Matilda - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Matilda or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Matilda

[russell]

This American movie about an Australian boxing kangaroo was made about twenty five years before the US-Australian co-production Kangaroo Jack (2003) which was also about an Australian boxing kangaroo. As such, Kangaroo Jack (2003) premiered in 25th Anniversary year of Matilda (1978).

[aaron]

This picture about a boxing Australian kangaroo was not actually an Australian movie but was an entirely American production.

[jim]

Producer Al Ruddy once said of this movie: "We debated over using both a real kangaroo and an actor in costume and opted for the latter as cross-cutting proved too jarring for the viewer. However the costume was a $30,000 investment that paid off as it not only allowed freedom of movement, but we were able to program it with transistors to allow us to direct the actor's tiniest gesture".

[morris]

The weight of the Australian boxing kangaroo "Matilda" was 195 lb (pounds).

[jesus]

The "Matilda" animal was actually an Australian male kangaroo character despite having the female name of "Matilda".

[jessie]

The film was made and released about eight years after its source novel of the same name by Paul Gallico had been first published in 1970.

[fred]

Tom Allen in 'The Village Voice' said that the Matilda kangaroo was "worked by a person in a fur suit and fixed mask . . . The technicians do not even get the ears to wiggle and the mouth to pucker until the final minutes".

[cassandra]

The film's title refers to the movie's central character, an Australian boxing kangaroo called "Matilda." It's totally unrelated to Roald Dahl's book, or Matilda (1996), which was released about 18 years after this film.

[darrell]

Final film of actor Harry Holcombe.

[bernard]

This American film about an Australian boxing kangaroo was made and released about five years before Molly (1983) an Australian film about an Aussie singing dog called Molly (1983). Both animal characters, "Molly" and "Matilda", had names beginning with the letter "M".

[cameron]

The place down under that "Matilda" the boxing kangaroo came from was Sydney, Australia.

[kim]

The tagline on the Australian DVD cover, "Who'll come a boxing Matilda with me" is a variation of a line from the famous Australian A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson poem 'Waltzing Matilda' which reads "Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?". A musical version of the piece by Christina Macpherson is actually featured in the film.

[sophie]

The professions of the leading human characters emphasized on the movie's main movie poster in photo puff-boxes were "The Gangster", "The Promoter", "The Sportswriter" and "The Commissioner".