Don't Look Under the Bed is another older Disney Channel original movie. It premiered on Disney Channel on October 9, 1999. There's a fun note of this being a TV-PG original movie, instead of the typical TV-G on Disney Channel, because it was scary. This is also when PG meant something.
The movie was directed by Kenneth Johnson who also created "The Bionic Woman", "The Incredible Hulk" TV show , produced shows like the TV version of "Alien Nation" and worked in films, he also directed the first "Zenon" movie.
The movie starts with narration by main character Frances Bacon McCausland (someone was having fun, right Ferdinand Magellan Jones?) she lives in a town called Middleberg which is supposed to be like a normal boring town you see in movies and think of with America. But guess what? It's not! (I hope nothing spooky happens)
Frances is the middle child of her family and everyone seems to waking up early because the clocks for some reason say it's 7:23am, but it's 4:23am. In fact everyone's clocks were wrong, which is strange. There are dogs on the roof. Frances is starting high school a year early, that's important. Anyway, she sees a guy sitting on a rock, one of those other people can't see people things going on. The missing eggs thing comes into play as eggs are being dropped on one car. The guy also shows up a few times make us wonder who he is.
When Disney Channel chose to rerun the movie 3am/ Copyright Disney
Frances is able to see him and he's surprised. I like how this movie uses it's camera angles to really make you feel confused and disoriented. It's also holding the tension well as we don't see much of the creature that's doing the strange things around the town. There's also the mystery of the other guy who it is. I don't know why the dad looks one step from murdering his family, the town, and then taking out himself, it's kind of strange. Then there seems to be things that make it look like Frances is behind the strangeness.
I don't know why you screenshotted this. There's no one there, Frances! / Copyright Disney
The story is forcing Frances' character who is grounded in science and in logic to have to accept strangeness and the lack of logic. It's taking its time well to build up the tension and does it well. Finally, Frances is able to talk to the guy that's been hanging around. His name is Larry Houdini. He's played by Ty Hodges who would later play Larry Beale on Even Stevens. [Strange he played a guy named Larry in two different Disney things] He's a good contrast to Frances as he's wild and silly, and says he's an imaginary friend. He says the one that's doing all the strange things is the Boogieman, which she finds really outlandish.
The real horror of this movie is people accusing her for stuff she didn't do and thinking she's losing her sanity. It does bug me when a character figured out that no one can see someone still tries to show people, try a new strategy. Larry says he's sent there to help her. Odd Barry Manilow joke. Her mother was called in and they just drop a line that her younger brother, Darwin, had cancer but is in remission. (He got off lucky, in other Disney movies he'd be dead or their mom would be dead, or everyone is dead)
Would be more interesting if the kids were actually the adults imginary friends/ Copyright Disney
I love how this movie feels like a horror film in theory. The mom thinking that mind control is a reason why strange things are happening is not something you'd expect. Darwin mentions something about the boogieman and says a guy named Larry told some kids. There's a lot of jump scares in this too as we get monster build up. It's also interesting that young children can see him, but Darwin can't. (hmm, I wonder) I also like that Larry acts like a kid at times since he is a childhood imaginary friend.
Also, I'm once again asking Frances that if no one can see and hear him then stop thinking people will hear him. There's also a parallel of a the young children listening to the Peter Pan story and talking about believing in something. That's right movie, I see what you are doing. I don't know the librarian is mad, she doesn't know that the library put on a story for kids that also has interaction in it?
I don't know why these kids are so happy, there's no one there/ Copyright Disney
In this movie called "Don't Look Under the Bed" Frances goes to look under her bed. I think the creepy doll moving her head is a bad sign. Larry jump scare. Darwin comes into the room to for the movie to do a lost your marbles misdirection statement joke. This is where Larry and Frances figure out that, that younger boy can't see him. Frances says he doesn't believe in things like imaginary friends, then Larry turns scary after she says that she's the reason Darwin doesn't believe in him. Frances says that she was helping him. Then Larry asks why didn't she give Darwin some of her bone marrow , as earlier it was said that the older brother, and Larry leaves. Like, I said the cancer thing came up.
The movie was doing a good job of doing the "Jaws" thing of making sure we don't see the monster. The boogieman is putting Christmas lights up? This is a Christmas movie. (Change the labels) Then we see him, he's dressed in Victorian style. I like his design, I can see how this is movie is seen as scary by kids or people who were kids when they saw it.
Let us thou boogie/ Copyright Disney
Boogie makes the power go out except at the house here where he turns on the Christmas lights because uhhhhhh reasons? The house has ended up on the newspaper. It's funny because somehow the paper had the time to do this story as their front page news, the TV news is there too, and the story is about the house being the only one with power, so who's watching that? Also, the dad is one step from snapping and killing everyone on Earth and then himself.
