Bedknobs & Broomsticks – Enchanted Musical
Edition (1971/Disney DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C
An odd
film by any measure, Robert Stevenson’s Bedknobs
& Broomsticks (1971) offers Angela Lansbury as a good witch who could
help some children find a magic spell to beat Nazis! This is also a Musical and includes mixings
of animation and live action. This Enchanted Musical Edition is the longer
restored version from 1996 and though it makes the film less choppy, it still
never really works.
Lansbury
is supported by a good cast that includes Roddy McDowall, David Tomlinson, Sam
Jaffe, John Ericson, Reginald Owen and more, including the unseen voice actors
for the animated characters. Part of the
problem is that the screenplay (based on the Mary Norton book) tries to juggle
too much. Political incorrectness is not
the big problem here, though it is here.
The film lacks energy and never totally coheres. Disney as a studio was trying to keep their
brand of “magic’ going, but it was growing dim here and while the film did not
bomb (they reissued it when Superman
arrived in 1978 and spoofed its ad campaign), it is just another so-so
feature. For fans only.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 image is on the soft aside and the print does not
look as colorful as it could, considering the animation was produced in
three-strip Technicolor. Almost a rough
at times as the recent Pete’s Dragon
DVD, it is a very mixed presentation, including softness and general
inconsistency. The Dolby Digital 5.1 is
weak with slight harshness throughout and the dialogue sounding weaker than it
should, as if the material were down a generation or two. Extras include trailers, recoding session on
the film, a reconstruction of “A Step In
The Right Direction”, piece on The Sherman Brothers and visual effects
featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
