The last time Bedknobs and Broomsticks was remastered for Disney DVD was for its 30th Anniversary edition in 2001. This is one of our all time favorite Disney films!
This new edition, “Bedknobs and Broomsticks: Enchanted Musical Edition,” was released from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
This edition of the Disney Movie has tons of new bonus features and has been yet again restored and remastered. The visuals in the movie look much cleaner than they had before, even more than in the remastered 30th Anniversary edition.
At the beginning of the film Miss Price, played by Angela Lansbury, is upset that she has to take three children into her custody because of the war. She is afraid that the children will interfere with her magic – as she is an apprentice witch who gets magic items from Emelius Browne from time to time.
As soon as the kids go to sleep at her home she opens her new, first broom that she had received from Emelius that day. The kids try to run away back to London and they catch Miss Price flying on her broom out above the yard!
Charlie decides to blackmail Miss Price in exchange for secrecy about her being a witch. He says that to keep his mouth shut she will have to supply the kids with better food, less rules and money!
In response, Miss Price turns Charlie into a rabbit – although she was trying to turn him into a toad!
After that ordeal they all start working together. Miss Price gives Paul a traveling spell in the form of the bed knob from her grandfathers bedroom set upstairs.
When Miss Price receives a letter from Emelius saying that she will not be receiving anymore magic items she decides to take the children on an adventure to find him and find out why.
The very first song in the movie is about “The Age Of Not Believing.” Miss Price begins to sing when Charlie makes clear that he does not believe that the bed will be able to travel and he refuses to go along with their plan. The songs are all so simple and catchy that we love them! What about you?
As Charlie sees the bed about to move he jumps on and holds on for dear life. The bed takes off through an array of techno colored shots that the 1970s are known for!
When the kids and Miss Price find Emelius they realize that he is not the type of witch or wizard they thought he was. Turns out he is a fraud! And not only that, he is very surprised that the spells he sent to Miss Price actually worked as he says they were nonsense words he pulled out of an old book!
Our favorite song in the whole movie is “Portobello Road.” The song is sung by Emelius on the streets of London as the group is searching for the other half of the ripped in half book of spells.
When the group finally finds the other half of the book they are looking for they realized they have been cornered by some mean men and they have to get out quick! They end up traveling on the bed to the Island of Naboomboo. This animated island is full of fun characters for the group to meet. This is part of the film that has been heavily remastered for the re-release to Disney DVD and we think they did a great job!
After the group takes part in a huge soccer tournament on the island they escape back to the bed while all of the characters on the island are distracted and get back to London as quickly as they can to work on the spell Miss Price has been searching out from the beginning. It turns out that the spell she had been hunting everywhere for is right in Paul’s book about Naboomboo!
At the end of the movie Miss Price uses the spell to make the suits of armor do what she wants and she helps out with the war – wow!
Bonus Features include:
- The Wizards of Special Effects: This bonus feature is hosted by Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place actress Jennifer Stone. She becomes a Special Effects Wizard Apprentice and learns about the Academy Award Winning 1971 special effects in the original Bedknobs and Broomsticks. She then compares the original special effects to the current effects being used on the Disney Channel Original Series “Wizards of Waverly Place.”
- Music Magic: With this bonus feature you can take a behind-the-scenes look from a musical point of view of the movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks with the Sherman Bothers, Angela Lansbury and Scott MacQueen. This feature explores the songs in the film, including what made it into the final version of the film and what was deleted from the movie.
- Deleted Song: “A Step in the Right Direction”
- Portobello Road Recording Session: A rare clip of David Tomlinson recording the song “Portobello Road” from the movie
The cast of Bedknobs and Broomsticks includes:
- Angela Lansbury (Miss Price)
- David Tomlinson (Emelius)
- Cindy O’Callaghan (Carrie)
- Roy Snart (Paul)
- Ian Weighill (Charlie)
- Roddy McDowall (Mr. Jelk)
- Sam Jaffe (Bookman)
- Arthur Gould-Porter (Capt. Greer)
- John Ericson (Col. Heller)
- Tessie O’Shea (Mrs. Hobday)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks: Enchanted Musical Edition is set to release on September 8th. The G-rated film will retail for $29.99.
Are you excited for Bedknobs and Broomsticks: Enchanted Musical Edition?
Image Via Flickr
Every Wednesday those of us at Disney Dreaming will be coming together to give you a top ten list of all things Disney! This week we sat down to talk about our favorite top ten Disney movies of all time and below is the list we came up with.
We would love for each of you to send in your top ten list as well, we’ll be holding a contest every week and every Wednesday a winner will be contacted and sent a prize pack for participating. All you have to do is leave your top ten list and email address as a comment on this post and get ready to find out if you won next week!
