October 7 - Bedknobs and Broomsticks

On this day, in 1971, Bedknobs and Broomsticks made its world debut in London, England. Based on two books by British author Mary Norton, some have called Bedknobs little more than Mary Poppins' less talented cousin. In my opinion, that is a totally unfair assessment. As far as the talented part goes. Otherwise it absolutely is Mary's cousin.

The similarities between the two films run deep. In fact, Bedknobs had started production a decade earlier when Walt was having trouble getting the rights to Poppins. Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi co-wrote both scripts. David Tomlinson appears in both. Both movies utilize a mix of animation and live-action. The Sherman Brothers wrote songs for both. And a certain lead actress was wanted for both.

After Poppins, and Walt's death, the Bedknobs project kept getting put on the production schedule, it was a project Walt himself had started after all, and then getting taken back off the production schedule, mainly because executives felt it was too similar to the earlier film. Bill Walsh kept developing it anyways and, when he finally got the green light in 1969, offered the role of Eglantine Price to Julie Andrews. Julie hesitated. By the time she called Bill back about it, he'd already moved on, offered the role to Angela Lansbury and she'd accepted. Ron Moody, who would appear in other Disney productions, was originally to play Professor Emelius Browne, but he decided that the only way he would do the picture was if he got top billing. The studio said no and replaced him with David Tomlinson.

Filming was mostly done on sound stages at the Disney Studio in Burbank, although some scenes were shot in Dorset, England in Corfe Castle. Those beach scenes with the Nazis were actually done in Southern California. Principal filming only took 57 days. The animated parts took five months and the special effects took another five months. The initial length of the finished film was 141 minutes. Because its US debut was going to be at Radio City Music Hall, the film needed to be less than two hours long. Over twenty minutes were cut to satisfy that requirement, including 3 entire songs. My guess is that was not helpful to the film's critical reception.

Upon its release, Bedknobs and Broomsticks got mixed reviews. Critics loved the technical aspects of the film but felt it took too long to get to the end. Audiences liked the movie and made it the 12th highest grossing film of the year. It also earned 5 Oscar nominations and would win for Special Effects. Bedknobs was re-released in 1979, but for some reason with a an additional twenty minutes cut out, which almost turned it into a non-musical. In 1996, Scott MacQueen, a senior manager of Disney's library, wondered why the song "A Step in the Right Direction" was on the movie's soundtrack album but not in the picture. This led him down a rabbit hole that ended with a version of Bedknobs that was restored to 139 minutes, almost its original length, as some bits and pieces were lost to the dustbin of time.

As far as I'm concerned, Bedknobs and Broomsticks stands out as a gem from the hazy time in Disney's history between Walt passing away and the renaissance of the mid eighties. I mean how can you go wrong with Angela Lansbury fighting Nazis with a army full of empty armor? Is it Mary Poppins? Of course not. It's a different movie, silly. And clearly I'm not the only one who likes it. A stage version is reportedly in the works. It will debut in 2019 and I for one, can't wait to see how they stage that epic battle.

Also on this day, in American history: Stamp Act Congress