Babes in Toyland

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Babes in Toyland

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Plot

This second film adaptation of the Victor Herbert operetta Babes in Toyland was producer Walt Disney's Christmas offering for 1961. The 1903 Herbert original had very little in the way of a plot, so screenwriters Joe Rinaldi, Lowell S. Hawley, and Ward Kimball lifted elements from the 1934 filmization of Toyland, which starred Laurel and Hardy. Annette Funicello plays Mary Contrary, about to wed Tom Piper (Tommy Sands) in the heart of Mother Goose Village. The villainous Barnaby (Ray Bolger), who covets Mary for himself, orders his bumbling henchmen Gonzorgo (Henry Calvin) and Roderigo (Gene Sheldon) to do away with Tom. Hoping to turn a profit, Gonzorgo and Roderigo sell Tom to a band of gypsies, enabling Tom to make a surprise return-in old-lady drag to rescue Mary from Barnaby's clutches. Later, Mary's younger siblings (including Disney regular Moochie Corcoran) wander into the Forest of No Return, compelling Tom and Mary to go after them. Everyone winds up in Toyland, where they try to help the Toymaker (Ed Wynn) and his invention-happy assistant Grumio (Tommy Kirk) meet their quota for Santa Claus despite the continued meddlings of Barnaby. Keep an eye peeled for 11-year-old Ann Jillian, making her screen debut as Bo Peep. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Review

Young children tend to enjoy Babes in Toyland immensely, but older viewers find it rather tough going. Certainly, there are assets for everyone, starting with the sterling Victor Herbert score, which -- even in the "contemporized" version heard here -- is full of melodies that soar gracefully and land with just the right lilt upon the ear. Toyland also has some delightful costumes, and the look of the fairy tale characters is a treat. Though the sets are a bit too artificial, they're undeniably colorful and eye catching. And the climactic "March of the Toy Soldiers" sequence is quite fun to watch. And visually, director Jack Donohue has found some imaginative ways to capture the environs on film. But the picture never comes together the way it should. The story is really nothing but a sketch, there's no real menace to the villain, the tone is fudged constantly, the pieces don't hang together and -- most damagingly of all -- no one but the very young really cares about the characters or what happens to them. Of the cast, Ed Wynn is a lot of fun, but Annette Funicello and Tommy Sands are flat and dull as the young leads. Tommy Kirk has some good moments, which is more than can be said for Henry Calvin and Gene Sheldon, given the unenviable task of competing with the memory of Laurel and Hardy in these roles in a much better earlier version. Ray Bolger tries very hard, but making this villain a comic character is the wrong decision, and ultimately even Bolger's skill can't keep the character from becoming tiresome. In the end, the biggest problem with Toyland seems to be that its creators didn't really believe in it -- and so all their hard work to make it magical instead just makes it mechanical. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast

Kevin Corcoran - Boy Blue; Henry Calvin - Gonzorgo; Gene Sheldon - Roderigo; Mary McCarty - Mother Goose; Ann Jillian - Bo Peep; Brian Corcoran - Willie Winkie; Marilee & Melanie Arnold - Twins; Jerry Glenn - Simple Simon; John Perri - Jack-be-Nimble; David Pinson - Bobby Shaftoe; Bryan Russell - The Little Boy; James Martin - Jack

Credit

Tom Mahoney - Choreography, Bill Thomas - Costume Designer, Jack Donohue - Director, Robert Stafford - Editor, George Bruns - Composer (Music Score), Mel Leven - Songwriter, Edward Colman - Cinematographer, Walt Disney - Producer, Lowell S. Hawley - Screenwriter, Ward Kimball - Screenwriter, Joe Rinaldi - Screenwriter, Victor Herbert - Featured Music, Victor Herbert - From Musical by

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Babes in Toyland (1961 film)

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Babes in Toyland

DVD cover
Directed by Jack Donohue
Produced by Walt Disney
Written by Lowell S. Hawley
Ward Kimball
Glen MacDonough (operetta)
Joe Rinaldi
Starring Ray Bolger
Tommy Sands
Annette Funicello
Music by Victor Herbert
George Bruns
Mel Leven (new lyrics)
Cinematography Edward Colman
Editing by Robert Stafford
Studio Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by Buena Vista Distribution
Release date(s) December 14, 1961 (1961-12-14)
Running time 106 min.
Language English
Box office $10,218,316

Babes in Toyland is a 1961 Christmas musical film in Technicolor, directed by Jack Donohue, produced by Walt Disney, and distributed to theatres by Buena Vista Distribution. It stars Ray Bolger as Barnaby, Annette Funicello as Mary Contrary, Tommy Sands as Tom Piper, and Ed Wynn as the Toymaker.

The film was based upon Victor Herbert's popular 1903 operetta Babes in Toyland. There had been a 1934 film version of the operetta with Laurel and Hardy, and three television adaptations prior to the Disney film, but Disney's was only the second film version of the operetta released to movie theaters and the first in Technicolor. However, the plot, and in some cases, the music, bear little resemblance to the original as Disney had most of the lyrics rewritten and some of the song tempos drastically changed.

The toy soldiers would later appear in Christmas parades at the Disney theme parks around the world.

