8 On-Screen Food Fights We Want to Join

Mashed potatoes, ketchup, and pasta flying in every direction. We'd love to be there.

One of the most enticing movie scenes to a kid are the one’s filled with activities they’d normally get in trouble for doing. The infamous food fight scene fits this description perfectly.

On the one hand, my adult brain says, “I feel terrible for the person that’s going to have to clean up that mess.” On the other hand, this is one of the only types of fight scenes that look more enjoyable than dangerous. So despite my responsible adult instincts, there are still some movie and TV food fights that live rent free in my mind and I wish I could recreate.

2 / 10

Hook

The 1991 film Hook with Robin Williams is set in Neverland where children never grow up and pirates run wild. So, to add a fun-filled colorful food fight to the adventure is really just a cherry on top. At first, Peter Pan, played by Robin Williams, can’t even see the food on the table, but when he taps into his childhood imagination he’s able to see a whole feast right in front of him. From there it’s just brightly colored whip cream flying all over the place. Not only does this fantasy land look fun, but it looks sweet as well.

3 / 10

Matilda

The food fight in the 1996 film Matilda is more like a satisfying revenge scene than an actual fight. After enduring cruelty from an absolute monster of a principal, the Trunchbull, every child in the school starts pelting her with their boxed lunches. At one point, a student that she forced to eat a massive chocolate cake (trust me not as good as it sounds) takes a piece of cake and shoves it in her face, as he should. The Trunchbull absolutely gets her just desserts in this scene and every kid watching likely had a particular teacher in mind they wish they could’ve dumped their lunch on.

4 / 10

Max Keeble’s Big Move

It might be a little morbid to describe it this way, but the movie Max Keeble’s Big Move basically answers the question, “What would you do if you had one day to live?” Max Keeble is about to move away from the place he’s known his whole life, so he decides to complete what is essentially a bucket list of activities and on it has to be a food fight. At one point in the fight, his friend uses a tuba to squirt mustard all over the place. People are slipping and sliding all over the cafeteria covered in classic sloppy joe mess. This scene is exactly what you picture when you hear food fight.

5 / 10

Whip it!

A coming of age story with some teenage rebellion and a roller derby team, the food fight scene in Whip it! shows that even adults can’t resist the opportunity to get messy. This scene also comes with two key moments that make it worthy of being on a food fight list. First, Drew Barrymore’s character literally yells “food fight” which it feels like has to happen otherwise it’s not valid. And two, Barrymore’s character also pies someone in the face. Both incredibly satisfying moments.

6 / 10

Recess

Although animated, you could argue that the food fight scene in the Disney show Recess, is even better than a real life food fight scene because the food is animated. Something about animated food always tends to look even more appetizing than the real thing. What makes this scene so perfect is that there are adults in the room who see what’s happening and instead of putting an end to it immediately, they just back away and act as if they saw nothing. In this case, that’s a kid’s highest hope.

7 / 10

Bratz

The Bratz movie brought to life the personalities of some pretty iconic dolls, but this food fight scene stands out more so for it’s hilariously over-choreographed slips and falls. One character falling into a trash bin and rolling all the way over to a table and “accidentally” dumping her tray to another character slipping on a runaway skateboard and causing a different character to face plant onto her lunch. It’s all just overdone chaos and I’m here for it.

8 / 10

Family Matters

This food fight scene from an episode of the early 1990s TV series Family Matters has a pretty long build up to the actual melee, but it’s all worth it. The weird faux polite back and forth that occurs between main instigators escalates from handfuls of mashed potatoes on one person’s head to cherry pie in an armpit and ice cream to the face. When an innocent bystander finally gets some condiments squirted on them all hell breaks loose and the classic food fight finally gets going.

9 / 10

The Nanny

This food fight scene from The Nanny is another great example that while food fights may be a bit immature, they’re definitely not just for kids. Two grown women start this food chaos off and it only gets crazier from there. The Nanny herself is absolutely drenched in frosting, cake, and maybe custard? I feel bad for her gorgeous dress, but on the bright side all the kids in the scene look like they’ve had the time of their lives.

10 / 10