Little Women (1994 film) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Little Women
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gillian Armstrong
Produced by	Denise Di Novi
Screenplay by	Robin Swicord
Starring	Winona Ryder Gabriel Byrne Trini Alvarado Samantha Mathis Kirsten Dunst Claire Danes Christian Bale Eric Stoltz Mary Wickes Susan Sarandon
Music by	Thomas Newman
Cinematography	Geoffrey Simpson
Editing by	Nicholas Beauman
Studio	Di Novi Pictures
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 25, 1994 (1994-12-25) (United States)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15–18 million
Money made	$95 million

Little Women is a heartwarming historical drama film from 1994. It was directed by Gillian Armstrong. The movie's story, written by Robin Swicord, is based on the famous book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This film is one of many movie versions of the classic story. It first came out on December 25, 1994, and was shown everywhere a few days later by Columbia Pictures.

The film was very popular with critics and earned about $95 million around the world. It was nominated for three Academy Awards: one for Best Actress (for Winona Ryder), one for Best Costume Design, and one for Best Original Score. A movie called Little Men followed, which was also inspired by Alcott's stories.

About the Story
Meet the Characters
Making the Movie
Movie Releases
The Book Version
Other Films
See also

About the Story

The March Sisters' Lives

The movie tells the story of the four March sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They live in Concord, Massachusetts, during and after the American Civil War. Their father is away fighting in the war. The girls live with their strong and loving mother, Marmee. They face many challenges, big and small, in 19th-century New England. The sisters love to put on plays that Jo writes in their attic theater.

New Friends and Challenges

Their wealthy neighbor, Mr. Laurence, has a grandson named Theodore, who everyone calls Laurie. Laurie moves in next door and quickly becomes a close friend to the March family, especially Jo. Mr. Laurence helps Beth, who plays the piano beautifully. Her music reminds him of his own daughter who passed away. Meanwhile, Meg starts to fall in love with Laurie's tutor, John Brooke.

When Mr. March gets hurt in the war, Jo sells her hair to help her mother, Marmee, travel by train to care for him. While Marmee is away, Beth continues to visit a family who is struggling. She brings them food and firewood. Beth then gets very sick with scarlet fever from the youngest child in that family. Meg and Jo had scarlet fever before and recovered. They decide to send Amy away to stay safely with their Aunt March. Amy worries about her future and talks to Laurie. He promises to be there for her if she gets sick.

Growing Up and New Paths

Before Beth's illness, Jo had been Aunt March's companion for a few years. Even though Jo didn't enjoy it, she hoped Aunt March would take her to Europe. Beth's health gets worse, so Marmee comes home and helps her recover just in time for Christmas. However, the illness leaves Beth very weak. Mr. Laurence gives Beth his daughter's piano. Meg accepts John Brooke's proposal. Mr. March then surprises everyone by returning home from the war.

Four years pass. Meg and John get married. Beth's health is still not good. Laurie, who has finished college, asks Jo to marry him and go to London. But Jo sees him more like a brother and says no. Jo is sad when Aunt March decides to take Amy to Europe instead of her. Amy wants to improve her art skills there. Feeling disappointed, Jo moves to New York City to become a writer and experience more of life. There, she meets Friedrich Bhaer, a German professor. He helps her think in new ways and encourages her to write better stories.

In Europe, Amy meets Laurie again. She is disappointed to see he isn't making good choices and isn't being responsible. She tells him she doesn't like that he seems to be interested in her just to be closer to her family. In return, he criticizes her for her choices about marriage. He asks Amy to wait for him while he works for his grandfather in London and tries to become more responsible.

Jo is called home because Beth's health has worsened. Beth sadly passes away because of her illness. A very sad Jo goes to the attic for comfort and writes her life story. When she finishes, she sends it to Professor Bhaer. Meanwhile, Meg has twins, a boy named Demi and a girl named Daisy.

A letter from Amy says that Aunt March is too sick to travel, so Amy must stay in Europe. In London, Laurie gets a letter from Jo about Beth's death. He learns Amy is in Vevey, Switzerland, and cannot come home. He immediately goes to be with Amy. They eventually return to the March home as spouses, which surprises Jo but makes her happy.

Aunt March passes away and leaves her house to Jo. Jo decides to turn the house into a school. Professor Bhaer arrives with the printed pages of her book. He thinks Jo is married and plans to leave to accept a teaching job in the West. Jo runs after him, explaining the misunderstanding. She asks him to stay. He then asks her to marry him, and she happily agrees.