This is Christmas movie then/ Copyright Disney
Larry was Darwin's old imaginary friend and Larry says that Darwin still needed him. Interesting. Keep that note. The movie shifts to back and white for a Frankenstein homage. Larry's nails are getting long like a boogie man. (hmmm) There's also a misdirection bust joke, I see what you are doing movie. The school phycologist is over at the house for a family dinner and probably because the dad thinks his daughter is losing her mind. Larry is making boogie goo at the wrong time because of course he is. The mother finds out and explains she's concerned about Frances. Frances wonders if there's something wrong with Larry. He's turning into a boogieman.
I don't feel so un boogie/ copyright Disney
Frances finds out that if a child stops believing in an imaginary friend too early then they turn into a boogieman. He's looking very boogie. (I'm scared) There are shots in the movie that are one step removed from being a slasher film. Under the bed in Frances' room is glowing as something grabs Darwin. One step from being a slasher film, indeed. Darwin is under the bed, he's in the boogie world, which is different than boogie wonderland. (and way different than Funky Town)
I do like how Larry is concerned about Darwin even as he changes is amazing, I love that touch. I think it's ironic that this movie was actually not liked by some parents groups for being too scary, when one of the messages of the movie is that people get scared and that fear should be confronted. She tries to go Boogie World, but we get a father jump scare and thankfully her story made him leave to give her time to go the the world.
She ends up what would be a cool screen saver on Windows 95. I like how it looks it's kind of like a dreamscape with a sense no logic and random assortments of whatever. It's good contrast to the more normal world of Frances, though her world isn't that much normal, and her sense of wanting logic. She is able to find her bother and oh it's the boogie man. Larry is turning into one even more. I love their designs. Frances convinces Darwin to believe in Larry the movie does some of that Peter Pan stuff and gets Larry to turn back to normal. He's missing most of this fun though.
Larry and the boogieman fight each other and fight is kind of silly, there's a man with pointy nails fighting a man with a big pen for a moment. Frances uses jumper cables attached to the boogie man's nails and we get a fake out of him being defeated. She tells him she's not afraid of him anymore. Then we get a twist that this boggieman was also her imaginary friend named Zoey. They make it back home and the boogie man is back to her woman non scary form.
We boogied too hard/ copyright Disney
The parents apologize to Frances for thinking she was doing the strange things and there's apparently a town called Centerville. (I'm not moving there) Frances explains that she gave up on Zoey when Darwin got sick and that's why Zoey was turning. Larry and Zoey both go to Centerville to help fix the problem there, which would be a good spinoff series. Where's that? Frances finds out that she won't see Larry and Zoey anymore because it's not her time anymore. Also a kiss, they really went hard on the Peter Pan allegory. It ends with a nice scene with Darwin and Frances.
This is the only Disney Channel movie to end with Boogie Wonderland.
I can see why this movie would be scary to children and it has some feelings of the real TV PG and rated PG movies when that meant something. I'm not sure if I would have been scared of it, but I can see how. This movie has some good layers to it. The main idea I saw was that it was about letting fear not be in control. Frances, rightfully, felt fear for her little brother when he had cancer and her best way to push aside her fear was to help her brother not be in fear. There's also a slight message of letting time hit right, not try to grow up too fast. There was the idea that she and Darwin tried to push away childhood things too early.
The movie has interesting shots and a look to it, I liked how it made everything feel a little off kilter. It's also a movie that doesn't seem to waste anything that it brings up, though you could say if there's one thing it doesn't use much is Frances being moved a grade up. I think the only thing that fits with that into the story is the concept of Frances trying to be mature or more disconnected from childhood things in awkward times, but that's only tangential.
I do like how the movie knew to use quiet moments as effective and it was used. The other parts of the movie is that it's mostly Frances point of view, so we don't really know much about how Darwin was effected by having cancer and he's well and seems to be alright by the time this movie happens. I think there was way too much Frances doesn't believe that Larry is real or that other people can't see him, where even if she's trying logic it, there's a point and point earlier that she would accepted it more. I'm also a little lost on the whole thing about Frances feeling bad about not being able to give marrow but her older brother was, it's brought up twice and it's kind of random. They slightly try to tie it to her fears at the time, but yeah.
It's a good movie, but it does have some pieces that kind of feel a little lost or had good ideas not explored. I did enjoy it, there was some fun charm to it and some moments felt almost slasher and horror like.
That it's for now, tune in next time when we come up from the bed to scare you.
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