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Babes in Toyland (1934)

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35 comments in total

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13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
A Dreamland Journey- -You Can Come Back Again, 22 April 2004

Author: John Weybrew from San Francisco, California

Babes in Toyland was the first movie I saw on a big screen- -a holiday presentation in my grammar school auditorium, circa 1957- -uncut, unlike the many subsequent presentations I saw on TV in after years. I fell in love with Stan and Ollie, with Toyland, with the magic of the movies, all at once- -all of us watching laughed and thrilled to see all of the characters we had heard of in nursery rhymes come to life- -even the Three Little Pigs (with "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" on the soundtrack, courtesy of Uncle Walt Disney's studio!)- -we trembled with ecstatic terror at Silas Barnaby and his army of Bogeymen and cheered the house down when Stan and Ollie discovered the Perfect way to rout them and save the day!- -and yes, many of us, watching Charlotte Henry and Felix Knight as Bo-Peep and her plucky suitor Tom-Tom (the Piper's Son), found awakening within ourselves the realization of what romantic love might be about.- -and Stan and Ollie?- -a funny, wonderful duo, children like ourselves, joyously silly and giddily amazing. I dreamt of Toyland that night, and many nights after- -sweet dreams, scarey dreams, dreams of Ollie and Stannie as wonderful friends- -and once I woke crying, realizing that once I was grown up, Toyland would fade to a distant memory. Well, I was wrong. You can go back to Toyland, that Childhood's Dreamland, any time you watch this movie. I love it. You may, too. Note: current video versions are mostly also uncut, some are colorized, which in this instance (perhaps the only one)improves the presentation!

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9 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
A classic in every sense of the word!!!, 27 November 2001
Author: kechelsen

This movie has always been known to me as "March of the Wooden Soldiers, and has always had a special place in my memories of my childhood. I remember it was always shown on Thanksgiving Day after the Macy's parade, but we children would never be able to see the whole thing because it came on right at dinner time (this was long before VCR's). This is a wonderful, endearing film... bringing out the essence of childhood and the simplistic joys of make believe. Laurel and Hardy are their usual wonderful selves in this film. All the lead actors were wonderful, especially Henry Brandon as Barnaby -- oh, how he scared me as a child! I especially enjoyed the singing of Charlotte Henry and Felix Knight. When my work took me overseas, I made sure I had a copy of this movie with me so that I could continue the tradition of watching it each year on or close to Thanksgiving. Like that other holiday favorite of mine, Miracle on 34th Street (original version), this is a true classic -- a staple for the holiday season.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
It has a great physical presence and some pretty funny stuff in it., 22 March 2006

Author: Hitchcoc from United States

When video was much less accessible, I waited every holiday season to see this movie. I always remembered the fun stuff, especially Laurel and Hardy, but forgot some of the bad music and rather draggy dialogue. Nevertheless, the set designers did a nice job creating this nursery rhyme world, with three little pigs (one of whom gets turned to sausages), and a raft of other characters. The scenes in the toy shop with the Boys are the best. I do remember as a small child being pretty terrified of that land of the bogy men. It was well done, as are all places where "you must never go" or "where you will be banished to." Stan and Ollie do their shtick with finger wiggles and some silly game called "peewees." They attempt to save the day for the old woman who lives in a shoe. They manage to bumble everything up royally. Still, as things play out, this doesn't have the tightly knit fabric of their best comedies--they need to be on camera more. But as a holiday event, this is worth a look for a new generation.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
conversation with henry brandon, 11 April 2001

Author: joseph rinando (sasheegm@webtv.net) from palm bay, fla. united states

first i must disagree with the review of your last member on his appraisal of henry brandons role as mr. barnaby. my wife and i were personal friends of henry brandon and it was his favorite role and his first. he maintained a friendship with stan laurel and oliver hardy until their passings. he was scheduled to appear at a laurel and hardy convention in july of 1990 with ms. charlotte henry and my wife and i were to meet him there. his recollection of the production sets were of vivid colors. when he attended the preview of the film he was disappointed because all he saw were greys and black and whites. he wished that hal roach would have shot the film in color even two strip technicolor. when talking to him about his long career always babes in toyland was foremost in his mind. the film holds up well today with another generation of children ( my grandkids included} and adults enjoying this trip into the world of fairytales and make believe. recently it has been released in computerized color, but i prefer the original black and white; but i think henry brandon would be happy to see his supreme villiany in the color version. a wonderful film, laurel and hardy at their best and the birth of a cinema villain for decades to come, my friend henry brandon nee kleinbach. yours at the movies joe rinando.

