Rating: 
Summary: Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Review: This is a great wholesome show. This was my faverate Disny growing up, and still is.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Maybe I am just a traditionalist...or, more likely, I enjoy singing along with the movie, but this original fully restored version is the pits. It was neat to see once but now I want the movie I have come to know and love. I hope Disney comes out with the original version released in 1971 on DVD. ...
Rating:
Summary: Bedknobs and Broomsticks (30th Anniversary Edition)DVD
Review: I would love to thank Disney Studios for finally giving one of their classics the great treatment it deserves. From the same people who brought us "Marry Poppins" comes "Bedknobs and Broomsticks". Angela Lansbury is no Julie Andrews, but she brings a heart warming performance to the movie. You have to give her credit for being able to act so seriously when she is riding around London on a flying bed. The whole story of a flying bed and magic sounds insane, but Im glad Walt gave the approval to go ahead with the movie. It actually works, dont ask me how =)
In this DVD, Disney has gone allout and included 2 great cartoon shorts with Donald Duck and Mickey. You also get some behind the scenes footage and info on the movie and if that wasnt enough Disney has thrown all sorts of cut footage back into the movie. While I admit that some of the extra footage makes the movie drag, it also makes you love the movie more because you can appreciate what they were trying to do. So, if you can look past one of the worst acted german armies ever, your gonna find one heck of a treasure. Every Disney DVD should be this high quality! Dont let your kids grow up without seeing this...FILM HIGHLIGHTS
My favorite part of the movie has to be on the island of Naboombu. The soccer game between the good and bad animals on the Island is so creative, funny and entertaining! I love it! Filmed in the 1970's, you have to love the trippy "Willy Wonka" type speacial effects as the bed is flying through London. Its really a nice piece of nostalgia. Everyone from Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson to the adorable children are perfectly cast!
Rating: 
Summary: Great movie but...
Review: I absolutely loved this movie when I was young (and still do), so naturally when I saw it was released on DVD I purchase it. The video quality of this DVD is absolutely superb! They did a decent job of translating this movie to DVD. However, the reason I'm giving it two stars is because of the movie's horrible voice-overs. Apparently some of the audio has been lost over the years; consequently Disney needed to add in voice acting in places where the dialogue is missing. (it starts appearing about midway through) So what's wrong with voice-overs? Nothing if they are done right. However, Disney spent a whole five minutes on these. They are absolutely *horrid*! They do not sync up with the actors lips and in 90% of the shots they don't even sound like the original voice. The least they could have done was try to make the voices sync with the lip movements. So do I recommend this DVD? Personally, I would say no. Disney needs to stay away from redoing old movies. However, if you can stand horrible voice-overs through the second half of the movie then by all means buy it! It's still a great movie despite what they've done to it! Worth at least a rental to see if you like it.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful!
Review: This item belongs in every kid's film library, regardless of the kid's age!
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, But Not One Of Walt Disney's Best
Review: Seven years following the highly successful 1964 film "Mary Poppins", Walt Disney Pictures attempted to capitalize again on its highly successful formula by releasing the 1971 film entitled "Bedknobs and Broomsticks". Starring Angela Lansury in the title role of Eglantine Price (very similar to Julie Andrews' role as Mary Poppins), the plot of the film places the care of three young children (instead of two as in "Mary Poppins") in her very capable, but inexperienced hands during Germany's bombings of London of World War II. Like Mary Poppins, Eglantine is very magical, being an apprentice witch who is learning witchcraft secretly via a correspondence course as part of her desire to assist England's war effort. Unlike Mary Poppins (who focuses her efforts on taking care of children in dysfunctional families), Eglantine has no previous experience taking care of children, nor was it one of her goals in life. However, the continuous bombings of London during World War II forced the British authorities to evacuate the children to, essentially, foster homes well outside of London where they would be much safer. The three children thrust upon Eglantine to take of are from the same family: Charlie Rawlins (Ian Weighill), Paul Rawlins (Roy Snart) and Carrie Rawlins (Cindy O'Callaghan). Charlie, the oldest, has the attitude "I don't want to do anything", and becomes quite annoying sometimes. Paul and Carrie are much friendlier. Upon moving in with Eglantine, the trio quickly discovers that she is a witch, but that her spells normally don't last very long. Unfortunately, the correspondence school goes out of business just before Eglantine is to receive the most important spell. Determined to get the spell, Eglantine decides that she must find the school's headmaster, Emelius Browne (David Tomlinson, who played George Banks in "Mary Poppins"). Having no standard transportation capable of going to London, Eglantine casts a "travelling spell" upon a bedknob in Paul's possession, turning his bed into an equivalent "flying carpet". Using the magical bed, the four are transported to Emelius Browne in London. Sadly, Emelius doesn't have the final spell, so the five go to great lengths to find it, including traveling to an animated world which is reminiscent to the walk through the chalk painting in "Mary Poppins". The first quarter of "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" is quite good, as is the final quarter of the film. Unfortunately, the middle half of the film drags considerably as the five search for the crucial spell. Small children will likely be captivated by the myriad songs, dance and animation through the middle half, but there is little substance to maintain the interest of adults and its scenes contribute little towards the plot. The special effects used in the final quarter of the film won "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. The film also received Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Original Musical Score and Best Song. Angela Lansbury received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy. The songs include: * "The Old Home Guard" (4/5, male studio chorus).
