A down-on-his-luck inventor turns a broken-down Grand Prix car into a fancy vehicle for his children, and then they go off on a magical fantasy adventure to save their grandfather in a far-off land.
An apprentice witch, three kids and a cynical magician conman search for the missing component to a magic spell to be used in the defense of Britain in WWII.
Director:
Robert Stevenson
Stars:
Angela Lansbury,
David Tomlinson,
Roddy McDowall
Dorothy Gale is swept away from a farm in Kansas to a magical land of Oz in a tornado and embarks on a quest with her new friends to see the Wizard who can help her return home to Kansas and help her friends as well.
An eccentric professor invents wacky machinery but can't seem to make ends meet. When he invents a revolutionary car, a foreign government becomes interested in it and resorts to skulduggery to get their hands on it.Written by
Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>
Even though it is never specified where Baron Bomburst's castle is, it is clearly inside Germanic Europe, because the locals wear Tracht, the official National Dress of Austria, and they are speaking German as their native language. The latter is very noticeable when the children are running through the streets and one of the men says "Kinder." Also, the real-life Bavaria-based Neuschwanstein Castle ("Mad Ludwig's castle") is the filming-location of Baron Bomburst's stronghold; the name "Vulgaria" is an obvious parody on the German province. See more »
Goofs
After the tide comes in, water surrounds the car. A brief close-up shot shows the car is sitting far from the water. See more »
My two sons (now 4 and 2) have been obsessed with this movie for over a year now. They sing along to the songs and dance too - when old bamboo comes on, they pick up their sticks and hats and copy the routine. This is like an extended pantomime, with the scariest pantomime baddie in the history of movies. My brother couldn't sleep for a week after first seeing the childcatcher when he was 8. Anyway, this movie has everything - humour, pathos, great acting (and great casting), great songs and a great script (thank you Roald Dahl). I cannot fault this movie apart from the fact that it is a little long and the bit where they go off to vulgaria is a bit overextended. My family has now been to see the stage show twice too, and we are all firm "bang bang" nuts. If your kids have not seen this movie, then they haven't had a proper childhood!
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My two sons (now 4 and 2) have been obsessed with this movie for over a year now. They sing along to the songs and dance too - when old bamboo comes on, they pick up their sticks and hats and copy the routine. This is like an extended pantomime, with the scariest pantomime baddie in the history of movies. My brother couldn't sleep for a week after first seeing the childcatcher when he was 8. Anyway, this movie has everything - humour, pathos, great acting (and great casting), great songs and a great script (thank you Roald Dahl). I cannot fault this movie apart from the fact that it is a little long and the bit where they go off to vulgaria is a bit overextended. My family has now been to see the stage show twice too, and we are all firm "bang bang" nuts. If your kids have not seen this movie, then they haven't had a proper childhood!