The Gnome-Mobile
Encyclopedia
The Gnome-Mobile is a 1967 Disney
musical film
, directed by Robert Stevenson
. It was one of the last films personally produced by Walt Disney
.
It was based on a 1936 book by Upton Sinclair
entitled The Gnomobile. Walter Brennan
gives a double performance as D.J. Mulrooney, the kind-hearted lumber tycoon of Irish descent; and as the irascible 943 year-old gnome
Knobby. The children, Elizabeth and Rodney, were played by Karen Dotrice
and Matthew Garber
, familiar from their roles as Jane and Michael Banks in Mary Poppins
. Tom Lowell who plays the young gnome Jasper in this movie, also appeared in the 1965 Disney film That Darn Cat!
as Canoe, the befuddled surfer boy-friend of Hayley Mills
. The Gnome-Mobile was Ed Wynn
's last movie as he died before the movie was released.
), a well-known executive officer of a vast timber-trading company. D.J., an eccentric and passionate man with a distinctive snore, as well as vast dedication and determination, has bought up a preserve of ancient virgin forest to show his descendants the majesty of the Redwood trees. In order to meet with business clients in Seattle, D.J. takes his personal, customized 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II
on a trip, picking up his grandchildren Elizabeth (Karen Dotrice
) and Rodney (Matthew Garber
). Mulrooney takes them to a part of his forest en route. In a brief conversation with his Company Head of Security, Ralph Yarby (Richard Deacon
), we learn that the car was purchased after D.J. earned his first US$1 million.
In the forest, Elizabeth encounters a gnome
called Jasper (Tom Lowell), who is desperately seeking a bride for himself, but cannot find any functional gnome communities remaining. Elizabeth, touched by the trusting gnome, agrees to help him find one. She brings her unbelieving grandfather and brother to the same spot, and Jasper makes a reluctant reappearance. The three are introduced to Jasper's 943-year old grandfather Knobby (also played by Brennan) who, like D.J., is passionate and short-tempered. Knobby is temporarily suffering from a sickness called "fading", he is becoming semi-transparent periodically because he's losing the will to live. The reason for this is that he fears that he and Jasper are the last two of their kind; and he too wants Jasper to find a bride before he (Knobby) dies. Knobby harbors immense hatred for humans because of their damage to the forests and the livelihood of gnomes, but agrees to go along and seek other gnomes because of Jasper's insistence. As they leave together, the Rolls-Royce
is affectionately named by the children "the Gnome-Mobile."
Trouble begins, however, when Knobby discovers that D.J. is responsible for logging. The two elders quarrel until D.J., infuriated, vows to take the two gnomes back to the forest. Jasper and his grandfather are kidnapped by Horatio Quaxton
(Sean McClory
), a freak show
owner, while D.J. is committed to an asylum
by Yarby, who has heard about the gnomes and deems his boss insane. Rodney and Elizabeth rescue D.J. (using the "Gnome-Mobile"). D.J. tumbles out of his window at the asylum and narrowly escapes. The children and D.J. find Quaxton's cabin, rescue Jasper from Quaxton, and then set out to find Knobby, (who managed to escape earlier at Jasper's insistence).
Yarby, on finding that D.J. has escaped, mounts a personal pursuit. His company-owned 1958 Cadillac
(apparently a customized Fleetwood 75) is literally broken to pieces by the rough going, while the durable Rolls-Royce with D.J.'s skillful and daring driving manages to get away undamaged.
They arrive in the woods to find Knobby delighted with the presence of a thriving community of gnomes. Jasper is disappointed that they are all old men, but is then recognized by Rufus the Gnome King (Ed Wynn
) as "the eligible gnome", to a large number of young females of his race, who then compete in a contest to determine which one will marry him. The bachelor is covered in soap
, then set upon by the girls, who try to chase after him, and catch and hold onto him for seven seconds. Jasper didn't know that this was how he would find a mate; to be the "prey" in a wild chase. He is smitten with one lovely, timid girl-gnome named Shy Violet (Cami Sebring). However, after a very wild chase by some very aggressive other girl gnomes, Jasper and Violet manage to end the race the way they want it.
D.J., for his part, gives as a wedding-present the rights to several acres of forest, which become a haven in perpetuity for the gnomes.
Many of the same type of special effects used for this movie were also used in Disney's earlier 1959 film Darby O'Gill and the Little People
.
rates this as one of Disney's best comedy-fantasy films, and states that it is a "mystery" why the film is not better known. He says it deserves to be rediscovered and enjoyed by a new generation, especially younger children.
