Movies - Bedknobs and Broomsticks

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	Movies - Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a 1971 musical film produced by Walt Disney Productions, which combines live action and animation, which premiered on 7 October, 1971. It is based upon the books The Magic Bed Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons and Bonfires and Broomsticks, by Mary Norton.

Synopsis

Set in 1940, in the county of Dorset of the United Kingdom, Angela Lansbury plays Miss Eglantine Price; a lonely woman who lives close to Corfe Castle. In secret she is a witch and plans somehow to help the country against the Blitz. To her distaste, however, she is assigned to shelter three children from London to provide them refuge from the bombings. The three children, Charlie, Carrie and Paul, discover that Miss Price is a witch when she recklessly takes off into the sky on her new broomstick. Miss Price demonstrates her powers to the children by transforming Charlie into a white rabbit, who is subsequently chased about the cottage by Miss Price's black cat, Cosmic Creepers.

Miss Price and the children go to Miss Price's secret room, where she gives them the famous travelling spell, via a bedknob which Paul pulled off Miss Price's late father's bed. The bed is now a type of transport and with the travelling spell, it is able to go anywhere in the world. They are interrupted by the ringing of the front door bell and Miss Price receives a letter from Professor Emilius Browne (David Tomlinson), the headmaster of the college of witchcraft, which explains that the college has closed due to the war and she cannot get the final lesson she needed: the spell for substitutiary locomotion - making inanimate objects move of their own accord.

Miss Price and Paul decide that they can use the bed to get to London, to find Mr. Browne and get the final lesson. Charlie is not keen on going on the bed, but after Miss Price tries to make him change his mind with song, he still is not convinced. However, when the bed's magic starts to act, Cosmic Creepers scares Charlie onto the bed and it vanishes from the house, and travels through a dimension portal and appears in London. The children find Mr. Browne, who is now a common magician, but his audience is not impressed with his skills and departs. Miss Price announces to Mr. Browne her problems and he takes her to his town house with the children... on the bed.

At the town house, which Mr. Browne doesn't actually own, the children explore the house and come across a nursery in which Paul finds a children's picture book about the Lost Isle of Naboombu. He likes it so much that he takes it with him. In the library, Miss Price searches for the old book from which Mr. Browne got his spells, but he tries to distract her with his plans to open up a magic show with her as his fabulous assistant. She changes him into a rabbit and makes him get the book for her, which is actually torn in half. The two and the children take the bed to Portobello Road where Mr. Browne said he last saw the other half of the book. Browne starts up a musical fiesta in the market street and even Miss Price, who is scanning the street for the book, joins in. After the market closes, Miss Price and Mr. Browne meet Swinburne (played by Bruce Forsyth) and his boss, The Bookman, who has the other half of the book. Unfortunately, the spell Miss Price needs is not in either of the parts: the centre page with the vital magic words has been lost.

The Bookman explains to Miss Price that the book once belonged to Astoroth, a legendary wizard who used the final spell to make animals he had into real animals. But the animals revolted, killed Astororth and escaped to an uncharted island, which just so happened to be the Isle of Naboombu. The Bookman tries to grab Paul's book, but the heroes escape on the bed, on their way to the island.

They materialise over the island, but crash land in the lagoon. There they find an animated realm where fish can talk, and they can breathe under the water. Miss Price and Mr. Browne compete in an underwater dance, singing the film's most famous song "Bobbing Along On the Bottom of the Beautiful Briny Sea". They win first prize, but suddenly partying turns to peril when fish hooks come down and grab the bed, taking it and the children for a ride. Miss Price and Mr. Browne grab the bed and follow after the children.

On shore, a bear in a sailor suit is fishing and just happens to pull the bed on shore. He is about to throw the humans back into the water, when Paul interrupts, showing him the book and stating that they can see the king as it's the law. The bear reluctantly leads the group to the king's chamber, and they meet the king's secretary, who just happens to be a Secretary Bird. The bird leads Mr. Browne into the king's tent after he reveals the king likes football and he is without a referee. Mr. Browne emerges with the king, who turns out to be a lion. The group soon realise that the king is wearing a medallion: the Star of Astoroth, which has the words to the final spell Miss Price needs, engraved upon it.

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