Disney Dreaming’s Top Ten Disney Movies
10. The Sword In The Stone: This movie was adapted from a novel by T. H. White which was published in 1938. Walt Disney Productions released the movie on December 25, 1963 through Buena Vista Distribution. Disney changed a lot of the original story when it produced the film.
In the movie, Arthur is a young boy who hopes to be a knight’s squire when he grows up. He meets up with the wizard Merlin who believes that with an education Arthur can be anything, even a king! The movie is set in medieval times and when the English king passes away and leaves no heir it is believed that anyone who can remove the sword from the stone it is stuck in will become the next king. Leave it to Arthur to be the only one who can remove the sword from the stone!
9. Tuck Everlasting: Released to theaters on October 11, 2002, Tuck Everlasting stars celebrities including Alexis Bledel, William Hurt, Jonathan Jackson, Sissy Spacek, Scott Bairstow, Amy Irving, Victor Garber and Ben Kingsley.
The movie is about a girl named Winnie (played by Alexis) who meets the Tuck family. The Tuck family have a special secret, they are immortal! Winnie falls in love with Jesse Tuck and the movie is a story of Winnie having to choose between being immortal and losing Jesse forever. The moral of the movie is that you should not fear death, but rather you should fear a life you have not lived.
8. Meet The Robinsons: Released on March 30, 2007, Meet The Robinsons is about an orphan named Lewis who wants to find his family. He invents a time machine and then meets another boy his age who warns him against a man in a bowler hat who is trying to steal his time machine. Turns out that boy is from the future! Lewis and the boy go to the future and have an amazing adventure until Lewis realizes he found the family he has been searching for all along! The moral of the story is that your family isn’t always perfect, but they are always your family.
7. The Muppet Christmas Carol: Released on December 11, 1992 this holiday classic is about Jim Henson’s characters ranging from Kermit the Frog to Miss Piggy, Fozzie, the Fraggles and more! This movie marked the first time that all of the Muppets appeared on screen since Jim Henson’s death in 1990.
6. Robin Hood: Released on November 8, 1973, Disney’s Robin Hood is a story of the legendary Robin Hood story. Robin Hood is an outlaw who bonds together with a bunch of his fellow friends to fight off the injustices of the Sheriff of Nottingham who asks for too much in taxes from the townspeople.
5. High School Musical: High School Musical is a Disney Channel Original Movie which was released on the Disney Channel on January 20, 2006. Disney did not expect fans to love the movie as much as they did and had never dreamed that they would make three more High School Musical movies!
The film stars Zac Efron and girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens along with Disney celebrities Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Chris Warren Jr, and Olesya Rulin.
The movie is about Zac’s character Troy and Vanessa’s character Gabriella who meet at a party on New Years Eve. They both end up attending the same school, but they are in two different cliques and have to develop a romance away from the prying eyes of their friends who disapprove of their new interests.
4. Bedknobs and Broomsticks: Released on December 13, 1971, Bedknobs and Broomsticks stars Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson. The plot of the movie takes place during WWII in England where three children are sent to live with Angela’s character Eglantine Price who is an apprentice witch.
The children are put in charge of a magic bedknob and they begin to travel on the bed with it. They take a short journey to the street of London, but their next journey causes a bit more drama for them when they travel to an Island that they only read about in books which is full of magical animals.
3. Pirates Of The Caribbean: July 9, 2003 marked the first time the world got to see a Pirates Of The Caribbean movie. The movies were based off of the famous ride at Disney World and Disneyland. The imagineers thought it would be a good idea for the ride to be given more life, and they could do this by making a movie out of the story from the ride.
The movie stars the famous Johnny Depp along with Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly among many others. The characters go on crazy pirate adventures and there are two other already made Pirate adventures in the Pirates Of The Caribbean series. Oh, and their is a fourth movie in the works!
2. Beauty And The Beast: Released on November 22, 1991, Disney’s Beauty And The Beast is a new take on a classic story. The main character, Belle, is upset with her life in her small provincial town in France and can’t stand the attempts Gaston makes on her. While on a trip to show off his new invention, Belle’s father Maurice comes in contact with the Beast and Belle has to save him.
Currently Vanessa Hudgens is working on a project called “Beastly,” which is a modern day Beauty And The Beast movie.
1. The Little Mermaid: The Little Mermaid was released to the world on November 17, 1989. The story is about a mermaid named Ariel who dreams of being human aand being able to explore the world above her, however her father does not approve of her doing so.
She makes a deal with the evil witch Ursula and in turn is given legs for three days. During these three days she meets Prince Eric and they decide to wed. However, Ursula steals her voice and puts a spell on Eric and tries to marry him herself. Ariel’s friends and family have to try to right the wrong that was done so Ariel can live happily ever after with her prince.
Currently, Disney star Drew Seeley is playing Prince Eric in Broadway’s rendition of “The Little Mermaid” story.
