Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Bedknobs & Broomsticks



I love the animation sequences in Bedknobs, but I haven't been able to warm up to the film as a whole. The more I am wondering why, the more I realize that the problem is in the writing. 
The live characters don't seem to like each other, all the way through the picture. Even the children always argue with one another. There are no appealing character relationships in the film.

The animation, directed by Ward Kimball, is fantastic. The soccer game is great entertainment, partly because the animals use their physical attributes to play the game. The elephant goal keeper uses his trunk to shoot the ball back into the field, the gorilla hangs from the goal's frame, the cheetah runs so fast, his feet catch on fire, etc. Every animal acts according to its specific species. Pure Disney!

Milt Kahl designed the whole cast and animated most of the scenes with the characters you see above. Ok…the bear looks a bit like Baloo and the Lion resembles Shere Khan, but the acting is fresh and unique. 
At one point during production Milt must have raised a fuss about inconsistencies in the drawings of various animators. This prompted Ward Kimball to send this memo to the animation staff.
The tone of it just cracks me up. (I believe the stone-rubbed portrait of Walt still hangs in the old Animation building.)



That's Kimball with producer Bill Walsh, next to Milt's enlarged character drawings. These were used during live action rehearsals as a guide for the actors.


Here are copies of a few key drawings from a Kahl scene, the King is beating up the befuddled  Secretary Bird, who just noticed that the King's medallion is missing.  Look at the beautiful follow through and weight of the Lion's heavy sleeve.  









17 comments:

  1. I still love the whole movie today perhaps because I cherished it as a child.Angela Lansbury was an excellent choice. Expressing emotions with a distance fits quite well with british culture
    the drawings are beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is exactly what I though about this movie. No one likes each other, no one is appealing. Emotion that was there all along in Marry Poppins disappeared here. It's extremely cold, with is totally unbelievable with such strong subjects as war, loneliness or orphanages. The director was able to create such a strong couple in Poppins without one love or romantic moment. Here, it's one of the worse couple casting I've seen.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I always loved this scene because the guy says he used to play for Tottenham Hotspur! ..And the animation ain't half bad either!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hilarious memo! and exquisite drawings. Don't suppose you have anything of the gorilla? I've always loved the design & animation on him

    ReplyDelete
  5. The character relationships are strained, and not always comfortable to watch, but it is reflective of the era it was set in. North and South England *never* really understand each other. They just don't. Londoners don't 'get' Yorkshire or Northumbrian residents (nevermind the Scots). They are two different worlds, as different as someone from Wilmington, NC trying to 'get' New York City, and vice versa - stick a New Yorker in a household in Kansas and see how long the pleasantries last.

    The focus of the original work was not that everybody becomes closer as-such, but rather this is the United Kingdom, and much as we don't like or understand each other and hate the circumstances we are in, we'll still be able to work together to win the war. The writers chose to maintain that integrity to the era rather than adding the emotional healing touches that they did in Poppins (primarily Mr. Banks's relationship with his children, without which Poppins's departure would have had no reason).

    WW2 England was a very different and very stressful time compared to Edwardian London. If anything, the realism of those stresses actually endears me to the film more in hindsight.

    But the soccer game still rules, and the full 10 minute Portabello Road number is brilliant, especially to anybody who has studied British folk dance styles.

    ReplyDelete
  6. To be honest, I hadn't watched or even heard of this one as a kid. O.O I vaguely remember a scene from Disney Sing-A-Long Songs though. A bed floating with a bunch of gorgeous musical fish and something about "the beautiful briney sea," am I right? Anyways, the drawings and memo definitely made me smile :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah that's the one!

      I was at least lucky to have been in the 80's with a VCR and the ability to watch this on tape anyway.

      Delete
  7. jaaa der Strand von Naboombu ist eine der schönsten. So schön, dass ein Künstler aus China ihn mir in 1,20 m gemalt hat.
    Ich weiß nicht ob man das darf, aber der Kunstmaler kopiert ja auch oder malt mit Kreide auf die Straße. Ich bin happy und freue mich an diesem Unikat. Ich frage mich aber und finde nicht heraus, wer der ursprüngliche Disneykünstler für diesen Hinterrund war. bedknobs listet da vier Namen?
    Liebe Grüße und danke für diese tolle Lektüre--
    hier ist der Strand...

    https://michaelfriemel.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/traumstrand-naboombu/

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amazing post, thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I always thought the animated sequence was the high point of the film. I also think the king design would have been better for Prince John in Robin Hood. Maybe that's a different thread. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Stone rubbed portrait? I'd like to see that. Is this image available? I have no idea what it is.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haven't seen the image elsewhere, but here is what Wikipedia says about the technique :

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_rubbing

      Delete
  11. I'm not fan of remakes but I always thought this film would be good for one. The whole idea of a fledgling witch and her "charges" repelling a German invasion during the war seems rife with possibilities ! In the right hands it could be a lot of fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I completely agree with you. Just can't imagine the island animals in CG. Well, I can, but.....

      Delete
  12. I worked on the film back in the seventies. I had left the Disney Studio and received a call from my old boss, Andy Engman to return. I'm glad I did.

    It was remarkable that the film had much of the very same talent that did the hit film, "Mary Poppins." However, the one thing this motion picture really lacked was Walt Disney. The Disney Studio without Walt was sadly never the same. The Old Maestro's touch was clearly missing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Okay, I'm a big fan of this movie so maybe I'm just sour grapes. Still, as subjective as it is, I fervently disagree that there are no appealing relationships.

    Emelius was revealed to be a conman, and lied about the college of witchcraft. Of course Eglantine won't think much of him right away, but I do find their bantering adorable, and eventually they're sweet to each other. Also, the children acted very similar to how my siblings and I used to, so maybe it's second nature to me. Ah, well. I'll just say "I strongly disagree" and leave it at that.

    ... Also, Mary Poppins is kind of a bitch. Eglantine is much more likable.

    ReplyDelete