Babes In Toyland (1)

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Babes in Toyland [1961]

Tagline:

• A Magical Musical Wonderland!

• The happiest, most delightful musical comedy of your lifetime!

• It's Bright! It's Wonderful! A Musical Holiday of Fun for Everyone!

• Follow Your Heart to Joyland! A Dazzling World of Song, Dance and Laughter!

Stars

• Annette Funicello

• Tommy Sands

• Ed Wynn

Overview

• Synopsis:

  • All roads lead to magical, merry Toyland as Mary Contrary and Tom Piper prepare for their wedding! But villainous Barnaby wants Mary for himself, so he kidnaps Tom, setting off a series of comic chases, searches, and double-crosses! The "March Of The Wooden Soldiers" helps put Barnaby in his place, and ensures a "happily ever after" for Tom and Mary!

• Release:

  • 14 December 1961

• Running Time:

  • 105 minutes

• Studio:

  • Walt Disney Productions

• Genres:

  • Musical

  • Fantasy

  • Family

Production Team

• Director:

  • Jack Donohue

• Screenwriter:

  • Lowell S. Hawley

  • Ward Kimball

  • Joe Rinaldi

• Director of Photography:

  • Edward Colman

• Story By:

  • Based on Victor Herbert's operetta Babes in Toyland

• Costume Designer:

  • Bill Thomas

• Production Company:

  • Walt Disney Productions

• Distribution Company:

  • Buena Vista Distribution

Setting and Inspiration

• Based On:

  • Babes in Toyland [1903] by Victor Herbert

    • The operetta features the characters of Mother Goose Land and revolves around the adventures of Mary Contrary and Tom Piper.

• Created By:

  • Victor Herbert

• Period:

  • Early 1900s

• Place:

  • Mother Goose Land and Toyland

• Differences from Source Material:

  • The film's plot and music bear little resemblance to the original operetta, with many of the lyrics rewritten and song tempos changed.

Music

• Composer:

  • Victor Herbert

  • George Bruns [adapted music]

  • Mel Leven [new lyrics]

• Theme:

  • Toyland - Victor Herbert

• Track List:

  • Mother Goose Village and Lemonade - Chorus [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • We Won't Be Happy Till We Get It - Ray Bolger, Henry Calvin, and danced by Gene Sheldon [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • Just a Whisper Away - Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • Slowly He Sank to the Bottom of the Sea - Henry Calvin and danced by Gene Sheldon [George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • Castle in Spain - Ray Bolger (who also dances) [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • Never Mind, Bo-Peep - Ann Jillian and Chorus [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • I Can't Do the Sum - Annette Funicello [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • Floretta - Tommy Sands and Chorus [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • Forest of No Return - Chorus, Singing Trees, and Children [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • Go to Sleep - Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, and Children [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • Toyland - Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, Children, and Singing Trees [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven and Glen MacDonough]

  • Workshop Song - Ed Wynn, Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, and Children [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • Just a Toy - Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

  • March of the Toys - Orchestra [Victor Herbert]

  • Tom and Mary - Wedding Guests [Victor Herbert, George Bruns] [lyrics by Mel Leven]

Bonus Content

• Creative Intro:

  • The film opens with a stage play presented by Mother Goose and her talking goose, Sylvester, setting a whimsical and theatrical tone.

• Iconic Quotes:

  • Do you Barnaby take Mary to be your wedded wife? To keep her in sickness, in adversity, in poverty, in tragedy, in disaster... - Toymaker

    • What are you doing? - Barnaby

    • Well, I was just trying to talk you out of it. - Toymaker

  • We don't know how to tell you this, Miss Mary. No, we don't know how to tell you this at all. We were 20 leagues at sea and it was calm as it could be, when out of the north, there came a sudden squall! He was standing at the wheel he was, Miss Mary, and across the deck, the mighty ocean roared, and the mizzen broke and fell and we heard the fellow yell as it bashed him down and swept him overboard! - Gonzorgo

  • Slowly, slowly, he sank into the sea! Though we tried to save him, he sank into the sea! - Gonzorgo [sung]

    • But who, sir? Who sank? - Mary Contrary

    • It was Tom, ma'am. Tom sank. - Gonzorgo

    • Tom sank? - Mary Contrary

    • Tom sank? - Mother Goose

    • Who's Tom Sank? - Sylvester J. Goose

    • What preposterous rumor are you spreading, sailors? Go on your way, unless you have some evidence, some proof for what you say? - Barnaby

    • Oh, yes, sir! - Gonzorgo

    • What proof do you have? - Mary Contrary

    • We are bringing you his personal belongings, and in his hat, we found this soggy note. Though the salty ocean spray somehow washed the words away, I'll see if I can't decipher what he wrote. "Darling Mary," he begins, or is that "dearest"? Yes, that's the term he uses we agree. Now the boy goes on to tell how he hopes this finds you well. It's too bad he slowly sank into the sea. - Gonzorgo

    • Slowly, slowly, he sank into the sea! With no life preserver, he sank into the sea! - Gonzorgo [sung]

    • But this was to be our wedding day. Why would Tom be at sea? - Mary Contrary

    • Does this letter offer some explanation? I presume he's written more? - Barnaby

    • Oh, yes, sir! "I am poor," the letter reads, "and can't support you, and it's best I sail away to set you free. Noble lady that you are, you'd be better off by far if you were to marry wealthy Barnaby." We advise you to forget him now, Miss Mary, though our condolences to you we will extend, but we'll blame you not, my dear, if you care to shed a tear for the way he met his most untimely end. - Gonzorgo

