I disagree that Anne Hathaway looks too young for the part. If you read the original book, the Grand High Witch is supposed to look as if she’s a young beautiful woman in her early 20s. Anjelica Huston was amazing, but she was clearly not a woman in her 20s when the original Witches movie came out. It didn’t bother me though, I could still totally buy that she called all the shots.
No, Anne Hathaway was perfectly cast for the concept of what the Grand High Witch was originally supposed to look like, and at 37 or 38 she still looks very young. That, I have no problem with at all. What bothered me was the way the entire character was executed in this movie. There is no subtlety for this character at all, which is a big deal because the way witches operate and stay alive depends on how well they could be subtle at what they do. It is reiterated over and over in the book that a witch never gets caught. Yes, witches hate children and look for ways to dispose of them, but they are not open about it like they are in this movie. ESPECIALLY the Grand High Witch!
Anne Hathaway not being given a face like her character had in the book is an atrocity in and of itself, but that is the least of her character’s problems in this movie. She is only supposed to lose her temper when there’s only other witches around, but she is very short-tempered with adult humans and there are multiple instances in which she could’ve easily gotten caught. She is also too open with adult humans about her distaste for children. We find out at the end of the book that people knew her as a woman who loved mankind, and gave to charity, but anyone in this movie could easily see her for who she is!
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