A Simple Wish
Encyclopedia
A Simple Wish is a 1997 fantasy
-comedy film
directed by Michael Ritchie
, and starring Martin Short
, Mara Wilson
, and Kathleen Turner
. The film about a bumbling male fairy godmother
named Murray (Short), who tries to help eight-year-old Annabel (Wilson) fulfill her wish that her father, a carriage driver, wins the leading role in a Broadway
musical.
s taking an exam. There is only one male one doing it, after a few hours of unsuccessfully trying to copy the others in order to pass his own quicker. He eventually finishes. The film then takes place three months after the exam concerning the life of an otherwise insignificant park carriage driver named Oliver Greening (Robert Pastorelli
). After an accident with his horse, Duchess, he picks up his daughter, Annabel (Mara Wilson
), and son, Charlie (Francis Capra
), from school, whereupon he must then go to his audition for A Tale of Two Cities
. However, the man who watches him respects his work and even though he would like to consider him, he cannot due to his promise to the show's backers of a big name actor in the role.
After Annabel attempts to get Charlie to believe that the tooth fairy
exists, Murray the fairy godmother (Martin Short
) appears after Charlie has gone to sleep. Annabel wants to wish for her father to get the role, but Murray suddenly remembers he is late for an important engagement and promises to return to grant her wish later. That night, Hortence (Ruby Dee
), the head of all fairy godmothers, is holding the annual meeting of the North American Fairy Godmothers Association. All of them appear at the NAFGA home for this meeting. Due to Hortence's rule, all the fairy godmothers must check in their wands before the meeting (due to a previous incident, according to Hortence). Murray arrives late and is therefore locked out of the meeting.
Meanwhile, Claudia (Kathleen Turner
), a former fairy godmother who has turned into an evil witch, has shown up at the meeting uninvited. After Claudia tricks a receptionist into eating a witch's apple, putting her to sleep, Hortence arrives and orders Claudia to leave. Claudia refuses and unexpectedly casts a spell that turns the head fairy into a paper-thin, two-dimensional version of herself. The spell renders Hortence completely powerless, leaving Claudia free to stuff Hortence's mouth with bricks and steal all the checked wands from her office. Claudia escapes with her accomplice Boots (Amanda Plummer), her pet dog that she has turned into a human, believing she has all the wands... however, she is missing Murray's wand, which was not turned in because he missed the meeting.
The next day, Annabel realizes that Murray has left his magic wand behind and decides to return it to him, but Charlie breaks it. She tries to fix it during art class, but fails. She runs out of class and hides when her teacher tries to confiscate the wand, but unexpectedly meets Murray. The two disappear to Nebraska
, by way of a misconstrued spell cast by him to get out quickly. After he tries and fails to turn a selfish motel owner they meet there into a giant rabbit (turning him into a 50 feet (15.2 m) rabbi
, instead); the two end up back in Central Park
. Because of them disappearing in an unexplained way, the school closes early. Charlie finds them. Annabel begs Murray to try to grant her wish now that they are close to her father, but due to yet another mishap by him, Oliver is turned into a statue, Duchess into a mouse, and his carriage into a pumpkin. To fix the problem, the three of them go to NAFGA and ask for the help of Hortence. When they arrive, they find her, who is still under the effects of Claudia's spell. Murray attempts and succeeds at blasting away the bricks lodged in her mouth. She tells them of Claudia's plot and explains that the awry spell must be lifted before midnight, or Oliver will be doomed to remain a statue forever. Claudia, meanwhile, has been looking through the wands, searching for hers. After going through, she realizes it is missing and now belonging to Murray, and is determined to obtain it.
Annabel and Murray head to the theater and see Tony Sable, the selfish and conceited actor who is auditioning for Oliver's part. Knowing this could ruin her father's chance of being in the show, she asks Murray to sabotage the audition any way he can. First he tries to make it rain on the stage (after being inspired by the "rain check" he gave Annabel the night they met), but it is dismissed as a simple technical problem and the audition continues. Then she asks him to give Sable a frog in his throat to impair his singing. He takes this wish too literally, and frogs start hopping out of Sable's mouth, shocking the cast and crew. Annabel and Murray celebrate but Sable gets the part since Oliver has not shown up. Boots, who has been looking for Murray, finds them. Murray mentions the story of Brer Rabbit to Annabel and they beg her not to take them to Claudia's lair so she will. Boots is tricked and "kidnaps" them, with Charlie following not too far behind with Murray's wand.
