Richard Sherman - Tumblr Posts
BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS (Dir: Robert Stevenson, 1971).
It was inevitable that, sooner or later, I would post a review of Walt Disney Productions’ Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I have watched this movie more times than any other, losing count when I hit three figures. I wouldn’t say it is the best film I have ever seen but I would say it has given me more pleasure over the years than any other.
Often compared unfavourably and, I feel, unfairly with Disney’s 1964 blockbuster Mary Poppins, it reunited most of the creative team and star David Tomlinson from the earlier film. It also shares with it a lengthy ‘Jolly Holiday’-esq animated sequence and a basic premise about a magical governess. Yet the plot, taken from yet having little in common with Mary Norton’s book, about an amateur witch’s attempts to repel a Nazi invasion in wartime Britain with the help of three cockney waifs is markedly different from Poppins and Tomlinson’s performance as a loveable charlatan magician is completely different from the repressed banker and estranged father he portrayed in Poppins.
To be honest, it isn’t as good a film as Mary Poppins. It has a messy, episodic narrative which zealous editing - there are at least five different official versions of the film - was not entirely successful at tidying up. The international and US re-release version, at roughly 100 minutes, has the most satisfying narrative but cuts virtually all of Richard and Robert Sherman’s excellent songs; those that do remain are butchered, the lavish Portobello Road suffering most noticeably. An attempt in 1996 to restore the film to its original, and sadly lost, premier length brings the runtime to 139 minutes but suffers from poor dubbing on scenes where the audio could not be found. In spite of narrative issues the standard, roughly two hour release print is the default and best version of Bedknobs...
Director Robert Stevenson is almost successful at recreating the ole Poppins magic; Ward Kimball’s inventive animated excursion to the Island of Naboombu is the undoubted highlight of Disney Animation’s 1970s output; the effects work, including some incredible puppetry of bodiless suits of armour in the epic climax, hold up well against modern CGI techniques and the performance from stars Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson and company are exemplary. The Sherman Brother’s songs, including The Age of Not Believing, Beautiful Briny and the spectacular Portobello Road are among their best, perhaps a shade down from their work on Poppins, but there is no shame in coming second place to arguably the greatest musical score ever written for the cinema!
I reiterate, Bedknobs and Broomsticks is not as great a piece of filmmaking as Mary Poppins, but as a child I enjoyed it more. I certainly watched it more often. While perhaps it doesn’t quite add up to the sum of its parts, I think it is highly entertaining, is rightly regarded a classic and should probably be regarded a masterpiece, albeit a flawed masterpiece.
Visit my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME for more reviews of Disney classics! Link below.
WINNIE THE POOH (Stephen J Anderson & Don Hall, 2011).
Disney’s 5th cinematic feature-length venture into the Hundred Acre Wood acts as a direct sequel to the compilation feature The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Wolfgang Reitherman & John Lounsbery, 1977). Roughly separated into three sequences, the bulk of the movie concerns the search for the mythical Backson, a fearful creature to rival Heffalumps and Woozles, who Pooh and pals mistakenly believe has kidnapped Christopher Robin after misreading the phrase ‘back soon’ on a note from Christopher to Pooh.
Thematically Winnie the Pooh covers much of the same ground as the straight-to-video sequel Pooh’s Grand Adventure (Karl Geurs, 1997). However, where that movie was dark and at times somewhat depressing, this one is an inventive, humorous and warm-hearted delight.
Animated in handcrafted 2D, the movie is visually pleasing throwback to the original Pooh featurettes (the 3 shorts comprise ‘The Many Adventures... movie). It is more faithful to Milne and to Walt Disney’s original vision of Pooh than any of the intervening features or TV adaptations.
While Sterling Holloway will never quite be replaced as the voice of Pooh, nor Paul Winchell as Tigger, Jim Cummings does a decent job of imitating both. Likewise, John Cleese is a welcome choice of narrator, although perhaps not quite possessing the warm yet authoritative tone of Sebastian Cabot. However, to criticise a fine vocal cast for not replacing the childhood memory of now deceased actors in one’s mind would be churlish; younger audience members will neither notice nor care.
The subtle ‘hums’ of Richard and Robert Sherman are missed, although Frozen songsmiths Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez’s more elaborate musical numbers are a satisfactory substitute.
At little under an hour before the end credits roll, the movie could stand being a mite longer. As it is, Winnie the Pooh is still a winning tribute to the Pooh movies of the past. A short and sweet old-school treat that should appeal to original Pooh fans as well as newcomers.
100+ movie reviews now available on my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME! Link below.
THE SWORD IN THE STONE (Dir: Wolfgang Reitherman, 1963).
Released to cinemas on Christmas Day 1963, The Sword in the Stone was the last animated feature film released by the Disney Studios during founder Walt Disney's lifetime.
Based on T H White's classic modern retelling of Arthurian legend, we follow the adventures of the future King Arthur (nicknamed the Wart), culminating in his encounter with the legendary sword.
Read the full review on my blog JINGLE BONES MOVIE TIME! Link below.
