Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

It's 1940 England. Rawlins siblings Charlie, Carrie, and Paul join the mass evacuation of London children to the countryside. Miss Eglantine Price (Angela Lansbury) reluctantly agrees to take in the kids temporarily. She lives in a remote farm. She's overjoyed to receive a broom and become an apprentice witch from the Emelius Browne Correspondence College of Witchcraft. She casts a spell on a bedknob for Paul to make the bed transport vast distances. The school announces its closure and Miss Price takes the kids to London to find Emelius (David Tomlinson). He's surprised that his adaptation of an old spell book actually worked for her. It's high adventure to the animated animal island of Naboombu and then a fight against the Nazis.This is sorta like Mary Poppins but not quite as good. Angela Lansbury is good but she's no Julie Andrews. The songs are not quite as catchy. It's even got the similar animated world for the actors to play with. I can do without the Nazis in a kids movie. This is certainly not too soon but it's still questionable to have a Nazi battle, no matter how comedic, in a family film.

Frequently compared to Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks is in many ways similar. Robert Stevenson directs once more, David Tomlinson is back, the tone is in the same vein and animation plus live-action is blended at times. I did have reservations going in that it would attempt to copy the magic of Mary Poppins instead of making its own style. But that is not to dismiss the film as a lesser copy of the classic, as it is easily one of Disney's best live-action pieces.The film is set in 1940, were three evacuees are sent to live with Eglantine Price who turns out to be an apprentice witch. When Miss Price receives a letter that her witchcraft college is closing down and not giving her the last key spell, she and the children head to London via her bed to find the headmaster. He claims that the spell is missing and the five of them have to set off to locate it in order to use it to help the war effort. The story itself is packed with fun and interest, it might seem a bit silly but it is played so serious that it forces you to take it that way. A lot of time is invested into making the storyline more gripping and I really like how they incorporate the war into events instead of just having it in the background as it becomes a centre part of the film.The film is definitely pushed further by its two leads who share an excellent chemistry and it is hard to find more likable actors. Angela Lansbury is absolutely wonderful as trainee witch Miss Price, bringing massive amounts of charm and touches of class to the role. She did a great job in making Miss Price stern but still very caring, she comes across as a very warm person and that makes her very easy to gravitate towards. David Tomlinson is equally brilliant as Mr. Browne. He clearly puts as much energy as he can into the role and he turns Browne from wayward conman into a very loving figure, whilst he also handles the physical and comedic elements of the role superbly. Simply put Tomlinson is just a joy to watch on screen. Once again the songs are very enjoyable thanks to the Sherman Brothers, and that it from someone who normally dislikes singing in films. The songs themselves are very well written and always catchy, with some fantastic vocal performances from the actors. I especially enjoyed the robust 'Portobello Road' and the very amusing 'The Beautiful Briny'. Even the more comical based songs are a lot of fun such as 'Eglantine'. The animation used also leads to a lot of fun moments. It doesn't take anything away from the films story and, again much like 'Mary Poppins', it feels like a real addition to the story by showing the audience the magical elements that lie below. The mixture of the two does look a bit dated now, but I believe that this only adds to the appeal and feels like a nice throw-back Disney's animated films of the time. The animated creations such as King Leonidas are a lot of fun and it all offers a great leeway in too some very funny physical comedy. The animation allows for some great slapstick and a lot of humorous little pieces, even managing to get David Tomlinson involved. Actually the humour in general is great, Miss Price's easily agitated cat is always worth a giggle and Mr. Browne's poor attempts at winning over an audience get a good laugh. There are some very memorable sequences and images in the film. The whole idea and image of the bed being used for transport is really clever, and though the effects look a bit dated it is an enchanting viewing experience. Two scenes do really stand-out to me. The football game involving the animated animals is brilliant, again it is bursting with energy and contains some really amusing slapstick moments. The whole climax is very well done too. The suits of armour coming to life is a really distinctive image and the build-up to this battle with the Nazis does surprisingly have a rather epic feel to it.Adding to this I think the film as a whole has a very strong charm to it, much in a way of its usually compared Mary Poppins. It is a film that is a lot of fun to watch and just let the magic carry you away. Location wise the film is also brilliant, the village used looked wonderfully authentic and the visit to the London streets allows for some really well-used imagery. Was there any weak points? It might just be me but I don't enjoy the three kids that much. They're okay and do their decent jobs with the roles but they are not as charming or memorable as other aspects of the film are. Roddy McDowall feels kind of wasted too seeing as he is only in two scenes and maybe you could say that the climax makes a mockery of the Nazis, but it is all in the name of fun so it doesn't harm the film too much.So on the whole Bedknobs and Broomsticks is an extremely well made and charmingly entertaining film from Disney. The comparisons to 'Mary Poppins' are very understandable, but thankfully the film doesn't cave in and become too much like that film as it feels like its own story. I still feel that the film is slightly under-appreciated in the Disney terms, it deserves more praise for what it does because what's good is really good. As said Lansbury and Tomlinson are superb leads, the story is very engaging, the songs are memorable and there's plenty of comic pieces thrown in too. It truly is a captivating and entertaining film.

