Mrs Doubtfire

Story

Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) is an actor who has 3 children with his wife Miranda (Sally Field). After quitting his job, Daniel throws a loud and messy party for his son Chris (Matthew Lawrence). When Miranda gets home from work, she gets into an argument with Daniel over the party, and then she asks for a divorce. In the divorce proceedings, Daniel is granted visitation rights on Saturdays only, leaving him very upset.

When Miranda advertises for a housekeeper, Daniel creates the alias of Mrs Doubtfire to apply for the position and spend more time with his children. The children begin to connect with Mrs Doubtfire, and Daniel becomes a more competent and mature parent. But Daniel must also manage being around Miranda’s new partner Stu (Pierce Brosnan), whom he doesn’t like.

When Chris catches Mrs Doubtfire standing to urinate, Daniel reveals to his eldest children that he has been in disguise all along. They agree to conceal Daniel’s identity from Miranda.

During a birthday dinner for Miranda, Daniel tries and fails to juggle his role as Mrs Doubtfire with an important business meeting about a television job as a children’s entertainer. This leads to his identity being revealed.

Daniel ultimately lands the job. This draws his family together and enables Daniel and Miranda to agree on what’s best for their children.

Themes

Divorce; family breakdown; racism; transphobia

Violence

Mrs Doubtfire has some violence. For example:

Daniel adopts the Mrs Doubtfire alias and calls Miranda about the housekeeper position. He asks, ‘Are your kids well-behaved, or do they need a few light slams now and then?’
Daniel calls Miranda about the housekeeper position using another alias. He says, ‘Layla, get back in your cell! Don’t make me get the hose!’
A newspaper headline reads, ‘Police Doubt Fire Was Accidental’, suggesting an arson attack has occurred.
Mrs Doubtfire says, ‘If I find the misogynistic bastard who invented heels, I’ll kill him’.
Mrs Doubtfire fights off a man who tries to steal her handbag.
Mrs Doubtfire says under her breath to Stu, ‘Touch me again and I’ll drown you, you bastard’.
Daniel sneaks into the kitchen to add pepper to Stu’s food after finding out he’s allergic, threatening his life.
Miranda motions to slit her throat after a poor interview with a replacement nanny.

Sexual references

Mrs Doubtfire has some sexual references. For example:

After showing Daniel the newspaper advertisement for housekeeper, Miranda asks, ‘Is there anything else you want to see?’ He glances at her breasts and says, ‘Are you offering?’
Mrs Doubtfire accidentally sets her chest and fake breasts alight, beating them with pot lids to put the fire out.
Mrs Doubtfire says that Stu’s Mercedes must be compensating for small genitals.
Miranda asks Mrs Doubtfire for relationship advice. They talk about desire and celibacy.
Mrs Doubtfire says that the water must be cold by the look of Stu, implying that his genitals have shrunk from the cold.
Mrs Doubtfire gives Miranda advice on dresses. She says, ‘The red one is the traditional colour for streetwalkers’ and ‘The black one is much too short. I hope you waxed’. Mrs Doubtfire also says, ‘They both say to me, “I’m easy”’.
Mrs Doubtfire says to Stu that the gift he has bought Miranda for her birthday is a ‘bit of a going down payment’. She follows this with several sexual innuendos, including ‘humpty dumpty’, ‘jack horny’, ‘horizontal mumbo’, ‘rumple foreskin’ and ‘cunning linguistics’.
Mrs Doubtfire says to Stu that Miranda’s ‘got a power tool in the bedroom’.

A character says, ‘I got the stretch outside. Does your girlfriend have a lady friend for me?'

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Mrs Doubtfire shows some use of substances. For example:

Pudgy the Parrot (a Tweety Bird parody) smokes cigarettes.
Several characters drinks alcohol. Daniel and a television CEO drink too much alcohol during a dinner.

Nudity and sexual activity

Mrs Doubtfire has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

Daniel takes off the Mrs Doubtfire disguise and strips down to his underwear.
Stu and Miranda kiss.
Chris catches Mrs Doubtfire urinating.
Several women wear bikinis while at a public pool.
Stu wears only swimming shorts and no shirt. People comment on his physical shape.
Daniel makes up a cover story for smelling of women’s perfume and wearing lipstick. He says that his ex-partner was working as a waitress and couldn’t keep her hands and lips off him.

Product placement

The following media and other products are displayed or used in Mrs Doubtfire:

parodies of Tweety Bird and Sylvester from Looney Tunes
Porky the Pig from Looney Tunes
motor vehicles including an Acura Vigor, a Chevrolet Astro, a Dodge Shadow, a Ford Mustang, a Honda Civic, a Mercedes Benz SL, a Nissan 240SX, a Volkswagen Super Beetle and a Volvo 850
Jump Around by House of Pain
Luck Be a Lady by Frank Sinatra
Stuart Little
Dude (Looks Like A Lady) by Aerosmith
Guinness beer
Planet of the Apes.

Coarse language

Mrs Doubtfire has some coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Mrs Doubtfire is a 1993 comedy and Golden Globe winner about overcoming the struggles of family separation.

Despite the well-intentioned primary message about love prevailing through conflict, many of the jokes and messages in Mrs Doubtfire haven’t aged well. For example, there are racial jokes and transphobic themes. Furthermore, Daniel is presented as a character we should sympathise with, despite his immoral and illegal activities. The movie also sends a worrying message about the rewards of behaving like Daniel, with Daniel landing a major TV deal and improved custody arrangements.

Because of its frequent sexual references, coarse language, violence and questionable underlying messages, Mrs Doubtfire is unsuited to children under 10 years. We also recommend parental guidance for children aged 10-14 years.

The main message from Mrs Doubtfire is that love will persist, no matter the circumstances.

Values in Mrs Doubtfire that you could reinforce with your children include family, love, perseverance and courage.

Mrs Doubtfire could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues and questions like the following:

Although Daniel means well, disguising himself to get the housekeeper position is unethical and illegal. In reality, he’d probably be charged with a criminal offence.
Daniel refers to Miranda as ‘the old battle axe’ when talking to his children after the divorce, and he gets his older children to promise not to reveal his identity to their mother. At the end of the movie, he also blames Miranda for taking his children from him. He seems to have no remorse, and the movie seems to praise and reward him for this.
The movie has several racial jokes. For example, Daniel says, ‘I’m not a Muslim while holding a tea towel over his face. He also says, ‘Do you know what language they speak in England? Pakistani? In many stores they do’. You might want to call this out.
The movie also has a lot of transphobia. This starts with the alias Daniel uses to lower Miranda’s hopes of finding a suitable nanny. He says, ‘I don’t work with the males because I used to be one’. Miranda hangs up in disgust. Additionally, when Chris discovers that Mrs Doubtfire has male genitals, he freaks out and tells Lydia that they must call the police.
Characters smoke cigarettes and drive while holding a phone. You could talk about the risks of these activities.