48 Fun Facts About Mrs. Doubtfire

In Mrs. Doubtfire, what does Daniel hire for his son's birthday party, to Miranda's fury?

A petting zoo: Miranda comes home to a goat eating her begonias and a pony eating the birthday cake, and by the end of the clean-up she has asked for a divorce.

Who directed Mrs. Doubtfire?

Chris Columbus spent three months rewriting the script and, with his star, held out against a reunion for the parents: most divorced couples never get back together, he argued.

Mrs. Doubtfire is based on a 1987 novel by which English author?

Anne Fine borrowed the name from Madame Doubtfire, a real second-hand shop in Edinburgh whose owner had named it after her first husband.

What is Daniel Hillard's job at the start of Mrs. Doubtfire?

Voice actor: in the opening scene he is dubbing a cartoon bird, walks out when it is handed a cigarette, and later uses the same talent to pose as a string of dreadful nanny applicants on the phone.

What are the names of the three Hillard children?

Lydia, Chris and Natalie: when Lisa Jakub, who plays the eldest, was expelled by her school over the time she spent filming, Williams wrote asking it to take her back.

In the film, what is Mrs. Doubtfire's first name?

Euphegenia also gives her name to Euphegenia's House, the children's TV show that Daniel ends up hosting in character after the disguise is blown.

Where does Daniel get the surname 'Doubtfire'?

A newspaper headline catches his eye at the very moment Miranda, on the phone, asks the nanny for a name he has not yet thought up: 'Doubtfire, dear,' he says.

Who plays Miranda Hillard?

Sally Field's own marriage, to producer Alan Greisman, ended in divorce around the time she played the divorcing Miranda.

Who plays Stu Dunmeyer, Miranda's handsome new boyfriend?

Pierce Brosnan says his character's discomfort at the restaurant took no acting: Williams kept improvising ever-cruder remarks at the table, and keeping a straight face was the hard part.

Who transforms Daniel into an old woman with makeup and prosthetics?

His brother Frank and Frank's partner Jack try a string of glamorous looks on him before the latex goes on; their verdict on the finished nanny: 'Any closer and you'd be Mom.'

About how long did the Mrs. Doubtfire makeup take to apply each day?

Four hours, give or take, starting at three in the morning; the result was good enough that the young cast, introduced to the nanny as the director's mother, believed it.

How do the older Hillard children learn Mrs. Doubtfire is their father?

They catch him standing up to urinate: the boy bursts in on the nanny at the toilet and runs to his sister, and once their father explains, both agree to keep the secret from their mother.

In Mrs. Doubtfire, what does Daniel secretly put on Stu's jambalaya, knowing his allergy?

Cayenne pepper, which Stu is allergic to; when he starts choking, a guilty Daniel performs the Heimlich manoeuvre and his mask peels away in front of Miranda.

Why is Daniel, out of costume, also due at Miranda's birthday restaurant?

A job meeting with his boss: the station owner wants to discuss a new children's show, so a tipsy Daniel shuttles between two tables and two outfits until he sits down at the wrong one in the wrong clothes.

While cooking her first dinner for the Hillards, what does Mrs. Doubtfire accidentally set on fire?

Her false bust: the padding catches light at the stove, prompting the line 'My first day as a woman and I'm getting hot flashes' and a hasty order for a takeaway dinner.

In which city is Mrs. Doubtfire set and filmed?

San Francisco: the Hillards' Victorian house became a landmark for fans, who covered its steps with flowers and letters when Williams died in 2014.

What is the address of the Hillard family house, which became a fan memorial in 2014?

2640 Steiner Street is the address Miranda gives the new nanny over the phone, and it is the house's real one, which is why fans knew exactly where to leave their tributes.

Which legendary animator directed the cat-and-bird cartoon seen at the start of Mrs. Doubtfire?

Chuck Jones, the Looney Tunes veteran, and a small team animated five minutes of the short, though barely a minute of it reaches the screen.

Where was the jambalaya dinner scene in Mrs. Doubtfire filmed?

Bridges in Danville, California, thirty miles inland from the film's setting, shut for weeks while the crew spent about a fortnight on the sequence.

Which Oscar did Mrs. Doubtfire win?

Best Makeup: Greg Cannom's foam-latex face took so long to apply that the director never scheduled Williams as the nanny two days running.

Besides the prize for its leading man, which Golden Globe did Mrs. Doubtfire win?

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy went to a film whose reviews had been mixed: Roger Ebert, for one, called Tootsie by far the better film, more believable and funnier.

Which film beat Mrs. Doubtfire to become the highest-grossing film of 1993 worldwide?

Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg's dinosaur blockbuster, topped 1993 with more than $900 million worldwide, roughly double what Mrs. Doubtfire earned in second place.

Made for $25 million, Mrs. Doubtfire grossed roughly how much worldwide?

$440 million, more than seventeen times its cost and just over half of it from outside North America, even though the reviews had been mixed.

How did Mrs. Doubtfire's director capture the cast's reactions to his star's improvising?

Multiple cameras at once, documentary-style: Williams would give a few scripted takes and then say 'let's play', so up to four cameras stayed on his co-stars until, more than once, the film ran out.

What did Mrs. Doubtfire's director say in 2021 about a rumoured NC-17 cut?

Only R-rated footage exists, he said, ruling out any NC-17 version: Williams improvised so freely that in 2023 the director was still hoping to cut a making-of film from the outtakes.

What does Mrs. Doubtfire call hitting Stu with fruit by the pool?

