Susan F. (NDI #257), a huge fan of the Disney classic, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, rallied her family and decided to recreate the Substitutiary Locomotion scene from the movie. Showing her true NDP spirit, she has graciously shared her story with us! What makes you an NDP? Have a story to share? Have your own Disney Fan Site or Podcast you want to share with the community? Send it to ndm130 AT thedisneydrivenlife DOT com. We just might feature your story here on Sharing Saturdays!
Substitutiary Locomotion by MadRemus
My sister & I have always been huge fans of the underrated Disney classic, “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”. We know all the lyrics and songs by heart. This particular instance was something different and unique though. It happened one afternoon when my little sister asked me “do you think the Substitutiary Locomotion spell would really work?” I thought about this for a moment and seized the opportunity to give her an answer most younger kids would want to hear. I said “Yes, I totally think anything is possible if you put your mind and energy into it!” She then asked “Do you think we could all try it sometime?” Again, being the big sister, this was another perfect moment…I said “Sure, why not, let’s give it a go!”
From there, I ran the idea by our Mom who is also a huge fan of the film and a kid at heart too. She was totally down with this idea. I told my sister to ask her close girl friend if she would like to come participate as well. She did and her friend was totally excited. I called up my best girl friend to ask if she’d be open to trying it, she said “count me in!” I discussed with my Mom and best friend how we could make this a very special, magical bonding time for my sister, her friend and for all of us in general. We came up with the idea to do as much as we could word for word from the exact scene in the film, when Miss Price tries “Substitutiary Locomotion” for the first time on Mr. Browne’s shoes. Although there weren’t going to be any guys present for this, it was going to be a girls night!
The magical evening finally came! My mom, sister, her friend and my friend all had a nice sit down dinner together and Mom brought up the idea of giving “Substitutiary Locomotion” a try with all of us once we were done with dinner, to which my little sister and her friend were excited by the thought!! After dinner my Mom and I began to prep our living room for our “experiment” that evening. We moved some furniture (the couch and the coffee table) out of the way to give my us all plenty of space to work with. We had nice hardwood floors, so it was easy to move stuff around. My mom also closed the curtains in our living room to give us some privacy, eliminate distractions, and create a more intimate setting. I lit a few candles as well just to give the room some nice ambiance. We turned off all the other lights in the house. We left the main living room lights on for the time being however. As soon as my Mom was ready, she had us all join her in the living room and asked if we were ready to begin. Of course we were!! I could see my sister was so excited, it was like a dream coming true for her.
Mom began, straight with a quote from the film…sort of….” Susan, kindly let me have your shoes please?” I said to her, “my shoes?” and she nodded with a yes. I said “oh yes..of course”. I started to untie and remove my shoes. While I was doing that, my sister’s friend asked “What are the shoes for?” (again another quote from the movie…I told you we totally knew this word for word) My Mom said to her kindly “Well hon, if you’d be paying attention, I should think you’d be aware that Substitutiary Locomotion is the ancient and mystic art of causing inanimate objects to take on a life force of their own….obviously I must have inanimate objects to experiment with” My sister quipped back to her friend…”Make sense don’t it?” As I removed my shoes, my holey socks were revealed! I wore a pair of dark socks with holes in them like Mr. Browne had in that scene! My big right toe was totally sticking out of my right sock, and the back of my left heel was sticking out of my left sock. Neither my Mom, sister, her friend or my friend laughed at my holey socks, they noticed it for sure but didn’t say much about it, which was fine with me. I picked up my shoes off the floor, handed them to my Mom. She then said to us “stand back everyone, I need plenty of room” I said “Let’s get out of Mom’s way girls…” So, being the big sister figure, I put my hand on my younger sister’s shoulder and my girl friend’s shoulder, guiding my sister, her girl friend and my girl friend as we were standing back to give my Mom some space to work with as she put my shoes down on the middle of the living room floor side by side, properly, on two markings that were preset on the floor…which I will get into later. She then took a few steps back away from the shoes and said to us seriously “I want you all to be absolutely quiet” We all just stood there as a close group, very quiet. I still had my hands resting on the shoulders of my best friend and my little sister. My little sister was holding her best friend’s hand in anticipation. My Mom then went over and dimmed our living room lights way down a bit to give it a more relaxed and ambient feeling, and again eliminate distractions. It was very peaceful and quiet in the living room, even our cat was sitting nearby, quietly observing everything going on. My Mom got back into place, stood straight and tall, pointed her hands at the shoes like Miss Price, took a few moments of silence to herself and recited the words out loud “Treguna Mekoides Tracorum Satis Dee!” The shoes were motionless. Mom took a moment and tried again…”Treguna Mekoides Tracorum Satis Dee!!!!” The shoes did not move again. My sister’s friend said outloud (again, another nod to the movie) “NOTHING HAPPENED!” to which my sister quickly covered her mouth and SHHHHHHHHed her!
