What makes it different from others?

not horrible nor great

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

A shiny penny to the man (or lady) who can remember this or has even seen it!. Directed by Disney maestro Robert Stevenson who directed...like ALL of the Disney films through the 50's and 60's!. The film also has various actors from other famous Disney movies such as the 'Mary Poppins' kids, Tom Lowell from 'That Darn Cat' and Disney stalwart Ed Wynn.The film is based on a story by Upton Sinclair although how accurately I don't know. The story tells of two children and their grandfather who discover gnomes living in the Redwood forests in California. The trio help the two gnomes by escorting them to another wooded area looking for more of their kind. They run into trouble along the way as a freak show owner steal the gnomes and the fact that the kids grandfather is the owner of a logging company that is destroying the gnomes natural habitat.Much like other classic Stevenson films such as 'Blackbeard's Ghost' this has been forgotten when up against other mega Disney animations. The 60's saw many live action flicks from old Walt which are admittedly terribly dated watching now but the charm factor is through the roof!. The visuals here are your typical vibrant colourful affair, the cheery ever happy acting, quirky sickening songs and those amusing sped up special effects.I was impressed with the puppetry on display though, at the start of the film the gnomes are chatting with some animal friends of the forest and these creatures look great. Considering this film was made when it was you gotta give kudos to the craftsmanship on show. The effects overall are to a very high degree in general, the bluescreen work is of course obvious but does the job, while enlarged sets to force scale really work nicely, especially inside the Rolls Royce. The entire film has that bold cartoon look about it much like all the other uncle Walt live action films of the era but it does also suffer from feeling somewhat similar to those other films.There is a nice car chase sequence which is pretty much the same stuff you see in 'The Love Bug', its cool and planted the seed for 'Herbie' but its too much of deja vu for me. Later scenes in the film do tend to feel like other fantasy films also, a bit 'Willy Wonka-ish' a bit 'Wizard of Oz-ish', not totally but you sense it. Unfortunately the film is no where near as great as those films, probably why its long forgotten. You do get the feeling they stuck the 'Mary Poppins' kids in there simply to try and make the film more attractive to audiences still high on that British vibe. Its only Ed Wynn who seems to fit in this fantasy world, even Brennan kinda feels a tad wooden and out of place (his 'Jaunty car' song is pretty awful). Without sounding too cynical I can see why these films didn't take off as well as the animated films, the use of the same cast doesn't help with originality, I mean you could of stuck Dean Jones in here quite easily and nothing would feel any different. I confess to finding the finale also somewhat disturbing actually, the main young hero gnome is looking for a female partner, so he gets to choose a girl gnome at the end (spoiler aler...oh come on the films 46 years old people!). So all the girly gnomes line up and he gets to choose his sexy gnome wife! lucky boy, so basically we are seeing gnome prostitution are we not?.Sounds over the top but the dialog coming from the elder gnomes do in fact consolidate my theory. After that the girls must chase and capture our plucky young gnome hero, the one who catches him gets to be his bride...so the whole choosing bit was a complete waste of time. This again seems really dumb, why would anyone run??! these sexy girls are running this guy down and virtually tearing off his gnome pants, oh if only!. Its all done in a very family fun orientated way of course but there does feel like a darker undercurrent here...or maybe that's just me and my sordid mind who knows.The film is most definitely a Disney classic for sure, chock full of delightful characters, magical sequences of wonder, bright colourful scenery and charming silliness all based around old world fantasy creatures. I'm not so sure kids these days will get a kick out of it as CGI animation seems to be the thing. For me the film is a bit too wishy washy and sappy, not a lot does happen that is memorable and as I've said its way too similar to many other Disney films of the time. Even though the magic on display is created well it does clearly tend to struggle to keep things gripping and inventive, it can't really match the likes of 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks'.5.5/10

