Curator Watchlist
A charming, slightly oddball Disney fantasy with real wartime stakes, lively musical numbers, and a memorably game Angela Lansbury performance. It’s especially appealing if you like old-school studio craft, live-action/animation hybrids, and family films that are more whimsical than polished.
Where to watch: Buy
Thu · 1h 57m
Director: Robert Stevenson
Starring: Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Roddy McDowall
Three children evacuated from London during World War II are forced to stay with an eccentric spinster. The children's initial fears disappear when they find out she is in fact a trainee witch.
Robert Stevenson
Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Roddy McDowall
A charming, slightly oddball Disney fantasy with real wartime stakes, lively musical numbers, and a memorably game Angela Lansbury performance. It’s especially appealing if you like old-school studio craft, live-action/animation hybrids, and family films that are more whimsical than polished.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks is one of those Disney films that feels both cozy and unhinged in the best way. It starts as a wartime evacuation story, then wanders into witchcraft, animation, and a delightfully absurd magical quest, all held together by Angela Lansbury’s warm, deadpan authority.
What makes it endure is the tone: playful, a little spooky, and occasionally stranger than you remember. The songs are sturdy, the visual effects have old-school charm, and the film’s willingness to let its fantasy get silly gives it a personality that many cleaner family movies lack.
It’s not as seamless as the studio’s most famous classics, but that roughness is part of the appeal. If you like your family entertainment with a touch of eccentricity and a surprisingly sharp wartime backdrop, this is an easy recommendation.
Matt Shiverdecker (4★) · 975 likes
Angela Lansbury plays a witch who fucks up a bunch of Nazi assholes. They just don't make family films like they used to!
Remobo (3.5★) · 502 likes
Mary Poppins 2: The Bewitching “Just a spoonful of witchcraft, helps the Third Reich go down…”
David Sims (3.5★) · 266 likes
RIP Angela but also David Tomlinson hot
russman (3★) · 153 likes
I like most people better when they are rabbits too
lottie🦕 (4★) · 131 likes
Paul is such an icon
A natural companion piece: another Robert Stevenson Disney musical with live-action fantasy, crisp charm, and a magical caretaker transforming domestic chaos.
Shares the same mid-century Disney polish, child-centered comedy, and affectionate, old-fashioned studio storytelling.
For viewers who enjoy Disney’s sprawling, slightly eccentric live-action musicals from the same era.
A whimsical Disney adventure with a similarly playful tone and a taste for oddball fantasy.
Another family fantasy that mixes live-action warmth with a magical creature and a gentle, nostalgic mood.
A classic Disney comedy-fantasy built on invention, broad humor, and cheerful old-studio energy.
For the mischievous magical-comedy side of the appeal, with a playful, slightly irreverent British sensibility.
A family-friendly spooky comedy that leans into goofy supernatural fun rather than genuine fright.
Another Disney live-action crowd-pleaser from the era, combining broad comedy with a strong sense of studio craftsmanship.
If the wartime child evacuation setting is a draw, this offers a gentler, more grounded British counterpart.
A more atmospheric children’s fantasy with emotional warmth, mystery, and a sense of transformation.
For viewers who like children’s stories set against hardship, with imagination used as emotional refuge.
wartime evacuation, magic and witchcraft, found family, musical fantasy, childhood adventure, British nostalgia, good versus evil, live-action and animation blend
classic Disney, family fantasy, musical, wartime setting, British charm, whimsical, slightly eerie, live-action animation hybrid, old-school effects