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Babes in Toyland

Babes in Toyland

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $11.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's Annette! Thats all 50's & 60's children need to know!
Review: Come on, Mother Goose & her goose! The trees that talked, I was 8, ooooh they scarred me! A fairytale script that was wonderfully written with great acting of the times, I still have the ballerina doll Franki & Annette sang about "With Golden Eyes, Silken Hair., She's just a doll.." This was my favorite non animated film from Disney. The songs are classic, "Walking on our hands with care, leaving holes in our souls, saving on our shoe repair..." Where has all the great Disney films gone? Suzie-Oregon

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a Christmas classic
Review: Disney's film version of Victor Herbert's operetta BABES IN TOYLAND is a joyous delight that the whole family will cherish.

The story concerns Mary-Quite-Contrary (Annette Funicello) who is to be married to her sweetheart Tom Piper (Tommy Sands). However, trouble lurks in the guise of the wicked Barnaby (Ray Bolger) who wants Mary to marry HIM!. Barnaby enlists the help of two bumbling fools (Henry Calvin and Gene Sheldon) to kidnap Tom and throw him into the sea, but instead they sell Tom to a troupe of gypsies so that they may profit twice from their actions. Barnaby also makes sure that Mary's only means of income - her sheep - get lost in The Forest of No Return, thus forcing her into matrimony.

However, the plan backfires and Tom is reunited with Mary. But Bo-Peep (Ann Jillian) and the children have gone looking for the sheep in the dangerous Forest...

Just like your favorite Christmas ornament, this is something that comes out every year no matter what. Disney's long-awaited DVD release of BABES IN TOYLAND is a great new way to ensure that this classic will live again for a new generation.

Also starring Mary McCarty, Tommy Kirk, Ed Wynn and Kevin Corcoran.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Step back to yesterday!
Review: Granted this was filmed on a Disney Sound stage for very little money, but this movie was the brilliant work of Walt Disney himself. I was a kid when this movie came out and how impressed i was with the colors, music, story and cast. Now i'm in my 50's and this same version still impresses me. This version is timeless and the colors, music, story and especially the cast mean more to me than ever. This is a great movie for the Christmas Holiday and a walk back into yesteryear for us baby boomers. It also would be a great idea to show this to the kids of "now and "me" generation. They might learn something. The special effects were state-of-the art back then and may seem a little campy today, but this movie with it's special effects has heart,,,something that lacks in many of the new Christmas movies. This Disney version is warm, creative, visually beautiful and has a wonderful cast.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A fun children's musical with great dance numbers
Review: Growing up in middle American during the '60s, I would always get so excited when "Babes in Toyland" was going to be on T.V. It was a magical, fun movie with great characters, songs and dance numbers. As a young girl, I longed to be "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" in love with Tommy Sands. I think the costumes are great and the sets fantastic. Watching this movie again "all grown up", I think it's as good as when I watched it as a kid. With so many PG-13 movies out which frankly should be rated R, this movie is a real gem the whole family can watch. Enjoy!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's really out on DVD?
Review: I didn't even know that this DVD was out, but I'm pleasantly surprised. This is one of those real holiday treasures that you don't see enough of anymore.

Tommy Sands and Annette Funicello play the young Tom and Mary (Quite Contrary) in a land populated by Mother Goose and her creations. The evil Barnaby (played by perfection by Ray Bolger) wants Mary for his own, and begins a series of plots that ends up with our heroes and a band of nursery rhyme children at the shop that really makes Santa Claus's toys, working for the bumbling toymaker (Ed Wynn) and his brainy assistant (Tommy Kirk).

This is a film from the golden age of the live-action Disney musical, back when Haley Mills was cranking out a new film every other month. Although she's not in this one, there is a very young Ann Jillian. There have been many versions of this film both before and after -- this is the best. Be especially wary of the 1986 version starring Keanu Reeves and Drew Barrymore. Yeah. That's who I said.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: OK
Review: I found an old tape we have that had some movies taped off the Disney channel and this was on the tape so I watched it yesterday and I thought it was ok kind of a cute story but not my favorite Disney movie and it just didn't appeal to me as much as some other colorful musicals like The Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory but it was a lot better than that 1980's made for TV remake and I would recommend this version and the original Laurel and Hardy version!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Classic Disney musical deserves a better DVD release!!
Review: I give this product 3 stars because of the quality of the DVD, not the film itself. "Babes in Toyland" may not be "Snow White" or "Mary Poppins," but it was the first-ever live action musical for Disney, and it remains a well-respected classic among Disneyphiles... and deserving of something better than a cheap, poor quality FULL FRAME release with no extras at all (not even a trailer). With a colorful whismsy and imagination nothing short of "Willy Wonka" and aspirations of "Wizard of Oz", "Babes in Toyland" has always been a Disney staple, and it's simply amazing that something like "The Swiss Family Robinson" gets a 2-disc deluxe treatment while this is cast off as a cheapie release. OK, all we need is: anamorphic widescreen, some major remastering (there is grain all over the place!), the original trailer, and the only other necessary extra is the episode of Walt Disney Presents where Walt takes us backstage and behind-the-scenes... there it is, a complete 50-minute documentary already complete, edited, and paid for. Just slap it on the disc with the trailer and a remastered widescreen print, and Disney will do this classic real justice. Alas, these are simply pipe dreams, I suppose. As it stands, buy it if you want the film at all... because I seriously doubt we'll ever see another release of this classic. And that's a real shame.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best Disney Movie For All Ages!
Review: I have watched this movie as a kid and just loved it, my parnets were always telling me to turn it off. Their have been many re-makes of this movie and they have never been able to capture what I loved about the 1961 Disney movie. When it becomes available again I will buy two, one for me to enjoy and one for my future kids to enjoy. Thank you Disney for making such a wonderful movie for all ages.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Poor DVD
Review: I haven't seen this movie, but I wouldn't buy this DVD for a first look. I mind that 27.9 percent of the original theatrical image has been removed for the DVD exhibition, so that the DVD image fills my entire 4:3 television screen (theatrical aspect ratio - 1.85:1; DVD aspect ratio - 4:3). However, if you're okay with that, enjoy!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: How Could You Not Love It?!
Review: I remember waking up bright and early on Christmas morning, excited for Santa, but not yet ready to wake up the family (it was only 4:00 AM). Thus, I'd watch my all-time favorite Christmas movie "Babes in Toyland". I couldn't go through Christmas without seeing this commonly overlooked Disney classic.

It's an incredible film for kids and those of us who are children at heart. It's full of memorable and hilarious scenes and music including "Slowly, Slowly He Sank Into the Sea". A true must see holiday film. Heck, you could even watch it after the holidays. It's just that great.


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