1967 - THE GNOME-MOBILE, one of Disney's better live action films

Probably one of the few good live action Disney films shot in the 1960's,  although the bar isn't really very high for the amount of live action junk they cranked out.  The film benefits from Disney's best in-house director Robert Stevenson, the actor Walter Brennan and (for the time),  Disney's top notch special effects crew which interestingly enough credits Robert Mattey who went on to build the shark for Spielberg's Jaws.

The film has Walter Brennan as a lumber tycoon on vacation with his grandchildren played by Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice the Mary Poppins kids.  While stopping off at a forest they run into a couple of gnomes who need to be reunited with their gnome friends.  Brennan plays two roles in the film The lumber tycoon D.J. Mulroney and Knobby the old gnomish elf.  As was the practice with Disney films there are a lot of old-timers in the cast.  Jerome Cowan, Richard Deacon, Ed Wynn and Sean McClory who was usually associated with John Ford.

 

Robert Stevenson the director, seemed to have a knack for these kinds of films.  He directed The Absent Minded Professor, Mary Poppins, The Love Bug and Son of Flubber.  All big moneymakers for the Disney studios.  Stevenson had directed Darby O'Gill and the Little People about a bunch of leprechauns which featured Sean Connery in one of his first important roles.  That film used lots of clever trick photography in it and despite being a good fantasy film was a commercial disappointment.  Stevenson and his crew clearly used a lot of what they learned about trick photography from that film for the  The Gnome-Mobile which was a more audience friendly film.

 

The film was written by Ellis Kadison based on a book by Upton Sinclair of all people.  The running time is 84 minutes.