Les petits hommes de la forêt

One of the most charming fantasies that Walt Disney ever produced was The Gnomemobile. Even seeing it at the age 20 I was rather pleased with this wonderful kid's film. And if you've imbibed in any spirits while viewing it, The Gnomemobile can be quite a trip if you get my drift.

The creators of Mary Poppins almost duplicated their success with The Gnomemobile. Walter Brennan gets to play a dual role, a reprise of the business tycoon from his series, The Tycoon and a mini me version of himself as a leader of a tribe of gnomes.

These little folks live deep in the forest that Brennan's lumber company keeps chopping down and depriving them of a home. I imagine if this had an Irish locale, the wee ones would speak with a brogue and be called leprechauns.

Anyway Brennan the tycoon has a couple of more little ones now, his grandchildren played by Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice the kids from Mary Poppins. They work on grandpa and he takes an interest in the plight of the gnomes. But to help them grandpa faces some considerable opposition, not the least of which that folks just don't believe in the wee folk.

The Gnomemobile marks the farewell performance of Ed Wynn who was a delightful performer who had been in show business for over 60 years when he passed away. Wynn plays one of the gnomes and a rival of sorts to Brennan's mini me.

The Shermans, Robert M. and Richard B. wrote the musical score for The Gnomemobile and while it doesn't provide any lasting songs like Mary Poppins, the score is serviceable enough for the film.

It's as charming as it ever was, but what a gas it is if you're indulging.

The Gnome-Mobile wasn't a perfect movie, but it was a pleasant, lively and enjoyable one for the family. I do think it is a little too short though, consequently while Sean McClory is suitably shady and enjoyable enough as the villain of the piece his character especially doesn't build up to as much as it could've been. Also, I have never been that receptive to the title song, it just seems bland and forgettable and the lyrics for me are quite uninspired. However, The Gnome-Mobile does have a very entertaining story, and some funny scripting. And it too benefits from some nice photography, scenery and costumes. The direction is good, the film goes at a cracking pace and the special effects are surprisingly reasonable. The main merit though of The Gnome-Mobile is the cast. Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber are very appealing while Walter Brennan is simply wonderful in a dual role. Overall, an enjoyable film that doesn't quite make the grade but has a lot of things to make it watchable. 7/10 Bethany Cox

This is a bundle of joy, even at the ripe old age of 24. Maybe I took it all in as if it was meant for pure tongue-in-cheek purposes, but even as pure kids movie entertainment this is a blast (in cheesy ways as well as for-real ones). It's about the world of gnomes in the redwood west-coast forests coming to light for a couple of kids (the Mary Poppens tykes) and an old man who runs a lumber company.

It might make sense to give a little back-up: part of he reason I watched this movie- make that a big reason- was that Upton Sinclair wrote it. There Will Be Blood is now out in theaters, a big success, and I was intrigued by what else was adapted from his works. Seeing this on the credits list made me give a double-take. What? A Disney movie? Will there be socialist gnomes gathering in the streets to protest the ways of the 5 to 6 foot tall bunch? And what about the greedy capitalists cutting down their trees for their profit motives? Do they have no decency?

Those thoughts ran through my mind, thinking that The Gnome Mobile would be bust, some cheesy kids movie that was so bad it would be good. And, in some ways, it is. It breaks into songs in the weirdest of moments (always, it seems, even if infrequently, in the car), and Walter Brennan plays two roles without any real justification except, mayhap, to get a bigger paycheck. But aside from the goofy expectations, it's actually a lot of legitimate fun, too. Kids who aren't completely dulled down by current CGI might get a kick out of seeing how things went in the "old" days (i.e. lots of large back-drop sets, the 'old-school' of blue screen of sorts of forced perspective, matte paintings), and for acting and comedy that is of a completely light manner. There's danger with a villainous freak-show captain (the name Horatio Quaxton in and of itself is great), and members of grandpa's own company.

It's a big, big, big gas. Only in the 2nd climax (yes, there are two, I think, sort of), when the lady gnomes go after Jasper in a courtship ritual do things get a little TOO weird (if that's possible with the frigging Gnome Mobile), and almost a little out of steam.

