Wombling Free on DVD? Certainly better than on VHS as one can jump to the good
bits, which are, sadly, few and far between.
Moving the Wombles from TV to the big screen ought to have been a simple
procedure - just transfer the stories from the original novels and enhance them
with musical set pieces. Maybe add a few cameos for good measure - perhaps
Bernard Cribbins and Mike Batt or even Elisabeth Beresford herself playing bit
roles. Flesh out the characters established in the TV series - use the extended
narrative of the movie format to develop them to depths not possible in a five
minute TV series.

Sadly, none of this was done. (OK, John Junkin did get a cameo as a highway
planning engineer, but that's about it.) Vignettes were borrowed from the
original novels - trying to get entry under the wall at Buckingham Palace with
Tomsk as a Grenadier Guard - and then stitched together in a plot that went
against the plots of the original books. The Wombles were afraid of being
discovered by Human Beings in the original books which added tension to the
stories (a plot device used in Mary Norton's "The Borrowers" or Pierre Berton's
"Secret World of Og"); in this movie such considerations are swept aside as the
Wombles are said to be invisible to adults (a possible cop from Peter Pan?),
though this seems to have been forgotten at the movie's end when Frogmorton
tries to rally Human Beings to join with the Wombles (hard to do if one party is
invisible). David Tomlinson almost reprises his role in Mary Poppins - overly
busy father doesn't have time for his offspring who is trying to inform him of
her new and furry friends (and their ecological worldview) but all ends well as
relationship between the two is restored.
Then there is the treatment of character - both human and Womble. Aside from the
musical numbers, Orinoco spends the movie taking his "forty winks", Wellington
is given a bit part, Tomsk and Tobermory are hardly seen at all, let alone
heard, and Bungo gets the lion's share of the spotlight (just like him,
though...). Great Uncle Bulgaria fares a little better but, in general, the
Wombles are portrayed as caricatures of their original characters - in their own
movie! The Human Beings fare worse, especially with the characters of Mr. and
Mrs. Takahashi who, as Asians, must endure the burden of playing Asian
stereotypes that are certainly offensive to adults and potentially harmful to
children. One would think that portraying Asians as being incapable of
pronouncing their l's proper-ry (yes, that's how they do it in the movie) would
somehow strike someone involved in the production as inappropriate but such was
not the case, resulting in almost every review of the movie in video guides
cautioning parents against negative racial stereotyping. Most of the human
performances come off as stiff as the Womble costumes worn by Kenny Baker &
company, which are a slight improvement on the costumes made by Mike Batt's Mum
as they at least have mouths and eyes that can blink.
And with all the Wombles songs to choose from, why choose "Madame Cholet" when
others might have been better realised?

Despite this, there are moments where the magic of the Wombles comes through.
The furtive appearances of the Wombles tidying up after messy Human Beings at
the beginning was a good opening to the movie, though the creation sequence that
proceeded it was cited as off-putting by a few reviewers. Of the musical numbers
"Wombling White Tie And Tails" shines brightest, especially with its visual nods
to classic musicals like The Sound of Music, Singing In The Rain, and Anchors
Aweigh (or is it On The Town?). There is a scene where a very nervous Bungo
meets Mrs. Frogmorton, thus becoming "real" (and visible) to her instead of
remaining an imaginary friend of Kim's which is well done.

How could/should it have been done? The most obvious plot to use would have been
the Christmas party with Mr. Smith from the first Wombles book. That would have
made it a Christmas movie and thus put a damper on year round sales potential
but it would have made a more interesting movie, especially with Bernard
Cribbins as Mr. Smith. Another possibility would have been to create a plot
where the Wombles are threatened with discovery by a Human Being who has less
than honourable intentions i.e. to use the Wombles in lab experiments (sort of a
blending of the plots of "The Secret Of Nimh" and Richard Adam's "Plague Dogs")
though obviously the evil would have to be implied than overt - sort of the mad
scientist and assistant (ideally the same actors) from the Beatles movie Help!.
Still another possibility would have been the Wombles attempting to bring their
message of ecology to the world through the medium of - wait for it - the pop
music industry (sort of the Commitments meets A Hard Day's Night). Making a
Wombles movie today would certainly be a lot easier - you could have actors in
costumes with animatronic headpieces for close-ups or computer
generated/enhanced facial expressions, shrunk to a suitable size like the
hobbits in LOTR. Or there is the route of traditional animation (I'm not so keen
on 100% computer generated features.)

It's funny - I get a mini-movie in my head when I listen to the 3rd movement of
Mozart's Jupiter Symphony (from whence came the inspiration for "Minuetto
Allegretto") of Human Beings out casting off litter on the Common as they walk,
picnic, etc. and the Wombles furtively gathering it up, all choreographed to the
music. That vision may impose itself on your subsequent appreciation of the
piece (certainly the rest of the symphony doesn't lend itself to Womble
associations) but that's the risk of the power of suggestion. (Was that a knock
on your door?)

What I WOULD like to see on DVD is something that was under consideration by
Mike Batt prior to his accident, that being a Wombles music video
compilation/retrospective. The idea was to have the Wombles relate their story
with the odd guest appearance, interspersed with vintage TV appearances and
promotional films, plus new music videos . Sort of a Spinal Tap approach to band
documentary. I still think it would be a great idea and certainly a cult
classic.


Frederick Harrison <><
````````````````````````````````````````````````
"A stone may change the course of the river."
C.S Lewis
----- Original Message -----
From: tarastockford <tara@...>
To: Wombles@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, February 14, 2003 4:19 PM
Subject: [Wombles] Wombling Free DVD


Hi folks

I've just seen on Play.com that Wombling Free (the movie) will be
released on DVD this year! It's due on 9 June 2003.

What do you think of the film? Everyone says it's rubbish, but I
enjoyed it! I've been meaning to watch it again some time, but maybe
now I'll wait for the DVD. I wonder if there'll be any extras - at
least a trailer?

By the way, does anyone have the Wombling Free soundtrack LP? I've
been looking for a copy for years...

Cheers

Tara


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