• Home
  • Movies
  • Music
  • TV
  • Video Games
  • Wrestling
  • Topics
  • Latest Comments on Cult of Whatever
Search
Cult of Whatever logo
  • Movies
    Featured
    • The Living Daylights: Timothy Dalton as James Bond

      The Living Daylights is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 28, 2022
      Movie Blogs
    Recent
    • The Muppet Christmas Carol: Michael Caine as Scrooge

      The Muppet’s Christmas Carol remains the gold standard for the book

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 20, 2022
    • Nightmare Before Christmas 1993 1

      2022’s Christmas Movie Watchlist!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 18, 2022
    • Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio Poster

      REVIEW: GDT’s Pinocchio is my favorite film of the year!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 14, 2022
    • Troll: Ine Marie Wilmann as Nora

      REVIEWS: TROLL and TROLL HUNTER -A giant creature double feature!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 5, 2022
    • Harry with The Hendersons

      Harry and the Hendersons is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2022
    • Fantastic Four Poster

      The five best “rogues galleries” in superherodom! (part 3)

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 28, 2022
  • Music
    Random
    • Over Rhine Snow Angels Album Cover

      YOUR official Christmas 2019 LISTENING Guide

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 17, 2019
      Music Blogs
    Recent
    • The Beatles: Get Back

      What GET BACK reveals about the Beatles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 15, 2021
    • Simon And Garfunkel at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam1982

      The Boxer is a song about being conned

      By Matthew Martin
      | July 4, 2021
    • Lady Gaga: Chromatica Album Cover

      Lady Gaga’s discography is totally out of order

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 3, 2021
    • Michael Jackson Thriller Album Cover

      Thirty years ago music fans said “Nevermind” to Michael Jackson

      By Matthew Martin
      | March 21, 2021
    • Queen II Album Cover

      On Queen’s The Miracle, and the importance of track ordering

      By Matthew Martin
      | February 16, 2021
    • Linda Paul Mccartney 1976

      50 years ago, McCartney dropped “Lennon” and went solo…

      By Matthew Martin
      | June 5, 2020
  • TV
    Featured
    • Big Sky S03e05: Kylie Bunbury, J. Anthony Pena and Katheryn Winnick as Cassie Dewell, Mo Poppernak and Jenny Hoyt

      Big Sky S03E05 Review: Flesh and Blood - Glamping!

      By Salome G
      | October 22, 2022
      TV Blogs
    Recent
    • Big Sky S03e10: Gang

      Big Sky S03E10 Review: A Thin Layer of Rock – Break time…

      By Salome G
      | December 11, 2022
    • Rick And Morty: S01e03

      Is Beth from Rick and Morty a bigger sociopath than Rick?

      By Jason Collins
      | December 7, 2022
    • Big Sky S03e09: Dedee Pfeiffer and Cree as Denise and Emily

      Big Sky S03E09: Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire – Stalling

      By Salome G
      | December 1, 2022
    • The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special: Dave Bautista and Pom Klementieff as Drax and Mantis

      REVIEW: The GOTG Holiday Special is a sweet prelude to next year’s finale

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 27, 2022
    • The Midnight Club S01: The Gang

      The Midnight Club S1 Review – A series of unfortunate events

      By Salome G
      | November 24, 2022
    • Big Sky S03e08: Reba McEntire as Sunny Barnes

      Big Sky S03E08 Review: Duck Hunting – I love a weirdo.

      By Salome G
      | November 19, 2022
  • Video Games
    Featured
    • Arkham Knight

      Batman: Arkham Knight - A fitting end to a trilogy

      By Tom Farr
      | July 18, 2015
      Video Game Reviews
    Recent
    • Splatoon 3 Screenshot

      A trio of Nintendo Switch reviews!

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 28, 2022
    • Nintendo Switch Logo

      Looking ahead to the Switch 2: Predictions and Wants

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 15, 2022
    • Legend Of Zelda

      Can a Legend of Zelda movie work?

      By Matthew Martin
      | April 6, 2022
    • Super Mario 64

      Which system had the better launch: A battle of four Nintendo consoles

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2021
    • Luigi's Mansion

      Happy twentieth to Nintendo’s underrated gem, the Gamecube

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 18, 2021
    • Metroid Dread

      Metroid Dread – Post Game analysis and sequel needs

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 29, 2021
  • Wrestling
    Featured
    • AEW All Out 2022: Keith Lee. Anthony Bowens, Max Caster and Billy Gunn

      AEW All Out 2022 - Review and (wild) Speculation!

