Bedknobs and Broomsticks [Original recording remastered, Soundtrack]

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 13, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Soundtrack
• Label: Walt Disney Records
• ASIN: B00006EXGT
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,362 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

While Disney artists and technicians didn't necessarily pioneer the merging of live action and animation, their elegant efforts on films like Mary Poppins, Pete's Dragon, and this 1971 fantasy considerably expanded the medium's possibilities. The Poppins parallels here (an English middle-class setting, children beguiled by an enchanted nanny, star David Tomlinson) are hard to ignore; indeed, the film's source story was originally purchased by Disney as an insurance policy in case Poppins fell through. Thus it isn't surprising to find the Sherman brothers songwriting team also penning Bedknobs' songs and score. It's a typically strong effort by the pair, with Angela Lansbury's talents shining on "Age of Not Believing" and "A Step in the Right Direction" and Tomlinson nearly stealing the show with "Eglantine." But given the film's rambling narrative and overly familiar story elements, the Shermans seem hard pressed to repeat the heights or remarkable consistency of their Academy Award®-winning work on Poppins. Still, playing also-ran to that Disney masterpiece is hardly the same as losing. This restored edition also includes original Sherman demos for the cut songs "Nobody's Problems," "Solid Citizen," and "The Fundamental Elements," tunes that ironically turned out to be among the film's best. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

Songs Include : Overture / The Old Home Guard / The Age Of Not Believing / With A Flair / A Step In The Right Direction / Eglantine / Don't Let Me Down / Eglantine - Reprise / Portebello Road / Portebello Street Dance / The Beautiful Briny / Substitutiary Locomotion / Eglantine - Reprise / Portebello Road - Reprise / Finale / Nobody's Problems - Demo / Solid Citizen - Demo / The Fundamental Element - Demo

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag from Disney, August 16, 2002

By 

Norman Landsburg (Chapel Hill, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Audio CD)

I'm glad that Disney has finally decided to release the soundtrack to 1971's Bedknobs and Broomsticks on CD, this being one of my favorite films of all-time. I am also glad that they decided to release it with some bonus tracks. However, other than that, I am disappointed that this is not a comprehensive release of the songs and score.

This is basically a re-release of the 1971 soundtrack LP which ran about 30 minutes and features edited versions of many songs (though Eglantine, The Beautiful Briny, and Portobello Road are mostly intact, while the latter has different vocals for the vendors than are heard in the film).

There are no score tracks, which is a shame, as Irwin Kostal's treatment of the Sherman Brothers song score is a grand, skillful adaptation filled with many memorable pieces. Two-time Oscar-winner Kostal (who died in 1994) was nominated for an Academy Award for his work, but the award that year went to John Williams for Fiddler on the Roof. I would have at least liked to hear the 10-minute passage heard during the film's climactic battle between Nazi invaders and centuries-old Medieval armor.

The worst omission of all, in my opinion, is the complete version of the Portobello Street Dance, running about 7 minutes in the 139-minute version of the film (which I greatly prefer). This is a wonderful piece of music which features the song in several different styles (Indian, Afro-Cuban, Irish, Scottish, jazz). This version is cut down to little more one minute of music!

On the other hand, I am glad they included Nobody's Problems, which was restored to the film in the 1996 reconstruction of the originally intended version, as well as the two demos for unused songs: The Fundamental Element and Solid Citizen. However, Nobody's Problems only features Angela Lansbury's vocal track to a demo piano track, not the orchestra track from the film.

I am disappointed that Disney apparently feels that only its animated films should have comprehensive soundtrack releases on CD (particularly when on the same day as Bedknobs, the original 101 Dalmatians was released with such a treatment) when Rhino Records have had great success with releasing comprehensive soundtracks of classic MGM films such as Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Singin' in the Rain, Gigi, Meet Me in St. Louis, and others. If you want a decent representation of the songs to Bedknobs and Broomsticks on CD, you should pick up this CD. If you want a more comprehensive treatment of the songs and score as they were heard in the film, I guess you'll be waiting a little while. Music-only elements necessary for a comprehensive song-and-score disc of this film definitely exist, as they were used to create a stereo soundtrack for the film when it was restored to its originally intended length in 1996.

