If Willy Wonka didn’t convince children that adults didn’t always have their best interests at heart, Roadh Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Family had some other sinister parental units to try on for size. Released in 1996, Matilda was a dark comedy about a kid’s perseverance even when the adult world is decidedly out to get them.

Matilda is the young daughter of two miserable excuses for parents, Harry and Zinnia Wormwood. Harry sells used cars and Zinnia is addicted to bingo. They prefer to spend their time watching “The Million Dollar Sticky on television than assist their daughter were her reading abilities, so the girl takes matters into her own hands and furthers her own education. She proceeds to spend all of her time at the library and, within two years, is reading the classics like a literature major. Now, if she could only attend school.

Harry is deadest against the idea. After all, there would be nobody at home to sign for the packages, but a business encounter with an evil headmistress at Crunchem Hall, changes the Wormwood’s mind. Agatha Trunchbill, the headmistress, despises children no less than Matilda’s worthless parents and the girl soon finds herself in the most miserable of surroundings. But the one bright spot is an enthusiastic young teacher named Miss Honey, who takes the girl under her wing. Together they learn that Matilda possesses some remarkable psychic abilities –powers that she just might be able to use to ensure that no other children are ever treated in the disgraceful and frightening manner that she has been subjected to.

Matilda was certainly dark, and perhaps a little off center but underneath the strange exterior lay a charming story. With children that didn’t fit the typical Hollywood mold, and villains that, while frightful, were also just a little hard to take too seriously, Matilda offered an offbeat alternative to typical children’s films and managed to endear itself to plenty of young fans.