witches! And they have all gathered to discuss a most fiendish plot: to turn all children into mice, by feeding them poisonous chocolate. Luke overhears the heinous plans when he eavesdrops on the women, but unfortunately they capture him and turn him into a mouse. Unlucky Luke must scurry back up to his room -- without getting killed -- and alert his grandmother of the witches' intentions, before it's too late. Then, the neophyte rodent must find a way to become human again...
| Features | Interactive Menus | | Scene Access | | English Dolby Digital | | French Dolby Digital |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Warner |
| Release Date: 8/10/2004 |
| Running Time: 91 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1990 | | Catalog ID: 671 | | UPC: 00012569067127 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 4:3 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
National Society Of Film Critics ( ) |  | Anjelica Huston, Winner, Best Actress | |
Los Angeles Society Of Film Critics ( ) | | Anjelica Huston, Winner, Best Actress |
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"...Amazing effects...A wicked, high-style treat....Angelica Huston triumphs..." 11/01/1990 p.96New York Times
"...A brilliantly told bedtime story....A fanciful film for savvy children and a witty, well-made movie for their parents..." 08/24/1990 p.C12 Entertainment Weekly
"...With relish and high comic style, Huston plays the ugliest, wartiest witch imaginable..." -- Rating: B 05/27/1994 p.96 Los Angeles Times
"...Dark, marvelous....What it shows, again, is the secret of Henson's vast appeal: his respect for children and their intelligence..." 08/24/1990 p.F6 Chicago Sun Times 0 of 10
This is the first so-called children's movie from Nicolas Roeg, that most unorthodox of directors, whose credits include Don't Look Now, Eureka and Insignificance. He almost always expresses a twisted, sinister sensuality in his films, and in this one that sensibility expresses itself in his willingness to let the child-mice face some of the real dangers of their predicament. The result is that the movie might be too intense for smaller viewers. But The Witches is an intriguing movie, ambitious and inventive, and almost worth seeing just for Anjelica Huston's obvious delight in playing a completely uncompromised villainess. - Roger Ebert
Washington Post 8 of 10
In front of the camera, Huston makes a wonderfully vampy witch, capitalizing once again on her Rorschach combination of beauty and uncomeliness; she's as beguiling as the animated queen in Walt Disney's Snow White. Fisher (who was Steve Martin's problem child in Parenthood) exudes just the right amount of intelligent precociousness. Zetterling is a charming grand-maternal heroine, and Bill Paterson (who starred memorably in Bill Forsyth's Comfort and Joy) also has a nice comical turn as Bruno's besotted, abrasive dad. - Desson Howe
Washington Post 0 of 10
In front of the camera, Huston makes a wonderfully vampy witch, capitalizing once again on her Rorschach combination of beauty and uncomeliness; she's as beguiling as the animated queen in Walt Disney's Snow White. Fisher (who was Steve Martin's problem child in Parenthood) exudes just the right amount of intelligent precociousness. Zetterling is a charming grand-maternal heroine, and Bill Paterson (who starred memorably in Bill Forsyth's Comfort and Joy) also has a nice comical turn as Bruno's besotted, abrasive dad. - Desson Howe
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