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
, directed by Robert Stevenson
Robert Stevenson (director)
Robert Stevenson was an English film writer and director. He was educated at Cambridge University where he became the president of both the Liberal Club and the Cambridge Union Society....
. It was one of the last films personally produced by Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
.
It was based on a 1936 book by Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
entitled The Gnomobile. Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
gives a double performance as D.J. Mulrooney, the kind-hearted lumber tycoon of Irish descent; and as the irascible 943 year-old gnome
Gnome
A gnome is a diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature...
Knobby. The children, Elizabeth and Rodney, were played by Karen Dotrice
Karen Dotrice
Karen Dotrice is an English actress known primarily for her role as Jane Banks in Walt Disney's feature film adaptation of the Mary Poppins book series. Dotrice was born in Guernsey to two accomplished stage actors...
and Matthew Garber
Matthew Garber
Matthew Adam Garber was a British actor best known for his role as Michael Banks in Walt Disney's 1964 film Mary Poppins...
, familiar from their roles as Jane and Michael Banks in Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
. Tom Lowell who plays the young gnome Jasper in this movie, also appeared in the 1965 Disney film That Darn Cat!
That Darn Cat!
That Darn Cat! is a 1965 American Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills and Dean Jones, starring in his first film for Disney in a story about bank robbers, a kidnapping and a mischievous cat. The film was based on the book Undercover Cat by Gordon and Mildred Gordon and was...
as Canoe, the befuddled surfer boy-friend of Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills is an English actress. The daughter of John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and sister of actress Juliet Mills, Mills began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising newcomer, winning the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for Tiger Bay , the Academy Juvenile Award...
. The Gnome-Mobile was Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
's last movie as he died before the movie was released.
Cast and characters
- Walter BrennanWalter BrennanWalter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
– D.J. Mulrooney/Knobby - Matthew GarberMatthew GarberMatthew Adam Garber was a British actor best known for his role as Michael Banks in Walt Disney's 1964 film Mary Poppins...
– Rodney - Karen DotriceKaren DotriceKaren Dotrice is an English actress known primarily for her role as Jane Banks in Walt Disney's feature film adaptation of the Mary Poppins book series. Dotrice was born in Guernsey to two accomplished stage actors...
– Elizabeth - Richard DeaconRichard Deacon (actor)Richard Deacon , born in Philadelphia, was an American television and motion picture actor.-Career:The bald and usually bespectacled character actor often portrayed pompous or imperious figures. He made appearances on The Jack Benny Show as a salesman and a barber, and on NBC's Happy as a hotel...
– Ralph Yarby - Tom Lowell – Jasper
- Sean McClorySean McClorySean McClory was an Irish actor whose career spanned six decades and included well over 100 films and television series.-Early years:...
– Horatio Quaxton - Ed WynnEd WynnEd Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
– Rufus the Gnome King - Jerome CowanJerome CowanJerome Palmer Cowan was an American film and television actor. At eighteen he joined a travelling stock company, shortly afterwards enlisting in the navy in World War I. After the war he returned to the stage and became a vaudeville headliner, then gained success on the New York stage...
– Dr. Ramsey - Charles LaneCharles Lane (actor)Charles Gerstle Levison , better known as Charles Lane, was an American character actor seen in many movies and TV shows, and at the time of his death may have been the oldest living professional American actor. Lane appeared in many Frank Capra films, including You Can't Take It With You , Mr...
– Dr. Scoggins - Norman Grabowski – Male nurse
- Gil Lamb – Gas attendant
- Maudie PrickettMaudie PrickettMaudie Prickett was an American film and television character actress.Born in Portland, Oregon, Prickett often portrayed maids, busybodies, spinsters, and nosy neighbors...
– Katie Barrett - Cami Sebring – Violet
Plot summary
The story opens with the children's grandfather, D.J. Mulrooney (Walter BrennanWalter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
), a well-known executive officer of a vast timber-trading company. D.J., an eccentric and passionate man with a distinctive snore, as well as vast dedication and determination, has bought up a preserve of ancient virgin forest to show his descendants the majesty of the Redwood trees. In order to meet with business clients in Seattle, D.J. takes his personal, customized 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II
Rolls-Royce Phantom II
The Phantom II replaced the New Phantom in Rolls-Royce's offerings in 1929.-Description:It shared the 7.7 L pushrod-OHV straight-6 engine from its predecessor, being the last large six-cylinder Rolls. The engine was unitary with a 4-speed manual transmission...
on a trip, picking up his grandchildren Elizabeth (Karen Dotrice
Karen Dotrice
Karen Dotrice is an English actress known primarily for her role as Jane Banks in Walt Disney's feature film adaptation of the Mary Poppins book series. Dotrice was born in Guernsey to two accomplished stage actors...