Mom waited until it got very quiet again and she tried one last time “Treguna Mekoides Tracorum Satis Dee!!” The shoes were not moving. My Mom asked us if we’d be open to trying the song/chant from the film. I said yes, let’s do it! I said to the girls “common girls, Mom needs all the help she can get!” I started the chant, just like how it was done in the film, the girls followed along with me. As we were chanting in unison, swinging our arms, swaying our legs back and forth, my big right toe exposed out of my holey sock was tapping to the beat I created, my Mom started singing the solo part Miss Price sang
“Substitutiary Locomotion
It’s the power that’s far beyond the wildest notion
It’s a weird so feared, yet wonderful to see
Substitutiary locomotion come to me!”
As soon as she was done , I gave a loud SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH to the girls to quiet down and stop chanting. I gently said “Now” to my Mom. I again rested my hands on the shoulders of my sister and my girl friend. My mom took a few quiet moments, bent her knees, hands pointed at the shoes and started reciting the words, gradually getting louder with more energy in her voice…. “Treguna Mekoides Tracorum Satis Dee!!!! Then suddenly…the shoes started budging in place (Here is what my sister and her friend did not see prior to all this….my boyfriend hid in the living room as we were prepping!!! We had some strings attached to pieces of ducktape that were exposed face up on the floor…to which my my Mom placed my shoes down on hard so the tape/string would stick to the bottoms of my shoes. My sister never asked why the tape was on the floor, she just assumed it was a marking for my Mom to put the shoes down on. My boyfriend was hiding with the other end of the strings behind our big couch, he was lightly pulling on the strings to make the shoes “come to life”. Hence why my mom dimmed our lights, to create a peaceful ambiance and to avoid seeing the strings! Now the puzzle is finally coming together!!!! Back to the experience…)
The shoes started moving, my sister, her friend, and my girl friend dropped their mouth in amazement. My girl friend obviously knew what was up so she played along too. We all looked at each other smiling as the “magic” was beginning to work! My mom looked at us with a big smile as the “magic” was working. My mom then stood up and walked around the shoes with her hands pointed still pointed at them to keep them under her spell..just like Miss Price does in the film. I started up the chant again just like in the film, and we all continued to swing our arms, sway our legs and I started tapping my big right toe again to the beat. My Mom sang the second solo part that Miss Price sings in the film:
“I don’t want locomotiary substitution
Or remote intrasitory convolution
Only one precise solution is the key
Substitutiary locomotion it must be
Treguna Mekoides and Tracorum Satis Dee”
At that point, the song/chant stopped and my mom did the small little dance Miss Price does in the film…the shoes continued to dance a little in place as my boyfriend was still pulling strings from behind our couch. My mom concluded our experiment, we all hugged each other and we quickly left the living room so my boyfriend could get out from behind the couch and leave so my sister and friend couldn’t see him!In conclusion, it was a very magical, fun bonding experience…with some help and a little Disney magic, you can make dreams come true! And for my little sister and her girlfriend, it definitely made that evening a moment in her childhood she will NEVER forget! I highly recommend any Disney Driven Family to give this fun idea a go with their kids as a family night activity! I promise you, the reaction’s on their faces was worth it and the fun, bonding memory they will forever hold was totally worth it! Let me know if you plan to do this idea and make it your own!!
A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin’ wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney 🙂 Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life – A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects – create~inspire~share.