There's more charm to this Disney musical than has been given credit for, even though a huge fan base obviously exists for it. The film was overshadowed by the memory of Disney's previous big movie musical where another British actress (Julie Andrews) shot to super-stardom playing a nanny with extraordinary powers. Here, Angela Lansbury is a wanna be witch who ends up in charge of three kids against her will and assists the British in fighting the Krauts of World War I with the help of her own magic powers.The same song-writing team of Robert and Richard Stevenson have created an equally engaging score, and I think it even tops the one for "Mary Poppins". Lansbury wins your heart immediately when she berates her cranky charges for being past that "Age of Not Believing" then takes them onto a magical journey into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean and into a magical island with its own Lion King and a horde of eccentric soccer playing animals, all with the assistance of her witch professor phony David Tomlinson.More eccentric than his disciplining father from "Mary Poppins", Tomlinson is more than welcomed back and a great co-star for Lansbury. He is hysterically funny in the partly animated soccer match where he is the referee and takes more than his share of abuse from this mythical animal kingdom. Fresh from her success as Broadway's "Mame" (with a few flops in between that have become cult classics thanks to her presence in them), Lansbury proves herself worthy of the movie musical, having been sadly dubbed most of the time when she was at MGM during their heyday.There's a bit of a Harry Potter and "Wicked" feeling to this story with quite the influence of the late 60's/early 70's Broadway feel in the live-action musical numbers. The lyrics are cleverly difficult to sing along with and may have you laughing as you try, especially the final number where Lansbury gets her witchcraft right in aiding a museum filled with ancient war artifacts to take on the German army.Another "Mary Poppins" veteran is back, Lansbury's old MGM co-star Reginald Owen, in one of his final appearances, and Roddy McDowall is amusingly effete as the British preacher who keeps popping in to check on the kiddies. Disney would obviously be influenced by this many years later when making their modern day musical classics such as "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" (by casting Lansbury in a key role) and "The Lion King".

While I will mention some serious flaws that "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" have, I will admit right off that this movie is better than a lot of other Disney movies made during the first fifteen years after Walt Disney's death. That's probably because Walt was still alive and supervising the project when it was started in the early '60s. But there was a lot of work done on the project after his death, which probably explains why this attempt to recapture the "Mary Poppins" magic doesn't quite reach it.I saw the restored, 140 minute version. While I usually approve of restorations, I have to wonder if the 30 or so restored minutes really helped. For one thing, there is not much story in this long version, and frequently the little story there is comes to a screeching halt. Younger kids may also not understand the war theme that runs through the movie. There is also a curious matter-of-fact feeling to much of the movie, which means the feeling of magic is diminished. And what's up with the opening credits, that spoil what happens in the last part of the movie? Still, the acting is good, even with the child actors. There are some songs by the Sherman brothers that are pleasant to listen to, even if they don't match the greatness of the songs in "Mary Poppins". And there are some good special effects, some of which are amazing even in this age of computer animation. But if you watch this movie, I suggest that you divide it up in chunks and take a break between chunks, so you won't get figety in your seat.