I would have loved to hear complete song-and-score discs of this film as well as Pete's Dragon and Happiest Millionaire, but I guess I'll be waiting.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Whose idea was it for no instrumentals?, March 15, 2005

By 

Daphne Cappuccino (Colorado Springs) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Audio CD)

Oh man, if I've ever heard a soundtrack worse than this, it's problem the soundtrack to grinding garbage or something. I was very disappointed when I received this CD in the mail. Bedknobs and Broomsticks is one of my favorite Disney movies (despite it's unpopularity) and I loved its music! Unfortunately, my rating of both the movie and CD is low low LOW! I'll give you a little overview with each of the songs:

1. The Old Home Guard - I thought the transition from the beginning instrumental with the credits to the song the army band sings was great. Only problem was they didn't use the actual singing of the men from the movie in this song. Disappointed me.

2. The Age of Not Believing - The songs starts out great with the normal lyrics and music but transitions to the music when Ms. Price and the children are traveling on the bed. After that little instrumental, they producers put Ms. Price's song back in at the end. Grrr... and they took out the cute instrumental of when Ms. Price gives instructions to Paul.

3. With a Flair - This is the song Prof. Brown sings when he shows the audience street his magic. This song goes on with more lines but I have no complaints because it wasn't in the movie, so it's not like the producers have ruined it since I haven't heard this song.

4. A Step in the Right Direction - This song has a really upbeat, Sousa sound. No complaints with this song either. Fun and upbeat, like I said.

5. Eglantine/Don't Let Me Down - Why do the producers of this CD keep taking out the adorable instrumentals of this movie? When Prof. Brown is singing to Ms. Price in the library, the scenes transition to the children in the nursery but those transition instrumentals were taken out too. They've added lyrics in this song (and so have a lot of other songs as well), and Ms. Price has a part at the end.

6. Portebello Road - The voices in the movie aren't in this song. The movie's voices had variation and originality. The song's voices doesn't. Also has added lyrics but some of them are cute.

7. Portebello Road Street Dance - This song is only a minute and seven seconds. You'd think they'd all of the music from these scenes with the Indian soldiers' music to the Scottish bagpipes and the Caribbean/Jamaican steel drums. But noooooo..... it skips from the trumpets to the part to the part in the movie where the man rings the bell that tells people it's closing time.

8. The Beautiful Briny - I'm VERY happy that this song is the only one that is like the original one in the movie. The ending doesn't have all of the instrumentals.

9. Substitutiary Locomotion - The producers definitely cut dialogue from random places in the movie into the song and cut out lots of singing. Also, they took out the instrumental when all the clothes and things come alive.

From there, the CD is merely the reprise which I have no opinion of. The ending finale is just like the movie so no complaints. Everything else is songs that the movie didn't have or demos. This soundtrack was put together horribly and I was very disappointed. Don't pick this one up, stick with the movie.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My children and I highly recommend this book to you, May 18, 2003

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Audio CD)

This soundtrack CD only recently fell into my hands, and boy am I glad that it did. It contains eleven tunes from the original movie, though the Portebello Road sequence was inexplicably trimmed to a fraction of its original length. Plus, as a bonus, the CD contains three bonus tracks. Nobody's Problem, which was missing from the original release, but restored to in 1996, is here, as are two very excellent others.

I purchased this CD to keep my children entertained during a long car trip, and this CD did an excellent job. The kids liked that there were no long instrumental mood music selections (except for the overture and finale), which will please youngsters but upset purists. As a matter of fact, the children loved this CD so much that we listened to it several times, and were sure to sing along with Solid Citizen, a good old-fashioned music hall tune.

My children and I highly recommend this book to you.