Question: Since Trunchbull hates kids so much why is she an elementary school principal?
THE GAMER NEXT DOOR
10th Oct 2019
Matilda (1996)
Answer: It's a common enough trope to the point where it has become cliche. Stories set in a school will almost always have a teacher or principal (or both) openly dislike their students. Stories aimed at a younger audience will often exaggerate this to an extreme, where the teacher/administrator has a hatred of children in general that borders on insanity.
6th Oct 2019
Matilda (1996)
Question: Why was Harry taking Matilda to his shop as well? He said it would all be Michael's one day so why Matilda?
Answer: He doesn't bring her in the book, but in order for the plot to work out, they had to plant her there some way.
Answer: He probably wanted help, she was seen putting the bumper on the car with Mikey. He probably had other tasks for her to do, but she annoyed him by calling him a crook before he could give her more jobs and then Zinnia arrived shortly afterwards.
Answer: Just to bring her, as her guardian.
But she's always at home alone?
15th Apr 2018
Matilda (1996)
Question: Are Bob and Bill cops or do they sell boats? The whole thing confuses me.
Answer: They are FBI, and they are undercover.
15th Apr 2018
Matilda (1996)
Question: If the Wormwoods are moving to Guam to escape from the police, why move to Guam, a U.S territory, where the Speedboat salesmen or whatever can easily find/extradite them?
Answer: It's a joke, because they are too stupid to know that Guam is a territory of the United States.
15th Apr 2018
Matilda (1996)
Question: One of the cops said Matilda would end up in a federal orphanage once Harry was in federal prison, but can't her mother take care of her? She seems to have no idea that Harry's a criminal, and also where is the evidence that the mother is involved?
Answer: She knows. Listen to her and Harry after their TV explodes: "I told you that was a cheap set." "It's not a cheap set, it's a stolen set!" She knows that Harry is a criminal.
Answer: Also, when Zenia is talking to the cops aka speedboat salesmen, she's talking about Harry having money in banks all over the place.
Answer: It is questionable in what time period the movie is set, but it appears to be at least the 1970s or 1980s - or, after orphanages were replaced with group homes, foster homes, and other more child-friendly places. The threat of sending Matilda to a "federal orphanage" was designed to scare her and get her to reveal what she knew. Matilda could not be sent to a federal orphanage because they no longer existed.
15th Apr 2018
Matilda (1996)
Question: What exactly has Harry done to have the FBI watching him for ages?
Answer: He has been receiving and selling stolen car parts.
Answer: It is a federal violation to own/operate a "chop shop." Other possibilities include interstate transport of stolen vehicles or car parts, altering Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs), and falsifying documents. After a VIN is altered, it is difficult to positively identify the vehicle as stolen and acquire the necessary evidence to get a conviction if the.case goes to trial. But it is the interstate aspect that makes the FBI the key investigators.
12th May 2017
Matilda (1996)
Question: How did Michael know that the car part would fall off if Harry used super super glue?
Chosen answer: The glue would keep the car part on but only for a short time because only glue was used. Harry didn't use tools to put on any bolts or anything to keep it in place so eventually it would fall off from the glue drying up.
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Answer: The answer is: "Power." Miss Trunchbull is a sadistic bully, as a school headteacher she can terrorise, frighten and dominate children and teachers. Also the job pays a good salary. She has probably arranged things so the other teachers do all the real work and the difficult jobs. She lives in a house attached to the school, so she gets free accommodation. She can run scams: for example the pupils must be fed, so she gives the catering contract to a company who pay her a "backhander." Thus she has a lucrative job where she does very little work. Plus, you cannot have a story without a villain to be defeated, so Miss Trunchbull is a brilliant opponent for Matilda.
Rob Halliday