Matthew Garber Movies
The Gnome-Mobile was Walt Disney's first all-out fantasy since Mary Poppins. Walter Brennan stars in a dual role, as kindly lumber tycoon D. J. Mulrooney and the irascible (and much tinier) 943-year-old gnome Knobby. Mulrooney likes Knobby and his fellow gnomes, but the feeling isn't reciprocal, since Knobby considers Mulrooney a threat to his beloved forest. Meanwhile, the tycoon's vice-president Ralph Yarby (Richard Deacon), hearing his boss' claims that he's been consorting with gnomes, decides that the old guy is insane and has him committed. Rescued by his grandchildren Rodney (Matthew Garber) and Elizabeth (Karen Dotrice), D.J. seeks out Knobby and Knobby's own grandson Jasper (Tom Lowell), who are hiding somewhere in the woods with gnome-king Rufus (Ed Wynn, in his final film role). There follows an amusing rite of passage wherein Jasper becomes engaged to gnomette Shy Violet (Cami Sebring), leading to a happy ending for all concerned. The film's title refers to D. J. Mulroney's precious 1930 Rolls Royce, which is "adopted" by the gnome population. Gnome-Mobile is a virtual inventory of Disney's most beloved trademarks, ranging from excellent miniature and special-effects work (including the producer's newest innovation, audio-animatronics) to a zany slapstick car chase. Walt Disney did receive a producer credit on this film, which was actually made in 1966 - the year of his death - and released nationally in 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Walter Brennan, Tom Lowell, (more)
Long resistant to film adaptations of her Mary Poppins books, P.L. Travers finally succumbed to the entreaties of Walt Disney, and the result is often considered the finest of Disney's personally supervised films. The Travers stories are bundled together to tell the story of the Edwardian-era British Banks family: the banker father (David Tomlinson), suffragette mother (Glynis Johns), and the two "impossible" children (Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber). The kids get the attention of their all-business father by bedevilling every new nanny in the Banks household. Whem Mr. Banks advertises conventionally for another nanny, the kids compose their own ad, asking for someone with a little kindness and imagination. Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews in her screen debut) answers the children's ad by arriving at the Banks home from the skies, parachuting downward with her umbrella. She immediately endears herself to the children. The next day they meet Mary's old chum Bert (Dick Van Dyke), currently employed as a sidewalk artist. Mary, Bert, and the children hop into one of Bert's chalk drawings and learn the nonsense song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" in a cartoon countryside. Later, they pay a visit to Bert's Uncle Albert (Ed Wynn), who laughs so hard that he floats to the ceiling. Mr. Banks is pleased that his children are behaving better, but he's not happy with their fantastic stories. To show the children what the real world is like, he takes them to his bank. A series of disasters follow which result in his being fired from his job. Mary Poppins' role in all this leads to some moments when it is possible to fear that all her good work will be undone, but like the magical being she is, all her "mistakes" lead to a happy result by the end of the film. In 2001, Mary Poppins was rereleased in a special "sing-along" edition with subtitles added to the musical numbers so audiences could join in with the onscreen vocalists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, (more)
Based on a whimsical novel by Paul Gallico, Disney's Three Lives of Thomasina is an imaginative tale of a resourceful cat. Thomasina is the pet of Karen Dotrice, the daughter of taciturn Scottish veterinarian Patrick McGoohan. When Thomasina falls ill, McGoohan coldly diagnoses the cat as suffering from tetanus and declares that the pet must be put out of its misery. As Dotrice and her friends sadly prepare to bury the "dead" Thomasina, backwoods girl Susan Hampshire, who is said to be a witch, shows up and runs off with the kitty corpse. Using equal doses of intuition and love, Hampshire revives Thomasina, who of course wasn't dead at all. While in limbo, Thomasina ascends to Cat Heaven, where her case is heard by the Cat Goddess (this is a wonderful piece of special-effects wizardry, even if you don't like cats). Returned to life, Thomasina has no memory of her previous existence. Thus, the cat runs off in terror when Dotrice sees her again during a torrential downpour. Now it is Dotrice who becomes seriously ill, necessitating a collaboration between the cold, cut-and-dried ministrations of her father and the tender loving care of the "bewitched" Hampshire. As it turns out, Thomasina is the catalyst for both Dotrice's recovery and the film's happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patrick McGoohan, Susan Hampshire, (more)
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