MovieChat Forums > The Witches (1990) Discussion > Why the ending nearly ruined this film.....

Why the ending nearly ruined this film... (spoilers)

posted 10 years ago by sandroalgra
14 replies | jump to latest

I know this subject has been brought up before. Some people (including Roald Dahl) consider the ending of the movie an abomination to the original story while others actually prefer the changes they made to the original ending of the book.

For those who´ve never read the book: it basically ends with the main character (named Luke in the film) reflecting with his grandmother how being a mouse will affect the rest of his life. They decide to travel around the world, hunting down all the remaining witches to save the lives of other kids. He also realises that he won’t have the average human lifespan, but doesn’t seem to mind since he can live out the rest of his days with his grandmother. That scene is left pretty much intact in the movie. The big difference is that the movie has an extra plot twist after this scene in which the last surviving witch from the hotel decides to renounce her evil ways and turn Luke back to normal using her magical powers (she even materializes his lost glasses).

There are two reasons why I always hated the ending of the film, even as a kid: It makes no sense story wise and it completely obliterates the message Roald Dahl was trying to communicate. I guess the writer/director/producer felt the movie was already dark enough and wanted a more uplifting ending to balance it out. But to make such an enormous change, you need to know how it affects the rest of the story. The rest of the film is still pretty faithful to the original story, which is why the ending just doesn’t fit.

-Why the ending makes no sense: if the witches can turn people back to normal through magic, why did they need a potion to turn them into mice in the first place? And why did this one witch have a sudden change of heart? Is it all just because she wasn’t allowed to join the other witches at the dinner table? Aren’t witches supposed to be demonic creatures who bear a natural grudge against children? They can’t even stand their smell! Being snubbed from a dinner doesn’t seem like the most obvious reason to renounce evil if that’s your natural state. Before writing such an ending, you should make a lot more changes to the story. Give the good witch more character development to make her decisions more believable, and change the whole nature of the witches…

-The most important reason why the ending doesn’t work has to do with the message of the book: the book ends with the boy coming to terms with an unfortunate incident in his life. He knows he his life will never be the same, but at least he can still be happy and at least he can save other children from a similar fate. That’s a very powerful message of hope to end a children’s story with. It’s the reason why I maintain it’s not a sad ending, it’s actually more bittersweet.

There’s nothing wrong with ultra-happy endings, everyone wants to see something more uplifting in his life. But what’s the point of ending every single child’s story with “and they lived happily ever after”? That’s what Disney movies are for. Just think of all the kids who ARE unfortunate in this world: children with a handicap or children who are terminally ill... They know perfectly well that they won’t be visited by some fairy godmother who takes away all their worries. That’s why we need writers like Roald Dahl. His books always have a cynical edge, but they also have a lot of heart. Roald knew exactly what appealed to children, but he never talked down to them. He understood children on a whole different level than most filmmakers nowadays.

Bottom line: I’m fine with an adaptation that deviates from the source material, but you also need to realize the meaning of the changes you make. This ending nearly ruined the movie for me and took away some of the uniqueness of the original story. Perhaps some people prefer a more 'satisfying' ending. But satisfying is not what I was looking for when I read Roald Dahl as a kid. I liked him because he could take me to places I'd never been to.

[–] C_Dubya 10 years ago

I was a kid when this came out and I liked the ending. Kids don't read that deeply into movies and kids like happy endings.Is the grownups who are constrained by rules and want everything to make sense. Kids just want to be happy and entertained.

[–] TheChamCham 9 years ago

I'm a grown-up (still a kid a heart) and I just want to be happy and entertained. Isn't that why movies were created ?

Rescue the damsel in distress, whip the bad guy, save the world.

[–] goddancredmond 10 years ago

I never read the book. I only caught the movie this Halloween for watching while waiting in between Trick-or-Treaters.

The ending made no sense whatsoever. There was nothing in the movie to explain that witch's change of heart.

[–] Aniki21 10 years ago

I wouldn't go as far as to say it didn't make sense but was definitely a bit contrived. The witch had demonstrated that she was just as evil as any of the other witches but decided to turn good purely out of spite after being barred from the dinner by the head witch. An act which ironically sparred her the same fate as the other witches

[–] TheChamCham 9 years ago

Perhaps being barred from the dinner was just the last straw. She was rude to everyone at the hotel and her secretary probably got the worst of it on a daily basis. Frankly, just having to look at her true face would have been bad enough. The secretary was very young and may have only worked for her since the last convention and thought it was a glamorous position but realized that weekend that what they were going to do was wrong and that she could have a different life. People have changed for less reason than that.

