Bedknobs and Broomsticks
1971 film directed by Robert Stevenson
Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a 1971 American musical fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi and with songs written by the Sherman Brothers. It was produced by Walsh for Walt Disney Productions and Walt Disney Cartoons. It is based upon the books The Magic Bedknob (1943) and Bonfires and Broomsticks (1947) by English author Mary Norton. It combines live action and animation, and stars Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Roddy McDowall, Sam Jaffe, and John Ericson.
During the early 1960s, the live-action animated film entered development when the negotiations for the film rights to Mary Poppins (1964) were placed on hold. When the rights were acquired, the film was shelved repeatedly because of its similarities to Mary Poppins until it was revived in 1969. Originally at a length of 139 minutes, it was edited down to almost two hours before its premiere at Radio City Music Hall.
The film was released on December 13, 1971, to mixed reviews from film critics, some of whom praised the live-action/animated sequence. It received five Academy Awards nominations, winning one for Best Special Visual Effects. It was the last film released before the death of Walt Disney's surviving brother, Roy O. Disney, who died one week later.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” is 1971 film directed by Robert Stevenson. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bedknobs, Broomsticks and film, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “1971 film directed by Robert Stevenson” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q945138. The first chronological checks are 1971, 1943, 1947 and 1964.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.