
During World War II in England, Charlie (Ian Weighill), Carrie (Cindy O'Callaghan), and Paul Rawlins (Roy Snart) are sent to live with Miss Eglantine Price (Dame Angela Lansbury), who, as it turns out, is an apprentice witch. Charlie blackmails Miss Price that if he is to keep her practices a secret, she must give him something, so she takes a bedknob from her late father's bed and places the "famous magic travelling spell" on it, and only Paul can activate it. Their first jo... (Full plot summary below)
Enjoy FREE movies and series with your Prime (USA) subscription or when you start a 30-day free trial!
Links compiled using automated software. Availability of offers subject to change / might be region specific / out of date.
During World War II in England, Charlie (Ian Weighill), Carrie (Cindy O'Callaghan), and Paul Rawlins (Roy Snart) are sent to live with Miss Eglantine Price (Dame Angela Lansbury), who, as it turns out, is an apprentice witch. Charlie blackmails Miss Price that if he is to keep her practices a secret, she must give him something, so she takes a bedknob from her late father's bed and places the "famous magic travelling spell" on it, and only Paul can activate it. Their first journey is to a street in London, where they meet Emelius Browne (David Tomlinson), former headmaster of Miss Price's witchcraft training correspondence school. Miss Price tells him of a plan to find the magic words for a spell known as "Substitutiary Locomotion", which brings inanimate objects to life. This spell will be her work for the war effort.
Leave your thoughts about Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
| IndieWireGreg EhrbarThe script is tight and witty with sparks of sophistication. This is a film that, while never quite given the rightful place in the Disney canon it deserved, had a positive influence on many lives over the decades, including that of this writer. |
| Chicago ReaderDave KehrIt's more sophisticated than the usual run of Disney product, but it lacks the inventiveness that could endow it with genuine charm. |
| Kansas City StarShawn BowersA fun adventure that always seems to get mixed up in my memory with Mary Poppins, and while they share similarities, this one stands out on its own as a great childrens film. |
| Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenOscar-winning special effects and animation sequences by Ward Kimball make this musical fantasy a perennial favorite. |
| Common Sense MediaNell MinowDelightful Disney charmer may be too long for youngest. |
| Film4Richard LuckIt's a little uneven but at its best Bedknobs And Broomsticks rivals the joy and wonder of Mary Poppins. |
| Antagony & EcstasyTim BraytonA fun, fairly intelligent, unexpectedly witty example of cinema for children at a time when that genre was at one of its lowest-ever ebbs |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertBedknobs and Broomsticks is the new Disney production from the team that made Mary Poppins, and it has the same technical skill and professional polish. It doesn't have much of a heart, though, and toward the end you wonder why the Poppins team thought kids would like it much. |
| Movie ViewsRyan CracknellHas many moments rooted in movie magic, but there's also a whole lot of filler that brings the movie to a length that's more than bearable. |
| Empire MagazineIan NathanLike Lansbury, the film has aged well and retains almost all of it's magic. |