* "A Step In The Right Direction" (5/5, Angela Lansbury). Sung by Eglantine to the children.
* "The Age of Not Believing" (5/5, Angela Lansbury). The song that received an Oscar nomination for Best Song. * "With a Flair" (4.5/5, David Tomlinson). A funny song for a street vendor.
* "Eglantine" (4/5, David Tomlinson & Angela Lansbury). A love song by Emelius towards Eglantine.
* "Portobello Road" (2.5/5, primarily David Tomlinson). A visit to Portobello Road in search of an ancient book turns into a lengthy, repetitive and exhausting song contributing nothing to the plot.
* "Portobello Street Dance" (2/5, street dance). A superfluous continuation of the previous song for dancers of various nationalities under British rule. (Imagine an Energizer Bunny commercial lasting for 10 minutes nonstop.)
* "The Beautiful Briny" (3/5, David Tomlinson & Angela Lansbury). A forgettable song sung in an animated underwater environment.
* "Substitutiary Locomotion" (5/5, Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Ian Weighill, Cindy O'Callaghan, and Roy Snart). Eglantine's crucial spell used by her to lead a magical army of empty armored knights into battle against a ficticious Nazi invasion on the British coastline.
* "Nobody's Problems" (3.5/5, Angela Lansbury). Restored to the film in 1996.
* "Finale (Reprise of 'The Old Home Guard')" (4/5, male studio chorus). Comparing the cut film with the restored 139-minute film, I believe the previously cut material should have been made optional on the DVD for viewing as none of the restored scenes actually contribute to the plot. Further, some of the restored scenes are in very poor quality as compared to the rest of the film. "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" is still an entertaining film for both children and adults alike, but the unnecessary plot deviations dominating much of the film force me to rate this restored version with only 3 stars out of 5. Rather than attempting to repeat the success of "Mary Poppins" by using a similar formula, the writers of "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" could have done more by exploring Eglantine's magical abilities and the lives of the children prior to moving in with Eglantine. If you have small children, I would highly recommend purchasing a copy of the film; but if you don't have any small children, you may be happier renting a copy.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Disney Family Feature!
Review: 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' is a 1971 Disney classic that showcases the brilliant talent of Walt Disney's legendary animators, even four of Walt Disney's Nine Old Men, some of his most trusted associates. It is a live-action/animation feature, and is not some happy-go-lucky Disney glitzy pop like today's Disney animation.
This film is directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Bill Walsh, the same creative team that brought Mary Poppins to the screen in 1964. Many things are the same about the picture; such as the children in the picture. The con-man was played brilliantly by David Tomlinson, who also was the father in Mary Poppins. Yet, one thing was different, it was clearly missing the creative endeavor of Walt Disney.
Based on the novels by Mary Norton, 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' is about a spinster named Eglantine Price, who lives in 1940 war-torn England, and is secretly a mail-order amateur witch. She is forced to take in three children because of the London bombings, and these kids are named Carrie, Charles and Paul. After a rocky start, the children find out Eglantine's secret about being a witch, and they become friends. Yet, Eglantine has to find a way to keep their mouths shut, since she does not want anyone to know she's a witch. So, the four of them seal a pact. Miss Price enchants a magic bedknob to keep the pact. In return the children will keep her secret.
The bedknob, when put on the bed upstairs where it was taken from, will take them anywhere they want to be taken. Yet, their plans are changed when Eglantine learns that her teacher, Emelius Brown, has closed down the witch college, without mailing her the most important spell ever, Substitutiary Locomotion, which makes "inanimate objects take on a live force of their own" and Eglantine believes she can defeat the Germans with the spell.
So Miss Price, Charlie, Carrie and Paul go to London, and there they meet Emelius Brown, who is obviously a terrible magician. Emelius claims that he lost the book in which the spell was, and they go to Portobello Road, a sort of farmer's market that sells fake second-hand items. Here Eglantine and company learn that Astoroth, a sorcerer, wore a necklace that had the magic words on it. They also learn that Astoroth kept animals in cages to make them more human-like. The animals rebelled and killed Astoroth, and stole the necklace. The necklace is on a neck of a lion on The Island of Naboombu.
The animation starts here, when Eglantine, Emelius, and the children attend an underwater ballet, and also play a soccer game with the villianous lion on the Island of Naboombu, in which they manage to steal the necklace.
