Babes in Toyland - Disneycember

Originally aired in December 2013. Doug takes a look at Babes in Toyland.

[TheITinFIT]

It warms my heart to see so many people praising the Laurel and Hardy version. That movie was my childhood ^-^

[Scribble]

I think the reason this one is so funny is that it CONSTANTLY breaks the fourth wall - almost like it was a live stage version. Even the sets reflect this is how colorful and over the top they are. It's very much one of the very few examples of American pantomime - the woman is a damsel in distress. The hero is a personality-less lump and most of the best action and plot happens in relation to the side-characters and the villain.

Plus the last ten minutes with that AMAZING stop-motion animation that was SO untested at the time...

[grobanlover]

Laurel and Hardy's version was so much better. The humor was stronger, the motivations for the marriage was more realistic, and the story flowed better.

[mizzsparkle]

I loved this movie as a child and still find it charming. Today, as much as I love Annette Funicello, I cannot help but laugh when she stares lifelessly in the distance.

[DigiDestined]

This was never meant to be a masterpiece, but a fun and charming movie. In that regard, does it hold up? Yes, absolutely.

[nicholaskingmequeen]

this was a childhood favorite of mine, and even now I still enjoy it despite its flaws.

[jamesonstalanthasyu]

Of all the versions out there, I loved the March of the Wooden Soldiers with Laurel and Hardy

[arenjtumastens]

Funny thing, Ed Wynn being this film is a follow-up to how his first Disney role as The Mad Hatter happened exactly a decade before this movie. So both this one and Alice In Wonderland (almost similar titles) were released 10 years apart. Same with other Walt Disney films from 1961, like One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Absent Minded Professor, and The Parent Trap (which had Tommy Sands and Annette performing that film's opening theme).

[KayleLang]

I remember having Laurel and Hardy's version on VHS. I loved it as a kid. I wonder if it still holds up.

[ShawnRavenfire]

Laurel & Hardy definitely had the best version.

[arenjtumastens]

Another funny thing, Tommy Sands as Tom Piper is another one of those instances where, even in Walt Disney's films, there's an actor/actress that plays a character with the same exact first name as her/himself! One other instance is Nancy Olsen as Nancy the maid in "Pollyanna" (1960). And going back to the name Tommy, both Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran (from Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Robinson, Toby Tyler, Pollyanna, Bon Voyage, The Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, Savage Sam, etc), star in this version of Babes In Toyland as well. It was only Kevin Corcoran in "Pollyanna" (with Hayley Mills) and "Toby Tyler", though, with it being only Tommy Kirk in both Flubber films (with Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olsen, and Ed Wynn & Keenan Wynn). And Tommy Kirk was also with Annette in The Shaggy Dog (Annette's film debut after first being a member of the Mickey Mouse Club), The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, and The Monkey's Uncle.

[anthonylaudati]

What's interesting is how much Hal Roach and Walt Disney borrowed from each other, which they were cool about because they were good friends. Roach used a Mickey Mouse clone and the Three Little Pigs tune for his 1934 Babes in Toyland (now known as March of the Wooden Soldiers). Disney had Laurel and Hardy clones in his version. Walt Disney is also reputed to have been so enchanted when he first saw Hal Roach's Toyland movie set, he came up with the idea of Disneyland. For me, Hal Roach's Laurel and Hardy version is far superior to the Disney version. Among other things, the "March of Toys" tune has a great sense of urgency and excitement, a call to arms. In the Disney version, it's mild and fluffy, not at all what you'd relate to a march to battle.

[angiebaggett]

THIS WAS AND STILL IS A GREAT MOVIE!! I LOVE IT!! AWESOME!!

[SeasideDetective]

While I saw this film once, I'm more familiar with it through the storybook adaptation Disney put out. This was because my family and I would go to visit my great-grandparents every Sunday, and in one of their bedrooms they had that storybook hidden away in a drawer; I loved the illustrations, which somehow looked more impressive than they do here. As a side note, I'm glad I finally understand where those old-fashioned soldiers in Disneyland's Christmas parade came from.

[s.g]

Lol this version is my childhood I'll always hold it close to my heart even though I know it's not great lol 😅

[Andrewcan]

my favorite version is the laurel and hardy version even though its called march of the wooden soldiers its still pretty much the same

[Emisop]

I definitely prefer the Laurel and Hardy version. It's the oldest DVD I own and I watch it at least 3 times every year. The humor is perfect, Bo Peep's reasoning for almost marrying Barnaby actually made more sense(She had to marry him or her whole family was going to be kicked out of their home and onto the streets. Not because she didn't know how to do financing like in the Disney version), I loved the music (I can never stop humming the song Tom Tom sings to Bo Peep about finding her sheep) and I love how the monkey in the mouse costume was supposed to be a Mickey Mouse parody. And many more reasons. These are just a few.

[tracynance]

BOO TO YOU! THIS MOVIE I SAW IN THE HOSPITAL WHEN I WAS 5 AND IT IS AWESOME!

[dashietheytpproductions]

My Brain at 3 am: THIS IS THE FORSET OF NO RETURN~

[s.pacelly]

I agree with you on the movie now, when I was a kid in daycare, this was my favorite movie, they only played in around Christmas so I never got to see it as much, but anytime they ould vote on the movie I would get so pumped and a few years ago I put it on and thought it looked and sounded amazing but the story and characters got me confused, I still enjoy putting it on mainly to relive my childhood nostalgia