Bedknobs and Broomsticks

In 1971, Disney released *Bedknobs and Broomsticks*, a musical fantasy comedy that mixed live actors with animated sequences. Robert Stevenson directed the film, which was written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by the Sherman Brothers. The story came from two books by Mary Norton: *The Magic Bedknob* (1943) and *Bonfires and Broomsticks* (1947). The cast included Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Roddy McDowall, Sam Jaffe, and John Ericson.

The project first came up in the early 1960s, while Disney was still negotiating for the rights to *Mary Poppins* (1964). Once those rights were secured, *Bedknobs and Broomsticks* was shelved several times because it seemed too similar to *Mary Poppins*. It was revived in 1969. The original cut ran 139 minutes, but it was trimmed to nearly two hours before its premiere at Radio City Music Hall.

Released on December 13, 1971, the film received mixed reviews, though the live-action and animation combination was praised. It earned five Academy Award nominations and won one for Best Special Visual Effects. It was the last film released before the death of Walt Disney’s surviving brother, Roy O. Disney, who died a week later. It was also the last theatrical film for actor Reginald Owen, who died the following year; his final two credits were for television. Screenwriter Don DaGradi retired in 1970 and died in 1991; this was his last film work.

In 1996, the film was restored, with most of the deleted footage put back in. A stage musical adaptation premiered at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne on August 14, 2021, and then toured the UK and Ireland until May 2022.

**Plot**

In August 1940, during the Blitz, three orphans—Charles, Carrie, and Paul Rawlins—are evacuated from London to the Dorset coast village of Pepperinge Eye. They are placed with Miss Eglantine Price, a reluctant caretaker who is secretly a witch. She agrees to a temporary arrangement. The children try to run back to London but change their minds after seeing Miss Price fly on a broomstick. She explains she is learning witchcraft through a correspondence school, hoping to use magic to help the British war effort against the German Army. In exchange for their silence, she offers the children a traveling spell on a bedknob, which they accept. Soon after, Miss Price gets a letter saying the school is closing, so she cannot learn the final spe