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Way more than just another Laurel & Hardy movie., 13 April 2006

Author: Boba_Fett1138 from Groningen, The Netherlands

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I expected just another Laurel & Hardy slapstick comedy but instead got something that surpassed all my expectations.

The story is absolutely great (based on the Glen MacDonough operetta) and features many well known fairy tale characters. The entire movie is set in a cheerful and colorful (atleast when you watch the colored-in version of the movie, released in the '90's of course.) world where everyone lives their simple and happy life and spend most of the time singing cheerful sappy songs. It's truly a movie that's both over-the-top and terribly outdated but that now has become a part of its charm and makes this movie a totally great and absolutely irresistible one.

All of the fairly tale like characters are absolutely great in the movie. Most of them don't really play a significant role but their presence alone is enough reason to give the movie a joyful feeling. Speaking of insignificant roles; how about the boys? Well, to be honest Laurel & Hardy don't really play a most significant role in the movie. They are mealy sidekicks in the story and even though they get to do some funny sequences, with some typical Laurel & Hardy humor, this movie is not really a slapstick or comedy. It's more a cheerful musical with some comical characters in it. It's difficult to see if the presence of Laurel & Hardy make this movie a better one or not. It isn't really a Laurel & Hardy movie and it has a totally different feel and atmosphere. Some of the fans will be delighted with their appearance in this movie, while others will perhaps be disappointed by it.

What really drives the movie is the story and its characters. The movie has a very solid villain in it, perfectly portrayed by Henry Brandon. Brandon apparently only was in his 20's when he played the role, so also lots of credits have to go to the make-up and costume department, for making him look like a scary, old, ugly, almost Scrooge like villain.

The story also really has some solid moments in it. The ending is surprisingly big and spectacular and features monster like creatures, versus an army of wooden soldiers (in certain sequences created with some early stop-motion effects), build by our two boys. Even though the movie is mostly cheerful, it also knows how to build up its tension, with as a result some really well story-wise constructed moments that all work out extremely well.

I'm going to say something very daring now but here goes; In my opinion this movie is even better than "The Wizard of Oz". Both movies are much alike in several different ways. Both movie are set in a cheerful imaginary world, with imaginary likable characters and a ruthless villain who spoils all the happiness in that same cheerful world. Let's face it, both of those movie are extremely old fashioned and outdated but the cheerful charm makes both of the movie irresistible ones, that still speak to the imagination.

This movie is a real forgotten masterpiece and the movie deserves to be better known and seen by persons all over the world. Really a movie that I truly enjoyed watching.

10/10

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5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
March to the Beat ****, 20 February 2006

Author: edwagreen from United States

Fabulous rendition of the Victor Herbert operetta.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are endearing as the two workers in the toy factory who need to help out their landlady-the old lady who lives in the shoe.

Not only can't they borrow money to help her with the mortgage, they soon find themselves out of work for making the wrong size soldier. What a blessing that will be by film's end.

Silas Barnaby, played with great contempt, by Harry Kleinbach,who in real life was a refugee from Nazi Germany, owns the mortgage. He will tear it up if he can marry the old woman's daughter, a sweet Charlotte Henry. Leave it to Laurel and Hardy to dress up the former as a bride to fool the old skinflint.

Bitter, Barnaby plots to destroy Henry (Bo Peep's) lover, Felix Knight. He plants damaging evidence proving that Knight had killed those poor 3 little pigs. Knight is condemned to Devil's Island. When Laurel and Hardy discover that Barnaby has made this mischief, all hell breaks loose. Seems as though Barnaby is really the head of the Bogey Men, a scary animal-like men hiding out on the island. To gain further revenge, Barnaby brings them out to destroy all of Toyland only to see those overly tall soldiers exact revenge.

A wonderful film for children and adults as well. The singing by Charlotte Henry and Felix Knight is wonderful. The jokes by Laurel and Hardy are as corny but delightful as ever. Great family fare.