Claudia catches them, and demands them to tell her where her wand is. She tells Annabel that she will make all her wishes come true. When she refuses to tell her, as punishment, she changes her and Murray into ballerina
s and makes them dance uncontrollably. She composes the music and makes it go faster and faster until Annabel agrees to tell her. After a fight over the possession of the wand, Claudia wins but Boots steals it back and gives it to Murray. Out of spite, Claudia turns her back into a dog, then attempts to cast a spell on Murray, but, instead, rebounds on a mirror, drawing her into it: her struggles to escape cause the mirror to fall down, shattering into tiny pieces. Murray, Charlie, and Annabel return to Central Park and restore Oliver just in time. He is given the part of Sable's understudy
thanks to a producer who enjoyed his audition (and is hinted they have mutual feelings for each other). In order to finally grant Annabel's wish, Murray appears backstage and causes Sable to slip on a bucket, and twist his ankle. The resultant temper tantrum gets him fired and Oliver, his understudy, is cast in his place. Charlie and Annabel watch the show with Murray and the other fairy godmothers. The Palace Theatre
play (an adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities) is a success, as Oliver moves the entire audience to tears with his stirring performance, and Murray walks home with Boots (who is now his dog).
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
-comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Michael Ritchie
Michael Ritchie (film director)
Michael Brunswick Ritchie was an American film director.Ritchie was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the son of Patricia and Benbow Ferguson Ritchie...
, and starring Martin Short
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
, Mara Wilson
Mara Wilson
Mara Elizabeth Wilson is an American former child actress best known for her roles as a child star, particularly in Mrs. Doubtfire , Miracle on 34th Street , and Matilda . She was born in Los Angeles, California, to Michael and Suzie Wilson . She has three older brothers, Danny, Jon, and Joel, and...
, and Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner
Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...
. The film about a bumbling male fairy godmother
Fairy godmother
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies...
named Murray (Short), who tries to help eight-year-old Annabel (Wilson) fulfill her wish that her father, a carriage driver, wins the leading role in a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical.
Plot
The film begins with many fairy godmotherFairy godmother
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies...
s taking an exam. There is only one male one doing it, after a few hours of unsuccessfully trying to copy the others in order to pass his own quicker. He eventually finishes. The film then takes place three months after the exam concerning the life of an otherwise insignificant park carriage driver named Oliver Greening (Robert Pastorelli
Robert Pastorelli
Robert Joseph Pastorelli was an American actor. He had many roles on TV, in movies, and on the stage, including the seven years he played the portly painter Eldin Bernecky on the television series Murphy Brown. His last role was as an oddball hit man in Be Cool, reuniting him with Michael star...
). After an accident with his horse, Duchess, he picks up his daughter, Annabel (Mara Wilson
Mara Wilson
Mara Elizabeth Wilson is an American former child actress best known for her roles as a child star, particularly in Mrs. Doubtfire , Miracle on 34th Street , and Matilda . She was born in Los Angeles, California, to Michael and Suzie Wilson . She has three older brothers, Danny, Jon, and Joel, and...
), and son, Charlie (Francis Capra
Francis Capra
Francis Capra is an American actor. Some of his best known roles are a young Calogero Anello in A Bronx Tale, Max Connor in Kazaam, and Eli "Weevil" Navarro in the TV series Veronica Mars.-Personal life:...
), from school, whereupon he must then go to his audition for A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
. However, the man who watches him respects his work and even though he would like to consider him, he cannot due to his promise to the show's backers of a big name actor in the role.
After Annabel attempts to get Charlie to believe that the tooth fairy
Tooth fairy
The tooth fairy is a fantasy figure of early childhood. The folklore states that when a child loses a baby tooth, if he or she places it beneath the bed pillow, the tooth fairy will visit while the child sleeps, replacing the lost tooth with a small payment....
exists, Murray the fairy godmother (Martin Short
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
) appears after Charlie has gone to sleep. Annabel wants to wish for her father to get the role, but Murray suddenly remembers he is late for an important engagement and promises to return to grant her wish later. That night, Hortence (Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee is an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist, perhaps best known for co-starring in the film A Raisin in the Sun and the film American Gangster for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Early years:Dee was born Ruby...
), the head of all fairy godmothers, is holding the annual meeting of the North American Fairy Godmothers Association. All of them appear at the NAFGA home for this meeting. Due to Hortence's rule, all the fairy godmothers must check in their wands before the meeting (due to a previous incident, according to Hortence). Murray arrives late and is therefore locked out of the meeting.
Meanwhile, Claudia (Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner
Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...
), a former fairy godmother who has turned into an evil witch, has shown up at the meeting uninvited. After Claudia tricks a receptionist into eating a witch's apple, putting her to sleep, Hortence arrives and orders Claudia to leave. Claudia refuses and unexpectedly casts a spell that turns the head fairy into a paper-thin, two-dimensional version of herself. The spell renders Hortence completely powerless, leaving Claudia free to stuff Hortence's mouth with bricks and steal all the checked wands from her office. Claudia escapes with her accomplice Boots (Amanda Plummer), her pet dog that she has turned into a human, believing she has all the wands... however, she is missing Murray's wand, which was not turned in because he missed the meeting.
