Courtesy of It Came From Hollywood…the re-release 1979 pressbook for Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The Sherman Brothers, who wrote the songs for Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jungle Book, and many others, wrote the songs for this movie. They also wrote It’s a Small World After All, so nobody’s perfect. My favorite work of theirs would be Mary Poppins, which reaches sublime heights of melody and heartstrings’ tugging. The rights to Bedknobs and Broomsticks were acquired before those of Mary Poppins, but it was shelved a few years to make way for Mary Poppins, since the stories were somewhat similar. Julie Andrews was the preferred witch for Bedknobs, but feared typecasting and demurred. Angela Lansbury eventually took the role. The movie won the 1972 academy award for Best Visual Effects over its competition, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. (Click each image to expand it–you will need a BIG screen–or right-click the expanded image to download it. And you don’t need witchcraft to find more pressbooks, just rummage through our categories.)