Returning back home, the Locomotion spell flops, and Emelius leaves that night back to London to enter the war. That night, the Nazi Germans attack. After the Nazi's imprison Eglantine and the kids, Emelius returns secretly (by turning himself into a rabbit) and helps Eglantine and company get out.
Working together, they use the Locomotion spell to mobolize an army of armor and defeat the Nazi Germans. Eventually, Emelius stays with Eglantine, Carrie, Charlie and Paul, but joines up with the army anyway.
The bonus feautres are really great. The film is restored to its original length (after being cut numerous times before) and is remastered and restored fabulously. There is a Mickey and a Donald Duck short, and also a featurette on the making of the film, among other extras.
I highly reccomend that you get this excellent film, and it deserves much more than 5 stars! It's a great film, your whole family will love it!
Rating:
Summary: Magical!
Review: Directed by Robert Stevenson, Bedknobs And Broomsticks was a concious effort on the part of Disney to acheive the same blockbuster success it had acheived with the timeless, Mary Poppins. Whilst not quite hitting the heights of success Mary Poppins had endured, Bedknobs and Broomsticks is still superb all round and holds many delightful adventures that is closely as spectacular as Mary Poppins. Angela Lansbury puts in a fantastic performance as amateur witch, Eglantine Price whilst Julie Andrews co-star in Mary Poppins, David Tomlinson turns up in a variation of his character in Poppins playing the stuffy Professor Emelius Browne who quickly befriends Eglantine and the three evacuee children she is looking after. The special effects are still vastly impressive and are enhanced even more greatly by a successful transistion to the DVD format. Whats easily the biggest highlight of the film is the spectacular mix of live-action and animation. The soccer-ball match, with its striking eye-catching mixture of real people with a host of animated animals is done to absolute perfection and the whole combination gels brilliantly together making for as equally enchanting viewing as Poppins, which this film has always been compared to. Some of the songs are a litle monotonous but the film holds so many merits that it becomes easy to overlook that minor flaw. The ending is another spectacular affair with the invasion of the Nazi's and the following battle features some impeccable, well-crafted effects. Like all good classic childrens films, Bedknobs and Broomsticks holds a happy ending and on the whole the film is superb throughout. Plenty of fun adventures and amusing moments and the live action-animated sequences is masterfully done. A classic tale, loosley based on the novels by Mary Norton. Beyond that is an interesting series of features that alone makes this DVD worth purchasing. One of Walt Disney's most enthralling classics!
Rating:
Summary: A Fantastically Magical Film! Bravo Angela!
Review: BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSICKS was made in the early 70's and is one of those Disney films that speaks to the little kid in us all. Directed by veteran Disney director Robert Stevenson (Mary Pippins, The Love Bug, The Darn Cat ) and starring the incomparable Angela Landsbury (Murder She Wrote, Mame - on Broadway, The Last Unicorn 2004) as Miss Elglentine Price the apprentice witch of the Professor Emiliace Brown School Of Witchcraft - played none other by veteran Disney character performer/actor David Tomlinson (Tom Jones, The Love Bug, Made In Heaven). There is even a great performance in a small role as a priest by Roddy McDowell (Planet Of The Apes, Cleopatra, Fright Night) The story is set in the early days of the German attack on the European border. Towns were broken down, families were separated and displaced and many people had to go to war and leave their children behind. One set of these children were orphaned with Miss Price. Accidentally discovering her secret they convince her to go on her quest to find the one last spell that will save England from attack. There is magic, music and lot of special effects that make this movie colorful and enticing to watch. Back in the days when most special effects were real and done "in cameras" - meaning on the set - this film has a lot to be proud of. The songs are fantastic and this FULLY RESTORED DVD is the best it has to offer. Included the full versions of songs like Portabello Road and reinserted songs like No One To Come Home To has made this version a treasure to own. Other fantastic numbers like Substitutiary Locomotion and Under The Briny Sea are fantastic and hitting home for kids is the Academy Award Nominated song Your At The Age Of Not Believing. Originally rushed out and thought to be too long - this version contains the full - over two hours - theatrical release as it was originally intended. The DVD extras include a documentary retrospective with co-host Angela Landsbury on the Sherman Brothers (Mary Poppins, ) themselves and a look at some of the actual recording sessions with David Tomlinson. Also a reconstructed seen of a song that was recorded by Angela but all the actual film footage was lost so it could not make it into its restoration version. Lots of extra features too including two shorts. You'll love this DVD if you are a Disney fan ! Lot's of Fun!...
Rating:
Summary: FABULOUS FLICK!!
Review: Amazing early combination of live action and animation make this video particularly cunning. Angela Lansbury is just perfect as the apprentice witch just learning her trade and David Tomlinson makes a very believable conman. Great for people of all ages.
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