The next day, Annabel realizes that Murray has left his magic wand behind and decides to return it to him, but Charlie breaks it. She tries to fix it during art class, but fails. She runs out of class and hides when her teacher tries to confiscate the wand, but unexpectedly meets Murray. The two disappear to Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, by way of a misconstrued spell cast by him to get out quickly. After he tries and fails to turn a selfish motel owner they meet there into a giant rabbit (turning him into a 50 feet (15.2 m) rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, instead); the two end up back in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. Because of them disappearing in an unexplained way, the school closes early. Charlie finds them. Annabel begs Murray to try to grant her wish now that they are close to her father, but due to yet another mishap by him, Oliver is turned into a statue, Duchess into a mouse, and his carriage into a pumpkin. To fix the problem, the three of them go to NAFGA and ask for the help of Hortence. When they arrive, they find her, who is still under the effects of Claudia's spell. Murray attempts and succeeds at blasting away the bricks lodged in her mouth. She tells them of Claudia's plot and explains that the awry spell must be lifted before midnight, or Oliver will be doomed to remain a statue forever. Claudia, meanwhile, has been looking through the wands, searching for hers. After going through, she realizes it is missing and now belonging to Murray, and is determined to obtain it.
Annabel and Murray head to the theater and see Tony Sable, the selfish and conceited actor who is auditioning for Oliver's part. Knowing this could ruin her father's chance of being in the show, she asks Murray to sabotage the audition any way he can. First he tries to make it rain on the stage (after being inspired by the "rain check" he gave Annabel the night they met), but it is dismissed as a simple technical problem and the audition continues. Then she asks him to give Sable a frog in his throat to impair his singing. He takes this wish too literally, and frogs start hopping out of Sable's mouth, shocking the cast and crew. Annabel and Murray celebrate but Sable gets the part since Oliver has not shown up. Boots, who has been looking for Murray, finds them. Murray mentions the story of Brer Rabbit to Annabel and they beg her not to take them to Claudia's lair so she will. Boots is tricked and "kidnaps" them, with Charlie following not too far behind with Murray's wand.
Claudia catches them, and demands them to tell her where her wand is. She tells Annabel that she will make all her wishes come true. When she refuses to tell her, as punishment, she changes her and Murray into ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
s and makes them dance uncontrollably. She composes the music and makes it go faster and faster until Annabel agrees to tell her. After a fight over the possession of the wand, Claudia wins but Boots steals it back and gives it to Murray. Out of spite, Claudia turns her back into a dog, then attempts to cast a spell on Murray, but, instead, rebounds on a mirror, drawing her into it: her struggles to escape cause the mirror to fall down, shattering into tiny pieces. Murray, Charlie, and Annabel return to Central Park and restore Oliver just in time. He is given the part of Sable's understudy
Understudy
In theater, an understudy is a performer who learns the lines and blocking/choreography of a regular actor or actress in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to appear on stage because of illness or emergencies, the understudy takes over the part...
thanks to a producer who enjoyed his audition (and is hinted they have mutual feelings for each other). In order to finally grant Annabel's wish, Murray appears backstage and causes Sable to slip on a bucket, and twist his ankle. The resultant temper tantrum gets him fired and Oliver, his understudy, is cast in his place. Charlie and Annabel watch the show with Murray and the other fairy godmothers. The Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, New York
The Palace Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1564 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.-History:Designed by architects Kirchoff & Rose, the theatre was built by Martin Beck a California vaudeville entrepreneur and Broadway impresario. The project experienced a number of business problems before...
play (an adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities) is a success, as Oliver moves the entire audience to tears with his stirring performance, and Murray walks home with Boots (who is now his dog).
Cast
- Martin ShortMartin ShortMartin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
as Murray - Mara WilsonMara WilsonMara Elizabeth Wilson is an American former child actress best known for her roles as a child star, particularly in Mrs. Doubtfire , Miracle on 34th Street , and Matilda . She was born in Los Angeles, California, to Michael and Suzie Wilson . She has three older brothers, Danny, Jon, and Joel, and...
as Anabel Greening - Robert PastorelliRobert PastorelliRobert Joseph Pastorelli was an American actor. He had many roles on TV, in movies, and on the stage, including the seven years he played the portly painter Eldin Bernecky on the television series Murphy Brown. His last role was as an oddball hit man in Be Cool, reuniting him with Michael star...
as Oliver Greening - Francis CapraFrancis CapraFrancis Capra is an American actor. Some of his best known roles are a young Calogero Anello in A Bronx Tale, Max Connor in Kazaam, and Eli "Weevil" Navarro in the TV series Veronica Mars.-Personal life:...
as Charlie Greening - Ruby DeeRuby DeeRuby Dee is an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist, perhaps best known for co-starring in the film A Raisin in the Sun and the film American Gangster for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Early years:Dee was born Ruby...
as Hortence: The Head Of the Fairy Godmothers - Kathleen TurnerKathleen TurnerMary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...
as Claudia - Lanny Flaherty as Duane
- Teri GarrTeri Garr-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
as Rena - Amanda Plummer as Boots