Wombling Free *½ (1978, David Tomlinson, Frances de la Tour, Bonnie Langford) – Classic Movie Review 10,375

Womble fans unite for director Lionel Jeffries 1977 family comedy Wombling Free, the feature-length film version of the popular children’s TV show about a band of rubbish-clearing furry things who live on Wimbledon Common in south London.

Bonnie Langford plays Felicity ‘Kim’ Frogmorton, the annoying child who is the person who can see the Wombles, apart from the perhaps unfortunate cinema-goers.

Wombling Free is harmless for kids, but what worked in short segments on TV grates over an hour and a half as a film feature, and even writer-director Jeffries fails to imbue it with his usual attractive touches.

Jeffries’s screenplay is based on the stories of Elisabeth Beresford.

Mike Batt does the soppy songs.

Also in the cast are David Tomlinson, Frances de la Tour, Bernard Spear, John Junkin, Reg Rye, Yasuko Nagazumi, Kenny Baker as Bungo, Eileen Baker as Tobermory, Brian Jones as Wellington, Albert Wilkinson as Tomsk, John Lummiss as MacWomble, Sadie Corre as Madame Cholet, Jack Purvis as Great Uncle Bulgaria and Marcus Powell as Orinoco, with the voices of David Jason, Janet Brown, Jon Pertwee, John Graham and Lionel Jeffries.

It is shot at Black Park Country Park, Wexham, Buckinghamshire, England; Gerrard’s Cross, Buckinghamshire; and Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,375

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com