The kids from Mary Poppins are re-united on screen to play modern-day siblings in this likable live-action Disney feature. Also on display are some neat special effects (for the time, anyway), in which normal-sized actors and gnomes seem to share the same screen space.

Rodney (Matthew Garber) and Elizabeth (Karen Dotrice) arrive in San Francisco to meet up with their grandfather D.J Mulrooney (Walter Brennan), who runs a successful lumber company. They drive out to a redwood forest for a picnic, where Elizabeth happens across a gnome named Jasper (Tom Lowell), who begs her for help. Seems Jasper's grandpa Knobby (Brennan, again) is on the verge of death-by-depression because he thinks that he and Jasper are the world's only remaining gnomes and has lost all hope of seeing young Jasper finding a wife. Rodney, Elizabeth and D.J agree to help the gnomes by driving them to other forests further up the coast. En route, an opportunistic freak-show boss, Quaxton (Sean McClory), catches a glimpse of the gnomes and kidnaps them for his carnival. Matters worsen when D.J tries to get his own security agents to lead the hunt for the kidnapped gnomes, for they dismiss his orders as the ramblings of a mad-man and have him locked away in an asylum. Rodney and Elizabeth are the only ones who can free their grandfather, rescue the gnomes, and find a bride for Jasper before it's too late!

Generally-speaking the film is likable and entertaining. Brennan is always a pleasure to watch and this is no exception (in fact, a double-pleasure as he has a dual role). Both child-actors are pretty good, especially Garber who demonstrates an understanding of comic timing/underplaying that most kids just don't have. The special effects are impressive for 1967, with convincing visual trick work to have the gnomes interacting with the humans, and some well done talking-animal-scenes at the beginning of the film. There are a few drawbacks. The title song 'Gnome-Mobile' is truly horrible, and McClory's villain isn't built up enough to make him a hissable bad guy. He just sort of appears in a few scenes looking shady, then disappears from the story without his role in it amounting to very much.

On the whole, I like The Gnome-Mobile. It's harmless fun, with an inventive plot, enjoyable performances and lots of agreeably zany episodes.

I've always remembered Tom Lowell as Canoe, Hayley Mills beatnik boyfriend in That Darn Cat, since I saw that movie in the auditorium back in school in the seventies.

Later, I would learn he was the orderly that Cornelius killed in Escape from Planet of the Apes. I was puzzled as to how he became reduced to such a bit part, then seemed to vanish from sight. He never appeared on Love Boat or Fantasy Island, for crying out loud!

Lo and behold, I come across a movie called The Gnomemobile in the movie store. And it had Tom Lowell in it.

So I buy it. With Lowell as Jasper the gnome, the children from Mary Poppins (which, oddly enough was how they were credited) and Walter Brennan for some unexplained reason in a dual role, this movie could have been on the level of Mary Poppins, Sound of Music, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Willie Wonka.

So what went wrong? Over half the movie is spent on trying to get Grandpa out of the nuthouse.

With a cast involving Maudie PIckett, Ellen Corby, Frank Cady, Richard Deacon and Alby Moore, they all would have stood out well had the movie made them gnomes along with Ed Wynn.

So who was supposed to want to see this movie? If girls were supposed to think Lowell was cute, why does he sit out so much of the movie. He only gets one closeup toward the end as well.

So were small children supposed to like the Mary Poppins children?

Was Grandpa gnome or doodene supposed to be comically likable? Grandpa gnome maybe, but like Lowell, he sat out the majority of the movie.

Once the movie got back to the woods, those beautiful woods, and we see Jasper trying to find a bride, the movie gets cute again.

Even the talking animals, the birds, the owl and the raccoon, were all nice to see, but they aren't seen over five minutes at the beginning, then they are gone.

Effects-wise, especially in regards to the double filming, this was all done very well.

I must have caught some of this decades ago on the Wonderful World of Disney, as it all came back to me in strange shadowy flashbacks.

Still it could have worked, even with gnomes singing that silly song instead of grandpa doodene. Ellen Corby, Frank Cady and Alby Moore would have been hysterical singing that thing.