Rescue the damsel in distress, whip the bad guy, save the world.

[–] heavenzlitangel 9 years ago

I assumed the witch's change of heart came from the fact that she was "spared" during the dinner. She was not invited, therefore she didn't eat the soup, therefore she didn't turn into a mouse and get killed. After all this, she may have realized that she should something bigger and better with her life. It's like turning a new leaf.
Even as a kid, that's how I understood it.

[–] thfc_paul 9 years ago

I agree with you, but I'll try and awnser anyway.

Maybe witches aren't naturally evil but through fear of the high witch they have no choice, considering she kills anyone who disagrees with her. So after being treated badly and then being rejected from the dinner she came to the conclusion that she could change now. Since there is normally a balance of good and evil it would be odd if there were no good witches.

[–] sandroalgra 9 years ago

That sounds like an interesting theme to explore in a movie about witches, but you do need to actually EXPLORE it instead of cramming it in with one misplaced scene for the sake of having a happy ending.

[–] louiseculmer 8 years ago

the ending of the book is grotesque. No normal grandmother would be pleased at the idea of her grandchild dying when she does (or possibly even sooner). People want their descendents to outlive them, it's one of the great biological imperatives. the surviving witch having a change of heart is not entirely unbelievable, she seems to have been put on by the chief witch, and perhaps it gave her a dislike of her, and therefore of the whole system.

[–] sandroalgra 8 years ago

Of course you wouldn't want to outlive your own grandchild. But guess what: life is like that sometimes. I've known a couple of kids who grew up with health issues, and the knowledge that they likely wouldn't outlive their parents. So why aren't they allowed to see a film that speaks to them personally?

And even if you're a perfectly healthy child, I think it's important to now and then be challenged by a story where not everything goes according to plan. It's part of growing up. It helps children deal with losses in the future.

And if you find it grotesque... well, Roald Dahl was a little grotesque. But that's exactly what made his stories so appealing to me as a child. Children can be much smarter and more mature than they're given credit for. You just need to be able to expose them to new stuff.

To give this movie an ultra happy ending is to take the edge of Dahl's work. And to me that's an example of disrespecting the work of an artist. If you just want a good children's film with a happy ending... It's fine:that's what movie's like Finding Nemo are for. But this is Dahl.

[–] louiseculmer 8 years ago

how does such an ending speak to anyone personally? Children are not turned into mice in real life. the boy in this film hadn't got a 'health issue' he's been enchanted by a wicked witch. And yet we are supposed to believe he is happy with that. most unconvincing.

And i can't think of any other dahl story that doesn't have a happy ending, so i see no reason why this one shouldn't.

[–] sandroalgra 8 years ago

Children are not turned into mice in real life. the boy in this film hadn't got a 'health issue' he's been enchanted by a wicked witch.

Yeah, and I've never met a kid whose father was a lion who was killed in a stampede of wildebeests. Still, kids can relate to such a story... probably because most children have a little more imagination that you appear to give them credit for.

And i can't think of any other dahl story that doesn't have a happy ending, so i see no reason why this one shouldn't.

So does that mean Simba's father should've lived just because the Little Mermaid didn't die in her own movie?

I can name at least two Dahl stories with a pretty tragic ending. George's Marvellous Medicine and The Twits end with the death of main characters. You could however still view them as happy endings since they were supposed to be unlikable people.

But all of this is beside the point. What matters is that The Witches is a story that doesn't end in a typical children's story fashion. And instead of ending it that way for laughs (like the previous books I mentioned) Dahl actually played it straight this time to make a point: life is not over, even after an unfortunate turn of events. Instead of wishing everything to go back to normal, you sometimes have to accept reality in order to be happy.

[–] bloody-3 8 years ago

Roald Dahl himself said he detested the tacked on lovey dovey ending. I agree with him and think it lessens the film.

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (2754) 4 months ago

Good observations. I kind of felt the maid/secretary witch was perhaps good all along and was ensnared by the Grand High Witch. She would want to undo her magic. It should be easier to change kids back to the humans they naturally were and require less strong magic so no potion was needed. The whole accepting your cruel fate is less appropriate for a movie than a book.