) and Rodney (Matthew Garber
Matthew Garber
Matthew Adam Garber was a British actor best known for his role as Michael Banks in Walt Disney's 1964 film Mary Poppins...
). Mulrooney takes them to a part of his forest en route. In a brief conversation with his Company Head of Security, Ralph Yarby (Richard Deacon
Richard Deacon (actor)
Richard Deacon , born in Philadelphia, was an American television and motion picture actor.-Career:The bald and usually bespectacled character actor often portrayed pompous or imperious figures. He made appearances on The Jack Benny Show as a salesman and a barber, and on NBC's Happy as a hotel...
), we learn that the car was purchased after D.J. earned his first US$1 million.
In the forest, Elizabeth encounters a gnome
Gnome
A gnome is a diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature...
called Jasper (Tom Lowell), who is desperately seeking a bride for himself, but cannot find any functional gnome communities remaining. Elizabeth, touched by the trusting gnome, agrees to help him find one. She brings her unbelieving grandfather and brother to the same spot, and Jasper makes a reluctant reappearance. The three are introduced to Jasper's 943-year old grandfather Knobby (also played by Brennan) who, like D.J., is passionate and short-tempered. Knobby is temporarily suffering from a sickness called "fading", he is becoming semi-transparent periodically because he's losing the will to live. The reason for this is that he fears that he and Jasper are the last two of their kind; and he too wants Jasper to find a bride before he (Knobby) dies. Knobby harbors immense hatred for humans because of their damage to the forests and the livelihood of gnomes, but agrees to go along and seek other gnomes because of Jasper's insistence. As they leave together, the Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (car)
This a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...
is affectionately named by the children "the Gnome-Mobile."
Trouble begins, however, when Knobby discovers that D.J. is responsible for logging. The two elders quarrel until D.J., infuriated, vows to take the two gnomes back to the forest. Jasper and his grandfather are kidnapped by Horatio Quaxton
Quackery
Quackery is a derogatory term used to describe the promotion of unproven or fraudulent medical practices. Random House Dictionary describes a "quack" as a "fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill" or "a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or...
(Sean McClory
Sean McClory
Sean McClory was an Irish actor whose career spanned six decades and included well over 100 films and television series.-Early years:...
), a freak show
Freak show
A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to as "freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, those with both male and female secondary sexual characteristics, people with other extraordinary diseases and...
owner, while D.J. is committed to an asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
by Yarby, who has heard about the gnomes and deems his boss insane. Rodney and Elizabeth rescue D.J. (using the "Gnome-Mobile"). D.J. tumbles out of his window at the asylum and narrowly escapes. The children and D.J. find Quaxton's cabin, rescue Jasper from Quaxton, and then set out to find Knobby, (who managed to escape earlier at Jasper's insistence).
Yarby, on finding that D.J. has escaped, mounts a personal pursuit. His company-owned 1958 Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
(apparently a customized Fleetwood 75) is literally broken to pieces by the rough going, while the durable Rolls-Royce with D.J.'s skillful and daring driving manages to get away undamaged.
They arrive in the woods to find Knobby delighted with the presence of a thriving community of gnomes. Jasper is disappointed that they are all old men, but is then recognized by Rufus the Gnome King (Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
) as "the eligible gnome", to a large number of young females of his race, who then compete in a contest to determine which one will marry him. The bachelor is covered in soap
Soap
In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...
, then set upon by the girls, who try to chase after him, and catch and hold onto him for seven seconds. Jasper didn't know that this was how he would find a mate; to be the "prey" in a wild chase. He is smitten with one lovely, timid girl-gnome named Shy Violet (Cami Sebring). However, after a very wild chase by some very aggressive other girl gnomes, Jasper and Violet manage to end the race the way they want it.
D.J., for his part, gives as a wedding-present the rights to several acres of forest, which become a haven in perpetuity for the gnomes.
Many of the same type of special effects used for this movie were also used in Disney's earlier 1959 film Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a 1959 Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery and Jimmy O'Dea, in a tale about a wily Irishman and his battle of wits with leprechauns. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and its screenplay written by...
.
Critical reception
Leonard MaltinLeonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
rates this as one of Disney's best comedy-fantasy films, and states that it is a "mystery" why the film is not better known. He says it deserves to be rediscovered and enjoyed by a new generation, especially younger children.