Enchanted Musical Edition of Bedknobs and Broomsticks with Angela Lansbury Now on DVD

On September 8th,  Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the fully restored and remastered Enchanted Musical Edition of Bedknobs and Broomsticks on DVD. An apprentice witch (Angela Lansbury), three kids and a cynical conman (David Tomlinson) search for the missing parts to a magic spell which Eglantine Price plans to use in defense of Great Britain.

Starring Angela Lansbury as Eglantine Price, an aspiring witch who takes in three orphans in Britain during World War II, Bedknobs and Broomsticks is part comedy, part musical, part action, and part cartoon. This is a movie that tries to be too much to too many people.

Even in 1971, Bedknobs and Broomsticks was too much a knock-off of Mary Poppins to be considered very original. In 1964, Mary Poppins' use of live action and animation was innovative, but Bedknobs and Broomsticks came out seven years later. Some of the dance numbers were extremely lengthy, especially the Portobello Road sequence (which had been cut by more than 6 minutes for the original movie). An annoying and unnecessary subplot involving Roddy McDowall as a prissy preacher after Eglantine Price's money and property was also added back in to the Enchanted Musical Edition of Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

It is fun to see Angela Lansbury with "Twiggies" (exaggerated hand-drawn lower lashes), and the very long Portobello Road sequence has some dance moves that might have inspired Michael Jackson. I am usually a fan of Lansbury in just about everything, but I found it hard to sit through all of Bedknobs and Broomsticks.  I can't imagine any child sitting through 140 minutes of it. The movie was wisely cut to two hours after its premiere in 1971, but the Enchanted Musical Edition is almost 2 1/2 hours long.

Bonus material includes “The Wizards of Special Effects,” a behind-the-scenes look at the award winning effects used in the film led by Jennifer Stone from Wizards of Waverly Place (which neatly brings Disney's love affair with witchcraft and wizardry full circle).

Also see:

Mary Poppins 45th Anniversary Edition DVD Review

Christian Movie Reviews