A Step in the Right Direction

2024-02-09T16:53:29Z

141.136.136.7:

{{for|the 1981 Australian TV movie|A Step in the Right Direction (film)}}
{{No footnotes|date=March 2010}}
'''"A Step in the Right Direction"''' is a song written by [[Robert and Richard Sherman]] for the 1971, [[Walt Disney]] [[musical film]] production ''[[Bedknobs and Broomsticks]]''.{{cquote|
When a baby spider 
tries to trap a fly 
Often times, the silken thread 
Will come awry 
Though a tangled web is all that he can claim 
It's a step in the right direction all the same}}

==Lost scene==
Upon rediscovering the song on the original soundtrack album, Disney decided to reconstruct the original running length of ''Bedknobs and Broomsticks'', with all the songs. Most of the film material was found, but one minute of another song, "Portobello Road", had to be reconstructed from a work print with digital re-coloration to match the film quality of the main content. The footage for "A Step in the Right Direction" was never located. For many decades, it remains lost, and it is possible that the footage was accidentally destroyed, but records show that the song was part of the film before the Radio City engagement. A reconstruction of the sequence, using the original music track linked up to existing production stills, was included as a [[DVD]] extra to convey an idea of what it would have looked like in the film.

==References==
{{reflist}}
* [[Sherman, Robert B.]] ''[[Walt's Time: from before to beyond]]''. Santa Clarita: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998.

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Step in the Right Direction}}
[[Category:Songs from Bedknobs and Broomsticks]]
[[Category:1971 songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by the Sherman Brothers]]

The Beautiful Briny

2024-02-09T16:51:34Z

141.136.136.7:

'''"The Beautiful Briny"''' is a song written by [[Robert and Richard Sherman]], originally for the [[Walt Disney]] film ''[[Mary Poppins (film)|Mary Poppins]]'', but eventually used instead in the 1971 [[musical film]] production ''[[Bedknobs and Broomsticks]]''. [[David Tomlinson]] (Mr. Emelius Browne) and [[Angela Lansbury]] (Miss Eglantine Price) perform the song as a duet under the water, in the lagoon of the [[Island of Naboombu]].

==Thematic placement==
With a moment to garner perspective "far from the frenzy of the frantic world above", Browne and Price dance to the music of a 1940s night club orchestra. The orchestra is made up of sea creatures. At one point in the song, possible romance is alluded to, but it is not specified as in addition to Miss Price and Mr. Browne, pairs of male and female animated sea creatures such as [[electric eel]]s and [[lobster]]s are shown dancing in the song. {{cquote|
Two beneath the blue 
Could even fall in love...}}

==Other film connections==
"[[Under the Sea]]" from the [[1989 in film|1989]] musical film ''[[The Little Mermaid (1989 film)|The Little Mermaid]]'' (which won the [[Academy Award|Oscar]] for "Best Original Song" that year) was thematically inspired by "Beautiful Briny" as both songs are, more or less, about the same thing.<ref>Film Critics Guide to the Galaxy of Musicals</ref> In ''[[Mary Poppins Returns]]'', the scene where Mary Poppins had the children bathe is a nod to this song and had characters from ''Bedknobs and Broomsticks''. The song was written for the original 1964 ''Mary Poppins''.

==Literary sources==
* [[Sherman, Robert B.]] ''[[Walt's Time: from before to beyond]]''. Santa Clarita: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beautiful Briny, The}}
[[Category:1971 songs]]
[[Category:Songs from Bedknobs and Broomsticks]]
[[Category:Male–female vocal duets]]
[[Category:Songs about fish]]
[[Category:Songs about oceans and seas]]
[[Category:Songs written by the Sherman Brothers]]

{{1970s-song-stub}}

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A Step in the Right Direction

The Beautiful Briny