In this classic Disney film, the children from “Mary Poppins” star as brother and sister again, Rodney and Elizabeth, the grandchildren of lumber mogul D.J. Mulrooney. When D.J. goes to the airport to pick up the children for a visit, he takes them home by way of the Redwood Forest. After driving for a while, they stop for lunch, and Elizabeth goes wandering through the trees. To her surprise, she meets Jasper, a real, live gnome, who tells her of a terrible problem. He and his grandfather, Knobby, are the only gnomes left in that portion of the forest, and if he doesn’t find a bride, he will be the last of the line.
Elizabeth tells her grandfather the story, and they go to talk to the gnomes. D.J. (Walter Brennan) makes a proposal: he’ll take Jasper and Knobby (played by Walter Brennan as well) in his Rolls Royce to another portion of the forest, where they’ll be sure to find more gnomes, and most likely an eligible bride as well. The group sets off, all set to find the gnome of Jasper’s dreams, but as they stop to spend the night at a hotel, the owner of a carnival kidnaps the gnomes. When D.J. calls in his personal security task force to come catch the kidnapper, they think he’s crazy and have him committed to a local asylum, and the children help him escape.
At long last the gnomes are recovered and they are safely delivered to the new section of the forest. There are a whole bunch of girl gnomes there, all eager to marry Jasper, but the selection process is just a little bit strange.
In fact, this whole movie is strange. It’s not kid-like enough throughout to appeal to kids, and it’s too corny to appeal to grown-ups. The special effects, I’m sure, were good at the time the film was made, but are hokey today. And, regardless of what role Walter Brennan is playing, he spends far too much time blustering, blowing, yelling and screaming.
If you’re particularly crazy about gnomes, go ahead and watch this movie, but beyond that, I’d probably recommend that you watch something else instead. There just weren’t a whole lot of redeeming qualities to be found in this film, which, by the way, was rated G.
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