Musical Mondays Week 103 Bedknobs and Broomsticks

[Cameron H. 23786]

Bobbing along, we watched: 

[grudlian. 4725]

I hadn't seen this in probably 30 years. Before watching it this time, I couldn't have told you anything about it except the animated armor. As soon as I started watching, it was all very familiar. I remembered most the scenes even down to specific shots. It's just kind of weird how our brains work.

I'm not sure how much I would have liked this had I not seen it a lot as a child but I found this pretty charming for the most part. I think you could cut it down pretty easily to speed things up. A couple songs could go and the soccer game is awfully long. Beyond that, this is pretty good 70s Disney for me.

[Cameron H. 23786]

This is definitely a movie that was on high rotation for me as a child as well. I really like "Portobello Road," "Age of Not Believing," and "Bobbing Along." I agree, I'm not sure how well this holds up without the nostalgia factor, though. I showed this to my kids a few years ago and they really couldn't be bothered.

It's also funny to me how much I loved the animated sequence as a child, but now I think it's the weakest moment.

Since I think the comparisons are inevitable, I think Mary Poppins has the better music, and is better done overall, but I think I prefer the story of Bedknobs and Broomsticks  -- even if I'm a little disappointed she gives up being a witch at the end. 

[gigi-tastic 2322]

It always felt weird as a kid to see straight up Nazis in a kid's movie but maybe if there were more fighting the nazi's in children's films we wouldn't be where we are today. I love this movie!

[gigi-tastic 2322]

13 minutes ago, Cameron H. said:

This is definitely a movie that was on high rotation for me as a child as well. I really like "Portobello Road," "Age of Not Believing," and "Bobbing Along." I agree, I'm not sure how well this holds up without the nostalgia factor, though. I showed this to my kids a few years ago and they really couldn't be bothered.

It's also funny to me how much I loved the animated sequence as a child, but now I think it's the weakest moment.

Since I think the comparisons are inevitable, I think Mary Poppins has the better music, and is better done overall, but I think I prefer the story of Bedknobs and Broomsticks  -- even if I'm a little disappointed she gives up being a witch at the end. 

Agreed It always made me so angry she quit her witchy ways! 

[Cameron H. 23786]

16 minutes ago, gigi-tastic said:

Agreed It always made me so angry she quit her witchy ways! 

It feels so out of left field, too. She's all in, she has a talent, and then she's like, "I guess I'll marry this guy and raise these kids now."

[gigi-tastic 2322]

I always found animation in The Beautiful Briny Sea to remind me of Under The Sea .

[AlmostAGhost 2718]

The confusing bit for me was, like everyone else here, I watched it a lot as a little kid, but I honestly had no recollection of having done so. It was messing with my head because it quickly became clear that I must have. What else am I forgetting?!

But yea I really like it. It's probably too long and whatnot, but there's so many weird turns that I think it's a great fun.

[grudlian. 4725]

41 minutes ago, Cameron H. said:

This is definitely a movie that was on high rotation for me as a child as well. I really like "Portobello Road," "Age of Not Believing," and "Bobbing Along." I agree, I'm not sure how well this holds up without the nostalgia factor, though. I showed this to my kids a few years ago and they really couldn't be bothered.

It's also funny to me how much I loved the animated sequence as a child, but now I think it's the weakest moment.

Since I think the comparisons are inevitable, I think Mary Poppins has the better music, and is better done overall, but I think I prefer the story of Bedknobs and Broomsticks  -- even if I'm a little disappointed she gives up being a witch at the end. 

Honestly, Portobello Road and Age Of Not Believing are the two I'd be fine cutting. I don't think they are bad but the movie really feels like it slows down so much during them. It may just be the slow tempo though.

Age of Not Believing does kind of introduce a problem of the oldest kid not wanting to go then just deciding to go immediately. I'm assuming he was more skeptical in the books

Angela Lansbury giving up being a witch seems kind of antipodean to the entire movie. She was alway being a good caretaker of the children. They go in a big, fun adventure then it's like "no, you're just living a boring, regular life from now on."

27 minutes ago, gigi-tastic said:

It always felt weird as a kid to see straight up Nazis in a kid's movie but maybe if there were more fighting the nazi's in children's films we wouldn't be where we are today. I love this movie!

Probably a not insignificant number of people consider this "too political" now. 

[gigi-tastic 2322]

10 minutes ago, Cameron H. said:

It feels so out of left field, too. She's all in, she has a talent, and then she's like, "I guess I'll marry this guy and raise these kids now."

They aren't even her kids. What's she gonna do when the war is over? Kidnap them? 

[gigi-tastic 2322]

34 minutes ago, grudlian. said:

Honestly, Portobello Road and Age Of Not Believing are the two I'd be fine cutting. I don't think they are bad but the movie really feels like it slows down so much during them. It may just be the slow tempo though.

