Welcome to the Dollhouse

Director: Todd Solondz Todd Solondz

Overview

Todd Solondz's breakthrough film Welcome to the Dollhouse comes to DVD with a pair of transfers. The widescreen transfer preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is preferable to the standard full-frame image. A closed-captioned English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. English, French, and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a theatrical trailer, production notes, and talent files. This is a fine, but less than spectacular release from Columbia/TriStar.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/03/1999
UPC:	0043396825697
Original Release:	1995
Rating:	R
Source:	Sony Pictures
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Full Frame, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[stereo, Dolby Digital]
Language:	English
Time:	1:27:00

Special Features

Digitally remastered audio and video; Production notes; Interactive menus; Language: English (stereo); Subtitles: English, Spanish, French; Theatrical trailer; Talent and filmographies; Scene selections

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Heather Matarazzo	Dawn Wiener
Brendan Sexton Jr.	Brandon McCarthy
Matthew Faber	Mark Wiener
Daria Kalinina	Missy Wiener
Angela Pietropinto	Mrs. Wiener
Bill Buell	Mr. Wiener
Eric Mabius	Steve Rodgers
Rica Martens	Mrs. Grissom
Victoria Davis	Lolita
Christina Brucato	Cookie
Christina Vidal	Cynthia
Siri Howard	Chrissy
Telly Pontidis	Jed
Herbie Duarte	Lance
Scott Coogan	Troy
Josiah Trager	Kenny
Ken Leung	Barry
Dimitri Iervolino	Ralphy
Stacey Moseley	Mary Ellen Moriarty
Will Lyman	Mr. Edwards
Elizabeth Martin	Mrs. Iannone
Zsanne Pitta	Ginger Friedman
Richard Gould	Mr. Kasdan
Beverly Hecht	Steve's Girlfriend
Teddy Coluca	Police Sergeant
Tommy Fager	Tommy McCarthy
James O'Donoghue	Mr. McCarthy
Brendan Sexton	Actor
Jill Wisoff	Composer

Technical Credits

Todd Solondz

Donna Bascom	Executive Producer
Ann Goulder	Casting
Todd Solondz	Producer,Director,Screenwriter
Alex Wolfe	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Side #1 -- Widescreen
1. Start [1:49]
2. Dawn Wiener [2:07]
3. Troy [4:58]
4. Trapped by Lolita [1:55]
5. Detention [4:37]
6. "Sweet Candy" [2:04]
7. Dignity [:45]
8. Stranger Danger [2:38]
9. Dawn Meets Steve [5:38]
10. Ginger [1:55]
11. A Love-Struck Hostess [5:15]
12. "Welcome to the Dollhouse" [3:31]
13. 3 PM Warning [2:34]
14. Party Plans [3:25]
15. Love Among the Ruins [4:42]
16. Steve's Photos [3:03]
17. Cookie's Cookie [1:33]
18. "Lost in Your Eyes" [2:43]
19. "Happy Anniversary" [2:01]
20. Looking for Steve [1:52]
21. Tape Review [4:15]
22. A Note for Missy [3:06]
23. Breakfast With Police [2:09]
24. At Brandon's House [5:08]
25. "They Found Her Tutu." [1:48]
26. Sister Search [4:19]
27. Expressing Her Thanks [3:13]
28. "The Hummingbird Anthem" [4:06]
Side #2 -- Full Screen
1. Start [1:49]
2. Dawn Wiener [2:07]
3. Troy [4:58]
4. Trapped by Lolita [1:55]
5. Detention [4:37]
6. "Sweet Candy" [2:04]
7. Dignity [:45]
8. Stranger Danger [2:38]
9. Dawn Meets Steve [5:38]
10. Ginger [1:55]
11. A Love-Struck Hostess [5:15]
12. "Welcome to the Dollhouse" [3:31]
13. 3 PM Warning [2:34]
14. Party Plans [3:25]
15. Love Among the Ruins [4:42]
16. Steve's Photos [3:03]
17. Cookie's Cookie [1:33]
18. "Lost in Your Eyes" [2:43]
19. "Happy Anniversary" [2:01]
20. Looking for Steve [1:52]
21. Tape Review [4:15]
22. A Note for Missy [3:06]
23. Breakfast With Police [2:09]
24. At Brandon's House [5:08]
25. "They Found Her Tutu." [1:48]
26. Sister Search [4:19]
27. Expressing Her Thanks [3:13]
28. "The Hummingbird Anthem" [4:06]

Menu

Side #1 -- Widescreen
   Play Movie
   Subtitles
      English
      Spanish
      French
      No Subtitles
   Theatrical Trailer
   Talent/Filmographies
      Todd Solondz
      Heather Matarazzo
      Brendan Sexton, Jr.
   Scene Selections
Side #2 -- Full Screen
   Play Movie
   Subtitles
      English
      Spanish
      French
      No Subtitles
   Theatrical Trailer
   Talent/Filmographies
      Todd Solondz
      Heather Matarazzo
      Brendan Sexton, Jr.
   Scene Selections

Editorial Reviews

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Welcome to the Dollhouse is one of the most hilariously scathing depictions of preteen angst on film, and it catapulted its young writer-director, Todd Solondz, into the indie spotlight. Heather Matarazzo gives a knock-out performance as the film's heroine, Dawn Weiner. Angry, vulnerable and desperately looking for love, the bespectacled Dawn is a supremely geeky outcast and the victim of an endless stream of attacks. These come from her schoolmates who torture her mercilessly in the hallways between classes (her nickname is Wiener Dog) and her insensitive parents, who obviously favor Dawn's petite and adorable little sister -- a demon in a tutu whose perfection is a constant torment to Dawn. Solondz (who went on to direct the controversial Happiness) is a master at deadpan suburban anomie; his tacky middle-class environments are as ugly and ridiculous as his characters and their behavior. Anyone who has suffered the slings and arrows of preadolescence will identify with equal measures of horror and laughter.

Barnes & Noble

One of the most honest films ever made about adolescence, Todd Solondz's Welcome to the Dollhouse is a brutal, caustically hilarious ode to the seventh ring of hell that is the seventh grade. Solondz approaches his material as a survivor: in the character of Dawn Wiener, it is easy to see the director himself, the ostracized geek used as a bottom rung by his peers as they climbed the social ladder. But rather than use his position behind the camera to craft a redemptive tale of a spunky outcast who gets revenge on her tormenters, Solondz is more interested in bleak, mundane reality. Dawn (played to perfection by Heather Matarazzo) doesn't possess the subversive intelligence or creative inclinations that usually endear social misfits to an audience; if you removed her thick glasses, there wouldn't be a beautiful swan hiding underneath, just an awkward girl who can't see. Most tellingly, Dawn doesn't want revenge on her tormenters: she wants to be accepted by them. More than anything else, junior high is about survival. If Dawn can make it to the eighth grade, she's one year closer to escape; and, in the pockmarked scheme of puberty, escape is about all you can hope for.

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