In all the 3 movies which Matthew Garber appeared, Karen Dotrice was his co-star. "The Gnome Mobile" is the third of them. The previous ones are "The Three Lives of Thomasina" and "Mary Poppins". This duo is also known as the «Mary Poppins kids». Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice are two of my favorite kid stars, particularly Matthew.This fantasy film is something I recommend for anyone who likes old live-action Disney films, Disney in general and especially for fans of Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice, no matter their age. Yet, this film seems to be more for children because it's somewhat childish.The film was directed by the famous Robert Stevenson, the same guy who directed movies such as the great "Old Yeller" and "Mary Poppins" and the okay films "The Love Bug", "Herbie Rides Again" and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks".The movie is generally likable, colorful and has soul, but it doesn't manage to be a truly great movie. The movie is quite promising in the beginning and it goes rather well until more or less the middle, perhaps a bit later than that. However, after that it isn't that great and becomes a little goofy for my taste.The sceneries are great, particularly the forest, which create an atmosphere that strongly resembles "The Wizard of Oz". Less good are some scenes with cars that inspired certain scenes for "The Love Bug", but at least those scenes are separate. The scenes with gnomes clearly resemble later movies such as "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". At the end, there are some nice primitive special effects.Walter Brennan is excellent in the role of the eccentric but disciplined D.J. Mulrooney and he is never annoying, unlike that gnome with big beird whose name I don't even know. The character D.J. Mulrooney owns a Rolls-Royce Phantom II, the gnome mobile of the title. A fine automobile indeed, but gigantic. If we consider its immense size and the time when the car was made, it's concerning the serious dangers they took with such an unsafe and huge car by doing some crazy stuff in curves and high speed.As for the kids (Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice), they are perfect in their acting. Very lively, cute, charming, smart and classy. It's possible to see Matthew Garber doing incredible things here, such as driving a car and climbing a building. In fact, the scene when Matthew tries to drive the huge car but can't reach the pedals because he's too small for it is funny and Karen gives him a help. After the funny sequence when he climbs a building and helps his grandfather to escape is when the movie begins to lose its initial greatness.Matthew Garber portrays Rodney, while Karen Dotrice plays Elizabeth. They're brothers and their surname is Winthrop. I've gotta say, Rodney is a lovely and different name - very classy and British too. I love Matthew's lines «When I get a car, it's going to be a Maserati» and «1 horsepower??». The kid is fine, huh? I mean, a Maserati. That's thinking tall :)The classic comedian Ed Wynn has a small role as one of the gnomes at the end, but this time he isn't as funny as usual.Sad that Matthew Adam Garber is not with us anymore. Why didn't he and Karen keep in touch after this film? After all, they did 3 movies together and they were friends. Another funny line of Matthew is when he comments that nobody has a snoring like grandpa...As for the soundtrack, "The Gnome Mobile Song" is great, very charming, jolly and timeless. The movie wasn't a success. Maybe Matthew lost his motivation because of this and gave up on his acting career. Probably Karen felt the same and maybe that's why she was such a long time without making movies.In conclusion, a decent movie although not all that great. But it's worth for the lovely Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice.

The kids from Mary Poppins are re-united on screen to play modern-day siblings in this likable live-action Disney feature. Also on display are some neat special effects (for the time, anyway), in which normal-sized actors and gnomes seem to share the same screen space.Rodney (Matthew Garber) and Elizabeth (Karen Dotrice) arrive in San Francisco to meet up with their grandfather D.J Mulrooney (Walter Brennan), who runs a successful lumber company. They drive out to a redwood forest for a picnic, where Elizabeth happens across a gnome named Jasper (Tom Lowell), who begs her for help. Seems Jasper's grandpa Knobby (Brennan, again) is on the verge of death-by-depression because he thinks that he and Jasper are the world's only remaining gnomes and has lost all hope of seeing young Jasper finding a wife. Rodney, Elizabeth and D.J agree to help the gnomes by driving them to other forests further up the coast. En route, an opportunistic freak-show boss, Quaxton (Sean McClory), catches a glimpse of the gnomes and kidnaps them for his carnival. Matters worsen when D.J tries to get his own security agents to lead the hunt for the kidnapped gnomes, for they dismiss his orders as the ramblings of a mad-man and have him locked away in an asylum. Rodney and Elizabeth are the only ones who can free their grandfather, rescue the gnomes, and find a bride for Jasper before it's too late!Generally-speaking the film is likable and entertaining. Brennan is always a pleasure to watch and this is no exception (in fact, a double-pleasure as he has a dual role). Both child-actors are pretty good, especially Garber who demonstrates an understanding of comic timing/underplaying that most kids just don't have. The special effects are impressive for 1967, with convincing visual trick work to have the gnomes interacting with the humans, and some well done talking-animal-scenes at the beginning of the film. There are a few drawbacks. The title song 'Gnome-Mobile' is truly horrible, and McClory's villain isn't built up enough to make him a hissable bad guy. He just sort of appears in a few scenes looking shady, then disappears from the story without his role in it amounting to very much.On the whole, I like The Gnome-Mobile. It's harmless fun, with an inventive plot, enjoyable performances and lots of agreeably zany episodes.

We are both Walter Brennan fans and fantasy lovers. We remember this fondly from years ago...how we would like to own it! We thought it was Disney because it involved two Disney child actors (from Mary Poppins). Does anyone know whether it has ever been released to video?