Age of Not Believing does kind of introduce a problem of the oldest kid not wanting to go then just deciding to go immediately. I'm assuming he was more skeptical in the books

Angela Lansbury giving up being a witch seems kind of antipodean to the entire movie. She was alway being a good caretaker of the children. They go in a big, fun adventure then it's like "no, you're just living a boring, regular life from now on."

Probably a not insignificant number of people consider this "too political" now. 

Portobello Road is a bit too long but I love it. Age of Not Believing can go

[gigi-tastic 2322]

Her parents hated her. Who names their kid  Eglantine 

[gigi-tastic 2322]

I like to think the Professor is secretly Michael Banks grown up and turned to a life of petty tomfoolery to get Mary Poppins attention

[gigi-tastic 2322]

I love that she took the time to put a union jack on her broom

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

2 hours ago, gigi-tastic said:

I always found animation in The Beautiful Briny Sea to remind me of Under The Sea .

 

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

1 hour ago, gigi-tastic said:

Her parents hated her. Who names their kid  Eglantine 

Agreed. It's so inelegant.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

1 hour ago, gigi-tastic said:

They aren't even her kids. What's she gonna do when the war is over? Kidnap them? 

SO MUCH THIS!  Also, Paul still has the bedknob.  Can he use it when he goes back to London, away from Eglantine?

[gigi-tastic 2322]

1 hour ago, Cinco DeNio said:

SO MUCH THIS!  Also, Paul still has the bedknob.  Can he use it when he goes back to London, away from Eglantine?

Is he supposed to use it to go visit her? What is that kid gonna do with it as he gets older? You know some girl is gonna end up pregnant because of the fucking knob. and the bedknob too.  

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

1 minute ago, gigi-tastic said:

Is he supposed to use it to go visit her? What is that kid gonna do with it as he gets older? You know some girl is gonna end up pregnant because of the fucking knob. and the bedknob too.  

I meant to mention the line you said most during the Kast showing was (paraphrased) "Don't show them your knob, kid."

[Cameron H. 23786]

If you're wondering how on the ball award ceremonies are, Angela Lansbury was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical in 1971 for this film. She lost to Twiggy in a movie called The Boy Friend. The other nominees were equally obscure, at least to me. In fact, the only nominated actress in a film I've heard of is Ruth Gordon as Maude in Harold and Maude -- which she totally should have won.

I guess Bedknobs and Brromsticks and Harold and Maude had the last laugh, huh? 

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

4 minutes ago, Cameron H. said:

If you're wondering how on the ball award ceremonies are, Angela Lansbury was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical in 1971 for this film. She lost to Twiggy in a movie called The Boy Friend. The other nominees were equally obscure, at least to me. In fact, the only nominated actress in a film I've heard of is Ruth Gordon as Maude in Harold and Maude -- which she totally should have won.

I guess Bedknobs and Brromsticks and Harold and Maude had the last laugh, huh? 

[grudlian. 4725]

53 minutes ago, Cameron H. said:

If you're wondering how on the ball award ceremonies are, Angela Lansbury was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical in 1971 for this film. She lost to Twiggy in a movie called The Boy Friend. The other nominees were equally obscure, at least to me. In fact, the only nominated actress in a film I've heard of is Ruth Gordon as Maude in Harold and Maude -- which she totally should have won.

I guess Bedknobs and Brromsticks and Harold and Maude had the last laugh, huh? 

You're right that it absolutely should have gone to Ruth Gordon from this list of nominees. I liked Elaine May in A New Leaf though and I recommend it. It has Walter Matthau as a broke playboy trying to find a dumb, rich woman to marry him. Don't rush out and see it but it's worth your time if you happen upon it.

[grudlian. 4725]

When watching this, I wondered what happened to the kids since I didn't recognize them from anything else. The two boys have no other screen credits to their names.

It got me thinking about how weird that is. Disney was very much a studio system kind of studio. You'd see a lot of kids show up in their projects and nowhere else. It seems like even now Disney creates and molds their child actors pretty heavily until they don't have any use for them anymore. I didn't do any deep research on this but I have to assume these kids lives (as actors) were kind of made and ruined by this movie.

It's pretty easy to imagine them thinking "our first role ever is in a Disney movie that's a hit" and that never lead to anything. It's also easy to imagine Disney going "we don't really have any roles for kids with thick London accents...so, let them rot until they aren't cute."

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

20 hours ago, gigi-tastic said:

Her parents hated her. Who names their kid  Eglantine 

 

19 hours ago, Cinco DeNio said:

Agreed. It's so inelegant.

"Inelegant" is the only intelligible anagram I could find of "Eglantine".

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I was approached by an authority and told I shouldn't have posted about my anagram.