Matilda/Madeline (English, German, DVD)

A double bill of children's films. In 'Matilda' (1996) the exceptionally gifted and intelligent Matilda (Mara Wilson) is ignored by her stupid parents Harry (Danny DeVito) and Zinnia (Rhea Perlman). A keen reader, Matilda's dearest wish is to be sent to school, but the establishment Harry selects is Crunchemhall, run by the brutal Miss Trunchball (Pam Ferris). Trunchball's cruelty to her pupils causes Matilda to vow revenge, and her newly discovered telekinetic powers give her the chance to do so. Whilst in 'Madeline' (1998) the titular heroine (Hatty Jones) is the most mischievous of the twelve friends who live at a Parisian school run by Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand). Her sunny existence is threatened by starchy old Lord Covington (Nigel Hawthorne), who is on a campaign to have the school closed down. It is up to Madeline and her friends, who include the equally precocious Pepito and a dog who saved her from drowning, to stop him.