Here Are The 8 Things About "The Witches" You Always Wondered But Were Afraid To Ask

by N/A, 10 years ago | 1 min read

Here's what you should know before you watch this cult favorite.

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1. The book was edited a lot before it was published.

The Witches editor Stephen Roxburgh talked about the major changes he worked with Roald Dahl, including changes to the titled and main characters.

2. Anjelica Huston wasn't excited about wearing that much makeup.

She was worried about wearing that much makeup because of a bad reaction during a previous film shoot, but she sat for six to seven hours while makeup artists applied prosthetics and was a total professional about the situation.

3. Two different endings were shot but the final one was chosen by test audiences.

Between October 1988 and May 1989, alternative endings were tested in London and Los Angeles.

4. The original is a lot scarier than the theatrical cut.

The director, Nic Roeg, used to frighten his son while watching the dailies at home.

5. The Hotel Excelsior is actually a 115-year-old hotel.

The Headland, which is its actual name, is located in Cornwall, England.

6. Huston got a thrill out of scaring children.

She told the Sydney Morning Herald about a time she scared her friends children with the voice she used in the movie and thinks of that role as one of her best memories.

7. The book and the movie are completely different.

The entire is book is told by a nameless first-person narrator. In the book, the story ends with the boy continuing to live as a mouse and in the movie, a good witch transforms him back into a boy.

8. Three sizes of mice were used.

The A size were life sized, the B sized were controlled by cables and the C size were hand puppets.