Harvey Fierstein had seen and been impressed by Robin Williams's impersonation of him on Comic Relief. He heard through friends that Williams would be playing a character with a gay brother, and approached him about playing the part.
When Anne Fine was approached to make a movie out of her novel, her original choice for the lead role was Warren Beatty. Because of Beatty's reputation as a great womanizer she thought it would be hysterical to see him dress up and pretend to be a woman.
When the mail man "Mr Sprinkles" visits Mrs Doubtfire when she has her own show at the end of the movie, he calls her "Mrs Doubtflier" when handing the mail to her.
What are the differences between the old British PG Version and the Uncensored Version?
A
This pretty amusing comedy movie at first was released in a censored version in British cinemas. Additionally, the first prints of both the VHS and the DVD version were censored in the same way. One dialogue which included sexual innuendo had to be cut out. Finally, in 2003 and 2007 the movie was re-released on DVD and this time in its uncensored version. A detailed comparison between both versions can be found here.