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Best of Laurel and Hardy, 21 February 2001

Author: William C. Uchtman (aesgaard41@hotmail.com) from Hendersonville, TN

I know this movie better as "March of The Wooden Soldiers," but it really is one of, if not the, best of Laurel and Hardy. Somehow cast as a Christmas movie (there is an arbitrary reference to Christmas in this movie, and a Santa Claus toy order is messed up), the movie shines as all of the characters in the Mother Goose tales come to life, as do the goblin-like bogey-men, but the movie's best parts shine on Laurel and Hardy's scenes. Beautiful Charlotte Henry ( fittingly enough,a former Alice in Wonderland )and Felix Knight share the rest of the movie charmingly without taking away from the duo. The songs aren't that bad either, but a special note should go to Henry Kleinbach (nee Brandon) in his portrayal as Barnaby. Plucked off the stage while doing a nearly identical role, this young actor at the time creates a more despicable role than Ray Bolger in the Disney version. In fact, Brandon lived much of his career trying to forget this role in which he was almost typecast. This is one movie that should be seen every Christmas.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Barnaby steals the show!, 1 June 2006

Author: (stevenfallonnyc@yahoo.com) from NYC

I just watched "March of the Wooden Soldiers" for the first time since I was a young kid, hoping for a little bit of reliving the 'ol childhood. I didn't quite get that, as the "kitsch" value of this film is unfortunately kind of low. There's not much for an adult here, even one trying to relive the old memories, as this is most definitely a children's film in every sense of the word! It's not a great film, as the first half pretty much just drags on very slowly, without much going on. The only reason to watch the first half at all is to enjoy the character of Barnaby, the evil rich villain in town, he's just great and has every cliché and mannerism of a "rich villain in the town" down pat.

The film starts to move a bit during the dunking sequence, which is hilarious all the way through! Then we start getting into the action, such as seeing Boogeyland for the first time, which I remember used to scare the heck out of me as a kid.

Another thing, Toyland seems like such the merry place, but when someone does something wrong, the punishment is carried out by guys in black executioner costumes! There's more to Toyland than meets the eye apparently.

Now mean man Barnaby is tricked by Laurel and Hardy into not marrying Bo Peep, so he frames Tom Tom as a killer of one of the three little pigs. As Tom Tom is banished to Boogeyland, it turns out that the "pork" evidence is actually beef (the townsfolk won't touch the pigs but have no problems about killing the cows evidently) and Laurel and Hardy find the pig alive in Barnaby's basement. Barnaby escapes the very angry townsfolk, and it turns out he is not just the man man in town, but he is also the master of the Boogeymen, an army of whom he brings back to town, seemingly a thousand of them, to break stuff, cause terror and even kidnap little children!

This sequence is dynamite, and the townsfolk strike back, finally with Laurel and Hardy pressing the "on" button of all the wooden soldiers, who march into town to rescue the kiddies, and drive the Boogeymen out of town, some to be eaten by alligators! Unfortunately, what I remember as an awesome scene is really short. the actual "March of the Wooden Soldiers" is but a mere three minutes long! That's all it takes to get rid of all the Boogeymen, but there are some cool images in between. The decapitated wooden soldier always creeped me out a bit, and the soldier saving the little girl by giving her a piggyback ride is cute. The magic of "Toyland" must have made the wooden soldiers actually become real in a sense, as before all they did was walk aimlessly in a straight line.

All the actors are decent, and Cagney's mom from "Public Enemy" is Bo Peep's mom. I'm not sure why Laurel and Hardy are living in the house, unless I missed it. But they do a decent job in the film overall, it seems as if they are having a good time.

"March of the Wooden Soldiers" is definitely good for the kiddies, the very young kiddies, because despite that it was released in 1934, it's actually more edgy than much of today's genuine kiddie fare. It's not something you are going to rush twice to see as an adult, but it's good viewing for the very young children.

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Toy Story, 12 January 2007
Author: lugonian from Kissimmee, Florida

BABES IN TOYLAND (Hal Roach/MGM, 1934), directed Gus Meins and Charles Rogers, is a musical fairy tale based on Victor Herbert's 1903 operetta that became tailor-made for the talents of comedy team Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in what's considered to be their very best and highly acclaimed adaptation taken from an operatic work, thanks to its fine script, comedy material and notable storybook characters brought to life on the screen. In spite of Stan and Ollie having to take time away from the screen in favor of plot development, musical interludes and romantic subplot, even appearing nearly ten minutes from the start of the story, the movie, overall, succeeds.