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 5, 2022
      AEW
    Recent
    • WWE WrestleMania 38: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins

      Was 2022 the wildest year in wrestling history?

      By Matthew Martin
      | January 4, 2023
    • AEW Full Gear 2022: Young Bucks and Kenny Omega Elite Entrance

      AEW Full Gear 2022 – A needed reset at the end of a tough year

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 22, 2022
    • WWE Survivor Series 1997: Bret Hart

      The Montreal Screwjob – Twenty Five Years Later

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 8, 2022
    • AEW Grand Slam 2022: Jungle Boy and Rey Fenix

      AEW GRANDSLAM 2022 showcased the present and future of the promotion

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 25, 2022
    • AEW All Out 2022: CM Punk

      AEW All Out Fall Out: All the CM Punk drama that’s fit to print!

      By Matthew Martin
      | September 5, 2022
    • AEW Dark: Ricky Starks (22/09/20)

      The future of the AEW World Championship

      By Matthew Martin
      | August 14, 2022
  • Topics
    • site logo
    Latest
    • Was 2022 the wildest year in wrestling history?
    • The Muppet's Christmas Carol remains the gold standard for the book
    • 2022's Christmas Movie Watchlist!
    • REVIEW: GDT's Pinocchio is my favorite film of the year!
    • Big Sky S03E10 Review: A Thin Layer of Rock - Break time...
    • Is Beth from Rick and Morty a bigger sociopath than Rick?

    Mrs. Doubtfire is still awesome, twenty-five years later…

    By Matthew Martin
    | March 30, 2018
    Movie Blogs

    This year, Cult of Whatever is looking back on some of the great movies of 1993. It’s been twenty-five years since these films first captivated audiences. Some of them were blockbuster hits, while others needed a few years on home video to find their groove. Whatever their box office intake, these movies are genuine classics and deserve recognition, even years after the fact. In January we looked at the brilliant comedy-slash-philosophical examination that is Groundhog Day. Last month it was Sleepless in Seattle, easily one of the greatest “romantic-comedies” in history.

    And speaking of one of the greatest in comedic history…

    Mrs Doubtfire Poster

    Robin Williams left this world four years ago, but he has left behind a legacy that will continue to entertain for generations. From the forgotten dramatic roles as in Dead Poets Society to the mania of movies like Jumanji or the more nuanced performances like in The Birdcage (no, really), Robin Williams has left us with over fifty movies to enjoy…but I bet there’s one for which he’ll be remembered forever.

    Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

    YouTube privacy policy

    If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

    Mrs. Doubtfire tells the story of an overgrown manchild who has no sense of adult responsibility, yet somehow got married and had three reasonably well-adjusted kids. When his wife finally reaches her breaking point, she files for divorce and he is forced to buckle down and act like a mature lol just kidding. He dresses in drag, defies a court order, nearly murders James Bond and commits what I’m sure is at least light fraud.

    It’s fantastic.

    Mrs Doubtfire Robin Williams Lisa Jakub Matthew Lawrence Mara Wilson Sally Field Pierce Brosnan

    The infamous mile-a-minute improviser, who was so “animated” (pun) in the recording booth for Aladdin, that the animators added moments into the movie to match his rapid-fire impersonations and other spur of the moment ideas, never knew a scene he could not make his own. With Mrs. Doubtfire, director Chris Columbus anticipated William’s mania and set up multiple cameras to record each scene from a variety of angles. Then he turned his actor lose to interpret the screenplay with whatever additional ideas that popped into his head.

    According to Columbus, Williams would—like a true professional—film each scene as scripted, but then ask to keep the cameras rolling so he could improvise and see where the winds of comedy might take him. Sometimes a single scene might be done and redone twenty times and even after Columbus was more than sure they had solid gold on their hands, Williams would ask for one more or two more or however many more takes it took until he’d squeezed every last possible laugh out of the moment and out of his system.

    The infamous scene where Mrs. Doubtfire’s false teeth plop out into her glass of wine was one such improvised moment, and the reaction of the actors (thanks to the alternate camera set-up) was genuine…

    Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

    YouTube privacy policy

    If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

    I mean it’s not that remarkable to think someone in that situation might say to themselves “if my false teeth were to slip off, that’d be funny.” The real genius is the instant “carpe dentum; seize the teeth” line that followed. Moments like that are the reason Robin Williams will live forever.

    Apparently, there was enough insanity for Columbus to compile a full PG, PG-13, R, and even NC-17 cut of the movie….though you’ll never see those on the bonus features. Supposedly, an associate producer was brought in solely to keep track of every copyrighted reference Williams would make that the studio would need to get permission to use on the off chance it got into the film.

