Bedknobs and Broomsticks [HD]

One of my favorite Disney DVDs.
In 1971, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, a film many call a Mary Poppins rip-off, premiered at Radio City Music Hall, but in a version in which nearly half an hour of footage, including full songs, was removed. For its 25th Anniversary in 1996, Disney re-inserted all of the deleted footage except for one musical number in which the picture was lost. The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences screened this in 1996, but it didn't get a theatrical release, and for years, the only way Americans could get it was either by the 1997 laserdisc release, an import of a European video, or by catching it on occasion on the Disney Channel.

Finally, in 2001, for the film's 30th Anniversary, Disney released a DVD with this extended version of the film. Restored and remastered, the film now has a clearer plot, extended musical numbers, and songs previously deleted. The brilliant "Portobello Road" number is now restored to its original running time, as well as Miss Price's response verses,...

The charge of the "knight" brigade!
Ever since I was a child, this magical Disney classic has always captured my imagination. The fabulous songs by the Sherman brothers, the amazing mixture of live-action and animation, and the magical special effects make this timeless film entertaining to viewers of all ages. The casting was great, especially David Tomlinson, who was also terrific in "Mary Poppins" and "The Love Bug". My two favorite scenes in this are the hilarious soccar match and the "battle" at the end between the knights and the German soldiers. By the way, the scene where the "flying" dress lands on Roddy McDowall is the only scene (that I know of) where you can clearly see the wires attached to a flying object or person in the movie. This is easily one of Angela Lansbury's best performances, and it's one of the best films directed by the great Robert Stevenson (Disney's greatest director ever in my humble opinion). I was a little disappointed by the "special edition" dvd. It claims to have a featurette on the...

great movie, TERRIBLE EDITION
I watched this movie countless times as a child, and loved it. I was excited to get it on DVD, but now that I have watched it I must say that I am very disappointed in this anniversary edition.

A very few of the extended scenes were useful or interesting, but for the most part redundant and disappointing. They slowed the pacing and diluted the storyline and character development. The editing itself seemed poorly done as well, changing the order of some scenes. All very unneccesary.

Most distressing of all, the sound on most of the added scenes was very poor, lips out of sync, and some of the dialogue appeared to have been dubbed in (badly) by some other, unknown actors! Perhaps this was a result of unusable original recordings, but it was extremely jarring and irksome. Even worse, some of the lines from the original release (often ones that flowed into a "new" scene) were also altered. This is COMPLETELY unacceptable. (Nearly as bad as another old classic, Darby...

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