A run-by fruiting: stung at hearing Stu call him a loser, Daniel bounces a piece of fruit off Stu's head, then blames an angry member of the kitchen staff.

How does Daniel stop rivals answering Miranda's housekeeper advert in Mrs. Doubtfire?

He changes its phone number on the form, then rings Miranda himself as a parade of alarming applicants, one of whom can say only 'I am job', before calling as the perfect nanny.

Which band's hit 'Dude (Looks Like a Lady)' plays as Mrs. Doubtfire settles in with the Hillard children?

Aerosmith's hit is one of several winking song choices: Frank Sinatra's 'Luck Be a Lady' plays while the mask is made, and the Four Seasons' 'Walk Like a Man' is on the soundtrack too.

What job does Daniel take at the TV station while secretly working as Mrs. Doubtfire?

Shipping clerk: a place in the shipping department is all the court liaison can find for him, until the station's owner overhears him clowning on the set of a dull dinosaur show and asks for ideas.

At the restaurant, what does Mrs. Doubtfire accidentally drop into her glass of wine?

Her false teeth: fishing for them with a fork brings the pun 'Carpe dentum, seize the teeth', a nod to Williams's own Dead Poets Society; the director counts the gag among the star's best improvisations.

Which actress was hired to write a Mrs. Doubtfire sequel that was scrapped in 2006?

Bonnie Hunt's script sent Daniel back into the disguise to keep an eye on his eldest daughter at college; Williams thought it did not work, and the project was dropped.

Mrs. Doubtfire was the last non-Disney Thanksgiving box office winner until which 2000 film?

How the Grinch Stole Christmas ended six years of Disney winners against two new Disney releases: Unbreakable and 102 Dalmatians both opened that weekend and finished behind it.

What does Daniel plunge his face into to replace his ruined mask for the court liaison?

A cream cake: as the icing slides off in front of his guest he bows out with 'I'm melting like a snow cone in Phoenix', in a sequence the director remembers as wildly improvised.

After the unmasking in Mrs. Doubtfire, what contact with his children does the judge leave Daniel?

Supervised Saturday visits: the judge gives Miranda sole custody; she later relents, and the film ends with him collecting the children every day after school.

Who originated the role of Daniel Hillard in the Mrs. Doubtfire stage musical?

Rob McClure originated Daniel and earned a Tony nomination for it; Broadway previews began in March 2020 and were shut down by the pandemic after three performances.

Which songwriting duo wrote the score for the Mrs. Doubtfire musical?

Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, the brothers behind Something Rotten!, wrote the songs for a Broadway run that COVID kept interrupting: a long pause early in 2022 was followed by closure that May.

Where did the Mrs. Doubtfire musical have its world premiere in December 2019?

The 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle is a regular proving ground for Broadway-bound musicals: Hairspray and The Wedding Singer had their tryouts there before Mrs. Doubtfire's in December 2019.

Which Broadway house hosted the Mrs. Doubtfire musical?

Stephen Sondheim Theatre: previews began there on March 9, 2020, three days before Broadway went dark, and the opening night planned for that April finally came in December 2021.

The star of Mrs. Doubtfire first found fame playing which TV alien?

Mork, the alien from Ork, made him a star in 1978, and the film winks at it: when the court liaison asks about his skills, Daniel's burst of voices includes a Mork gag about looking for intelligent life.

In the final scene of Mrs. Doubtfire, what is the nanny doing on her TV show?

Answering a letter about divorce: a girl writes that her parents have separated, and the nanny tells her that families come in many shapes and that love still binds the ones who live apart.

Mrs. Doubtfire's director had recently directed which pair of Christmas blockbusters?

Home Alone and Home Alone 2 were his calling cards: he says the studio rang after the first film's success, and he agreed the moment he heard who was attached to star.

Why were many British children turned away from Mrs. Doubtfire in cinemas in early 1994?

It carried a 12 certificate, which then barred under-12s even with a parent: the censors had asked for three lines of innuendo to go, the studio refused, and parents besieged the board with complaints.

Which aria, famous for its cries of 'Figaro!', is sung by the cartoon bird Pudgy in Mrs. Doubtfire?

Largo al factotum, Figaro's boast from Rossini's The Barber of Seville, gives the cartoon bird an operatic entrance; Daniel trills a 'Figaro!' of his own later, when the court liaison asks about his special skills.

How long does the judge in Mrs. Doubtfire give Daniel to find a job and a home?

Three months is the judge's deadline for a steady job and a home fit for children; Daniel meets it ahead of schedule, only for the nanny disguise to undo his good work in court.

Which composer wrote the score for Mrs. Doubtfire?

Howard Shore had made his name scoring David Cronenberg's horror films, The Fly among them, before this family comedy; his Lord of the Rings Oscars were still almost a decade away.

What is Miranda Hillard's profession in Mrs. Doubtfire?

Interior designer: it is how Stu re-enters her life, as a wealthy old flame who hires her firm to redecorate his mansion.

The Mrs. Doubtfire sequel announced in 2014 was to be written by the screenwriter of which Christmas film?

Elf's writer David Berenbaum was on the project by April 2014; the director's last conversation with Williams was about that script, and the star's one request was less time in the suit.

What does Mrs. Doubtfire say killed her late husband Winston?

A Guinness truck: when Miranda asks whether Winston was an alcoholic, Mrs. Doubtfire says no, he was hit by one, 'so it was quite literally the drink that killed him'.