I'm not sure that the film would have done better if the long version had played in wide release. By that period in time, big lavish musicals were going out of style and quite a few such films had already failed at the box office.
However, I much prefer the longer cut myself, even while realising that the film could have been tightened up a bit. (For instance, the wisp of a subplot concerning the parson and his desire for Eglantine's property was not needed.) Still, I think the film could have been shortened just a little without making such drastic cuts. Deleting the two songs "A Step in the Right Direction" and "Nobody's Problems" were the biggest mistakes made when recutting the picture, in my opinion. However--I like the songs in this film so much that I don't think any of the musical numbers should have been trimmed! So, I was very happy to see all that material put back in---particularly Angela's "Don't Let Me Down," which I love.
It's difficult, viewing this film as an adult, to decide just what should have been left and what should have been cut to make the film most palatable to the younger members of the viewing audience, for whom it was primarily intended after all. I can't help but wonder if youngsters would find the longer version of "Portobello Road" to be rather dull, but I think it's a fantastic interlude and am so happy that all the trims have been put back in. On the other hand, I always found the extended animated football match to be rather dull and could have done without it entirely---but this part of the film is probably one of the favourite bits of the younger set.
If one looks at the film dispassionately, with the understanding that it ran too long and had to be cut, in terms of plot the ENTIRE south-sea magical island sequence could have been deleted. None of this material was necessary to advance the plot. Now, I would have hated to see "The Beautiful Briny" go, but both that and the football match were completely extraneous to the heart of the story, and deleting that entire section of the film would have brought the running time down to a reasonable length without having to make any other cuts whatsoever.
And it would have been so simple to do; I don't even think any new bridging material would have had to been shot. Picture it---just have them feeling all dejected after their visit to the bookman, because the magical words they were looking for weren't in the spellbook they had found. Then have Paul say, wait a minute---look here, in my book, here they are! And then they try the spell... That would work perfectly well for me---though you have to remember, I really did think that football match was a huge waste of time. I don't think I even found that segment all that amusing or interesting when I was a little kid and first saw the film, though it's difficult to remember now, so many years later...
Anyway, I'm pleased they found as much of the missing material as they did, though one can't help but hope that somewhere out there the footage to "A Step in the Right Direction" still exists and is just awaiting discovery.
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3s2m
10 years ago
Mr. Jelk's role, though brief even when restored beyond the 30 seconds he got in the cut version, is integral, but in the film as it exists today, it may be a case of "what's there is there." Pepperinge Eye is a very small town full of paranoia and not that many people.
I very much disagree about the animated sequence as it sets up both the relationship between Eglantine and Emelius while showing a fictional world similar to Nazi Germany. The fish suffer under the threat of the hook from above (just as anyone Hitler didn't like suffered under his rule), and King Leonidas is like Hitler. He yells and screams, he cheats, he brutalizes his opponents, he ignores the rules of the sport, and when he wins, he says, "Game's over, I win," meaning "I" rather than the team. Plus, it's one of few Disney animated bits of this era I found laugh-out-loud funny. And much like real animals, they're not cute and cuddly but vicious and brutal, despite the appealing designs. It has the energy a lot of the other animation of this era lacks, and it makes me wonder whether Ward Kimball would have been a better choice to direct the animated features than Wolfgang Reitherman was.
Even if the filmmakers were willing to concede small cuts, the studio heads insisted on big ones. And aside from Radio City Music Hall wanting it shorter so they could fit in a stage show, another reason they cut it was fear that it would end up running three hours long like The Happiest Millionaire.
But for Disney not to offer a choice of versions on the Blu-ray when it was easy to do so is a crime. They're always coming up with new ways to shortchange this film after the fact. From a business standpoint, it doesn't make sense that one would go to the trouble to find the footage, put it back in and not try to maximize the exposure the film receives. But since it was made in the 1970s it often gets lumped in with the other low-budget, high-concept comedies (some of which weren't that bad, but the bad ones were awful).
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theoctobercountry
10 years ago
Hmmmm..... I think it's a bit of a stretch to equate the island of Naboombu with Hitler's Germany. Oh, you can make the case for such an interpretation, but honestly I think very few viewers will come up with this idea on their own.
The Naboombu sequence may have advanced the relationship between Eglantine and Emelius to a small degree---and as I noted, I do really enjoy the Beautiful Briny sequence. But strictly from a storytelling viewpoint, and as far as plot advancement goes, this entire portion of the film is completely unnecessary. This is a pretty big chunk of the film---22 minutes long---and if it was gone all the other bits that were taken out, and which I felt were much more important to the film, could have been left in.
