Saturday, April 11, 2009
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Miss Price, searching for the substitutiary locomotion spell which makes inanimate objects move of their own accord, uses the flying bed to travel with the children to London in search of Professor Emelius Browne (David Tomlinson), the putative headmaster of the College of Witchcraft. He is revealed as a conman who inadvertently used spells from a book of a real magician, Astoroth. Mr. Browne takes them to "his" town house, which is actually someone else's mansion in an abandoned part of bombed-out London, from whose nursery Paul takes a children's picture book about the Lost Isle of Naboombu.
In possession of half of Astoroth's spellbook, the group travels to Portobello Road's marketplace to seek the other half, where an extensive multicultural dance sequence takes place. A spiv (petty criminal) named Swinburne (Bruce Forsyth) overhears them looking through bookstalls. He later approaches them takes them at knifepoint to a character called the Bookman (Sam Jaffe), who has the latter half of the book. The completed text tells the legend of the spell but does not give the magic words, which are engraved on a medallion formerly owned by Astoroth. The wizard had used his magic to imbue animals with human-like qualities and behaviours but the animals killed Astoroth, stole many of his magical spells and items, and escaped to the Isle of Naboombu, which is described in the children's book which Paul is still carrying. The Bookman tries to grab Paul's book, but they escape on the bed to the mystical island.
They land in the nearby lagoon and find a cartoon realm where fish can talk, and they can breathe underwater. Miss Price and Mr. Browne win first prize in an underwater dance contest, but a giant fishhook pulls the bed and the humans out of the water. An anthropomorphic sailor bear pulls the bed to shore and the group persuade him to take them to see the king, a lion who is looking for a referee for the royal football (referred to as "soccer" in the film) game. The king wears a medallion: the Star of Astoroth, which has the words to the sought-after spell engraved upon it. Mr. Browne, claiming to have captained Tottenham Hotspur, referees the game, sustaining substantial comic damage from the animals, and - using what he refers to as the "gypsy switch" - steals the Star of Astoroth from around the king's neck, replacing it with his referee's whistle.
The group use the bed to return home, only to discover that the Star cannot leave the cartoon world; the medallion has vanished from Mr. Browne's pocket. Paul reveals that the words of the spell have been in his nursery book all along. Miss Price attempts the spell, but is unable to control it. Mr. Browne is flustered when the children and a villager begin to treat him as a parent and a partner for Miss Price respectively; he hurriedly leaves for the train station.
During the night, a German raiding party invades Miss Price's house. She and the children are taken to the village armory and museum. Mr. Browne discovers Germans at the train station, cutting telephone wires and engaging in other acts of sabotage. After foiling them, he returns to Miss Price's home. Finding it overrun, he breaks into the workshed and turns himself into a rabbit to evade capture and follows the group to the castle. Having been left alone inside the castle, Miss Price casts the substitutiary locomotion spell on the old uniforms and weapons of the castle. The spell is successful, bringing into life everything on display as medieval Knights, Elizabethan Guards, Cavaliers, Redcoats, Highlanders all march off under the command of Miss Price, routing the Germans invaders in a comic action sequence.
The Germans retreat after detonating charges in Miss Price's workshop. The explosion knocks her from the sky, where she had been directing the magical attack astride a flying broomstick. This breaks the spell, and the army collapses as though deflated. The shed in which she keeps her spells is also destroyed. Since Eglantine has a rotten memory, she will no longer be able to do magic although she has few regrets as she has been able to perform some small service to the war effort, and, in any event, she felt that she could never be a "proper witch" because of how she felt about poisoned dragon's liver. Mr. Browne enlists in the British Army, promising to return. As he departs down the road, Charlie complains that they won't have any more fun - to which Paul replies "Well, still got this, en't I?", pulling out the magical glittering bedknob.
The Jungle Book
Mowgli is shown ten years later, visiting the wolves and getting his face licked eagerly when he arrives. That night, when the wolf tribe learns that Shere Khan (George Sanders), a man-eating tiger, has returned to the jungle, they realize that Mowgli must be taken to the man village, to protect him and those around him. Bagheera volunteers to escort him back. They leave that very night, but since Mowgli is determined to stay in the jungle things go a little astray. First Kaa (Sterling Holloway), the hungry Indian Python, hypnotizes Mowgli into a deep and peaceful sleep, traps him tightly in his coils and tries to devour him, but comically fails. The next morning, Mowgli tries to join the elephant patrol led by Hathi (J. Pat O'Malley). After that Mowgli and Bagheera get in an argument and then Mowgli runs away from Bagheera. Mowgli soon meets up with the fun-loving bear Baloo (Phil Harris), who shows Mowgli the fun of having a care-free life and promises not to take him to the man village.
