Research into The Witches film and book (PPP) - 19/09/15

Research into the Plot and Characters in The Witches:

About The Book and Film:
The Witches is a Fiction book created for Children. It was written by Roald Dahl and was first published in London in 1983. Since the book was published, it has been turned into: a stage play, a movie (released 25th May 1990), an audio reading and an opera. The story has been kept the same though out all, however some elements were slightly adapted to make it different from the book.

Information On Where It Was Filmed And A Short Summary Of The Story:
The story is mainly set in The United Kingdom. It was filmed at The Headland Hotel in Newquay, Cornwall, however they changed the name to Hotel Excelsior for the film. Also, some of the scenes were also set in Norway and was filmed in Bergen in Norway.
The story follows a young boy and his Grandma and how their life gets turned around when they discover that Witches really do exist.

The Full Plot:
The story mainly focuses on a young boy named 'Luke' and his Grandma 'Helga'. In the opening scenes of the film, you get introduced to Luke and his Grandma. In these scenes you see Luke's Grandma talking to Luke about her experiences with Witches. She tells him about how her best friend from when she was younger was kidnapped by witches and was never seen again. That night Luke's mother and father went out to an event, of which they never returned from. This is because they were killed in a car crash. This resulted in Luke permanently living with his Grandma. Later on in the film, you watch as Luke and his Grandma move to the UK. This is so they can move into the house of which he has inherited from his parents and start a fresh life. When they arrive at the house, you hear the grandmother warning Luke about the English witches as they were known to be some of the cruelest in the world. Then, on Luke's birthday Helga becomes unwell. When the doctor arrives she suggest that if she went to the seaside, she may feel better. Because of this they go to stay at Hotel Excelsior in Cornwall.

When they arrive at the hotel, Luke meets a rich young boy named Bruno and they become friends. Soon after this Mr Stringer (the hotel owner) discovers that Luke has mice in his room. He orders them to be removed from the hotel, however Helga persuades him to let them keep them as long as they were in their cage. Soon afterwards, Luke takes the mice and puts them in his pocket. He then sneaks into the ballroom downstairs and into a quiet corner to teach his mice some tricks. This was a big mistake as the members of the 'Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children' had arranged to hold their annual meeting in there. Despite the fact they called themselves this, they were actually the English Witches which Luke had been told about. He discovers this because during this meeting they remove their 'disguises' of which were wigs, shoes and fake teeth, skin and hands. As soon as he realised this he tried to look for the nearest exit, however they had locked all the doors so that they would not be disturbed. This meant that Luke was trapped.

A German woman then walks with her assistant (Miss Irvine) to the front on the ballroom and onto the stage. She then also removes her disguise to show herself as the Grand High Witch (GHW). She tell all the Witches about how she had created a potion 'Formula 86' which would turn any person who drank it into a mouse within two hours. Then, a women at the back (who was also a witch) placed her disguise on and opened the door to Bruno (as he was promised a chocolate bar from the Grand High Witch earlier that day). She guides Bruno to the front of the Ballroom and Luke watches in fear as his friend gets turned into a mouse. Bruno - now a mouse, flees under the stage.

Then as the GHW declares that the meeting is over for another year, one of the witches sniff around and says that there is someone in the room. Luke then runs and escapes through a fire exit. He continues running though the hotel and out to the beach. He then hides behind a rock. As he is doing this, he watches as one of the witches push a pram with a baby inside it towards a high cliff and the sea. He manages to save the baby and then escape back to his hotel room. When he arrives back at his room he finds that his grandmother is asleep and is not waking up. The GHW and her assistant then enter through the other door and capture Luke. They take him back down to the Ballroom and also turns him into a mouse. However, instead of letting Luke flee like Bruno, the Witches try to kill him by stamping on him. He manages to escape and hide under the stage like Bruno and is reunited with him. They then come up with a plan to steal the formula off the witches and plot revenge. They climb up to the Grand High Witches room and retrieves a bottle with a near-death experience when the GHW cat Liebschen tried to kill them. They then take it back to Helga who is now awake.

At dinnertime, she sneaks Luke into the Kitchen to put the formula into all the witches food. When doing so she overhears that the all the witches are ordering soup, so she instructs Luke to put it in the soup. After nearly being killed by the cooks, he manages to put the bottle in the soup and escape with only a cut tail for an injury. The soup is then taken to the witches and they eat the soup. They all then turn into mice, including the Grand High Witch. The only witch that did not was the GHW assistant as she was told not to come to the meal. Instead she was in her room packing as she had quit. Members of staff then enter the room killing all the mice. While this is happening Helga and Luke escape, leaving Bruno (still a mouse) with his parents, packed their bags and left the next day. Many days after this event, Luke and Helga receive a suitcase full of the Grand High Witches money and diary. Then later on that evening, Miss Irvine arrives at the cottage and turns Luke back into a human and gets him a new pair of glasses. This meant she had turned into a good witch and so had normal hands and real human hair. She then waves them goodbye and goes to Bruno's to repeat the process.

Information On The Main Characters:
Luke: A 9 year old boy orphan. The type of boy who will set himself a goal and achieve it. At first, he does not believe in witches but by the end he does. Always puts his family first and makes sure nobody gets hurt, unless necessary.
Helga: A caring Grandmother who will do anything in her power to look after her family (family-orientated). Has always believed in Witches since her friend was kidnapped 60 years ago.
The Grand High Witch: A manipulative German women/Witch. She hates all children and always uses her power for bad. She also does not think about other peoples feelings.
Bruno: A greedy, rich boy who finds any way possible to get attention from his parents. Likes to eat lots of food and does not care what anyone else thinks.
Miss Irvine (GHW assistant): Originally a cruel women. Thought she was very important as she was the Grand High Witches personal assistant. Soon realises she is not important and uses her powers for good.