When I was a kid, The Wizard of Oz, The Great Escape, a Bond film, or a disaster movie were standard programming for Christmas day; I don't ever recall seeing Babes in Toyland listed in the Radio Times. Not only have I never seen this festive 'classic', but I am also a complete stranger to the work of Laurel and Hardy, meaning that the film was a completely new experience to me.
While I wouldn't label it essential Christmas viewing (largely because it doesn't actually take place at Christmas), I can see why many would enjoy the film at this time of year: it's a cosy, whimsical, somewhat saccharine piece of escapism, along the same lines as the aforementioned Judy Garland classic, with singing and dancing, dwarves, and some things that are every bit as much nightmare fuel as flying monkeys and angry apple trees. Plus, Santa does make an appearance, despite the film being set in summer..
Laurel and Hardy play Stanley Dum and Ollie Dee, who live in a shoe with Widow Peep (Florence Roberts) and her daughter Bo-Peep (the drop-dead gorgeous Charlotte Henry). Henry Brandon plays wicked Barnaby Barnicle (Henry Kleinbach), who holds the mortgage for Widow Peep's home, and is demanding payment that he knows she does not have. Stanley and Ollie try to come up with ways to raise the cash, but Barnaby uses the opportunity to try and force Bo-Peep to marry him (gotta be worth a try!). Bo-Peep, however, is in love with Tom-Tom (Felix Knight), the piper's son, and isn't about to go down the aisle with anyone else, especially a crooked old man who's like the child-catcher as played by Tod Slaughter.
Based on an operetta by Victor Herbert, Babes in Toyland (AKA The March of the Wooden Soldiers) features plenty of enjoyable musical numbers and lots of nonsensical fun featuring familiar nursery rhyme characters. As an introduction to Stan And Ollie, the film is somewhat disappointing - they're not that funny here, the film presumably quite a departure from their usual output - but as a piece of mindless entertainment, it's not too shabby, with impressive studio sets, a huge cast of characters, Charlotte Henry looking great, a terrific spot of stop-motion animation, and that unforgettable 'nightmare fuel' that I spoke of: a monkey dressed in a Mickey Mouse costume that is simply bizarre, three little pigs (played by either children or little people in freaky rubber masks), and a whole array of Bogeymen (furry creatures with fangs).
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for Bo-Peep, THE babe of Toyland.
While I wouldn't label it essential Christmas viewing (largely because it doesn't actually take place at Christmas), I can see why many would enjoy the film at this time of year: it's a cosy, whimsical, somewhat saccharine piece of escapism, along the same lines as the aforementioned Judy Garland classic, with singing and dancing, dwarves, and some things that are every bit as much nightmare fuel as flying monkeys and angry apple trees. Plus, Santa does make an appearance, despite the film being set in summer..
Laurel and Hardy play Stanley Dum and Ollie Dee, who live in a shoe with Widow Peep (Florence Roberts) and her daughter Bo-Peep (the drop-dead gorgeous Charlotte Henry). Henry Brandon plays wicked Barnaby Barnicle (Henry Kleinbach), who holds the mortgage for Widow Peep's home, and is demanding payment that he knows she does not have. Stanley and Ollie try to come up with ways to raise the cash, but Barnaby uses the opportunity to try and force Bo-Peep to marry him (gotta be worth a try!). Bo-Peep, however, is in love with Tom-Tom (Felix Knight), the piper's son, and isn't about to go down the aisle with anyone else, especially a crooked old man who's like the child-catcher as played by Tod Slaughter.
Based on an operetta by Victor Herbert, Babes in Toyland (AKA The March of the Wooden Soldiers) features plenty of enjoyable musical numbers and lots of nonsensical fun featuring familiar nursery rhyme characters. As an introduction to Stan And Ollie, the film is somewhat disappointing - they're not that funny here, the film presumably quite a departure from their usual output - but as a piece of mindless entertainment, it's not too shabby, with impressive studio sets, a huge cast of characters, Charlotte Henry looking great, a terrific spot of stop-motion animation, and that unforgettable 'nightmare fuel' that I spoke of: a monkey dressed in a Mickey Mouse costume that is simply bizarre, three little pigs (played by either children or little people in freaky rubber masks), and a whole array of Bogeymen (furry creatures with fangs).
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for Bo-Peep, THE babe of Toyland.