Robin Williams does old-lady drag once again as Euphegenia Doubtfire storms onto DVD in a new two-disc special edition.
Daniel Hilliard (Robin Williams) is a voice-over actor who quits his latest job because he objected to the cartoon character lighting up a cigarette. He drowns his sorrows by throwing a huge birthday party for his son Christopher (Matthew Lawrence), including a portable petting zoo.
Everyone’s having a great time, including eldest daughter Lydia (Lisa Jakub) and youngest daughter Natalie (Mara Wilson). Daniel’s wife Miranda (Sally Field) comes home early and finds her house engulfed in the chaos of the out of control party. This is the straw that broke the camel’s back for Miranda and she tells Daniel that she wants a divorce.
This not only shocks Daniel, but he’s further destroyed when Miranda is awarded full custody and he’s only allowed weekend visits with his children. He discovers that Miranda is looking for a housekeeper/nanny and concocts a brilliant scheme.
He approaches his brother Frank (Harvey Fierstein), a make-up artist (along with his partner “Aunt Jack” (Scott Capurro)), to make him into a woman so that he can see his kid on a daily basis. He sabotages Miranda’s ad and calls up as the English housekeeper/nanny Mrs. Doubtfire, after calling as a litany of deranged responders to the ad. He arrives in disguise and fools his ex-wife into hiring him.
Things are working out well for Daniel until Miranda starts seeing an old flame, Stuart (Pierce Brosnan), and his jealousy threatens to mess up his time with the kids.
Mrs. Doubtfire is a showcase for the talents of Robin Williams and he gets to act in and out of prosthetics. At the core of the film is the subject of divorce and how it tears families apart. It seems that Hilliard has come up with a novel way to spend more time with his kids and discovers that he becomes a better man while posing as an old woman. Lessons are learned and the kids get closer to dad.
However, don’t expect an ending that sees the divorced parents getting back together (they tried it but test audiences didn’t react well and it rang false). Williams has found his niche in tons of makeup and support hose but he also hits the right sentimental notes. This may well be one of his most successful screen personas.
Mrs. Doubtfire is presented in anamrophic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Disc one contains 32 minutes of deleted and extended scenes and 4 minutes of alternate scenes.
Disc two is divided into “Production Office,” “Animation Studio,” “Make-up Department,” “Stage A,” and “Publicity Office.” “Production Office” starts off with the 26 minute “From Man to Mrs.,” which chronicles the making of the film with vintage interviews.
Next is the new 13 minute “Aging Gracefully” in which director Chris Columbus and Williams sit down to remember the feature. This section also contains a behind-the-scenes photo gallery. “Animation Studio” starts off with a 2 minute conversation with legendary animator Chuck Jones (from 1994) that talks about the cartoon he did for the film.
The 2 minute Pencil Test, the 5 minute animated sequence, and another 5 minute version of the sequence with different backgrounds. The “Make-up Department” has a 4 minute featurette about the make up application with artist Ve Neill (from 1993), a makeup photo gallery, and 18 minutes of makeup tests.
“Stage A” is 36 minutes of Improvisations from Williams. It’s not hard to imagine that 36 minutes only is the tip of the iceberg with the way Williams goes off on a riff. The “Publicity Department” contains the 5 minute 1993 featurette, a 5 minute featurette where Williams interviews Mrs. Doubtfire, 3 trailers, 2 TV spots, theatrical posters, and a publicity photo gallery.
What’s missing is the commentary that Columbus did for the original DVD (which I think came from the laserdisc). However, there’s enough to keep you occupied in this version if you’re a fan of the film. The film still has relevance and a fine comic turn by Williams.
Mrs. Doubtfire (Behind-the-Seams Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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