    • Slowly, slowly, he sank into the sea! To the very bottom, he sank into the sea! - Gonzorgo [sung]

    • How about that! - Sylvester J. Goose [Roderigo suddenly sinks in the puddle and then slowly comes back up. Gonzorgo tries to find the hole but can't]

    • Oh, my poor brave Tom, sacrificing his life for my welfare! - Mary Contrary [near tears]

    • Poor Mary. Come, children, in the house. - Mother Goose

    • There's something fishy about this! - Sylvester J. Goose

    • Hush, Sylvester! - Mother Goose

    • Well, I wouldn't trust either one of them, the fat one or the idiot! - Sylvester J. Goose

  • Item one. - Barnaby

    • Item one. - Gonzorgo

    • Kidnap Tom. - Barnaby

    • Kidnap Tom. - Gonzorgo [to Roderigo who is writing down the plan]

    • No, no. Just kidnap him. - Gonzorgo [Roderigo makes a motion across his throat with a pencil]

  • Item two. - Barnaby

    • Item two. - Gonzorgo

    • Throw him in the sea. - Barnaby

    • Throw him in the sea. - Gonzorgo [to Roderigo]

    • No, no, just throw him in the sea! - Gonzorgo [Roderigo again makes a motion about killing Tom]

  • Item three... - Barnaby

    • Item three... - Gonzorgo

    • Mary's sheep. Mmm. These sheep support her. Somehow, I must thwart her. She's much too independent with them, therefore, she must be without them. Steal the sheep! - Barnaby

    • Steal the sheep! - Gonzorgo [to Roderigo]

    • No, steal them! - Barnaby [grabs Roderigo around the neck using his cane] [Roderigo makes a repeated stabbing motion with his pencil]

• Trivia

  • This was the first live-action musical that Disney Studios produced. It was heavily promoted but failed at the box office. It was one of the few Disney films never given a second run in neighborhood theaters or re-released. It first appeared on television in two one-hour segments only eight years after its original release.

  • Many of the sets from this movie, including Mary's garden and fountain, the shoe house, the pumpkin house, and the trees from the forest, were on display at Disneyland in Anaheim from November 1961 through 1962 as a walk-through attraction.

  • This was the only Disney-produced film based on a hit Broadway stage musical and the first Disney musical using mostly songs that had not been specifically written for the film. However, it is not very faithful to the original 1903 stage version.

Themes and Analysis

• Themes:

  • Good vs. Evil

  • Friendship and Loyalty

  • Magic and Imagination

  • The Importance of Family

• Analysis:

  • Babes in Toyland explores classic themes of good versus evil through the characters of Tom Piper and Barnaby. The film emphasizes the importance of friendship and loyalty as Tom and Mary work together to overcome Barnaby's schemes. The magical and imaginative setting of Mother Goose Land and Toyland adds a whimsical and fantastical element to the story. The film also highlights the significance of family and community, as the characters come together to save Christmas and celebrate their unity.

Reception

• Critical Response:

  • A. H. Weiler, The New York Times: Let us say that Walt Disney's packaging of Victor Herbert's indestructible operetta is a glittering color and song and dance-filled bauble artfully designed for the tastes of the sub-teen set. Adults would have to be awfully young in mind to accept these picture-book caperings of the Mother Goose coterie as stirring stuff. This Toyland is closer to Disneyland, but who ever heard of an adult winning an argument on that issue?

  • Variety: An expensive gift, brightly-wrapped and intricately-packaged and is certain to be a fast-selling item in the Yuletide marketplace. A choice attraction for the pre-teen set, it will be an especially big draw among those in the five-to-ten age bracket. However, older audiences may be distressed to discover that quaint, charming 'Toyland' has been transformed into a rather gaudy and mechanical 'Fantasyland.' What actually emerged is 'Babes in Disneyland.'

  • John L. Scott, Los Angeles Times: Considerably more showy than either Herbert's stage original or the first film version done in the middle 30's; and older patrons may resent a loss of quaintness and a surplus of fantasy-whimsy. Nevertheless, the lavish, tinseled picture is a fine, appropriate holiday attraction for all but the sophisticated moviegoer.

  • Harrison's Reports: VERY GOOD. Disney has wrapped this one up in gay silk ribbons, beautiful costumes, and brilliant splashes of color the envy of the rainbow rangers. Like a tender father, Disney has put this together with the soft sensitivity of a man in whose trust has been placed the dream world of trusting youngsters everywhere.

  • Time Magazine: A wonderful piece of entertainment for children under five, but children over five who plan to see it will be well advised to take some Berlitz brushup lessons in baby talk. The review was also critical for the modernized music but praised the March of the Toys sequence.

Cast

• Barnaby

  • Ray Bolger

• Tom Piper

  • Tommy Sands

• Mary Contrary

  • Annette Funicello

• Toymaker

  • Ed Wynn

• Grumio

  • Tommy Kirk

• Boy Blue

  • Kevin Corcoran

• Gonzorgo

  • Henry Calvin

• Roderigo

  • Gene Sheldon

• Mother Goose

  • Mary McCarty

• Bo Peep

  • Ann Jillian

• Willie Winkie

  • Brian Corcoran

• Sylvester J. Goose

  • Jack Donohue