(What do I think is more important? Well, for instance, the rather touching information about the how the kids were in the bombing in London and lost their caretaker, so they had no one left at all, no family---I would have left little things like that in. Because that explains why they were so eager for Price and Brown to get together and form a new family unit---they were lost and looking for new parents.... All these little bits that were cut, I would rather have seen left in while leaving out the whole island sequence.)
Oh, Disney never would have cut the combination live action/animated bits after they put all that time and trouble into them! But I still maintain that, in terms of putting together a tight script and focusing on good storytelling, the Naboombu stuff could have been cut without hurting the film.
Though---seems silly for us to make a big deal about our varying viewpoints on this matter, since we both seem to like the film a great deal! This has always been one of my very favourite Disney pictures ever since I first saw it way back when. (Also started a life-long appreciation for Angela Lansbury's work.)
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3s2m
10 years ago
How about they compromise and cut 22 minutes out of M--- P------ instead. There's no way that movie would have been the hit it was if they had cut it this way.
As for Leonidas, the "no peopling allowed" sign and the warning that he doesn't like people despite trying to be like them by walking upright, having a monarchy and promoting an athletic culture. The soccer game is something of a metaphor for war.
Richard M. Sherman had some of your concerns (surprise surprise, it replaced a song he wanted in), but they wanted to do something to differentiate it from its most immediate predecessor, and that's why the game has no music at all.
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jbartelone
10 years ago
Disney should have maintained their objection to Radio City Music Hall's cut of the Limited Release before December of 1971. A theater that was about a half hour from me offered a limited release around mid November of 1971. Did not get to see that version, but it would have been nice to have seen the film as Disney intended. If the powers that be had no problems with Mary Poppins running 2 hours and 20 minutes, they could have left Bedknobs and Broomsticks alone.
A Step in The Right Direction shows how sloppily it was edited. We hear it in the overture, than there is a scene jump where the instrumental only plays, while Eglantine is flying her broom, than a terrible cut to the next scene. Worse, we may never see the possible animation sequences linked to the verses of the song relating to the following:
"A spider trying to trap a fly."
"A sparrow leaving a nest"
"A tortoise inching up a hill."
The sequences in the soundtrack of the song, could have shown some Disney animation relating to these cute sequences. Does anyone remember if animation was included with those lyrics in the limited release? What's also bad about the loss of "Step in the Right Direction" is the songs' positive message of encouragement! It is one of my favorite songs on the soundtrack.
Radio City Music Hall should have worked something out to book "The Rocketts" for another time. Let's cut up a movie because of their performance, it makes no sense! I remember that Disney objected strongly to this!
Joe
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3s2m
10 years ago
It's also the only scene where you really see Miss Price interacting with Cosmic Creepus other than when she lets him out and finds Nazis on her porch. And by showing Miss Price dancing where no one can see her, it ties into her winning the undersea dance contest.
I wouldn't want to put a new animated sequence into it because that would defeat the whole purpose of a reconstruction: to put back what was supposed to be and only recreating stuff based on what was there. I don't think there was ever animation for the sequence.
If the footage really is gone forever, an on/off button to watch the photo reconstruction in the film is the best option. At least the photos were in color, unlike in A Star is Born where they had to resort to B&W stills because they couldn't find the film footage.
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djb1203
9 years ago
cut the animated part!?? noooo lol. as a young kid that was the bit i waited ages for. the rest meant little to me. was just adults talking and singing and i found it a little boring. the animated part was the best bit. i always wished there was more and that it was sooner. youre looking at it from an adults point of view, or at the very least an older childs point of view. the animated part is for the benefit of the younger children. it doesnt matter about the plot. its not there for that. its for entertainment. ive just watched it with my 3 year old and she paid little attention until that part arrived. then she was glued to the tv for the entire sequence. an absolutely essential part of the movie in my opinion and unthinkable to remove it.
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rascal67
7 years ago
cut the animated part!?? noooo lol. as a young kid that was the bit i waited ages for. the rest meant little to me. was just adults talking and singing and i found it a little boring. the animated part was the best bit
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The animated sequence is the piece de résistance of the film and the film really kicks into gear during this terrific sequence and then pretty much for the rest of it. The restored edition is far too long at over 2hrs, contains unnecessary characters—which would have been an attempt to give the film more overall character—and the first half is a bit uneven and drawn out.
I have seen all 3 versions, and the 117min version which I barely recall, is the one I saw when first released in 71' and was only pre-school. The 97min version runs quick and snappy; but I feel it might have been too condensed. The 117min sounds about right after viewing the overlong restored version.
Some directors can be a bit over-indulgent and prideful with their films and the runtime, especially when they argue the studios requested cuts. There are times when the studio could be wrong—they may want to change the intention of the director's original vison—but there are also times when suggestions to trim the runtime appears like the right thing to do.
Don't eat the whole ones! Those are for the guests. 🍪
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