FILM · 1971 · USA
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
40 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (40)
- #001
Julie Andrews initially turned down the role of Miss Eglantine Price. She eventually reconsidered, believing she owed her film career to Walt Disney Studios and wanting to work there again. By the time she told the studio she had changed her mind, Dame Angela Lansbury had already been cast.
- #002
This film was developed at the same time as Mary Poppins (1964). Walt Disney began with this film, decided it was technically too complex, and moved on to Mary Poppins. They switched back and forth between the films several times. At one point they planned to abandon this film permanently, but the Sherman Brothers, who wrote the music for both projects, insisted that Disney finish it after he was done with Mary Poppins.
- #003
(At about the 39-minute mark) Many of the dolls that Carrie admires in the nursery of Professor Emelius Browne's house were modeled after the international puppets in the It's a Small World ride at Disneyland.
- #004
This was the last Disney film released while Roy O. Disney was still alive. He died a week after its US premiere.
- #005
Angela Lansbury, Roddy McDowall and Robert Stevenson emigrated from England to the US because of the outbreak of World War II. David Tomlinson was a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. Robert B. Sherman served in the US Army and was one of the first Allied soldiers to see the Dachau concentration camp. He used the time he spent recovering from a bullet wound to the knee to learn about the British people and their culture. Manfred Lating and Fred Hellmich were native Germans who had lived under Nazi rule.
- #006
In this film the King of Naboombu is named Leo. In official merchandising guides his full name is King Leonidas, in memory of the Spartan king who died at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.
- #007
This was the last Disney-branded film to win an Oscar until The Little Mermaid (1989). Others were nominated, and two Touchstone Pictures films, The Color of Money (1986) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), had won awards before it.
- #008
The armor used in the climactic battle against the Nazis was original medieval armor previously used in Camelot (1967) and El Cid (1961). Whenever a piece of armor was to be destroyed, full fiberglass copies were made and used instead.
- #009
The castle in the background of the town is Corfe Castle in Dorset, England. Many Thomas Hardy adaptations were filmed there.
- #010
This was the first film Dame Angela Lansbury made for Walt Disney Pictures.
- #011
The opening title sequence is a tribute to the Bayeux Tapestry, a seamless linen cloth made in France in the Middle Ages that tells the story of the Norman conquest of England.
- #012
The film is rooted in a true story based on Dion Fortune, a Christian occultist who (along with others) practiced magic during the war effort against Nazi Germany.
- #013
HIDDEN MICKEY: (at about 1 hour 10 minutes) In the opening scene of the animated football match, on the right side of the frame, a bear wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt can be seen among the crowd.
- #014
When Disney restored this film as close to the original cut as possible, it found that not all of the original audio tracks had survived, requiring the use of Automated Dialogue Replacement (A.D.R.) for several scenes. Only Dame Angela Lansbury and Roddy McDowall were able to return to re-record their lines; Tessie O'Shea died shortly before the A.D.R. Work began and Fay DeWitt was dubbed in for Miss Hobday's lines. Other overdub voices included Jeff Bennett as Emelius Browne, Gregory Grudt as Charlie and Amanda MacQueen as Carrie.
- #015
Roddy McDowall is billed third in the cast list but appears on screen for less than ten minutes. For the 1996 reconstruction, all of his screen time was restored.
- #016
GOOFY HOLLER: (at about 1 hour 14 minutes) During the football match, King Leo is heard kicking the hyena.
- #017
(At about 48 minutes) The various dancer sets in the Portobello Road scene are intended to depict their "traditional" dances and, to some degree, the clothing of the countries under British Empire rule during World War II.
- #018
(At about 1 hour 19 minutes) King Leonidas was sitting on his throne and said "Stop gibberin'!" and then hit Secretary Bird on the head. In Robin Hood, Prince John said "Stop shirking!" and hit Sir Hiss on the head.
- #019
The only non-European cast member was Sam Jaffe, who was born in New York.
- #020
This was the last film to be released that Walt Disney himself had personally greenlit.
- #021
In the early 1960s, while working on Mary Poppins (1964), Walt Disney bought the film rights to two Mary Norton books. P. L. Travers proved immovable in negotiations over the film rights to her books, and much of this film's screenplay and songs had already been written. Had Travers not granted the film rights to her books, this film would have been made in their place.
- #022
(At about 1 hour 50 minutes) During the final battle, a German soldier appears to be sitting inside his armor while kicking legs protrude forward. The actor playing the soldier walked forward as the special-effects legs kicked out twice.
- #023
"Nobody's Problems" was written with two sets of lyrics. A version sung by the three orphans was never recorded or filmed. The second version was performed by Miss Eglantine Price after Professor Emelius Browne leaves. Dame Angela Lansbury recorded the second version to a piano piece by Irwin Kostal, but it was cut before an orchestra could be added. Twenty-five years later an orchestral part was finally added. When the 25th Anniversary Special Edition premiered at the Academy Awards theater, "Nobody's Problems" received a standing ovation. The children's version would be restored years later for a UK stage adaptation.
- #024
Lennie Weinrib based his performance as King Leonidas on Robert Newton's role as Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1950).
- #025
Ian Weighill and Roy Snart, who played the orphan brothers Charlie and Paul, did not appear in any other film.
- #026
It was the first of two live-action and animation Disney films released in the '70s. The second would be Pete's Dragon (1977).
- #027
(At about 1 hour 18 minutes) A "Gypsy Switch" is the act of reaching into a person's coat pocket, snatching contraband and passing it into another pocket on the other side of the coat.
- #028
Julie Andrews, Leslie Caron, Lynn Redgrave and Judy Carne were considered for the role of Miss Eglantine Price.
- #029
Ron Moody and Sir Peter Ustinov were considered for the role of Professor Emelius Browne. Moody refused to make the film unless he was paid.
- #030
The Naboombu football scene used the sodium vapor process developed by Petro Vlahos in the 1960s. Animator and director Ward Kimball served as animation director on the sequence. The animator's director, Milt Kahl, had designed the characters but was furious over inconsistencies in the character animation. This prompted Kimball to send the animation team a note dated September 17, 1970, urging them to adhere to animation consistency.
- #031
David Tomlinson, Reginald Owen and Cyril Delevanti also appeared in Mary Poppins (1964).
- #032
This was Roy Snart's (Paul) only acting credit. He instead became the General Manager of a software company.
- #033
This was Reginald Owen's (General Teagler) last cinema film.
- #034
This was Anthony Eustrel's (the Bookman) last cinema film.
- #035
Filming lasted fifty-seven days, while the completion of the animation and special effects took five months.
- #036
(At about 51 minutes) During the multi-ethnic ballet on Portobello Road, a group of Caribbean soldiers play several steel pans, a percussion instrument originally from Trinidad made from old metal drums altered with hollows of various sizes (in the film the relevant musical notes are chalked out in English notation) and played with solid sticks. The pan is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago and appears on the country's coat of arms.
- #037
(At about 45 minutes) The lyrics of "Portobello Road" mention Henri de Toulouse Lautrec, the name of one of the kittens in Disney's The Aristocats (1970) the previous year.
- #038
This was Ina Gould's debut.
- #039
This was Edith Leslie's last film.
- #040
Although the story and characters of Bedknobs and Broomsticks are entirely English, the sport is called "soccer" rather than "football" because it is more common outside the United States. The word soccer is an abbreviation of "association football."
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