Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox main poster

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox

Visit website

6.9/10 • 8

2007-06-291h 28m

Documentary

A documentary about obsession, compassion and all-purpose soap.

A human story about a socially responsible company, “Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox” documents the complicated family legacy behind the counterculture’s favorite cleaning product — Bronner’s son, 68-year-old Ralph, endured over 15 orphanages and foster homes as a child, but despite difficult memories, is his father’s most ardent fan.

Directors
Sara Lamm

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Dr. Bronner

    Dr. Bronner

    Himself

Reviews1

View Reviews
CRCulver Avatar

CRCulver

Sep 6, 2018

7/10

DR BRONNER'S MAGIC SOAPBOX is a documentary on the life and thought of Emmanuel Bronner (1908-1997), the German immigrant who made the soap popular with 1960s counter-culture and now alternative people everywhere. Dr. Bronner infamously covered his soap labels with rambling statements in tiny print, preaching the unity of mankind in an "all-one-god religion". This is an individual with a fascinating story, well worth a documentary film. He left Germany before the Holocaust (in which his parents perished), worked as a chemist before being hospitalized in Elgin Asylum, and escaped to California to set up the now-famous soap brand. In the 1940s, he had two sons which grew up in foster care, since their father considered his spiritual calling much more important than a couple of children. Jim and Ralph eventually reconciled with their father and inherited the company. Filmmaker Sara Lamm has assembled video footage of Dr. Bronner and carried out interviews with his employees and acquaintances, as well as everyday Americans who love his soap. She also follows Ralph (the current owner of the company) as he travels the country, telling stories about his father and turning people on to Dr. Bronner's Soap. While other interviews focus on Dr. Bronner's history of mental illness, Ralph speaks of his father as an eccentric and perennial non-comformist. Ralph has also tried to emulate his father's sense of idealism, albeit not his religious ideals, and some attention is given to his philantrophic endeavours. It is heartwarming that this head of a multi-million dollar business is so ready to help those he encounters, but I feel that there's too much attention on Ralph's kindness to people in the street, and insufficient attention to the structure of the company. Ralph mentions in passing that it's something of a cooperative endeavour, but we don't really get details. Still, except for that quibble, I enjoyed this film greatly. It certainly puts the bizarre labels on the bottles into perspective, and makes you muse on the thin line between incapacitating madness and an eccentricity that still spurs a man on to great things.

Media

  • Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox poster

Recommendations

  • War Witch main backdrop

    War Witch

    6.6

  • Prospect main backdrop

    Prospect

    6.2

  • Apollo's New Moon main backdrop

    Apollo's New Moon

    6.5

  • Cinderella II: Dreams Come True main backdrop

    Cinderella II: Dreams Come True

    6.1

  • Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness main backdrop

    Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness

    7.8

  • I'll See You in My Dreams main backdrop

    I'll See You in My Dreams

    6.3

  • Tremors 4: The Legend Begins main backdrop

    Tremors 4: The Legend Begins

    5.7

  • Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure main backdrop

    Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure

    6.8

  • Funny Face main backdrop

    Funny Face

    7.0

  • Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo main backdrop

    Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo

    7.7

  • Scum main backdrop

    Scum

    7.1

  • Barbie in Princess Power main backdrop

    Barbie in Princess Power

    6.2

  • Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings main backdrop

    Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings

    5.7

  • Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel main backdrop

    Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel

    8.0

  • Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus main backdrop

    Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus

    7.2

  • American Pie 2 main backdrop

    American Pie 2

    6.2

  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens main backdrop

    Star Wars: The Force Awakens

    7.3

  • Emelie main backdrop

    Emelie

    5.2

  • Final Destination 3 main backdrop

    Final Destination 3

    6.1

  • Daddy or Mommy main backdrop

    Daddy or Mommy

    6.1

Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
$18.00
Keywords
woman director