    Robin Williams was so enamored with the outfit that he wandered around San Francisco supermarkets to see if anyone would notice him. Whether or not they realized it was a man in drag is hard to say (it is San Francisco), but they at least didn’t spot who it was behind the mask. He even entered an adult bookstore and successfully bought an item or two without arousing suspicion. His own son— seven-year-old Zak—was unable to recognize him, until he started speaking. And even though he was speaking with a faux-English accent, it was apparently one which he’d used at home, because he caught on immediately.

    Mrs Doubtfire Robin Williams

    Did you know Mrs. Doubtfire is based on a book? It lacks a lot of the sub-plot that filled out the 1993 film, but the basic story is the same: A struggling actor who doesn’t spend enough time with his kids, loses custody of them, so he dresses as a stuffy English nanny and gets hired to babysit them. When the mom finds out, the parents have a heart to heart, admit mutual fault in the breakdown of their marriage, and agree to let the dad spend more time with his family.

    That’s basically the movie, right?

    No.

    The movie added a critical component, a necessarily “comedic” component, a component tailor-made for its leading star: The “dad” in the story isn’t just a self-absorbed dad, he’s…well, he’s every caricature you have of Robin Williams. Has there ever been a more perfect pairing than this story and that actor? His oft-compared-to comedian Jim Carrey could not have done this role. It requires an ability to at once sympathize with the frustrated mom and then sympathize with the pathetic dad. In fact, Tim Allen was originally offered the starring role and declined. Allen’s a legit comedic talent too, but this movie just feels like it was made for Robin Williams.

    Watch the scene where he pleads with the judge not to take his kids’ custody away; it’s heart-wrenching. There’s a sweetness behind the gags and a sadness behind the silly mask that feel all too right with Robin Williams in the lead, who in reality was a naturally sweet-yet-hilarious individual suffering with terrible personal demons.

    Now he’s gone and all we have left are memories of him. But that’s okay because the memories are wonderful, much like his kind heart, his delightful generosity, his inimitable comedic style, and his catalogue of great movies; the apex of which is Mrs. Doubtfire, a comedy gem that’s still awesome twenty-five years later.

    Share this article:

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit

    Tags

    1993 MoviesComedy MoviesFamily Movies

    COMMENTS

    Please read our Commenting Policy before you join in with the discussion.

    Note: If you have email notifications enabled, please check your email spam folders to ensure emails are not missed.

    Subscribe
    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    Notify of
    guest

    Connect withD
    I allow to create an account
    When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
    DisagreeAgree
    guest

    1 Comment
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    Rebel
    Rebel
    4 years ago

    Mrs. Doubtfire is undoubtedly the pinnacle of Robin Williams’ career. There were still good movies that followed, but this one became memorable to those of us who have watched it. It combined the real-life problem of families and the comical portrayal of Robin, which is a good mix in my own opinion. I miss him right now and I will watch this movie again.

    0
    Reply

    You might also like

    • Sleepless in Seattle is still awesome, twenty-five years later…

      By Matthew Martin
      | February 25, 2018
    • Groundhog Day is still awesome twenty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | January 21, 2018
    • E.T. is still awesome, thirty-five years later…

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 19, 2017
    • REVIEW: Jumanji – Welcome to the Jungle is…good enough

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 22, 2017

    FIND THE TOPICS YOU WANT...

    Movie Topics

    Recommended for you

    • REVIEW: GDT’s Pinocchio is my favorite film of the year!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 14, 2022
    • REVIEWS: TROLL and TROLL HUNTER -A giant creature double feature!

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 5, 2022
    • Harry and the Hendersons is still awesome, thirty-five years later

      By Matthew Martin
      | December 1, 2022
    • The five best “rogues galleries” in superherodom! (part 3)

      By Matthew Martin
      | November 28, 2022
    • Spirited Away remains Studio Ghibli’s “greatest” film

      By Matthew Martin
      | October 16, 2022
    • Read the Book Instead: The most disappointing book-to-film adaptations

      By Oliver Johnston
      | September 20, 2021
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Affiliate Disclosure
    • Cookie Policy and Settings
    • Terms of Use
    • Photo Credits
    • RSS
    All Cult of Whatever articles, logos, illustrations and graphics are copyright CultOfWhatever.com. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. © 2021 CultOfWhatever. All Rights Reserved.
    • facebook
    • twitter
    wpDiscuz
    x
    x