Babes in Toyland
Victor Herbert’s operetta Babes in Toyland
brought classic Mother Goose characters together through story and
song. The opera had already been brought to the silver screen once in
1934 (Laurel and Hardy starred), but Walt Disney felt the time was
right for a new Technicolor version starring Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands
and ex-Mouseketeer Annette Funicello.
Mary Contrary (Funicello) and Tom Piper (Sands) are engaged to be
married, but wicked Barnaby (Bolger) wants Mary as his own. To achieve
his nefarious purposes, Barnaby hires bumbling henchmen Gonzorgo and
Roderigo to drown Tom, but the two decide they could turn a higher
profit by selling Tom to gypsies instead.
Tommy, disguised as an old woman, returns to save Mary, but the two
must first rescue Mary’s younger siblings from the Forest of No Return.
The journey carries everyone to Toyland for a climactic battle
involving shrink rays, toy soldiers and Victor Herbert’s rollicking
music.
The timeless story was a Christmas treat when Disney released it in
December 1961, and it has remained a family favorite ever since. A
TV-miniseries remake (starring Drew Barrymore, Eileen Brennan, “Pat”
Morita and then-unknown Keanu Reeves) debuted in 1986, followed by an
animated version in 1997.
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