Yes, the German film Die Trapp-Familie was a huge hit in its day and it was when Mary Martin saw it that she got the idea to ask Rodgers and Hammerstein to musicalize it for Broadway.
I’m not sure what you mean by “free pass” and “getting away with it?” Hardcore fans and collectors have repeatedly and loudy brought this all up time and again. And time and again. And time and again. So it’s hardly any kind of “free pass.”
If you mean that no one stops them, that’s never...
And, of course, Mary Poppins is a much better film. Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a pleasant entertainment but essentially a pale imitation of Poppins with none of the creators functioning at the level they had on the earlier film. Lansbury really shines and brings it up a notch higher than it...