Bedknobs and Broomsticks

 

 

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The storyline in "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"lagged a bit,and the songs aren't too memorable(the only song I ever remember from this movie is"Substitutiary Locomotion").However,the animated sequences in "Bedknobs"was done a lot better than the animated sequences in"Mary Poppins"(the soccer match was funny!).David Tomlison was funny in the animated sequences,but his performance was disappointing in the live-action scenes.(David was a LOT more convincing in "Mary Poppins").

Bedknobs and Broomsticks is my favorite Disney movie ever created. However, it is also one of the most overlooked ones as well. I've watched this movie since I was a little child, and you never get bored of it. One childhood memory I have, is watching this movie with my family. Now, I watch this 30th Anniversary DVD with my baby brother. Now I'll tell you all what this classic is about.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks is about a middle aged apprentice witch named Eglantine Price who lives in 1940 England. She is ordered to watch after 3 children who have been evacuated from London. The kids find out Miss Price's secret, and they also find out that Miss Price learns witchcraft from a mailorder course. To make a pact that states that if they keep her secret, she'll make it worth her while. So, she enchants a brass bedknob that will make them go wherever they want. However, the school closes, without the most important final spell, the Subsitutiary Locomotion spell.

So, using the bedknob, they go to London and seek out the headmaster of the school, Emelius Brown. Mr Brown can't find the spell either because the book he got out the spell of is torn, and the spell is only found on a necklace of a sorcerer named Astoroth.

Anyway, they go to Portobello Road, like a mini mall, and learn that towards the end of Astoroth's life, he captured animals and kept them in cages to make them more human like. The animals rebelled and killed Astoroth and stole the necklace. The animals escaped and took refuge on a mythical Isle named Niboombu.

The animation starts know as the tiny group explore the sea and then the island using hte traveling bedknob, and get the necklace that has the spell on it after a fun soccer game with a lion, which almost ends our story. After getting the necklace and returning home, the Nazi soldiers attack, and using the Spell, Miss Price and Company defeat them.

Now, I highly reccomend this DVD because of its digitally restored and digitally remastered format, and the resolution is so clear. This also has one of the best climaxes in Disney history, when they fight the Nazi's, and also has great animation.

As Mr Brown says, "Do it with a Flair", and get this 30th anniversary DVD, Digitally Restored and Remastered and Ready to Go!

Made during the Disney wilderness years following Walt's death, Bedknobs is a re-tread of the hugely successful Mary Poppins. However, if you're going to re-tread a film, it might as well be a classic! Check off the ingredients: - initially cold matronly female lead who the children and audience quickly warms to, capable and charming child leads, a perky male side-kick, an animated/live action interlude that has nothing to do with the plot, a Sherman brothers score, an episodic structure, a general magical story-book quality to the film etc.
Angela Lansbury gives her most likable screen characterisation (apart from perhaps Jessica Fletcher!) and shows to those not familiar with her Broadway career that she can sing and dance. David Tomlinson brushes off the stuffy ghost of Poppins' George Banks and plays a buffoon with great relish. The children are all well cast and shine in slightly cliched and under-written roles. Special mention must go to Roddy McDowell for a lovely cameo as a scheming cleric and to British-favourite Bruce Forsyth as a flick-knife toting 'spiv'.
The animated sequence involving the 'Beautiful Briney' is wonderful and, once the characters reach dry land, the soccer game with the animals is as 'Looney Tunes' as Disney would probably dare be! The rest of the film is slightly slow in places but has some excellent set-pieces, in particular the Portabello Road musical interlude, the clothing being 'magic-ed' to life and the final 'Armour vs. Nazis' showdown. The special effects are very good for the age, especially the animated object scenes. The score, by the Shermans, isn't a patch on their Mary Poppins but includes some real gems including the afore-mentioned 'Beautiful Briney' and 'Portabello Road' as well as the catchy 'Substituciary Locomotion'.
This edition includes around fifteen minutes of previously cut scenes and lines of dialogue that have been re-inserted into the main body of the film. Unfortunatly, the audio from these clips has been lost, and so the lines had to be re-recorded with varying degrees of success. Lansbury and McDowell have supplied their own voices but Tomlinson's, the children's and Tessy O'Shea's have been 'impersonated' quite poorly, meaning that those with relatively keen ears can tell when a newly inserted scene is playing. The audio for the songs survived, meaning that 'Eglantine' and 'Portabello Road' have been extended, although some of the film quality in the latter also draws attention to the cut scenes. These quibbles do not, however, spoil the film and the re-inserted scenes at least clarify McDowell's character's intensions towards Miss Price. Prior to this edition, we were not aware that he was wanting to marry her for her 'nice, sturdy house' - which is why he is jumping up and down on her porch when she answers the door to him!
Overall, this is a film that plays well to all ages (I loved it as a child and now sit and watch it often with my son). It's unfortunate that it will forever live in Mary Poppins' substantial shadow (along with the weaker Pete's Dragon), but at least it lives as one of the better Disney films made in those wilderness years prior to The Little Mermaid'.
Thouroughly recommended.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Magical Bedknobs and Animated Broomsticks
"Bedknobs and Broomsticks" is a very enchanting film set in Great Britain during the WWII. Angela Lansbury gives an excellent performance as Miss Price. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Stella Carrier

3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre film gets the top Disney treatment
Bedknobs and Broomsticks released in the U.S.in time for the Christams season of 1971 was an attempt by Disney to recapture the mega success of Mary Poppins seven years before. Read more

Published on Jan 10 2010 by Robert Badgley

5.0 out of 5 stars A Magical Disney Adventure
While the special effects on this movie are rather outdated (they were really quite good for the era) the story line still delivers an enjoyable experience, and is hightened by... Read more

Published on July 10 2004 by Liz

1.0 out of 5 stars SLOW
I bought this for my 3-year old since she just loves Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang and it just doesn't have any comparison. Amazon made the suggestion and I fell for it. Read more

Published on May 12 2004 by Bridgitte Engler

5.0 out of 5 stars Magic
This is a very good movie for every one. The story is very nice and the characters are fun for every body. I really can't think of any complaints. A rated acting and scenery.

Published on May 12 2004 by Ametisti

5.0 out of 5 stars Angela Lansbury and the flying brass bed.
I enjoy Walt Disney films and shows on television and had grown to like the tv show The Wonderful World of Disney. Read more

Published on April 29 2004 by James McDonald

2.0 out of 5 stars Short Sumarry By Da Zeus
Recommended for younger veiwers. Anyone Over 13 shouldn't watch this one.

Published on April 25 2004 by zeus-guy

4.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining Movie!
I saw Bedknob and Broomsticks in a movie theater when I was about 6 years old but for some reason I didn't really remember much about this movie when I watched it again sometime... Read more

Published on Feb 9 2004 by Calinira

5.0 out of 5 stars I COMPLETELY Love this movie
This movie, is about an eccentric witch, played by Angela Lansbury(One of my Favourite actoresses)who gets landed with three orphans(Ian Weighill,Roy Snart,Cindy O'Callaghan)... Read more

Published on Jan 4 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars Treguna, Mekoites, and Tracorum, Satis, Dee!
When Walt Disney was haggling for rights over "Mary Poppins" with P. L. Travers, he already had secured the rights to the Mary Norton book upon which this film was based... Read more

Published on Nov 6 2003 by Jay Dickson

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