Meet the Characters

Winona Ryder as Josephine "Jo" March, a young woman who dreams of becoming a successful writer.
Gabriel Byrne as Friedrich Bhaer, an older professor who becomes friends with Jo in New York and later marries her.
Trini Alvarado as Margaret "Meg" March, the oldest March sister. She marries John Brooke and has twins, Demi and Daisy.
Samantha Mathis and Kirsten Dunst as Amy March, the youngest March sister. She is clever and artistic. Amy has golden curls and blue eyes, unlike her older sisters. She later marries Laurie and becomes a successful painter. Kirsten Dunst played Amy as a twelve-year-old, and Samantha Mathis played her as a seventeen-year-old.
Claire Danes as Elizabeth "Beth" March, the third March daughter and the family's talented pianist. She is shy, kind, and loyal. She gets scarlet fever at a young age, which weakens her heart, and she passes away four years later.
Christian Bale as Theodore "Laurie" Laurence, the young neighbor who becomes Jo's best friend. He later tries to marry Jo but she says no. He eventually falls in love with and marries Amy.
Eric Stoltz as John Brooke, Laurie's tutor and Meg's husband.
John Neville as Mr. James Laurence, Laurie's kind grandfather and a neighbor to the Marches.
Mary Wickes as Aunt Josephine March, the only wealthy member of the March family. When she passes away, she leaves her house to Jo, who turns it into a school for boys.
Susan Sarandon as Abigail "Marmee" March, the loving mother of the March daughters and wife of Mr. March.
Matthew Walker as Robert March, the father of the four March daughters and Marmee's devoted husband.
Florence Paterson as Hannah Mullet, the loyal housekeeper who has been with the March family since Meg was born. The girls see her as a good friend.
Janne Mortil as Sally Moffat, Meg's good friend who is quite rich.
Donal Logue as Jacob Mayer

Making the Movie

Finding a Studio

It took 12 years for the movie Little Women to find a film studio. The writer, Robin Swicord, and producer, Denise Di Novi, said that many people were not interested in making a movie with "a lot of women." One movie executive even suggested making a modern version where the March family was "in the 90s and not happy about not having a car for Christmas." Di Novi explained that movies like Little Women were sometimes called "needle in the eye" films in the industry. This meant that some thought men wouldn't want to watch them, so they were seen as too risky to make. Finally, Columbia Pictures agreed to consider the project, but only if Winona Ryder played the role of Jo.

Choosing the Actors

Winona Ryder was already set to play Jo. Offers for the roles of Marmee and Laurie were sent to Susan Sarandon and Christian Bale. Sarandon almost didn't take the role because she had a rule about not leaving her young children during the school year.

Choosing the actress for Amy was the hardest decision. This movie was the first and only one to have two different actresses play Amy at different ages. The producer, Di Novi, felt it was "weird" to have one actress play both a child and an adult Amy.

Many young actresses tried out for the role of Amy, including Natalie Portman and Thora Birch. In the end, Kirsten Dunst was chosen to play the younger Amy. Director Gillian Armstrong said in an interview that Kirsten Dunst was amazing in her audition. For the older Amy, the choice was between Reese Witherspoon and Samantha Mathis. Armstrong's first choice for a single actress to play Amy was Witherspoon. However, the casting director chose Samantha Mathis for the part.

For the role of Professor Bhaer, producer Di Novi initially wanted Hugh Grant. But the casting director felt he was too young and confident for the character from the book. John Turturro also really wanted the role. However, the casting director wanted a deeper and more thoughtful Bhaer, so they chose Gabriel Byrne.

Filming Locations and Style

The 1994 film Little Women was mostly filmed in parts of Canada, like Vancouver Island and Vancouver in British Columbia. Some scenes were also shot in Massachusetts in the United States. Director Gillian Armstrong really wanted the movie to look like the time period of Little Women. The look of the film was inspired by old photographs, paintings, and drawings from the Civil War era, which is when the book was written. Armstrong, along with the cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson, art director Jan Roelfs, and costume designer Colleen Atwood, used these artworks to inspire the sets, costumes, colors, and even the lighting in the movie.

Movie Releases

The film was first released on VHS in North America on June 20, 1995. It became available on DVD on April 25, 2000. Later, it was released on Blu-ray several times, including on December 13, 2016, and again on March 24, 2020. On October 29, 2019, Mill Creek Entertainment released Little Women as a double feature Blu-ray with another film starring Kirsten Dunst, Marie Antoinette. The film was released on 4K U.H.D. on November 19, 2024.

The Book Version

In 1994, Pocket Books published a book called Little Women by Laurie Lawlor. This book was based on the movie's screenplay by Robin Swicord, not on the original novel by Louisa May Alcott.