Harriet the Spy (1996) on Netflix
Harriet M. Welsch, a sixth grader in New York City, spies on the people around her and records what she sees. After her nanny, Ole Golly, leaves, a classmate finds her notebook.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb6.0/1012,336 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes48%
Trailer
Plot summary
In New York City, eleven-year-old Harriet M. Welsch lives with her mother, Violetta, her father, Ben, and the nanny she confides in, Catherine "Ole Golly." Harriet means to be a spy and a writer, and she keeps a notebook for what she observes about the people around her. Simon "Sport" Rocque and Janie Gibbs are her closest friends, and Marion Hawthorne, the sixth-grade class president and newspaper editor, is her enemy. One evening, with Harriet's parents out, Ole Golly has her friend George over for dinner, burns the meal, and takes Harriet to a restaurant and a movie. Violetta and Ben return early, and Violetta fires Ole Golly. Before leaving, Ole Golly urges Harriet to keep observing people and promises to buy the first signed copy of the novel Harriet intends to write.
Cast
- Teisha Kimas Rachel Hennessy
- Cecilley Carrollas Beth Ellen Hansen
- Nina Shockas Carrie Andrews
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Harriet the Spy (1996)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Michelle Trachtenberg recalled the shoot beginning on October 11, 1994, her ninth birthday. She and co-star Vanessa Lee Chester had known each other before, having filmed a commercial together in New York City when they were five years old.
- Harriet the Spy was the first film produced under the Nickelodeon Movies banner, and the first of two film adaptations of the Harriet the Spy books.
- Michelle Trachtenberg returned to the Harriet the Spy world years later: in April 2023 it was announced she would make a guest appearance in the series as Dr. Wagner, which would be her final television appearance before her death in February 2025.
- Harriet the Spy was filmed in Toronto during the fall of 1994 and winter of 1995. Bronwen Hughes, who was making her feature directorial debut, said it was Paramount's financial decision to make Toronto look like New York.
- The cassette release also contained two Rugrats music videos, and customers were able to receive a $5 rebate if they bought the movie in an orange clamshell case plus two eligible Rugrats videos.