Set in the mythical land of Toyland, Widow Peep (Florence Roberts) is an old woman about to be evicted from her home by the evil Silas Barnaby (Henry Brandon) unless her mortgage is paid. Barnaby is willing to overlook the matter and offer her the deed in favor of being honored for having her daughter, Bo-Peep (Charlotte Henry) as his bride. Bo-Peep loves Tom Tom Piper (Felix Knight, dressed like Peter Pan), and will have nothing to do with him. Stanley Dum (Stan Laurel) and Oliver Dee (Oliver Hardy), a couple of toy-makers who take up room and board in Widow Peep's home, attempt to help by asking their employer, the toy master (William Burress) for an advance in salary, but because Stanley confused Santa Claus's (Ferdinand Munier) order 600 toy soldiers at one foot high, thus giving him 100 toy soldiers at six foot high instead of 600 soldiers at 1 foot high, they both get fired, and must come up with another solution in rescuing Bo-Peep from the clutches of Barnaby.

A memorable score by Victor Herbert, only a few were selected for the screen, including: "Toyland" (sung by Virginia Karns); "Don't Cry, Bo-Peep, Don't Cry" (sung by Felix Knight); "The Castles in Spain," "Go to Sleep, Slumber Deep" and "The March of the Toys (Wooden Soldiers)." Some reissue prints retitled MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS eliminate Mother Goose's opening of "Toyland" as she opens the "Babes in Toyland" storybook and introduces it main characters in song: Little Bo Peep who lost her sheep; Tom Tom the Piper's Son; The Little Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe (Widow Peep); Silas Barnaby, "the meanest man in town"; Hi Diddle Diddle, The Cat and the Fiddle; Three Little Pigs: Elmer, Willie and Jiggs; and finally Stanley Dum and Oliver Dee, "they love to sleep as you can see;" along with the "Go to Sleep" number, having recently been restored on both video and DVD distributions ranging from colorized to original black and white photography. The musical interludes are not overdone yet capture the mood of the story. In fact, more than half of Victor Herbert's original score has been cast aside in keeping the story to average length (79 minutes).

Charlotte Henry, who starred in Paramount's fantasy to Lewis Carroll's now forgotten screen adaptation of ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Paramount, 1933), is ideally cast as Bo-Peep. Had fate taken a different turn, one wonders if Henry would have succeeded playing Dorothy in THE WIZARD OF OZ had the L. Frank Baum story been brought to the screen about this time instead of 1939? It so happens that TOYLAND and OZ are similar in nature. They are both set in a mythical land; Silas Barnaby and the Wicked Witch are evil individuals who bring fear to those around them; Barnaby is assisted by hideous Bogeymen while the Witch has her flying monkeys; Laurel and Hardy are do-gooders similar to the Tin Man and the Scarecrow; and finally Toyland citizens bursting into song. Unlike most fantasies of this sort, BABES IN TOYLAND is not one extended dream sequence from which the leading character awakens back to reality as did Dorothy at her farm in Kansas following her Technicolor experience in the land of OZ. This is Toyland from start to finish, with a touch of Disneyland as one of the citizens of Toyland looking very much like Mickey Mouse!

While as Dee and Dum, Laurel and Hardy perform their roles in their usual traditional manner, but minus their trademark derbys. Their key scenes include having them sneaking into Barnaby's home to retrieve Widow Peep's deed only to get caught, thanks to Stanley, and being sentenced to public dunking in a pond of cold water (only Ollie gets the treatment) and thrown out of Toyland into Boogeyland forever (the same fate later set for Tom-Tom accused of pig-napping Elmer, thanks to Barnaby); their participation in Barnaby's wedding, as well as the grand finale where the toy soldiers are brought to life from the toy factory in their war against the bogeymen with Stan and Ollie's ammunition of darts fired from the cannon. Great march formation and still photography outdoes any computer technology today since more effort was put into this sequence alone. Cartoon violence is the essence here, especially when Ollie falls victim to it in the Wile E. Coyote tradition, but not to the extreme.

More Laurel and Hardy than Victor Herbert, BABES IN TOYLAND is geared for children and adults alike, especially adults who watched this annually on television during the Christmas when they were kids themselves since the 1950s. In recent years, TOYLAND aired on American Movie Classics (1994-1996). Remade theatrically in 1961 by Walt Disney Productions, then again as either television movies or new theatrical adaptations in later years, it's the 1934 original that appears to live on happily ever after. (***1/2)

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
A personal holiday favorite, 28 December 2000

Author: Doug White from Maryland, USA

I am a huge Laurel and Hardy fan, and while this may not be considered one of their great feature length films, I love to get this out for the December holidays. After the rest of the family watches "Wonderful Life", "Scrooge" and the Nutcracker, I pull this out and laugh until I cry. The only link to the holiday is the use of the "March of the Soldiers" music - but that's enough for me. Stan Laurel's ingenious battle tactics just send me into a fit.

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