Trivia / Bedknobs and Broomsticks

• Acting for Two: Lennie Weinrib voiced both King Leonidas and the Secretary Bird.
• Billing Displacement: Roddy McDowall is third-billed and, in the uncut version of the movie, he does indeed play a significant supporting character. However, in the theatrical cut of the movie, his role was reduced to The Guy Who Gets Attacked By Miss Price's Nightgown, but they still billed him right below Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson.
• California Doubling: Set in England, filmed mostly... in California. Thanks to matte paintings, it doesn't show.
• Completely Different Title: The French title is L'Apprentie sorcière (The Sorcerer Apprentice, as a feminine name). In a similar vein, the Spanish title was La bruja novata (The Novice Witch) and in Latin America was "Travesuras de una bruja" (Mischiefs of a Witch).
• Creator Backlash: Angela Lansbury didn't enjoy making the film. Due to the special effects-heavy nature of it, every shot had to be tightly storyboarded and scripted, shot for shot.
• Creator Killer: This was unfortunately the beginning of the end of director Robert Stevenson's career; it never returned to the heights it used to see before he retired in 1976.
• Cut Song:
  • There was a song called "Sold Citizen", written for Angela Lansbury to sing in the Isle of Naboombu scene while the star was being stolen. It was cut early in production and replaced with the football match scene.
  • The film originally ran 139 minutes, but was cut by 22 for its initial theatrical release. Three songs - "A Step in the Right Direction", "With a Flair", and "Nobody's Problems" - were dropped in the process, and others were shortened (in particular, "Portobello Road"). The 1996 restoration used for the laserdisc and DVD releases restored most of the cut material, with the exception of the first song, as that scene had been lost.
  • The "story and songs" record had "With a Flair" and a full version of "Portobello Road".
  • The 2014 Special Edition Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack uses the 117-minute cut of the movie, with the footage added in 1996 relegated to the Blu-Ray Disc's and Digital Copy's respective bonus features sections.
• Executive Meddling: For the American premiere at Radio City Music Hall, Disney had to shorten the movie by at least 20 minutes, to make room for their annual Christmas stage show. Those scenes remained missing for 25 years, until they were added incrementally during the 1996 and 2001 restorations. Later, the 2014 restoration deleted them again.
• Irony as She Is Cast: David Tomlinson portrays Emelius Brown as a good but flawed man who, despite his growing (genuine) affection towards Eglantine and the children, ultimately chooses to part ways with them because he's afraid of commitment and wants to pursue a life of adventure over settling down. In real life, Tomlinson was a devoted family man who gladly avoided showbiz circles and turned down most social invites just so he could spend as much time at home as he could and be with his wife and children.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Since the Blu-Ray doesn't include the 25th Anniversary Edition, the only way to watch it in HD would involve contacting someone fortunate enough to have downloaded it from iTunes, before they stopped carrying it in favor of the theatrical cut. Disney+ only has the shorter theatrical cut available for streaming.
• The Other Darrin: The original audio for some of the deleted scenes apparently no longer exists, requiring Disney to have the dialogue re-dubbed. Angela Lansbury and Roddy McDowall re-recorded their own lines, but characters whose original actors had either passed away or become too old received new VAs for these parts, which is why (among other inconsistencies) Mr. Browne's voice sometimes changes to that of Jeff Bennett.
• Playing Against Type: Why, yes, that is beloved family entertainer Bruce Forsyth holding a knife to Angela Lansbury's throat!
• Prop Recycling: Some of the suits of armor in the climactic battle with the German soldiers were authentic medieval era armor, previously used in Camelot and El Cid. When any item of armor was to be destroyed, exact fiberglass replicas were created and used.
• Reality Subtext:
  • Supposedly, "The Age of Not Believing" was written as an allegory for Walt Disney Productions' struggle to continue on financially and creatively after the death of Walt Disney.
    "Where did all the happy endings go? / Where can all the good times be?"
  • Both Angela Lansbury and Roddy McDowall, as well as director Robert Stevenson had emigrated to America during World War II. David Tomlinson and Robert Sherman had served in the war.
• Real-Place Background: Portobello Road is a real place in London, with a weekend outdoor market since the late 1800s that really does sell a wide variety of items.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Julie Andrews was the first choice to be Miss Price, for obvious reasons. She turned the role down initially but later changed her mind - feeling that she owed her career to Disney and should work with them again. But when she called the studio to say she had reconsidered, Angela Lansbury had already been cast. Leslie Caron was also considered.
  • The film rights were first bought in the 60s. Had PL Travers not allowed Disney to make Mary Poppins, this would have been adapted instead. Indeed the "Beautiful Briny Sea" sequence was scripted for Mary Poppins first.
  • Ron Moody was the first choice for Mr Brown, but he insisted on being billed first. The studio wouldn't allow it and the part went to David Tomlinson.

---