Mowgli now wants to stay in the jungle more than ever. Before long, Mowgli is caught by a gang of monkeys and taken to their leader, King Louie (Louis Prima) the orangutan, who makes a deal with Mowgli that if he tells him the secret of making red fire like a human, then he would make it so he could stay in the jungle. However, since he was not raised by humans, Mowgli doesn't know how to make fire. King Louie doesn't believe him.
Mowgli is rescued from King Louie by Bagheera and Baloo, but soon runs away from them after Baloo realizes the man village is best for the boy and breaks his promise. After Mowgli runs away, Baloo and Bagheera split up to find him. Mowgli is lost so he can go hunting for him. Kaa, for a second time, hypnotizes Mowgli into a deep and peaceful sleep, and tries to eat him, but thanks to the intervention of Shere Khan, Mowgli escapes.
He encounters a group of solemn vultures (J. Pat O'Malley, Digby Wolfe, Lord Tim Hudson and Chad Stuart), who closely resemble the Beatles, and they say they'll be his friend. The vultures comically argue about "what do you want to do?" and continually sidetrack Mowgli with their pointless arguments. Shere Khan appears shortly after, but when Baloo rushes to the rescue, together they manage to get rid of the ruthless tiger, when Mowgli ties a flaming stick on his tail (the stick was from a tree struck by lightning). Bagheera and Baloo take him to the edge of a man-village, but Mowgli is still hesitant to go in. His mind soon changes when a young girl from the village comes down by the riverside to fetch water.
After noticing the boy, she "accidentally" drops her water pot, and Mowgli retrieves it for her and follows her into the man village. After Mowgli chooses to stay in the man village, Baloo and Bagheera decide to head home while singing a reprise of "The Bare Necessities".
Sleeping Beauty
Years later, Aurora, renamed Briar-Rose, had grown into a gorgeous young woman with the blessings that Flora and Fauna bestowed to her. She does not care about her looks despite being very beautiful but she awaits love, as she is a very romantic girl. By that time, Maleficent is vexed at her minions' incompetence and sends her raven Diablo to look for Aurora. On the day of her sixteenth birthday, the fairies attempt to make Rose a gown and a cake. When their attempts end in disaster they decide to use their wands, resulting with an argument by Flora and Merryweather over the color of the gown that catches Diablo's attention. Meanwhile, Aurora gathers berries while singing to her animal friends; this attracts the attention of Prince Phillip, now a handsome young man, as he is out riding his horse in the woods. When they meet, they instantly fall in love. Realizing that she has to return home, Aurora flees from Phillip without ever learning his name. Despite promising to meet him again, the fairies reveal the truth of her birth to her and take her to her parents and her betrothed's family.
Unfortunately, Maleficent uses her magic to lure Aurora away from her boudoir up a vacant room of the palace, where a spinning wheel awaits her. Fascinated by the wheel with Maleficent's will enforcing it, Aurora touches the spindle, pricking her finger and completing the curse. The good fairies place Aurora on a bed with a red rose in her hand, and place all in the kingdom in a deep sleep until the spell is broken as King Hubert tries to tell Stefan of his son being in love with a peasant-girl. At that time, Prince Phillip arrives at the cottage, but is captured, bound and gagged by Maleficent's minions and taken to her castle, "The Forbidden Mountain", to prevent him from kissing Aurora until he is an old man. However, the fairies sneak into Maleficent's stronghold and free the prince. Armed with the magical Sword of Truth and The Shield of Virtue, Phillip braves all obstacles to reach Stefan's castle prior to battling Maleficent when the sorceress turns herself into a gigantic Dark Fire-Breathing Dragon. The sword, blessed by the fairies' magic, is plunged into the dragon's heart, causing the evil sorceress to fall to her death from a cliff. Phillip climbs to Aurora's chamber, and removes the curse with a kiss. As the film ends, the prince and princess both happily learn that their betrothed and their beloved are one and the same. They arrive at the ballroom, where Aurora is happily re-united with her parents, and she an Prince Phillip dance a waltz. However, they are unaware of the fact that Merryweather and Flora are still in disagreement of the color of her dress and that the color changes from blue to pink. The last color to appear is pink.