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Nanny McPhee

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Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee promotional poster
Directed byKirk Jones
Written byEmma Thompson
Christianna Brand (books)
Produced byTim Bevan
Lindsay Doran
Eric Fellner
StarringEmma Thompson
Colin Firth
Angela Lansbury
CinematographyHenry Braham
Music byPatrick Doyle
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
October 21 2005
(UK)
January 27, 2006 (USA)
January 12, 2006 (Australia)
Running time
98 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$34,000,000 (estimated)

Nanny McPhee is a 2005 children's film. It was adapted by Emma Thompson from Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda books.

On the BBC1 television show Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, Emma Thompson revealed that a film trilogy is planned.

Plot outline

Widower and undertaker Cedric Brown has seven children: Simon, Tora, Lily, Eric, Christianna, Sebastian, and Aggie. He loves his children but spends little time with them and cannot handle them. The children have had a series of seventeen nannies, which they systematically drive out by bad behavior; it is a point of pride for them to drive out each nanny as fast as possible. They also terrorize the cook, Mrs. Blatherwick, but are cared for and loved by Evangeline, the scullery maid.

Cedric attempts to hire another nanny from the agency who gave him the past seventeen nannies, but the company wouldn't allow him to hire another. After a series of mysterious events, an unusual woman named Nanny McPhee comes to help. With discipline, and a little magic, she transforms the family's lives. In the process, she herself transforms from ugly to beautiful. The children, led by the eldest son Simon, attempt to play their tricks on her, but gradually start to respect her and ask her for advice. They change into responsible people, helping their hapless father in solving the family problems, making Nanny McPhee less and less needed.

The family is financially supported by nearsighted Aunt Adelaide (the late Mrs. Brown's aunt). However, she demands custody over one of the children. She first wants Christianna (Chrissy), one of the daughters, but, as the children - and Cedric himself - are loathe to part with one of the siblings, Simon offers up Evangeline in Chrissy's place. Adelaide agrees, assuming she is one of the daughters, adopting her as her own, something which satisfies both Evangeline's wish to be properly educated and the requirement of Adelaide's latest condition to the contract.

She also threatens to cut off the allowance unless Cedric remarries within the month. The family would lose the house, and would not be able to stay together. Desperate, Cedric turns to frequent widow Mrs. Selma Quickly. The children assume from fairytales that stepmothers are terrible. Therefore, they sabotage a visit of Mrs. Quickly, who leaves, angry at Cedric. After the children are explained about the truth of their father's situation, they agree to the marriage, and appease Mrs. Quickly by confessing they were to blame for the disturbance of her visit.

However, they discover that Mrs. Quickly is unkind, as they suspected all along. When everyone is gathered for the marriage ceremony, they disturb the ceremony by pretending a swarm of bees has been attracted to Quickly's flowered hat. Things quickly get out of hand, resulting in a food fight. Cedric understands that they do not like the bride, and that he does not like her himself, and therefore starts disrupting the ceremony himself. Mrs. Quickly cancels the marriage and storms off.

This seems to mean that Adelaide's marriage deadline is missed. But then Lily asks Evangeline whether she loves Cedric, before clearing up the idea of incest. She first denies it, explaining that that would be inappropriate because of her station as maidservant, but then admits she does. Cedric then admits that, he too is in love with Evangeline. Cedric then marries Evangeline.

Nanny McPhee taps her magic cane one last time, and a glorious shower of snow decorates the landscape, providing the perfect backdrop for the marriage of Cedric and Evangeline. Aunt Adelaide's demand is satisfied, and all of the family's problems are solved.

Her duty done, Nanny McPhee leaves surreptitiously, in accordance with what she told the children before: "When you need me, but do not want me, then I will stay. When you want me, but no longer need me, then I have to go."

Final thought.....this was as big a disapointment for Aine C and Sinéad B as when they were unfortunate in not getting a Bertie poster.

Starring

The Brown Children

In the books,Tora is the eldest child and the only child to be mentioned more than once.

Nanny McPhee's Five Lessons

Nanny McPhee has five very important base lessons which she teaches the children, while also teaching them discipline, manners and the consequences of their actions.

  • First Lesson - To Go To Bed When They Are Told
  • Second Lesson - To Get Up When They Are Told
  • Third Lesson - To Get Dressed When They Are Told
  • Fourth Lesson - To Listen
  • Fifth Lesson - You Must Do Exactly As You Are Told


Box Office

The film did fairly well at the box office, earning $47,144,110 domestically, and $75,345,712 in foreign box offices - bringing it to a worldwide total of $122,489,822.

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