Babes in Toyland Summary
MPAA Rating: G
Director: Jack Donohue
Genres: Fantasy, Musical, Children's/Family, Romance
Rating:
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
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