Trailer
Plot summary
Oliver Greening drives a carriage in New York but hopes to act on Broadway, and after trying out for a musical drawn from A Tale of Two Cities, he loses the part to the better known Tony Sable. That night his young daughter Anabel fails to convince her older brother Charlie that fairy godmothers exist, then wakes to find Murray in her room, a male fairy godmother whom the others in his profession treat with disdain. Murray, hoping to be taken seriously, agrees to grant Anabel's wish that Oliver get the part so her family would not have to move to Nebraska. Hortence, who heads the fairy godmothers' association, presides over its yearly meeting, where the members must hand in their wands. Claudia, banished from the group for her selfish use of magic, comes for the wands.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Simple Wish (1997)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Martin Short, who plays Murray, said the list of actors who actually wanted the part was pretty scant, and that aside from him only Jerry Mathers and Frank Stallone voiced a desire to play the character.
- The film's computer-generated imagery was created by Blue Sky Studios, one of the studio's earlier efforts in feature films along with Joe's Apartment and Alien Resurrection, after work primarily in television advertisements.
- Martin Short complimented his young co-star Mara Wilson on her ability to keep a straight face, and Wilson credited that ability to working with Robin Williams on Mrs. Doubtfire.
- It was the final film directed by Michael Ritchie before his death in 2001, not counting The Fantasticks, which was released in 2000 but had actually been shot back in 1995.
