In 1940 London, everyone is being affected by the war. When local spinster Eglantine Price (Angela Lansbury) makes a quick stop into town to pick up a very special package, little does she know that she is also taking home three additional packages. The three packages are in fact orphaned children named Charlie (Ian Weighill), Carrie (Cindy O'Callaghan) and Paul Rawlins (Roy Snart). These orphans have been relocated after being evacuated from the worn torn city. Due to a new law in effect, she is forced to take them in until a more long term home can be found. After getting the kids settled in and they are finally asleep, Miss Price can finally open up her package and continue her studies. Miss Price you see is taking a witchcraft course and today her first broom has arrived. However, the kids who are not sleeping at all but instead are secretly trying to escape, witness Miss Price as she tries to fly. The oldest of the group Charlie sees an opportunity and decides they aren’t going anywhere. The next day he tries to blackmail Miss Price and lays their demands on the table. After turning Charlie into a white rabbit, Miss Price and the kids call a truce and Miss Price gives the youngest Paul a traveling spell onto a magical bedknob in return for their silence.
Later that day Miss Price receives a most disturbing letter that informs her that the College of Witchcraft has been closed down due to the war. That means she will not receive the final lesson that includes the spell of substitutiary locomotion. This is the spell of spells that allows inanimate objects to move and come alive. This means Miss Price will need the services of young Paul and his bedknob to fly to London and find Professor Emelius Browne (David Tomlinson). He of course is the headmaster of the Emilius Brown Correspondence College of Witchcraft. The bedknob works and they all find themselves in the smoky streets of London. They quickly find Emilius Brown but he is not the scholarly headmaster as he has represented himself, instead he is a con-artist scamming the weak minded. After introductions are made and with the help of Mr. Brown, the group begins what becomes a crazy ride on the bed to find the complete spellbook that contains the spell of substitutiary locomotion. Their adventures will take them under the sea and even to a mythical island by the name of Naboombu that is run by talking animals before they find what they need. If that’s not enough, there is plenty of time along the way to fit in some great songs to sing-along.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks is one of the classic Disney films that should be placed right up there with Mary Poppins. Now with this special edition, families can re-experience the film in its fully restored and expanded edition. Don’t be surprised if you don’t find yourself singing the songs long after the film is done.
Extras
First up we have the film its self that is presented here in its original wide screen anamorphic presentation. In addition, the film has been fully restored and remastered looking more vibrant and sounding better than ever with this new stereo mix. This is also the extended edition of the film running at 140 minutes. It’s too bad they didn’t make this a two-disc set and included the original theatrical edition that only runs 117 minutes. Although one must conclude that Disney has decided this is in fact the only version they want out there these days.
All the other bonus material that only clocks in at about fifteen minutes have almost all been available with previous DVD releases. That doesn’t mean they aren’t worth checking out. The only new featurette entitled The Wizards of Special Effects that is hosted by Jennifer Stone, who stars on Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place isn’t really much of a feature and is more to attract fans of Stone and the show Wizards of Waverly Place. It is more of a fluff piece on special effects then and now.
The Portobello Road Recording Session extra is way too short to be made into a full fledge extra. It looks like they had a few minutes of the recording session of the song Portobello Road with David Tomlinson and didn’t fully know what to do with it. They could have taken the time to give us some history on making the song and perhaps even allow us to hear alternate versions of it as they rolled this footage.
Even with that said, there are still two wonderful extras included that make it all worth your time. Music Magic: The Sherman Brothers is a ten plus minute featurette with both Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman also known as the Sherman Brothers. The two brothers have been responsible for some of Disney’s classic songs including the Academy Award winning songs from Mary Poppins. The two walk us through the whole process that went into making these great songs in the film, including some that never made it in the film. Angela Lansbury also makes an appearance in this featurette and talks about her experience in making the film as well. In fact this is the closest we get to a “making of” the film. It’s too bad there isn’t one that could have also included the children. It would be great to see what they look like and what they are up to today.
Finally we have the long lost song that actually made it on the original soundtrack but has yet even today to be added back into the film. The song is “A Step in the Right Direction” and would have completed the full restoration. The reason these days it is not included is the footage is feared to be lost. Regardless, the audio still exists and along with some of the original stills (from the original filming) we are given an idea of where it fit into the film and what it was suppose to look like.
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Special Features
