Gnome Mobile and Midnight Madness

Click to Buy	Ratings Summary (Scored out of a maximum of five)
	Audio		Video
	Goodies		Interface
	Value

The Movie

The Gnome-Mobile isn’t exactly a Disney classic,

but it showcases the better side of the innocent Disney live action films of the

1960s.

The story has lumber magnate D.J. Mulrooney (Walter Brennan) and

his two grandchildren (played by “The Mary Poppins kids,” Matthew Garber

and Karen Dotrice) running into a couple gnomes while on a drive from San Francisco

to Seattle. The two gnomes they meet, Jasper (Tom Lowell) and Knobby (also Walter

Brennan) may be the last of their kind. There used to be many gnomes living in

the redwood forests of Northern California, but these two lost track of the others

when evil loggers came through and cut down all the trees.

Mulrooney promises

to help them try and find other gnomes (he knows of a virgin stand) and then they’re

off for many farcical hijinks you expect from a Disney movie of this vintage.

There

are two set pieces that have a pleaseant sense of fun. The first is a well-staged

car chase through the forest (it appears that Disney tried to disguise the Sierras

as redwood forest) and the second is the closing act in which a new ritual for

gnome-marriage is tested out (essentially a dozen pretty gnomettes are let loose

after our lonely handsome gnome lad and whoever catches him gets to marry him).

This final scene is very bizarre, but if nothing else it is fun to watch and wonder

if anybody would try to make the same scene these days.

The Gnome-Mobile

was a special effects movie since the various gnomes are maybe six inches tall

and interact quite a bit with the regular human characters. The effects are by

no means convincing to modern eyes, but don’t distract from the movie if you give

allowances for the age of the movie.

The Goodies

This is a rock-bottom

Disney DVD release. There isn’t even a pseudo-goodie offered. Unless you consider

trailers to be goodies, in which case you are treated to a trailer for other rock-bottom

DVD releases such as Apple Dumpling Gang, Escape to Witch Mountain,

and The Absent-Minded Professor.

The Video, Audio and Interface

As

appears to be the trend with these low-emphasis releases, the only version on

the disc is a pan-and-scan version done for VHS long ago. For the most part this

doesn’t affect things much (other than that there is no excuse for not at least

providing the original aspect on the back side of the disc), but there are many

scenes filmed inside cars that will seem to be weirdly framed.

On top of

that, the transfer doesn’t seem to have had any work put into it. In Leonard Maltin’s

review in the first edition of The Disney Films, he refers to the vibrant colors

used in the film. Either the standard for vibrant colors was much diminished back

then, or no attempt was made to restore the film before creating the DVD master.

While a couple scenes (particularly the first with the gnomes) are very

pretty, most of the movie is washed out and there are obvious scratches and artifacts

in many places.

The sound is fine and clear throughout, though as you’d

expect it was not remastered, and remains in stereo.

The Final Evaluation

The

Gnome-Mobile is a movie that for many will invoke fond childhood memories.

For a film that is more likely to appeal to nostalgic adults than hooking young

children, it would be nice to see it get an adult treatment with some extras to

flesh things out.

However, if this is one for which you do have good memories,

the bare bones disc should be readily available at well-discounted prices.

Click to Buy	Ratings Summary (Scored out of a maximum of five)
	Audio		Video
	Goodies		Interface
	Value

The Movie

We have

here a movie that starts with two blonde women on a college campus. Roller skating;

not roller blading, but old-fashioned roller skates. They’re wearing short shorts,

a tube top, and knee-high tube socks with yellow bands at the top.

Though

I’m sure it wasn’t the intent, this movie immediately establishes itself as a

product of its era. In it, game-fiend Leon brings together five teams to play

a game which will lead them throughout Los Angeles during an all-night event of

solving puzzles and guessing answers.

Fortunately for the players, every

business in Los Angeles is open 24 hours (who knew that the Pabst Blue Ribbon

brewery gave 3 a.m. tours?).

This movie contains every stereotype you might

expect from a 1980 hodgepodge of college students. Giggly fat girls? Check. Knife-wielding

Hispanic? Yep. Ultra-nerd? Of course. Cute girl with a crush on the unassuming

friendly guy who also likes her but doesn’t have the confidence to do anything

about it? Introduced in scene #2.

If you like Cannonball Run, Scavenger

Hunt, The Gumball Rally, Rat Race, or It’s a Mad Mad Mad

Mad World, then you might enjoy this one. But you won’t be getting the star

power out of Midnight Madness that you did out of the ensembles in those

other movies.

Nobody in this one was well known when it was made, and only

three went on to any real fame. It was the first film appearance for David Naughton,

Michael J. Fox, and Paul Reubens in his Pee Wee Herman-type character. Other than

that, recognizing some bit players from Animal House is the best you’re

going to get.

Historically speaking, Midnight Madness was only Disney’s

second PG movie (after The Black Hole).

The Goodies

Nothing.

Not even some trailers to give you a couple extra moments to grab a drink (a Pabst?)

while waiting for the disc to load.

The Video, Audio and Interface

This

is actually the second DVD release for the movie; the first was not from Disney.

According to reviews I’ve read of the first release, this one was cleaned up a

bit. Scratches, dust, and artifacts are not particularly obvious on a regularly

sized screen and color is consistent.

The movie is presented in a 1:33:1

(full screen) ratio, which is likely not the original theatrical ratio (reliable

information about the original aspect could not be found). If the movie is pan-and-scan,

the set-up for most shots is so standard that it must have been filmed with TV

in mind (in fact, what following this movie has apparently comes from endless

showings during the early days of HBO).

Audio is essentially mono, and after

the Disney DVD logo plays feel free to turn off your back speakers; they’ll remain

unused.

All the menu interfaces are static graphics (at least they made

a custom graphic rather than just a still from the movie), with no animation from

screen to screen.

The Final Evaluation

Unless you are one of the

few in the cult following for Midnight Madness, it is unlikely that you’re

going to find this a valuabe addition to your collection. Or, you could be a Michael

J. Fox completist. However, if you are nostalgic for 1980 (and who wouldn’t be),

you might want to give it a try from the video store if you’re having friends

over.