Contents

Plot

The film begins as if it were a stage play presented by Mother Goose (and her wise-cracking, talking goose companion, Sylvester J. Goose), about two nursery rhyme characters, Mary Contrary and Tom Piper, who are about to be married. At the same time, the miserly and villainous "Crooked Man who lives in the Crooked House" named Barnaby, is hiring two crooks to throw Tom into the sea and steal Mary's sheep, thus depriving her of her means of support, and forcing her to marry Barnaby instead. (Mary has just come into a huge inheritance of which she is obviously unaware, but somehow–it is never explained how–Barnaby knows about it and intends to get it for himself.) After smashing Tom on the head with a hammer and tying him in a bag, the two henchmen, dimwitted Gonzorgo and silent Roderigo, pass by a gypsy camp. They decide to sell Tom to the Gypsies instead of drowning him in order to collect a double payment.

Gonzorgo and Roderigo return and tell Mary, Barnaby, and the citizens of Mother Goose Land that Tom has accidentally drowned. They show Mary a phony letter in which Tom tells her that he is abandoning her for her own good and that she would be better off marrying Barnaby. Mary, believing she is destitute, reluctantly accepts the proposal from Barnaby. Barnaby unknowingly arranges for the same gypsies that have Tom to provide entertainment for the marriage. Tom, disguised in drag as the gypsy Floretta, reveals himself and Barnaby pursues the frightened Gonzorgo and Roderigo, furious at their deception. One of the children informs Mary of some sheep tracks leading into the Forest of No Return.

The children, still eager to find their sheep, sneak away into the forest to search for the missing sheep. The trees of the forest come to life and capture them. Tom and Mary follow and find the children in the forest telling stories about the live trees, which, at the moment, seem like ordinary ones. They camp out for the night, and in the morning the trees once again come to life and inform the family that they are now in custody of the Toymaker in Toyland. Excited by this, the group happily continues on, escorted part of the way by the trees.

Through the windows of The Toymaker's house they watch the Toymaker's rather incompetent apprentice, Grumio, present a new machine that makes toys without any manual labor. Overjoyed, the Toymaker speeds up the machine to such a high rate that it explodes, destroying every toy in the factory. The family comes in and offers to help make more toys in time for Christmas.

Grumio also presents another invention, one that shrinks things down to toy size, and if it were used on anything more than once, they would disappear completely. Barnaby, who had been spying on everyone, shrinks down the Toymaker and Tom. When Barnaby's henchmen see him threatening to give Tom two servings of the shrinking formula, they abandon Barnaby and run. They, too, are shrunken to toy size and locked up with Tom in a birdcage.

Barnaby awakens Mary and starts a marriage ceremony threatening to destroy Tom if she resists, and to destroy the Toymaker if he refuses to marry the couple. While the Toymaker delays the marriage Tom sneaks away with the help of Gonzorgo and Roderigo, and returns with an army of toy soldiers to fight Barnaby. Barnaby easily demolishes the toy soldiers, and is about to obliterate Tom with another dose from the shrink gun, but Mary destroys it with a toy cannon. The liquid splatters all over Barnaby, and shrinks him to Tom's new size. He is challenged to and engages in a sword duel with Tom which he loses. (Whether or not he is killed has been debated; in the film, Tom seems to stab him and he falls from a great height into a toy box, from which he never emerges. Movie tie-ins, however, showed him merely backing into a giant chest accidentally and then being imprisoned in the birdcage in which he once imprisoned Tom.)

After the fight is over, Grumio once again presents a new invention, this time returning people to their original size. It is promptly used on Tom, the Toymaker, Gonzorgo and Roderigo–but not on Barnaby. Tom and Mary are married and they live happily ever after.

Cast

Songs

Title Music by Music adapted by Lyrics by Sung by
Mother Goose Village and Lemonade Victor Herbert George Bruns
Lemonade adapted from musical piece Military Ball
Mel Leven Chorus
We Won't Be Happy Till We Get It Victor Herbert George Bruns
from He Won't Be Happy Till He Gets It
Mel Leven Ray Bolger, Henry Calvin and Gene Sheldon
Just A Whisper Away Victor Herbert George Bruns Mel Leven Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello
Slowly He Sank To The Bottom of the Sea George Bruns Mel Leven Henry Calvin & Gene Sheldon
Castle in Spain Victor Herbert George Bruns Mel Leven Ray Bolger
Never Mind, Bo-Peep Victor Herbert George Bruns Mel Leven Ann Jillian and chorus
I Can't Do The Sum Victor Herbert George Bruns Mel Leven Annette Funicello
Floretta Victor Herbert George Bruns Mel Leven Tommy Sands and Chorus
Forest of No Return Victor Herbert George Bruns Mel Leven Chorus, Singing trees, and children
Go To Sleep Victor Herbert George Bruns from
Go to Sleep, Slumber Deep
Mel Leven Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, and children
Toyland Victor Herbert George Bruns Mel Leven and
Glen MacDonough
Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, children and Singing trees
Workshop Song Victor Herbert George Bruns from
In The Toymaker's Workshop
Mel Leven Ed Wynn, Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, and children
Just A Toy Victor Herbert George Bruns Mel Leven Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello
March of the Toys Victor Herbert Orchestra
Tom and Mary Victor Herbert George Bruns
from Hail to Christmas
Mel Leven Wedding guests

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Mentioned in

Herbert, Victor (American composer and conductor)
Painkillers (1993 Album by Babes in Toyland)
Fontanelle (1992 Album by Babes in Toyland)
Florence Roberts (Actor, Comedy/Drama)