Deleted Mrs. Doubtfire Scenes Show How Close It Came to Being More of a Drama Than a Comedy

Robin Williams was in talks to appear in a sequel before he died

By Francesca Bacardi Feb 10, 2016 5:32 PMTags
Mrs. Doubtfire, Matthew Lawrence, Robin Williams20th Century Fox

Mrs. Doubtfire was easily one of Robin Williams' best movies, making people of all ages laugh their butts off at the hilarity that ensued.

But beneath the surface jokes lay a deeper message about how divorce can affect a family, and newly released, deleted scenes from the 1993 film reveal how close it came to being more of a drama than a comedy. Matthew Keys posted a few deleted scenes on YouTube, and the eight minutes of footage that could've been is absolutely heartbreaking.

Daniel Hillard (Williams) arrives to his daughter, Lydia's, spelling bee late and gets into an argument with his ex-wife (Sally Field) over the lack of seat for him. The argument blows up and results in an embarrassing moment for Lydia, who misspells her word and begins to tear up onstage. It continues outside the school, where Daniel talks privately with Lydia, who begs him to be able to pretend to be happy with his now ex-wife. The emotional back-and-forth is absolutely draining and adds an entirely different tone to the movie. 

But it's the last scene that's ultimately the real dagger in the heart. It appears it would've taken place after Mrs. Doubtfire's big reveal at the restaurant. Daniel returns to the family's home where he and Miranda get into an explosive fight, but director Chris Columbus chose to focus on the kids' reactions as they overhear upstairs.

Ultimately, they shock their parents when they all say, "I hate you," to break up the parents' fight. Before Williams died he was in talks to produce a sequel to the beloved comedy.

"No, we were involved with it because it was something Robin and I always talked about," Columbus told Entertainment Weekly. "We said for years that we would never do it. Then somebody came up with a really interesting idea, and we agreed to develop a script."

Watch the three scenes above, and tell us what you think about them in the comments.

Watch: E! Looks Back at Robin Williams in 2013