G | 1h 38min | Adventure, Comedy, Family | May 1970 | Color, ws
Director: Hollingsworth Morse
Stars: Jack Wild, Billie Hayes, Martha Raye, Cass Elliot, Billy Barty.
Paul Godkin ... choreographer
Watched online, good print.
8 songs in the Soundtracks.
Sheer torture. Kid stuff at high shriek.
Lots of celebrity voice impersonations: Ed Wynn, John Wayne, WC Fields, Edward G. Robinson, Margaret Hamilton.
Mama Cass, one of the witches, and all the witches were evil, sang about being different, but different isn't bad, especially when you find friends. Right message, wrong side. If you want to hear/see Cass sing, search for some videos of her. Don't come here.
The witches were people with heavy makeup, but most of the other characters were performers in character costumes, covering head and body. And the creatures are unreal; at one point I heard a horse whinny, and couldn't find the horse onscreen, until I realized the blue polka dot thing was it. Breaking convention: the mayor is a dragon, who's a good guy. No mention of breathing fire.
If I hadn't done all the prep work for this post before starting the video, I would have just shut it off after a couple of minutes. Horrid.
distr. Universal, dir. Morse; 4
