Matilda: Unfortunately for Matilda, her father Harry (Danny DeVito) is a used car salesman who bamboozles innocent customers and her mother Zinnia (Rhea Perlman) lives for bingo and soap operas. Far from noticing what a special child Matilda is, they barely notice her at all! They bundle Matilda off to Cruncham Hall, a bleak school where students cower before the whip hand and fist of a hulking monster, headmistress Miss Trunchball (Pam Ferris). But amid Crunchem's darkness, Matilda discovers remarkable skills - including a very special talent that allows her to turn the table on the wicked grown ups in her world!

Madeline: Madeline and her eleven friends live at school run by Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand) in an old house in Paris. The smallest of the girls, Madeline, is also the most adventurous! She loses her appendix but gains an awesome scare, falls into the River Seine only to be rescued by a dog called Genevieve, and matches wits with Pepito, the devilish son of a Spanish Ambassador who moves in next door. However, when stuffy Lord Covington puts the future of the school in jeopardy, it's up to Madeline and her friends to save the day!