Film and magic are similar in many ways. Both have a foundation in presenting illusions. They want to draw their audience in and make them believe in something that’s either not there or not as it appears to be. So when movies and magic combine, the results can often be enthralling. Mary Poppins and company jumping into the sidewalk and entering another world, Gandalf fighting the Balrog in Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter’s intense quidditch matches are just a few such examples that will always be remembered. But that’s not always the case. Robert Stevenson’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks has many moments rooted in movie magic, but there’s also a whole lot of filler that brings the movie to a length that’s more than bearable.
With WWII brewing, siblings Charlie, Carrie and Paul are sent to live with Miss. Price (Angela Lansbury), an apprentice witch who lives well outside the potential dangers of the city. Miss. Price is one lesson away from finishing her spells and when her distance training is cancelled, she sets out with the children to find her head master, Emelius (David Tomlinson). One adventure leads to another as the quintet end up in an animated world, going on psychedelic journeys and fending off Nazis.
Parts of Bedknobs and Broomsticks are very memorable. It’s been more than 20 years between viewings of the film for me yet I still remembered the section that blended live-action and classic Disney animation, much like in Mary Poppins. But as a whole, the film is a bore. With the special edition clocking in at well over two hours, there’s a lot to digest, particularly for a family film. Sometimes such films can justify such a running time, but Bedknobs and Broomsticks does not. Plenty of scenes serve little purpose to the overall story and several music routines, although fun to watch and well choreographed, ultimately only add to the running time.
Despite being so long, there are also issues with how jilting the plot is. For example, there’s a lot of buildup to the group traveling to the island of Naboombu. The undisputable highlight of the film, it comes and goes very quickly. It fits into the plot, but the way things play out I was expecting some sort of repercussions to come to light during the climax or sometime later in the film. Instead, once Miss. Price and company leave, they do so for good and there’s no further mention of it.
Other parts of the plot take the easy way out. And not just a little bit easy. Young Paul has a book about Naboombu. It has the answers they’re often looking for. Yet because he’s scared of not being listened to, he says nothing until the story has conveniently hit a dead end. In the history of contrivances caught on film, this has to rank among the top (or the bottom, depending on if you wish not to celebrate bad storytelling).
At times, Bedknobs and Broomsticks does bring some magic to the screen. However, with its epic length and not-so-epic story structure, it’s a film where the failed essentials overshadow the astonishment.
